Realtor Tips – Page 10

Should You Ask For Seller Concessions In A Hot Market

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

It’s a hot seller’s market and you finally found the right home for you. When walking through it you noticed some issues that you might want to ask the seller to fix, or know you need some help with closing costs or want a home warranty.

Should you ask the seller for those concessions? Probably not. Concessions dig into the profit the seller will be making on the sale of the house.

Clean offers

In a hot seller’s market there are others who will be willing to make an offer without any requests for concessions. Those clean offers will definitely compare better to yours, even if you are offering more money.

Replacing carpet, fixing a roof or fixing other items in the home can be expensive. Paying a portion of the closing costs is as well. So even if your offer is a few thousand dollars more than a clean one, the savings to the seller in taking a lower clean offer can mean more money in their pockets.

So what can you do?

See if you can live with the needed fixes. Carpet is a mess? Have it cleaned before you move in. Even renting a carpet cleaner is only $30-$40 for a day. If the flooring is worn, see if it could be covered with a throw rug or furniture until you can afford to get it fixed.

See what the inspection report says about the roof or other fixes. No home is perfect. If it isn’t feasible, or the fixes are necessary and more than you can afford, it might be time to look for a different, lower priced home.

Home buying is always a negotiation, but knowing the market can mean starting off with the best offer you can give. Be smart and purchase the home that is best for you!

5 No Fail Tips For Selling Your Home Fast For The Most Money

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

When selling your home it’s safe to say that you want to sell it fast and for the most money. I mean, doesn’t everyone? So what do you have to do to get both?

Let’s start with before you list

You need to make sure your house looks it’s best, inside and out. Have a friend or Realtor walk through your home and be brutally honest about where it needs improvement. Make a list and then tackle it. The yard needs work? Clean it up. Plant any needed foliage and do something like adding or updating a family/entertaining space outside.

Declutter, deep clean and update

Inside needs paint? Paint but stick with lighter, more neutral colors. You don’t need to go white or eggshell, but nothing that might turn off prospective sellers. You can add color with accents, like pillows or items on shelves or tables. Kitchen and/or bath need updating? Do it. They sell houses. Declutter, deep clean and thin out furniture and personal items.

Price it right

Now that the house is ready the next and most important thing is to price it right. I can’t stress enough how important this is for selling quickly. It’s not out of line to say that most homes that sit on the market are over or under priced. Pricing is so important. If you price your home incorrectly it won’t show up in searches that your best prospective buyers are shooting for. If you underprice it, thinking it will end up in a bidding war that will get you the price you want, it will backfire. Remember that those looking in the range you priced probably can’t afford to stick with a bidding war that will get you the price you really want. Overpricing it means those who see your home will find it below what the standard home is in that price range.

Lastly, hire the right Realtor and pay them a fair commission

The right Realtor, as opposed to a discount broker, will keep you on the right track. They will help you price correctly, keep emotion out of the process, present you with advice on all offers, lowball or otherwise, and will earn every penny of the higher commission. They will most likely have you do a pre-inspection so you can find and correct any issues prior to selling, which will keep the process much less complicated down the road.

There you have it!

How To Make A Strong Offer When You Find The Home of Your Dreams!

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’re ready to move on up and out, but aren’t sure how successful you will be finding the home of your dreams. Relax! It can be done! Just put a few things in place or in motion before you start the hunt and you’ll be golden.

Here’s how to make a strong offer a home seller will find hard to refuse.

First, be preapproved for your mortgage. I can’t say it enough that a buyer coming in with financing in place is much more attractive to a seller. It says to them that you are serious about buying, you’re financially ready to pull the trigger and will have a much shorter time between offer and closing than a buyer who isn’t pre-approved.

If you have a home to sell, put it on the market now. Having your home under contract and ready to settle, or even sold, will mean that you don’t have the need for a “I need to sell my home” contingency. That seller knows how that can go, and you having to sell your home first will not be as attractive to them as a buyer without that encumbrance.

If you are renting, let your landlord know you are home shopping and when you expect to move. Giving your notice will mean less problems in getting back a needed security deposit or delay settlement because you can’t afford rent and a mortgage payment.

Agree to shorten up inspection times. This doesn’t mean give up the right to inspections, but have a company ready to go for your home inspection, water testing, termite inspections, etc. Lining them up early means you don’t have to delay and you’ll know the answers to questions about them should a renegotiation be needed due to inspection issues.

Lastly, if the area you are looking is a seller’s market, make your offer over asking. Even if it’s over by just a few hundred dollars, it will make your offer irresistible to a seller.

How Are Real Estate Agents Paid When You Sell Your Home

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’ve decided to sell your home but aren’t sure how it all works for a seller. After all your current home was your first home purchase. So you have a lot of questions, the least of which is how your Realtor gets paid.

I mean, who has hundreds of dollars laying around to pay an hourly fee to a professional? Relax, that’s not how this works.

Commissions

Unlike many other kinds of professionals such as lawyers or accountants, Realtors do not bill their clients by the hour. They are paid when, and only when, your home sells. But what if the house sells, but the contract falls through? That happens all the time! Am I supposed to pay them then? And how do I know how much to pay them?

Again, relax, “when it sells” means they collect a check when the deed is signed and money changes hands.

So how do they get paid and how do we know what to pay them, you’re thinking

Well a Realtor works with you, the seller, for however long it takes to sell your home, or until the listing contract you have with them expires. If the home doesn’t sell, they aren’t paid for their time.

Realtors are paid a commission. This commission is based on the sales price of the home and the percentage of that sales price is spelled out in the listing agreement you have with them. The average commission percentage is 6%.

As the seller, you pay the commission

How that works is pretty simple. When you go to settlement to sign all those papers the lawyer or title company will know ahead of time what the percentage is for the commission.

They will prepare a statement that both buyer and seller sign. This statement has all of the financial information surrounding the sale on it: sales price, taxes due, money due from the buyer to the mortgage company, money due from the seller for fees, etc.

One of those line items is the Realtor’s commission. It is taken from the proceeds of sale and a check is cut right then for the Realtor. So technically no money directly out of your pocket, but paid from the lump you are getting at the settlement table.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Gated Communities

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Your Realtor asked if you are interested in looking at homes in gated communities and sang the praises of the properties listed in several. He or she didn’t, however, give you all the information about what it’s like to live in one. There are benefits, for sure. There are also drawbacks. Knowing them will mean you can make a decision about whether you even want to look at a home in one or not.

Some of the benefits are obvious

Security tops the list. The gate means that unwanted visitors, salespeople and other door to door annoyances are kept out. The gate also keeps criminals at bay. Nothing is foolproof and the gate only acts as a deterrent. But it’s a deterrent that those living outside the gates don’t have. That security also depends on whether it’s keypad protected or live guard protected.

Extraneous traffic

Other things that don’t make it through the gates is extraneous traffic. This could mean less speeding cars, though not entirely none because residents drive in and out. You likely won’t have the morning commute using your street as a shortcut either, since they can’t get through.
Another benefit is that your property will probably be with more. Gated communities tend to have a higher standard of home quality, stricter building codes and uniformity in design. As in any HOA community unkempt yards and obnoxious displays will be less likely.

Higher cost

Sounds great so far, right? Well don’t forget there are disadvantages too. All those benefits come with a price tag. There is a higher cost to maintain them. HOA fees and rental prices are more because of the cost of maintaining the private streets, security gates and fencing, and any guards that patrol the community.

Inconvenience

Those gates can be an inconvenience at times too. If the keypad or gate electronics break it can keep you in or out until they are fixed. When they work there are still “rush hours” when you may have to wait to get through the gate. Any visitors you have coming to see you will have to check in which means waiting to be allowed in by a guard or buzzed in by you. If they are early and you aren’t home or don’t answer the intercom, they will have to wait.

Gate codes and time limits

And don’t end up being THAT resident who gave out the gate code to the pizza delivery guy meaning now anyone could have it. Not a great way to ingratiate yourself with the neighbors! A few more drawbacks include being farther away from shopping and work also time limits for contractors and service people to come and work on your house.

Things To Do At A Real Estate Open House

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’re going to an open house for this great house you saw online. Of course the pictures online were flawless and you fell in love with the house. You also know that the Realtor will have the home looking in tip top shape. So what kinds of things should you also look at or do at a real estate open house.

First, don’t go directly to the house

Check out all the information you can find on the house and neighborhood. Local land records can tell you about who the neighbors are. Crime stats can tell you about it’s safety. The state school board can tell you about the local schools. Even assuming you did your homework and the neighborhood “checks out” you want to drive through or even walk around.

Take the time to really go through the neighborhood and see how it feels to you. Remember, the home is on it’s “best behavior” but the neighborhood is just being itself. If you don’t get the right vibe, move on. If you do, keep heading to the home.

During the drive around, eye up the local schools

During your homework phase you found out about the stats, now go see what they look like. Neat and tidy, with safe playground equipment or not well taken care of? Numbers can be misleading, or not, but how a community cares for its schools can scream volumes about the community. It can tell you whether you want your children to attend it or not.

Lastly, concentrate on the house

Not specifically how it looks, but on the changes made to it, and what will need to be changed. If there were changes, were they “legal” as in were the proper permits pulled and inspections done? If the need to be done, how extensive are they?

Don’t just fall for the picture the open house presents, do your own homework and make sure it’s really the home for you.