Real Estate Blog Now

Thinking of buying a piece of real estate or perhaps selling your existing home? The real estate scene has experienced some record setting fluctuations. The rapid price increases of a few years ago have slid down, just as surprisingly. The average home buyer or seller may be scratching their heads right now.

Here are some tips for negotiating the choppy waters of the real estate world.

1. It’s still a buyer’s market. Due to the problems within the mortgage industry as well as a less than cheery employment picture, there are still a stockpile of foreclosures.The low cost of foreclosures spills into the traditional resale market, making homes more affordable than they have been in many years.

2. First time buyers are especially in luck, as there are still government first-time tax credits to be had. This helps those trying to sell their homes, as well, because more buyers will be shopping for a home.

3. Interest rates on real estate are still at a decent rate. The low rates will enable more people to qualify for a mortgage, which is good news for both buyers and sellers. Owners will want to look into refinancing, if they have an adjustable rate mortgage.

4. Homes on the lower end of the price scale are the most popular right now. Many investors are grabbing them up for cash. If a home buyer is interested in the low cost homes, they should be prepared to pay full price and to have a bit of competition. It’s not a reason to give up, just a reason to be prepared to work a bit to gain your inexpensive first home.

5. Home sellers must realize that they can’t price their homes as competitively as the short sales and foreclosures. Short sales are arrangements with lenders to take less money than the belly-up loan, but these often take months to complete. Foreclosed homes are often in dreadful cosmetic shape. A smart home seller will make their house’s sale as quick and painless as possible in order to gain momentum on the short sale market, and spruce up their dwelling to make it outshine the foreclosures.

6. If a seller can hold out another couple of years, it would be a wise choice. Even now, prices are at an all time low. Once the stockpile of foreclosures has been run through, the price-tag on resale homes will begin to climb.

The real estate market may be bumpy, but it can still be successfully maneuvered with a bit of gumption and perseverance. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Due to the current scenario in the real estate market, the smart home buyers are searching for affordable deals which are available on short-sale properties. If a person needs to properly capitalize on the current situation, then the experience and guidance of expert real estate agents would undoubtedly be very handy. These agents have a significant amount of experience dealing with banks regarding short-sale purchases. By “short sale” it is meant that a property is sold at a price which is below the amount what the property-owner actually owes to the lender. Since the handling of this kind of sales is done by the office of real estate, a short-sale property can be located in the MLS (aka Multiple Listing Services).

In this mode of transaction the lender remains in control, while the determination of sales price is performed by the bank. The bank receives offers from the potential buyers and either accepts or rejects them. From the point of view of a buyer, the process of negotiation with a bank is tedious and lengthy. If you are a buyer you need to possess sufficient patience and not get frustrated in the interim period. If you are lucky enough, you might find that your offer has been accepted straightaway. Otherwise, it might take weeks, or even months before your offer gets accepted. Only then is your entire process of purchase complete. It can be understood quite clearly that lenders hold a distinct advantage in this process and often banks wait for offers from multiple sources before finally accepting one. If you are a buyer then expert real estate agents can be your ally during this entire process of negotiation.

These expert real estate agents possess in-depth understanding of the paperwork involved in the negotiation process with the bank. They would assist you to get your order to smoothly move through the course of this process. These agents further support you by providing important information like whether there are other offers which are also competing against your one. Some influential agents also have close relationships with personnel present in the banks. Many properties are not located in ideal locations nor are those in their best conditions. In such scenarios, lenders might be a bit lax with their terms of lending so that they can get offers for such properties. But in majority of the cases the conventional set of guidelines that is existent is adhered to regarding financing a purchase.

Competent and expert real estate agents are well aware of the fact that legal questions are bound to arise anytime during the process of short-sale property transaction. These agents hence would advise you to seek help regarding tax policies from authorized public accountants and regarding legal questions from attorneys. In order to ascertain whether you are interacting with expert real estate agents you need to get certain aspects clarified. These would include the experience of the concerned agent, the prior cases handled, etc. Only if the agent seems to convincingly answer all your queries should you go ahead with choosing that concerned person.

No one looks foreword to selling their house. It’s bad enough that you have to pack up all of your worldly possessions and moving them to a new location but on top of that you have to make your old home as appealing to potential buyers. Knowing that you have to sell your house wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t know that it was going to be a very time consuming process.

One of the things that people really hate about selling their home is that they have no way of knowing how long it will take to sell their house, it could sell a week after they list it or it could take a couple of years.

There are things that you can do to make you house stand out from the thousands of houses on the market and increase the speed of the sale.

Get a Real Estate Agent

Make sure you hire a real estate agent. Although the real estate agent can’t do anything about the way you house looks, they can have an influence on the number of people that have knowledge about your home. Real estate agents have a wide network of contacts that can make you house sell fast.

Stage Your House

You really have to stage your house. Houses that have been well staged usually sell forty percent faster than houses that are empty or cluttered. Staging the inside of your house means that you will have minimalize your belongings (you’ll probably want to rent a storage unit). The rule of thumb is that the shelves shouldn’t have more than three items on each shelf. Your closets should look like they are large and roomy. Make sure that everything is clean.

Curb appeal is an important part of staging. Spend some time planting some flowers in your yard and paint your porch. Make sure that you keep your lawn mowed and make sure that your kids keep their bikes and other toys stored in their garage.

Make Yourself Scarce

When your real estate agent calls to tell you that someone wants to see your home you should make yourself scarce. The fact that someone wants to see your house is a very good sign. Having you watching their every move will only make them feel pressured and lots of people don’t like to feel like they are being pressured. You real estate agent should already have all the information about your house, you really don’t need to be there. Take the opportunity to take the kids out for ice cream or enjoy a nice date with your spouse.

With the recent boom in foreclosures hitting the nation, it’s almost certain that if you watch the news or read the news paper, you have probably heard the term “short sale”… But do you really understand or know what a short sale is? For many, they are still unclear.

Put simply, a short sale is when a lender or lenders, accept less that the full amount due on a loan when the property is sold. The lender will usually accept the short sale to avoid the time and expense of a foreclosure, but do require that the owner of the property show some type of a “hardship”, or reason that they can no longer afford the home and need to sell. In a short sale, the lender will pay all of the fees that are involved with the sale, including the Realtor’s commissions.

With home prices down over 29% across the nation, many homeowners are finding themselves in a position where they no longer have any equity in their property. And even if they have a small amount, when a borrower is in default on a mortgage they not only owe the back payments but also may owe late fees, back taxes, attorney fees, etc. This can add up quickly to eat up all the equity the borrower had in the property. If the borrower is unable to bring the account current the lender will then foreclose on the property. With a foreclosure, the lender can lose up to 40% of the mortgage amount because of the extra costs involved with foreclosing on a property: attorney fees, court costs, lost interest, eviction costs, property maintenance costs, and selling costs. Foreclosing on a property can take anywhere from a few months, up to 2 years in some states. Therefore, it is sometimes in the best interest of the lender to accept the short sale.

It also can be in the best interest of the borrower. They will not have to endure the time and stress of a foreclosure and their credit may not be as adversely affected as it would with a foreclosure. It is quicker and easier and does not subject the borrower to the embarrassment of a foreclosure.

How does it work?

The first thing the borrower should do when they can no longer afford a property is to contact the lender immediately. The last thing a lender wants to do is foreclose on the property. When contacting the lender, they have departments that work with people who are behind on their payments to resolve the situation and will be able to direct you to their departments.

Unfortunately though, these departments are typically understaffed, overworked, and have very poor systems in place. Getting through to someone and getting them to actually work on your file can be a very frustrating battle. This is why it is important to hire a Realtor, or Realtors that are experienced in short sales and dealing with the lender that hold your mortgage. If they are experienced, they will have the numbers and the contacts to get the deal done.

Once you have notified the bank, the first step will be hiring a Realtor and placing your property on the market. With most lenders, they will not review any paperwork or consider you for a short sale until your property has been listed on the market and a buyer has submitted an offer. Once that has taken place, there is a lot of paperwork the lender will require along with the offer in order to consider the short sale. The information required may include:

• Income documentation such as 2 years of tax returns and W-2s, along with one month of pay check stubs to verify the borrowers’ income.

• Bank statements to verify the borrowers’ assets.

• Hardship letter – this letter will describe for the lender the reasons the borrowers are in the financial position they are in and will ask the lender to accept the short sale. Borrowers should make this letter sound as sad as possible and back up the story with any documentation you may have such as medical bills, etc.

• Financial Worksheet – this worksheet will show the borrowers net montly income vs. all of the monthly expense, and will be used to show that the borrower is unable to afford the property.

• Fair market value for the property -depending on the lender they may require aComparative Market Analysis (CMA) from the Realtor justifying the price of the property.

• Purchase agreement signed by all parties.

• Preliminary HUD1 – This will show the proceeds of the sale of the property after the mortgage is paid off and all other closing costs and fees are paid. This will show the lender what they will be receiving as the short payoff.

• Listing agreement.

• (And many lenders have their own specific forms that are required in addition to everything above.)

Once the lender receives all of the above information, they will hire an outside third party to complete either an appraisal on the property or a BPO (broker’s price opinion) to determine the fair market value of the property. They will use the information provided above to make sure there is a hardship and they will compare the offer that is presented against this value to determine if the short sale makes sense, or if they can obtain more by going through foreclosure.

Once the lender has reviewed all of the information, they may or may not approve the short sale. If they do not approve the short sale they will proceed with the foreclosure. If they do agree to the short sale, the transaction will move forward the same as a normal sale, you will close on the sale of your property and the lender will take the loss.

So, is the borrower off the hook?

Not necessarily. The lender still has options to try to collect this shortage. As a condition of the short sale the lender may require the borrower to sign a note to repay the shortage or bring in cash at closing. The lender may also require that the borrower agrees to the lender retaining their rights to pursue a deficiency at a later time. This is why it is important to work with a team that is experienced in Short Sale and to consult a real estate attorney to fully understand all of your options.

There may also be tax implications in a short sale or foreclosure. When the lender forgives the amount of the shortage, they will report that amount to the IRS and the IRS will send out a 1099 showing the shortage as income. Each person’s situation is different and they may be protected from having to pay taxes on that amount through the “Mortgage Debt Relief Act” or through showing insolvency. I cannot offer advice on that and highly recommend that any person considering a short sale or foreclosure consult a tax professional to fully understand the implications of a short sale or foreclosure.

Selling a house can be a bit tricky if you don’t know how to price it. You might have given it a good paint job and done everything required to prepare the house for sale.

Mow what remains is to give it a price. Pricing your home for sale in a Buyers market should not be taken lightly as this can determine whether you get a good deal or a bad one. There will never come a time whereby you will sell your house cheaper than the way you bought it especially if the land in the surrounding is appreciating in value. It is more likely that you would sell it for a higher amount than you bought it due to the steady increase of prices in generally everything.

Pricing your home for sale in a Buyers market should involve thorough research of current real estate prices. Consultation should not be overlooked on this matter. It should also be a part of the research in finding the right quote to give your house. When Pricing your home for sale in a Buyers market you should never be too high as this would lead to few offers and you might not end up selling your house. The price should be consistent with the current market so as to be fair.

One thing that you should also consider when selling your house is that after roughly 30 days people will start loosing interest in the house. If you overprice it chances are that people will loose interest before this time line. Remember the buyer will also want to get value for their money. Therefore they will know the market rate for a house in that particular part of town.

To achieve the best when pricing your home for sale, you can use a trick that manipulates the market. This runs into the supply and demand rule that applies in ever venture that concerns buying and selling. Price your house slightly lower than its market worth. This will attract very many interested buyers. Once they start pouring in and giving slightly higher offers in order to get the house. In the process one of them will happen to offer you a price that is either at the current market price or slightly more! This is one of the methods real estate agents and other people that are in the buying and selling business adopt.

It is not a guarantee that it will work but it will help you when pricing your home for sale in a Buyers market

Selling a home is not as easy as 123. It requires a lot of time, planning and effort. You will also have to be determined to be able to sell your home successfully. There are people who have finished more than a year trying to sell their homes in vain. They end up selling them at a price that is like throwing away.

Finding qualified buyers for your home is the beginning of getting your homes worth. Once you start advertising your home for sale different kinds of people will be coming to you giving you offers. They will range from real estate agents to brokers, companies to individuals. All of these people might be qualified or not. The trick to Finding qualified buyers for your home is to first find your homes value. By knowing the value you will be in a better position to know if a buyer is qualified.

A buyer who approaches you with an installment plan to buy your home should be avoided. This option should be only used if only you can confidently confirm that they are credit worthy and not conmen. In today’s world people are finding ways and means of swindling innocent people in order to make a quick buck. So finding qualified buyers for your home should not be taken for granted.

One can also know if a buyer is qualified by the offer they are giving and their dress code. For example if you are selling a home worth half a million dollars, someone in sandals, jeans and a t – shirt is most likely a person who is only interested in finding out how much a home like yours costs. However, a person in a business that is perfectly fitting is more likely to be a potential buyer. However he may also be a conman so be careful.

Generally anyone who will want to buy your home will tour it and be very inquisitive on issues concerning the home. They will also be serious when inquiring about the home. Offers that such people make will be very realistic as they will be very close to what you had originally quoted.

Those are the simplest methods in finding qualified buyers for your home. Precaution is advised at all times during these transactions. It is always advisable to have an extra person or two when finalizing the sale. This person should be someone plus your Attorney.

Selling your home by owner (FSBO) can be quite a hassle, especially if you are doing this for the first time. There are a number of pointers you should look into before you embark on the home selling process.

For anything you do to be successful you must have a plan. You need to plan how you are going to sell your home. The plan for Selling your home by owner (FSBO) should be well done so as to achieve your goal. There are a few pointers one can look into when they are selling a house. Some of them are motivation for selling, buying a new home, using real estate agents and whether to sell before buying another home.

The motivation for Selling your home by owner (FSBO) can vary from one to another. The best motivation would be if you want to buy a better home than the one you currently have. However, the motivation could be due to financial straits. Of these two you are more likely to be more careful if you are planning to get a better home. This is simply because it means you have saved up some money and you just need some additional capital to be able to buy a better place. If that is the case then there is no pressure. Unfortunately for those selling due to financial straits, there is more pressure because of the stress related with being in this kind of financial position. You will find that the house might be sold for a throw away price due to the pressure of getting some money from it as soon as possible.

When Selling your home by owner (FSBO) you should also consider real estate agents. Consult several of them and you will be amazed at how many different offers you will get. Before you do this you should first get an evaluation of the house by different parties. Real estate agents are all over the world. Most of them can also do evaluation of your house but it would be better if you consulted with estate evaluation agents to get a more realistic figure. They can also give you tips on how to sell your house depending on how much they are willing to inform you. Once you have done the proper research and planning, Selling your home by owner (FSBO) should not be a hassle at all.

If one is not careful, they might fall prey to con artists who may swindle you out of your home and leave you without a house and payment.

If you are looking to sell your house fast for cash, you will find that the traditional method of selling your house through an estate agent can be a lengthy and problematic process. You would have to find a few agents to get comparisons, arrange for a valuation, paint & fix up your property, hold open days, show ‘browsers’ around, wait for an offer, negotiate a price, wait to see if the buyer can get a mortgage, wait if there is a chain involved, pay agent and lawyer fees, If sale fails – start again, all could be complete in 4 – 6 months if you’re lucky! You will also find that today’s UK housing market is not what it used to be, buyers are hard to find and most people that would like to buy are unable to get mortgages.

If you need a fast house sale for cash, then selling your house through estate agents is not the best way for you. An easier way to sell your house fast is to use property investors (cash buyers) who specialise in fast house sales. They offer to buy your house fast, no matter what condition it is in, so there would be no need to spend money painting or fixing up your property. One such company is Buy Sell Property Fast. They appreciate that everybody has different reasons for wanting a fast house sale, their services are tailored to meet your needs every step of the way.

One reason is that you may be selling your house fast to resolve your financial problems. If you are facing severe financial difficulty paying your mortgage, struggling to pay your household bills, car loans, your credit cards or other personal loans then specialist property investors can help stabilise your current financial position by quickly buying your house from you. This will help you avoid getting deeper into debt and also stop the threat of having your house repossessed.

Specialist property investors such as Buy Sell Property Fast can offer you a very fast property sale, usually within the course of a week or in extreme cases within 48 hours. This could allow you to repay and settle your outstanding mortgage and any loans that may have been secured on the property. Their legal team can confirm the sale of your property very quickly and put you back on track through financial stability.

You can also sell your house to them and then rent it back from them. It is very important to deal with this type of problem head on, don’t try to hide from it. If you take remedial action NOW, you can stop the repossession threat on your home.

Other reasons for wanting to sell your house fast include – Relocation or emigration, separation and divorce, bereavement, repossession, ill health, broken property chain or even a failed property investment.

Whatever your reason for selling, specialist property investors such as Buy Sell Property Fast can offer you a very fast property sale.

We are selling an industrial building and have multiple offers that are very close. Besides price, how else would you evaluate the offers in making a final decision?

This has been a common occurrence on Long Island in the last five years (and frustrating for buyers) as increasing demand has chased a dwindling supply of commercial properties. While price is certainly important, it is not the only criterion. If two prices are relatively equal, I would be more concerned about which offer is more likely to close, and how quickly it will close. So let’s look at some of the items that may contribute to a fast and successful closing.

The Purchaser: This is usually a subjective decision. As an example, a large public company may be a desirable purchaser because it is financially strong, but undesirable because there are layers of management involved in the approval process. Or a company that needs to occupy the building in five months because of an expiring lease may have more motivation to close than an investor who is hoping to find a tenant. So take a close look at the buyers and their motivations, and ask yourself who needs the deal the most.

Financing: If the contract is to be subject to financing, you must have reasonable assurance that the purchaser can achieve the financing. I ask for a full set of financial statements. After I evaluate them, I ask a mortgage professional to do the same. If the purchaser is looking for a high loan-to-value ratio (LTV), will it be reasonably granted? If the purchaser has identified his lending institution, I like to pick up the phone and chat with the lending officers. Of course, an all-cash deal with no financing contingency is much more desirable, all other things being equal.

Other Contingencies: The two other major contingency items are title and environmental. The first is rarely an issue in comparing buyers, but the second can be huge. There is no commercial property that is being sold today without an environmental report and a contingency associated with it. The important item to be negotiated is what happens when an environmental report is positive and remediation will be necessary. I cannot discuss all of the possible alternatives in this column, only point out that two different purchasers may consider different alternatives, one of which may be more advantageous to you. (And, of course, the purchaser with the fewest contingencies is usually to be preferred.)

Timing and Cash Down: You will naturally favor the buyer who can close more quickly, all other things being equal. And from your point of view, the fewer rights the purchaser has to delay the closing, the better. Also look for a substantial down payment. Avoid purchasers who are offering down payments that are little more than “option” payments that permit them to walk away.

Representation and Legal Counsel: And finally, I am more likely to have a “warm and fuzzy” feeling with a purchaser who is well represented, by both broker and attorney. The likelihood of closing is much stronger if both are well respected in the industry, as well as professional in their conduct.

There may be other issues or concerns that arise, but a review of these items is a great start in comparing multiple offerings, making a decision, and quickly achieving a successful closing.

Unless you are confident that your home will sell within a year, you may be forced to consider other options. Seeing rows of homes for sale on your street isn’t a very promising sight and depending on your financial situation you could be forced to get a little creative until things look up in the market. Here are a few ideas to ride out the housing bust in the credit crisis and economic downturn.

Consider leasing your home to a tenant. Before you toss that idea out, consider that the credit crisis and housing market depression have created a significant need for rental property. Business owners and working professionals have lost their jobs due to downsizing or the disappearance of their market and have either unloaded their own homes or suffered foreclosure. As they find other jobs or go back to school, they will likely be in no shape to buy another home.

If your home meets code standards for government housing programs you would almost be guaranteed that your home would be occupied with a portion of the rent regularly coming from the local housing authority. Single mothers going through school or families who are forced to accept lower wage jobs often turn to assistance programs until brighter days.

Even if you didn’t make a huge profit renting your home, your mortgage would be paid every month with extra money you didn’t have before. And where would that leave you?

Consider teaming up with another family or members of your own family. Do Grandma and Grandpa still own that big old house just outside of town? What about close friends who are in the same boat with space to spare? You could also approach another family or couple who would be willing to rent their home as well and find a less expensive home to share. If you split the household bills, you just saved 50% on your overhead every month while you wait for the market to rebound. You could share babysitting if you both have children, manage chores, and have a chance to get to know people you like even better.

Consider selling your home as a lease purchase. If the idea of renting your home and facing the possibility of irresponsible tenants scares you then consider offering this rent to own option. With banks holding on tight to their money and mortgage lenders in hot water, lenders are betting on a sure thing: credit scores! Many people will find another job but their credit will still be lost. In their frustration and mistrust of lending institutions, people will consider this an option. For you it means that the buyer would assume full responsibility all repairs or updates. There is no real estate agent or the fees and commission that go with them, and no bank. If you’re forced to foreclose, you own the home and you’re out nothing to start over.

One thing seems to be clear in tough times. They money doesn’t disappear, it just changes hands. If people can’t buy, they will rent. If people can’t finance through a lending institution, they’re sure to look for another way. Renting your home or selling through lease purchase could be the solution you and a future tenant have been looking for.