First Time Home Buyers
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
I just listed a house in Omaha Saturday and it sold this week! Pretty incredible considering the horror stories you have been hearing in the news. The reason I think we were so successful is PRICING. I viewed the home and made a few staging suggestions for the homeowner which she implemented, but the most important step was looking at the current market and making an informed decision on how to price the property to sell it.
There is a tendency, especially in today’s market, to say “Let’s price it here and we can always come down”. Not necessarily so. Did you know that buyers tend to look at homes in $5,000 price increments? So, if you price your home at $154,500 and it’s really a $145,000 house, you are getting entirely the wrong group of people in the home to look. Your home will be compared to other homes ranging from $149,500 to $159,500 and most likely won’t stack up against the competition well. Generally, buyers will not embarrass you by making what they consider to be a low ball offer. You miss out on getting the right buyers into your home during the most important marketing time…the first 2-3 weeks from listing. When you finally make the decision to reduce the price, many buyers will have already found another home and your home will look “worn” because of the days on market.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to price right. Then, when you receive an offer, consider it carefully as your best offer is generally the first offer you receive. Not necessarily the price being offered, but the most motivated buyer, so you should negotiate this offer with great care. We all have a number in our heads that we think is right for our home…remember it’s just a house to the buyer! When considering offers, consider the time factors, cost of staying in the home and the inconvenience of not being able to move on to where you want to be. Is is worth $1,000-2,000 ? Buying and selling a home is an emotional process, but I encourage you to try to step back and make the best business decision you can make. That’s why I am here….to provide you with a nuetral opinion and help you keep perspective as you go through the process.
Tags: Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Housing Market Trends, Iowa Homes, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting, Southwest Iowa Home Sales Market
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
In case you don’t know what a short sale is…it is when the bank agrees to release the owner of a property from their mortgage obligation for less than what is owed. There are plenty of people in situations where they must do a short sale on their property because the value of their home has declined and they have no equity in the home. Many of these people are ones that took out 100% loans or have taken a 2nd mortgage and used their equity for other purposes.
Banks will accept short sales, but you must be PATIENT whether you are a seller or buyer. If you are getting behind on payments and feel like the ball is starting to roll down hill, DON”T WAIT, contact a Realtor that can work with you and your bank to get a short sale approved. If you are a buyer, don’t expect to get a response from an offer within 48-72 hours as the banks have a process to go through. There is nothing you can do to speed that process up. The bank will get financial information from the bank, then get an appraisal on the property. It depends on the type of loan and mortgage insurance on what the bank will accept. It is usually somewhere in the 88% level. If an offer is received, it’s not uncommon for a bank to tell the Realtor not to even submit it unless it meets their financial objectives. They usually will not respond in writing so it’s frustrating as anybody with business sense knows that this is not the way to do business.
So, today reminds me of why customers feel so alone in dealing with this difficult process. The banks are not real responsive, they have generally hired someone that quite frankly doesn’t care about the house or whether it sells, it’s just another file on their desk. I am working on just such a case today. I am so frustrated that I wrote to my representative and the Majority Leader to express my frustration with the current environment. Probably won’t change things, but I feel a tad bit better.
Tags: buying, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Financing a home, Home Mortgages, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting
Posted in Appraisal, Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Foreclosures, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Mortgages, Property, Questions and Answers, Real Estate | No Comments »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
We have all heard how terrible things are in the real esate market, how now may not be the right time to sell, and that it is a buyer’s market. All of this information may be true depending on where you live. To satisfy my own curiosity, I did some research on the market today (1-1-10 until today) compared to last year at this same time. In Council Bluffs, we have nearly 100 less homes on the market today as the same time last year, we have sold about 20 less houses with the samedays to close as last year, BUT the average sales price is actually up slightly. Houses continue to sell for about 96% of their list price.
This all leads up to me saying… What we need are some new properties. If you know anyone who may be thinking of selling, please have them contract me….NOW IS THE TIME!!! Don’t wait until everyone else is selling. There are only 3 things that are considered when purchasing a home: Location (can’t do anything about that it is where it is), Condition (future blogs will give you some good ideas on staging and presentation…the owner controls this!) and Pricing (The most important factor and the one the owner definitely controls!) In this market place, correct pricing is key. Let me design a marketing plan that will get your home sold quicker than the average 121 days! First time buyers have less than 90 days to have a contract on a new home in order to qualify for the $8500 tax credit!!
Tags: Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Iowa Homes, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting, Southwest Iowa Home Sales Market
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
This is a tough question for me to answer because, on one hand, any exposure you can get for your home will only help sell the home. However, in most cases a home does not sell from an open house rather from a realtor showing the home to an individual client. Open houses are a chance for people to come through the home without any strings or prequalification, so you really don’t know if the people looking can even purchase your home. A good agent will market your home in several ways, the web (as many sites as we can possibly get), the paper, real estate magazines, the Southwest Iowa Association of Realtors MLS site, the Omaha Area Board of Realtors website and direct mail campaigns in addition to one on one marketing with their own clients and other realtors that they have cultivated realtionships with. I think if you have too many open houses, it can give the impression there is something wrong with the home. You can glean comments that may be helpful in staging the home from people coming through the open.
In summary, I would say, don’t count on an open house to sell your home, rather look at it as a way to gain feedback from the market place. On thing I know for sure, you may not like what the market place tells you, but it is never wrong.
Tags: Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Iowa Homes, om, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting, Southwest Iowa Home Sales Market
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
The answer is YES! If you qualify for the $6500 tax credit, you must have a purchase agreement accepted no later than April 30, 2010, but you have until June 30, 2010 to close on that property. To qualify for the tax credit you must have lived in your current primary residence 5 of the last 7 years. There are no stipulations on what type of new primary residence you must buy, so this is a great time for those thinking of downsizing to their retirement home to make a move. What’s better than getting $6,500 from the government!
It’s also a great time for those that are thinking about moving up to their dream home. It’s likely that your current home is in a price range that would be attractive to first time buyers who can qualify for up to an $8,000 credit which brings more buyers to the market than otherwise would have been AND you will buying/building your dream home at a time when prices have come down and stabilized. It’s a win-win situation that shouldn’t be missed if you are thinking of making a move.
For those that are thinking of listing and worried that this is a bad time, not necessarily. With these incentives, the market should have more buyers than normally expected. Why wait until the press says it’s ok to make a change when everyone will be flooding the market with houses for sale?
Tags: Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Financing a home, Iowa Homes, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
I am often asked by new clients whether I can show them any home that is for sale or if they should call the person that has their name on the sign. The answer is: As a member of the Southwest Iowa Association of Realtors and Omaha Area Association of Realtors, I am able to show any home that is listed by a member of either of these groups. I simply need to make a call and set up an appointment as a professional courtesy.
Most real estate brokerage firms are members of their local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which enables them to show other firms listings on a cooperative basis. It also gives the member access to all the information about the listing, property disclosures, etc. As a member, there is a general agreement on how the commission payment will be split between listing agent’s offices and selling agent’s offices. The MLS is in place to ensure fair and professional real estate practices and to ease in the distribution of information for properties. The CLIENT, whether buyer or seller, has the right to determine who will work for them. Build a relationship with an agent you can trust and feel comfortable with and be loyal to them.
Not all agents in the Omaha Metro area are licensed to sell real estate in both Iowa and Nebraska. I have chosen to be licensed in both states to better serve my clients since the communities are split only by a river. If you are working with an agent in Nebraska and want to look at Iowa properties but your agent isn’t licensed in Iowa, ask them to refer you to me for Iowa showings. My goal is to work with clients so they live where they choose.
Real esate professionals respect the relationships that we have with our clients and will therefore actually appreciate if you are working with an agent that you call them for all showings. Otherwise, you are calling the agent and they do the work only to have you go to another agent to write the offer.
Tags: Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, Iowa Homes, Omaha/Council Bluffs Residential Real Estate Consulting, Southewest Iowa Association Of Realtors (SWIAR), Southwest Iowa Home Sales Market
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, MLS, Real Estate | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Due to the problems with the mortgage market in the past year, FHA has really become about the only option for sub-prime borrowers with low downpayments. In an effort to build up capital reserves and bring back private lending, FHA has announced the following changes:
- Effective April 5, 2010, they will raise the up-front mortgage insurance premium (MIP) to 2.25% and ask the legislature for the authority to increase the maximum annual MIP that FHA can charge.
- New borrowers will now be required to have a minimum FICO score of 580 to qulify for FHA’s 3.5% down payment program. If the score is less than 580, borrowers will be required to put down at least 10%.
- Allowable concessions from the seller will be reduced from 6% to 3%
- Waiver of the anti-flipping rule. The waver will take effect on February 2, 2010 and is effective for one (1) year. All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sale. In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20% or more above the seller’s aquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
The anti-flipping rule waiver is being done to encourage investors to get into the market and keep the number of foreclosed properties to a managable number.
If you are an investor or home buyer and want more information, give me a call.
Tags: Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs Home Sales Market, FHA Mortgage, Financing a home, Home Mortgages, Iowa Homes
Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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