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Saturday, March 26th, 2011

ARE YOU GOING TO LEAD OR CHASE THE MARKET?

The old saying of buy low, sell high is something everyone is thinking about today as prices seem to have stabalized a bit.  BUT, have we hit the low yet?  There is no way to know this answer until it’s too late.  Today is a great time to buy a home and is certainly not a bad time to sell if you price your home properly.  We still have historically low rates…you can still lock in a 30 year loan for under 5% interest.  As the economy improves and mortgage banking reforms are put in place, this may be the best chance you have to make a real estate investment. 

Remember, that the COST of a home, not the price of a home is what you want to pay attention to as you make your decisions.  Your interest rate is one of the biggest factors in the final cost of your home.  Assume you purchase a home and take out a $150,000 mortgage at 5% today.  Your monthly payment would be $805.50.  BUT, if you wait and interest rates go up just 1%, your monthly payment would be $900.  This $95 change in monthly payment could mean that you would have to settle for a home in a lower price range and obviously less desirable to you. 

This is good information to keep in mind as you analyze whether you want to sell now or wait until the price of your home recovers to pre-2009 prices.  First of all, all experts expect the market to slowly recover, not rebound in great leaps.  Secondly, if you wait for the market to recover, you will also be buying your home at the higher prices and most likely higher interest rates. 

If you would like to discuss your particular situation and develop a strategy to make the best of this great market opportunity, give me a call so we can get together to discuss.

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More sellers turning to real estate professionals!

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

 

According to an article in the Super Shopper, more people selling their home without the help of a real esate professional plummeted over the past year.  According to the NAR 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, “for sale by owner” transactions dropped to a record low  11% and almost half of those sellers sold their homes to someone they already knew such as relatives, friends or neighbor.

If you look around Council Bluffs and Omaha, you will certainly see fewer homes for sale by owner as well indicating we are no different than national statistics.  Do you wonder why this is happening? 

I believe the answer is very easy:  1) The market is more complex and difficult in the tighter credit market.  2)  A Realtor can save a seller time and money by assisting the seller in setting realistic prices which are key in a tight and competitive market.  3) Managing the sale to closing has been much more complex and precarious in this tougher credit market.  4)  Without the market knowledge and professional assistance a Realtor provides, sellers are faced with a marketing disadvantage.

In past years, you saw lots of  for sale by owner properties out there because the market was booming, credit was available to everyone and the appraisal process was streamlined.  Sellers deemed it not important to have a professional involved in the process.  This actually may have contributed to buyers paying too much for homes that are now even further down in value.  As in many cases, now these people are looking to the real estate professional to get them out of the problem they got into by themselves.

Statistics have always shown that having a professional market your home results in better sales prices.  In 2009, a typical property without professional assistance sold for $172,000 compared with a $215,000 sales price for the typical agent assisted property.

The next time you are considering buying or selling a home, please give strong consideration to using a professional agent and hopefully me.  I take my taxes to a tax specialist, I see a doctor for my health issues, and a dentist for my teeth because they have been trained in their field and I have confidence that I will get the best results for the situation.  I hope you can look at what I do for a living in the same way.  I consider my career a professional career and as such I continue to seek new knowledge so I can best represent my clients and I work hard to accomplish the goals of my clients with the least amount of stress and fuss.

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Pricing Is Key In Today’s Market!

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.

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Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate | No Comments »

Can I Get The $6500 Tax Credit If I Close On A Home After April 30, 2010?

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?

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Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Questions and Answers, Real Estate, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Can A Realtor Show Any House For Sale In The Omaha Metro Area?

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.

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Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, MLS, Real Estate | No Comments »

Do You Think Now Is Not The Right Time To Sell? You May Be Wrong!

Friday, January 29th, 2010

You have been hearing alot about how terrible the market is and how prices have come down so drastically in the media so conventional thinking may be that now would be a awful time to sell.   Not so.  

  •  First of all, we are in the Midwest, you can apply what you hear on national TV to us.  We are fortunate to have a more stable real estate market…we don’t live on the roller coaster of huge increases and huge decreases. 
  • You May Be Missing Out On $6500:  The Federal Home Owner Incentive goes away if you do not have a contract written on April 30th with a closing prior to June 30th of this year.  If you are ever thinking about moving from your current home to either your dream home or retirement home, this just may be the incentive you are looking for.
  • You May Have More Competition Later:  Again, there is a Federal Home Buyer incentive program that come to an end in April of this year.  Statistics have shown that this incentive has been a significant contributor to the come back of the real estate industry.  Are you going to wait until everyone decides the market is active and they should sell or beat them to the punch and list now while inventories are reducing and prices are stabalizing?
  • What happens if the capital gains exemption for the primary residence or even the income tax rates go up in the future as many are predicting.  Are you just waiting to turn over some of your equity to the government in higher taxes?

Is there a risk in selling your home now, of course, there is always a risk, but when times are a bit uncertain for most this is when real money can be made.

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Policy Changes For FHA Mortgages Announced!

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.

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Posted in Buy a House, First Time Home Buyers, Homes, Homes for Sale, Housing Market, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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