We Have to Stop Meeting Like This... Part 4

You may have heard from friends who had a closing from you know where, and they were stuck in a conference room for 3 hours. When you heard of stories like this you immediately might have thought, “I don’t need that kind of hassle, and houses are not for me!” There is a reason some buyers have an experience like this. It is no different than when you were in college or High School, and some of your classmates always turned their papers in at the very last minute. You knew that had they done their work in consistent and timely manner that the chaotic rush was unnecessary. The same principle applies to obtaining your mortgage. You don’t want to be stuck in a closing room wondering if your lender will be able to fund your loan after you have already sat there for 2 hours. These scenarios happen due to bad planning, last minute changes or a delay in providing the lender with the necessary information. Or in some cases you have done everything right you just have a chaotic lender.  Your loan office is more than an “interest rate” their expertise in guiding you through the system is important and critical. Picking a lender, solely on the rates, generally leads to trouble. I have seen it first hand for 25 years. So what do you look for? You should start with references of their service, are they local, do they fund locally or will the lender have to fund the loan after all the paperwork is signed and you can think of a million things to do like unload the truck, but are stuck waiting for someone in California to okay your loan. Who wants that? Unfortunately that happens to a lot of people who look solely at the rate. Service does not come at a higher price though. There are plenty of great lenders out there that provide great service and low rates. Your real estate professional will know of some good lenders who can take good care of you and provide you with timely service.

Just The Facts Ma'am Part 3

The home inspection is an important time for you as the buyer. If you understand the purpose of the home inspection it will help you in the long run. But first let’s look at what the home inspection is not: It is not a time to gouge the seller for more money. Buyer’s who do this lose an advantage in the negotiation process. The negotiation was the time to determine what you were willing to pay and what the seller was willing to sell for. If you really don’t want the house think about this before you make your offer. Once the offer is accepted you do have a binding agreement. Trying to get out of an offer once it is accepted can be met with resistance from the seller or his attorney. The home inspection is a good time for you to get to know your new home. The inspector can take you through the house and will usually give you a good checklist of maintenance items, how to care for your new home and what to expect with future repairs. If this is your first home use the time as a learning experience on what home ownership is all about. The home inspection is also important since you may find issues that you nor the seller knew about prior to the offer being written. What if the home inspector discovers that the heat exchanger on the furnace is cracked? You would want to know about that issue for sure and so would the seller. It is at this point that the two of you find a reasonable solution to the problem. Most sellers I have dealt with may not like issues like this but they take care of them. What they resent is minor issues being turned into money opportunities for buyers. Beware of tactics like this. You could lose the home over something small. Your real estate professional can provide you with a list of State Certified Inspectors.

I Never Saw it Coming! Part 2

Who thinks that they will lose a home? Most of the buyers today are not thinking that. That is why when you go out looking if you have a different perspective in mind you can be the savvy one out there who wins rather than loses. So you may wonder how people lose a house that they really like. Sometimes it is the small things that make the difference. You will want to differentiate yourself from the other buyers with a pre-approval letter. Everyone has one of those you say, that is true but on your pre-approval letter make sure the lender states that the credit check has been done and they have looked at your tax returns from the previous year. This is the big thing that sets YOU apart from your competing buyers. When the real estate agent looks at two offers at similar prices they will look for reasons one offer should stand out over the other. Most pre-approval letters are written by a lender who may never have met with the buyer. Did they do a credit check to see if the buyer is really credit worthy? Did they meet with the buyer and review their past tax records? The answer to both of these is No in most cases. That is where YOU will shine!  One of seller’s biggest fears is whether the buyer will be able to obtain the financing they put forth in their offer. If this small step is done ahead of time it will alleviate a lot of those fears and could mean that YOU get the house!

Thou Shalt Not Steal

Look at homes in YOUR price range. Just because the market is having difficulties does not mean you can steal a home that is twice your price range. It just doesn’t happen. Sure there are those odd cases out there that someone relays to you but I bet if you dig into the facts a little deeper there is a lot more to those stories. Writing really low offers on homes you cannot afford just alienates the seller. Now the Realtors job is to keep things cool, but I have seen some ridiculous offers come across my desk and the seller and I wonder why the other agent bothered to write the offer in the first place. Your offer has to have some credibility in it somewhere. The next blog post will talk about Home Inspections and what to expect with these.

Is Now a Good Time to Buy? Part 1 of 4

I know with interest rates so low you want to buy a home. I mean why not? Many of your friends have bought homes or at least it seems that way. So what do you do if you have that itch to own? I guess the first thing you would need to realize is that there are many others just like you who have discovered the same idea of putting all that rent money into a home that you can benefit from rather than the landlord. Finding a home in the right price range is kind of obvious. So beyond that, what do you need to concentrate on? When you find the right house how do you get it? What if the house is  everything you have always dreamed of is fixed up and shows like a dream? When you were at the open house it was jammed with other people just like you. So how can you secure the house before someone else does? Then once you have the house what if it is not what you thought it was, like the home inspection finds something nasty? Now what? Then there is the financing, the closing costs and prepaids that the loan officer talks about and you nod like you know what he is talking about but really don’t have a clue? Then you have heard from friends about long closings, 2-3 hours waiting for who knows what but after the horror stories you think to yourself, “Why would I ever want to do that?”

Let’s tackle each one of these topics because they are all great questions. I won’t answer each one in this single blog post so I will answer them over the next few posts. But each one deserves some attention.

Interest Rates are Low is NOW the time to buy?

You can do the math on this one. There are some great mortgage calculators out there on the web http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/mortgagecalc/ . One variable that you will need with all these calculators is what is the cost of homeowners insurance. It is always a good idea to get some help in this area. Will Edwards at State Farm Insurance would be a place to start. For a $220,000 home with $3,000 in annual property taxes at 4.25% interest rate with 10,500 down payment the payments are $1,485 with PMI. When you meet with your lender it is good to ask for a Truth in Lending comparison. Feel Free to contact Brian Faust at Wisconsin Mortgage brian@wimort.com. I am providing these names with no catch. I don’t get anything from these guys and they are people I have dealt with in the past and feel comfortable that I am getting the best service from them. From here you can figure out your personal finances to see if this is a good move for you or not. 

The nice thing about most mortgages today is that they will escrow your property taxes as part of your payment, so in December when the taxes are due, you will have the money set aside. In the next blog post we can discuss how to avoid losing the home of your dreams. It happens every day in this market but if you follow a few simple rules you can win the day with the dream house.

Charmed, I'm Sure!

 I was stunned as you will be when you walk into this lovely home on South Street in Oconomowoc. I was intrigued from the outside but never thought the inside of this charmer would be so delightful. Each room is a display of decorating craftsmanship. Sounds like a new catch phrase to me. You may have thought to yourself, "If I could find something simple, close to downtown and not to "braggy" that would suit my needs to the T".

 I won't say you should see this because honestly I don't know what you are looking for, but if charm, function and neatness are on your list then this might be something you should peek at. The house will be open this Sunday from 1-2:30, but if you miss this because you are gearing up for the Packer game, then I can make arrangements for a private showing. The above picture is what greets you as you walk in. Stunning huh? Then right around the corner is this delightful sitting room, reading room, tea room, whatever you can imagine yourself doing room. The owner knows a thing or two about decorating and it shows in every room. Feel free to visit the link above or click here for more photos of this delightful home on beautiful South Street.

Getting Ready for WRA Convention

In a few days I will have a bit part in a panel regarding social media for the Wisconsin Realtors Association's annual convention. I am excited not about what I want to share but what I can learn from a great panel and moderator. It should be lots of fun and informative. I read lots of blogs and I have my own ideas but often times, with many things in life, a different perspective provides better context to your thought. For example I have always thought brevity in a blog post was good. But the more I read of Chris Brogan I am impressed with many of his posts. They are not always short but they are good! How does he do it? I am genuinely impressed with the great content with his frequent posts. Browse his site and you will discover the tools that he offers to be a better writer and blogger. I am not a fan of re-creating the wheel so that is why I will be happy to promote Chris at the convention. He is a pro why not learn from him?

More to come after the convention...

Goodwill Games

Here is an important reminder when negotiating on the sale of a home, whether you are the buyer or the seller. Over the past 25 years of selling homes in and around the lake country area I have discovered that price, terms, inclusions and closing date are not always the final factor in a successful transaction. Goodwill, the ultimate in intangibles has a lot to do with what the final price of a home might be.

Let me give you an illustration. Recently I was working with the buyer to purchase a nice home. The buyer wrote a good offer but not at a price that the seller liked. It was well within the parameters of a normal first offer, but lower than what the seller liked. The seller decided to ignore the good offer. Because they had other showings they thought that surely someone else would offer a higher price and they could disregard the only offer that was on the table. Well sure enough no one else made an offer, the deadline passed and the buyer was offended with no reply. Nadda, zilch, nothing. The deal never came together.

Then the buyer told me that had the seller responded in a timely fashion, the buyer would have certainly paid more than their initial offer. The seller still sits with an unsold home while the buyer has moved on to a different property. Goodwill was lost with the buyer because the seller chose to ignore the offer.

If I can encourage you when selling or buying to keep the Goodwill alive, you will be more successful buying and selling your home.

Looking Back and Forward

Back in February we expected to hear more about a settlement between the bigger banks and the AG's of most of the states. Due to the "Robo-Signing" some homeowners were wrongfully displaced from their homes. Foreclosures came to an abrupt stop while the mess was sorted out.

When we look at the the numbers nationally regarding predictions for the Real Estate market it is similar to a national weather forecast. But what about our area? In April a Settlement was reached and the foreclosure process began picking up speed.

In February Waukesha County was averaging about 50 homes sold per month at Sheriff's Sale. Today the number is closer to 120 per month. This number fluctuates each week but the overall trend is upwards with distressed sales. Who is buying all these homes? The banks. The first mortgage holder is generally the purchaser of the home and it may take that bank 6 months before the home comes back on the market. We still have a window of opportunity in the market right now.

Many future sellers I talk to today are under the impression that next year the market will be back. What they mean is home prices will be appreciating and the mess will be over. Based on the foreclosure activity it seems like we might be in for a little more distress. But the good news is we are moving our way out of the mess with more sales.

Homes that are wheelchair accessible

Finding just the right home is often a challenge. Location, amenities, bedrooms, floor plan are all conditions of choosing the right home. Now add to the list wheelchair accessible and the list suddenly gets very small. Wider hallways and doorways are beginning points.

How about access to the home from the garage and the front door? In our area typically there are two steps into the house from the garage and front door. This is not exactly wheelchair friendly. Once inside the home other factors to consider are the following: wider hallways, wheelchair counters, showers with a turn radius for a wheelchair, roll-in showers, elevators for homes with multiple levels, garages that will accommodate vans with lift gates, and the list goes on. How do I make my home wheelchair accessible?  The link provides some practical steps you can take to accommodate your home. If you are looking for a home in the greater lake country area that is wheelchair accessible ask your Realtor for assistance. You can also visit this link Hartland Home for a home that is wheelchair accessible with an elevator, roll-around shower, wheelchair counters and more. I also have a condo in Merton with a 3.5 car garage and "No-Step" entry from the garage and front door.

Tips to Buying a Relocation Home

Urban legends abound with regards to purchasing a home from a Relocation company or from a seller who is being relocated. Myth #1 I can steal this house because a corporation owns it. Nothing could be further from the truth. relocation companies spend a great deal of time obtaining the right price for a home. Most if not all firms have three local real estate opinions on value. These are the people who routinely sell in a specific area and have local knowledge. Myth #2: I am taking my chances on the condition of the home because the home is being sold through a relocation company.  Just the opposite is true! The amount of tests, inspections and work orders that a relocation company requires of the home owner is far beyond a typical sale. In addition many relocation companies offer a radon warranty. They provide the option of a long term radon test conducted over weeks (most non-relo sales are done over 3 days) and in the event that the long term test shows higher radon levels the relocation company will install a mitigation system at their cost. Myth#3 If the seller accepts my offer before the relocation company accepts my offer I could lose out to another higher offer. Generally speaking in my experience this is false. Once the seller has verbally accepted the offer and as the relocation company works through their due diligence, they will not sell the house to a higher bidder.

One complaint that many buyers have with relocation companies is the length of time for approval of an offer. While this is a valid concern-- a buyer who is prepared for this ahead of time can deal with the slowness easier if they understand that this is part and parcel of these types of transactions. This is our job as Realtors to help the buyer's understand how a relocation transaction progresses through their system.

August Events in Waukesha County

This great magazine landed on my desk yesterday and it is full of great happenings and news from Waukesha County. If you are looking for something to do in August this is a great resource.  Take note of the Waukesha Old Car Club that will be hosting its event in Frame Park on August 12th or check out the historic Mail Boat Tours on Lac La Belle from August 13-17th. That one sounds really fun. There there is the World renown arts festival in Oconomowoc from the 18-19th of August. To wrap up the month watch for the Wings Over Waukesha event, August 25-26. Need a place to walk the dog? Check out page 11 for a list of the Dog Parks in your area. What a great resource!! For More Information click here for the AUGUST CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Meeting the Appraisal

Most offers today in our market are subject to an appraisal. In the past these contingencies were rare, but today they are one of the most common contingencies second to financing. So what does this mean to you as a seller? Once you have negotiated the offer price with the buyer the contract must survive the appraisal process. I might note here that most do. However in the event that the appraised value is less than the offer price, a lender and or the buyer may ask the seller to reduce the contract price to the appraised value. This scenario does happen and causes great concern for a seller. The banks are concerned about insufficient value as is the buyer, so the pressure rests on the seller to concede to the new appraised price. Without the sellers consent the deal will not survive. It is so important in our market that your home is priced correctly to begin with. A legitimate list price generally escapes appraisal problems.