Where's The Money?

Have you ever been at a restaurant, ordered and ate your meal then went to pull out your wallent and realized it wasn't there or if it was you were going to be short on how much money you had? Well, that happens more often than not when it comes to someone buying a home. They spend a vast amount of time on the internet, driving around and visiting homes until they find the one they want to only discover later that they don't qualify for a loan large enough or not at all in order to buy it. Or, they can qualify for the loan, but because they weren't prepared another buyer who was prepared swoops in and gets the home.

Making sure your financing is in place BEFORE you start getting serious about finding a new home has only advantages and no disadvantages. Below is a small list of advantages.

• Knowledge of what you can afford.


• Knowing how much payment you can expect


• How much money you will need up front if any.


• Able to negotiate a better deal


• Advantage over other buyers who are not pre-approved.


• Close quicker on the home.

All the items on this list represent power for a buyer and demonstrate to a seller that you, as a buyer, are a solid buyer who is negotiating with integrity.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself prepared financially and you will be rewarded greatly when you go and buy that dream home.

The Price is Right

One of the most difficult things to do as a homeowner is to determine the value of a home. As a homeowner, we have a vested interest in the house thus have an emotional interest in the value. We may have watched our children grow up in the house and have put a lot of love, sweat and tears in the house thus we're attached to it. All this emotional connection, unfortunately, tends to hinder our ability to look at our house realistically and with fresh eyes. The things that we've overlooked in our homes over the years and feel are no big deal will not be overlooked by a buyer and will be a big deal to them. In addition having up-to-date information about the market is essential to getting a house priced right to sell and though it's getting easier to find, it's still something that takes practice. Also, the value of a house is often different from what a buyer is willing to pay for a house. One would think they are the same, but if they were there would be no negotiations necessary when buying a home. All we would have to do is have the home appraised and say this is the price.

These are some of the reasons that a real estate professional is a good choice when determining your home value whether you sell it by owner or with their assistance. A real estate agent should have access to all the homes in an area that have recently sold and all the data that surrounds that. Many homeowners think that just because a house "down the street" sold for a certain amount that their home should sell for "at least that amount" but probably more. But without knowing all the details in the sale of that home can really distort the true value of that sale. Some simple things like how long it was on the market, what kind of financing, what was the seller's motivation, and the buyer's history can all play a vital role in determining the selling price of that home. Many homeowners rely on how many square feet their home has in comparison to others but square footage is only one small part of determining the value of a home so you can't only rely on that.

So, why is this so important? A home that is priced wrong will cost a homeowner big money. It's obvious that if it's priced to low that the homeowner will lose money, but if the house is priced to high even more money can be lost in the long run. If a house is priced too high it will tend to stay on the market longer. The longer it's on the market the more expenses that a homeowner pays. (utilities, taxes, payments, maintenance etc.) Also, the longer it's on the market the more people begin to wonder what's wrong with the house that no one has bought it yet. Thus it gets stigmatized as "something wrong" and it tends to stay on the market longer. In my previous post I mentioned that statistics tell us that the person who most likely will buy your home is a person who sees it in the first couple of weeks after listed. If it's priced too high, they walk and find something else. What does all this do to a homeowner? It forces them to hold the home longer, makes them drop the price later and typically makes them drop the price lower than they would have had they just priced it right in the first place.

So, if you're considering selling your home, take the time and ask a professional for their opinion of the value of your home and what they think it can sell for. If it sounds suspicious get another opinion. If however, everyone is telling you your home is worth less than you think it is, take note it may be.

Get Your Home Ready!

Ok, so you've debated for weeks and have finally decided that you want to sell your home. So, you contact you're favorite real estate agent and tell them to list your house. Unfortunately, the agent comes in, inspects your house then comes up with a laundry list of items that you need to do in order to sell your house. You're balloon is now deflated.

Many people don't realize the old adage that you only get one chance to make a first impression is so true when it comes to selling a house. Homebuyers, especially in today's market, are a selective group of people who are searching for the "perfect" house for them and their situation. It's not like buying a car where there are thousands of the same car out there. There are not two houses exactly alike in the world. There are some that look similar but because houses are attached to the ground, no other house has the exact same location, view or characteristics.

Thus, when a buyer comes by a house to see what it has to offer, they have to be able to see all that the house has to offer them that no other house can. I have often heard statements from sellers at listing appointments that they plan on doing something (clean carpets, paint a room, de-clutter the closets, clean the garage etc.) I say get it done ASAP because I have five days from the time we sign a contract to get this house on the market. Thus you have three days to get it done because on the fourth day I have to get pictures, get all my marketing material together and have it ready for the fifth day.

Now, as a seller all the things that should have been done and could have been done over the past few weeks has to be done in three days.

What happens if you don't get them done? Well, the house is starting to be advertised and a buyer comes to see it. Statistics tell us that the first few people who see a house are the most likely to buy it. If they cannot see this house for all it has to offer and it value then they walk away and see their next house. (As for value, the house also needs to be priced right, I'll save that for another post.) Not only that, but a house that is not in selling condition will not demand as high a price as one in selling condition. For example, if I had a house for sale and tried to sell it with carpet that looked dingy compared to one that had the carpets cleaned, I could sell the one with the cleaned carpets for litterally thousands more. Why? Because a house with dingy carpets tells a buyer that the seller was an unclean person, that the carpets will have to be replaced (though they may not) and to do so would cost them thousands of dollars plus the headache. Clean carpets also smell better and a clean smell always helps sell things at a higher price (think of buying a car with that new car smell compared to one that smells of some offensive odor)

In order to get top dollar for you home and to sell it quicker, begin to do some of those maintence items that you have been putting off. They may cost you a few hundred dollars now, but if you don't do them you will certainly be paying thousands later.

Here's a before and after of a house I have for sale. Which would you rather have?

Before and After Photos

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How Not To Negotiate

I've been reminded again today of one of the biggest mistakes that a buyer can make when offering to purchase a house. I'll give you an example. You see if you can figure out the mistake. Sam seller is selling his home that he's been in for several years now. He has it listed for $110,000. Bonnie buyer views the house and wants to make an offer on the house. They sit down with their agent and make an offer of $85,000 or $25,000 less than asking price. It's submitted and rejected with the instructions to bring your highest and best offer. The buyers now offer $95,000 and Seller Sam counters back at $100,000. Bonnie Buyer rejects and walks away.

Did you see it? Buyer's need to try and place themselves in the shoes of the sellers. By offering $25,000 less than the asking price the buyer's are, in essence, telling the seller's "you're stupid and I want to take advantage of that." Seller's are called sellers because they want to sell their homes but they also want to feel good about it. By offering so much less for the house the seller's are now defensive and unwilling to negotiate in good faith. They get rigid in their negotiations and thus the buyer's end up paying more than they would have had they just made a reasonable offer to begin the negotiations.

I don't know how many times I've seen a low offer like the example above and the seller's simple just dropped the price $1,000 or not at all. In the example had the seller's simply started closer to their offering price they could have been the one being firm they could have inched it up to their best and make the seller come down. Let's say the buyers offered 93,000 or $17,000 less than asking. Still a lot less but a little easier to work with. The sellers may not have rejected it but countered back at lets say 105,000 or $5,000 less than asking. The buyer's then could have countered back at 94,000 The sellers would have then noticed that buyers were getting close to their top and would have had to make some real decisions about what they wanted to do. They could have come down maybe to $100,000 or $102,000. Then the buyers could have come it at 95,000 and said that's top. This deal may not have worked but it would have put the buyer's in the driver's seat. It also would have possibly kept the seller's from getting on the defensive straight from the beginning.

The other aspect of this deal that buyer's need to be aware of is whether or not they should be looking at homes that are priced $20,000+ over what they are able and willing to pay for a house. If they are not willing to pay that much then they probably shouldn't be looking at them simply because if they fall in love with a property they won't be able to purchase it if the seller's are not willing to come down in price.

If you're thinking about buying a house, try and think about what it is that you really want and are willing to pay for a house. If it's not a reasonable price be prepared to not get that house of your dreams.

Seesmic Desktop

Dawn led me to a new program for my desktop that allows me to post to both my facebook page and twitter at the same time with one post. It's called Seesmic Desktop. It seems to work pretty good and it sames some time. I'm into that! If you get a chance try it.

TinCaps Follow up

We ended up having a great time at the TinCaps game. It was actually 1 1/2 games as the game the night before had to be stopped and then finished last night before the next game could start. The TinCaps were losing 4-1 from the night before but pulled out the win. We only stayed until the 5th inning of the second game since we had alreay seen 9+ innings. We did see 7 home runs in the time we were there though.

My favorite part: Reagan was asked to participate in an onfield contest between innings. It was musical chairs (the big blow up kind). Reagan and another girl took on 6 boys. Reagan got 2nd it was fun to watch. They asked Connor if he wanted to participate in an event in the second game. His response: "What is it?" he was told it was a race where you spin around a baseball bat then run. "I don't think I would be very good at that so, no." I loved it! He cracks me up.

You can't really beat the price for going to a game with all the fun. We had great seats about 5 rows behind the third base dugout and the seats were $9 a piece. Food wasn't crazy and parking right by the park was only $4.

It was a good night and well worth the money. If you get a chance try and make a game.

Fort Wayne TinCaps

Going to See the Fort Wayne TinCaps tonight. It's our first time to the new stadium and I can hardly wait. It's real nice to be so close to two minor league teams, the TinCaps and the Toledo Mud Hens.

Need The Rain

It has been so long since Defiance had some real rain. The ground is cracking and my house is cracking in some places from the shifting of the ground. This area of Northwest Ohio is know for shifting clay and I've seen many houses that have been affected by it. Newer houses have new building codes thus don't shift as much as the older ones have.

Well, it's starting to rain a little right now and the satellite images look like we could actually get some real rain. Let's hope so.