Thoughts After a Home Inspection – Video
Just a few random thoughts on my way out of a home inspection in Athens.
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The Final Walk Through – Video
Here’s another video. This describes the basics and purpose of the final walk through. This is “filmed” at a condo in Huntsville off of Research Park.
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Closing the Deal: A Buyer’s Side, Part II
In Part I of this series, we discussed the very beginning stages of finding a home. Now, we’re going to talk a little more about the actual looking process along with dipping into contracts.
Looking at Homes
Between and your Realtor (if you decide to use one), you’ll be able to find a list of homes that you want to take a look at. When you get to each home, DON’T BE SHY. Open closets, crawl under the house, climb in the attic, look in the tub, look in the pantry, it’s all normal. Everybody does it.
Take everything into consideration when you’re looking at a home, not just the price. Keep mental, or physical for that matter, notes of additional costs and repairs that may have to be made. How long does the roof have left on it? How old is the central unit? Is the floor plan functional? Don’t forget to think about resale either. It’s a rarity to stay in a home longer than 6 or 7 years, so be prepared to make decisions based on changes in the future. A great Realtor should be able to help you with all of these questions (Like me 
).
You’ve found the perfect house! Now what?
There are two pieces of advice I can give about deciding on a home:
- 1. IF you have found the perfect home, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, hesitate. I don’t know what it is, or why it’s like this, but I’ve seen NUMEROUS clients lose out on THE home because they weren’t prepared to make a decision and someone else was. I can give you an example that happened a couple of weeks ago that I was fortunate enough be on the good side of. After looking at several homes with some buyers, they decided on one. We submitted an offer and got everything squared away and verbally agreed upon. That same day, another offer came in JUST after we reached an agreement. It was from another buyer that had looked at the property 4 times over a week and a half span. It was their dream house. They took their family to look at the home twice. It was THE ONE. Unfortunately, because they weren’t prepared to make a decision at the right time, they’ll now have to find something else. Don’t let that happen to you. It sucks. Really.
- 2. Don’t submit a “low-ball” offer on a good home. The only thing you do is piss the sellers off and make them more difficult to work and negotiate with. For example, if a good home is listed for $100,000 and you’re willing to pay $93,000, don’t start off at $70,000. The seller immediately discards you as inconsiderate and insincere in your attempt to buy a home and you’ll be lucky to even get a counter-offer. This isn’t Michigan, Florida, or parts of California where the real estate market is in such terrible shape that sellers just can’t wait to see ANY offer. Locally, homes still sell for about 97% of the list price, which is very good. Using the example above, on average, you could expect to get a $100,000 home for $97,000. On the other hand, if the home needs $30,000 worth of work, feel free to low-ball!
The Contract
OK. You’ve picked a home. You’ve decided on a price. Now, the fun begins. As members of the Huntsville Association of Realtors, we all use standardized contracts. The two most important things that you may notice about these contracts are that they are much easier than those of other states and that they are written to protect the buyers and sellers very well. Here are a few good things to know about our contracts:
- 1. Most importantly, if you fail to qualify for financing, you are released from obligation to the contract. No harm, no foul. Your earnest money is even returned to you.
- 2. You have the option of obtaining a home inspection. If the home inspector finds any major health, safety, or structural issues with the home, the seller is required to fix it or you may opt to walk away from the home.
- 3. If the seller defaults on his/her contractual obligations, they are liable to the purchaser for damages.
- 4. Due to Title Examination and Title Insurance policies provided for in the contract, you are given clear title to the property. In the unlikely event the attorney missed something, the title insurance policy will cover any title issues prior to the date of sale.
Negotiation
In theory, the concept of negotiation should be an easy one. Buyer and seller agree on terms of sale. Period. In reality, it’s never that easy. There are tons of other factors and variables to consider. When can the seller move out? When can the buyer move in? When do we close? Who’s paying the purchaser’s closing costs? How much? Will possession be given at closing? How much earnest money? Are they leaving the refrigerator? What appliances stay? What doesn’t stay? Do repairs have to be made? Will the seller give an allowance or have them done? Oh yeah, and PRICE. Buyers and sellers are two naturally opposing forces. The seller wants to walk away from the closing table with the most amount of money possible, while the purchasers want to walk away from the closing table with the most amount of money left in their pockets as possible.
Part III will focus on the world that begins after negotiation of contract.
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Twitter Updates for the Week of 2009-06-29
- Just so everyone knows….had another Sunday H'ville Times article yesterday. Why are you not reading it right now???? #
- Enjoyed the book "Ignore Everybody" by Hugh MacLeod. Read it yesterday, never put it down. Buy it, or at least follow him @gapingvoid #
- Flip camcorder came in today. Looks awesome! Going to talk with first-time buyers shortly. Spread my wealth of knowledge. LOL #
- Yesterday? Said I wasn't going to worry about my blog design ANYMORE. It's all about the content! Today? I changed the theme again. Ha! #
- just saw "Huntsville Home Sales Reach a 9 Month High in May." Very cool. #
- I hate at&t. #
- Ok. We have seat warmers in cars. Where the hell are the seat coolers?? Is that too much to freaking ask?? #
- If there was a "how many flat tires can you get in one year" contest, i would kick ass. Stupid nails. #
- alright, let's finish up a little work. #
- sending email attachments: think I need to add attachment first. Too many times Ive sent w/o attac. Then u have to send the email of shame #
- running a bit late. Off to a home inspection! #
- Do you analyze cars before parking beside em? Scuffs, dents, etc. "oh that person cant drive. Next parking space!" #
- Well, my email is being pissy today. Decided to stop working. Too bad i cant blame this on ATT or Charter. That would make it all better #
- About to go wait to get a flat fixed at big 10 tires. They should set up an express lane just for me as much as i have to go. #
- Did i just see a pink Louie V. CAR in Athens? LOL http://yfrog.com/11h44sj #
- SURFSPEEDY – YOU SUCK. You don't charge $7.95/yr for domain registration and bump it to $35/yr when the Domain expires. GOODBYE. #
- No way its this hot: http://yfrog.com/0uvu8wj #
- Im ready for football season to start #
- LOL. I am waiting @ big10. Dr phil is on tv schooling a crazy realtor mom. I know a lot of em like her. HA! #
- When your day is done, and you wanna ride on…… #
- Dont forget this fact, cant get her back…. #
- She dont lie, she dont lie, she dont lie…. #
- Hey, hey, hey. Here I go now, here I go into the day. Know the name of that metallica song? Then you know what Im doing today #
- Last day of computer work for a week or two. Then time to gear up for some SERIOUS work. #
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Closing the Deal: A Buyer’s Side, Part I
In every home purchase/sale, no matter how different they are or can be, there are always two constants. Buyers and sellers. These two constants are the basis for any purchase, not just real estate. So, let’s take a deeper look into what it takes to get from looking at homes, to moving in them from a buyer’s perspective.
Looking for a Home
The entire process, obviously, starts by looking for a home. Without a doubt, the best place to start looking is the MLS or Multiple Listing Service. The MLS carries all homes listed by any real estate company that is a member of the MLS, which includes almost every company. Home magazines are usually out of date before they’re ever even published and the Real Estate section in the newspapers are full of errors.
Start with an MLS website. This could include the main MLS site or a Realtor’s website that is connected to the MLS through a RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) or IDX (Internet Data Exchange) feed. These sites have access to the entire MLS database, but every site is not created equal! IDX feed sites are updated much less frequently than a RETS feed site (like level10realty.com).
Alternatively, there is an entire For Sale by Owner (FSBO) market that is not listed in the MLS. There’s nothing wrong with buying a FSBO, just be safe during the process. If you’ve never bought a FSBO, hire an agent, an attorney, or someone else that can look over the paperwork and make sure that your interests are protected. Realtor Association Members use a standardized contract that is written for the protection of all parties involved with remedies in the event of a bad home inspection, failure to qualify for financing, default, etc.
Realtor or No Realtor?
If you decide to look at any home listed in the MLS, there’s no way to avoid a Realtor. The best piece of advice I can give here is to choose a Realtor FIRST. Don’t get “stuck” with a Realtor just because you called a sign. Like Realtor websites, all Realtors are not created equal. A great Realtor is worth their weight in gold. I’m not kidding. Speak to several Realtors. Interview them. Look for specialists for your unique situation. Choose the one that’s in tune with your needs. Any Realtor member of the MLS can show any home listed in the MLS. It doesn’t matter if the home’s listed with another company or in another area, or listed with another Realtor. So, Bob with Big B Realty can show any house, even Diane’s listing at Big D Realty and Jane’s listing at Big J Realty. Here’s another tip. If you choose a Realtor to work with, and tell any other Realtor that fact, you won’t be bothered. Trust me.
Like I alluded to above, if you choose to look at FSBOs, you don’t have to have a Realtor. That’s a decision you would have to make based on your experience in buying property. For a first-timer, I would recommend getting a Realtor to help. On the other hand, I’ve seen some buyers with the experience and negotiation skills that would make some Realtors shake in their boots.
Part II will focus on actually looking at homes and the contract process.
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The Home Inspection – Video
This is a video taken today at a home inspection. If we’ve learned nothing else, it’s the fact that I am a crappy cameraman. I was going to video some of the actual process of the home inspection, but the homeowner was there (sleeping on the couch), and there were boxes and such everywhere. Plus, I didn’t want to make the home inspector too nervous. Anyway, here it is.
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Acceptance of Contract
Today, we got an offer accepted for a couple of first time home buyers. Re-watching this is actually pretty painful, so watch at your own risk. Apparently, I was distracted by a lot of what was going on around me! I don’t really like shooting the video in the car, but it’s about the only place that I can get any quiet.
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Showing Homes – Video
Well, I’m still getting used to carrying around the “Flip” and my TV presence still sucks, but hey, there’s only like 2 or 3 of you watching anyway
Below is a video I shot today when I was showing homes to a couple of first-time buyers.
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Re-intro to Video
OK. We’re going to get started back with video posts after a long break!
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My Article in H’Times (For Those that Missed it)
HTimes Article
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