Some Thoughts on Hesitation

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agent, buyer, buying, contract, first time homebuyer, home buying, homeowner, house hunting, money, offer, Real Estate, Realtor, tips

Okay, let’s begin by acknowledging that as a buyer ultimately you have to do what’s right for you. Buying a house is likely the largest investment you’ll ever make, so you want to be sure to make informed decisions.

Having said that, it’s not uncommon for buyers to suddenly get cold feet when it comes to making decisions. Some people are just naturally wired to need time to really think things through (even if the decision seems pretty cut and dry). And that’s okay. But the time to do this is really before you even start house hunting. By the time you start looking at homes, you should be ready to move forward with actually making an offer on one if it really is the right house for you.

If a house meets all of your must-haves, and even some of your would-be-nice-to-haves, is priced well and doesn’t have any red flags, make an offer. Why? If you don’t, someone else will. You may not have days to mull it over. You’ll either end up in competition and likely pay more for the house, or you’ll lose it. If you’re perfectly fine losing the house, that’s one thing. But don’t wait just for the sake of waiting. If it’s “the one,” what are you waiting for? What’s worse, if the house really was that great, it might to be tough finding another that you like as much.

Now sometimes there are situations where it really does make sense to take some times to think about it. We are not suggesting you just jump into buying a house by any means. You have to do what makes sense for you because it’s your money and your life. But there are situations where people aren’t ready to move forward simply because the process has been “too easy.” The house is “the one,” it’s the right price and checks all the boxes, but they just feel like it should have been harder to find. But why would you want house hunting to be a miserable process? If your agent has done their job and made it easy for you, that’s a blessing! Enjoy it.

Protect Your House from the Cold

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freezing, homeowner, limestone county, madison county, pipes, protect, tips, tricks, weather

Brrr! We’re not used to these freezing temperatures in Huntsville, AL. Many people in the Tennessee Valley learned the importance of protecting your home from cold temperatures after last year’s polar vortex.

While this is not all inclusive, here are some suggestions that might help protect your home:

• Set all the faucets in your house to drip. While this may not keep them from freezing, there will be less pressure built up in the pipes so they’ll be less likely to burst.
• Open sink cabinet doors.
• Insulate pipes.
• Be sure you know where your water shut-off is located in the event one of your pipes bursts.

This video from Weather.com offers great suggestions for how to protect your pipes.

A couple of other friendly reminders…
It’s a great idea to have an emergency kit ready to go incase the power goes out. Also, don’t forget to protect your pets from the cold temperatures by letting them inside.

Here is another great resource for learning how to protect your home and yourself from the cold.

Do you have any suggestions to add? Leave us a comment! We’d love to hear what you do to protect your house and your family.

Why Earnest Money Matters

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buyer, buying, check, closing, contract, Earnest Money, first time homebuyer, madison county, money, negotiation, offer, Real Estate, Realtor, tips

Think of Earnest Money as a sign of good faith that you’re a legitimate buyer. While we can’t speak for how things work in other parts of the nation, here in the Tennessee Valley it is normal for a buyer to submit Earnest Money for about 1% of the purchase price of the home along with an offer. Granted, that’s for a typical average-sized home.

Here’s how it works with our company:
Say the buyer offers $200,000 for a house. Along with the offer and their preapproval letter, they write a check for $2,000 made out to the real estate agency (in our case, Keller Williams holds the Earnest Money). While in the offer stage, a scanned copy is sent to the listing agent along with the other paperwork. The check does not go to the seller. If a deal can’t be worked out, the check can either be destroyed or returned to the buyer. If a deal does come together, upon going under contract the money is turned in to and deposited by the real estate agency (so make sure that money is ready to be taken from your account when you write the check).

While submitting a 1% Earnest Money check is the general rule of thumb, you can certainly submit more. This is a tremendous way to strengthen your offer without actually paying any more for the property. That’s because the Earnest Money is reimbursed to the buyer upon closing. In the past, we’ve had serious buyers (who have a lot of cash on hand) submit thousands and thousands of dollars in Earnest Money to help make their offer look better. In some cases, they may be offering less than another party. But seeing a check for, say, $15,000, along with an offer tells a seller, “Wow! This buyer is serious.” And serious buyers are generally more likely to lead to a smooth closing.

In the spirit of full disclosure, there are cases that arise where once under contract, a dispute arises and the contract is canceled. Thankfully, those cases are quite rare. But what happens to the Earnest Money? The answer can vary. That’s a great question to ask your local Realtor.

This Month in Real Estate: January 2015

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Data, January, Keller Williams, Market, Market Conditions, Real Estate, This Month In Real Estate

The Good:
Mortgage rates are still at historic lows.
The average home sales and prices have increased since one year ago.

The Bad:
Home sales and prices are dipping a bit this month, but that’s normal for this time of year. With all the holidays so close together, many times people put house hunting on hold.

Here’s a chart from Keller Williams Realty that breaks the information down for you:

 

Commission is Covered for Buyers

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agent, buyers agent, buying, closing, commission, first time homebuyer, home buying, house hunting, MLS, problem, Realtor

Many buyers don’t realize they (generally) don’t have to pay anything to receive representation from a Realtor. Granted, there may be a few out there that charge some sort of retainer fee. But generally, buyers don’t owe their Realtor anything other than their loyalty and trust.

Why is that?

In order for a property to be listed in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), sellers agree to pay commission to both the listing agent (their agent) and the selling agent (buyers’ agent).

Because of this, there really is no reason for buyers not to take advantage of having the representation of an experienced Realtor. A lot of people think of Realtors as being the folks who open the doors to houses. But that’s the easy part.

What buyers don’t see is the countless hours of work and effort that go in behind the scenes. Often, good Realtors will tackle problems that arise before the buyer even realizes there was a problem. There are so many things that can go wrong with a deal that go beyond just looking at homes and filling out paperwork. You need someone on your side who can anticipate problems, handle them with finesse and get you to closing with as few hiccups along the way as possible.

Looking to buy a home in North Alabama? Give us a call at (256) 426-3231. It would be an honor for us to represent you.

Cleaning Tips & Tricks

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cleaning, homeowner, seller, tips, tricks

It’s the weekend, which for many working families means it’s time to clean the house. Here are a few of our favorite cleaning tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years.

To speed up your slow-moving drains, pour a solution of 1/2 cup salt per quart of hot water down your pipe.

To make cleaning your microwave a breeze, pour 1-2 cups of white vinegar into a bowl and microwave for 4 minutes. This helps break down all the gunk and allows you to simply wipe the microwave clean.

Vinegar is also a great substitute for Goo Gone if you need to get a sticker off of something.

Make your stainless steel appliances shine by buffing with olive oil using a microfiber cloth (though a paper towel will get the job done, too).

When moving furniture around on carpet, place ice cubes over the indentations left by chair or table legs.

Do you have any special cleaning tips or tricks? We’d love to hear about them. Share them in the comments below.

Staging to Sell

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limestone county, madison county, seller, staging, tips

Properly staging your house can make a huge difference when it’s time to sell. Here are some tricks we’ve learned over the years that have proven to be very effective.

De-clutter
The goal is for you to be selling your house and moving out anyway, so before even putting your house on the market, go ahead and start packing away things you don’t need on a daily basis.

Take your out-of-season clothes out of your closet and pack those items away. Make a few sections of hanging clothes so that it appears the closet it just so big you can’t fill it.

For countertops, we strongly suggest the “rule of 3.” Only keep 3 items maximum on your counter. Ex: For the kitchen, have your utensils in a vase, your coffee pot and a bowl of fruit (find a place to hide away the sugar and creamer). When you do that, you’re going to think, “Oh, that just needs one more thing.” That’s exactly why we want you to do that! We want the buyers to think, “Oh, my grandmother’s flower vase would look perfect right there.” The more they can picture themselves living in your home, the better.

De-personalize
This is one sellers often struggle with. We understand your wedding photos, family pictures, awards and accolades mean the world to you. But when buyers are walking through a house with those types of items on display, it reminds them that somebody else is living there. It’s hard for them to picture living in YOUR home. And when you’re trying to sell your house, that’s a big problem. The goal is to sell your house, and sell it fast! So go ahead and pack those items away to help get a quicker sale (and make less work for you when it comes time to move out).

Dynamize
Okay, so dynamize isn’t really a word. But we use it so that all three suggestions start with the letter “D.” Dynamize is all about the wow factor – those special touches that add a little pizzazz to your house to make it stand out to buyers. This includes things like having a vanilla scent throughout the home for showings, setting out fresh flowers and even putting a pitcher of lemonade on the patio table along with two empty glasses (if you’re selling in the spring/summer) so buyers picture themselves relaxing in the backyard.

If you’re looking to sell a home in North Alabama, we’d love to talk with you about staging in more detail. Give us a call at (256) 426-3231 for more information.

Homebuying Anxiety

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buyer, first time homebuyer, home buying, house hunting

Yesterday we mentioned that it’s normal to have anxiety throughout the homebuying process. Buying a home is likely the biggest financial decision you’ll ever make.

We find that no matter how much some people love the home they bought, they start to doubt themselves and get buyer’s remorse. When that happens, we try to help them remember all the important reasons they decided to start house hunting in the first place.

The image above provides more insight into the positive things about being a homeowner.

What NOT to do Before Buying a House

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buyer, first time homebuyer, home buying, house hunting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In our last post, we covered things to do to help make the home buying process easier. Today, we’re talking about what NOT to do. (By the way- we just love these Keller Williams postcards as pictured above. It’s great working for such a great company that provides a plethora of resources to help us relay information to buyers and sellers.)

Don’t make a major purchase. This will affect your credit score. Some people think it won’t matter once their credit has been pulled. Loan officers check your credit again before closing, and we have seen deals fall apart because people bought a car or made another large purchase.

Don’t change jobs unless you absoutely have to. Loan officers need to see consistent work history. If you’re changing careers, keep your Realtor and loan officer in the loop. Also, let them know if you lose your job. Loan officers will confirm employment prior to closing.

Don’t give money directly to a For Sale by Owner seller.

Don’t forget to switch your utilities. About a week before closing, you’ll want to contact the utiity company and have utilities put in your name as of the day of closing.

Don’t forget to get hazard insurance. As soon as you’re under contract, we suggest going ahead and getting in touch with your insurance provider. Let them know you’re buying a house and ask them about different coverage options like flood insurance, sink hole insurance, etc.

Don’t ignore lender requirements. Get the documentation to your loan officer as quickly as possible.

Don’t go it alone. A Realtor will help you throughout this entire process.

 

 

Home Buying Tips

Tags

buyer, first time homebuyer, home buying, house hunting, pre-approval

The house hunting process can be overwhelming. Here are some suggestions to help make the process less daunting:

1. Take notes on houses you visit. After a while, they all start blurring together and you’ll forget which ones had which features you liked.

2. Bring furniture measurements with you. You’ll catch yourself wondering how your king-sized bed will fit in the master bedroom. It’s much easier if you already have the measurements with you (as well as measuring tape).

3. Keep school districts in mind. Even if they don’t matter to you, they do affect resale value.

4. Don’t look at too many properties in a day. Ideally, it’s best to limit yourself to three or four houses.

5. See the bigger picture. Look past the paint colors and decor and focus on the house itself. That stuff is easy to change, but the layout and features of the home are not.

6. There is no perfect home. There are always compromises to be made. If you find a home that has everything you want, the compromise may be the price of the home.

7. Get preapproved BEFORE looking at homes. It will make things so much easier on you to already have that done before you’re ready to make an offer.

8. Relax! It’s perfectly normal to have anxiety throughout the process. Buying a home is likely the greatest financial investment you’ll ever make. But when you start getting buyer’s remorse, just remind yourself of all the reasons you began looking for a home in the first place.