Is it really cheaper???

To many times a Seller decides to turn off the utilities to save money while their house is on the market. Here's some of the drawbacks.....

1. No electricity- so no nightime showings or ability to really see a basement (half of the potential customers are lost)

2. Winterization- if done wrong (and most of the time it is) will cost the Seller hundreds if not thousands to repair

3. Utilities must be on for an appraisal to happen- so they have to be turned back on

4. Temperature- nothing gets a potential buyer out of a property faster than it being too cold or too hot. The idea is to put a comfortable thought into their mind about your home.

KEEP the utilities on- you might want to put them at a lower setting but you are going to need them to be on for inspections and appraisals.

Our local utilities companies many times request someone to be there before they will light pilot lights or turn on the water- can you afford a day off work to wait for them?? In the long run you will save time, money and the headache by just leaving them on.

HUGE Ebay Scam- Look out

I use Ebay a lot- I ran across a scam this weekend- somehow a virus gets into your Internet Explorer and when you go to log onto Ebay you get (a very real looking message) that says they need your name-addy-social-atm etc.....

I called Ebay, they never ask for a social security number-- once this virus has attached itself to you browser you can not get into Ebay until you provide a valid credit card--I had technicians working for hours on my system this weekend- we finally got by it by providing a real credit card number that we then had to cancel-- Be on the lookout- it is very real looking

Christmas shopping 2009

Well this is 2009's hot buy- if you can find em- I have been to- or called everybody that carries them and they are out-

This retails around 6 or 7 bucks at the local Wal-mart and is selling for around 30 on Ebay.

If you happen to see one in a store (and you probably won't) grab it

Other hot sellers this year are Mindflex by Mattel, Tickle Me Elmo Encore addition, and Mattel D-Rex 2.0 Interactive Dinosaur.

Remember when the Cabbage Patch Doll craze hit?? I should have been researching this trend in the summer (you know that time of year when Christmas is the last thing on your mind)

I was surprised to see an old favorite on the shelves- Lincoln Logs- remember the great time we had playing with those??

UPDATE: So upon writing this blog I remembered that our local Target opens at 8am- so I thought Id run over and see if they had any of these- they did and I got 3. I have never been in one of those mobs that rush a door before- what a weird experience I kind of feel sick to my stomach- halfway thru the store I broke into a run. Man, no toy is worth this- But I cant wait to get em on ebay a couple of weeks before Christmas--Bah-Humbug!

Can you really make money online???

Ever since the Internet got started about a million of these scams have come along. I am one of the first people to say, "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is."

Hey everybody and their dog would stay home and make a million dollars online if it was that simple. Wouldn't you???

Well I have came across legitimate ways to make money online but I had to work it to get it to pay. If you are willing to put in the effort the reward can be there also. I've done very well with Ebay and here are a few of the secrets.....

1. Have a good reputation- your reputation is everything in Ebay

2. No matter what you are selling- start it at a dollar with no reserve

( If I am selling an ounce of gold and it's value is $600 per ounce I start the bidding at a dollar with no reserve- WHY?- because nobody is gonna let you get that gold for a couple of bucks- this fires up the feeding frenzy. Go look at some auctions; the ones with no bids always started too high or have a reserve. Hey I go to Ebay to look for a bargain as does everybody else and I ain't gonna let you get something that I want for less than market value- this is human nature so capitalize on it)

3. A picture and description must be accurate.

There are a lot of various other resources that can help you out- I've included a link to the ones I found the most helpful- some of the stuff is free and the other stuff I have purchased was worth the money. The link below will take you there.

Free Ebay Ebook! Learn to make a full time income on Ebay. You won't believe how easy it is. Don't waste another minute. Go download this new ebook while it's still available for free: http://www.auctionsprofit.com/download/?aff=35649

If you are thinking about doing online business Ebay is probably the best way to get your feet wet as to how things work. Other money generators I use require more programming skills. Start off slow and easy- learn the ropes- then your revenue will start to come in.

By far my biggest online sales are the houses I have listed- but the money I make off junk from around the house is a great side addition to my wallet.

Who's working for Who???

In the old days of real estate (I'm talking like 1970's) everybody worked for the seller- let's face it- he had the product that generated money for all. Needless to say a lot of buyers were getting taken to the cleaners as the greed of the deal ran a muck. Now I am not saying every realtor prior to 1980 was a crook- but there was a reason that Real Estate Commissions came into existence.

The Iowa Real Estate Commission is my governing body as a realtor and a broker. This is the judge and jury when a member of the public feels they have been wronged by a realtor's actions. The Commission is in charge of seeing that the laws of Iowa are carried out and that the public is not harmed in any way by the actions of a brokerage or a realtor. They hold the power to fine and take away the license of a realtor.

If you have done a real estate deal in the last few years you might remember the "Agency Disclosure Form" we as real estate professionals are required by law to let you know right up front who we are working for- either the buyer or the seller or both (Dual Agency) As a consumer you have the right to chose the real estate professional that you want to work with- and I think you should put serious consideration into that decision.

So who is working for who- in a nutshell if you and I are looking at houses for you to buy- I am working for you- my job entails getting you the best deal I can and protecting your interests in the transaction and the negotiations. If I have your house listed then I am working for you as the seller with the same job description as above.

If you are buying a house I have listed and using me for both sides we are in Dual Agency- at that point I am simply the middle man in the transaction- I must remain fair to both sides.

When you are working with a real estate professional make sure you have discussed the "agency" relationship- its the law.

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What if a buyer backs out of a contract before closing?

Ive seen this happen a lot more than I care to think about. Here is the scenario- you got your house sold and you have made a deal on the next house you are moving to and a week before closing your agent tells you that the buyer has walked. What do you do!!! You have agreed to buy another house- all your stuff is packed, the utilities in the new place are in your name, and the list goes on and on.

First off- when you the Seller get an offer make sure there is some earnest money with the offer- people are less likely to just walk if they have money on the line. The buyer doesn't get that money given back to them unless you say they do- but hey on the other hand you don't automatically get it either. Most of the time in this scenario neither buyer or seller will sign a release- so the money sets in my trust account for 3 years then the state of Iowa gets it. This is not my decision ITS THE LAW.

As the seller you do have the option to sue for performance. The buyer and you entered into a binding contract and that contract states that a buyer can't just walk for no good reason. I always remind people to keep a level head and try to work out the problem- nobody wants to go to court- and there must be some kind of problem or the deal would have been completed.

The only place a verbal contract is no good is in a real estate deal- everything has to be in writing for it to be valid.

Usually when the potential buyer realizes that he/she is going to be sued they might decide to complete the deal and if they have put a large deposit of earnest money on the line they will think twice before walking. I usually see this when there is little to no earnest money put with an offer. As a seller I caution you not to request a HUGE amount for earnest either- many buyers are scraping up all of their savings for this purchase anyway.

If the buyer was ready, willing, and able to buy, a judge can force them to continue the deal- but again that is a lengthy process. People are people and if I could control them I would be in a different line of work. I, just like you, want the deal to close but I can't make anybody do anything (funny how people are like that) This is where we become worth our weight in gold as myself and the other agent work to get this deal to closing and not left hanging in mid air.

Hopefully you will never have to go through this- talk about the stress!! For the record screaming, yelling, and throwing things doesn't help there is an immediate problem that needs adult attention to make everyone happy

We are now at our new location!!

We have moved from our old office on Ward Street to our new downtown office at 111 East Main- we are right next to the old Bookin's store and we have a backdoor next to the Canteen. We have a lot more room and a lot more traffic walking in our doors. If you are downtown feel free to stop in and see us. Its kind of a fuzzy pic cause I used my cell phone to snap it- but you get the idea..

Yummy Cakes

I recently celebrated my 45th birthday and my friend Linda got me a White Chocolate raspberry cake from Yummy Cakes--Damn that was the best cake I ever had. They sell them here in Ottumwa and if you haven't tried one you should. You can get them here......

Hy-Vee Drug Store
Look for our refrigerated Yummy's case & you can place your special order for delivery on Fridays only for pick up after 6:00 p.m.

North Side Hy-Vee
They are offering Case Cakes and Minis in the bakery area & you can place your special order for delivery on Fridays only for pick up after 6:00 p.m.

Fareway on Church St.
Look for our refrigerated Yummy's case & you can place your special order for delivery on Fridays only for pick up after 6:00 p.m.

It took me over a week to eat the whole thing!!

Simple Driveway Make-Over

Here was a fun little project I did last summer- I stumbled across some "concrete stain" at the local Menards and thought I'd give it a whirl.

I don't recommend the concrete stain- it was a mess- it didn't cover like the can said it would - and it costs 5 times what it should have- In the future I would use concrete paint instead.



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Why Pre-approval for a Mortgage is so Important

When you are serious about buying a house- and the key word here is serious- you have got to get to a lender and get pre-approved for a home loan. So if we go out to look at houses we have no idea what you can afford- so how do we know what price range we should be looking in--we don't!

It usually takes less than 15 minutes and is a free service your bank offers. When people put me off as to why they haven't been to the bank they fall to the bottom of my customer list. I have a list of pre-approved people who are ready, willing and able to buy so why would I waste time and resources with you until you take the first step??

When I was a new agent I would run all over town with people who hadn't been to the bank. We would find their dream home and present a decent offer. Now what? When the offer is presented to the Seller it is accompanied by the statement "they haven't been to the bank" we just lost all negotiating power. Why would a seller negotiate the best price with someone who they have no idea if they can even get a loan. (a savvy Seller realizes this and so should you)

The other scenario is there are multiple offers coming in- the non-approved ones fall to the bottom of the stack and the buyer usually loses the property to someone who took the time to get the basic essential of house buying taken care of.

I work in this industry and I don't know how much of a house I can afford until I go to the bank. (I usually try to do this every 6 months- things change- markets change) In our current market loans are becoming more difficult to obtain than before.

As a realtor when a cold call comes in and someone wants to start house hunting, I always ask the "have you been to the bank" question. If their response is "money is not a problem" you better believe it IS a serious problem. A couple of weeks ago this scenario happened to me- it was a slow day at the office so I went ahead and showed the guy the property. The guy went on about how he had grant money and this would be an easy deal. (grant money?? I want some of that!!) Before I would write up the offer I convinced him to go talk to the bank so we would have a solid offer. A few hours later the banker called me and let me know that he had defaulted on his student loans. Goodbye grant money (whatever that was) and goodbye to the chance of buying a home. Student loan default will hurt you worse than anything- the government cracks down on you getting any more money until it is taken care of.

Buying a house is not a spur of the moment decision- it is a thought out process that sometimes can take months to act upon.

Hey- Ive made it even easier, just fill out the online form and have it taken care of electronically

Click here for a free pre-approval form




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Garage Door Makeover

One of my neighbors put in a garage door like this and it was a few thousand dollars- I think I did this for less than 50 bucks

How to Guarantee Your House Won't Sell

Here are some of the best ways to guarantee a "no sale" on your home

1. Just pick any realtor- they are all the same

According to national statistics 9 out of 10 realtors will be out of the business within their first year- of those that are left half will be gone within the next 5 years. This is a very high failure rate so therefore I think you should put some thought into who you would pick to do one of the most important sales in your life. Should you use the realtor with the most listings? Maybe their plate is really full and they may not be able to devote the kind of time you would like to your property. Should you use the realtor with the most sales? This guy may be great at selling but you need somebody who can market your property. This is the time to do a little research and make sure you are getting someone you feel confident with.

2.For Sale by Owner

There is nothing I hate worse than negotiating something I am selling myself- I have too many emotions tied into the sale and I know the buyer is just going to try to beat me down to the last penney.
As a realtor I work with buyers and I have sold many "for sale by owner" properties and I have yet to have a seller tell me No to a valid and decent offer- its human nature. The problem with most FSBOs is that few people know about them- they stick up a sign and run one or two ads and then just wait- the real estate market anywhere is FULL OF BUYERS and we as realtors know who they are.
Alot of people like FSBOs- they figure since you are not paying a commission they can get the seller down in the price- and they usually do. National statistics for FSBO = only 8% actually sell. Everybody and their dog will tell you different just ask the postman or your barber. (and remember whatever they tell you treat it like gold because they sell houses for a living on a daily basis- lol)

3. Reduce the Commission

Here is a no-brainer- almost all realtors work on a commission only basis, so why would I waste my time trying to get an offer on your place when all of your competition is paying me a better wage. You want your property to stand out in the realtor workforce's minds as a valuable resource- telling all the agents that you are paying less than anybody else doesn't promote your property correctly.

4. Talk to Buyers or Buyer's Agents

Who is working for who? I had a listing a couple of years back and everytime another realtor showed the home the owner picked up their card and called them. She rattled on about problems in her life and why she was selling and how she needed the money- blah blah blah. Every offer they broght in was way below asking price- I wonder why??

The realtor with the buyer is working for the buyer not you! I love when someone else's customer calls me, they always slip up and tell me things they shouldnt- things which I let my buyer know. This plays out with the FSBO prospects also.

This is a pretty rough statement but--Sellers please dont help- you hired me now let me do this job- I sell houses for a living you don't.

5. Appointment only showings

I have lost more sales on properties that I cant get into because of ridiculous showing schedules. Many times I have someone in town for the day only- they have to buy something and we have already looked at everything else. Your house from what they tell me might be perfect- but I cant show it till after 6 on Sunday- so they buy the house down the street. Make your house easy to show at a moments notice- I know its a hassle but we need to get this place sold as quick as possible. Another note- you hanging around while we are showing it makes buyers uncomfortable and makes them rush through the property.

6. Pricing Too High

Why does everyone have the thought "I can always come down" When your house hits the market- there is a whole slew of buyers that have already seen everything on the market -when your property hits at an unrealistic price it goes right to the back burner in their mind- this happens daily in every real estate market. If your home is worth 80,000 on the market and you list for 99,900- don't worry you are right you can come down and six months or a year from now we will get it sold for 72,000. The longer the house is on the market the less the seller will make on the true market value.

7. Hire the Best and Ignore the feedback

Ok you have a top agent marketing your property and it is being shown alot. As a top agent you regularly asks the other agents for their customers feedback. Turns out the buyers are creeped out by all the satanic posters and goth paraphenalial in your crazy teenagers room. His walls are painted a deep black and inverted crucifixes are everywhere. This has happened to me before. Time for Jr's room to get a makeover to sell.

The feedback is crucial in getting the good offers- some things can be fixed and some things can't. Do whatever your agent tells you that is within your means to help get the property sold- most of the time it is just clear the clutter, fix the hole in the front entry carpet- remember you want top dollar for your home.

Currently we are in a buyer's market- so what makes your home so special??

So you wanna flip houses???

A few years back a friend and I bought a tiny little 2 bedroom home for the huge price of only $2000. Back then, we thought like everybody does that there is a fortune to make in the real estate market flipping houses. We hadn't invested much money but the house was ours and we began to clean it up and get ready for the resale of the property.

Now I will say it is rare to find a house this cheap. (and it was worth every penney- lol) We were excited, and young, so we jumped in and started our project. In all it took us about 2 and a half months of some of the most intense cleaning and scrubbing I had ever done. My partner in this project did alot of the yard work and she ended up with one of the worst cases of posion Ivy I have ever saw. She was done for about a week as the doctor tried to make her life bearable again. I lucked out and never caught the posion ivy, but I got the great jobs of cleaning up years of dirty baby diapers that were thrown on a back porch. You get the idea- this was a helluva lot of work.

The end of the project was painting the house- we chose yellow with white trim. (because these colors give the best curb appeal- and it is true- it worked)

We sold the house for $12,000 and we were so happy in our endeavor- we knew we were on to something. We made $10,000 dollars!! Then as tax time was rolling around I sat down to do the numbers- all the costs were calculated- the paint, the cleaning supplies, new flooring- a couple of new windows- medical bills -the list went on and on. Then I had to figure the amount of hours that it took us for the project. (we skipped a few days of our regular jobs to work on this money making project)

When all was said and done we both made about $3.68 hour- our house flipping days were over.

What people should know about buying a house on contract

Buying a house on contract can be a very quick way to get into home ownership whether you have good credit or not. Usually the Seller wants a substantial down payment and a higher than normal interest rate. The Seller acts as a "Bank" and their money is made via the sale and the accumulation of interest.
The sale is closed at the signing of the contract. I strongly recommend that you have a lawyer look over the contract and make sure that your interests are protected.

Ok sounds easy enough- right?

In many of the contract sales it is that simple, however remember that when you make your last payment it is the Seller's responsibility to provide you with a clear Title to the property.

Check out this scenario:

I sell you a house on contract. You pay me $5,000 down and $500 a month. This goes on for a few years and everyone is happy, at this point in time let us say you have given me over $30,000 towards the purchase of this home it is almost paid for and you decide to scrape up the final amount left and own the property free and clear. Most of the time this works out fine BUT it turns out that last year I got into some legal trouble and was sued for over $50,000. I lost the case and I don't have that kind of money lying around. The courts then placed a lien on any and all property that I own so now the house that you almost have paid for has a lien against it for my debt. I cant afford to pay the money so I can't give you a free and clear title.
This is a horrible predicament to be in and it is definitely not your fault- you made all your payments and followed the contract as it was written. I suppose you could sue me- but since I can't pay the original lawsuit how in the world could I pay yours??? Unfortunately this has happened to people.

Some Sellers know from the start that they can never produce a clear title and they are crooks looking to take advantage of someone. Others can have a clear title when they begin the contract and due to unforeseen circumstances (like a car wreck, or medical emergency) they can no longer produce that clear title.

When a Buyer uses a Bank for the loan then all this is taken care of at the time of closing- the old owner and any future debts would no longer be against the property.

I would always recommend that you try for a traditional loan before jumping into a private contract.

Is your agent Tech-savvy???

Is your agent Tech-savvy or not???

90% of all home buyers use the internet to find their next home, according to a survey by The National Association of Realtors®, yet many agents resist using technology to market their listings.

As I look around other communities with the thought of perhaps moving there I am always disappointed by the lack of information other agents post about a property. Hey, I’m buying a house I want tons of pictures- I don’t think you can have too many. So many times all I get is the front of the house. I also think a big part is the house’s layout- how about a diagram of where the master bedroom lies in relation to the kids bedrooms etc. It isn’t that hard to take the time to showcase a property on the Internet.

Or sometimes I come upon a host of pictures of the toilet. Now let me tell you, as a realtor, it is hard sometimes to get a decent shot of a small room in a home. (that’s why I like the blueprint idea or a video tour) but as the old adage goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.

One of the biggest reasons I went into the real estate industry was due to the fact, that as a customer, I couldn’t find the kind of information I wanted online. I started in 2001 and I haven’t seen much improvement in the local or even national content since.

As a customer the best thing you can do is to go to a search engine and type in what you are looking for, in our case that would be “Ottumwa Iowa real estate” once you have entered this who comes up??? AND are they on the first page of the search engine. If the search engines cant find a real estate site then neither can buyers!!! This seems like a common sense issue to me, but, too many times a Seller is happy just to see their homes pictures online and they forget how they had to type a link in exactly right to get there.

People want to shop online- not sign away their lives, phone numbers and email addresses- I hate when I go to a site that won’t allow me to just look. (and like most shoppers I will go someplace else to see what I want) The Internet is so powerful – it offers online shopping 24/7 so why are agents not utilizing this to its full extent??

Ottumwa Iowa Real Estate- all sales 2008

For those of you who have a little bit of Gladys in you....

Click here for all the residential sales in Ottumwa Iowa and surrounding areas for 2008


Excel format of house sales for 2008- Click here

. Heres an interesting note 30% of all the listed properties DIDN'T Sell

Beware of Do-It-Yourself Projects

What About Inspections???

Ok so you have decided to buy a house- one of the biggest tasks is to make sure you get what you pay for.

Your lender will usually require a termite inspection- banks wont typically loan money on a property full of termites and in our area about 1 in 3 homes have wood destroying insects.

You have walked through and looked at the home a few times and now that you have decided to buy it; you are faced with what, if any, inspections should I do????

Inspections will be paid by you, the buyer. This is money well spent. Your inspections, by professionals, can help you uncover any imperfections that you may not catch. They also can allow you to stop the deal if a huge problem is uncovered.

When I bought my first home I had my dad come and look at it. Now granted dad is not a professional inspector of any kind but I valued his opinion and when he gave the "OK" I went ahead with the deal. It turned out that there was a slight plumbing issue in the basement that he and I missed- no need for me to cry to the realtor, seller, or the lender, I was given ample opportunity to have the property inspected by a licensed plumber and I chose not to. The term "Buyer Beware" comes from the real estate industry. I think the problem cost me around $100 to fix- and with plumbing issues that wasn't a big expense.

Now had dad and I saw this problem or caught wind of it I would have had time for a professional to come in and assess the issue -I could then have requested the Seller to take care of it.

The picture above is just an example of plumbing issues--but had this been at my house I think I would have spent the money to have a real plumber look at it.

October 2009- Ottumwa Iowa Real Estate Sales

Ottumwa Iowa- October real estate sales- click here

So many times people ask me, "what did the house down the street sell for"

I thought this might be easier