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!

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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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.

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

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