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.

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

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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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