When you are considering selling your home, there are many decisions to make. More than likely you are going to contact a realtor and meet with them to learn about what they can do to assist with selling your home. When talking to real estate professionals about what they can do for you, I encourage you to ask this real estate photography question: How do you photograph our home to ensure it’s represented professionally?
The reason I encourage your to ask this question is quite simple. People searching for property today rely on the internet to learn about property and see images before they get in a car and drive around. With that being said, your photos can be the difference to getting showings on your property or not. The days of realtors pulling out their cell phone and taking photos of your property are long gone (or at least should be). If your realtor is not willing to make the investment in professional photography for your property, I would question their overall committment to you.
In our office, all realtors use professional photography not because it’s optional but because we feel like we owe that to our sellers. In a competitive market where we are competing against other sellers we feel this offers a competitive advantage to our seller and often times separates their property from others before prospective buyers even step foot on the property. Here is an example of the difference a professional photo makes:
When you are ready to sell your property in Glenwood Springs or the surrounding area, contact me and I would be honored to show you how I separate myself within the realtor community outside of professional photography. I look forward to hearing from you!
One of the big takeaways from the survey recently produced is that over the next five years, home prices will appreciate 3.5% per year on average and cumulatively will grow by around 18%. So we set out to answer the question of how do rising prices impact home equity?
For example, let’s assume a young couple purchased and closed on a $250,000 home in January of this year. If we only look at the projected increase in the price of that home, how much equity would they earn over the next 5 years?
How do Rising Prices Impact Home Equity?
Since the experts predict that home prices will increase by 4.5% this year alone, the young homeowners will have gained over $11,000 in equity in just one year. This is a larger equity gain than the 4 years that follow it but nonetheless a great way to start your path to building equity!
Over a five-year period, their equity will increase by over $46,000! This figure does not even take into account their monthly principal mortgage payments. In many cases, home equity is one of the largest portions of a family’s overall net worth. Just like saving for retirement, the earlier in life you start building equity, the more wealth it will accumulate as you age.
Not only is homeownership something to be proud of but it also offers you and your family the ability to build equity you can borrow against in the future. If you choose not to borrow against the equity you have built than your net proceeds of a sale end up being that much higher when you decide to sell the property. If you are ready and willing to buy, find out if you are able to today!
Contact Shawn Manwaring, REALTOR in Colorado:
You’re under contract, have completed inspection, objection, and resolution. Your loan is very close to being funded, all that’s left is the appraisal. Just as every other inspection has a price, the appraisal also has some costs associated with it. So what is the cost of appraisals and can you shop around?
]The cost for home appraisals today varies a bit by geographic region, but it has always varied too by the complexity of the assignment. It takes a lot more time to appraise a custom home in the mountains, for instance, than to appraise a tract home in the city.
Of course, this makes perfect sense. It would be very easy to compare a house in a subdivision to another house the exact same size and floor plan, with extremely similar finishes, conveniently located directly across the street. Conversely, it would be much harder to try to figure out the value of a home if there wasn’t another home like it anywhere.
The appraisal tells your lender how much the home is worth. The appraiser uses recently sold homes in the immediate area and compares them to the home you are buying in order to come up with a value. If there aren’t any recently sold homes like yours, any recently sold in your area, or both, their job is infinitely more difficult. Some areas of difficulty that are more time consuming for your appraiser may affect the home appraisal cost.
An appraisal seems like an easy place to game the system. Simply hire someone you know already and make sure the appraisal comes in where you need it to. Before the current regulations went into effect, this is exactly what people did.
The Cost of Appraisals
In 2008 new regulations put a firewall between mortgage originators (loan officers/any production folks) and the appraisers to make it impossible for stakeholders to influence the appraisal.
Today we have to order the appraisal through an online portal via the lender’s website. (Mortgage companies and banks do the same, so it isn’t any different. The originator cannot choose or have any contact with the appraiser.)
The lender engages an independent Appraisal Management Company (AMC), which maintains a panel of independent appraisers throughout the country. An appraiser may belong to several, if not dozens, of AMC panels. The loan officer is not even allowed to talk to the appraiser, much less influence them in any way.
There are several implications to this organization: The customer may not shop for the appraiser. The appraiser is selected independently and only through this system.
There is no cost difference between refinancing and purchase transactions, although, as noted above, there could be differences for complexity or scope. For instance, if you are buying a rental property, the appraiser will be asked to complete a rental survey in addition to the appraisal — obviously, the home appraisal cost will be higher.
In the past, I’ve recommended that sellers give a cheat sheet of sorts to the appraiser when they get there, including measurements of their home and a list of improvements along with information about the neighborhood, explaining any homes that sold recently for a less-than-market price for reasons not readily apparent. On my street, I know of three houses that sold last year for significantly less than they should have for reasons that would not be known to someone who wasn’t in tune with the latest neighborhood news.
Hampson says, “I do meet the appraiser when it’s my listing and always bring comparable’s. Sometimes they appreciate it.” I would always recommend doing this. If they don’t look at the comparable’s you bring, you haven’t really lost out on much. But if they do take them into consideration, you can control the process a bit more.
Every single piece of property is 100 percent unique — there will never be two properties that are exactly alike. However, the more unique your property is, the more difficult it will be to value, and the higher the chances are that your appraisal will come in low.
The cost of appraisals will run between $350 and $600 for a home that is easier to appraise — and could run much higher for a unique property. Shopping around for the best price isn’t really an option, so focus on making your home look its best, and ask your agent for a list of favorable comparable’s to share with the appraiser.
Here is another resource from our friends at Realtor.com regarding appraisals: Appraisal Info
When you are in the real estate market and searching for a Colorado realtor, I would love the chance to work with you!
Summer is here! The temperature isn’t the only thing heating up right now. So is the housing market in many areas of the country! Here are four great reasons to consider buying a home today instead of waiting. Whether you are located in Colorado or somewhere else in the country, these will more than likely all be applicable. Here are some reasons to buy real estate this Summer.
CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index reports that home prices have appreciated by 5.9% over the last 12 months. The same report predicts that prices will continue to increase at a rate of 5.3% over the next year. The Home Price Expectation Survey polls a distinguished panel of over 100 economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts. Their most recent report projects home values to appreciate by more than 3.2% a year for the next 5 years.
The bottom in home prices has come and gone. Home values will continue to appreciate for years. Waiting no longer makes sense in our current real estate market.
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey shows that interest rates for a 30-year mortgage have remained around 4% as a national average. Most experts predict that they will begin to rise over the next 12 months. The Mortgage Bankers Association, Freddie Mac & the National Association of Realtors are in unison, projecting that rates will be up almost a full percentage point by this time next year.
An increase in rates will impact YOUR monthly mortgage payment. A year from now, your housing expense will increase if a mortgage is necessary to buy your next home. Consider this when deciding whether it’s worth waiting another year. At 4% and good credit a $400,000 home will cost you about $2,000 per month currently. At 5% the same home could cost you as much as $2,300 per month.
As a paper from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University explains:
“Households must consume housing whether they own or rent. Not even accounting for more favorable tax treatment of owning, homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord plus a rate of return. That’s yet another reason owning often does—as Americans intuit—end up making more financial sense than renting.”
Think about it… how much longer do you want to pay someone else’s mortgage payment?
4. It’s Time to Move On with Your Life
The ‘cost’ of a home is determined by two major components: the price of the home and the current mortgage rate. It appears that both are on the rise.
But what if they weren’t? Would you wait?
Look at the actual reason you are buying and decide whether it is worth waiting. Whether you want to have a great place for your children to grow up, you want your family to be safer or you just want to have control over renovations, maybe now is the time to buy.
If the right thing for you and your family is to purchase a home this year, buying sooner rather than later could lead to substantial savings. Hopefully these reasons to buy real estate this Summer help you with your home buying decisions. If you are located in Colorado, give Shawn Manwaring a call and he would be delighted to assist with all your real estate endeavors.
Selling a house with tenants can be problematic or a blessing in disguise. This article was written to help you discover tips for selling a house with tenants.
There are lots of questions that arise and you may ask “where does one begin?”
The secret here is that a lot will depend on the working relationship between landlord and tenants. Seemingly helpful tenants at first might turn out to be tenants from hell and completely wreck any hope for a successful conclusion of a property sale! Or the tenant ended up playing quite the crucial role in getting the property sold.
How can one improve the odds of getting it right, and actually be able to sell the property?
The following Tips For Selling A House With Tenants will go a long way in getting clarity on all those questions:
A landlord isn’t prohibited from selling his property while there are tenants with a lease agreement occupying the property. This lease tends to precede the sale of property which means that the tenant is perfectly entitled to remain at the property until the end of the lease period.
Even though tenants are entitled to stay on one will actually see quite a few tenants looking for another accommodation. Due to the uncertainty created by an incoming landlord and/or unfavorable terms at the next lease negotiation.
Yet another reminder why one has to read the lease agreement so questions regarding the rights and obligations in the event of a property being sold, will not be unknown elements! In most cases both landlord and tenant will give one another additional flexibilities in the event of the property transferring owners.
The tenant might even be allowed to cancel the lease prematurely and find a new accommodation once the decision has been made that the property will go onto the market. If those are the terms then no penalties can be placed upon the tenant if he chooses to break the lease agreement.
However if nothing specifically is noted in the agreement regarding the sale of the property, the tenant will not be able to just walk away from the lease agreement.
As much as the new landlord needs to respect the terms of the established lease agreement so will the tenant need to respect the agreed upon contract. Especially if the new landlord bought the property with a buy-to-let investment goal in mind!
Who knows, by playing open cards with the tenants, and perhaps giving them the first refusal, selling a house with tenants might be the fastest way one has ever sold a property. Even if the tenants don’t buy the property they will feel very appreciated by having given that opportunity.
Quite a few rather big uncertainties remain:
Will the tenants be helpful and/or flexible when it comes to showing times for the real estate agent?
How will the property look like during showings?
How will the tenants behave during the sale of the property?
The huge uncertainty of not knowing whether the tenants will be helpful in getting the property sold, and hereby risking wasting a lot of time (and money lost as the property becomes stale by sitting on the market for weeks and months on end!), result in a lot of landlords preferring to rather wait until the end of the lease agreement before placing the property on the market.
Besides basic cleaning and freshening up the house, an empty house does show its imperfections more easily, so make sure to address those few cracked tiles in the kitchen or bathroom, as well as fix those small hairline cracks in the walls. Small renovations don’t need to cost a lot of money and will definitely help in the sale of the property!
Although we know that empty houses don’t sell easily there’s a huge upside of a 24/7 ease of access for the real estate agents to show clients!
According to most real estate agents, selling a house with tenants is asking for trouble, will get messy and rarely ends on a good note!
Nonetheless, the reality of the situation is that not every landlord has the luxury to wait for months until the lease agreement expires before selling their property. Even then, it might easily take as long before the house is sold, which means loss of rental income for the landlord.
In the event that the tenants have offered their cooperation in getting the property sold, it’s important to lay down some ground rules. Personally, I refer to these opportunities as the real estate agent’s chance to excel at managing expectations!
What will the condition of the property be like during the selling process?
How long in advance will the agent give the tenants notice for showings? How long is too long or how short is too short?
Will there be open houses?
Will the tenants be getting feedback of what’s happening with the showings?
In the end, will there be some sort of reward for the tenants in exchange for their assistance?
On the one hand, the tenants’ privacy is important, while on the other, it’s important for them to understand the need to be accommodating for showings!
Selling a house with tenants, uncooperative ones that is, will be viewed by most real estate agents as mission impossible!
These are the people who actually live in the house, day-in day-out, who are very familiar with the property, know every problem or shortfall the house has, and who are very familiar with the neighborhood!
Can you imagine the damage these uncooperative tenants could do?
Unleash these tenants on some unsuspecting interested buyers with their complaints, and that’ll be the last you ever hear from those buyers again!
Why bring through interested buyers if you don’t know whether you’ll actually get access to the property, arrive yet again at a pig sty, or worse, having those tenants hang around during the showings!
Waiting it out until the lease expires all of a sudden doesn’t seem to be such a bad idea after all, does it!
Money talks!
The cooperative tenants will very likely see some incentive reward heading their way for the help given during the sale process; the uncooperative tenants might change their bad attitude once they find out how much they’re about to make for being normal.
Of course, this is a tit-for-tat exchange: the tenant needs to clean up his mess on a daily basis (ideally 1st thing in the morning), and make sure to be available for showings! The landlord will then work on a big discount on the rent (e.g. rent amount cut by 50% per month), or other great incentives, such as helping to pay for the outgoing tenants’ moving expenses!
Will it be an offer the tenants can’t refuse?
When selling a house with tenants, it can be a potential minefield. Be sure you understand all the tips for selling a house with tenants before you get into it!
From a legal point of view, the landlord needs to make sure to have verified his tenancy facts, his lease agreement and run his actions by his legal counsel. This is all in order to avoid getting stuck in an ugly legal fight with his tenants!
All the tips for selling a house with tenants have been given to you. When you are ready to make the plunge, contact Shawn Manwaring, Realtor in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Real estate is stressful. Between setting up your home for showings, trying to figure out where you’re going to make compromises, and making a gigantic life change, you’re overwhelmed. When selecting an agent it’s important to recognize not all real estate agents are created equal.
Whether you’re buying or selling your home, you want a real estate agent you trust. You want someone who understands the market and is experienced at negotiating. You want a partner who can reduce your stress.
There’s tons of conflicting information about the types of real estate agents out there. How do you pick one? Should you go with a real estate broker, a Realtor®, or a real estate agent? What are a real estate agency’s responsibilities?
What’s the difference?
Most states differentiate between two types of professionals– agent and broker. A real estate broker runs a real estate agency and must pass an exam and be licensed to be a broker, while a real estate agent must pass an exam and be licensed to sell property.
The real estate broker is the leading person in a real estate firm. They man the whole operation. They’ve taken coursework to ensure they can manage a real estate firm. This person takes responsibility for all of the real estate agents she employs. Brokers must have a particular license, and some licensed brokers choose to work in someone else’s firm. In this case, they’re usually called an associate broker.
The real estate agent has met their state’s requirements for getting a license to sell property. An agent usually works under a broker, and are sometimes called subagents, real estate salespeople, or sales agents. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there were 151,700 employed real estate sales agents in the United States in 2015.
When it comes to buying or selling a home, you’ll probably work with a real estate agent who works for a real estate agency led by a broker. The real estate agent is the person you’ll work with most directly. They’ll be on call to help you through any questions. This hopefully helps to show how not all real estate agents are created equal.
A Realtor® is a real estate agent who is part of the National Association of Realtors, which has a certain standard of ethics and moral codes to follow. These rules have a reputation for being strict. Many real estate agents and brokers are Realtors®, and they’ll proudly display this information on their business cards.
Realtors® have access to inventory that real estate agents don’t, particularly through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which gives them greater access to homes on the market. If you work with a Realtor®, you’ll have access to more homes. Just like not all real estate agents are created equal, the same goes for Realtors®.
When you sell your home, you’ll need to find a sellers agent.
The seller’s agent is the real estate professional who represents the person selling the property. This person will act as the manager of your house sale. Think of them like the project manager. They talk fast, act fast, and get stuff done.
The seller’s agent will work with the buyer’s agent to come to a final price for the property. Get the property sold and you enter into a brokerage agreement with your agent and their firm. This agreement ensures they will represent your interests as a seller.
When you’re buying a home, you want a buyer’s agent to help you out.
Consider the buyer’s agent your first mate, willing to do the heavy lifting, negotiate on your behalf, and rally the crew to find the perfect house.
Real estate agents are often both buyer’s and seller’s agents. The only real difference between the two is that buyer’s agents work for the house hunter. They’ll typically take you around town, show off houses they think you’ll like, and manage the process from negotiating the offer to closing the deal.
A designated agency began because of conflicts of interest with dual agencies. A designated agency is when a real estate firm has a designated individual agent to represent only the interests of the seller, and another designated agent to represent the interests of the buyer. This gives both the buyer and the seller more personalized representation.
A dual agency is when a buyer is represented by the same firm that has the listing. It’s also called a dual agency when the same real estate agent represents both the buyer and the seller.
Imagine playing a game of blackjack as both the dealer and a player. There are a handful of potential benefits of using a dual agent as a seller but its not a recommended best practice.
Potential Benefits of Using a Dual Agent:
Minor benefits aside, some states have tried to outlaw the practice by citing a conflict of interest. Unfortunately, every state in the US leaves some sort of opening for real estate agents to “double dip.” The good news is that where the practice is legal, most states require the real estate agent to disclose the conflict of interest.
Here’s where the issue gets a little murky. The right real estate agent can get you in or out of a home smoothly. A bad one can bring on substantial headaches that cost you time and money.How to Work with Any Type of Real Estate Agent
Here’s how to ensure you get the best results, regardless of the type of real estate agent you’re working with:
Even the best real estate agents depend on their clients to be honest and upfront about their needs. If you disagree with a real estate agent’s opinion, it’s important that you voice your position. Explaining your stance is essential– whether you’re buying or selling. Remember not all real estate agents are created equal and therefore most will listen to your needs.
While sales data is arguably the most objective way to compare real estate agents, its not necessarily the end all be all. Ask each agent for a few references from a few of their previous contacts, read up on a decent sample set of online reviews posted on their various agent profiles, and do everything you can to make sure their a good personality fit. To see Shawn’s reviews, Click Here.
You want to work with a real estate agent who has significant experience in your neighborhood. If you’re selling, your agent will have up to date data on how hot the market is. If you’re buying, your agent will help you make decent offers. No matter what, choose a real estate agent with experience where you are.
Some real estate agents may claim that they specialize in both buying and selling. But the best really stick to one lane or the other. Again this speaks to the fact that not all real estate agents are created equal.
The bottom line is that you can’t just pick any old Seller’s or Buyer’s agent out of the phone book. There are tangible differences between one type of real estate agent and another. Don’t leave one of the biggest financial decisions of your life to the first agent that comes along.
Carefully consider the pros and cons of using an agent who specializes in sales, purchases, or both, weigh they’ve done historically in your area and how they’ve worked with other clients in the past. Then, after all of that research, go with someone you’re comfortable working with for at least a month.
If shopping the Colorado real estate market, give Shawn Manwaring a call at Roaring Fork Sotheby’s in Glenwood Springs.
Reverse mortgages have become a popular option for older home owners who want to take advantage of the equity they have built up in their investments. Most of the time when you take out a reverse mortgage, you are planning to stay in the home for as long as possible. But there are instances where you need to sell. This leads people to ask how to sell a home with a reverse mortgage.
Fortunately, selling a home with a reverse mortgage is just like selling any other home. You just need to be aware of a few important details as you begin to move forward, because like any other mortgage – once you sell you will need to pay off the reverse mortgage in full.
Paying off a reverse mortgage is something that is often left to family members after a death. It is not uncommon for a son or daughter to be left to figure out how to sell a home with a reverse mortgage due to mom or dad passing away. Below you will find everything you need to know about selling a property that has a reverse mortgage.
If you want to sell your home with a reverse mortgage, take a look at your loan documents any other pertinent documents to determine what you have been paid so far. You want to know exactly what you will be required to pay should you sell your home, including all interest and fees up to the point when you make the sale. You can contact your lender to get a payoff quote, which will tell you what it would cost to payoff your reverse mortgage in full.
When you know what you will need to pay, you can compare that number to what your home is estimated to be worth. It can be helpful to speak to a Realtor to get a clear idea of what your home will actually sell for based on your market and comparable sales in your area. Ideally, your home will sell for more than what you owe on the reverse mortgage.
Reverse Mortgage Short Sale
If you owe more than what you can sell for, you may have trouble paying for the sale. Unless you have some other source of money to cover the costs of the sale it may not be possible to sell the home. Your last alternative could be what is known as a verse mortgage short sale. This is when the balance owed on the mortgage is greater than the market value of the home.
Unlike most conventional mortgage programs, a reverse mortgage is a non-recourse loans, which means that reverse mortgage borrowers and their heirs can’t be held responsible for any outstanding deficiency beyond the sales price of the home. As such, heirs who have inherited an underwater reverse-mortgaged home have no obligation to sell the property.
Once you have determined that selling is viable based on what you owe and how much you can sell the home for, you can start the sales process. Here are the steps to sell with a reverse mortgage:
While it is possible to sell without a realtor, doing so is more work than most owners are prepared for. For a commission, you can hire an agent who will take care of all the details. Your agent can help you price the home competitively, so you get as much as possible from the sale while avoiding pushing away potential buyers by pricing too high. A good agent also knows how to market the home, so you can get the word out to the right kind of buyers.
It is also important to choose an agent who is a good communicator. There are many real estate agents who do not posses good communication skills. You will find chasing them down to get information could become a regular routine. One clue in an agents communication skills is how quickly they respond to you before hiring them. If that don’t get back to you immediately BEFORE you hire them what do you think will happen once they have you under contract?
The best Realtors will also have the best online presence which is where homes are sold today. Pay careful attention to the agent who has exceptional photography, spends time writing listing descriptions and possibly offers a video tour.
One big advantage of working with a Realtor is that he or she can tell you what things you need to fix to attract eager buyers – and what things you should leave alone. Renovating the whole house is rarely a good investment, because most of the time you will not make your money back. Working with the real estate agent, you can identify the most important areas that need work and focus your efforts on those.
Buyers today do want homes that are in excellent shape. In real estate terms we call it “turn-key condition”. Lots of buyers don’t want to lift a finger when buying a home due to their busy lives and work schedules. Those sellers who can afford to make small improvements and repairs should do so. This makes your home far more marketable to the masses.
You want to put your best foot forward for potential buyers, which means keeping your house clean and in good order. It may be worthwhile to hire a cleaner to come in and do a deep clean of the home. Once you have removed all the clutter and cleaned up, it is important to maintain the cleanliness so you can show the house as needed. You never know when the right buyer will walk through the door.
One of the most difficult discussions your real estate agent may have with you is the need to update your home to today’s standards. Some of the biggest culprits that can stop a home sale are wallpaper and carpeting that need replacement. While you may think that someone can just do these things if they like the house many buyers do not have any vision. The dated wallpaper and old carpets can get in the way with seeing the potential in your home!
Depending on your area, you may need to work with a real estate attorney to sell your home with a mortgage. You can talk with your real estate agent about this and see if it is makes sense. You may want to talk to an attorney even if it is not required, just to make sure everything goes smoothly. It just makes good business sense to be protected when buying or selling real estate. When you study how to sell a home with a reverse mortgage, many will suggest involving an attorney.
If you choose a real estate agent, hopefully you will pick someone that you feel like you can trust. Once you are working with an agent, if you want to get the best results from your sale it is necessary to listen to your agent’s advice and follow it. If your agent recommends updating some part of the home, or asks you to leave the house during showings, you should do your best to cooperate. Your agent is a professional that probably has a good deal of experience selling homes – someone worth listening to. It is usually stubborn sellers that think they know more than their agent that end up having difficulty selling their property.
Once the home sells and all existing loans on the home are paid off – including your reverse mortgage – you can enjoy the rest of the money from your sale. Hopefully this has been helpful and you now understand how to sell a home with a reverse mortgage!
If you are in the Colorado real estate market, be sure to reach out and I would be honored to earn your business.
Shawn Manwaring, Associate Broker
970.389.6069
Using a Realtor when buying and selling property is an investment. You’re going to pay them a commission, and statistics show you’re going to see a great return on your investment. It’s also a great way to avoid being sued. Hopefully this helps your decision when you ask Should I use a Realtor when Buying or Selling Property?
Some people don’t want to use a Realtor when buying and selling homes. Usually this is because they want to try and save on the commission normally paid to an agent. Craig Newmark the founder of Craigslist, as well as, Al Bennati, owner of buyowner.com both use agents to buy and sell homes. Keep in mind these are great business people with access to the best resources for selling homes without a Realtor, and they still use an Agent. This is because real estate agents save you money.
If you’re buying a home than you’re NOT paying an Agent’s commission, the seller is. Why wouldn’t you want a professional on your team for free?
A few of the common questions that will be answered within this article include:
If you spent the day in the life of a Real Estate Agent you’d have a better understanding of just how vital the role they plan in a real estate transaction is. A Realtor is your team’s Quarterback. They are responsible for knowing the ‘plays’ and where everyone is on the field. From home inspectors, to lenders, attorneys, title companies, etc. your Realtor will be the one driving the transaction forward and relaying information to all necessary parties throughout.
Whether you’re buying or selling a home, having a top local Real Estate Agent assist you with the transaction is going to be one of the best decisions you make. If you’re buying a home, they will guide you through every step and if you’re selling your house, they will implement the best marketing strategies so that your home sells fast for the amount you want. Regardless if you are buying or selling, expert guidance along the way is something only a realtor can provide.
By way of nature, humans are emotional creatures and more often than not we are driven to make decisions based on our emotions. Especially when it’s something we are emotionally invested in and care a lot about. Negotiating is a game of give and take and it’s easy to become upset during this stage – when you’re working with a Realtor you have a buffer, and they understand the goal of negotiations is to see if there is a win-win scenario for both buyer and seller. This is more ammunition to answer the question Should I use a Realtor when Buying or Selling Property?
Here are stats from NAR (National Association of Realtors) that reflect working without a Realtor:
It’s not as easy to sell your home for sale by owner as it was in the days before the internet. Before the internet selling your home for sale by owner was easier because shopping homes for sale was not convenient for buyers. Today, people can search homes for sale with ease. In a few seconds you can view every home for sale in Glenwood Springs, giving buyers many more homes to choose from, from the convenience of their living room, or anywhere in the world thanks to their mobile device.If your home isn’t being seen it may as well not be for sale. Without a Realtor your house is not being listed on the MLS and it is not being syndicated to tens of thousands of real estate websites around the world.
88% of Buyers use RealtorsWould you rather be be the first person or the last person to know about a home for sale in a highly sought after neighborhood? When you’re buying a house you’re competing against other buyers. Chances are 9 out of every 10 buyers you’re competing against is working with a Realtor who is (if their MLS allows) instantly notifying their clients the second a property comes on to the market. So not working with a Realtor will put you at a significant disadvantage when buying a house. When it comes time to make an offer on this house, and there are three others next to yours all with Realtors, which offer do you think the sellers are likely to accept? Deals are far more likely to go south when there is no buffer for both sides, so it makes sense the sellers would want to take the offer that is most likely to reach the finish line.
Unless you’re been in a real estate transaction before, you probably don’t understand just how common it is to become overly emotional and make bad decisions based on your emotional state. This is one of the home buyer mistakes we see most often. Too often a buyer misses on a house with multiple offers and settles for the next property they see, even if it isn’t one they want! This is because they become emotional after missing on a house, and this causes the buyer ‘pain.’ Your body has a self defense mechanism to protect you from these types of feelings, and naturally, you want to feel better. So you draw the conclusion that buying anything will make you happier than being patient. The same logic applies to selling a home without a Realtor.
Chances are you are not buying and selling homes every day, or constantly surrounded by real estate lingo, questions and different scenarios. This is where your Realtor comes in. When buying a home there are certain things that need to happen in order for you to reach your goals. You’re going to want to ensure you receive the best possible deal from your mortgage lender so make sure you talk to at least three, and let them all compete against one another. I’ve had clients go from a 4.0% interest rate to 3.5% simply because they let them compete vs. one another. After hearing this can you should feel more comfortable answering the question Should I use a Realtor when Buying or Selling Property?
With hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake you’re not going to want to make any mistakes when buying or selling real estate. Buying and Selling with a Realtor decreases the chances of any mistakes significantly, especially since there are so many checks and balances in place for Agents and firms. If there is even the slightest thing wrong with the paperwork the firm will request that it be fixed. This is going to protect you big time in your transaction.
After reading this article hopefully you are well equipped to answer the million dollar real estate question of: Should I use a Realtor when Buying or Selling Property?
When you make you decision and say “YES!” contact me and I am glad to help:
Shawn Manwaring, Broker Associate
970.389.6069
No matter what the market happens to be doing right now, understand that you can sell your home if you want to or need to. You can sell it, and you can sell it for a price comparable to other similar homes – as long as you work with the right agent and you listen to his or her advice on how to sell a home for the first time.
While it is possible to sell your home without the help of a professional, doing so is not recommended. There is too much at stake in a home sale, and too many things that can go wrong. A good agent will handle all the details and help you understand your options – specific to your area. You can read all the information you want about real estate sales, but you will still not have the connections or experience to market your home effectively and to avoid making costly mistakes.
Interview several Realtors before deciding on the best one. The person you choose will be responsible for how your sale goes, so it is worth your time to look around and be demanding. There are plenty of real estate agents out there, but not all of them are necessarily great. Do your homework and choose someone that can help you accomplish your sales goals.
When selling your home you should be working with an agent that possesses outstanding marketing skills. This is one of the vital traits to look for in a great listing agent. Over 90 percent of all buyers find their home online so you want an agent who has the skills and drive to make your home standout. Outstanding photography, detailed listing descriptions and providing video tours are all part of a top producing agents marketing arsenal. There are lots of real estate agents who do none of these things but if you find the right one they will explain how to sell a home for the first time in great detail.
Picking the right real estate agent and the right price go hand in hand. Everyone wants to sell for the highest possible price. But be careful, because pricing a home too high will repel buyers. If your home stays on the market long enough, it could develop a stigma and be seen as undesirable by most buyers. It is not enough to look at your neighbors house to see what they are selling for.
Your neighbors home may or may not be priced correctly. Always look at similar closed sales as a basis for establishing the right asking price. Ask your realtor to prepare a CMA (Comparable Market Analysis).
Correcting the price a month or two later is not going to fix the problem, either. By that point you can expect to be low-balled whatever price you set. Talk with your Realtor and try to price the home appropriately to the market you are in. If you have a real estate agent you trust, you definitely want to price the home at the point recommended by the professional you are working with.
One of the biggest mistakes numerous sellers make is not being completely ready to put their home on the market. Remember you are in competition with a lot of other sellers who are trying to accomplish the same thing. It stands to reason you need to keep up with the Jones-es when it comes to selling a home! What exactly does this mean? Start with these things:
Exterior Home Improvements
Interior Home Improvements:
It is understood that there are times when an owner has no money to do some of things mentioned above like replacing carpeting or re-finishing hardwood floors. If you have the funds, however, you will get a great return on your investment as these things can change the whole complexion of a home.
When someone makes an offer on your home and you accept it, you will need to be ready to move quickly to finalize your relocation and get all your things out of your home. Sometimes it can feel like you have a good deal of time, especially if you have not gotten any offers. But once the paperwork is signed, you will need to get into gear and take care of all of your business as quickly as you can. Know where you are going to go before the sale closes. Moving is a time consuming and tiresome process all on its own. If you have done your homework on how to sell a home for the first time than you will be prepared for it.
Understand What The Costs Will Be For Closing The Sale
There can be a lot of extra costs associated with selling a home that you may be expected to take care of as the seller. You are also going to need to pay the commission to your real estate agent once the house sells. First, understand that many of these costs, including the commission, can be negotiated. The perfect example of this is when you are selling your home and turning around and buying another with the same agent. Real Estate agents love these kind of transactions!
A business savvy agent is not going to turn down the opportunity to make two sales. An agent that is closed minded and says no to any kind of negotiation might not be the best bet to work with. It is in your best interests to seek a fair deal, so don’t be afraid to seek a middle ground between the offer that is presented to you and what you actually think is fair to pay. After learning these costs you will be more prepared on how to sell a home for the first time.
Local real estate markets are unique, which means that what works in one market may not work in another market. Just because you see a home like yours the next town over that is selling for a certain price does not mean that your home will sell for a similar price. There are so many factors that go into real estate markets that it takes quite a bit of training and experience working in each market to have a clear understanding of what to expect. Your real estate agent should be an expert on your local market and how to sell a home for the first time.
Selling a home is not rocket science but it is easy to make mistakes when you are not completely educated on the process. By following the above tips for selling a home for the first time, you will increase your odds for an enjoyable and profitable sale. When you are ready to sell, contact me:
Shawn Manwaring
970.389.6069
Manwaring.RealEstate@gmail.com
