Get Copy of Property Disclosure Statement

There is so much new terminology to learn when you start the search for your first home.  If you don’t understand something, you could pay the price later if something is not correct.


One required document that you should ask to see before you write a contract.

“When writing an offer to purchase a home, be sure and request a copy of the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement to be included as an exhibit on the contract.  The Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement is designed to assist the Seller in disclosing adverse conditions relating to the physical condition of the property.  These include items that may not be readily observable, including current and past problems with the property.  

The Seller’s Disclosure should also include a list of fixtures or other items included with the sale of the home.  Keep in mind that when purchasing a foreclosure property, a Seller’s Property Disclosure will probably not be provided.  The property will be sold ‘as is’ with no disclosures or warranties provided by the lender. 

In either event, whether or not there is a disclosure provided, you should be sure the contract includes a 7 to 10 day due diligence period to give you time to check out the home.”

I would like to have you as one of my clients for life.  See why more people are choosing me to help them find their new home.

Looking forward to doing business with you.

No Excuse Not to Buy a Home Now

Could it be that some people waited too long to get a good deal on a home?  I say ‘yes’ and here are the reasons.

Potential homebuyers [have] chose[n] the absolute worst time to stall on buying a home. Interest rates are at an all time low, foreclosures are rampant, presenting an endless possibility of getting more house for their money, and more choices than they’ll ever have.  And yet, they waited and waited and continue to wait. What they have done is ‘waited’ themselves out of an opportunity.

Now on the seller side (and we’re talking about traditional, non-foreclosure sellers), a small window of opportunity has opened the door for owners of non-foreclosure properties to capitalize on the current processing freeze on foreclosure properties. Current sellers have been complaining about having to compete with foreclosures in their neighborhoods. Now that banks such as Bank of America have put a freeze on foreclosures (listed, processing and pending sales, etc.), a boatload of the competition has suddenly vanished.

That being said, what excuses do home sellers have now to wait?

• They have less competition in the market place
• More negotiating power in the interim
• The attention of more buyers who are now intimidated by foreclosures (they’re thinking that foreclosures may not be such a great deal after all)

While sellers may not get maximum dollar, if they play their cards right, they can certainly get more than they thought. This current real estate market is a market of opportunity and sometimes there’s only a small window of opportunity. Sellers can be like buyers have been and ‘wait’ themselves out of a golden opportunity. Or they can ‘get off the pot’, as they say, and take advantage of the best opportunity in the past two years.
Any seller that has been contemplating the sale of their home would be wise to jump not only at this window of opportunity, but through it.  Sellers should learn a valuable lessons from the many potential buyers who missed their window of opportunity. Just for once in their lives, they need to take the leap of faith and be an opportunist.

Call me today to discuss ways to help you in this real estate market.

Thanks Charita Cadenhead for the information.

Five Reasons a Seller May Reject Your Offer

Rejection is a hard thing to face in life, whether it’s at work, at home or from the owner of the home you hope to purchase. I counsel  that as a first time home buyer, your stress level might be reduced if you’re aware of some of the reasons a seller may reject your offer.

Before I give you the list of reasons, I’d like to mention that even if you and your buyer’s agent do everything right, the seller may still reject your offer. It frequently has nothing to do with you.

With that said, here are 5 common reasons sellers reject offers on their homes:

• The offer wasn’t enough for them to pay off their mortgage. For most sellers, the bottom line is paying off their mortgage. If your offer won’t cover the mortgage, they cannot accept it.
• They may have just been testing the waters to see what they can get for their home.
• Their plans may have changed. People put their homes on the market because they need to move, they want to upgrade their home, or they can no longer afford their home. If the circumstances change, they may not need to sell their home.
• Their deal may have fallen through. Perhaps your seller was buying another house contingent on the sale of their property. If something went wrong with that deal, they may not be able to sell their home to you.
• You may be asking too much of them. The seller may not have the time or money to make any repairs they think are insignificant. Perhaps you want to close too soon or would like to move in to the home before closing.

Don’t get depressed when a seller rejects your offer. There may be many reasons for their refusal. I work with my clients to  develop a counter offer, or move on to a new opportunity. There are a lot of homes on the market. You may be pleasantly surprised when you start looking again and find a home that fits your lifestyle even better.

Thanks Jeffery Launiere for the information. 

Looking forward to doing business with you.

7 Warning Signs for a Home Buyer

Poor water pressure. Aside from issues of comfort and convenience, low water flow may indicate plumbing problems, such as corroded pipes that will need to be replaced down the road. Tearing out old plumbing and replacing it with copper pipes can run $2,000 to $15,000 or more in a typical 1,500-square-foot home. A less costly alternative is cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) piping, which unlike rigid copper piping, is flexible and easier to install (approved for potable use in all U.S. model plumbing and mechanical codes, but may not be approved in local building codes).

Among tests you can do: Run water in a bathroom sink and check for weak flow. Flush the toilet while the water is running. Does the faucet flow drop off during the flush? In the bathroom located farthest from the water heater, turn on the hot water. Is there an unduly long delay before the water turns hot?

Ceiling stains. Something’s leaking. If the stain appears beneath a bathroom, odds are the shower is leaking. It may merely need recaulking or regrouting, but it could also require ripping out tile and replacing the shower pan, a much more costly process (about $1,500). Most roof leaks result from neglected flashing that seals “valleys” in the roof or around a chimney or vents (cost to repair: $200 to $500). But roof leaks may also mean it’s time to replace shingles -- at $100 to $350 per 100 square feet for asphalt shingles and $210 to $1,000 for wood shingles.



To view all the warning signs click the link: Seven Warning Signs for Home Buyer

Top 5 Ways to Get an Offer Accepted

Many buyers don’t know how to react when they find a home they love, submit a good offer, but then find out there are multiple offers on the table. First-time buyers especially want to know how to guarantee that their offer will stay in the running.

Top five ways to get your offer accepted:

1) I research the activity so that you know what is a fair and reasonable price for the home. Be sure to consider those things that might make the home you are considering worth more or less such as updates, lot, and time on the market. I like to show  the history of the property to understand how many times it has been bought or sold. Then make your decision. It is a rule of thumb that homes that are priced fairly will sell for between 95 and 97% of list price.

2) Decide if you really need closing costs. If you are buying a home over $200,000; it is “unusual” to ask for closing cost help. It is done, but if you want a clean offer, leave it out if possible. It you bid $200,000 and ask for $3,000 in closing costs, that is really a $197,000 offer to the seller.

3) Ask the seller what type of closing date and possession work best for them AHEAD of time, especially if you have some flexibility. For example, my buyer wrote an offer in March with a May closing because it worked for them and they knew the sellers hadn’t found a place to move to. How did they know? I asked!

4) Be sure you are pre-approved for the loan and attach that letter to the offer. The more you can put down, the more attractive your offer will look to the seller. It just eases their minds on the financial status of the buyer.

5) Make the time frame to respond to the offer as short as possible but be reasonable. Don’t give the seller several days to decide. Urgency is important to keep other offers coming in while they are considering yours.


These are just a few of the steps I go through with my homebuyers to make sure they get the best value on the homes that they make an offer and the offer gets accepted.  I am looking forward to doing business with you.

Thanks Cindy Marchant for the article.

Home Upkeep: Are You Prepared?

For first time home buyers, having the luxury to call a landlord for repairs, they often don’t realize how much they are responsible for repairing by themselves.

I wants future homeowners to be fully prepared for the upkeep a house requires.

“You may call a landlord for a leaking faucet or broken A/C but do you know all the work that is required in true residential maintenance?

New homeowners often run out and shop with the interior of the home as their focus with buying furniture, appliances, televisions and more. When often a first time buyer may not consider the cost of items needed to maintain the lawn, garden, gutters, deck or siding. After all, gutters need to be cleaned regularly to avoid drainage issues, which can often cause water to back up into the home causing ceiling leaks if the gutters go ignored.

Or if you have a deck or perhaps a cedar siding home, you will need a pest control company to treat regularly for wood bees, carpenter ants, and maybe even new siding pieces replaced as those pests, and woodpeckers manage to make holes and nests in the home’s exterior amenities. All that maintenance is needed and you haven’t even entered the home yet.

Once inside, the home requires that the heating / ac system have new filters replaced, often recommended to be changed monthly or quarterly. Do you have a fireplace? Don’t forget you have to sweep the chimney to avoid potential fire hazards. Did I mention fire? Yes, all the smoke, carbon monoxide or radon detectors need to be routinely checked to replace batteries.”

These are just a few of the items I go over with my clients to prepare them to own a home.  I am looking forward to doing business with you.

Know Where These Items Are in Your Home

There are many, many things you learn when you purchase your first home.  Most of them you learn the hard way, and that will almost always cost you money and may just be plain embarassing!

I suggest knowing these  Top 5 items that may save you time and money.

“1.  Water Shut-offs – There are several in almost every home, but the main one is at the water meter.  Sometimes it requires a special wrench to turn it off, so make sure you have that tool and keep it handy!  There are also shut-offs inside your home or crawl space, and often there is more than one!  Make sure you know where they are and whether or not they cut-off service to the whole house or just an outdoor spigot.  And remember to shut-off and drain those outdoor spigots in the winter!

 2.  Electrical Disconnects – Know where your circuit breaker box is located and familiarize yourself with the main nreaker.  It is typically the largest switch at the top of the box.  It will cut power off to every other breaker and everything electric in your home.  If you ever have an electrical fire, after you call 911, you should try to get to your circuit breaker box and cut off the power.  If you can’t, there is usually a cut-off outside at the meter that the Fire Dept. will use to cut off the power.

3.  HVAC System Switch – Have you ever gone into your attic or basement and seen a light switch that wouldn’t turn a light on/off?  That’s because it’s NOT a light switch!  If it’s within a couple of feet of your HVAC unit, it’s the switch that turns off your HVAC unit.  That’s an embarassing trade call!

4.  How to Light a Pilot - Your water heater may have one, your furnace may have one, your stove may even have one.  Do you know which of these appliances are electric and which are gas?  You need to be able to tell if the pilot is lit, and if not how to light it safely.  Those 12? long fireplace matches are very handy for this!

5.  Your Chimney Flue, is it Open or Closed? – They sell cute little brass signs for this purpose.  If you’ve ever started a fire with the flue closed, or if you’ve ever experienced a cold breeze coming from the direction of the fireplace in the winter, you may want to invest in one of these signs.”

When you are buying your first home it is easy to forget these simple items but I promise they are important and will save you money and embarrassment in the future.  These are items we make sure that you know about so that after closing your future experience is better.

Thanks Eileen Smith for the information.

When is a Deal not a Deal?

So many buyers, especially first-timers, are out looking  not so much for a house, but for a house that’s a real deal. And many assume that a “deal” equals a foreclosure.
But not every foreclosure is a deal.

“A foreclosure is not a deal when:

– The cost of repairs and the price of the house exceed the home’s worth.

– You don’t have the cash, talent, and/or time to fix it up.

– The house doesn’t ‘fit’ your needs; it’s not practical. It may be too small and/or not have space for your beloved hobby, whether it is beer-making or model trains or crafting or gardening. And do you really want to give up the hobby that gives you so much enjoyment?

– You just plain don’t like it. Remember the winter coat that was really un-flattering and downright ugly but you bought it because it was so cheap? You disliked it so much you never wore it … and what kind of deal was that?

– It’s such a good deal that you figure you’d better buy it now, before someone else does. (The Number One rule I tell every buyer I work with:  Don’t buy a house because someone else might; buy it because it’s right for you.)

There will be another deal, one that will fit your needs and wants and budget. And it may not even be a foreclosure: a ton of great houses at great prices are out there to fit practically every budget. Remember, this is the biggest purchase you’ve ever made, and that payment will be around for … well, about 30 years. Choose wisely.”

These are the questions I go through with each of my buyers to make sure that you get into the home that is right for you.

Looking forward to doing business with you.

Thanks Kathy Novak for the article.

Why is NOW the time to buy a home?

This is the time to buy a house. Not only are prices low, but something that most people don’t seem to consider or other agents don’t seem to understand, is interest rates.


I’ve been in the business over 20 years and they’re lower than they were when I started in 1990. And the loss of purchasing power, by an increase in the interest rate, is very, very large even in a swing of 4.5% to 8 or 9%.

So it is an extremely big deal right now to buy a house if you can because the prices are low, but the interest rates you will never see again.

Call today to see if you qualify for our 100% financing programs.


Looking forward to doing business with you.

Lenders want to say yes to First Time Home Buyers

Despite news stories to the contrary, there are still lenders who want to help first time home buyers become homeowners.

“If you wish to buy a home but consider yourself incapable of getting credit, you may be living in the past in terms of assessing your financial situation. Lenders have become more flexible in underwriting mortgage loans.

A recent survey of mortgage lenders revealed some interesting trends. Ninety-six percent of those surveyed had cut their standard down payment requirements for moderate-income buyers, and 93 percent said they are more lenient regarding debt-to-income-ratios.

Ninety-four percent of those surveyed said they now have more flexible approaches to credit histories, and look at rent and utility payments more than credit cards.

Seventy-nine percent of lenders say they have relaxed employment criteria. They now look more at your capacity to generate a stable flow of income rather than requiring a long history at one job.

There are more lenders today, and they are in fierce competition with each other. The home loan industry has created entire markets that cater to those with less-than-perfect credit.”

My  program helps you find the right lender so that you can own the American Dream.

Thanks Joe Machodo

10 Steps to Successful House Hunts

It sounds like a great listing – in your price range – in a good neighborhood – with features you’re looking for.

First impressions mean a lot – but you find the bushes are overgrown, the front hallway is covered with tacky foil wallpaper, the kitchen cabinets are painted dark brown, the living room rug smells musty, and the hardwood floors have black water marks on them. Should you head back out the door?
Maybe; but to fully determine whether you should cross this house off of your list, you’ll need to gather more information, and perhaps look past the blemishes to get a full picture of this house’s potential.

“How do you do that?

Follow these 10 steps.

Keep them straight
Looking at a bunch of houses? With digital photography making it easy and inexpensive to record images, be sure to take a digital camera along, first taking a picture of the listing sheet so you can remember which pictures go with which home, and then key elements of each home.

Also, make a checklist before you visit the first house so that you can keep each of them straight. Here is a list of items you’ll want to include (rank each as either excellent, good, fair, needs repair soon, needs repair now).

Kitchen

Bathroom(s)

Roof

Windows

Furnace

Air conditioning

Floors (rate by each level of home)

Closet/storage space

Plumbing

Electrical (does it have 60, 100 or 200 amp service?)

Basement

Master bedroom

Siding

Garage

Then customize the list with your own ‘must haves,’ for example, fireplace, master bath, walk-in closet, two (or three) car garage, dining room, open floor plan, eat-in kitchen, screened-in porch, large (or small) yard. When narrowing down your home search, consider the following:

1. Start with emotion, but end with facts. Buying a home is an emotional process. You often find yourself trying to determine if this is where you want to spend the next 10, 20, or 30 years of your life (and perhaps raise a family). It’s OK if your initial impression is an emotional one. But because the purchase can be the largest you’ll ever make, it is essential that you gather all of the facts necessary to make an educated decision.

Thanks Wayne Davis for the article.


These are just a few of the steps I do with my clients to help them make a good choice on their new home.  I am looking forward to doing business with you.

Are There Any Funds Available for First Time Home Buyer's

We do have first time homebuyer money. It is dependent upon on your income. You do not necessarily have to be a first time homebuyer, depending on the area you’re in. If you’re in what they call a “targeted area,” you do not have to be a first-time homebuyer. Targeted areas are primarily the suburban areas of the city. Call me today for different areas to see if you qualify.

However, for the very suburban areas, there is another type of loan available that is 100% financing. It’s through the USDA and you do not have to be a first-time homebuyer, however you do need to have minimal income. I have the lenders ready to offer you this program.

The more people in the family, the larger down payment assistance is available. Your interest rate is fixed over a 33-year loan versus a 30-year loan, again based on your income. It can be as low as 2 or 3 ½ percent. That will not change, but you will have to submit to the home loan authority or USDA periodically. They’ll ask you for income tax returns to substantiate that you’re still at that lower income level.

That’s probably one of the most frequent questions we’re asked. But state bond money is generally available. They seem to come up with bond twice a year. It is first come, first serve. It does run out. So if it does run out, you need to be with myself who is aware of when that bond is coming out. You need to get your name on the list and get in and get it done pretty quickly.

Thanks CindyCheatwood for the article.

Call me today for programs to help you buy a home with little to NO money down.

Key Safe Guards once you Buy a Home

When you buy a home, there will be many tasks to accomplish, from changing your address and having the utilities shut off at your old residence to cleaning and unpacking at your new home.

Do not to overlook these important tasks to help ensure the safety of the home and family.

1. “Immediately have the locks changed. You never know how many contractors, neighbors, or maintenance providers possess copies of the keys. Although these people may be trustworthy, your keys could get into the wrong hands.

2. Change the codes on security systems and garage door openers. Similar to choosing a password for your computer, make sure your codes aren’t easy to guess: don’t use your house number as the code for your garage.

3. Replace the batteries on the smoke alarms. Buy one fire extinguisher for each level of the house and garage.

4. Make sure the house numbers are at least 6-inches tall. They should be clearly visible from the street to help emergency vehicles spot your house should the need ever arise.”


Thanks Brian Ripp for the article.

My experience and professionalism does NOT end once you close on your home. I want your experience to be a lifetime of good memories. Looking forward to doing business with you.

5 Questions for a First Time Home Buyer

Are you a first time home buyer who is anxious to get out the door to start looking for houses?

STOP, put down the car keys, and think about the process before you begin your search.



“How prepared are you for the trip you are planning to take? The five questions below are provided to help you map your course before you start your engine.


1. Have you really determined what type of house you want? Most people have a vague idea, but are not really sure. A good exercise to help you determine your ‘must haves’ and your ‘wants’ is to list out all of the things you think will make you happy in your new home. Put your ‘must haves’ and your ‘wants’ in separate columns.


For the full article click the link: 5 Questions for a First Time Home Buyer