REAL-ESTATE-EARTH.INFO

By: Gary Ward

As a home buyer you should put as much thought into choosing your real estate agent as choosing your home. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of buying a new home especially if you are not aware of how the game is played.

Resourceful consumers know that they should interview agents to see how they will perform for them and to switch agents if they are disappointed in an agents performance. How your needs will be met should be based on the variety of services the agent offers, the different skill levels and training he or she has, and the company policies of the firm they work for.

You may end up with someone who hasn’t had much experience, if you met the agent at an Open House or called the Listing Agent about a particular house. It is not uncommon for new agents or part-timers to conduct Open Houses and do ‘up-time’ answering the phones at the real estate offices, not that an experienced agent does not do these things from time to time, but it is not enough to just take up with the first agent you meet without first seeing if they are knowledgeable of the area, the laws, and your interest. If they are the listing agent, unless specifically disclosed otherwise, they represent the seller in any transaction for the sale of a home. It is that Agent’s fiduciary duty to protect the seller’s position at all times. No matter what they tell you their loyalty will lie with their selling clients. Listing Agents are, not focusing on buyers’ needs, you may end up with an agent who will do a better job selling your house when the time comes rather than serving your needs and wants now as a home buyer. A buyer’s agent is a better choice.

If you have found a particular house but want a different agent you may have to deal with something called ‘procuring cause’ which offers guidelines regarding who should get credit for the sale and consequently, payment. That is why we say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: Choose your real estate agent before you choose your house. It’s not good to see a home with one broker and then bring another broker to the same house for the second showing a month later. Such practices could end up in a long bitter process between agents, slowing down your closing process and perhaps even chancing the lost of your dream home to another buyer.

Treat your agent with the same respect you expect from them, tell them up front if you have worked with another agent in the area, what homes they have shown you and why you choose to seek out a different agent. A good buyer’s agent armed with your expectations will transcend into a great buying experience for you and your family and what a difference that will make in the enjoyment of your new mountain home!

Buying property in the North Carolina Mountains is a huge investment. Having someone to keep your interest in mind can be the difference between a good investment or a poor one. Be a smart buyer hire a responsible buyers agent like Gary Ward. Go to our website before you buy a mountain home. http://www.greatcarolinaproperty.com and http://www.greatgeorgiaproperties.com Or email Gary

By: Robert Clark

Are you mired in a mortgage you simply can’t afford? Can you no longer wait for a home to sell because you’re going through a divorce? You are not alone. Thankfully, if you live in the UK, there are people that will help you sell your home quickly. In fact, in most instances, you may successfully sell your home in seven days or less!

Perhaps you need to put the brakes on repossession before your credit score is destroyed. Seek out one of the UK’s expert cash home buyers and they will easily help you out of your difficult situation. It will put an end to embarrassing calls from debt collectors and help you go back to living a stress-free and happy life. There is no uncertainty or hidden fees. You will know exactly how much money you’re getting for your home; in cash and up front. You will save on estate agent fees, and best of all, you will be free from the mortgage you cannot afford.

The first step toward selling your house in seven days or less is contacting a reputable company that specializes in purchasing homes in the UK for cash. The company will then come to your home and perform a home valuation. Then, the company will make you a cash offer for your house. It’s just that simple! Typically, you can even choose the day you want to move out.

Emigration, legal problems and Section 20 notices all may cause the need to sell your house fast. Regardless of whether your home has problems with poor location, rot or any other detrimental factors, you will almost always find a home buyer willing to give you cash in exchange for your home. When you sell your house to a cash home buyer, you don’t need to wait for bond approval. And they can buy properties that can’t be financed by traditional mortgage lenders.

There are options available to you when you are facing repossession. You don’t have to go through the painful property reversion process. Home reversion schemes lead to more pain than relief in the long run. Large up-front fees combine with astronomical interest rates to put you in a worse position than you were before you ever opened the loan. They are certainly a bad financial solution to the problem of being in mortgage arrears. They will leave you buried in debt. Contact an experienced home buyer, and let them help you find a way out.

If you’re tired of watching as bills pile up month after month and your mortgage balloon out of your control, you can sell your house and do so quickly. There is no need to stare out the window at your “For Sale” sign forlornly when you know there are no prospects for buyers in your near future. Even if your home is less than perfect, even if it is downright shoddy, UK home buyers are ready and waiting to appraise your home and give you cash for it within a week.

Robert Clark is the founder of Rapid Property Buyers. If you need to sell your house: click here for one of the largest house buyers networks in the UK http://www.rapidpropertybuyers.biz

Buy My House, Home Buyer, Home buyers, Homebuyers, House Buyers, Sell My House

By: Fritz Pfister

Buying a home shouldn’t be a hassle, an aggravation, time consuming, or costly. Regrettably many prospective home buyers will have that type of experience. The reasons why? Lack of experience buying and selling homes. Let’s face it many people have never bought a home, and many have not done so for years. All the while the rules within the real estate market change constantly, except one; home buyers make the same mistakes every year.

The most egregious mistake is not hiring an experienced, reputable, ethical agent to represent them. This one step would save the home buyer the embarrassment of making all the associated mistakes made by those without proper representation. Especially the x and y geners who count on the information received on the Internet to protect them. The Internet alone can’t protect you.

Mistake number one is believing real estate agents are interchangeable. The one thing to know is there are only two types of agents, one who’s primary concern is you (the client), and one who’s primary concern is their commission. How can you tell which are the wolves in the sheep’s clothing? Ask around, trust your instincts, and when you meet an agent follow your intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Trust will be paramount to a successful home purchase.

Huge mistake number two is the failure to think resale and buying an overpriced home, something the commission driven agent will be happy to accommodate. Millions of families own homes today where they owe more on the home than it’s worth. This happens in every market, every year. Investors ran up prices to unsustainable levels in many bubble markets; an experienced agent would have advised renting instead of buying, until the market corrected. In the non-bubble markets buyers that purchase overpriced homes do so either on their own, or with the complicity of the commission driven agent.

Here in Springfield Illinois we did not have a bubble, except for those buyers that paid too much for their homes. Here’s proof. Of 25 single family home sales during 2007 in the Piper Glen subdivision, one of Springfield’s pricier neighborhoods, there were eight winners, and seven losers when they sold. The other ten were initial resales with no basis to determine the original purchase price. During the seller markets in 2004 through 2005 many agents treated Piper Glen like a bubble market and started listing homes at unrealistic prices in my humble opinion of 21 years experience.

The definition of a winner is a homeowner that sold their home for more money than they paid for it at purchase. The definition of a loser is a homeowner that sold their home for less money than they paid for it at purchase. The winner’s gains were not as huge as the loser’s losses. Of the eight winners the difference between their original purchase price and their sale price in 2007 ranged between $3,500 and $49,500. Of the seven losers the amount of money the home sold for below their original purchase price ranged from losses of $8,850 to $62,500, not including selling expenses.

The eight winners sold their homes for an average $18,638 more than purchase price. The seven losers sold their homes for an average of $26,214 less than their purchase price. A real life example of paying too much at purchase. Of course other factors are involved such as length of ownership, and supply and demand at the time of sale. However with an equal number of winners and losers selling the same year, odds are those with losses bought overpriced homes. Think resale, and hire an agent you can trust to be honest with you about prices.

How do home buyers get caught in this trap? What other result do you expect if you don’t interview and hire a professional you can trust? Most find their agent by accident, or don’t use an agent at all. Only calling agents off signs, or advertisements is a perennial ritual of novice buyers, and it’s risky business. The only thing you know about these agents is that they have a name on a sign or ad. That’s kind of like a blind date with serious financial ramifications.

Another cause for buying an overpriced home is that the buyers were not familiar with the local market, and were transferring from a higher priced market. Once they were referred to the commission driven agent, their fate was sealed. Most transferees automatically trust the agent to whom they are referred. This could be a major mistake.

Another annual costly ritual of home buyers is the shopping of, and looking at for sale by owner homes without representation. Who do you think has the buyer’s best interest at heart in that transaction? The seller with everything to gain, or the buyer with everything to lose?

The big mistake that leads to this accident waiting to happen, is that many buyers perceive that FSBO’s are lower priced because the seller isn’t paying a commission. The only people who know better are the people who bought for sale by owners and are now trying to sell those homes without losing their shirts. A survey of three local mortgage lenders provides all the proof you need, FSBO’s only accounted for around 10% of all sales, but accounted for more than 95% of the homes that short appraised. Short appraised means the home buyer got screwed on price. Unfortunately most buyers won’t believe that and will make this perennial, and likely financially calamitous mistake.

There are many other blunders the inexperienced, uneducated in the process, prospective home buyer will make, such as; offering too low on a fairly priced home and losing the home to another buyer; failing to obtain financing pre-approval before writing an offer and losing the home to a pre-approved buyer; failing to buy a home inspected by a licensed inspector; failing to act quickly enough after finding the right home; and payment shopping, just because you can afford it, doesn’t make it worth it!

Bottom line, hire an agent you can trust, or be prepared for whatever comes your way. There’s a saying; If you want to make God laugh, tell him what your plans are. Believe that.

Fritz Pfister is a licensed Realtor with RE/MAX Professionals Springfield Illinois. Fritz is a leader in the local real estate market and hosts a live one hour radio program, now in its’ 13th year. Fritz’s website is SpringfieldHome.com Fritz hosts home buyer and home seller seminars that have been attended by hundreds of consumers. Fritz provides advice that helps consumers succeed in the sale or purchase of homes.

Home buyers, Perennial Home Buyer Mistakes