New Blogger Website

I am happy to announce we have now streamlined the blog, website, and chat feature !

All New Blogs Will Be Written On: 

The Real Estate Matchmaker !  

All previously written blogs will remain here until they are all completely transferred, 

please be sure bookmark the new website ! 

Short Sales In Today's Market !

The market has picked up and more buyers are out looking for homes, my job is to help guide those buyers and homeowners who are selling their homes ! I want to touch base and give everyone a quick refresher on what a short sale is and what the process actually is, there are still quite a few leftover on the market and new ones coming onto the market.

What Kind Of Short Sales Are There On The Market ? 

• Approved Short Sales:  This is where the bank has already set a price that they are willing to take for the home.  These kinds tend to move a bit quicker since the "negotiations" have already taken place, unless you plan on submitting an offer below asking price.  These can usually close within 90 - 120 days after going to contract.  

• Un-Approved Short Sales: This is the less predictable short sale because not only has the bank not agreed to a price but more than likely the homeowners are still in the process of submitting all of their paperwork as well.  Normally in order to submit your offer to the bank you will need to provide them with contracts, which means you will need to use your down payment to get into contract.  

What Is The Process Of Purchasing A Short Sale ? 

1. Meeting with your buyers broker, deciding on your offering price based on the actual market value of the home.  Take the time to review how long it has been on the market, and for your own knowledge what the Lis Pendens is on the home.  
2. Presenting the offer to the homeowners, ideally they will accept the offer or counter.  You can sometimes ask the homeowners to do fixes or repairs as well, but your agent will advise you to if this will help or hurt your chances.  
3. Once you have an accepted offer from the homeowner, you will than go into contract on the home.  Your offer will now be submitted to the bank for their approval this is where the timeline becomes less predictable.  
4. The bank will send out their own appraiser to perform a BPO of the property.  This is where they  will go look at the condition of the home, and of the surrounding comparable homes.  This is why basing your offer on the current market value is key, if they see your offer is considerably less than it chances are they will not accept.  Remember the bank does not necessarily have to counter your offer they can simply reject and you will need to re-start the process to change your offer.  
5. Hopefully you will have gotten your offer accepted or successfully negotiated with counters to get the home for the price your comfortable with.  Your mortgage broker should have began your process of you obtaining your commitment so that all the attorneys can schedule the closing and get all of the necessary paperwork from the homeowners for their short sale to be complete for you to be able to close ! 

Truths & Myths Of Short Sales 

• Myth: The homeowners have defaulted on the house and have not paid there mortgage.
• Myth: Anyone can short sale their home if they owe more than it is worth.    
• Truth: The homeowners must have suffered some circumstance for no longer being able to afford their home, and are unable to make other arrangements with the bank.  

• Myth: You can offer the bank whatever you want, they would rather sell it than hold onto it! 
• Truth: The home may not be worth what the remaining mortgage is on the home, but on average the bank wants 96% of the market value of the home regardless of what they are owed. 

• Myth: You can use any company to list your homes as a short sale! 
• Truth: You can, but your home will not sell.  You need to hire an agent and company that has worked on and with banks on short sales in your area.  Only a knowledgeable agent will be able to properly handle a short sale, the reason their is a higher commission rate is because of the extensive additional work we must do.  

• Myth: Whatever is left in the home the bank will come and clean out before your closing.
• Truth: What you see is what you get, literally this unfortunately includes whatever leftover debris is left by the previous owners.  In the case where the homeowners are still in possession they will almost always take their belongings and properly dispose of what they are not taking with them. 

National Open House Weekend !

This weekend is the National Open House Weekend on Saturday April 20th and Sunday April 21st we are going to see buyers out in mass ! If you only hold one open house this year whether your an agent or a For Sale By Owner this will be the weekend to take get your home out there ! Because there will be a large amount of homes holding these open houses it is very important that your home shows well, and you take the time to make sure it stands out from the crowd !

• Timing: You should consider letting your agent hold a longer open house, because there will more than likely be alot of homes on a buyers itinerary for the day you want to make sure they don't miss yours ! Simple adding an extra hour to the open house can make a difference or consider holding one later in the day during times that others are not like 3PM - 5PM ! 

• Be Inviting: Either your or your agent will want to find a way to get the buyers to slow down and really see your home, when there are so many open houses to get to buyers will sometimes go through a home quickly and miss some great features.  A simple way to do that is by setting out some refreshments.  Make an area where they can help themselves to some ice tea or water it will give them a reason to take a minute to relax and take in what your home offers.  

• Spruce Up Your Curb Appeal: Putting up some new numbers on your front door, putting out some brightly colored potted plans, add some additional solar lighting, or even a small lounge area on a porch can really change the look of a home from the curb ! 

• Set Up Outdoor Space: I always stress in the spring time for homeowners to play up their outdoor living area, but during this weekends open houses it is the perfect opportunity.  Buyers will be happy to be able  to spend sometime outside with their agent or yours discussing what your home offers them ! Other plus is anything you invest in outside will usually be things that will be going with you to your new home so it is not an investment you would be leaving behind ! 

• Make It Memorable !  Buyers will be receiving quite a few highlight sheets from all of the open houses. You want to take the time to set yourself apart and give them a reason to keep your homes information separate from all of those others that will more than likely be lost.  What I do is actually give them a packet with your homes information, community & school information, and other real estate related articles, and for some homes I include an Virtual Presentation DVD of your home ! 

I wish the best of luck to all homeowners who are hoping to find their buyer this weekend, and for all those buyers happy house hunting ! If your interested in seeing a full list of what homes will be holding open houses in the Babylon Village area please look under the Real Estate Round-Up which I publish every Friday on the Babylon Patch ! 

Staging For The Spring

It's Spring ! It may not feel like spring just yet, but mother nature will be getting with the program in the next few days bringing us some warmer weather! All those homeowners who have their homes on the market, and those who are getting ready to make their debut here are a few tips to get your home ready for the spring rush of buyers !

Update Your Pictures - If your home was listed in the winter you will want to update the pictures this way it showcases your homes spring look ! This is not only important to keep your listing from looking outdated, but if your anything like me I love my outdoor space and buyers should get the opportunity to see it too !

Create Your Outdoor Space - Having an inviting outdoor space whether it is a inviting front porch, or a great entertaining space in your backyard can really set you apart from your competition.  Here are a few quick tips for creating that space !

• Decks/Porches/Railings always look a bit nicer with a fresh coat of paint or a good power washing ! 
• Inexpensive solar lighting to help light walk-ways not only make things safer, but also gives you great curb appeal ! 
• Brightly colored potted plants add to your curb appeal, and the best part is even someone without a green thumb can maintain these with very little work ! 
• Update your outdoor furniture, if your moving into your new home and were going to upgrade this furniture this season take the time and do it now. Since it will be going with you to your new home it will help showoff what that space offer to your buyers ! 

Lighten Things Up - Many people enjoy switching out their winter attire when the spring arrives you should do the same for your home !  Many people overlook the fact that we tend to use darker heavier fabric on things like our bedding and curtains so giving your home a new "wardrobe" for the spring is a great idea ! 

• Sheer curtains will allow the extra day-light to stream into your home, which tends to also make your room look larger and more inviting.  Sheer curtains are also a great alternative for those who have large sliding doors, it allows you to keep your privacy but let the buyers see the outdoor space combined with indoor space ! 
• Removing your darker colored linens (ex:bedding, throw pillows, blankets) also work wonders for changing the feeling or the atmosphere of a room, and again these items are coming with you to your new home ! 

Give Your Home A Spring Cleaning - This is the perfect time of year to make any of those minor repairs or changes to your home, if your anything like me the last thing you want to do in the winter is pull out the paint, or spend hours cleaning when you can't open up the windows.  Any home can show a bit better with only a days worth of work ! 

• Touch up your paint - white moldings often change color a bit a fresh coat of white high gloss paint give the room a fresh/clean feel ! 
• Letting the air in is of course important so your home doesn't feel stuff, but don't forget cleaning those windows can really showcase a picture or bay window ! 
• The best part of spring is obviously the fresh air and flowers, but you want to be careful because of allergies during this time of year.  Burning a light scented candle before your home is shown is always a nice idea especially if you have pets ! 
• A fresh coat of paint on your front door, new house numbers, or replacing broken window screens is another great way to increase your curb appeal.  

If your unsure what you should be doing to stage your home for the (hopefully) nearing spring season, take the time to call your Realtor.  Many times we will see things that could be improved simply with a bit of re-arranging or much simpler fixes than you may think ! 

What To Do When Your Homes NOT Selling !

Now you might be thinking, here is another real estate agent trying to get a price break but I am actually going to give your some other insight onto why your home might not be selling ! Price is just one aspect but condition and availability are just as important !

So let's begin with the "Condition" this does not only apply to what your home looks like when it is seen in person, but also about how your listing presents itself to those looking online !


Pictures

• Prepare For The Photos: You want your home to show well so before your photos speak to your Realtor about some staging.  This doesn't mean you need to hire a professional or rent furniture many times simply re-arranging your existing furniture and a bit of de-cluttering can go a long way.  

• Professional Photos: I am a firm believer in spending the time and having a professional photographer come and take pictures of your home.   They are able to showcase your homes attributes with angles, and staging that can make a huge difference.  

• Updated Photos: - Keep your photos up to date with the changes in season, this is very important for those homes listed in the winter because spring gives you the opportunity to show off your "outdoor living space"! 

Take a look at some before and after pictures of one of my personal listings before and after photos !

Keep in mind the only thing we did for this home was paint in the living room, and virtual 

staging which was included in the price of the photography !  

Now "Availability" this covers much more than just "How easy it to show your home", so let's take a look at some of the other aspects you as the homeowner may not think of.  

Internet Presence

• Where Does Your Home Place? This is a very simple thing to check and correct, go on as a buyer and search for homes that share the same basic characteristics (style, bedrooms, baths).  If your home does not show up within the first 10-15 houses than you should consider finding a way to get your home up to the top.  You should do this with your agent so they can rule out homes that may come up before you, but are not the "competition" you may think.  

• Where Is Your Home Listed?  The most common place you ask about your home being listed is Multiple Listing but where else are they being promoted ? Many buyers from the city & the boroughs look at publications like New York Times and Redfin.  Others will utilitize quick apps while they are around town viewing other properties or open houses on websites like Trulia or Zillow.  You should also be tracking how many views your home is getting on at least the top 6 or 7 sites that are used which also include Optimum Homes, Realtor.Com, and Yahoo Homes to name a few.  

Coldwell Banker decided to keep a close eye on our listings and partnered up with these top sites to be able to track your homes views on a weekly basis ! Here is a example ! 

• How Quickly Do Buyers Receive Information: Buyers who make online inquiries expect a timely response. Statistics show that buyers who do not receive a response within an hour of placing the inquiry will likely not return the call of your agent.  Your agent simply calling them immediately to at least acknowledge the inquiry and than setting up a time to speak with them more about the home can be the difference ! You will want to find out what set-up they have to receive these leads do they receive it via email, voicemail, or does the office handle the inquiries.  

• Who Receives The Inquiries On Your Home? This is often a big problem for most homeowners and they don't even realize it.  No matter what site your home is on with the exception of MLS SELLS the ad space surrounding your listing ! If your agent has not purchased this space they will not be the contact person for inquiries ! 

• How Often Do You Invite The Buyers? How do you invite the buyers your asking, its very simple you hold an advertised open house.  Often times buyers will spend their weekends visiting open houses so why not take the opportunity and the chance to let them see yours !  

If your home has been on the market for over 6 months and did not receive any offers, than unfortunately the only remaining factor is the price.  There are very rare exceptions where this is not the case, but you should take the time and speak with your Realtor for their professional opinion.  

Tips For Showing Your Home

So I often get asked by my homeowners what should or shouldn't they do while their home is being shown when I am not able to be present for the showing.  There are some general rules that you should always follow because their will be 2 kinds of agents that will be showing your home and that is a Brokers Agent or Buyers Agent, keep in mind a Brokers Agent is working for you - a Buyers Agent is working for the buyers.  The rules for where and what you should be doing when your home is being shown is generally the same for both, but I will also touch on some rules for your general safety as well.

• All Buyers Must Be Accompanied By An Agent - Never allow a buyer into your home without an agent present, you will from time to time have someone see the home and decide they are going to "pop in".  You can speak with them but don't let them into your home, this is not about your agent trying to "control" a possible sale but about your safety ! 

• Put Away Your Valuables - This doesn't mean to bolt down your flat screen TV, but simply put things away.  Don't leave jewelry, or money laying out.  Agents will always accompany their buyers and it is rare that anyone is left in a room unattended but sometimes children will pick up what they see and parents may not notice.  

• Let The Agents Do Their Job - If your going to be home during a showing stay out of the way, their agent will review the listing with the clients.  Often times buyers will feel rushed if they are being followed around by the homeowner, if your concerned about them getting all of the information about your home take the agent aside and let them relay the information that you feel they should know.  Also stay in the front of the house, you will always want to be aware of who is coming in or out of the home during a showing.  

• Check Your Doors - Sometimes homeowners will opt to have a lock-box put onto the home, and leave for showings.  When your coming back home you will want to just check that all your doors sometimes a agent can leave a back door unlocked by mistake.  For my listings even if the home is vacant I take the keys out of the lock-box after a showing is complete, this is a good option for those homeowners who are hesitant to have a lock-box on their home.

• Clear The Way - Although we will be getting a bit more sunshine now it is still important that you make sure that your pathways and the number on your home is well lit and visible from the street.  Clearing the walkway does not end at the front door, if you have small tables or an abundance of small items (shoes,jackets,laundry baskets) in your halls take the time and tuck them away this way the buyers can walk thru without obstacles. 

• Be Inviting To The Buyers - While you don't want to follow the buyer and the agent around the home, you can still make them feel comfortable.  If you have a fireplace, have it lit it is a great time to show off that kind of feature ! Put out some bottles of water, or candies sometimes that is enough to get them to stay a bit longer in your house and notice something they really like about it. 

These are just some of the things you should be doing when your home is shown, personally I like to be at my listings during the showings but it is not always possible for your agent to make it to every showing.  If you want to make sure the buyers are receiving all the information that you think they need, talk to your agent about creating a buyers packet to give to buyers that come to your home.  That is a great way for you to know they received all the information without making the buyers feel pressured ! 

Value VS Features In Real Estate

As promised from last week it is time to explain what are things that you can add an actual value to your home verse others in your area, and what items are more of a feature that doesn't necessarily add "value" to your home.  Keep in mind when I refer to the word "value" in this blog it is strictly about the price of your home or the ability to have a higher price because of the "valued" item.

Let me start by giving you a quick overview of what things add "Value" to your home:

• Renovations Or New Construction 
• Legal Add-Ons (EX: Basement, Extensions, Dormers)
• Bulkhead/Private Beach/Docking Rights
• Property Size 
• Number Of Rooms (EX:Bedrooms, Baths) 
• Heating System Upgrades Or Conversions

Now let's talk about features, you might be surprised even if you are a buyer what some are:

• Pools, Heated Pools, Sauna's, Hot Tubs  
• 3 Car or more garage
• In Ground Sprinklers, Brick Pavers, Lighting, Elaborate Fencing & Gardens
• Fireplaces, Hi-End Appliances, Wood Floors, Imported Flooring

There are of course some exceptions where the rules will change slightly, it is not always as simple as adding and subtracting based on this "value", "feature" criteria because each homes value is based on the comparable homes in the area.  

Here are some examples: 

1. When comparing homes in a specific area if a home has bulkhead or docking rights, you can not add an additional value above those in the same homes in the area.  If the surrounding homes have bulkhead, and yours only has water view you can not take the added value of those that have bulkhead there will be a slight difference in the "value".
2. There is also an interesting twist with bulkhead, you can add value for someone who has recently upgraded the docking space, this is a big question for homeowners who are trying to decide to repair or leave bulkhead as is after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
3. If your comparing homes in an area that the majority do not have basements/garage you can not reduce the value of a home because it also does not although you still can add value for it.  This is common in certain areas of the village of Babylon where basements are not common South of Montauk.  
4. Renovated and new construction homes are homes where the all the items are truly new and never been used.  New construction will rarely ever be comparable to a home that was updated 10 years ago, you must add value to the new construction build but you can not penalize an updated home for not being new construction if the majority of the homes in the area were built or updated in earlier years. 

When it comes to updating your home many homeowners wonder how far should they go with the renovations so they don't "lose" money when they decide to sell.  The best rule of thumb is to keep the kitchen and bathrooms up to date by using common items not necessarily renovating every time a new appliance or building material comes onto the market.  

It is always good idea keep an eye on your market and your neighbors even when your not selling.  Even reading the sold section of your local online paper this will give you a good idea of the condition and upgrades that homes in your area have done, and you can invest wisely in upgrades for your home! 

Setting The Price Of Your Home To Sell

I think it is that time again to write about the topic of what you should be using to determine the price of  your home, and what kind of pricing options you have !! This is extremely important because the more homes that go onto the market, the more competition you will have, you want to make sure your listing stands out and gets sold before we have another sudden rush of new inventory ! 

How Real Estate Agents Determine The Value Of Your Home 

All real estate agents should be bringing a Comparative Market Analysis of your home when they come to meet with you to list your home.  Real Estate Agents use a similar system to what the banks will be using to determine your value these are the main characteristics in importance order that you will want to be using.  

• Homes within 1-2 miles of your home that recently sold within the past 90-120 days.
• Homes of the same style (EX: Ranch, Hi Ranch, Cape, Expanded Cape) or similar square footage if there is a lack of comparable style homes.  You can not compare your home to one of an opposite style just because you think your home is just as good, the bank won't allow it.  
• Rarely will you see homes with the exact same amount of bedrooms, baths, or even property size this is where you need to adjust the comps accordingly.
• Take a look at what homes are currently on the market, and compare how your home stacks up to theirs, these homes are your competition.  

In my opinion, if you meet with an agent and they do not bring with them a Comparative Market Analysis than they are not putting in very much effort to help you sell your home since determining the price of your home is really the very first step before listing it.  I always say my job is not to list your home, but to get your home sold ! 

The 3 Styles Of Pricing Your Home 

• Overpriced Home - This type of pricing is not only a waste of your agents time but yours as well.  You are putting yourself behind and unnecessary roadblock, and guaranteeing you will be having the dreaded price adjustment talk sooner than later.  Many homeowners will say "But I am flexible, just bring me an offer!" - There is only one problem with that, and it is that we can not relay that to all of those buyers who aren't a- looking at homes $20,000 above their budget or b- tell those buyers who are in that range that you are flexible.  Remember most buyers find their home online, so presentation including price is a very important factor and we can not write on your listings that you are willing to hear all offers ! 

• Market Priced Home - This is an educated homeowner who has taken the time, and hopefully the advice of their real estate agent and is priced in the same area of those comparable of the recently sold homes.  This kind of pricing will get you showings, and hopefully an offer within 6 months of being listed.  As other homes sell their might be a need to adjust the price of your home to stay in line with what homes went from contract to sold once you were listed.

• Action Priced Home -  Before I explain, let me say this action price does NOT mean pricing the home as if you were giving it away.  When you use this style of pricing you first base it on the comparable homes in the area that sold, but your focus is shifted to those homes that are currently on the market (those that are priced at market value, not of those that are overpriced).  You look at your direct competition and price it anywhere from $8000 - $10,000 below that of your best competition.   Normally on a market priced home once you have received an offer that $8000 - $10,000 is the wiggle room of where you would accept an offer.  What you do by pricing it that bit lower is your drive much more traffic and increase your chance of multiple offers, almost every home that is "action priced" will sell for either the listed price of the home, or possibly more because you have increased the buyers perception of value !   

There are a few things you will also want to keep in mind when you are thinking about where you want to price your home.  The most important questions you should be thinking of when determining the list price of your home are 

1. How much will you need to be able to walk away from your home after the mortgage payoff, brokerage fees, attorneys fees, title transfer fees. If after you total these things up if what you would need to list it for is significantly higher than what your home is worth it is always better to leave it off the market until your in a position to sell rather than have it listed and sit on the market making buyers wonder once wrong with it.  The exception to this is when you are avoiding foreclosure by doing a short sale.  
2. How quickly do you need or want to move ? If you want to move quickly than your best option is to really have your home priced at the "action priced" point so that you can move things along without any delay and a guaranteed end in sight ! 
3. How many times has your home been listed, if your home did not sell chances are it was overpriced which means at the very least you must get in-line with the current market value of your home.  Re-listing it at the inflated price again is working against yourself and buyers will begin to disregard your home because "there must be something wrong with it", and not even the best agent can overcome that ! 

If you are interested in having a Comparative Market Analysis done on your home, please contact me directly.  I will be writing another blog that goes into the specifics between things that will add value to your home verse things that are more features of your home, which can affect the overall listing price of your home in an upcoming blog ! 

                                                                                      

Home Sweet Home Improvement

If your thinking about putting your home on the market, and you want to get top dollar from your home the saying you need to spend money to make money is often the last thing you want to hear.  There are plenty of inexpensive ways to help improve your homes chance of selling, you don't necessarily need to spend thousands of dollars by doing a complete overhaul but certain key changes can really change the overall appearance of a room ! 

• Kitchen makeover. The kitchen is the most popular room in the house to remodel. Most in the industry will tell you money spent upgrading a kitchen produces the highest return on investment. One of the best things you can do in a kitchen is replace the countertops, sink, and appliances.  Depending on the size of your kitchen you can get remnant pieces of granite, or another great option is butcher block counters they always give a kitchen a great clean look ! 

• Bathroom fixer-upper. Upgrading a bathroom is another sound choice and will often provide a significant return on investment, as large bathrooms typically top the list for those seeking a new home. A quick change of a vanity, toilet, lighting, and fresh paint can cost under $500 and give your bathroom a great facelift ! These are simple things that can really give a buyer a fresh look at your space ! 

• Flooring updates. Many homes on Long Island have hardwood floors if they were built in the 60's or 70's whats amazing is the builders than covered them with carpeting ! If you have hardwood floors pull up that carpeting and show them off ! If you have bright colored carpet trade it out for more neutral colors this can help the buyer visually picture their furniture instead of thinking about what exactly would match your carpet ! 

• Create Outdoor Living Space. This is another great trick, and the best part is normally you will get to take your upgrades with you.  If you have a nice patio you can buy some new furniture, solar lighting, and a few potted plants can show the buyer the potential in even the smallest yard plus that new patio set will come with you to your next home ! Solar lighting and bright colored plants are also a great option for your front yard to help your curb appeal ! 

Whether or not you choose to update your home there are some things you should do and I can not stress this enough but de-clutter your home.  Pack up what your not going to be using (seasonal clothes, holiday decorations ect.) and put them into your attic or storage facility ! I can't tell you how many times homeowners de-clutter the home but put it all into their closets and than we have an avalanche when the buyers open them up ! You want the buyers to have the space in your home to see what it will look like with their furniture and their family living there ! Almost every buyer whom I have had buy a home, always took the time to figure out where there things would fit before making the final decision ! 

Buyer Broker VS Brokers Agent !

As many buyers are beginning their spring search, I want to take a moment and explain a specific piece of paperwork that you should be seeing quite a bit of, and that is the New York State Disclosure.  This paper specifies what kind of relationship you have with the agent that you are in communication with.  You should always remember that even if you are working with an agent as a buyer there are still 2 different kinds of available agency with some very important differences ! 

Brokers Agent

This Agent Is Only Working With You 

• The seller’s information is 100% confidential including but not limited to reason for moving, health, or flexibility in price.
• Can send you listings but are not allowed to disclose any information about previous listings, or owner motivation due to disclosure laws. 
• Set appointments on any listings that are being advertised or marketed with the Multiple Listing Service, this excludes any homes with Exclusive Listings & Unrepresented Sellers.
• Will attend showings of homes with you but is unable to give any sort of advice or council on any particular area of the home from price, to functionality for prospective buyer.
• You will not be exempt from being contacted by other real estate agents regarding their listings that you have viewed, the brokers agent & listing agent with this kind of agency are representing the seller. 
• Offers can be placed with a Brokers Agent, comparable homes can be provided to support the seller’s price.  Offer will be placed with the listing agent, who will pass it along to the homeowner.  

Buyers Agent

This Agent Is Working For You !

• Your information is 100% confidential including but not limited to how much you can afford,you reasons for the purchase.
• The seller’s information is no longer confidential if they share why they are moving, or price flexibility you are now entitled to know.
• I will do the “homework” on all the properties that you want additional information on (EX: How long & how many times the home has been on the market).
• I can give you advice and council regarding a home that you are interested in (EX: What home of 3 is a good value in my opinion).
• I am able to bring you into homes of Unrepresented Sellers while reducing your risk if/when you choose to purchase.
• Facilitating you being able to view and place offers on “Exclusive Listings” that are not available to the general public or other real estate agents from non-affiliated brokerages.  
• I can be the “liaison” for not only those involved in the transaction once you find a home but for other agents during the search (Agents You Meet At Open Houses).
• Beginning with placing an offer pulling 3 comparable homes to help you to get the home for the lowest price possible. 
• Presenting the offer in person to the homeowner giving them all information you would like disclosed making sure the terms are clear and understood. As well I have the right as a Buyer Broker to keep the name of my client anonymous from the homeowner and still place the offer.

Deciding Whether To Buy Or Rent, What You Need To Know !

It's that time of year again where we see renters deciding whether or not they will continue renting, or will consider being a new homeowner ! This blog is to help all those considering purchasing answer that most common question "Should I Buy Or Should I Rent?" 

Why Should I Buy A Home Instead Of Rent ? 

It's a fact that in most markets, buying a home is significantly cheaper than renting.  Renting is money you will never get back, but buying a home is an investment in your future.  In most areas, if you can afford to rent, you can afford to buy! For more information on this topic you can refer to my blog, here it will give you both the pros and cons for both buying and renting, as well as offer you alternative options.  

How Do I Know I'm Ready To Buy A Home? 
The best way to know if you're ready to purchase a home is to look at your current situation.  You don't need to be employed with the same place for 2 years, you just need to have had a steady income in one field for the past 2-3 years.  You will want to run your credit and take a good look and make sure everything that is on the report is correct, if not you will want to have it corrected! You will also want to make sure you have money saved up for a down payment, in some cases you can withdraw from an IRA penalty free for a first time home purchase.  For more information on this topic you can refer to my article, here.

How Much Money Will I Have To Pay Upfront To Buy A Home? 
This is not an easy answer, because there are two factors depending on what kind of loan you take and the amount of the loan is what will decide your down payment.  For an FHA Loan you will need to put down 3.5% where a Conventional Loan you will need to put down atleast 20%.  The average cost of a home in Suffolk County is about $325,000 which would require a FHA down payment of $11,375.  

You will also need to factor in closing costs, but you can also ask for a sellers concession or have the money "gifted" to you from a friend or family member.  This ranges again by the loan amount, and any mortgage broker is required by law to give you a good faith estimate of closing costs, this is why you should always choose a reputable bank Of course, Coldwell Banker Mortgage is more than happy to help and you will always be given all of your loan options.

Once you have decided that you are in a financial position that you would like to go ahead and begin searching for your new home there are a few things you should look into.  You will want to learn the difference between what kind of homes are on the market, who you should have working for you, and what happens once you have found that "perfect home".  Because each of these topics are best explained in detail I will list each topic below with a direct link to blogs to help you get informed ! 

• Why You Should Work With A Buyer Broker
• What Kinds Of Home Are On The Market
• Benefits Of New Construction
• Short Sale VS Foreclosure
• What To Offer For That House 
• What Happens After Your Offer Is Accepted 
• What It REALLY Means To Be In A Buyers Market 
• Tips To Finding The Perfect Home

What Your Should Ask Before You List Your Home

Many of my listings happen to come from expired listings, because of that I meet a lot of homeowners that are hoping a new Realtor will get their home sold.  Let me first off by pointing out that I am going to list the questions you should be asking in order and the most important !

1.  What Kind Of Company Do They Work For ? 
The very first question I hear from a homeowner is "What Is Your Commission" ? This should actually be your LAST question, it does not matter what a Realtors commission rate is if they don't do what needs to be done to sell your home.

• Is the company individually owned, or is it owned by a company ? In most cases bigger is always better because they are affiliated with other companies that can help get your home sold.  You can't just assume that because they have the named Century 21, Coldwell Banker, or Prudential does not mean owned by a company because these are franchises.   Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is company owned, that is why and how we are able to offer so many options like in-house mortgages, home warranties, insurance, and a title agency. 

2. What Is Their Internet Presence, and How Do They Create Your Listing ? 

• What do they do for online advertising ? Everyone puts their listings onto MLS, what you want to know is how many other sites will your home be on, and who will be the point of contact on each of those websites ! Many homeowners don't realize but the ad space around all listings need to be purchased by your agent otherwise the point of contact is not your agent, but rather the agent who did purchase it.  Another important part of Internet presence is do you know if your listing is actually coming up in a search and being viewed, you should find a company that can track at least the number of views your getting or how many times your home came up in someones search.  

• What do they do to create your listing ? The first impression your house gives is by it's listing does the agent stage your home or professional photos, buyers are very visual so you want to be sure that you catch their attention right away ! Another often overlooked aspect is what your listing will actually have written on it ? You want to make sure that it has a detailed description and directions many buyers look to the directions to figure out the area that it is in.  The best way to gauge all of these things is to ask to see the agents other listings and see how they present ! 

3. How Available Would Your Agent Be ? 

• How available are they to you ? This is another question that homeowners often forget to ask, you want to know how often your realtor will be following up with you to give you updates on your home, feedback from Realtors, and most importantly what is going on with other homes that are selling and coming onto the market while your on the market ! You want a realtor who has a system to keep you up to date on all of those things going on in the market around you, this way you know how and when you will hear from them.  

• How available are they to buyers ? This is a very important question to ask because how quickly they respond to inquiries will decide how many buyers stay interested in your home.  Statistics show that 60 minutes after an inquiry is sent, the chance of reaching that potential buyer decreases to less than 50% !  The best way to find this out is after your appointment place an inquiry with them about one of their listings and see how long it takes for them to get in touch with you !  You will also want to see if they will attend showings that are being done by other brokers.  Granted the other brokers will be the ones talking to the buyers you want any questions they have, or any pertinent information about your home to be answered accurately and the only way they can be sure that happens is if your agent is there.  Now, this is my disclaimer, even the best agent will not be able to attend all showings but you should make sure they have a follow up plan in place for the ones they won't be able to attend.  

4. What Technology Do They Use To Help Their Listings ? 

• This question is more of a general question, you want an agent who uses all the tools that are available out there to help get your home sold.  You also want someone who understands the basic technology that is being used in today's market such as the social marketing, virtual presentations, online newspapers and forums ! These are the tools that bring buyers to your home, the more places your home and your agent are the more chance the right buyer for your home will come across it.  I happen to offer some additional tools for buyers who look at my listings like that ability to chat with me online, or giving them the ability to actually schedule an appointment anytime at their convenience! 

5. What Is Your Home Worth ? 

• I am sure your wondering why this at the bottom of the list, the reason why is because as long as the agent has provided you with a Comparative Market Analysis than the price of your home should not vary by very much.  If the agent has not performed an actual CMA and presented it to you, than that should make your decision for you ! The one part of this you do want to make note of is what kind of pricing style they would suggest for your home and area Market Priced or Action Priced !

These are the most important questions you should be getting the answers too, and the very last question should be that of "What Is Your Commission", don't discount a company or agent because of this answer decide who you think will do the best job and get your home sold ! If you hire an agent that your not sure can actually sell your home to save 1% on commission you will only end up spending more time and money living and maintaining it rather than moving onto your next home !