It’s standard practice in real estate to give a home a fresh coat of paint before putting it on the market. Nine out of 10 times, the intention is to show the property at its best. But every so often, the seller paints the house in hopes of covering something up.
That’s why I always triple-check the disclosure documents of newly painted houses, to ensure there were no recent leaks or other damage. It’s the seller’s obligation to disclose these kinds of issues. And it’s the buyer’s responsibility to be completely aware of past problems before signing on the dotted line.
Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, here are five things you should know about real estate disclosures.
1. What is a disclosure?
Disclosure statements, which can come in a variety of forms, are the buyer’s opportunity to learn as much as they can about the property and the seller’s experience in it. Read more »
It’s a standard scenario. I’m at an open house, meeting potential buyers and homeowners. In walks a couple just off an airplane from across the country. They’ve taken a great new job and plan to transfer to the area. They owned a home in their old town but sold it, and now they’re checking out the real estate market in their new city to see what’s available.
Or, I get a phone call from someone who was referred to me. The potential client is moving to town and wants to meet with me about getting into the real estate market. But usually, I’ll tell the person up front: “You should really consider renting for a year before you buy.
Conventional wisdom says that as a Realtor®, I should be excited about working with a new buyer. But I believe it makes much more sense to rent for the first year you’re in a new city. Here are three reasons why. Read more »
Many real estate agents steer their clients away from a short sale because they think they take too long, that their commissions will be lowered, or simply because they don’t know a lot about the process and what it takes to get a short sale completed successfully.
There are multiple steps involved in a short sale. If you’re a buyer or seller today, it’s helpful to understand the entire process from the inside out. Here are 10 things you should know about short sales.
A short sale isn’t a foreclosure, and the property may not be anywhere near the process of being foreclosed upon. In a short sale, the seller needs to sell their home for a variety of reasons — job transfer, divorce, lost job, inability to make payments, and so on. The current market value of their property is less than what they owe the bank because its value has declined; the seller took out additional loans against the property; or both. Read more »
Even with interest rates and home prices at all-time lows, many potential home buyers, especially first-timers, are on the sidelines. They’re concerned about the economy, their job, their savings, or their ability to actually get a loan.
But real estate is cyclical. If you look at the past 50 years, real estate has gone up and down. We’ve been in a down cycle for some time now — which followed many years of an up real estate market. It’s inevitable that buyers will gradually move off the sidelines and start making their way toward the end zone again.
If you think that next year, or even 2013 might be your time to buy, there are steps you can take now to get ready. Read more »
Is a $499 iPad a bargain compared to one that costs $500? Not exactly. But retailers have long priced products just below a round number because, psychologically, $499 feels more like a deal than $500, even if the difference is only $1.
In real estate, the “99″ strategy is nearly always employed. For instance, if a seller prices their home at $499K instead of $500K, the $1K they lose will cover some of the buyer’s closing costs, but in the buyer’s mind, they are paying $500K. In most cases, though, knocking off $1K to bring the price below a rounded figure doesn’t make that much difference to a buyer or seller.
Nonetheless, there’s a fair amount of psychology — and strategy — that goes into determining a home’s asking price. Read more »
