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Have a question about Real Estate? Ask Us!
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If you have a question about buying or selling a home, mortgages, or anything to do with real estate, just ask us.
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 | I'm thinking about buying a home this year and keep hearing that now is a good time to buy. What exactly makes it a good time to buy a home? |
 | There are several factors that make this market a good time to buy a home. For starters, home prices are very depressed right now making owning a home affordable to a large number of people. Also, mortgage interest rates are very low, so the combination of low home prices with low interest rates means that you will have a low monthly mortgage payment. There are still a lot of homes on the market compared to the number of buyers out there, so you have a lot of homes from which to choose making finding the home of your dreams much easier than when housing inventory is down. Additionally, the fact that the supply is greater than the demand gives a buyer in this market negotiating leverage when it comes to price, terms and conditions in an offer. Finally, the number of short sales and foreclosure properties available give buyers even more ways to find good deals. Bottom line - there may never be a better time to buy a house than right now. |
| What does "Contingent / Kick Out" mean? |
 | When a seller accepts an offer from a buyer, the contract status of a house can be shown in several ways. The contract status can simply be shown as "Contract" meaning that the seller is no longer showing the home since he accepted a buyer's offer. The status can also be shown as "Contract with Kick Out" meaning that the seller accepted an offer with a contingency (usually this contingency states that the buyer must sell his current home in order to purchase this one). In the case of a Contract with Kick Out, the seller can still show his home to prospective buyers and can choose to accept another offer if it does not have a contingency. If he chooses to accept the new offer, the first set of buyers are typically given 72 hours to remove their contingency and provide proof to the seller that they can move forward with purchasing this property without having to sell their existing home. If they cannot do this, then the seller can kick out their contract and accept the new one. When a home's status is shown as Contract without Kick Out, the sellers have chosen to accept an offer with a contingency, but they are not exercising the options of continuing to show the home and entertaining other offers. |
| What is a short sale? |
| A short sale is when the owner of a home has made an agreement or arrangement with his lender to sell his home for less than what he owes on his mortgage. Sometimes the seller will have to repay the lender for the difference and sometimes the difference is forgiven. A short sale is often the step before foreclosure and it benefits the seller because a short sale will not completely ruin a person's credit like a foreclosure will. Most times short sale properties are in good condition (unlike many foreclosure properties) because the owner has a vested interest in the sale. When a buyer decides to make an offer on a short sale, the seller will review and negotiate the offer with the buyer and then the offer will go to the seller's lender for review and approval. The important thing to understand is that short sales can take, days, weeks, or even months for a lender to review and approve or disapprove, so if you are on a schedule this kind of sale might not work for you. |
| My husband and I are thinking about moving out of state in a few years and want to make some improvements to our house in the meantime. We don't have the money to totally renovate a kitchen or bathroom, but we want to make repairs or improvements that will help us when we decide to sell. What kind of improvements would you suggest? |
| This is a difficult question to answer without seeing your home, but generally speaking, you want to make improvements or necessary repairs to the structure or systems in the home. Since most buyers are concerned about a basement or roof leaking, I'd make sure that those areas are in good condition. If the windows are old, you might consider spending some money to replace them with more energy efficient ones. How old are the systems in the house such as the furnace and air conditioner? Perhaps replacing these items or having them serviced would be in order. If all of the structural and mechanical items are in good condition, then you can focus on spending money on cosmetic aspects of the house. |
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HANNON GROUP
Jesse Hannon: (410) 215-7131
Jeri Hannon: (410) 215-4201
Chevelle Welsh: (410) 967-9498
Office: (410) 274-1938
Email: Info@HomesByHannon.com
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