1.  Pre-Approval
2.  Choosing a REALTOR®
3.  House Hunting
4.  Writing an Offer
5.  Loan Application
6.  Property Inspections
7.  Title Search
8.  Loan Commitment
9.  Pre-Settlement Walk Through
10. Settlement & Moving Day

If you are thinking about buying a home this year, consider attending one of our upcoming seminars.  Learn the details of the 10 Easy Steps to Buying a Home including why you need to get pre-approved and what is involved in that process, how to purchase a short sale or foreclosure property, what goes into an offer, how contracts are negotiated, and much more.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri

 

1. Price – Is the house priced appropriately for its type, size, condition and location?
2. Location – Is the house located in a desirable area within the city/county and within the neighborhood?
3. Condition – Is the house in model-home condition, or does it need work?
4. Terms – How quickly does the seller want to move and what concessions is he/she willing to make in order to sell the house within the timeframe desired?
5. Realtor – What will the realtor do to market the home and get the sale to close?

 For more tips about selling a home, get our FREE brochure, Pricing and Preparing Your House to Sell for Top Dollar.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri

 

1. Price it right.  If you are going to sell your house in a down market, it must be appropriately priced (in fair market value range) for its size, condition, and location.
2. Make it look like a model home.  Homes that are clean, clutter-free, and show well always sell first – provided that they a priced right, too.
3. Advertise it.  Make sure that your home is advertised everywhere that buyers look for homes.  This means not only listing your house with a REALTOR® who will Multiple List it, but knowing that your REALTOR® is savvy about advertising in today’s market and will make sure that the listing is syndicated to all of the other real estate websites that buyers visit when they are looking for a home.
4. Make it accessible for showings.  Sellers who expect to sell their homes by showing it only when it is convenient for them are shooting themselves in the foot.  Real estate prices are directly linked to supply and demand, and in this market there is a lot of supply and limited demand.  If you want to sell your house in 2010, you have to let buyers see the home when it is convenient for the buyers (and that may not necessarily be convenient for you).
5. Know when you’ve got a good offer on the table.  Do your research and know what price point, terms, and conditions make an offer a good one.  Too many times, a seller gets an offer and turns it down only to learn that the first offer was the best one he will ever get.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri

Contrary to what many people would like to think, negotiation in a real estate sales contract is seldom, if ever, a winner-take-all deal.  Negotiation by definition means compromise, and in a real estate transaction this means that each side must give a little in order to come to a meeting of the minds so that the sale can be completed.

So how can you make sure that you negotiate successfully?

1. Try not to take any of this personally.  From the offering price to repairs that are being requested as a result of inspections performed on the property.  This is merely a business transaction, so try to approach negotiating the various aspects of a contract from this perspective.
2. Look at the transaction through the eyes of the other party.  If you are a seller, know the flaws of your property and be willing to reasonably deal with these issues.  If you are a buyer, think about how a seller might respond to your requests and negotiate with that in mind.
3. Understand that each side might have to give a little to get what each of you wants – a successful sale.

Wishing you sunshine everyday and the home of your dreams,
Jeri