The wedding date is picked. The locations are set. The only thing left to do is everything....including looking for the perfect home.
But when should you start?
Although your wedding day may be many months away, it's not a bad idea to start doing some casual looking as soon as you can. The first step is to contact a good real estate agent and give him/her an idea of what you're looking for. Also, let him know that you won't be purchasing a home for a while but you're just checking the market to see what kind of homes are available in your price range.
Your agent should be able to set you up in the MLS so you'll start receiving emails of properties that match your criteria. You can also do some searching on your own by visiting sites such as www.realtor.com.
As you get closer to your wedding date, you should start visiting some open houses to see various floorplans, get decorating ideas, and become aware of structual items that are important to the quality of a home. If you are working with a real estate agent, make sure the agent sitting at the open house knows this.
Three or four months before your wedding date, you should start seeing homes with your real estate agent. Your agent should be able to not only show you the good parts of a home, but also point out any bad parts. If an agent tries to push you towards any specific home or doesn't mention any flaws that you can obviously see yourself, you may want to look for another agent.
You should try to find and put an offer on a home about two months before your wedding date. This will give you time for negotiations, home inspections, mortgage applications and everything else necessary for closing. Most closings take between 30 to 45 days and you don't want it to be more than 60. The reason is that banks can lock you into a specific interest rate for no more than 60 days. After that, you may be charged a fee to keep the rate.
The day of closing arrives and you'll soon be handed the keys to your first home together.
For more information about home buying a home, visit www.NewlywedHomebuyer.com
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Why Price Isn't The Only Detail of an Attractive Offer
I've been working with a particular buyer for well over a year helping to find the "perfect" home for him. I currently have him signed up for my Property Search service so he immediately gets emails as soon as a property hits the market.
We would usually go out every couple of months to see a property or two. He would call or email me and we'd set up an appointment to see them a few days later. But then one day he emailed me right after a new listing was available and he wanted to see it ASAP. This home had all the things he was looking for and I thought we finally found his dream home.
I showed it to him the evening it became available and there were already 6 showings during the day before we got there. This property was hot. It was in a great location, it showed great, and it was priced just right. After the showing I told him this home will be gone within a day or two.
He talked it over with his wife that night and we were ready to put an offer on it the next day. Sure enough, there were two other offers we were competing against. I told my buyer that when you're competing, you're not longer negotiating with the seller. You're now bidding against the other buyers to try to beat them out. Because of that, I told him we not only need to go in with a strong price, but we also need to consider the other sections of a sales agreement that can make an offer strong, particularly the home inspection contingency, closing date, and hand money amount.
We didn't go in at full price, but we did have a short closing date (just over 30 days), a high hand money amount ($10,000), and a home inspection option that allows the seller to take care of any issues that come up on the inspection (Option 2). Option 1 lets the buyer get out of the agreement without giving the seller the option to correct any problems.
What finally happened was that one of the other two offers dropped out so we were now competing against one other person. They had a slightly higher priced offer but because we had the better inspection option and were able to close sooner, our offer ended up looking more attractive and we beat out the other buyer.
So when making an offer where you're competing against another buyer, be sure to have your agent explain ALL of the details of a sales agreement and how certain items other than price may make your offer the most attractive.
For more information about home buying a home, visit www.NewlywedHomebuyer.com
We would usually go out every couple of months to see a property or two. He would call or email me and we'd set up an appointment to see them a few days later. But then one day he emailed me right after a new listing was available and he wanted to see it ASAP. This home had all the things he was looking for and I thought we finally found his dream home.
I showed it to him the evening it became available and there were already 6 showings during the day before we got there. This property was hot. It was in a great location, it showed great, and it was priced just right. After the showing I told him this home will be gone within a day or two.
He talked it over with his wife that night and we were ready to put an offer on it the next day. Sure enough, there were two other offers we were competing against. I told my buyer that when you're competing, you're not longer negotiating with the seller. You're now bidding against the other buyers to try to beat them out. Because of that, I told him we not only need to go in with a strong price, but we also need to consider the other sections of a sales agreement that can make an offer strong, particularly the home inspection contingency, closing date, and hand money amount.
We didn't go in at full price, but we did have a short closing date (just over 30 days), a high hand money amount ($10,000), and a home inspection option that allows the seller to take care of any issues that come up on the inspection (Option 2). Option 1 lets the buyer get out of the agreement without giving the seller the option to correct any problems.
What finally happened was that one of the other two offers dropped out so we were now competing against one other person. They had a slightly higher priced offer but because we had the better inspection option and were able to close sooner, our offer ended up looking more attractive and we beat out the other buyer.
So when making an offer where you're competing against another buyer, be sure to have your agent explain ALL of the details of a sales agreement and how certain items other than price may make your offer the most attractive.
For more information about home buying a home, visit www.NewlywedHomebuyer.com
Friday, May 4, 2007
The problem with overpriced homes....and it's getting worse
This has been a rough week for me when it comes to overpriced properties. One of my buyers called me all excited about a particular property she was interested in. It was a small two bedroom home on almost 2 acres of land. It was also two doors away from her sister's home. I looked up the property and we saw it the next day.
It was a cute house in a nice area, but it was pretty small. And to make matters worse, someone purchased the vacant lot next to it where he was going to build a new home. Not a big deal, right? Well, after looking at the survey, it cut a corner of the driveway off and it made 2 of the 3 car garages inaccessible (for automobiles, that is).
The price of home was listed at $146,900 but when I was looking for comparible homes, I couldn't find many. And the ones that I did find were priced in the $120,000 - $125,000 range. I told the listing agent that my buyer was interested in this property, but I couldn't find any comps to justify the price. I nicely asked her to send me the ones she used when she priced it.
Days went by and I heard nothing. Even after asking two more times, she wouldn't reply. So we made an offer based on the comps that I found and the homeowner didn't even counter-offer. Needless to say, we're now looking at other homes for my buyer to choose from.
But you may be asking "If your buyer liked the home, why wouldn't you make an offer closer to the asking price?" In this particular case, if the comps came in close to the asking price, we probably would have. But they didn't and the listing agent COULDN'T send me any either (I found that out later on).
Here's the reason why comps are so important when pricing a house or putting an offer on a house. It's because it will have to get appraised by the bank and they are the final judge on whether the buyer can purchase the home or not. If a buyer puts an offer of $150,000 on a home that's only worth $120,000, then the bank will not fund the mortgage (unless the home buyer pays for the difference himself...$30,000).
This exact situation happened to me this week. One of my homebuyers put an offer of $123,900 on a home listed for $129,900. We got the deal together and things were moving forward. That is until the bank had the home appraised. The appraisle only came in at $90,000. We then had it appraised agan by a different appraiser and he brought it in at just over $100,000. Still not enough to get the deal done.
Apparently, banks have recently been cracking down on home values because of all the foreclosures happening throught the country. Even though this problem is worse in certain cities, other cities such as Pittsburgh are paying the price.
So now, more than ever, if you're going to put an offer on a home, have your real estate agent do some research to determine if the asking price is close to the market price in the area. Otherwise you may be headed for a disappointing surprise as you get closer to closing.
For more information about home buying a home, visit www.NewlywedHomebuyer.com
It was a cute house in a nice area, but it was pretty small. And to make matters worse, someone purchased the vacant lot next to it where he was going to build a new home. Not a big deal, right? Well, after looking at the survey, it cut a corner of the driveway off and it made 2 of the 3 car garages inaccessible (for automobiles, that is).
The price of home was listed at $146,900 but when I was looking for comparible homes, I couldn't find many. And the ones that I did find were priced in the $120,000 - $125,000 range. I told the listing agent that my buyer was interested in this property, but I couldn't find any comps to justify the price. I nicely asked her to send me the ones she used when she priced it.
Days went by and I heard nothing. Even after asking two more times, she wouldn't reply. So we made an offer based on the comps that I found and the homeowner didn't even counter-offer. Needless to say, we're now looking at other homes for my buyer to choose from.
But you may be asking "If your buyer liked the home, why wouldn't you make an offer closer to the asking price?" In this particular case, if the comps came in close to the asking price, we probably would have. But they didn't and the listing agent COULDN'T send me any either (I found that out later on).
Here's the reason why comps are so important when pricing a house or putting an offer on a house. It's because it will have to get appraised by the bank and they are the final judge on whether the buyer can purchase the home or not. If a buyer puts an offer of $150,000 on a home that's only worth $120,000, then the bank will not fund the mortgage (unless the home buyer pays for the difference himself...$30,000).
This exact situation happened to me this week. One of my homebuyers put an offer of $123,900 on a home listed for $129,900. We got the deal together and things were moving forward. That is until the bank had the home appraised. The appraisle only came in at $90,000. We then had it appraised agan by a different appraiser and he brought it in at just over $100,000. Still not enough to get the deal done.
Apparently, banks have recently been cracking down on home values because of all the foreclosures happening throught the country. Even though this problem is worse in certain cities, other cities such as Pittsburgh are paying the price.
So now, more than ever, if you're going to put an offer on a home, have your real estate agent do some research to determine if the asking price is close to the market price in the area. Otherwise you may be headed for a disappointing surprise as you get closer to closing.
For more information about home buying a home, visit www.NewlywedHomebuyer.com
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Welcome to my blog
Welcome to the first post of my new blog. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, give you a bit of my background, and let you know what this blog is and why I created it.
First off, I'm currently a real estate agent in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and I work for Northwood Realty Services. Northwood recently celebrated it's 50th Anniversary, of which, I've been a part of for the last 2 1/2 years. I started on my own for the first 6 months, but was then asked to join Dan Kite's team. Dan is one of Northwood's top agents (number 6 out of 800) and I was honored that he would ask me to join him. It was definitely a win-win situation for me and the team because I was able to bring my marketing and high tech skills to the table. I'm also able to learn from one of the best agents in the area. This hand's on training cannot be learned from a book or in a classroom.
As for my background, I owned a video production business which I started in 1990 and I videotaped various events such as weddings, dance shows, mall events, as well as corporate functions, professional speakers, and TV commercials. I wore a lot of hats with that business because not only was I a cameraman and an editor, I was also in charge of sales, marketing, advertising, paying bills, and even cleaning up the editing booth. After 15 years, I began to get burned out and my body started protesting everytime I would pick up and carry equipment. So I decided I needed a new career. My wife now runs the business so it's still moving right along.
So what's up with this blog, then? Videotaping weddings for 15 years give you an opportunity to meet and learn about many brides and grooms. I know that they spend a lot of time, effort, and money planning their wedding day. It's stressful, but when the day finally arrives, it was all worth it. But then what? Where will they go to spend the rest of their lives together? That's where I come in. I know a lot about the needs of brides and grooms and I know a lot about helping them find and buy their first home.
I'm not going to fill this blog with boring market statistics, interest rates, or other statistical data. You can get that anywhere. What I will be filling it with is practical homebuying tips, real world homebuying situations, humorous homebuying stories, home decorating and maintenance information, and even an occasional wedding tip. I even created a special website just for newlyweds at www.newlywedhomebuyer.com. There you'll find lots of information about first time home buying and even selling your home in you need to. You can sign up for my email newsletter and order my free Newlywed Homebuyer Survival Guide.
So I hope you come back often to read and learn all about homebuying in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. I'm always looking for article ideas and suggestions so please feel free to let me know.
Until next time....have a great day.
First off, I'm currently a real estate agent in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and I work for Northwood Realty Services. Northwood recently celebrated it's 50th Anniversary, of which, I've been a part of for the last 2 1/2 years. I started on my own for the first 6 months, but was then asked to join Dan Kite's team. Dan is one of Northwood's top agents (number 6 out of 800) and I was honored that he would ask me to join him. It was definitely a win-win situation for me and the team because I was able to bring my marketing and high tech skills to the table. I'm also able to learn from one of the best agents in the area. This hand's on training cannot be learned from a book or in a classroom.
As for my background, I owned a video production business which I started in 1990 and I videotaped various events such as weddings, dance shows, mall events, as well as corporate functions, professional speakers, and TV commercials. I wore a lot of hats with that business because not only was I a cameraman and an editor, I was also in charge of sales, marketing, advertising, paying bills, and even cleaning up the editing booth. After 15 years, I began to get burned out and my body started protesting everytime I would pick up and carry equipment. So I decided I needed a new career. My wife now runs the business so it's still moving right along.
So what's up with this blog, then? Videotaping weddings for 15 years give you an opportunity to meet and learn about many brides and grooms. I know that they spend a lot of time, effort, and money planning their wedding day. It's stressful, but when the day finally arrives, it was all worth it. But then what? Where will they go to spend the rest of their lives together? That's where I come in. I know a lot about the needs of brides and grooms and I know a lot about helping them find and buy their first home.
I'm not going to fill this blog with boring market statistics, interest rates, or other statistical data. You can get that anywhere. What I will be filling it with is practical homebuying tips, real world homebuying situations, humorous homebuying stories, home decorating and maintenance information, and even an occasional wedding tip. I even created a special website just for newlyweds at www.newlywedhomebuyer.com. There you'll find lots of information about first time home buying and even selling your home in you need to. You can sign up for my email newsletter and order my free Newlywed Homebuyer Survival Guide.
So I hope you come back often to read and learn all about homebuying in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. I'm always looking for article ideas and suggestions so please feel free to let me know.
Until next time....have a great day.
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