Which Home Updates Are 2018 Buyers Looking for?

If you are going to sell your home in 2018, there are three home updates that will get you the best return on investment and help sell your home for top dollar.

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What home upgrades will buyers pay top dollar for in 2018?

I’ve been speaking with sellers on a regular basis about the buyer trends we’ve seen over the last six months and what those buyer trends will look like in 2018 when it comes to upgrades on a resale home.

Of course, some sellers have no additional funds that they can put into upgrading the home before it goes on the market. If that’s the case, then I recommend that you declutter and stage the home as best as possible. That can be done for just a couple hundred dollars.

If you do have money that you’ve allotted for upgrades before you put your house on the market, these are the areas that buyers are responding favorably to:

1. Interior paint. Buyers respond very favorably to recently painted houses. The colors that seem to resonate the most with buyers right now are grays, blues, and whites that give the home a coastal look and feel.

You can use granite remnants to save money when upgrading your kitchen and bathrooms.

2. Updated kitchens and bathrooms. Most of these updates center around cabinetry and countertops. If you have the budget, change out your cabinets for white or white shaker cabinets. Granite countertops are very important to homebuyers. If you go to a local granite place and look for remnants, you can save a lot of money. Not all of the granite in your house has to match; it’s fine if the kitchen and bathrooms have different granite. You can create a nice look and save quite a bit of money by using the available remnants.

3. Update your flooring. If you have it in your budget, change out the flooring. Based on buyer feedback, I recommend installing hardwood floors everywhere that you can. You can also use laminate tile or new vinyls that look like hardwood to save money. It’s also important that you have one flooring surface throughout an entire living area. For example, if you are walking around barefoot downstairs, how many different flooring surfaces will you cross? If there is only one flooring surface before you open a door, buyers will respond positively to that.

It’s important to spend your money wisely. Make sure that your home is staged properly and decluttered first. Then, if you have the budget, go ahead and paint, make kitchen and bathroom upgrades, or update your flooring. Those three updates will get you a higher return than any other updates you could make.

If you have any other questions about preparing your home for the market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

These 4 Questions Are Key to Finding the Right Agent

Today, I’ve got four key questions that can help you determine whether you’ve found the right agent.

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Before you can find the right home, you have to choose the right buyer’s agent. Getting professional help before moving forward with any real estate decision is absolutely essential.

Today, I’ve got four questions that can help you determine whether an agent is right for you.

The right agent should hold themselves accountable at every step.

1. Is the agent full or part-time? A full-time agent will always be the best choice. Full-time agents are constantly looking at the market, and are in a position to react as quickly as the market moves. Part-time agents simply can’t achieve this kind of commitment.
2. What type of technology is the agent using? Technology helps to make everything simpler. Technology makes the process of finding the right home, going under contract, and exchanging documents so much easier. An agent with access to the best technology possible is going to be greatly helpful.
3. How successful has the agent been in the past? Getting an idea of how an agent has performed previously will be a good indicator of the future. Ask an agent about the number of negotiations they’ve been successful in, for example.
4. How do they hold themselves accountable? It’s important to determine whether an agent will be there for you at every point of the process. You want to make sure that an agent will not only be accountable to their commitment while showing you houses, but will also help you throughout closing, as well. One of the things my team has done for our buyers is to hold ourselves accountable at every step. If a buyer is unhappy within the 24 months after closing, we will come back and sell the home for free.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Key to Making a Strong Offer

Once you’ve found a home you like, how do you go about the process of making an offer?
Today, I’ve got a few key tips

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So, you’ve found the right home. Once you’ve looked around and found a property you like, how do you go about making an offer?

This is an extremely common question. This is why people look to experts like myself for the answer.

There are a few different things we need to think about.

First, how long has the home been on the market? This can make a lot of difference. Sellers will tend to be less flexible with a listing that is brand new. However, if a listing has been sitting on the market for a while, you might have more power behind your negotiations.

Next, you should find out when the last price reduction was. Knowing this can give you an idea of the seller’s motivation. If the price has just been reduced, a seller may be less likely to reduce it again so quickly.

Having and understanding key information will help you craft a good offer.

The third question to ask yourself is, how much recent activity has the competition had? How many recent or pending sales are currently in the neighborhood? By understanding the position of the competition, you’ll be better able to assess how to approach the property you’re looking at.

Taking into account these three points, you will then be able to move forward with crafting an offer. At this point, you should have the information you’ll need to make a reasonable offer that will be attractive to the seller.

Having and understanding key information will help you craft a good offer.

Ultimately, though, the offer is up to you. We give our clients all the data and guidance they want or need, but we will always allow you to make the offer you deem fit.

We’d be more than happy to discuss our strategies and how we can help you make the best offer possible.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Purchase and Sell a Home at the Same Time

What happens when you have to buy and sell a house at the same time?
We have a few tips to help you successfully juggle both transactions.

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How do you buy and sell a home at the same time?

Do you buy your next home first, or do you put your current home on the market? Some people may want to sell their current home, but only if there is something better available on the market.

No matter your situation, there are a few things you need to do when buying and selling at the same time.

First of all, make sure that you’re working with a professional Realtor. You should work with someone who helps homeowners buy and sell at the same time on a regular basis.

Secondly, your contract needs to be set up properly from the start. If there is a mistake at the beginning, you won’t be successful in the end. When that happens, you may be left without a home for a couple days or fail to close on the new house.

A real estate team will be able to monitor your transactions better.

Finally, make sure that you work with a real estate team, not just an individual Realtor. When you work with a team, there is a dedicated person to monitor both of your transactions. They will keep track of everything involving the title company, the lender, and the seller’s agent. We have a specialized team that puts these deals together on a regular basis so there won’t be any gaps while you move in and out of properties.

Keep in mind that in some markets it’s better to put your home on the market before finding a new one, while in other markets you should find your next home before listing your current one.

If you have any questions about this process, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to find a plan that works best for you.

How Do You Know If You Found the Right House?

When you're looking for a home to buy, how do you know which one is the best fit? There are three ways to tell.

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There are three surefire ways to know you've found the right home:

1. Find the neighborhood that fits your needs: It should match up with what you're looking for. I always say that the right home in the wrong neighborhood is still the wrong home. Try spending a little time before or after the home showing in the neighborhood to make sure it has all the things you're looking for.

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If the floor plan doesn't fit your lifestyle, it's not the right house for you.

”

2. The floor plan fits: It can show well and have a lot of the amenities you're looking for, but if the floor plan doesn't fit your lifestyle, it's not the right house for you. You should walk through and try to see yourself living there.

3. Rank the house from one to 10: This is an unscientific, informal way to look at things, but I like to have a ranking system with one being "Why did you bring me to this house?" to 10 being "I'm ready to move in tomorrow!" If you rank the home anywhere above seven, it's likely you've found a strong house.

If you have any other questions about deciding on the right home, don't hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to help you out!

3 Things to Check for When Purchasing a Home

Today I’m going over the three things you should never overlook when buying a home.

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Buying a home is a fun and exciting time, but you want to make sure you don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Even if everything looks perfect and you get a warm feeling about a home, you can’t let that feeling cloud your judgment.

So, what are the three things you should never overlook when buying a home?

1. Resale value. If you’re trying to buy the largest and most expensive home in the neighborhood, you might have trouble getting the value back out of the property. Make sure you consider resale value with any property you’re looking at.

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Always check the windows to see if they need to be replaced.

”

2. Potential structural issues or maintenance issues. Mold and moisture show up a lot in Florida, so make sure you’re checking out the ceilings for any moist spots or blemishes. A home inspector will be able to help you locate structural issues, but when you are first looking at the home you should check the door frames for signs of tilting. Tilting door frames to signal structural issues right off the bat.

3. Deferred maintenance issues. What is the age of the roof? When will it need to be replaced? How old is the AC unit? If anything needs to be replaced, you can either ask the seller to replace the items or work the cost of replacing them into your offer price. Make sure you check the windows to see if those need to be replaced as well.

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’m always happy to help!

What Are the 3 Types of Homebuyers?

Today I want to go over the three different types of buyers you can expect to find in today’s market.

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With demand so high and inventory so low, it’s safe to say that there are a ton of buyers out there. However, not all buyers are the same. There are actually three different types that I want to go over today.

The first type is the traditional retail buyer. These are people who are looking for a home to live in as their primary residence. Traditional retail buyers have a certain type of property that they are looking for and a list of needs that need to be met. They also typically pay the highest amount for a property because they become emotionally attached. This type makes up the majority of our market.

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Traditional retail buyers make up the majority of our market.

”

Next is the fix and flip buyer. These are people who buy a home in order to renovate it and sell it for a profit. The nice thing about this type of buyer is that they pay with cash and can close quickly. They also buy the home as is and don’t ask for repairs, making the process very simple. If you’re more concerned with the time it will take to sell your home than how much of a profit you’ll make, this is your type of buyer.

The final type is a rental investment buyer. These are people who purchase a home in order to rent it out long term. These buyers can usually pay more than a fix and flip buyer because they are not on a time crunch to resell it. They are mostly concerned with what return they’ll be getting from the rental, so as long as rents in your area look good, they’ll be interested.

If you’re thinking about selling your house this year and would like to know what each type of buyer would pay for your home, give us a call or send us an email. We would be more than happy to go over what those offers would look like!

The 5 Most Important Things You Need When Buying a Home

Purchasing a home is a process, and here are the five things you need
to ensure that process goes smoothly.

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What are the five things you need when purchasing a home?

The first is to know where the money is coming from. If you’re paying cash for the property,  that makes things easier because the money is in your account already. If you need to take out a loan, you need a loan approval. If you’re not sure who to get a loan approval from or which lender to work with, reach out to a real estate agent to find out. They typically work with multiple lenders and know each one’s level of service and the rates they provide, so they should be able to provide you with a couple of names to work with.

The second thing you need is money for your earnest money deposit. Once you’ve identified a home you want to purchase and you put a contract on it, your earnest money deposit is a sum that allows the seller to take the home off the market and reserve it for you while you go through the loan and inspection processes. Typically in our area, these deposits range from 1% to 2% of the eventual purchase price.

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If you’re not sure which lender to
work with, ask your Realtor.

”

The third thing you will need is the down payment. The down payment amount is determined by you and your lender. As you’re interviewing different lenders, you’ll discover what loan programs they have. This amount can range from no money down to 20% down, depending on what your credit situation is and what type of program or rate you want to have.

The fourth thing you will need is an appraisal and home inspection. These are for both you and your lender’s protection. This way, you can ensure the home is in move-in condition and notify the owner of the property of any items that need to be fixed. You’ll need to have the monies for the appraisal, though, because the lender needs to verify that the agreed upon price is valid in the market area and that you’re not overpaying for the home.

The final thing you need is money set aside for your closing costs. Depending on the loan program you choose, your closing costs will range anywhere from 3% and 4% of the purchase price. There are ways you can reduce this amount or shift the closing costs to the seller, but you’ll have to ask your agent about that sooner in the transaction rather than later. If you want seller participation in any closing costs, that needs to be illustrated up front in the initial negotiations.

If you have any questions about this topic, just give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help!

The Benefits of Local Home Search Websites

When searching for a home online, it's always better to use a
local real estate professional's website rather than a big, national site.

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When you're searching for homes, it's better to look to local websites rather than national websites. Why?

National websites tend to focus on a bigger geographic area and the data is not as specific as the data you'd find on a local website put out by a local agent. You'll also find a lot of advertisements on national websites, which is where a majority of their revenue comes from. They also generate revenue by selling your information to third parties.

When you look at local websites, you won't have to put up with advertisements and you don't have to worry about your info getting sold off to any third parties. The information you provide is used by the local agent to contact you and give you whatever information you're looking for.

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Always search for homes
on a local website

”

The third reason to use local sites rather than a national site is that you get a local real estate professional attached to that website. On our website, for example, you find that we have a lot of neighborhood data already populated in there along with school information. We also break up the information by neighborhood to speed up the process for someone searching for a home in a particular area.

If you have any other questions about the benefits of using a local real estate search website over a national site or you're thinking about buying or selling a home in the northwest Florida area, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you.

How to Negotiate as a Home Buyer

As a home buyer, there are a few things you can do when you make an offer to get the price that you want. I will go over my top three tips today.

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When you make an offer on a home, there are a few tricks you can use to get the price that you want.

First of all, put a face with the offer. In real estate, things can get very cut and dry sometimes, and people forget about the human element. In order to put a face with the offer, I recommend writing a letter to the seller explaining who you are, what your situation is, how many people are in your family, and what you love about the house.

There should be an emotional connection between you and the home and between you and the seller. The more the seller knows about you, the better off your offer will be. While considering your offer, the seller will see you as a human being rather than just focusing on the number that is being presented.

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Establish an emotional connection
with the seller.

”

My second tip is to make sure you write a clean offer to the seller. Make sure to dot your i’s and cross your t’s. The last thing we want is an error in the contract that we have to go back and scratch out or initial. We don’t want to give the seller any reason to pause when looking at your offer.

The cleaner your offer is, the easier we make it for the seller to sign off on it and send it back to us. Remember, time is of the essence in real estate. Any delay gives someone else the opportunity to sneak in and make a competing offer on the home.

Finally, make sure you detail the credentials of the buyer’s agent that you are working with. Listing agents often receive offers from buyer’s agents that are part-time or inexperienced, which creates more work for the listing agent. Make sure that your buyer’s agent has a lot of experience and writes many offers, and let the listing agent know that’s the case. That way, they know your agent will make the transaction as easy as possible and will do their fair share of work to get everyone to the closing table on time.

If you follow these tips, your offer is sure to stand out. If you have any other questions about buying a home or about real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

3 Items That Should Be on Your Home Buying Checklist

When making a home buying checklist, you must include three important

items to ensure that you find the right home that fits your lifestyle.

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The first item you must have on your home buying checklist is finding out whether you want a home with newer construction or one that’s in an established neighborhood. Are you the type of person that wants everything brand new when they move in, or do you favor smaller design projects to make the older home your own?

The second item is finding out which communities have the types of properties that you’re looking for. Whether you decided on newer construction or venturing into more historic areas, you must identify the communities that have the types of properties you want. The community must also fit your lifestyle. I often tell people that if you find the right house in the wrong neighborhood, that makes it the wrong house.

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If you find the right house in the wrong neighborhood, it’s still the wrong house.

”

The last item on the checklist is making sure your prospective house has the right floor plan. There are many things that can be easily altered or updated about a house, but the floor plan isn’t one of them. Make sure the floor plan in place works for you and your family, otherwise you might get stuck financing a major renovation.

Apart from the checklist, there are also certain actions you must avoid doing while in the process of buying a home. These include:

• Changing jobs
• Making any major purchases on credit
• Quitting your job altogether

If you have any questions for me or topics in mind that you’d to see me discuss, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

The Pros and Cons of New Construction

If you’re looking to move into a new home, should you try the resale route or buy new construction? Today I want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of electing to do new construction.

Here are the advantages:

• You get what you want. If you’re a meticulous person and you’re always finding something wrong with resales, new construction is definitely in your best interest.
• Everything is brand new. This means, of course, that you don’t have to worry about again appliances or decrepit roofs. Everything is going to be covered under a builder warranty.

You’ll typically have more choices. Everything from the layout to the lot location is up to you.

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If you have a tight time frame, new construction isn't the best option.

”

Here are the disadvantages:

• Lack of aesthetic value. If you’re a person who appreciates the artistic character an older neighborhood typically offers, new construction neighborhoods will probably turn you off. Not only will you be around a lot of building equipment all the time, but the neighborhood itself will lack panache.
• Builders will typically put all closing costs on the buyer’s side of the transaction. Everything the seller would normally be paying for on a resale is considered a buyer’s cost. The builder will also likely require you to use their title company and lender, thereby limiting your choices in that regard.  
• The time frame in which to build is flimsy. Builders do their best in trying to predict when they can get you into your new house, but like anything else, construction schedules can get disrupted. If you have a tight time frame, new construction may not be the best option.

If you have any questions or a future topic in mind you’d like us to discuss, please feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.

Hiring a Buyer’s Agent Is a No-Brainer

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A lot of buyers are uncertain or conflicted about hiring a buyer’s agent. A lot of people think they should just work with the agent listing the home, and give them a call. This is a mistake.

The person listing the home has a fiduciary responsibility to the seller to get the highest and best offer they can for the property. How is that in your best interest as a buyer, knowing that the other party wants the highest and best offer? It’s not.

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They have access to all kinds of properties.

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Another reason to hire a buyer’s agent is because their services are free to you! The seller of the property is the one responsible for paying commission to both agents in the transaction.

Finally, a buyer’s agent has access to all kinds of properties that are available. They can represent you in pretty much any situation, including bank-owned properties, For Sale by Owner, and new construction. A buyer’s agent has access to information that tells you how much you should be paying for a property. A seller may have a great home, but it also might be listed at an unrealistic price. A buyer’s agent will do whatever they can to determine the property’s value so you don’t overpay.

If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out. I would love to hear from you. Give me a call or send me an email today.