Posts Tagged ‘Home Buying Tips’
8 Signs that the Housing Market is Improving
We finally have a reason to celebrate!! There is an avalanche of positive news regarding an upturn in the real estate and housing market in 2012.
- Foreclosure activity in 2011 is down more than 50% lower in several states, including New Jersey, Maryland and Florida. Realty Trac
- The much feared “shadow inventory” of foreclosures declined dramatically in 2011. In December 2012, 2.2 million properties were in some stage of foreclosure. In September 2011, that number dropped to 1.5 million units…or a whopping 32% in nine months. Realtytrac
- Realtors in some hard hit area’s, such as Michigan and southern California, are reporting a shortage of housing inventory and a return to bidding wars in tight markets.
- Wall Street thinks the worst is over. Stocks of the nation’s five largest, publicly traded, home builders are at 52 week highs, signaling an upswing in home construction in 2012. In addition, the home builders have been snapping up deals on land and abandoned subdivisions, in anticipation of increased buyer demand. CNBC
- Home sellers, Realtors and home builders are getting help from rising rents, as Americans realize that owning a home is often less expensive than renting one. And, while future rent increases have no ceiling on how high they can go, ownership locks in housing expenses and equity is created as the loan balance decreases each month.
- Legal issues, property maintenance and other issues complicating the foreclosure process will push banks and lenders to approve more short sales in 2012, further reducing housing inventory.
- Interest rates will remain at historical lows in 2012, which allows more people to qualify for a home and cheap money buys more house for the same monthly payment.
- Overall, foreclosure activity was dropped more than 30 percent in 2011. Fewer than 2 million properties foreclosure notices were filed in 2011, down from 2.9 million property filings in 2010. Realty Trac
If you need to sell your home, things haven’t looked this favorable in years. 
Arm yourself with an MLS listing and exposure on Realtor.com and all the major search engines for real estate. Millions of home buyers search these websites, daily. If your home isn’t there, they will buy the one that is.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We have helped thousands of home sellers and we can help you, too.
Who is Buying a Home This Year? The Baby Boomers, Baby!
If you have a condo, ranch, one level bungalow or a home with the master on the main level that you need to sell, this may be your lucky year. The baby boomers (those 77 million people that were born between 1945 and 1964) are back in the housing market in a big way..and they often pay cash.
The aging boomers have finally worked up the courage to sell the family house, depreciated as it is, and roll the home equity into their last ever home purchase. Ironically, the catalyst for this trend has nothing to do with real estate. The motivation is age, quality of life and the stock market. The stock market is back, bringing with it the net worth of the boomer generation, who controls 80 percent of the financial assets in the United States.
If you own a one level, low maintenance home…you are already sitting in tall cotton…but you can do some simple things to sweeten the pot even more…if you know what to emphasize and what needs to be done.
Capitalize on the needs of the 65+ year olds, who are looking for place that they can grow old in. They are naturally drawn to homes that are easy and safe to live in, even if managing stairs and home maintenance is hard to do.
- Replace door knobs with levered handles.
- Replace knob-type plumbing fixtures and cabinet pulls with levers or open handles.
- Today’s house only needs one bathtub. Offer at least one, barrier free shower on the main floor, even if means taking out a bathtub.
- Put a laundry room on the main floor, even if you have to eliminate a closet or half-bath to do so.
- Consider making entryway staircases longer and more gentle. Create an option to add a wheelchair ramp to one side, if needed.
- Consider adding grab bars in glass enclosures or if your bathroom has wide open space.
- Replace carpeting with tile, hardwoods or laminate flooring for easier maintenance, durability and a smoother surface.
- Provide ample indoor lighting and don’t forget the outdoor security lights.
- Provide outdoor handrails on stairs, inclines or wherever necessary
Marketing Insight: Most home improvements, suggested above, offer easy living appeal for all ages. Just because your house is senior friendly doesn’t lessen the appeal to everyone else, but always be tactful. Design two InfoSheets for Buyers. Offer one in a standard format and create another that highlights senior-ready amenities.
Why 6 Perent has been helping home sellers’ reach home buyers while saving thousands of dollars in commissions and fee’s. If you have the ability to show your own home to buyers’, then you should seriously consider a low flat fee MLS listing or an ad on Realtor.com. Our specialized program reachs 10 million home shoppers each month for pennies a day.
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3 Benefits of Buying a For Sale by Owner Home
Purchasing a For Sale by Owner property has a number of unique benefits that all buyers should be aware of. Too often, buyers don’t consider fsbo listings because they are working with a real estate agent. They are unaware that most builders and owners are willing to work with buyer’s agents and many advertise their homes on the local MLS. If you are in the market for a home and you are not considering “by owner” listings…you could be missing out on some great deals.
Save Thousands on Commissions and Fee’s
When purchasing a home listed by a traditional listing broker, a 6 percent commission is factored into the seller’s asking price. Buyers often think they aren’t paying the listing commission…but in fact…the agents $6000 cut is included in every $100,000 of the asking price. When a homeowner or builder sells their own property, they pay no commission or a much smaller 3 percent to the buyers agent. This substantial savings can be passed onto the buyer, who can now afford more home or get the same home for less money.
Easy Appointments to View
If you want to look a home listed by a full service broker, you have to schedule all appointments through the listing broker. The listing broker then contacts the owner and the buyer agent to schedule a time to look inside the home. This process can often be inconvenient, or sometimes aggravating, depending on the time lapse in getting everyone on board. When dealing directly with the seller, there is no need to go through a line of people to schedule a tour. The seller will look at his schedule and immediately give you the date and time, making the entire buying process much simplier.
Negotiating the Offer
When purchasing directly from the property owner, negotiating the offer can be much easier, too. Typically, the buyers agent presents all offers to the listing agent…then, the listing agent makes an appointment to relay the offer to the seller. If the seller makes a counteroffer, the whole procedure is reversed, making the whole process take much longer than it should. When making an offer directly with the seller, the middle men are eliminated, which increases the odds of putting together a deal that works for both parties in record time.
Why6Percent.com encourages all buyers to seriously consider the many benefits of fsbo properties, whether you are working with an agent or not. Dealing directly with the owner has many distinct advantages and benefits, with none of the drawbacks. Check out InfoTube.net The website has over 20,000 properties listed directly by owner or by builder, many offering fantastic deals!!!
