Posts Tagged ‘Sell a Home’
No First Time Buyers Hurt Housing Market
The lack of first-time buyers is hurting the housing market and their absense is hampering the recovery.
In normal markets, first time buyers make up 40%-45% of all home purchasers. Since January of 2011, purchases made by first time buyers averages only 32%
Why is this important for existing home sales?
First time buyers are crucial to the market because they buy starter homes so those owners can step up to a more expensive property. Despite low mortgage rates and deeply discounted prices, they are remaining on the sidelines…at least for now.
What may be keeping first time buyers out of the housing market?
Some experts point to a hangover from the Expired Tax Credit of 2009 and 201o, which may have lured buyers into a home sooner than later. Some point to tighter lending standards and increased down payment requirements. The best loan terms now kick in with a down payment of 20% or more, which may be very difficult for a first time homeowner.
The Silver Lining — The National Association of Realtors reported that a record 33% of all existing home sales in Febuary were to Cash Buyers. In some parts of the country, cash buyers accounted for more than half of all the existing homes sold.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We have helped thousands of home sellers and builders market their homes and save money. We can help you, too! Visit our website for facts and details.
Home Sellers should check out InfoTube.NET a FREE homes for sale and rent website. Visit the site to place a free ad on your property, view listings or to purchase a Made in America InfoTube or InfoBoxe to help you market your home on the street.
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Foreign Buyer’s Snapping Up US Property.
Attention Why6Percent Realtor.com customers: Due to growing foreign demand for American real estate…Realtor.com plans to offer a language translation service to reach non-english speaking homebuyers.
Foreign buyers are turning to the U.S. to buy “trophy properties,” according to a recent Wall Street Journal blog which added that demand is so strong, leading real estate website Realtor.com plans to add features, including a translation service, to help the influx of international buyers find real estate.
“They’re feeling that investing in U.S. real estate right now may be a more stable option than investing in their home countries,” Julie Reynolds, a Realtor.com spokesperson said.
Reynolds cited a National Association of Realtors survey that showed that 55% of foreign buyers paid cash in 2009, compared with about 8% of overall respondents.
In her WSJ blog, S. Mitra Kalita concluded that, “Given the shaky state of some markets and a still-tight lending environment, real-estate agents say the rush to market to foreign buyers only makes good business sense.”
And the National Association of Realtors findings back her up: It reported that between April 2009 and March 31, 2010, $66 billion of residential property — 7 percent of the total U.S. residential market — was sold to foreign nationals, recent immigrants and temporary visa holders.
“We have definitely seen an increase in international clients this year,” said Miami realtor, Ines Hegedus-Garcia. “What’s exciting is the fact that they are not interested in just single residential properties, but multiple properties as well as commercial and industrial. They are savvy cash buyers who do their homework and pull the trigger fast once the numbers make sense.”
On Realtor.com, traffic from countries in Western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia has increased by more than 50% over the past two years with the foreigners targeting properties in Florida, California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, New York, and Nevada.
At a local level, Realtors have also noticed the surge of interest from abroad: Last year 28% of them reported working with at least one international client in the previous year (2009 – 2010), up from 23% in 2008.
Here’s how the foreign interest in U.S. property breaks down: Canadians have make up the bulk of international buyers during the past 3 years; Mexicans the fastest growing; and buyers from the UK, stung by their own housing market collapse, have posted the steepest decline.
About 50 percent of international homebuyers said they wanted to move here and make the homes their primary residences; 25 percent bought vacation homes for their own use; 14% were bought residential rentals for investment; and another 14% said they wanted their purchases to double as their own vacation home and a rental.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Our customers receive all the benefits of advertising on the MLS and Realtor.com for a fraction of the money. Visit our website for details and FAQ’s. If you have a home to sell, it is time to Spring into action!!!
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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Truth about Winter Home Sales
Seller’s often wonder if they should take their home off the market during winter. My answer is usually “NO”. Seller’s expend a lot of money and effort to get a home ready for sale and it does no good if the property isn’t on the market. And, while there are fewer buyer’s during winter, there are also fewer homes for sale.
But, if you’re still debating…consider the following:
- Winter, spring, summer or fall…if you’re priced above the rest of the market, your home will help sell the well priced listings, but not yours.
- There is less competition from competing homes during winter and less inventory benefits sellers’.
- Buyer’s who are househunting during winter are serious and truly motivated.
- Interest rates trend lower during winter months, when loan demand is low.
- Gardens and landscape don’t look as appealing in winter. If your home won’t exactly win ”yard of the month” during summer…a snowy winter may actually level the playing field for you.
- Don’t believe that if you pull your home off the market during winter, you can bring it back in the spring as a new listing. No one is fooled by this trick. Your listing will still appear as canceled and relisted in the MLS.
- If it’s not on the market, the right buyer may come and go.
Thank you for stopping by Why6Percent.com. We have helped thousands of home seller’s market their properties and save thousands of dollars in commissions and fee’s. We can Help You, too. Click HERE to review our marketing packages.
Foreclosure Moratorium Erases Competition for Home Seller’s and Builder’s
While Wall Street wrings its hands and pulls its hair over the banking problems and foreclosure moratorium, home seller’s and home builder’s have a BIG reason to celebrate. Their competition dropped the ball!!!
The moratorium on foreclosures effectively removes ONE THIRD of all the homes For Sale from the market!! 33 Percent of the competition is GONE!!! For how long, we don’t know…but, we do know that this is a RARE opportunity and all property seller’s should take full advantage of it.
What can home seller’s and builder”s do to take advantage of the Bank Error?
- Realize that Time is of the Essense! The banks will work hard and fast to get their inventory back on the market. And, when they do, they will no doubt offer special incentives that individual seller’s can not compete against. The clock is ticking…….
- Price Right and Show Well! If your home is priced right against its remaining competition, and it is staged, depersonalized and shows well, Your House Will Sell.
- Marketing to the Masses is Key! The MLS sells over 90% of all the homes in the United States. If your home is not on the MLS, your chances of selling are less than 10%. If money is tight, know that you don’t have to pay 6% for an MLS listing. You can purchase an MLS listing for your Home for only $399.
Why6Percent.com believes that “a bank moratorium on foreclosure competition” is a very unique opportunity and the window is open for a short period of time, only. We are here to help you . “The clock is ticking”. Don’t let this unbelievable opportunity pass you by!!
5 Idea’s to Make Buyers FALL in Love with Your Home
Fall is a marvelous time of year. The air is crisp. The leaves are falling. Our favorite holidays are approaching. And, everyone is ready to nest in for the winter. It is an excellent time for buying and selling real estate, if you know how to make the most of the season.
We have 5 Tips for Anyone Selling Property during the Fall. If you interested in some easy, great idea’s and photographs…CLICK HERE TO READ MORE.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Our MLS package reaches millions of buyers and buyer agents with the click of a mouse. If you aren’t familiar with this powerful home selling tool, visit our website today!!!
Price Your Home to Sell Today
Without the Federal Tax Credit in play, today’s home buyer’s are finding little motivation to sign on the dotted line. Mortgage rates have remained low for a long time. Inventory is creeping back up, so buyer’s have little fear of price inflation. So, what can a seller do to increase a buyer’s urgency to buy?
The #1 way that seller’s can entice buyer’s and get their attention is an aggressive price reduction. As many as 24 percent of home sellers have slashed prices in the last month–that is a 9 percent increase from June levels. And, seller’s should forget about small, nickle and dime price drops. Instead, they should dramatically drop their price to reach a search level that will open them up to new buyers that are not aware of their listing. For example, if your list price is $220,000, a drop to $199,000 will attract a new audience that is searching up to the $200,000 price point.
Bottom Line: If you are sick of waiting and want to move now, price the house to attract multiple bidders and you might even get more than you’re asking for. And remember…if you are selling your home to buy a new one, you will likely break even because the person you are buying from is in the same gut wrenching position you are.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Our flat fee MLS packages, List Until Sold Packages and marketing tools can help you sell your property and save thousands of dollars in fee’s and commissions. Visit our site today for details and assistance.
One of a Kind Hotel Swimming Pool Takes Your Breathe Away
Acrophobics Beware…If you fancy a dip in this pool, you’ll need a head for heights – it’s 55 stories up. But swimming to the edge won’t be quite as risky as it looks. While the water in the infinity pool seems to end in a sheer drop, it actually spills into a catchment area where it is pumped back into the main pool.
For More Amazing Pictures…CLICK HERE
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What Does it Cost to Sell a Home?
Whether or not you use a real estate agent, the process of selling a house will involve certain costs.
Please note that some of the figures used in our examples will vary depending on the state or county a house is sold in, as well as the settlement company used and any other unique provisions that may be contained in a contract of sale. Additionally, the real estate broker commission is typically 6 percent of the sales price, but it is not a set amount. It is a sales expense negotiated between individual sellers and brokers. For the purposes of our example, a $250,000 sales price was used.
Transfer taxes
As you might expect, most state and local governments make sure they profit when someone sells a house. In most states, one-time transfer taxes will be due when a sale takes place. It is customary for transfer taxes to be split 50/50 between the buyer and the seller, but there is no set requirement that they be divided in that manner.
Some states, like Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, have no transfer taxes at all. In other states, Colorado for instance, the transfer tax is nominal – the state charges only one tenth of 1 percent ($40 on a $400,000 house) in transfer taxes. The so called “Free State” of Maryland falls on the other end of the spectrum with some of the highest transfer taxes in the nation.
Commissions
As we stated earlier, real estate commissions are not a set amount. They are a point of negotiation between the seller and the broker. For illustration purposes here, we are using 6 percent, or $15,000 on a $250,000 sale.
Another seller expense you may run across in some area’s is a listing broker administrative brokerage commission. It’s usually adds another $250-$500 expense on top of the 6 percent commission fee. The seller will see it as a separate expense on their closing statement. So, what is this fee for? By law, brokers must keep records of all their real estate transactions for a period of years. And they must produce those records if asked for them. Although it’s a ridiculous added on fee, the listing broker administrative brokerage commission is an expense passed along by some brokers to help defray the cost of this requirement.
Settlement fees
The buyer is responsible for hiring the settlement or title company to perform closing, so the buyer will usually pay most of the fees associated with settlement. But, the seller does have some settlement expense. If the seller has an outstanding loan on the property, the settlement company will take care of paying that loan off out of the sales proceeds. They’ll charge something for the service, plus the cost of overnight fees to quickly get the loan payoff to the mortgage holder. In our example here, we’ll use $250. And, since interest in collected in arrears, the seller will be responsible for any interest charges that accrue after the last payment thru the day of closing.
The Bottom Line
If you sell your house for $250,000, you can probably expect to walk away with around $230,000 after taxes, commissions and fees. If no real estate commissions need to be paid out, the seller could expect to walk away with approximately $245,000. The real number will depend on exactly what it says in the sales contract and where the property is located.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We help do-it-yourself home sellers market their home to millions of home shoppers every day. We can help you get the word out about your home, too!!