Information For San Ramon, CA Home Buyers And Sellers

Recently, the real estate market has been somewhat difficult to navigate due mainly to our strange economy. As a real estate agent, I feel like I’ve “seen it all.” I am optimistic about home buying in 2012. And you can be too!

I am ready to help you through the process and to help you find the home you are dreaming of for the best price. Through years of experience, I have come up with some “buyer guidelines” that could be helpful to you in your journey. I’m hoping that sharing these concepts with you can make your experience as pleasant as possible.

Helpful Guidance for Buyers – Trust Your Agent

In order to know if the home that you are considering is really meant for you, you must visit it. And, you probably need to visit it more than once when you are closing in on making an offer. However, keep in mind that it could be counterproductive to bring in another contractor or an interior designer to get their opinions, too. An outside contractor is going to have opinions of his/her own—things that you probably never would even consider.

No home is absolutely perfect, and at some point you have to listen to your own gut (and trust your real estate agent). Too many voices and opinions are just sometimes plain noisy. Also, keep in mind that once you do make an offer, you will have multiple opportunities to go through the home very thoroughly before signing a contract. Going over the home inch-by-inch upon first or second viewing before getting a simple overall feel for the home is just not a good idea.

When preparing to make an offer, trust your real estate agent. I understand that we are trying to find the best home for you at the best price, and I will help you make offers. However, I don’t like for my clients to try to “low-ball” the sellers.

Timing is almost everything in the real estate market. Consider this: there may be one or two other buyers out there who offer the seller a realistic lower price for the same home at approximately the same time that you just sent in a disrespectful bid. You may only get one chance to bid, so bid respectfully and rely on your real estate agent to help you.

Helpful Guidance for Buyers – Be Honest

Once you have made an offer and things are moving along, you will start the process of “final inspection.” During these inspection times, you may find some small issues or problems that you did not notice during your initial showings. Do not worry; this is not uncommon and most likely no one tried to hide anything from you. If you come across things that need to be fixed, it will be just fine for you to request a credit from the seller of the home during the escrow process.

What is not acceptable, however, is to get all the way into the escrow process and then try to drive the price down just to see if you can. This again is disrespectful to all those involved; the seller could easily be offended that you offered one price and now are expecting to pay less. Home buying and selling can be stressful when things like this happen, instead of the pleasant exchange that everyone would prefer.

I so look forward to working with you, and I hope that you can tell by what I have written above that my goal is to serve you well and to serve you with honesty. I pride myself in my reputation as a realtor who does thing the right way, and I know we can achieve success working together.

Guest blog provided by Kimberley Joy Kelly, a Palm Springs Realtor. You can check out some cool golf homes in Palm Springs on Kim’s website. You can also check out all the other non-golf homes in Palm Springs by following that link.

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Your search is over, and you found the house that best suits you., and, it may have been quite an arduous process. If it seemed like a difficult stretch to find the home that you want to purchase, hang in there and follow through on the closing process too. Attention to detail in the closing process is important.

Things to Know When Closing On Your New Home

If you have a buyer’s agent, that agent will advise you well—as he/she is committed to your interests. If you are purchasing on your own and thus dealing with the seller’s agent, arm yourself with knowledge for the closing process.

Research what other homes have sold for recently in that area. Accumulate at least three similar houses’ prices in order to come up with an average. It also would be nice to know what those homes were listed at originally so that you can figure out if they sold for less.

For example, if homes in the area sold for an average of maybe five percent below the listing price, offer the seller’s agent eight or ten percent less than the listed price of the home you want; this gives you both room to negotiate. If you go much lower than that with your offer, you may offend or frustrate the seller or the owner and lose out on your opportunity altogether. Real estate is a big investment to buy or to sell, and both parties really do want to have a good experience on both sides of the coin.

Also, if you are working directly with a seller’s agent on your own to purchase your home, be aware of what the current trend in recent home sale is. Is it a buyer’s market, or a seller’s market?

Is It A Buyers Market Or Sellers Market?

Sometimes, it helps if you work directly with the current owner, also. For instance, if you get to know the owner a little, you may be able to negotiate for appliances. Or, you may be able to get the price of the home reduced if they remove the appliances and blinds, per se. If the market is slow, you will have more of an advantage typically. Otherwise, you may have to be the one to make some deals and concessions to get the home that you desire.

When you do finally agree on a price for the home and all that it includes or excludes, the seller’s agent will typically write an offer for purchase that estimates a closing date; often this date ranges anywhere from forty-five to sixty days from the date of acceptance of the offer. This is a legal document, and it will serve you well to have your buyer’s agent (or your attorney—if you are not working with an agent) to review the paper work.

Get Your Transaction Details In Order

The deal should only go through if the following items are in order:  1) you are approved by a mortgage lender for the necessary amount, 2) a professional home inspection reveals no major troubles with the home, and 3) you are guaranteed a “walk-through” inspection just twenty-four hours before closing (in case you find minor damage that may need repair).

If all of this is in order, you will be asked to make a “good-faith” deposit—perhaps one to ten percent of the purchase price. That money gets placed in an escrow fund and is returned to the seller once the closing date passes. If for some reason, the closing fails, that “good-faith deposit” will be returned to you if you or the home somehow did not match up to the expected conditions of the agreement.

There are so many details to tend to, and yet all of the process is exciting and worth it. A new home awaits you on the other side of it all!

This article was provided by guest blogger Jolenta Averill. If you’re looking to learn more about the real estate process you can check out her Madison WI homes for sale website. You can search all Madison homes for sale or read up on the latest Madison real estate news on her blog.

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The closing process involves more than you would probably ever want to know, really. The details, the paperwork, the negotiating, and all of the parties involved—it can all be a little overwhelming.

What You Need To Know About The Closing Process

This is why letting a real estate agent help you and allowing the professionals to do their jobs is really the best way to go. Still, it is wise to have a general idea of what to expect so that you are not anxious and nervous about every piece of paper and every signature that you provide.

Further, it is best to know what to expect not only in paperwork, but also in terms of closing expenses. Unfortunately, sometimes home buyers are unaware that closing costs, escrow fees, and title insurance exist, and they are caught financially off guard at the end of the process. So, let us take a look at what may be around the corner.

For starters, “closing” on a house is defined as: a point in time when the title of one property is transferred from the current owner to the buyer; and simultaneously, a lender gives the buyer/borrower a mortgage. While this might sound very official and a little scary, closing on a home can be very exciting and something to celebrate. Just keep your eye on learning about what will happen when that day comes, and you will be able to relax since you know what to expect.

Get Help From A Realtor

When the time comes to close on the home that you are purchasing, timing is important. A settlement agent can help you navigate the process. You can find settlement agents by asking around, by asking your Realtor, or inquiring with your lender who they typically use. The settlement agent that you choose will begin by requesting preliminary title work from a title professional.

The title professional will then look through public records for any information that is related to your home’s title. What is he/she looking for, exactly? Well, you would want to know if there are any flaws on the title, wouldn’t you? For example, what if the previous owner of your home had not paid taxes (either local or state) on the home? Or, what if there is an outstanding mortgage payment listed on the title, or a judgment on the property? These are important issues that must be uncovered before you take ownership of the home. And that is the goal here, to clean up the title and resolve any issues before closing.

The settlement agent will then handle the financial implications of the prior mortgage—whether it will be paid off or assumed by you (the buyer). The settlement agent may or may not request further inspections such as surveys, termite reports, and a property inspection. Once all seems to be in good order with the home, the settlement agent will prepare an HUD-1 Settlement Statement.

What Is A HUD-1 Statement?

This lengthy document outlines every cost for both parties involved in regards to closing. If you would like to see the form ahead of time, you can download a copy of a generic HUD-1 form online. Some homebuyers like to see all of the details, line-by-line ahead of time, while others would just prefer to sign where they are asked to sign.

When you get to the closing appointment, the settlement agent will go through everything on paper with you from start to finish and ask for your signature all along the way. When you are finished with this process and all numbers and letters are in order, the real estate property will be transferred from the seller to you—the buyer! This you can truly celebrate, and you can thank the professionals who have helped you along the way by doing their jobs well. Congratulations!

Article provided by a Fort Collins Realtor by the name of Allison Klein. For more information about buying a home please check out her Loveland CO homes for sale and Windsor CO homes for sale pages where she describes the home buying process in more detail.

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When shopping for bank owned properties, you will find that you have a lot of competition. That’s why it’s very important for your offer to stand out.

Your offer is the first impression you make on the listing bank. It tells them exactly how serious you are about purchasing the REO property. Use these eight tips to ensure that your offer is beneficial to you, and gets accepted by the bank:

Get the REO Foreclosure’s History

When buying a bank owned property, you should have a buyer’s agent. Get your agent to pull information on the Trustee’s Deed to find out what the bank’s purchase price and compare it to the price they are asking for the property. Your offer should be a number between the outstanding mortgage balance and the foreclosure selling price. This will help you come up with a reasonable price that the bank will accept.

Get Comparable Prices for REO Foreclosures

Market value is more powerful than the home’s listing price. Comparable sales for the past three months will help determine the current value of the REO. Pending sales may help, although it may be difficult to get the listing agents to share the accepted offer prices with your agent. Active listings will have an affect on other potential buyers’ offers. Try not to make your offer too low because, in this market, you will have competitors.

Break Down Sold REO’s of Listing Agent

Many REO agents list properties exclusively for just a couple of banks, and usually list nothing but bank owned properties. Have your buyer’s agent research the listing agent in the MLS system. Try to go back at least three to six months. Compare their list prices with the actual sales prices. If most of their sales were for eight percent above the listing price, you should offer at least nine percent above the listing price. The same rule applies if average sales prices are below listing prices.

Inquire About the REO Foreclosure Offers

If no offers have been made, you’re in luck. You may be able to get an offer accepted that is substantially lower than the listing price, especially if it’s been listed for a while. If there are competing offers, yours should be higher than the others. Also, if any of the offers are cash offers, these are winners in the banks’ eyes. If you are planning on getting financed for a mortgage, your offer needs to be high enough to make cash offers look less impressive.

Get Pre-Approved by Your Lender

Getting pre-approved ahead of time makes your offer seem much more valid. Getting pre-approved by the bank that actually owns the property is even better. When submitting your offer, enclose pre-approval letters from both lenders. It shows the owning bank that their approval department has already checked you out, and that you also have a lender already ready to approve your mortgage loan.

Be Prepared to Purchase Bank Owned Properties As-Is

Once the bank has accepted your offer, it’s too late to start asking them to make repairs. The exception to this would be problems found during the home inspection. If they are costly repairs required by your lender before closing escrow, you will need to renegotiate the offer again with the bank owning the property.

Ask for a Short Inspection Time Frame

Banks are in a hurry to get rid of REO properties. Ask for the shortest time possible to conduct your inspections. This shows the bank that you are really serious about purchasing this property.

Offer to Share the Cost of Fees

Banks, especially those stuck with a large shadow inventory of REO homes, do not want to pay any fees if they can get away with it. But, it may not be in your best interest to pay them all yourself. Offer to split the costs of transfer fees, escrow fees, title insurance discount fees, etc… This will raise your chances of your offer being accepted for your bank owned property.

Remember the Appraisal

If you make an offer on an REO property that is higher than the listing price, your lender is going to require that this be justified by the appraisal. If the appraisal ends up being lower than your offer, your lender won’t agree, but don’t worry. You still have options. Because the next potential buyer will have the same problem, the bank owning the property will understand this. They will be willing to renegotiate your offer, based on the appraisal.

About The Author: Paula Henry is an experienced Indianapolis Realtor assisting home buyers and sellers. If you’re interested in learning more about buying a home in Indianapolis, please visit her Indianapolis Real Estate blog.

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Buyer’s remorse is not a good thing, especially if the purchase is something big. Like a house. But it happens from time to time.  A buyer sees a home, loves it, makes an offer, goes through the process of buying the home and moves in.

Folks are sending well wishes and housewarming gifts and everything seems to be going well.  The kids love their new rooms and the in-laws just brought over a celebratory bottle of wine.  But the wine is not what is giving you that light-headed feeling.

Could it be buyer’s remorse? 

Buyer’s remorse is this feeling that just won’t seem to go away.  The feeling that you chose the wrong home or that you have made an error in purchasing the home right now, or that you’ve gotten yourself in “over your head”.  You’re not the first person to have some regrets lingering in the back of their mind after making a huge purchase and signing on for a twenty, thirty, or forty year commitment to make a monthly mortgage payment.

There is a huge potential for buyer’s remorse right now, since now more than ever, buyers are actually first time homebuyers, and this opens the door to an elevated level of stress over the purchase.  But you can have a greater level of confidence that you have made the right decision and overcome those feelings of regret.  Having second thoughts is normal, since it is likely the largest purchase that you will ever make.  Going into debt for $450K can be scary.  It is a huge commitment financially.

Leave buyer’s remorse behind!

But you can put buyer’s remorse behind you by focusing on the long term.  After all, it has always been your dream to own your own home, right? And even if you were content to rent or lease your home, homeownership gives you a more secure financial future because you are investing in something as opposed to living in someone else’s investment property and giving your landlord a stream of income.

Would-be homeowners can invariably feel better about their purchase by knowing exactly what they are getting into before closing. There is no way to get out of the purchase once your home closes.  Be sure that you ask all the questions that need to be asked and get everything in the open up front.

Don’t wait until you have closed to ask for a repair to the roof or for something else.  And always consider a home warranty, since much of the worry that the buyer experiencing remorse has is when they unearth a problem that is going to cause them to experience a financial setback by getting it repaired.  With a home warranty, you can usually get things fixed without paying anything other than the cost of the warranty initially.

Do your homework upfront and all will be good…

Buyers should also be aware of the ongoing costs of living in their new home, too.  Sometimes that just means paying insurance and property taxes while other times it might mean that it now costs more to make the daily commute to work, or some other expense that hadn’t been anticipated.  These items can wreak havoc on the budget, so planning for them before buying is always a smart idea.

Your real estate agent can give you a better idea about what to expect as far as expenses go after you buy your home.

Article provided by Vickie Nagy a San Ramon CA real estate agent. For more information about Vickie you can visit her Danville CA real estate website where you can also search Dublin CA real estate for sale.

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