Below are some questions I seem to be asked fairly consistently. Write me if you have a good question.. Maybe I will use it here. FOR BUYERS Can I really buy a house with no money down? YES, you can, although it will depend on a few things. More likely, you can buy a home for "hardly anything" down. Despite what you are hearing about in the news about the real estate market, subprime mortgages, and a pending recession (don't get me started), even people with so so credit can likely buy a home with very little money down. When I say little, I mean approximately $1000 or less for a typical first time buyer looking at homes in the under 250K range. Major banks are still consistently offering programs for 100% financing and many of these are government backed loans that would roll every or nearly every fee back into the mortgage. Ultimately, your first step as a buyer is to speak to a mortgage lender and find out what you are qualified for and to answer all of your questions about what you can afford and what you could expect for mortgage payments. Most of my first time buyers end up putting down $1,000 -$2,000 as a good faith deposit when they find a home which ends up being refunded to them at closing and along the way, their out of pocket expenses might include a bank appraisal (around $400) and a home inspection (can vary a lot but say $325). An intelligent and informed REALTOR® will communicate with you and work to structure the purchase agreement to best fit you. Some buyers prefer to pay what they can out of pocket and others would rather see it end up as a small increase in their monthly payment rather than a big chunk of money up front. The key is to take some time to communicate with your REALTOR® and a qualified mortgage lender and get on the same page about your expectations. Are you really "FREE" to me as a buyer agent? In general, YES. Technically, the seller pays the listing agent a fee to list their home for sale and that agent offers a commission (part of their fee) to another agent that brings them a buyer. The seller pays the entire commission which is divided by the seller's agent and the buyer's agent and the buyer themselves pays nothing. This is the way things work 99% of the time. Of course, there are exceptions. All of these result from situations where the seller is offering little or no commission to a buyer agent. In the past, this was often the case with For Sale By Owner listings. Nowadays, even they are more likely than not to offer reasonable commissions to buyer agents. Today, it usually results from one of two things, sellers and listing agents that are for whatever reason not offering reasonable compensation to buyer agents or from sellers that are not aware that they are selling. This would be the case where a buyer client comes to me and asks "I want to buy the blue house on lake so and so but its not for sale, will you go and get the seller to sell it to me anyway? or possibly an investor thats asks me to do a lot of legwork to find or negotiate a transaction on a foreclosure or preforeclosure or unlisted property. Ultimately, good REALTORS® do not work for free. I would argue a good REALTOR® is worth every penny they might charge to either a buyer or a seller as they are likely to save their client more than any commission they might earn. Why do you offer 3 different methods on your home search page? Simply put, I have 3 different services that can be searched for listings. The first two require no effort on my part and can be a good guide if you are just curious about the market or haven't yet reached the point where you are ready to make a move. The final and best method is to ask me to do a real MLS search for you. By this, I mean I will access my Multiple Listing Service and set up a search for your criteria. You will then receive detailed listings with photos and important information, ie. taxes, right in your email. You will also get any new or updated listings immediately, not a week later like most other home listing services. All I ask of you is that you ask me to do this for you. It is my pleasure to help. Of course, I do this with the hope that you will consider using me as your agent but there is no obligation. Can you find me a foreclosure, pre-foreclosure, bank-owned property? Is this right for me? Often, when surfing the internet for real estate listings, you will run across sites that specialize in foreclosures and pre-foreclosures. A home that is listed as pre-foreclosure is one that a mortgage company has begun the foreclosure process on. You are likely aware that a foreclosure is when a bank assumes a property when the borrower defaults on their loan. The mortgage company is required to notify the city and a notice is placed on the land records. The websites that list these properties are using those land records to obtain this information and sell it to the public. The assumption is that because someone is pending foreclosure, you might be able to approach them and purchase the property for a low price. You would be helping them avoid the bad mark of the foreclosure on their credit and they might even walk away with some money. This is all great in theory and while things like this do happen, its much more rare that you end up making any kind of great deal for yourself. First, the homeowner that is being foreclosed on probably has already done so much damage to their credit that the foreclosure isn't going to hurt them much more. Also, it is in their best interest to sell the house for market value and at this stage, if that is their intention, they still have time to hire a REALTOR® and sell it. Most often, they find a way to refinance the existing loan and avoid the foreclosure altogether. A foreclosure is a long drawn out ordeal for a bank as well as the homeowner and within the last year, short sales have been quite common. This is where the bank lets the home sell even though they will end up losing money in the process. The alternative is the upcoming foreclosure process and the considerable expense that comes with it. If, on the other hand, the property is eventually foreclosed, the mortgage company will either list it with a Real Estate Company to sell it for them or they will hold a public auction. Either way, the terms are very difficult to meet for a first time buyer. These properties are often in need of repairs, sometimes major, although the listing would usually say if a home needed a furnace or something of that nature. Without going into too much detail, this is procedure for a public foreclosure auction. Typically, you need to have 10% of the appraised value of the property in certified funds on the day the auction takes place. Before you can bid, you need to present these funds to the attorney running the auction. You will not have the ability to thoroughly inspect the property before making a bid. Usually, there is an hour or so ahead of the auction set aside for potential buyers to view the property but you are not going to be able to perform a detailed property inspection. After the auction ends, assuming you have the winning bid, the terms of the sales agreement offered by the bank will likely not allow for further inspections or mortgage contingencies which means that if you win the bid, you have to come up with the balance of the sale price on the closing day and there is virtually no protection for your deposit money if you can't follow through when its time to close. This closing day is typically 30 days from the auction which clearly makes obtaining a mortgage difficult aside from the bank's likely reservations about loaning money on a property that has not had a physical inspection. These are just a few of the big hurdles that come with looking at public auction foreclosures. That being said, sometimes you can get a good deal on a bank-owned property because of the terms. I wouldn't let it stop a client from going to look at something. If they reached the point that they found one they were interested in, we would talk about the details and decide if it makes sense for them. In general, I wouldn't try to talk my client out of anything, I just believe in giving thorough and truthful information and in these cases, Fair Warning. Foreclosure auctions are attended mostly by investors that have a much higher risk threshold and the ability to pay cash than your average buyer. Also, unlike a typical Real Estate transaction, a bank will likely not want to negotiate a home inspection, they will almost always opt for the cash bidder, and they will want to use their sales contract which benefits them and not you. The biggest issues typically in a bank contract are that your good faith deposit might be non-refundable and there would be a per diem for any delay past the specified closing date. Lastly, when you see a real estate listing that says corporate owned, that means you are looking at a bank owned or REO property that likely was the end result of some kind of foreclosure action. The situation is very similar but there is no auction. Typically, banks offer property below market price because they are unwilling to make repairs, they offer the property as is, and the terms of the contract are more or less non-negotiable and often favor the bank far more than the buyer. For the most part they are also intended for investors but of these types of properties this is the best choice for your typical buyer. If properties are bank or real estate owned how does someone get around "cash only offers?" Usually, it means that the Seller and/or Seller's agent believes that financing cannot be obtained on the subject property because of it's distressed condition, ie. missing plumbing, leaking roof, etc. The simple answer is that they are wrong. Financing is always available to those with acceptable credit and there are relatively common programs available from virtually all of the larger banks that are tailored specifically for purchases of this type. The most notable one is called a FHA 203K or rehab loan. Be wary as few real estate professionals are familiar with the needs and requirements of a buyer involved in such a transaction and few mortgage lenders despite having access to these programs know the ins and outs to make things work. Ask both the agent and mortgage lender you are working with straight out how well versed they are with 203K type loans and if they don't seem up on the subject, I would move on. There are agents and lenders who know these products well and you will be doing yourself a great service to seek them out. FOR SELLERS My home has been on the market for # months, why won't it sell? Assuming your home is listed with a real estate company and is included on the local MLS system with accurate information and potential buyer-agents have access to showing the property, the answer is always the same. The price is too high. Real buyers have agents and those agents provide listings to their clients from the MLS system. Of course, a quality REALTOR® will do much more than just throw a home on the MLS to get it sold but if its been a significant amount of time and you haven't received any offers, it's time to review the price. Why different agents charge different commissions to list my home for sale and how does this affect me? First, it's a free market (mostly anyway) so a real estate broker can dictate his own terms and charges for his services. This is why you will see agents charging differing compensation. A word to the wise, however, is that you should remember that in general, you get what you pay for. Arcticle 1 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics states "When representing a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or other client as an agent, REALTORS® pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client." Accepting a listing at a significantly reduced commission can ultimately act against this pledge. I always approach a prospective seller with the idea that we need to act as a team to reach the ultimate goal of selling their home quickly and with the terms most favorable to them that is possible. The two biggest commitments I make are 1) exposing their home to as many potential buyers and buyer-agents as I can and doing it in a way that encourages their interest. 2) investing my own time and money in effectively marketing the property. The conclusion is that if an agent accepts a reduced commission on a listing, one or both of these commitments will suffer. This agent will have less money and desire to spend it on advertising and they almost invariably offer a reduced commission to buyer-agents. This means that fewer potential buyers will even be aware of the property and agents will likely bypass it for other listings with more attractive offers of compensation. This is absolutely counter-productive and doesn't benefit me or the seller at all. Ultimately, a consumer should choose their agent based on their professionalism, experience and their belief that they are up for the job. Beware of agents that use listing presentations offering to list your home for reduced commissions or at a higher price than others. They are likely desperate for any business. This should be a warning sign. note - if this question interested you, the next one will likely also. What is an entry-only listing? This is a situation where the listing broker agrees to list a home for sale for a seller but limits their duties and their fees based on an ala carte system. Most commonly, the listing broker will list your home on the Multiple Listing Service and put up a sign but after that, you are on your own. All showings will be your duty to schedule, negotiating purchase offers, sales contracts, inspections and repairs and everything else a REALTOR® would perform as part of their duties will be your responsibility. Our fee is 1% of the listing price and is an upfront fee and will entitle you to an entry-only listing for 6 mos. Professionally speaking, I think this is not a wise choice for most sellers but there are circumstances where it can work. Specifically, this might be a viable option for experienced investors who have a substantial real estate background and are not concerned about potentital pitfalls regarding repair issues etc. OTHER What part of Connecticut do you do business in? I am licensed to work as a REALTOR® in all of CT. However, I am most familiar with central and western CT. I live in Wolcott and the majority of my business is in New Haven & Hartford counties but I have sold homes in every corner of the state. I would encourage you to call me regardless of where you are. I am not afraid to drive and I have a Team of agents that cover pretty much the whole state. If nothing else, I can refer you to a quality REALTOR® and give you some advice on how to keep them honest and accountable to you. I'm buying / selling outside of Connecticut, can you help me? Yes, of course. I have access to an extensive network of real estate professionals that work in nearly every state. Even in cases where I don't personally know someone in the location in question, I can help you find a quality REALTOR® and make sure they do their job 100% for you. Sure, I will make a referral fee from them but it won't cost you anything and you will end up with two agents accountable to you not just one. Of course, my expertise will help us both find the right person for the job and keep them working hard for us. I'm interested in becoming a REALTOR®, will you help me? Yes, of course. Real Estate is a difficult career that takes someone with a great deal of common sense, an intense work ethic, an easy going personality, and a drive to succeed. As difficult as it is, it can be even more rewarding. If you are interested in getting involved in real estate on any level or joining my team, email me right away. I'm a REALTOR®, where did you get all this great info? Who wrote it? Can I use it? I offer this information as well as my advice and expertise to my clients and my team agents. If you are interested in joining my team, don't hesitate to contact me. |