Searching for homes online can fun and informative but often downright confusing. Where do you start, what websites are updated daily, what agents are updating their listings and how do you find out additional information that is not listed on a public website? Some of the best places to start your search are big named search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
For this example let's use Google... When you type in "reston homes for sale" Google will search the internet to find the most relevant websites that display homes for sale in Reston, VA within the "organic search results" (as opposed to the paid advertisements up top and to the right of the page on Google). Among the top of the organic search results you will find Homes.com which you would think would have the most accurate listings available considering it's name. When you click on their link on Google it will send you to their page where they display "Featured Listing". Many of the "Featured" homes have been manually added by paying real estate agents to get maximum exposure for their listings, but many of them have either sold or had been taken off the market and are not currently for sale. These are just lead producing avenues that many agents put into place to gain buyer requests from the internet that do nothing but irritate a serious home seeker.
Another way to find listings through Google by using the search phrase "reston homes for sale" is by clicking on the links to the far right hand side of the search results. These are paid advertisement that many agents use and can pay anywhere from .20 to $20 per click. You will find the bigger named companies up top and the smaller agents last in the list of paid advertisers. Many of these ads are not relevant to your search for "reston homes for sale" and often you will end up lost in cyber space or reading their website which describes how many homes they sold in the 20 years they have been in real estate and their favorite foods. What most home seekers are looking for are active listings, addtional info and nothing more!!!
What people deserve these days are real time, accurate and updated information about property listings direct from the local MLS database. Cutting edge technology like I use on www.JasonDemers.com only displays the most accurate and timely information available today and not one old or inactive listing. You won't find any information that is not real estate related and our team of agents are all full time professionals. All inquires we receive are handled immediately, thanks to the large investment we have made into our technology during the past three years.
With all the technology we have at our disposal these days home buyers are expecting quick responses to their housing needs and continued follow up from an agent who can help. If the information your looking for is not publicly displayed (due to local MLS regulations), just send me an inquiry and you'll receive a Full MLS Consumer Listing email which will give you the most updated and detailed information on any home including local homes that have sold or may be new to the market including many foreclosure steals. You can search for accurate listings at any time by visiting my site at www.JasonDemers.com or send me an email and we'll do the search for you.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
How to Make Lowball Offers
Buyers who are lucky enough to shop for a home in a buyer's market are in the enviable position of being more likely to get a lowball offer accepted. In seller's markets, homes quickly sell and, since there is little inventory or competition, it is difficult to negotiate a lowball offer.
If you are shopping for a new home in a seller's market, your best bet for finding sellers who might be receptive to a lowball offer is to check out those sellers of overpriced homes lingering with excessive DOM. But whether the market is hot, cold or neutral, lowball offers can result in big savings to a buyer if they are presented and negotiated properly.
To get started, let's look at what NOT do when making a lowball offer:
Common Mistakes Made by Lowball Buyers
Can't Afford or Unqualified to Pay More. Don't tell the seller your price is fair because that's how much the lender has qualified you to buy. Sellers don't care what you can or cannot afford to buy. If you can't afford to buy the house, that's not the seller's problem; it's yours.
Paying Cash. It's all cash to the seller in the end. Most buyers don't realize that. If a property will appraise at selling price and the buyer's credit is acceptable, a conventional loan transaction will close just the same as a cash deal. The only advantage to a cash deal is it removes the loan contingency, the right for a buyer to walk away if a loan isn't possible. But most loan contingencies follow the same number of days as other contingencies, so who cares? It's not a big selling point.
Walking Away. Some buyers get their knickers in a twist and walk away when the seller counters the offer at more than the buyer was prepared to pay. Maybe the counter was list. Maybe less. Doesn't matter. The point is the doors have been opened for negotiations. Only the inexperienced or truly stupid walk away.
Strategies for Winning the Lowball Offer
Find out the Seller's Motivation. If you don't know why the seller is selling, you can't meet the seller's needs. Maybe the pressing issue is financial. Maybe the seller needs to quickly move. If you know the reason behind the sale, you can structure your offer to fulfill those needs.
Write a Clean Offer. Dot I's and cross T's. Don't ask for items that oppose local custom. Shorten inspection periods, reduce or waive some contingencies and submit a lender preapproval letter. Don't give the listing agent a reason to doubt your ability to perform. Appear strong, qualified and ready to close.
Always Counter the Counter Offer. It goes without saying that the first counter is only an invitation for the buyer to offer a second counter offer. But sometimes buyers get discouraged. It's a dance to see who will win. Until they turn off the lights and close up the bar, keep dancing.
Move Attention Away From Price. There are many other considerations than price. It's smart to change tactics and ask for other concessions such as closing cost credits, repair credits, longer escrow periods or focus on tangible goods such as furniture or appliances.
Give a Logical Reason Why Your Lowball Offer is Fair. Don't insult the agent by handing over a list of comparable sales. Show you have done your homework. Make notations on each sale that compares it to the subject property. Maybe the higher priced homes had remodeled kitchens. If the home you want to buy is not updated, then knock off a believable figure reflecting the remodeling work from the seller's list price.
When Your Lowball Offer is Rejected and Negotiations End
Don't pack up your toys and go home. Just wait. Sellers have reasons for rejecting offers. Maybe you made an offer on a new listing, when the seller thinks that a really great offer is just around the corner. Let them sit out the market. After a month or two has gone by, resubmit your offer. Just cross off the date, but leave enough of it so the seller can see how long it's been since you last made an offer. Then write in the new date and resubmit!
If you are shopping for a new home in a seller's market, your best bet for finding sellers who might be receptive to a lowball offer is to check out those sellers of overpriced homes lingering with excessive DOM. But whether the market is hot, cold or neutral, lowball offers can result in big savings to a buyer if they are presented and negotiated properly.
To get started, let's look at what NOT do when making a lowball offer:
Common Mistakes Made by Lowball Buyers
Can't Afford or Unqualified to Pay More. Don't tell the seller your price is fair because that's how much the lender has qualified you to buy. Sellers don't care what you can or cannot afford to buy. If you can't afford to buy the house, that's not the seller's problem; it's yours.
Paying Cash. It's all cash to the seller in the end. Most buyers don't realize that. If a property will appraise at selling price and the buyer's credit is acceptable, a conventional loan transaction will close just the same as a cash deal. The only advantage to a cash deal is it removes the loan contingency, the right for a buyer to walk away if a loan isn't possible. But most loan contingencies follow the same number of days as other contingencies, so who cares? It's not a big selling point.
Walking Away. Some buyers get their knickers in a twist and walk away when the seller counters the offer at more than the buyer was prepared to pay. Maybe the counter was list. Maybe less. Doesn't matter. The point is the doors have been opened for negotiations. Only the inexperienced or truly stupid walk away.
Strategies for Winning the Lowball Offer
Find out the Seller's Motivation. If you don't know why the seller is selling, you can't meet the seller's needs. Maybe the pressing issue is financial. Maybe the seller needs to quickly move. If you know the reason behind the sale, you can structure your offer to fulfill those needs.
Write a Clean Offer. Dot I's and cross T's. Don't ask for items that oppose local custom. Shorten inspection periods, reduce or waive some contingencies and submit a lender preapproval letter. Don't give the listing agent a reason to doubt your ability to perform. Appear strong, qualified and ready to close.
Always Counter the Counter Offer. It goes without saying that the first counter is only an invitation for the buyer to offer a second counter offer. But sometimes buyers get discouraged. It's a dance to see who will win. Until they turn off the lights and close up the bar, keep dancing.
Move Attention Away From Price. There are many other considerations than price. It's smart to change tactics and ask for other concessions such as closing cost credits, repair credits, longer escrow periods or focus on tangible goods such as furniture or appliances.
Give a Logical Reason Why Your Lowball Offer is Fair. Don't insult the agent by handing over a list of comparable sales. Show you have done your homework. Make notations on each sale that compares it to the subject property. Maybe the higher priced homes had remodeled kitchens. If the home you want to buy is not updated, then knock off a believable figure reflecting the remodeling work from the seller's list price.
When Your Lowball Offer is Rejected and Negotiations End
Don't pack up your toys and go home. Just wait. Sellers have reasons for rejecting offers. Maybe you made an offer on a new listing, when the seller thinks that a really great offer is just around the corner. Let them sit out the market. After a month or two has gone by, resubmit your offer. Just cross off the date, but leave enough of it so the seller can see how long it's been since you last made an offer. Then write in the new date and resubmit!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Bank Owned vs Short Sale in Northern VA
With more and more homeowners falling behind in payments many homes are going straight to the bank! This is where you can find one of the deepest discounts in the market today... Let's start with a common scenario happening all over Northern Virginia as we speak.
Bob and Sue have a home and they just can't make the payments on anymore due to the rate increase in the 5-1 Arm (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) that they were talked into getting 24 months ago and can barely make the second trust payment. They started with a 3% "teaser rate" on the first trust and now they are at 6% on a home they should have been qualified at around 6%...not at a teaser rate of 3%. Their payments just jumped up $900+ each month and they just can't make ends meet anymore as Sue is a school teacher and Bob worked in the marketing dept. for a well know home builder and was recently laid off. They can't refinance or sell their home because it is now worth $80,000 less than they bought it for 24mo. ago.
Bob and Sue decided to looking a Short Sale scenario with their mortgage company by calling them up and asking to speak to someone who may want to take less than owed on their home. The bank tells them that they must put it on the market first, get an offer and then present it to them for consideration. Bob and Sue after three months finally get a (low ball) offer on the home 100K less than what they paid for it. They present the offer to the bank and wait 2-6 weeks to later find out that the second trust company will not agree with the first trust mortgage company at that price. The second trust company is only willing to except a loss of 20K on their end and thus there is no acceptance of the Short Sale after having the home on the market for 3 months and waiting another 6 weeks for a response to the offer they submitted! That's not to mention that the buyers wasted 6 weeks waiting on a response from the bank that had not even approved a short sale selling price on the home!
Now what???? Bankruptcy or Foreclosure??? Bob and Sue are at wits end and decide to rent an apartment quickly and leave their current home vacant for the bank to foreclose on... so the court house process begins and the home does not immediately sell. The bank now has the home as one of their 1000's of inventory across the county and must dispose of it (sell) as quickly as possible as they are loosing more money in expenses and loss of interest on their investment.
Can you say desperate? The winner by far are all the buyers purchasing Bank Owned Homes! Not just in negotiating and saving on the sales price, but also the fact they only had to wait a few days and up to a week to hear back from the bank as to whether or not they are going to get the contract accepted and ratified to the agreed terms of the offer. Though the buyers are purchasing the home "As-is" and it may need 15-20K in upgrades and repairs, they saved 10's of thousands of dollars on the home and didn't waste 1-2 months on an offer they made on a Short Sale that wasn't going to get accepted.... Why does it take so long for a short sales offer to get accepted you ask? Because the banks usually want to see anywhere from 3-6+ offers on the home before they accept or counter an offer! How about you just ask the listing agent how many offers there are on the home before considering to make an offer you ask? Because many of the banks as of recently have been forcing the listing agent NOT to make that information public. Listing agents and representatives for the banks are now keeping this on the HUSH!
Though Short Sales can often be excellent deals and save you potentially 10's of thousands off the sales price... if you don't have the patience to wait up to 2 months for a bank answer then go for the Bank Owned homes or Foreclosures in the Northern Virginia real estate market.
Bank Owned Homes Win By a TKO!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
New Model for Brokerages?
Each week I receive a new emailed newsletter from Realtor.org with topics such as Top 10 Things Buyers Should Know Before They Purchase, or 6 Hidden Secrets To Increase the Value of Your Home. This week I received one that kind of caught my eye, it is titled Does Your Brokerage Have A New Model? They are conducting a survey on topics such as the following.
"Is your brokerage giving customers the opportunity to obtain services on a fee basis?"
Hmmmmm, now what kind of services would those be? Stick a yard sign in the ground of a sellers home and just slap it in the MLS for $300? Or maybe they want a lock box for an additional $50? We can print out 100 copies of a listing packet for .25 a piece? I tell you what I think would be a great idea... $150 hr for an Open House and $100 for each property shown! What happened to the days of Buyer Representation? Where are we going with these "new era concepts"?
Is your brokerage going virtual, with sales associates working mainly from their home office?
Ummmm, let's go with ya? How often do you need to go into the office to check your email, pull up listings, check your messages or to make a long distance phone call? Do you have to meet your client in the office or would a local Starbucks be sufficient?
Times have changed and corporate brokerage offices should be down sizing immediately. The overhead alone for rent, phones, copiers, 100+ phone extensions, desks, chairs, full time secretaries, etc.. can run anywhere from 20-40K+ per month! All this expense gets passed onto to the agent with commission splits ranging from 50/50 to 80/20 because of all the overhead and expenses. Many brokerages are shoving down your throat the fact that you must use their title and settlement companies in order to receive their company perks and benefits. Don't believe me? Call one of the large corporate chains and listen to how they answer their phone.
You'd swear they also have a tanning salon in there somewhere too...!
"Is your brokerage giving customers the opportunity to obtain services on a fee basis?"
Hmmmmm, now what kind of services would those be? Stick a yard sign in the ground of a sellers home and just slap it in the MLS for $300? Or maybe they want a lock box for an additional $50? We can print out 100 copies of a listing packet for .25 a piece? I tell you what I think would be a great idea... $150 hr for an Open House and $100 for each property shown! What happened to the days of Buyer Representation? Where are we going with these "new era concepts"?
Is your brokerage going virtual, with sales associates working mainly from their home office?
Ummmm, let's go with ya? How often do you need to go into the office to check your email, pull up listings, check your messages or to make a long distance phone call? Do you have to meet your client in the office or would a local Starbucks be sufficient?
Times have changed and corporate brokerage offices should be down sizing immediately. The overhead alone for rent, phones, copiers, 100+ phone extensions, desks, chairs, full time secretaries, etc.. can run anywhere from 20-40K+ per month! All this expense gets passed onto to the agent with commission splits ranging from 50/50 to 80/20 because of all the overhead and expenses. Many brokerages are shoving down your throat the fact that you must use their title and settlement companies in order to receive their company perks and benefits. Don't believe me? Call one of the large corporate chains and listen to how they answer their phone.
You'd swear they also have a tanning salon in there somewhere too...!
Monday, May 19, 2008
A New Lease Purchase on Life?
I recently read an article in the Washington Post about renters seeking out lease options as an option to an immediate purchase... You can read the article online http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051600310.html?sub=AR .
Well my thoughts are good luck! Most buyers are opting to Rent-to-Own in the Northern VA real estate market because they just don't qualify for a loan today. With historically low interest rates and sales prices (including many "all closing costs paid by seller" homes) why would potential buyers want to wait to purchase? The answer is very simple in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties.. because they don't think they can afford too! It's the mindset of the first and second time home buyers.. "Let's wait until the prices go down even more.. then we'll see if we qualify for a loan." Not such a good idea... Many buyers in this market should take the time to educate themselves on the many FHA and First Time Home Buyer programs available today. Rent-to-Own many times means increased rental prices as the home owners have built in a "set monthly rental increase" because they know they are going to have to contribute a set monthly portion back to the tenant should they buy in 12-24 months... What does this mean? More potential monthly income to the landlord... that's about it.
That's not to mention the fact the seller could go into default on their home and YOU the tenant are out with NO Option To Purchase. My suggestion is this, talk to a lender now, work out the financing terms or work on the issues with your down payment any credit score issues that could prevent you from owning a home down the road.
You can Search for Northern VA homes for sale on http://www.JasonDemers.com based on your monthly rent payment. You can figure around $2,400/mo should get you near 400K with little or no down payment. Contact your lender for specifics. Sellers are willing pay just about anything to break your lease and will more often than not pay all your closing costs TODAY, not in 12-24 months.
Well my thoughts are good luck! Most buyers are opting to Rent-to-Own in the Northern VA real estate market because they just don't qualify for a loan today. With historically low interest rates and sales prices (including many "all closing costs paid by seller" homes) why would potential buyers want to wait to purchase? The answer is very simple in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties.. because they don't think they can afford too! It's the mindset of the first and second time home buyers.. "Let's wait until the prices go down even more.. then we'll see if we qualify for a loan." Not such a good idea... Many buyers in this market should take the time to educate themselves on the many FHA and First Time Home Buyer programs available today. Rent-to-Own many times means increased rental prices as the home owners have built in a "set monthly rental increase" because they know they are going to have to contribute a set monthly portion back to the tenant should they buy in 12-24 months... What does this mean? More potential monthly income to the landlord... that's about it.
That's not to mention the fact the seller could go into default on their home and YOU the tenant are out with NO Option To Purchase. My suggestion is this, talk to a lender now, work out the financing terms or work on the issues with your down payment any credit score issues that could prevent you from owning a home down the road.
You can Search for Northern VA homes for sale on http://www.JasonDemers.com based on your monthly rent payment. You can figure around $2,400/mo should get you near 400K with little or no down payment. Contact your lender for specifics. Sellers are willing pay just about anything to break your lease and will more often than not pay all your closing costs TODAY, not in 12-24 months.
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