Taking on a listing is an exciting new journey to embark upon for both the Realtor and the seller. For the seller, it can understandably be a high-tension time— which is why I've put together this guide of what to expect when you list with me!
Communication
Communication is key when building trust with your agent, that’s why over 80% of my clients are referrals or return clients, because I aim for excellent communication with my clients, always.
Weekly Status Updates
Your communications are personally responded to within 24 hours
What are your questions, needs, concerns, finances, your LIFE!
We will decide in advance a method of communication that works for you, whether once a week, one a day, by phone, email or text; that’s how we’ll do it!
Staging
It is a proven fact time and time again, that staging is a big part of getting your home SOLD! It’s all about DEEP cleaning and decluttering your home. I work with a professional to make sure your home is presented to potential buyers in the best possible light. Homes sell because of correct pricing and great presentation. I know what it takes to make the terrific first impression that will get your home sold.
Pricing
Pricing your property competitively will generate the most activity from agents and buyers. A property generates the most interest when it first hits the market. The number of showings is greatest during this time if it is priced at a realistic market value. Starting too high and dropping the price later misses the excitement and fails to generate strong activity. Many homes that start high end up selling below market value. Pricing your home correctly to go on the market is a very important step.
If you’re a home buyer or seller and you’ve made it this far, Congratulations! You’re so close to finishing the deal and there’s just one last thing to negotiate: the repair addendum. This potentially contentious part of negotiations is where buyers can walk away or sellers can decide that making repairs isn’t worth the hassle and put their home back on the market. It can be either an intentional or unintentional unraveling point of the process and maintaining professionalism is key.
Once the inspection is finished, the buyers have a complete picture of the condition of the property. However, “the inspection report is not a repair list for the seller, nor is it a stick to beat the seller with on price.” Unless there are safety issues, structural damage or infestation problems revealed, the inspection is merely a guide for the buyers on what to expect in the future.
A typical repair addendum only includes what the seller is responsible for fixing as required by law. Reasonable requests include items that are “significant enough to impact your use of the house negatively,” such as major roof problems, structural deficiencies, immediate plumbing or HVAC items. Unreasonable requests should be advised against by your Realtor. Examples of an unreasonable request that a seller is unlikely to honor are known conditions like peeling paint or deteriorated driveways, old components that are perfectly functional like appliances, furnaces or the water heater. Anything cosmetic, not affecting the safety and value of the home, don’t qualify as good negotiating points to lower the price of the property.
After the inspection, in Virginia, you have 7 days to negotiate the terms.
Options:
A. The seller can make the request repairs which have to be completed by licensed contractors and with the entailing paperwork.
B. The seller can offer a credit toward closing to cover repair costs. Note that this credit cannot exceed closing costs. This is often a happy conclusion for both parties, however, the buyers are not obligated to accept a credit.
C. If the closing costs exceed the repair costs, it may be suitable for the seller to lower the sale price, however, the seller may decide not to do this.
If nothing is decided upon after those 7 days, you then have 2 additional days to decide what to do. At 5 pm on the second day, if nothing is decided, then the contract automatically terminates and both parties go their separate ways.
While often the repair addendum is the stickiest part of the homebuying process, if both parties negotiate reasonably and professionally through their agents, there’s no reason it should be the downfall of a prosperous deal for both parties.
One of the best ways to get prepared for buying or selling during the busy spring season is to know where the market is going. With Tuesday, March 20th being the first day of spring here is your 2018 Spring Real Estate market round-up.
Things are ramping up for lower to mid-range buyers and sellers.
According to The Washington Post, last year’s biggest challenge to the Spring Real Estate Market was low inventory and it’s looking to shape up the same for 2018, especially for entry-level buyers. It can be challenging enough to go through the process of homebuying for the first time without extra competition, however, if you’re ready to buy— it’s time to strap in and get ready to rumble.
Mortgage rates and new tax laws are affecting affordability.
Between the varying expert opinions, they seem to have one thing in common: rising costs. Whether it’s mortgage rates or home prices, they’re going up. According to Business Insider homes are still more affordable than ever, they just might not be for long.
After locking in your rates and shopping within your budget, it's smart to plan for the tax changes that will affect you next year.
Things aren't all that bad in RVA.
Great news, despite this ominous outlay of the Spring market, Richmond still remains one of the most affordable cities for millennials, creatives, and entry-level buyers according to Curbed.
Spring is a great meeting point for buyers to view more inventory and sellers to stir a little competition.
While low inventory traditionally means it’s a seller’s market (they have more bargaining power) they still need those offers to roll in, which is why spring is one of the best times of year to put your house up for sale. The highest number of buyers are looking between the months of April to June according to The Balance.
Ultimately, mortgage rates and home prices are trending up. If all your ducks are in a row and you're ready to buy, hop in the market before affordability drops. If you've been thinking about selling, it's best not to wait for buyers to thin out with shrinking options for financing.
When homes are in high demand with a diminished inventory, it's a seller's market. That could mean a narrower margin of price negotiation for the buyer - but all is not lost! You can still walk away from the deal feeling happy and taken care of. After all, money isn't everything!
9 Things You Can Negotiate When Buying A House (other than price)
Negotiating when buying a house is standard convention: you see a listing price and you know that you’re free to submit an offer that is more, less than, or equal to the price the seller set. Sounds pretty basic and straightforward, right?
That’s what we thought. But once we got into the details of making an offer that was right for us, we learned that there is so much more than you can negotiate for, other than price. These items can save you thousands of dollars, or better yet, save you from the disappointment of buying the wrong home.
Here are 9 things you can negotiate for when you’re buying a house:
Length of time to close
Most sellers are eager to close. They’ve been going through the process of selling their home for months by prepping it for sale and letting strangers walk through their bedroom on the weekend. For some sellers, a fast close can be a major bonus point. Do they really want the escrow process to go on for 45-60 days when it can be done in 30? Adding in a quick closing can help nudge a seller to accept your offer.
However, you want to be sure that the close timeline you’re offering is long enough for you to get through your contingencies: can you get inspections and your financing worked out in that timeframe?
Contingencies
When we first made an offer, we stuck to standard contingencies: financing, appraisal, and general inspection. We didn’t really pay much attention to this, because we thought it was standard and we didn’t know there was room to negotiate. When you’re writing your offer you have room to include (or not include) the contingencies that you want.
Not only do these contingencies give you time to examine that this house is a good purchase, they also give you leverage if you want to negotiate repairs during the closing process. We were thorough with the contingencies and inspections we included, which ended up giving us negotiating leverage after the offer was accepted, but before we closed. This also helped us walk away from a house that could have been a disaster of a purchase when the seller wouldn’t accept a contingency on a foundation inspection (hello, warning sign).
Time Frame For Inspections
No seller wants a buyer to drag their feet, and no buyer wants to feel insane pressure to complete thorough inspections. The actual time frame for inspections to occur can be a point that is negotiable during the process. If you know that the seller wants to close quickly, including a tight time frame for inspections (and the subsequent removal of related contingencies) can help sway the seller to accept your offer.
On the flip, if you’re nervous about an unknown with the property, giving yourself adequate time to get an inspection and remove related contingencies can give you the time you need to make sure you’re making the best decision.
Appliances
Depending on what’s normal for your market, not all the appliances found in the home will be included in the sale (such as the washer/dryer). Before making your offer you can clarify which of the appliances (if any) are included and when making your offer negotiate to have certain appliances included in the purchase.
Don’t want any of the appliances? You can also negotiate to have them removed from the property. It goes both ways.
Warranty
A warranty is a protection plan on the home’s appliances and systems, such as the HVAC system, plumbing, or hot water heater. In the event these things break or need repair within the warranty time frame, the repair would be covered by the warranty. A warranty can be offered by the seller or asked for by the buyer.
Furniture
Love what you see when you tour the house? You can negotiate to buy some or all of the furniture the seller has in their home. If the seller has taken time to decorate well or some of the spaces are uniquely sized (which can make finding furniture an issue), make an offer on the pieces of furniture that you’d love to keep.
Repairs
Repairs are one of the biggest places that you’ll find room to negotiate both as you’re making an offer and before you close, once inspections have been completed. If the home requires a significant amount of work to bring it up to today’s standards, you can ask for repairs when making the offer. If problems are discovered during inspections, you can negotiate to have them fixed or get a price reduction to cover the cost of the work which will need to be done after closing. Negotiating repairs on our retaining wall and chimney saved us thousands of dollars.
Note that if the seller states that a home is sold “as-is”, they are indicating early that they will not be willing to make any repairs that might be needed.
Leaseback
Offering a leaseback can be a huge incentive to a seller, who isn’t quite ready to leave their house once the sale takes place. They may be waiting to purchase a home or they may need a few weeks before their next purchase closes. Offering them an opportunity to rent the home for a short amount of time (either at zero cost or an agreed upon rate), may be a huge benefit for them. Just be sure to have a formal rental agreement in writing.
Closing costs
Closing costs usually catch first time home buyers off guard, as they learn they’ll need to have additional cash available to close on the loan, aside from the down payment. But closing costs are another piece of the offer that can potentially be negotiated. Closing costs can be negotiated with the seller (mainly in a buyer’s market) or directly with your lender.
By Daniel Bortz | Sep 21, 2017 (this article appeared on Realtor.com) Elenathewise/iStock
Sometimes, the very best home improvement ideas come down to timing. And what better time for a refresh than the arrival of fall (Sept. 21, for those keeping track)? In addition to being a great season to go apple picking and admire the foliage, it's also the perfect time of year for making a number of home improvements. Here are some timely projects to tackle this fall.
1. Build a fire pit
Like the idea of being able to hang out and roast marshmallows in your backyard this winter?
According to the American Society of Landscape Architects, fire pits are among the most popular outdoor design elements.You can even build one yourself.
You'll want to choose a flat, level spot in your yard that you can comfortably circle with seating. If you plan to grill hot dogs and watch the flames dance, a standard 36-inch-wide pit will do fine. For step-by-step instructions, check out this guide.
2. Paint your home’s exterior
If the outside of your home is long overdue for a paint job, fall offers the best weather conditions, says Bruce Irving, a renovation consultant and real estate agent in Cambridge, MA.
“You don’t want to apply paint in the blazing sun, and you don’t want to paint your house in the winter,” Irving explains.
Since this is a huge undertaking, you’ll likely want to hire a professional painter. Prices are based on square footage. Painting an average home between 500 and 1,500 square feet can cost between $1,000 and $3,000, according to HomeAdvisor data, but some materials cost more to paint than others because of their texture. For example, stucco siding costs anywhere from $700 (250 square feet) to $2,000 (1,000 square feet) to paint, compared with between $400 and $1,500 for metal siding.
3. Paint your home's interior, too
Want to give your bathroom, bedroom, living room, or, well, any room in your house a face-lift? Fall is the best time to apply a fresh coat of paint, says Brian Kelsey, a licensed contractor and host of the online video series Kelsey on the House.
The humidity is lower in fall (when the air is humid, it holds too much moisture for the paint to dry properly), but it's still warm enough that you can open your windows to air out the paint fumes. Best of all, this is something you can do yourself without fear.
4. Take care of your roof
“If you need to fix part of your roof or replace it, fall would be the time to do it,” says Irving. Indeed, winter weather—specifically snow and ice buildup—can put extra stress on your roof and even cause it to cave in if there’s pre-existing damage.
You should hire a professional inspector to check the condition of your roof. (According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, roof falls accounted for nearly 1,200 deaths in the construction industry from 2003 to 2013. And those are professionals, guys!) A roof inspection costs on average $218, according to HomeAdvisor, and assesses the level of wear and tear on a roof, how much life it has left it, and whether any repairs are needed.
Installing a new roof can set you back a good chunk of cash—Angie's List members recently reported spending an average of $11,095 to tear off and replace an asphalt roof—but it’s a crucial repair, because it ensures the safety of your family.
5. Insulate the attic
Sick of drafts and high heating bills? They only get worse during the winter, which is why you should insulate your attic in the fall.
On average, hiring a contractor to apply insulation onto the floor of your attic will cost $1,343, but home buyers are willing to pay an average of $1,446 extra for your home if your attic is insulated. This means you get back all that money (and then some) once you sell! If you want to save money, you can go the DIY route, but materials still cost around $580 for a 500-square-foot space.
6. Seal windows and doors
Another way to slash your heating bills is to seal the windows and doors throughout your house. This can cut your energy costs by 10% to 20%, according to Energy.gov. More good news: Finding air leaks and then caulking and weatherstripping windows and doors is easy to do on your own (this guide can help).
7. Install a fireplace
Fireplaces rank high on the most-wanted list for home buyers—40% would pay more for one, a National Association of Realtors® survey found—and installing one can add as much as $12,000 to the value of your home. In addition to the sweet return on investment, you get a place this winter where you can cozy up and warm your feet. Check out this fireplace guide to determine what type of hearth (wood-burning, gas, electric, or gel) is best for you.
