Have you come across a property that the price seems too good to be true? Well, the truth is if it’s a ’short-sale’ then it probably is.
When properties are listing as a short-sale the listed price is usually a teaser to get a buyer to make an offer on the property. In order to get the bank to approve a short-sale the seller must first provide an offer on the property. After an offer has been made, the bank will assign a broker to do a BPO (broker price opinion) to determine the value of the property. Then, the bank will consult with the seller and the seller’s agent on what net proceeds the bank is willing to take on the property.
Have I lost you yet? The bottom line is that the initial price set on a property is not a reflection of what bank will sell the property for. First, and most importantly, an offer has to be made on the property…. hence a teaser price that is too good to be true!
I admit, I do teaser prices for my seller’s properties that are going through preforeclosure. Why wouldn’t I?.. they are in the best interest of my client and it is the most effective way to get the property sold fast with the least impact on the seller’s credit. I am honest with buyers that the price is subject to bank approval and can (or will) take 45-90 days to process.
Have questions about short-sales?… here is the wiki on short-sales, or feel welcome to leave a comment below.
My whole website is centered around creating real estate RSS feeds for you. Not sure what a RSS feed is?..here is a short clip that explains RSS feeds in plain English.
I make signing up for RSS feeds on my real estate website as easy as possible. If you think I have something interesting to write, you can sign up for my blog RSS feed on the right hand column under ‘free rss updates’. If you are searching for homes and want to a save your search as an RSS feed, just look for the little RSS icon.
These RSS feeds are a web 2.0 feature that will become increasing beneficial over the coming years. The realty is that many people don’t have the time to search the internet for information they desire, so it’s about time the information comes to them! If you’re considering trying RSS feeds, why not?.. go ahead and give it a shot.
With the real estate market being so brutal for sellers, it should not go unnoticed that new home builders are facing the same economic realities. There are some builders that have placed mechanics liens, trustee sales and have just gone out-of-business in many different communities and developments. It should be noted that a builder may still be operating in one city, but has been foreclosed in another.
Here is a current list of builders and communities in trouble:
Avondale - Jackson Properties, Randall Martin
Buckeye - Hacienda Homes
Chandler - Brown Family Communities, Weinstein Communites, Element Homes, Randall Martin Homes
Gilbert - Element Homes, Sunwest/Stratland Estates, Elite Homes, Randall Martin Homes
Phoenix - Montalbano Homes, Charlevoix, Brown Family, 47 Maryland Development, Cambria Homes, Hacienda, Zacher Homes, Earlie Home Sales, Santa Anna Homes
Pinal County - Lyle Anderson, LLC, Brown Family, Royce Homes, Elite Homes
Scottsdale - Quantum at Troon North, Earlie Home Sales
Home builders that have filed chapter 11 bankruptcy:
Woodside Homes
Engle Homes
Randall Martin Homes
Charlevoix
‘Buyer beware’ is especially true when doing your homework for a new home!
First of all, there are two aspects of marketing a property that are absolutely essential. The first is pricing the property right and the second is professionally photographing the property. The list is long I know, but these two aspects are imperative!
I’m an avid user of photoshop for enhancing and altering the look of the photos I take. I do a lot of things to the photos, however I draw the ethical line when it comes to removing power lines and ‘material’ defects of the home. Now, I will change the sky from a cloudy day to a sunny one, alter the color of a couch from green to grey and lighten the kitchen to seem bright and cheerful. Here are just a couple examples:
I hope that if you’re considering selling your home you will make sure that your realtor is competent enough to know the importance of photos on the MLS.
This news coming from CNNMoney.com, that October marks the 34th month in a row that foreclosures have increased in the US. In total, 936,439 homes have been lost to foreclosure since the housing crisis hit in August, 2007.
Here in Arizona, we have felt the pain of the subprime fallout since the market began slipping in late 2005. A lot of the people losing their homes are victims of subprime mortgages - where essentially they didn’t have any ’skin’ (money) in the transaction and therefore can walkaway without losing anything but their credit, equity and home of course.
Why would people facing foreclosure want to restructure their loans when they owe $100,000 below what they paid for the home? I think I the government’s ‘cure’ might just be prolonging the sadly inevietable truth…
What gets me is how much interest rates are underrated by buyers. Every buyer is trying to ‘time the market’ and sadly the truth is that the market moves so fast that it is extremely hard to hit the bottom perfectly. Let me do a simple example for you at no charge:
$200,000 Mortgage
6% Interest Rate
30 Year
= $1,199 Payment
Let’s say the market drops another 10% but the interest rate goes up 1%.
$180,000 Mortgage
7% Interest Rate
30 Year
= $1,197 Payment
The point is that the payment is relatively the same in this example and that buyer’s should be equally as concerned about interest rates going up. I believe that the economy will get overstimulated in the next 9-12 months and the fed will try to control it by beginning to inch interest rates up to 8 or 9 percent.
So in my professional opinion, I really think over the course of the next 6 months is the ideal time to buy a home if you’re still on the fence. It’s funny to think that when it’s a seller’s market, buyers want to buy and when it’s a buyer’s market that buyer’s don’t buy.
One of the marketing tools I use to promote my listings is a real estate video tour of the property. I believe a video tour showcases the home a lot more because it gives the home more character and personality. I also upload the video to sites such as, YouTube, Yahoo, MSN, Google, Revver and more. By doing so, my listings are getting a lot more exposure (50+ views a week!) and also statistics show that 90% of buyers begin there search on the internet.
In addition to distributing the videos online, I create DVD’s to display along with flyers at the property. I do this because a lot of vehicles have DVD players nowadays… plus potential buyers love them. Here you can watch the video tour of my Ahwatukee listing:
I have a new listing in Ahwatukee in the community of Mountainside. It is a great home that has been totally remodeled. Here is some info on the house and a link to the home on the MLS:
MUST SEE! Gourmet kitchen with venetian gold granite countertops, travertine stone backsplash, under-mount stainless-steel sink, new clean steel appliances. Functional kitchen island overlooks open family room that is great for entertaining family and friends. Cozy 2-way fireplace. Chic tile and wood flooring with new carpet in bedrooms. Posh brushed oil bronze modern fixtures. Freshly painted inside and out. Large master suite with vaulted ceilings, double doors, 2 closets, private english paver patio. Luxurious bathroom with dual sinks, lavish granite countertops, natural travertine stone flooring and shower. Upgraded doors and arched windows. Smooth epoxy flooring in garage. Welcoming AZ room with a backyard that is perfect for enjoying outdoor Arizona living.
Interested?…I could probably talk my seller into taking an offer over list price. ha!
Yes it’s true! I’m proud to note that the MLS search for my website has been completely re-engineered to give you a more user-friendly experience. Some of the updates include a new search screen, the option to segment foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, school district search, and the ability to search by percentage of price change…not to mention a lot of really cool back end tools that I can totally customize. Also probably one of the best enhancements is the load time between searches has been significantly reduced.
For all the realtors out there, I highly recommend using Diverse Solutions IDX technology. It is by far the best investment you can make for your business. If you have any questions about this technology, just drop me a note and I’ll be glad to give you the 411.
So the activity on my listing on Cheyenne has really picked up this past couple of days. We’ve had six showings on the property in the last four days and already received one offer (the lowball offer). The buyer of this offer came back with a reasonable counter offer to our counter offer. However, we are sticking to our price because I believe people underestimate how attached buyers get on a property when they make an offer.
In my experience, most buyer’s have already made an emotional attachment to a home before they have settled on a final price. These buyer’s have already pictured their personal property in the home and imagined what they would do to the home next. Now, of course, this is not always true as you could have an A-type personality with more of an analytical mindset.
What are your thoughts? Have you become emotional attached to a home before you’ve settled on a price?
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Have you come across a property that the price seems too good to be true? Well, the truth is if it’s a ’short-sale’ then it probably is.
