Real Estate Tips

Keeping Your Earnest Money Safe

When you make an offer on a house, it is accompanied by an earnest money check. Earnest money is intended to demonstrate that you are “in earnest” about purchasing the property. The earnest money check is made out to the listing company. What happens to this check?

The party holding the check acts as an escrow agent until you go into closing. At that time you will receive credit for the amount of your check against the down payment and closing costs. Real estate brokers are required by law to keep escrow funds in a special account. These funds cannot be used to pay any other expenses associated with the sale. If you don’t complete the transaction, the purchase contract determines the disposition of your earnest money funds. Be sure to review this part of your contract with the real estate agent.

If you are in default on your agreement, the funds may go to the sellers, so be sure that you understand the deadlines in order to avoid breach of contract and forfeiture of your deposit. If you have any questions, be sure to ask your real estate agent for advice.

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Marketing Techniques

When a seller lists a home with a real estate agent, a lot of brainstorming follows. Who are the potential buyers, where do they live and work? How can they be reached effectively with information that will attract them to this particular property?

In addition to advertising each home on the widely used Multiple Listing Service, professional real estate agents employ marketing techniques tailored to the individual home they are selling. An agent will review various buyer lists to find potential purchasers. They will use telephone and direct mail marketing, produce property flyers and advertise on the Internet, in the newspaper, in community publications and in real estate magazines. Contacts will be made to other agents who sell homes in the area to encourage them to show the home to prospective buyers.

Real estate agents combine pro-active marketing with realistic pricing to generate results for their home sellers.

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Marketing

When you list your home for sale, you and your agent must work as partners to ensure it sells as quickly as possible, and for the best price. While you take the necessary steps to make your property look good inside and out, your real estate agent will go to work to make sure your home is exposed to qualified buyers.

Real estate agents work with each seller to develop a written marketing plan. This enables you to know what your agent is doing to sell your home and what you can expect to happen while your property is on the market. It will also include suggestions on how to make your home sell. There will be regular communication between you and your real estate agent from the day the listing agreement is signed. The agent will give you progress reports and feedback from the people who have seen your home. You will also have frequent opportunities to ask questions and discuss changes in the marketing strategy.

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How Much To Offer

When you make an offer on a house, your biggest decision is how much to offer. Although you don’t want to pay more than you have to, it is sometimes hard to predict how much is “enough” for the seller.

Some sellers price their homes at their bottom line and may be unwilling to negotiate, unless the house has been on the market for a long time. Others build in a little room for negotiation. Some sellers are more motivated than others to get their homes sold. Whatever your situation, it is hard to know what sellers will do until they are presented with an offer.

If your offer is very low, your finances might look shaky, and asking the sellers to pick up closing costs might just result in a refusal of your offer. If your original proposal is unacceptable, the seller will usually make a counter offer. While sellers like to get their asking prices, good listing agents prepare them for the possibility of receiving offers that involve some compromises.

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Good-Faith Deposits

After many months of searching, you have found your ideal house. You are a little older and a little wiser now, so you want to give the impression that you are serious without appearing to be too eager. What should you do? In the marketplace, “money talks.”

There is no absolute rule about how much “good-faith” deposit you should put down–but it is a tool to make your point with the seller. The typical $1,000 will hold many homes for you, except in larger-home markets where it may be critical for you to show that you are an especially serious and able buyer. You don’t want to make a deposit that is too large in case there is a problem getting your money back, but if your offer is substantially below the asking price, a larger deposit–$5,000 or $10,000–might influence the seller. If you make a low deposit with your offer, be sure to provide for an increased deposit when the offer is accepted or upon removal of the contingencies.

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Locating A Buyer

Listing your home with our agency gives you the advantage of having a team of experts apply themselves to the task of finding you a buyer as quickly as possible. In the process, we try to arrange showing appointments that are convenient to both parties, but it does not always work out that way.

Last-minute appointments are sometimes necessary because buyers who are relocating from other areas are often on tight schedules. This can be annoying to sellers unless they understand the nature of the real estate agent’s job. When selling homes, we sometimes have to rely on our intuition. Many sales have been consummated as the result of last-minute appointments.

The prospective buyer who is on a very short house hunting trip may need a house now! In this kind of situation, the real estate agent can make things can happen fast! So when the phone rings at the last-minute, keep in mind that the appointment represents an opportunity for the sale.

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Lighting Up the Sale

Lighting is an important factor to take into account when you are selling your home. Natural and artificial lighting can create a mood that buyers notice when they walk into your home, so don’t overlook this significant factor which can favorably influence a potential buyer.

Before your house is shown, walk through each room with an eye to creating a pleasant ambiance through lighting. Accentuate the natural light by keeping curtains open and windows sparkling clean. Arrange your furniture to take advantage of the best view. You may want to install indirect lighting to highlight a vaulted ceiling or to draw attention to indoor plants. Dimmer switches can create simple and inexpensive lighting appeal. Place a lamp and table arrangement in a dark alcove or corner to brighten up the area.

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Evaluating the First Offer

Your dining room table is the scene of high drama. Your home has been listed for sale for six weeks, and finally, the first offer has come in. You are meeting with the agents, and are very excited until they mention the price–it is a lot less than you expected.

Before you feel offended, however, remember that the first offer is often just the beginning of a negotiating process. Your agent can help you weigh the good and bad points, evaluating the price in relationship to the terms or conditions of the sale. Sometimes an offer with a low price can look quite attractive once you understand all of the terms. If you are willing to make some compromises, the buyers may accept a counter offer that will give you more money. A lower price from highly qualified buyers may be better than one from people who may have difficulties with financing. Keep in mind that your first negotiated price is often your best price!

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Creative Offers

Putting together an offer on a home is easy if the buyer has a lot of money, a terrific job and impeccable credit. Many buyers are not in that precise situation, however. And while sellers like to get their asking price, good listing agents prepare them for the possibility of receiving offers that involve some compromises.

Successful real estate agents know how to put together creative offers and do whatever it takes to make a transaction work. If a buyer is low on cash, the agent may structure an offer that shifts closing costs to the seller, minimizing the amount of cash that the buyer needs to close. A variation of a lease purchase arrangement might be effective if a buyer has recently changed jobs or is self-employed. Owner-financing for part of the loan can make a difference in some cases. If your agent brings you a complex offer designed to get a buyer into your home, don’t say “no” until you understand the offer.

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Your Life Preserver

Title insurance is like a life preserver on a boat. You will probably never need it, but if you do, you will be very glad that it is there! How does title insurance work, and how does it protect you in the home buying process?

A title search will be ordered before you buy a home, to make sure that the sellers legally own the property, and that no one else has a legal interest in the home. The title company will also check through the ownership records for any liens, easements or other encumbrances on the title. This search should turn up any transactions that may not appear on the public record, such as an unsound transfer that occurred many years ago. Title insurance protects you against future claims against your home.

Your real estate agent can give you more specific information about the cost of title insurance and the types of coverage available in your area.

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