Ask Questions at an Open House

An open house, of course is a time for you to look around and get a feel for a property, but you should do more than just look. You also need to get some information. Ask questions! So many people just tour a house, open a few doors, and try to imagine their furniture in a place. This is fine, but you also need to treat this as an opportunity to research a business transaction because that is what buying a home is, it is business. Talk to the agent who is there. Don’t just let them smile at you and tell you about the granite countertops.

Here are a few sample questions:

1. How long has this home been for sale?
2. How long do homes like this stay on the market?
3. Are there many homes up for sale on this street/block?
4. What’s the average price for homes around here?

Some of the questions pertain to information you could get on your own, but it never hurts to get another perspective. Once you get the agent talking, that person could reveal information that can help you decide whether or not it is worth your time to look at that particular property or that neighborhood.

Make Sure Your Real Estate Agent is Working for Your Behalf

It kind of goes without saying that if you want to have a satisfactory real estate transaction, you need to pick the right real estate agent. Then again, perhaps this notion does need to be expressed. You want an agent who will work for and not against you.

One way an agent can work against you is if they are only working for themselves, meaning they really have little interest in helping you sell your house.

There are agents who will use lazy methods of homeselling like telling you to price your house for a ridiculously low price. True, today’s housing market it not what it was a few years ago, but that is no reason to give away your home. Of course someone will want it if it is priced way below what you deserve. Then that agent can claim “results” because your house sold rather quickly. In the meantime you will have sold your home, but for a price that is not worthy of you or of your home.

You want an experienced agent who has seen the ups and downs of the housing market and knows how to get a fair price for a home in any kind of market.

If you are concerned about the prospects of getting a fair price for your home because of the upheaval in the housing market, contact me at john.day@longandfoster.com. You can also click on the title of this post to view my informative, user-friendly website.

Buyers Have to Think Like Sellers

Whether you are buying a home because you want to flip it quickly or live in it for a while, in today’s world buyers have to consider selling even as they buy. People are much more mobile and many are not buying homes with the thought of staying in them for the rest of their lives.

At the same time, cities and neighborhoods change, so you cannot always predict what your area will be like when you are ready to sell. What you can do is do a good amount of research and make sure that you are comfortable with the resale prospects for the home you want to purchase.

If a home you are considering is near a highway, city dump or some other less than desirable structure, you have to know that this will affect your resale value. Unless you are certain that the city plans to move the highway or dump in the near future, you have to consider this. When you are ready to sell, a buyer is likely to be turned off by the same things that made you think twice about a purchase.

Visit the DC Design House

You can see the work of 14 area designers at the DC Design House. In case you didn’t know, a lot of work goes into designing and furnishing show houses. The designers chosen for this house were selected from an applicant pool of 125. The designers that were not chosen may not have missed making the cut because they are not good, but because their designs may have stood out from the rest. The steering committee wanted the designers selected to complement the work of the other designers in the house.

It took a little over a year to get this year’s house ready. The house, originally built in 1842, may not be the sprawling estate that some design houses are, but one has to remember that it is in a city, after all. These tours are always both fun and educational because you can get ideas to take back to your own house.

The DC Design House (3014 P St. NW) will be open Tuesday-Friday, from 10am to 3pm and on weekends from noon to 5pm until May 11. Tickets are $20 each and you visit the website to learn more about it.

Foreclosure Fraud, part 2

In my last post, I wrote about one method of foreclosure fraud, and now I will discuss another.

When you are facing foreclosure, you need to know that there are people who are preying on you. They find out who is likely to lose their home and they call these people offering “assistance.” Really, all they have in mind is making money off of the misfortune of others.

They dazzle distressed homeowners with promises that they will keep the home from going into foreclosure. They get homeowners to sign papers that say will save the homeowner from losing their home. These papers actually have a person selling their home to the foreclosure prevention company for a low price. The company then often will lease the home back to the homeowner at an exorbitant rent. Sometimes they will also give you the option to buy your home back from them—at a very high price, one that is much higher than the reduced price they bought it for.

Some people manage to make the high rent and stay in their home, but others cannot afford the high rent and lose their homes.

This doesn't have to happen to you. If you are facing foreclosure, contact your lender or a reputable real estate agent. Click on the title of this post to go to my website where you can contact me and learn more about foreclosure and short sales.

Foreclosure Fraud, part 1

Some of you may have heard this before, but it bears repeating: if you find yourself facing foreclosure, try to work something out with your own lender. It is tempting to think that someone more knowledgeable will swoop in and save the day and you’ll just need to sign a few papers. More often than not, those who show up to help are not in it to help you keep your home.

There are many different versions of foreclosure fraud being perpetrated against struggling homeowners, but they fall into two basic categories. The first one is one in which a company offers to negotiate on your behalf.

They step in as if they are a knight in shining armor and when a person is under the type of stress that a homeowner facing foreclosure is facing, it all sounds really good. Who wouldn’t want someone to step in a make everything better? In these instances, the “heroes” don’t help anyone but themselves. They charge an expensive, upfront fee and then fly away with a homeowner’s money. Victims of this type of fraud are left to still fend off foreclosure with much less money than they initially had.

Come back on Monday for another look at foreclosure fraud.

Have a Painting Party

If you are thinking about painting part of your home and are not inclined to hire professionals, you can still get some help to get the job done. Recruit friends and family to assist you in adding some color to your home. You will save money and be able to create great memories because a painting party is not all about work, it is about having fun too.

Before you get to it consider doing the following:

Buy a roller for each person. The work will go faster if every person involved has their own paint roller. If you want to spring to get every their own brush for corners and other areas that the rollers don’t quite reach, you can do that as well.

Put up painting tape before the party. Your guests will likely arrive ready to paint, so having to put up tape will slow things down. Taping is a little more tedious than painting, so if people are providing free labor, you can spare them this task.

Have your color scheme already planned. Make sure you know which room will be which color and communicate this clearly.

Appliances with the Right Fit

When buying appliances for your home, you should take into account whether they are energy efficient, whether you are getting a good price, whether or not the manufacturer has a reputation for making quality products, whether or not you think the appliance you are considering will look good in your home…in other words, there is a lot of consider.

But please do not forget the very basic questions, such as: Will the appliance I want to buy actually fit into the space I have in mind?

Many people have ordered appliances and are excitedly awaiting them only to find that upon arrival the appliance won’t fit into the intended space or worse that it won’t even fit through the doorway.

-First, measure the old appliance so you know how big it is and so you can use those measurements for comparison as you shop for a replacement.

-Also, measure the space that will hold the new appliance so you know how much space you have to fill.

-And don’t forget to measure the doorway that the appliance needs to pass through.

Disclosures About Infestations

One common disclosure that you will find in many disclosure statements is one regarding termites. These very destructive insects can ruin a home, so it is imperative that a buyer be aware of their presence.

However, there are not often disclosure statements about other pests like bedbugs. Some areas require a seller to reveal information about bedbugs, only if they are specifically asked. If not, there are often not under any obligation to tell a potential buyer about a bedbug problem.

Also, there are some states where sellers have the option of not filling out a disclosure and paying a penalty instead. This penalty goes to the buyer.

These pests have grown to be more and more of a nuisance in the New York City area over the last few years, but I have not heard a lot about them in our area and I certainly hope not to hear about them.

Verify the disclosure rules and regulations for your area and ask all the questions you feel may be necessary, in addition to obtaining a disclosure statement.

Disclosures

A disclosure is a piece of information that by law, the seller must reveal to the would-be buyer before they agree to purchase a property. Disclosures vary from state to state. However there is a disclosure that is mandated by federal law and that is the disclosure regarding lead-based paint. This disclosure is required of for any home that was built before 1978.

For the seller, the purpose of the home disclosure statement is to let the buyer know whether there are any material defects in your home. If your home has a problem that you don't disclose to potential buyers and that doesn't show up on the home inspection, that doesn't mean yo are off the hook. Let's say the sale goes through and the buyer doesn't encounter the problem until some time after the sale. By not disclosing a problem with your home, you leave yourself open to a breach of contract claim or an intentional misrepresentation claim, either of which could leave you holding the bag for the new homeowner's repair bill, legal bills and possibly more!

What is a Process Server?

Last week, I wrote about a foreclosure case that I saw in the news—a family was thoroughly demoralized and embarrassed after a process server stood outsides of their home screaming that there were going into foreclosure.

It occurred to me that many of you who have been fortunate enough not to have to go through the foreclosure process or other legal procedures might not know what a process server is. A process server is a person who has been given the task of making a personal delivery of legal papers. They do not only act in foreclosure cases, but in other legal proceeding, such as divorces.

Their job is to make sure the party in question receives the papers they need to get, but their work does not include harassing homeowners or anyone else. Yes, it is better if they can get the papers delivered sooner rather than later, so many of them need to be persistent. However, as I have already indicated, this does not give them license to be rude or uncivil.

Don't Fight Foreclosure On Your Own

Last night I saw a news segment about a family who fought foreclosure. According to the report at one point the process server stood outside of their home screaming that they were in foreclosure. This attempt to shame the family into giving in was shameless.
Please know that no matter how much you owe, you do not have to sit by and allow this type of harassment.

In this case the family says that at closing they were presented with a package that was very different from the one they were promised, but they felt pressured to sign.

The case went to court and a judge ruled in their favor, although the lender plans to fight this ruling.

The smartest thing this family did was to seek professional advice; they didn’t try to deal with the lender on their own. No matter how smart you are or how much you know about real estate, this is something you should not handle on your own. When a person is facing the loss of their home, that person is vulnerable in so many ways. You may think you are acting in your own best interest, unaware that you are not seeing the complete picture.

Prepare for the Unexpected When Buying at Auction

A few years ago the movie House of Sand and Fog, based on the book of the same name, riveted moviegoers with the story of the domino effect of tragic events following one woman’s eviction from her home.

If you are familiar with the story, you know just what I mean when I say tragic. If you don’t know the story, trust me, things take a turn for the worse.

When you decide to buy a house at auction, as one character does in the book, things to don't have to get quite so dramatic. But you should be aware that people are not always happy to leave their home. Sometimes properties that are up for auction have been neglected, or even worse, purposefully damaged.

Buyers who are looking to buy a property that is up for auction should know that the possibility of paying a low price doesn’t mean that they won’t have other related expenses. You should budget for unexpected expenses if you are looking to purchase any property, be it a auction or through conventional sale