Real Estate Information

Bank owned properties and short sales are everywhere.  Typically they are in rough shape, after all if someone couldn't pay their mortgage they most likely aren't spending money to maintain their homes. 

In my career I waded, yes waded, through hoarders properties, I've been in homes that have had the utilities off for months and families are still living there (pu).  All kinds of nasty can be associated with foreclosures and short sales that I just won't go into; your welcome.  So it is rare when a foreclosure is in great condition.  

I feel like I have struck gold with two new listings in Night Harbor.  Bank owned properties in excellent condition!   Very rare and priced to sell.  

It's unfortunate that current economic conditions have forced this situation.  I see a golden opportunity for anyone in the position to take advantage of low interest rates and below market pricing.

I just finished reading an article about an agent selling her lake home.  She had found a creative way to market her home by offering fractional ownership.  Essentially, you could purchase 1/4 of her home for $165,000 with an additional $330. monthly fee for cleaning, lawn maintenance and utilities.

I had to ask myself would I do this?  Heck no, in the first place what control do you have over the other owners, what if one of them goes broke or dies and leaves his share to a crazy relative.  How about financing?  You can't get a mortgage for 1/4 of a house.  You have to pay cash, $165,000 that adds up to $1,824. a day!!!!  Wow, I could do a lot of vacationing for that kind of money.  Does the monthly fee apply when I'm not using the house?  Who decides when it's time to buy a new bed or a new TV?  What if I leave something at the house and it's not there when I go back?  I have to say fractional ownership is not for me.

What does make sense?  The Landings at Night Harbor!  For $218,000 you and you alone own your home.  You can have a boat slip in Night Harbor Marina, access to boat storage, a boat ramp, tennis courts and a beautiful private clubhouse overlooking Lake Murray.  Financing is easily available, and if you leave your dishes in the sink rest assured they'll be there when you return home. 

It's my job to help people buy and sell Real Estate.   So a few months ago I went on a listing appointment.  Listing appointments require inventory knowledge, research,  preparation and learned skills.   I went through all I do to market a home and all the advantages of using me and ERA to market, sell and close your Real Estate transaction so that everyone has a payday.    All was agreeable, the sellers wanted time to do a few repairs and we would touch base in a week.  

One week later, "we decided to use a buddy of my husbands from work to list the house, he's just getting started and will do the work for a lesser commission."    OK, that's their right.  "Have you signed the paper work?"  "Yes."  "Can you get out of it?"  "No, we're going to give him 90 days."

90 days later; ring ring "Hi it's Debbie Erdman"  "Oh Debbie come on over."  In talking with the sellers I asked did you have anyone look at your house?  They said yes just one couple and they made an offer but our agent said it was an insult.   What was the offer?  $10,000 below asking.  Did you think it was an insult?  Well, we didn't know, since it was the first person to see the house we decided to wait.   Who was the agent that brought the offer.  At this point Mrs. Seller walked into the kitchen and brought me his card. 

I list the house;  get back to my office and call the agent that brought the sellers an offer.  I just listed 123 Prettiest House on the Block.  Are your buyers still looking for a house?   Yes.  Do you think they would like to come back? 

2 days later we were under contract at full asking price. 

The discount commission cost Mr and Mrs Seller 3 months payments on their home.   The home they originally wanted to buy was sold and they had to settle for their second choice.   

Food for thought, you don't pay commissions until your house is sold.  What other profession works this way?

I have recently had the opportunity to learn a bit about short sales.    What is a short sale?  It's an term used in the banking industry when the proceeds of a sale fall short of the balance.   Who qualifies for a short sale?  Not all sellers qualify, you can understand why some sellers might wonder if a short sale could be right for them when their home won't sell at the price they had imaged.  But in truth it can create more problems than it solves.   I'm working with a seller that has fallen on hard times.  They have submitted a letter of hardship that explains why the seller can not pay the difference due upon sale.  This seller has submitted a copy of two years tax returns and financial statements to show they have no assets.  Additionally, the homes market value has dropped and a BPO (broker price opinion) was ordered to determine value and more importantly to determine if it is worth less than what is owed.   Let's say the lender agrees to the short sale, the lender may also be able to issue a 1099 for the difference.  Short sales are also dependent upon the lender accepting the buyers offer if the lender rejects the offer a short sale does not take place.   Why do a short sale?  To avoid foreclosure and the all the costs involved.  A short sale will go against your credit as a pre-foreclosure that has been redeemed.   In theory this may not effect you as significantly as a foreclosure.  My heart goes out to anyone finding themselves thinking about short selling their home, my advise would be always seek legal counsel when you are attempting a short sale a Realtor cannot give legal advice. 

It has been a while since I last posted to my blog.  I've missed it.  I can really tell that the Holidays are over.  Activity has picked up, in fact for the first time in about a year I have actually had to compete on offers!!!  Years ago I heard a broker tell his client "the house you looked at today and went home to think about may be the same house someone else saw yesterday, who went home to think about and decided to buy today!"   It's a mouth full but you get the picture.   The surprising part about having to compete was that these are homes in the $300,000 price point; a part of the market that suffered last year.   I hope it keeps up!

Let's make it a great year in Real Estate.

Looking back over this past year I have to say The Landings at Night Harbor has been a very exciting project.  We have 6 new homes and will be breaking ground on 3 more in Dec.

  The park looks fantastic, I especially like the walking paths and the pergola but the best part about the park is that everyone uses it!  Whether it's a touch football game on a Sunday afternoon or a toddlers Halloween party it's all good.

   I can't wait for the new construction to begin.  I like every part of the process, but the best part is handing the keys over to a new home owner.  With 9 homes built we will be almost half-way through this phase.  I am hopeful that at this time next year I will be talking to you about phase 2!

   We have made a few changes and added some beautiful upgrades, if you haven't been by recently please stop out.  Jerry and I are on site from Wed. - Sun.  2-5 pm in the winter months.

I am very grateful for this past year and everyone I had the privilege to help achieve their Real Estate goals.  It is my personal goal to make the buying and selling of Real Estate as uncomplicated as possible.   Every transaction is unique and I have learned and benefited from each and everyone.  So thank you from the Erdman family we are blessed by you.

What a day.  Seller's beware.  We do our homework, we set a price, we find a willing buyer, our willing buyer has great credit!  Yippee!  The bank sends an appraiser to the house and the appraisal comes back over sales price.  Mr. Seller is happy his house has appraised well.  Mr. Buyer is happy he's buying under appraisal.  What could go wrong???  A lot can go wrong.  This particular home happened to be a condo, an older unit that had been completely remodeled.   An underwriter reviewed our appraisal and decided that two of our comparable properties used in the appraisal to determine value were newer than our unit and wanted to see comparables of a like age.  Now please keep in mind these units are supposed to compare with our unit.  Two new comparables where found they were not remodeled units so adjustments were made.  These adjustments adversely affected the appraisal downward by 15%!!!!  My question, would Mr. Buyer have considered buying one of these comparable units?  My answer...heck no!  So why is it that they can effect our value?  I'll tell you why, it's our government hard at work for it's tax paying, bailing out citizens.  Federal Banking regulations and new appraisal guidelines are so stiff it's causing headaches for everyone.  Solution?  Pay cash.  Moral of the story?  it is never over until it's over...don't count your chickens before they hatch...move to Canada.  

It has become increasingly clear to me that in this day of shameless self-promotion "Social Media" is my clear favorite.   I remember looking over Joan's shoulder at C-21 Huggler as she enthusiastically spent 15 minutes to find her latest listing on her Tandy 1000  just scratching my head thinking who would ever use a computer to look for a house, it takes forever, why not just open "the book"?  Okay, in my defense we didn't have the Internet back then.   I remember sitting in a meeting at Coldwell Banker Kuehnle when Sharon told us we all needed an email address if we where going to last in real estate, really, and here I thought we had to LIST if we were going to last!  I can even remember being told if I didn't have a web-site no one would ever find me or my listings, Yikes!  But when Eddie Wilder, my Broker in Charge, said I needed to be on Facebook I just bust out laughing.  Remarkably, I love it, Facebook is a blast.  I have reconnected with old friends, know what everyone in the family is doing at all times (not always a good thing) and what a great way to goof off with the bosses consent.  I'm still not sure how facebook will increase my production but never wanting to be left behind I am now a faithful facebook follower.  I doubt I'll be building farms or going to Yoville but if I learn that it will help me sell your house I'm all about it.   In conclusion if you are on Facebook and want to be my friend look up Debbie Church Erdman and let me know who you are.  For the time being I'll keep traveling down this Real Estate road one yard at a time.