Hot Seller Market!

Wow...where do I begin???  First, my apologies for not sharing as often as I should.  It's been a crazy real estate market these past few months...still is, just thought I'd get some information out to you that would help both Buyers and Sellers.

If you are looking to buy a home, please be aware that there are more and more properties being sold above the asking price due to multiple offers being submitted.  I have personally experienced this with a few of my clients.  We are shopping under the $200,000 price range in Bellevue, WA.  A good example:  I've written 7 offers for 7 different properties for one client.  All offers have been full price or above asking with an escalation clause to beat the highest offer up to $30,000 more than the list price.  My client has also been willing to waive their inspection contingency in hopes to knock out a competitor...hasn't been enough thus far.

I am monitoring all of the properties we lost bids for.  I'm an anxious to know how much over asking the properties sold for.  I know the value is there for more than $200k, but I haven't seen this real estate trend since 2005-2007.  It makes sense with inventory being so low and the amount of buyers who have been waiting for "the one" to snatch up.  It helps that mortgage rates are still incredibly low.

If you are a homeowner thinking of selling, please call me.  We can talk about pricing, strategedy, staging, all good stuff to help make the process easier and less cumbersome considering our day-to-day living.

Buying or selling, it's important to keep the communication lines open.  What's important to you is what's important to me.  Sharing helps identify potential hurdles and will most  likely contribute to solutions and move towards a smooth closing in each transaction.

Adventures with Bank-Owned Properties

I'd like to start this post off with a reminder that what I share here is from my own professional experience.  I understand that each family, individual, or investor is unique.  Because of this, each real estate journey is different...there may be similarities, but truly there are no two exactly alike.

I ask that you read my blog posts with an open mind.  There is much to know about real estate...it's not just about a home or the parties involved.  It's also about understanding the amount of risk each client is exposed to and helping them find their most comfortable path.

This month has exposed me to such a variety of properties and scenarios - short sale, bank-owned, bankruptcy...I reflected back to 2007 when the first short sale contract crossed my desk.  It was such a foreign type of real estate transaction back then...now, there are short sale properties in just about every property search I do.  Today's market is tough for buyers, sellers, and brokers.  But as a professional real estate broker, I'm so glad to be in the business during this time.  Knowledge is power.  The more I learn, the more I can share with you.

Today, I'd like to talk a bit about bank-owned properties - real estate that has been through the foreclosure or bankruptcy process and is now on the market for resale. 

There are several important things I think would be helpful to buyers of these properties:

1)  Banks have typically made any repairs they felt necessary prior to putting the property on the market.  If the listing states 'sold as is', they really mean it.  You are either willing to accept the home in its current condition or move on.  I've seen bank-owned property that look very impressive - clean, updated, etc.  With an equally appealing asking price, these properties go under contract very quickly.  I've also been in many properties that need something done in every room.  Know what your limitations are and stand by them. 

2)  Read every word in your contract - at least twice.  Be aware of any expenses that you may be responsible for before, during, and after closing.  There are several different scenarios here, so I will just share one - buyers/brokers could be responsible for paying for a property to be de-winterized for home inspection and again to re-winterize.  There are extra fees if a home inspector is unable to complete their report and have to come back out again to do so.

3)  Work with a real estate broker who is going to be with you throughout the entire process and not just write the offer up on your behalf and collect a check in the end.

I was in a bank-owned home this week.  For this particular property, it was my 2nd showing.  First time was extremely late in the day and dark, dark, dark.  It didn't help that there was a pretty large blood-like stain on the carpet, and access to the crawl space was wide open and more dark.  I made it a point to show the home during the day to give it a fair shot.  Gosh, I'm so glad I did...the home is in better shape than you'd find with owner-occupied...still needs a bit of work here and there, but overall a very nice property.  Client thought so too!

If you or someone you know are thinking of buying a bank-owned property, my sponge is thirsting for more knowledge.  I'm happy to experience this real estate journey with you!

John L. Scott Mobile App

I am proud to share with you that John L. Scott is the first regional real estate company to have a mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android!  I downloaded the beta version on my Android last year and it's helped me while out showing homes to buyers.

Check out the promo video here: JLS Mobile App video or click the 'play' button below.

To download the app, go to your respective store on your device.  Let me know if you do and what your thoughts are!

Adventures with VA

I'd like to share my latest real estate adventure with you as the information I've learned may be helpful to someone in a similar situation...

I've been working with buyers who had been pre-approved for a VA loan prior to our first home tour.  Yay for that!  They found a short sale single family home they felt they would be happy with.  We wrote up an offer on the property and submitted for seller consideration.  Seemed easy enough until we heard back from the short sale negotiator.  They sent my clients a proposed offer on what they felt would be acceptable by the seller's lien holder...this is done with the hope of saving time and keeping the contract clean and legible prior to submitting to said lien holder.  It appears that for this particular home, the lien holder was not willing to accept a less than asking price even though there was some wood rot on the exterior siding, exposed electrical wiring, no appliances, and a couple other minor defects my buyers were willing to inheret.  Important note: VA requires a functional cooking appliance in the home prior to closing.  Please ask your lender to verify what the exact requirement is. 

As their broker, I didn't like some of the requirements the negotiator included in the proposed contract: 1) buyer would not be able to withdraw their offer prior to lien holder approval which could take up to 120 days 2) buyer asked to pay 1.5% of purchase price at closing for negotiator fee 3) no closing date or offer expiration date noted on the contract.  I prefer to have more control in protecting my clients during each transaction, and these terms were making that pretty difficult.  Because my buyer's timeline is somewhat sensitive, they recognized that a short sale transaction was not something that would work for them. 

We continued touring homes and came across a manufactured home they liked enough to consider writing an offer.  Prior to doing so, we had several questions for their mortgage representative to identify any potential disasters that would prevent my clients from being able to close on a VA loan for manufactured homes.  Their initial mortgage rep was non-responsive and inexperienced with these type of loans. 

Fortunately, my in-house mortgage rep is well-versed in VA lending and was able to meet with my buyers right away to get them back on track. It's good to know that VA requires a termite inspection report in addition to a home inspection...this could have been an uncomfortable situation for me as their real estate broker and for my clients if they weren't financially prepared for this added expense.  VA also requires that the manufactured home is permanently affixed to the foundation and has never been moved.  The buyer's lender would order an engineer certification for this like they would order an appraisal.  Both engineer certification and appraisal are paid for upfront at the time of service by buyer.

Another thing to know about VA loans is that although they are 100% financed, buyers should have and anticipate paying approximately 4% of purchase price for closing costs.  I may have more to add on this as we get closer to the closing date.  For now, I'd like to know what your thoughts are on this information.  Did you find it helpful or interesting?

Your feedback is valuable to me and much appreciated.