The smell of new carpet, paint and brand new appliances can make a home buyer’s mouth water. Walking through a model home with the smell of cookies baking and the latest fashion in furniture makes us all desire a new home. Kids room so tidy as to make you want to adopt the make believe children of this uncluttered bedroom. After spending a half hour roaming from model home to model home we are ready to sign on the dotted line.
How many of you house hunters have strolled through those gleaming rod iron fences into the model homes on a sunny spring day? You may have gone out with your Realtor that morning, but you still have the house hunting bug in you. So you pop in a model or two. The construction company’s real estate agent greets you with a friendly smile and asks you to sign their registration card. You are so primed to see new homes and it seems so harmless, so you fill out the card and hand it back happily as you go through the nine foot arched door.
STOP! Did you know you just gave away your rights to be represented by your own Realtor? At the moment you are asked to sign the registration form you should reply “I am represented by Realtor
---------------.” The construction company agent will put that name on the card and then ask you again to fill it out. Now if you decide to buy with that new home you will be represented by a Realtor of your choice at NO COST TO YOU.
So, why have your own real estate agent? Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you will make in your life. It will affect where your kids go to school, your daily commute, your financial budget, possibly your marriage and much more. A Realtor can give you advice as to whether the neighborhood will remain an area you will be happy with in the future or it is a neighborhood that will possibly not retain its value. You may not be aware of the new freeway planned to go in behind the subdivision.
Your Realtor can help you negotiate a lower price or extra amenities. Once you come to an agreement on price your real estate agent can help you understand the 50 page stack of papers the model homes agent will give you to sign. Agents also act as couriers to make sure you are not inconvenienced. Agents are not inspectors, but they have walked through so many homes that they can help you inspect the home for a punch list.
Remember, you will be represented by your own Real Estate Agent at no cost to you in possibly the biggest purchase of your life!
Diane White
Prudential Tobias Realtor
www.BakersfieldHomeSearch.com
Over the past year short sales have been a very difficult with little success, but the tide is changing. Now that there are so many foreclosures occurring, banks are now starting to play ball when it comes to a short sale. Yes, they are still difficult but more and more are going through. The difference is some agents are now employing companies that only deal with short sales to aid in the transaction of a short sale. There may be tax liabilities in a short sale to the seller, so the seller should talk to a tax consultant before going through with a short sale.
Many of my clients call me and request a list of Short Sale listings. When I ask them if they “know what a Short Sale is” the response is usually, “the sale will be fast”. That is usually quite the opposite. Try one to six months!
A Short Sale has nothing to do with time! Rather it is the Seller selling their home “short” of the amount of money owed to the bank. The Seller is trying to avoid a Foreclosure.
Why would a bank agree to take less money? If the bank will lose less through a Short Sale than a Foreclosure there is a chance the bank will agree to accept less money.
Is this the answer to our housing woes? No. The lending companies look at different aspects as to whether they will agree to a Short Sale:
♦Is it in the best interest of the lending institute?
♦Why is the seller in financial straits?
♦Does the seller have a 401K, savings, stocks, other real estate holdings, or anything that will allow the seller to continue paying on the loan?
♦If there is a second lender, will it agree to the sell or will it say no to the sell?
Whew! The sale went through; the Seller’s problems are over. Not quite. The Seller may now have a tax liability. The loss the bank incurs could now be considered a gift to the Seller. The Seller should seek the advice of a tax consultant or lawyer before choosing the Short Sale route.
Diane White
www.BakersfieldHomeSearch.com
Prudential Bakersfield Realtors
Note that this information is outdated.
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