As we head into the spring selling season in Real Estate this is historically the time when the housing market every year starts to pick up again. People are getting tax returns, kids are finishing school and people are considering relocating becuase of the weather. So you have decided to put your home on the market to get a head start on the spring selling season. Probably a good idea. But the outside of yoru home looks cold and dreary form the winter....What do you do?
We have all heard the adage a photo is worth a thousand words. No more so than in Real Estate. As 90%+ of all buyers begin their home search online. Photos have become the staple by which people decide to look at a house or not view a home. As the winter has been rough on certain areas of the country and the trees look barron, is that the image you want portrayed of your home online today? Now, as the weather warms and flowers begin to bloom and grass begins to grow green again; your Realtor can retake an exterior picture of your house. But what do you do in the intern?
I tell them I will retake a photo of the exterior of the home in the spring if the house has not sold by then. However; the exterior picture is the first photo someone is going to look at of the house when it comes up in their search. It is historically the primary photo every Realtor uses when marketing a home. So how do you overcome the cold dreary look outside and have people click on your home?
I have gone form showing the exterior of the home on the primary photo to showcasing a strong room in the house. Every house has a focal room where it is the main part of the house and a stron selling feature of the house. Use that as your primary photo. For one, it will catch the attention of a buyer. You will be the only one (most likely) that has a different photo than the exterior as your primary photo. Let's face it, curosity will get the better of us. It will stand out and intrigue enough to get more people to click on the hosue to see what the exterior looks like and the rest of the house. They may not have clicked on your home if it was the same dreary exterior picture everyone else has on the outside. But once they view your home photos you have increased the chances of them wanting to view your home. Ultimately that is the goal. Without people looking at your home; the chances of it getting sold drop dramatically. So, why not increase your chances for exposure and views now?
David diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Buying A Home With A HOA....Check For Assessments
Most homes sold in the Charlotte area today are part of a neighborhood. Those neighborhoods often offer amenities or have common areas that need to be upkept. When that happens you have a home owners Association fee (or commonly known as a HOA) attached to your home that is paid either monthly, quarterly or yearly. In most cases that will be the only fee attached to the home. In a condominium complex or a townhome community you will always have an association fee attached to the unit you live in. But, is there a special assessment attached to the home/townhome? Is there one on the horizon? These are questions you need to ask before you purchase a home. In some cases the special assessment can be the same amount or greater than the HOA dues.
When you are looking to purchase a home there is a form that the homeowner fills out letting you know what the HOA fee is and how often it is paid. They also check off various boxes that let you know what your money goes toward paying. They must also inform you if there are any special assessments on the complex and the amount and time frame for which it is paid. However; there could be a special assessment in the works for the complex or neighborhood you are looking to buy in. Without it formally ratified and started the seller is under no obligation to inform you of the potential of a special assessment.
So how do you protect yourself? I always ask for a copy of the covenats and restrictions for the property when I present an offer. In addition if we are close to finalizing a deal I will ask for the minutes of the past three HOA meetings. Any discussions of a potential assessment will show up in those minutes. That dollar amount could be the difference between you purchasing that home and not.
I recently had an incindent where this became an issue. After reviewing the minutes I found out that the HOA for a complex was attaching an assessment on all homes of an additonal $200.00 monthly over a three year period. That was in addition to the regular HOA dues that had to be paid each month. Without checking those minutes my buyer might have ended up in a townhome with additional fees they were not expecting. I came to find out that the chance of the assessment is what led the seller to decide to sell their home. They were already on a tight budget and this would have pushed them over....
So, if you are looking at a home with an HOA. Make sure your Realtor is doing some homeowrk in regards to the HOA and checking to see if there are special assessments and if there are considerations for one...
Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
When you are looking to purchase a home there is a form that the homeowner fills out letting you know what the HOA fee is and how often it is paid. They also check off various boxes that let you know what your money goes toward paying. They must also inform you if there are any special assessments on the complex and the amount and time frame for which it is paid. However; there could be a special assessment in the works for the complex or neighborhood you are looking to buy in. Without it formally ratified and started the seller is under no obligation to inform you of the potential of a special assessment.
So how do you protect yourself? I always ask for a copy of the covenats and restrictions for the property when I present an offer. In addition if we are close to finalizing a deal I will ask for the minutes of the past three HOA meetings. Any discussions of a potential assessment will show up in those minutes. That dollar amount could be the difference between you purchasing that home and not.
I recently had an incindent where this became an issue. After reviewing the minutes I found out that the HOA for a complex was attaching an assessment on all homes of an additonal $200.00 monthly over a three year period. That was in addition to the regular HOA dues that had to be paid each month. Without checking those minutes my buyer might have ended up in a townhome with additional fees they were not expecting. I came to find out that the chance of the assessment is what led the seller to decide to sell their home. They were already on a tight budget and this would have pushed them over....
So, if you are looking at a home with an HOA. Make sure your Realtor is doing some homeowrk in regards to the HOA and checking to see if there are special assessments and if there are considerations for one...
Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Buying A Foreclosed Home...Have It Inspected
The other day the Charlotte Observer wrote a front page headline grabbing article about home foreclosures making up almost half of all sales in the Charlotte area. One of the things when you purchase a foreclosure is you are buying the home in " as is" condition. this means what you see is what you get. The bank does not have to disclose any information about the house that is not a material fact. They have never lived in the house. So, chances are they do not know if the electrical system is good, plumbing has leaks, roof has been patched or the house is infested with termites. Some items you may know and see effects of when looking at the house. Others you will not notice with the naked eye. That is why I thoroughly recommend a home inspection on ALL homes.
The general practice is for the banks to give you a 7 to 10 day window from contract acceptance to have the house inspected and decide if you want to follow through on the purchase of the house. This is the time period to have all the inspections and items checked out. I hear a lot of buyers tell me "I am buying the house in the present condition it is in, what does it matter if I have it inspected ro not? It matters. A home si the single largest investment you will make in your lifetime. A good home inspector will notice the little things and things you and I do not notice by going into crawl spaces, into attic and up on roofs.
You will want to know what is wrong with the house before you buy it. Those are added expenses you need to factor in when you purchase a house. Those small repairs are things the bank is not going to fix for you prior to closing on the house. You want to ensure that the cost and the extent of repairs is not so great as to be out of your budget for expected repairs to the house.
I recently had one, where when we looked at the house, it looked to be in good condition. The repairs seemed to be cosmetic in nature. After a home inspection it was discovered through the crawl space that the house had been infested with termites at one time. Though the previous homeowner treated the infestation properly, the band sill throughout the whole house had weakened to the point it needed to be repaired. The cost of that repair was outside of the expected expenses the buyer had anticipated when purchasing the house. Thus, eventhough the home was a good deal on paper; the cost to make the home liveable and safe exceeded the amount of money the buyer had or was willing to spend on the home. Without a home inspection, they would have never knew this to be true. They would have closed on the house and potentially been faced with a large, expensive repair sooner than anticipated that they did not have the money for.
So, bank sales may be sold "as is" but you need to still do your diligence in regards to inspections to ensure you are getting what you see and not what you do not see. That is why banks give you that period of time to have the home inspected....If we do not see it, chances are the eyes for the bank did not either.
Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
The general practice is for the banks to give you a 7 to 10 day window from contract acceptance to have the house inspected and decide if you want to follow through on the purchase of the house. This is the time period to have all the inspections and items checked out. I hear a lot of buyers tell me "I am buying the house in the present condition it is in, what does it matter if I have it inspected ro not? It matters. A home si the single largest investment you will make in your lifetime. A good home inspector will notice the little things and things you and I do not notice by going into crawl spaces, into attic and up on roofs.
You will want to know what is wrong with the house before you buy it. Those are added expenses you need to factor in when you purchase a house. Those small repairs are things the bank is not going to fix for you prior to closing on the house. You want to ensure that the cost and the extent of repairs is not so great as to be out of your budget for expected repairs to the house.
I recently had one, where when we looked at the house, it looked to be in good condition. The repairs seemed to be cosmetic in nature. After a home inspection it was discovered through the crawl space that the house had been infested with termites at one time. Though the previous homeowner treated the infestation properly, the band sill throughout the whole house had weakened to the point it needed to be repaired. The cost of that repair was outside of the expected expenses the buyer had anticipated when purchasing the house. Thus, eventhough the home was a good deal on paper; the cost to make the home liveable and safe exceeded the amount of money the buyer had or was willing to spend on the home. Without a home inspection, they would have never knew this to be true. They would have closed on the house and potentially been faced with a large, expensive repair sooner than anticipated that they did not have the money for.
So, bank sales may be sold "as is" but you need to still do your diligence in regards to inspections to ensure you are getting what you see and not what you do not see. That is why banks give you that period of time to have the home inspected....If we do not see it, chances are the eyes for the bank did not either.
Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
Monday, January 24, 2011
Half of All Home Sales Were Homes in/or Foreclosed
The sunday edition of the Charlotte Observer front page caught my eye at the grocery store so much that I purchased a newspaper. Generally I do not buy the paper since I feel I can get all the news and infromation I want online. But the headline on the fornt page was so dramatic; I needed to read it more.
The headline read "Over Half of 2010 home sales were troubled mortgages". Definitely a catchy headline and one that if I were selling or buying a home would make me a little nervous. After reading the complete article not once but twice I still was caught back by the statistics. They defined the homes as ones that people were either currently behind in their mortgages and sold through short sale to avoid foreclosure and foreclosed homes.
Generally the statstics have been showing that the market had been affected was primarily the starter home comunities and homes priced under $150,000. Now, it is seeing that trend moving up to the higher end priced homes. That, according to the article, was the reason for the rise in the foreclosed home sales. It has spread throughout the various price ranges in the housing market.
A trend that has been late to develop here in Charlotte. As economist agree we are heading out of the recession; higher end homes are now being lost through short sale or foreclosure. However; research is showing that the number of homes under $150,000 still make up two thirds of all foreclosures. But that number is trending down as higher end homes are climbing at signifcantly higher rates.
A silver lining for sellers in this market is that the number of homes receiving foreclosure notices had decreased in 2010. A positive sign that as that number goes down and more of these homes are sold the market will stabilize. But, with some economists predicting that would be late part of 2011; most are now saying 2012 before we see the full stabilization of the market to one where the seller and buyer are on a balanced field.
David dicecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
The headline read "Over Half of 2010 home sales were troubled mortgages". Definitely a catchy headline and one that if I were selling or buying a home would make me a little nervous. After reading the complete article not once but twice I still was caught back by the statistics. They defined the homes as ones that people were either currently behind in their mortgages and sold through short sale to avoid foreclosure and foreclosed homes.
Generally the statstics have been showing that the market had been affected was primarily the starter home comunities and homes priced under $150,000. Now, it is seeing that trend moving up to the higher end priced homes. That, according to the article, was the reason for the rise in the foreclosed home sales. It has spread throughout the various price ranges in the housing market.
A trend that has been late to develop here in Charlotte. As economist agree we are heading out of the recession; higher end homes are now being lost through short sale or foreclosure. However; research is showing that the number of homes under $150,000 still make up two thirds of all foreclosures. But that number is trending down as higher end homes are climbing at signifcantly higher rates.
A silver lining for sellers in this market is that the number of homes receiving foreclosure notices had decreased in 2010. A positive sign that as that number goes down and more of these homes are sold the market will stabilize. But, with some economists predicting that would be late part of 2011; most are now saying 2012 before we see the full stabilization of the market to one where the seller and buyer are on a balanced field.
David dicecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com
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