Buying A Home today..Does Your realtor Show You Comparable Sales?

I was unsure whether to write this blog post or not initally...Then after some thought and talking with a few recent buyers who purchased homes with me I decided I should. When you find that house/townhome you want to make home; is your Realtor showing you what the comaprable properties sold for?

In this market; buyers are looking longer for a house. The choices availble to them is great and they want to be sure they are making the right descsion. All right reasons when searching for a home. One thing that eludes me is why a Realtor may tell them initally that the house is priced accordingly or X amount to high or they under priced the house. But, what about when they are prepared to make an offer on the house? Most of my buyers are taking 3 to 4 weeks to make a descsion on the home they want to put an offer in on. When they say it is on the short list of homes they are considering I let them know at this moment here is what the comparables in the area sold for and what adjustments you may need to make based on condition, location and features in the home.

Three to four weeks later that number could dramatically change. In a recent case; the house was priced right for the comaprables in the enightborhood. However; 3 weeks later with 2 foreclsoures on the market and 2 short sales the price now was too high. We looked at the foreclosures but the overall condition and the financing they wanted precluded us from considering those homes. But, we added in the cost to bring those homes up to the one they were cosndiering and we still came $15,000 too much for the hosue they wanted.

Now, we adjusted what we were going to offer based on this information. To make this short, after some negotiation we ended up makeing a fair deal on the house and closed. But as he put it to me a few days ago; "your hard work and not rushing me saved me over $15,000 in what I might have paid for this house". One of our jobs as a Realtor is to look out for our clients best interests.

He metnioned that to me because one of his neighbors recently bought one of the other homes we were intially considering. They paid more for the house because when they looked at the house it wss priced right and their Realtor never adjusted or ran a new market anaylsis on the neighborhod or property.

I do a revised market anaylsis on every one of my lsitigns every 30 days to see where we are at in comparison to other homes. If the market has changed we sit down and discuss pricing strategy accordingly. Most Realtors I talk with do the same thing. If we do it for our listigns why are we not doing it for our buyers?


Dave diCecco

Realtor/Broker

www.davedicecco.com

Buying A Bank Owned Home...Does It Offer The Financing Options You Need?

If we listen to everything we read or hear on the news we are told to look for a bank owned property. The news would like you to beleive the banks are giving these homes away at substantially below market value prices. While in some cases this may be true; it does not necessarily always hold true. And when the home is priced low is the bank willing to do the necessary repairs to meet the requirements of certain types of financing?

The bansk are not in the real estate business to buy and sell homes. They prefer to not have to foreclose on a home. When they do; they do a valuation of the home. One part of the formula they use to decipher a price is the overall condition of the house. they evaluate the needed repairs and cost versus sellign the house "as is". Most times they will sell the home "as is" meaning what you see is what you get.

In this economic times we are seeing more people use FHA or VA type loans. Interest rates are historically low and have remained that way for almost two years. Why put a substantial down payment down if you do not have to?

The problem with this is that FHA and VA have certain requirements that a house has to meet in order to qualify for those type of loans. When you are purchasing a home from a homeowner the chances are great you will not have this issue and if you do they will do the repairs to meet the requirements if they have to.

But what about the bank owned homes? I have a lot of buyers looking for those type of homes. Yet they do not realize that it may not qualify for the loan. The apprasier has a list of requirements a home must meet in order to pass an FHA or VA appraisal in addition to the price. If the home does not meet thsoe guidelines the apprasier will note on the apprasial that the value is subject to the following repairs. Thus the repairs must be done to pass the appraisal test.

Banks generally state upfront on their cover letter for offers that they will NOT perform any repairs to the house. In addition I am seeing more times now that they are stipulating upfront that there homes MAY not qualify for these type of loans as well. Talking with a few Realtor friends who specialize in bank owned listings they said more deals are falling apart becuase of the apprasial asking for repairs to be done; and the banks unwillingness to do them.

Before you make an offer on one of these type of homes make sure your Realtor is confident it will pass the FHA or VA appraisal in the condition it is in now. If they are not, and you proceed, you may be out the appraisal cost and valuable time looking for a home. I have had some homes that I and the mortgage broker felt would pass and have not and others where the buyer wanted to go forward and they have passed.

It is very subjective. Before you look at or put an offer in on a bank owned home check to see if the bank is offering that type of financing on the house and if your Realtor feels that the house will pass the apprasial inspection...

Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com

Market Report: University Area Charlotte, NC. May 2011

The University area of Charlotte is the area around the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Located in the northeastern end of Charlotte. A popular destination for young professionals and families. The area encompasses from Interstate 85 south to rocky river road and west to W.T. Harris Blvd and east to Cabarrus county line. All the homes in that area are within a five to ten minute ride of the Unviersity.

Below are the market statitistics for the past three years for single family homes in that area from May 1st throguh April 30th.

3 years ago there were 379 homes sold for an average sale price of $154,684. The average days on market was 45 days.

2 years ago there were 378 homes that sold for an average sale price of $138,124. They were on the market for an average of 70 days.

Last year there were 360 homes that sold for an average sale price of $130,549. They were on the market for an average of 90 days.

Currently there are 285 single family homes actively on the market in the University area of Charlotte. The average asking price of those homes is $153,372. They have been on the market for an average of 114 days.

There also is 94 homes currently under contract in the area. This means that the homes have sold but are not yet closed.

Based on the the trends and availble inventory the market is favoring towards a buyers market in the unviersity area right now.


Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com