They are going to find out!

I'm not one to use slang or to be vulgar (if I can  help it).  But a phrase that resonated with me from a political campaing had to do with putting lipstick on a pig.  Although I think this is an indelicate phrase, it gives you a a really powerful image.

Recently I had the privilege of selling a home in our area that had been a rental.  I was heartened when the homeowners announced that they were going to update some items.  They also announced that they were going to repaint some rooms and give the bathrooms a deep clean and take care of some deferred exterior maintenance.

Woohoo!  This was music to my ears.  As an agent, I didn't have to cajole and discuss the virtues of getting the house ready for market.

So, imagine my surprise when the home inspection was done and there was a laundry list of deficiencies found.  When I contacted the seller to discuss the inspection results, and was discussing one particulare repair which I was certain would be a quick fix (HA!), they said "Oh yeah, we know about that, we tried to fix it and it didn't work."

Huh? You knew about it and thought what, it would go away, they wouldn't notice?

Of course they noticed and found it as well as a myriad of other problems (which the seller also knew about) and wanted them all fixed.

After 20 years of real estate in and around McDonough, GA, this is what I know:  Buyers will always overestimate the cost of repairs.  The last thing the seller should have to worry about after they are under contract is what is going to turn up during inspection/due diligence.

When discussing the sale with sellers, I ask them, Is everything in good working order? Are you aware of any thing that is in need of repair? Is there any deferred maintenance?  We walk around the house and we discuss things they know about or that I notice.

Some folks are maintenaance fanatics and the house is in great condition. Others don't have a clue (even thought the house is falling down around them). So, I play it by ear and  try to address any issues before we go on the market.  It is always better for the seller to make needed repairs while they are not be under pressure to make a quick decision once presented with a list of repairs after the buyer has their inspection.

Please, if you are the seller, do yourself a favor and get the house in good order before you put it on the market, or price it to compensate for condition and items you don't want to deal with.  If you don't know what might come up during inspection, have your own inspection.  Disclose it as part of the listing materials and make any necessary repairs and provide receipts for the repairs.

If you do this, the buyer may very well not do an  inspection and rely on yours.  Or if they do their own, they may find nothing at all and you will be one step closer to closing.

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via photopin cc

The Big Downpayment Myth: Buying a home with little (or nothing) down

I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and, like all other major metropolitan areas, we had three television stations to watch – the ABC affiliate, the CBS affiliate and the NBC affiliate. Back then, kids played outside constantly because, frankly, there wasn’t much television that was worth watching. In the late 1960’s, cable entered the marketplace, followed by satellite. Suddenly, there were literally hundreds of channels to watch. Big improvement? Perhaps not.

Today there are hundreds of channels available to every household ,greatly increasing the flow of information. Unfortunately, much of it is inaccurate. To illustrate, let’s consider home mortgages.

Tune to CNBC, Fox Business Channel, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV or any other channel with a business orientation and within one hour, someone will tell you that the days of buying a home with little-or-nothing down are long gone. Absolutely not true! Here are three outstanding mortgage programs to consider.

Is the mold in my home toxic or harmful?

This and other interesting facts about mold can be found in a flyer provided by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences through the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service.

The most noteworthy item is Item #4 from pamphlet HACE-E-62 "Mold - Five of the most commonly asked questions about household mold, with answers."

Consumer Centric Contact

Once upon a time, it was easy.  If someone wanted to contact us we would give them our phone number - office or home - and either they or I would initiate the call and if the other answered, guess what, we were communicating!  If they didn't get us or I them, a message would be left, either via a human and later via voice mail.  We even had pagers - not too long ago, and now, they've gone by the wayside.

Now, it's much more complicated.  There's email, twitter accounts, facebook, text messages, email messages, home phone (maybe), cell phones and office phones and efaxes.  So, when someone wants to communicate with you how do you keep in touch without missing some important information?  How do you get information to people in a way that's easiest for them?

 In the past year I worked with five clients who didn't have an email address, didn't have a smart phone, didn't have access to a fax.  Took a lilttle extra time, but I think the relationships were stronger because of more face-to-face time. You know what, we still got to the closing table.

Real Estate, a Team Sport

So, let’s pretend that you need an oil change and you go to your local Station and say to the proprietor “listen, my car is supposed to have an oil change every 3,000 miles and I want to do that. But, here’s what I propose ... How about you change the oil, check all the fluids and then, in a couple of months, when I’ve determined that my car is OK and the oil change was right, then maybe I’ll pay you....”

That’s not going to happen...

Actually, in writing this, I can’t think of any professions where you can go in, speak to the professional who will render your needed service, and have him/her perform the service without being paid.