Step by Step Home Buying Guide https://lizwalker.remax.com/pages/buyers-guide
BUYER’S GUIDE
Tag: Buyers
Buyers-Should you Go Above or Below List Price?
How much to offer on a house will depend on many factors: the current market conditions, is the property list price fair, how long it’s been on the market and your situation. Of course, every homebuyer wants to score a deal but it’s common for low ball negotiation tactics to fail.
What are the market conditions? We are currently in a very strong sellers market that means there are fewer properties for sale than buyers looking to purchase. It’s common for listings to receive multiple offers in the first week of being on the market. Sellers are expecting to get the highest price possible so offering anything less than list price will often backfire and often properties are selling over the list price. Plus, if you offer a lowball offer your could risk offending the sellers and they will write you off completely from the negotiations.
When should you offer more than the list price? This depends on your personal situation. Do you have a year or more to find the perfect home or are you in need of a home right now? Have you already had several offers get rejected and you found the perfect property? You might only get one chance at a property. Your first offer often needs to be your best offer so offering over list price is a strategy that could entice the sellers to accept your offer. Also note that in a seller’s market paying cash for a property doesn’t mean that the sellers will accept a lower price because they are expecting to receive the highest price possible.
Do seller’s come down on list price anymore? Yes, but it depends on a few things. Sellers are guided by their agent as to what the value of their home is. I can tell you from personal experience that not all sellers listen to my advice and price their property higher than it’s worth. What happens then is the home often sits on the market for a few months because buyers are doing their research and can judge for themselves whether a property is overpriced. If the property is on the market for a while then you may be successful at negotiating for a lower price. Another factor in getting a lower price is the condition or location of a property that may devalue it in the eye of the buyers.
How do you know what price to offer? This is where it pays to hire a buyer’s agent and especially one that has the experience and market knowledge to assist you. You need someone that can offer insights about market conditions, whether the property list price is accurate, is the condition of the property average or poor, what negotiation strategy to use and more. Interesting fact, 75% of real estate agents in the U.S. sold zero properties last year. Would you want to work with someone that has no experience? I wouldn’t want to trust them with the biggest purchase I’ve ever made.
Do You Know Your Credit Score?
Why is the credit score so important? It’s the magic number lenders use to determine what type of loan you qualify for and at what interest loan. The higher the score, the lower the interest rate and the more loan options available to you. You need at least a 600 score to qualify for a government backed loan called FHA. At a 650 score you open up more options like a conventional loan. At a 750 score you coulhave a lower interest rate on a conventional loan than that 650 score.
If your score is below 600 it might be that you have no credit history! That might not make sense to you since you pay for everything on time and in cash but it’s pretty simple to increase your score. Apply for a gas card, for example from Kwik Trip. You can use it to buy your morning coffee! Keep the balance low and pay off the balance in full and on time every month. After 6 months you will have created a credit history and increased your score.
Here’s something for parents with teenagers to consider, add your kids as an authorized signer on one of your credit cards. You don’t even have to give them a card or allow them to use it. The cavaet is that your credit score passes along to them. We did this with our two kids, it enabled our son the ability to buy a car without a co-signer.
One last thing to consider, if you have a credit card you no longer use, don’t close the account. It doesn’t make sense but it will negatively affect your score. Keep the account open but cut the card up!
For more tips for home buying and selling check out my guides on http://www.lizwalker.remax.com.
Closing Costs – Who Pays for That?
June Newsletter
MORTGAGE POINTS TO REDUCE YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT
Sellers, if you are waiting to make a move because your current mortgage is locked in at a very low interest rate and the current rates scare you, here’s an option to help. Lenders offer you a way to “buy” a lower interest rate. This is called mortgage or discount points. In the simplest description, you pay interest upfront to lower the interest rate on your loan.
This option works best for sellers who have built up equity in their home. Those would be people who have owned their home for at least the last 5 years or longer. Home prices have increased greatly since 2019 so even if you haven’t paid much off on your home the market has helped to increase your equity. Another ideal seller to take advantage of this is one looking to downsize from a more expensive home to a smaller one. Using the net profit from the sale of your home, you can purchase points to lower your interest rate.
1 point = 1% of the mortgage amount which lowers your interest rate by .25%
This amount is prepaid interest, so it is tax deductible.
If you are interested in this, first contact me to give you an idea of the current value of your home. Then reach out to your lender for details on the mortgage aspect to see if it could work for you.
Understanding Credit Scores
First Time Home Buyers
If you are thinking about buying a home but are overwhelmed with where to start, here are the instructions. I’ve created this informational guide to help you through the whole process. Got questions? Ask me, if I don’t know the answer I can certainly find the right person to help you. I can also lenders that I can refer you to.
Loving Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring!
Pet Owners – Luxury Vinyl Planks is the perfect flooring for your home! It’s waterproof, resistant to surface damage and it’s easy to clean. I have 2 dogs that love to go swimming in the creek on our property and then roll around the yard. When they come in they leave puddles of water and sand.
All but 2 rooms in our home have the original, wide plank, pine floors. This soft wood has been easy to clean but easy to dent and scratch. I’ve been looking for a plank finish that would match the knotty, yellow, pine floors, honey oak trim and the weathered, grey, barn board siding throughout our home. Not easy to blend all theses colors thanks to the strong “gray” palette trends the last few years. I finally found a style that combines all three of the colors.
If you own a decent table saw, you can easily install this flooring yourself. The planks have a tongue and groove like system that clicks into place. If your floors aren’t even or perfectly flat there will be some challenges but it still works. The planks also come with the underlayer built in so it installs on top of the subfloor or over old, vinyl flooring without additional steps. There is no adhesive required either. After it is all laid out with a 1/4″ space around the edge of the room, you will need to install some molding strips to keep it secure.
