Tag: Preparing to Sell

Posted in Buyers, Homeowners, Sellers

The Risks of Waiving a Home Inspection

Posted on by Liz Walker

A home inspection is a crucial safeguard for your financial future, ensuring you’re fully informed before making one of the biggest purchases of your life. An inspection can uncover major issues—like faulty wiring, hidden water damage, or structural problems—that could cost tens of thousands to repair.

Beyond financial concerns, inspections are also critical for safety. They can identify hazards like unsafe heating systems, mold, or electrical work that might cause a safety risk and not be visible during a walk-through.

A home inspection is a few hundred dollars for peace of mind. That’s far better than spending thousands later on unexpected repairs.

Should You Ever Waive a Home Inspection?

Sellers may prefer offers without an inspection contingency because it reduces the risk of last-minute renegotiations. In a competitive market, some buyers waive inspections to speed up closing and make their offers more attractive.

While I never recommend skipping an inspection, one compromise is to include an “informational-only” inspection clause in your contract. This allows you to complete an inspection but removes the expectation that the seller will make repairs.

“If major issues arise, you can still back out,” Rosalia says. “You may lose your earnest money, but that might be a small price to pay compared to the cost of unexpected repairs.”

Should You Waive an Inspection for a Recently Built Home?

Some real estate professionals argue that if a home is new or if the seller provides a recent inspection report, waiving the inspection might be a reasonable risk. However, I advise my buyers to think of it like buying a used car—you wouldn’t purchase one without having a mechanic check it first.

Many assume that new construction means fewer issues, but that’s not always the case. I had a buyer that bought a recently built home that waived the home inspection only to discover once she owned the home that the foundation settled incorrectly causing a water intrusion problem. There was also a wiring problem with the electrical panel that caused several outlets and switches not to work.

Is It Ever OK to Waive an Inspection?

Experienced investors or home flippers with construction experience and a sizable repair budget might be willing to waive an inspection, but for most buyers, it’s simply not worth the risk.

The Bottom Line

Spending a few hundred dollars on a home inspection is almost always money well spent. At the very least, it provides a useful 5yr home maintenance guide and helps buyers understand potential future repairs.

If you’re in the market for a home in Juneau County and the surrounding area I am here to help. I have several home inspectors that I’ve worked with that I can recommend to give you peace of mind when purchasing a property. With years of experience in the real estate industry, I ensure my clients make informed decisions—without unnecessary risks.

Posted in Buyers, Homeowners, Sellers

Sellers, Don’t Fear Government Loans

Posted on by Liz Walker

I think one of the biggest fears for sellers is a buyer that is pre-approved for a government loan program. This fear is not based on the ability of the buyer to have sufficient finances to obtain the loan but rather on the possible reasons the home could be denied for the loan. Yes, you read that right, the home can be denied.

Let me say though that with the hundreds of transactions I’ve handled, very rarely does an offer to purchase fall through due to the condition of the home. Generally, there are some basic repairs that need to be made but the seller and buyer can negotiate how to get that done. One recent case, three steps outside a home needed a handrail. I was working with the buyer and I suggested to them that they offer to build it themselves before closing. The seller was a single woman who was not in a great financial position to hire someone to get the job done. The buyer on the other hand was a couple with some basic skills so they built the handrail themselves in a matter of days.

I’ve had buyers willing to paint or scrap paint off decks. Oddly enough paint stripped off wood is fine for government loans, you just can’t have peeling paint. Other times the buyers swapped traditional outlets with GFCI outlets. For the person with the right skill set, the list of possible issues really are pretty minor things. Sellers shouldn’t fear the possiblility of repairs because a willing buyer just might do the work for you.

Posted in Sellers

Marketing on Steroids – 3D Home Tours

Posted on by Liz Walker

Home buyers make the decision to schedule a showing based on what images or media of a property is available online. That means that the photos and videos available to them can make or break the interest they have in your property. Most list agents use their cell phone to take photos and that’s it. No photo editing to enhance the images, no video tour, or aerial photography. Or maybe they add a “virtual tour” which in reality is just the photos they took clipped together in video format.

Now imagine being able to view your property in 3D with the ability to “move” throughout the home and turn the view you see. Check out what I mean by clicking this link. It’s a 3D Tour of our RE/MAX RealPros office.

https://rem.ax/3PZ1Osw

Wow factor right? Don’t settle for an agent that just takes cell phone photos. You deserve someone that has invested in technology so you get the most robust marketing possible. Take a look at the before and after photos below. Notice how the Before photo was taken on a gray, cloudy day. In the After photo I’ve brightened the sky, removed some distractions like the white lines on the parking lot, the white square on the front stoop and the trees in the background. Your eye is drawn to the our office building and not distracted by the clutter around it.

Your property deserves the same attention to detail. I offer 3D Tours, edited and enhanced digital camera photography, aerial drone photos and videography, 2-4 minute video tours and a 60 second highlight reel of the top features of your property.

Posted in Buyers, Homeowners, Sellers

MORTGAGE POINTS TO REDUCE YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT

Posted on by Liz Walker

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.