2009   

Yesterday I blabbered on and on about how glad I was to see the end of 2008 and that I was looking forward to 2009.  Here's what I hope we'll see happen in 2009 related to real estate.

• Foreclosures will slow back to normal rates.
• The job market will recover and the economy will settle down to renew buyer confidence.
• Buyers will realize that interest rates are now phenomenal - coupled with great housing prices - and they'll return to the market.
• Investors will buy and restore homes in stigmatized neighborhoods, the resell rather than just renting.
• Agents who are only part-time or doing very little business will retire their licenses to allow full-time agents the chance to rebuild a strong reputation as people who work for clients exclusively - not just for a buck here and there.
• Desperate markets like in Florida, California, Michigan, Nevada will rebound in time to save the homes and pride of several thousand families.
• Interest rates will remain below 6 percent in order to maintain the market attraction for buyers.
• Appraisers will continue to proceed fairy and honestly.
• Home inspectors will also make integrity the cornerstone of their business and not try to simply scare and scar buyers from the process.
• Lenders will treat buyers the way they would want to be treated.

I hope your 2009 is amazing, prosperous, and filled with laughter, good investments, and love.

  When 2008 rolled in a little less than a year ago, I welcomed it with open arms.  My future, my success, my 12-months.  Well 2008, there is no puppy love left for you.  Yes, you did get us through a few good things:

• Presidential election
• Low low interest rates on mortgages
• Affordable house prices
• Amazing Olympic games
• Batman

But overall, you were brutal. I won't miss you too terribly much because you also gave us this:

• Plummeting stock market
• Massive foreclosures
• Massive government bailouts (or should I say "rescue plans") to companies who ruled by greed and not by ethics
• Plunging home values
• Loss of jobs (highest unemployment rate in decades)
• Colleagues leaving and companies closing left and right because of limping  housing market

• Loss of retirement and college funds thanks to plummeting stock market

• AND the glaciers continue to melt.

2009, will you be a better year?  Stay tuned tomorrow to read what I hope we'll see in the next 12 months.

<open rant>

I would encourage all buyers and sellers to remember that during the holidays some people close down shop.  This means that if I have a question about something random, the company that has the answers may be closed for a few days observing their own Christmas traditions. This doesn't mean that *I* have stopped working for you, it means that sometimes my phone calls won't get returned until they get back into the office.  It means that sometimes I don't have answers immediately - even though we do live in the McDonald's instant gratification society.  I have not stopped working for you. Your interests are still my top real estate priority.  This is why I call you every day or every other day or twice or three times a day.  To keep you informed when I have news.

</rant>.

We moved here from out-of-state and didn't know the area at all.  As we toured homes we'd previously viewed online, it became clear that our agent had previewed the ones nearest her because she told us little details she wouldn't have known otherwise.  I was impressed that she did this and although she didn't see all of them, her efforts were much appreciated. 

I have a buyer moving to my area from another part of the country and she's been unable to make the trip to look at homes, though she's done a lot of online searching.  I've found that previewing homes on behalf of a buyer is so helpful because you can discover things the listing agent would never reveal otherwise.  For example, yesterday I toured a *gorgeous* house - six bedrooms, four and a half baths, almost a half million dollars. What the listing agent didn't tell us was there is a gigantic hole where the lot next door should be.

Honestly, the home is still beautiful and actually a great buy.  But if I had children I'm not sure I'd bite, especially if it serves as a drainage area for heavy rains.  This is exactly the reason I would NEVER encourage anyone to buy a home sight unseen!

Merry Christmas!

I am filled with righteous indignation right now.  A friend of mine bought a house earlier this year.  He was so joyful to own his own home, he has it all decked out for Christmas and recently said this is possibly the best year he's ever had.

Unfortunately, when he came home from work this morning (he works third shift), he found the side of his house and his garage door had been spray painted by vandals.  There are obscene words and one really vile picture.  At first he thought it was a personal attack, but we think it may have been a random act of violence.  School is out and crimes like these always spike during the holidays and in summer, according to the police.

The other reason my friend is upset is he didn't know how to remove the paint.  I consulted a friend who is a home care expert and learned that you can paint vinyl.  If possible, remove a little chip somewhere where the missing piece won't be noticed.  Go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or another paint store and ask the clerk for Kilz that will work on vinyl, along VINYL exterior paint.  The Kilz should prevent the graffiti from leaking through.  In addition, they should be able to match the color with the sample vinyl you're bringing in.

I would also wait until the weather gets above freezing to paint.  (Temperature now is about 10 degrees - ugh!).  Finally, I advised my friend to install motion sensor lights and a motion sensor camera so he'll both feel safer and to potentially scare off future vandals.

Merry Stinking Christmas indeed.

Photo by Brad-514 courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

Is that an understatement, or what?  It never fails to surprise me when I'm working with buyer how many homes we can NOT see because the seller won't allow it to be shown. Last weekend I was told "No" twice for my buyer from California who was here for a very short amount of time.  Seriously, it boggles the mind.

Chicago Agent Amy Le recently posted on Active Rain about Five Things Agents Should Avoid with Homebuyers.  Her first point is a good one,

Don't judge a client by their attire. While I'm not going to win a million dollars at the poker table, I'm usually pretty good at reading body language and facial expressions. And the look that my friend and I received from an agent last weekend was one of complete disinterest. My friend was in his weekend attire: baseball hat, tennis shoes and college T-shirt. Since we looked young, the agent didn't take the time to talk-up the details of the condo and show us around the building. We actually had to ask her to show us around the rest of the building. The agent even said to us, "I was going to run some errands before the next client comes, but I guess we can look around the building really quickly." While my friend's T-shirt and baseball cap might not be screaming high-roller, his savings account says otherwise.

Read her whole post (and the comments) for some more scoop on what NOT to do!

I heard two days ago that a client of mine had passed away.  His daughters had been in my Girl Scout troop, but they had stopped because they moved a town over and it was too difficult to get the girls back and forth.  Mr. L. had a heart transplant several years ago and had been doing okay, but apparently something went wrong.

I'm going to his funeral today.  He's my second client who has died in the five years I've been a Realtor.  It breaks my heart.

I love having a home inspection that goes so well that only one or two minor repairs need to be made.  Recaulking the window exteriors and mounting a water filter rather than it sitting on the ground next to the water heater works for me!

I love it when it's obvious that an homeowner has taken good care of a home.  This will make the transaction much easier for both the seller and the buyer.

Too many times, the inspections go bad from either an inspector who is anxious to scare a buyer, the failure of major systems, or a stubborn seller who won't fix minor repairs.  My hats off to the seller!

A very common misconception right now is there is no money available for home loans.  There is money - both for buyers with strong credit and for folks with so-so credit who are thinking about refinancing to take advantage of great rates.

I just talked with a really good lender and asked him what the chances are for someone to refinance whose credit is under 600 (like in the 580-590 range).  He asked if they’ve made their house payments on time for the last 12-months.  The answer was yes and no… the person has never been late on a payment, but did negotiate a smaller payment one month when money was super tight.  They paid the difference over a few months so the lender received all of it.

IF the lender did NOT turn the person as a late payment and if the loan was FHA, then they *can* refinance at a much lower rate (they’re in at 7.5 percent now) going FHA to FHA.  It all depends on the credit report.

If you find yourself in this type of scenario, contact a couple of local lenders even if you think your credit score is too low right now.  With a good 12-month history of mortgage payments, you may be able to get a refinance at a lower rate… and from 7.5 percent to a 5.5 percent rate, you’ll save HUNDREDS of dollars each month on your mortgage. It’s definitely worth a phone call.

December is a perfectly good month to list and sell your home.  What you’ll have to do, though, is make sure if you have a 10-month inventory of homes you’re competing against that yours will sell within the first month or two.

How do you do that?  1.) Price it below the competition, 2.) Make sure it’s immaculate with fresh paint, clean flooring, and no spider webs, and 3.) Be willing to negotiate in some way.  Maybe you can help with closing costs or provide a home warranty.  Perhaps you’ll drop a couple thousand from your price.  Or be willing to move out quickly or allow the buyer an extra two weeks to close.

If you show you’re negotiable and willing to work with a buyer, there ARE buyers looking right now.  Make it easy for them to find you!  Make it easy for them to work with you!  It’s not just the buyer who must be ready, willing, and able, YOU must be too!