An interesting phenomenon has taken place in certain parts of the country.  If you find an area with numerous foreclosures and vacant properties, there are squatters.  It’s not the fact that there are squatters that is so interesting, however.  It’s the fact that the banks are aware of them and in no hurry to evict them.  Ultimately, a home is better cared for if it is occupied: the lawn is mowed, if there are plumbing or electrical issues, they’d be fixed, and occupants should alleviate the threat of vandals and thieves stealing cabinets, etc.

What’s important to note, though, is that squatters have no rights whatsoever when a home is sold.  If a bonafide renter lives in the home when it is foreclosed, the new owner must respect and honor the terms of the lease.  If it’s a squatter, zilch.

Final caveat - if you do rent, be sure you’re entering into a rent or lease agreement with the real owner or spokesperson of the property.  Don’t let a scam thief take advantage of you.

An agent in my office described an unbelievable experience he had this weekend while doing open house at a multi-million dollar property.  Although he doesn’t have the listing, an agent from the company has welcomed him to hold open houses - it’s a win for everyone.  He might get a buyer from the event and the seller may sell.  Usually the traffic is heaviest beginning at 2:15 and lasts until about 3:00 p.m.

Sunday was no different. He opened at 1:30 and almost immediately had would-be buyers stopping in to tour the magnificent 9800 square foot home.  Suddenly six cars pulled up together and out of each clown car came at least four people.  The people were all dressed similarly - dark pants, blue and red shirts.

They were like a swarm of locusts as they picked up every flyer, including the mortgage sheets.  Suddenly they began lining up along the staircase and one of them separated to arrange them.  He took out a camera and snapped several family photos.  They then stood in front of the great fireplace, were arranged again, and had another family portrait taken.

Of course, by this time all the other buyer had made a rapid departure and no one else stopped when they saw the house swarming with people wearing the same clothes.  The extended family utterly ruined the open house for the agent in my office.

The question arose, “What could I have done?”

In a word - NOTHING.

Had he asked them to leave, he was treating them differently than other potential buyers therefore would be breaking fair housing laws.  If he said, “No pictures, please” he would have to make sure he said that to every single person who came in the door because - again - fair housing laws.  You can’t treat anyone differently.

It’s one of the darndest things I’ve ever heard about and it really sickens me that people take advantage of and so grossly abuse an open house.  The intention is to SELL the house, not be a setting for a family Christmas portrait.

What would you do?

In an old mining town lost in the hills of the Badlands, a gruff loner took a wife.  This mail order bride cooked and cleaned for the old cuss, she did the laundry on a washboard, and she served the vittles piping hot - right off the fire.

Together they built an old ramshackle house, roofed with hoods from abandoned cars.  The plumbing was an old well that often smelled of sulphur.  For electricity, they tapped into a line that ran parallel to the old Givens Road where people often talked of hearing ghostly voices singing in a war-like chant.

After years of living in this squalor, however, the tired bride decided she’d had enough and packed her garbage bag suitcase to head to the suburbs of Chicago to find a real home.  The gruff, grizzled man was okay with her departure because she never quite seasoned the prairie dog just right.  He knew he’d do better on his own, plus he could keep all the proceeds from his mining claim for himself if she left.

His only concern was ownership of the home, so he found a notary to draw up paperwork for a quit claim deed where the wife relinquished her interest in the property.  She gladly signed, because frankly between the smell of the well water and the smell of old grumps-a-lot, she preferred to have the odors only in her memory.  She was glad to release her interest and signed right away.

Many peaceful years later the man decided to retire and sell his home … a home that he eventually remodeled so there was a real roof, real plumbing, and safe electricity.  He was excited to be rid of the property because he too wanted to live the rest of his life enjoying the conveniences of being near a populated area.  He was going to enjoy the sunshine of Florida!  To his dismay, however, he learned that he was unable to sell without his spouse’s signature.

The Quit Claim Deed was useless because he and his spouse never formally divorced.  Marital rights overruled the Quit Claim! The man stomped his foot and said, “Dag nab it!” and began his journey to the great lights of the Chicago suburbs to find his woman again to finally finish their business together.

The moral of this story?  If you decide to buy or sell a home, remember that both spouses will have rights to the property by marriage. For a spouse to have the ability to walk-away - or for the other spouse to have exclusive rights to the home - the divorce must be final AND the home loan should be refinanced in the name of the spouse keeping the home, thereby removing martial and monetary rights/responsibilities.

Happy trails to you!

There’s a clause in the purchase and sales contract (aka agreement to purchase) in our state that addresses items that will “survive” of the contract (the survival clause).  I just want to stand up and say how much I appreciate that clause - it’s kicked in a few times already and in both cases to the benefit of my buyer.

The first time my buyer had a window that needed to be replaced. The window had been ordered but wasn’t in by the time the house closed.  It actually took several months for the window to come in and in the end it wasn’t completed correctly, but we did finally put it to rest.

Then this week my latest buyer told me that the seller had removed all the towel racks from the bathroom.  We have found a compromise (she is being reimbursed by the seller to replace them), but it’s because of the survival clause that they have to step up and make  right the condition of the home.

If you are a buyer or a seller, make sure you understand the survival clause in the contract.  Don’t think that just because the house closes it’s all over.

Photo by Ashley the Artist’s 2002 Photostream via Flickr Creative Commons.

There are grave sites scattered all over this country … snuggled next to old barns on properties about to be developed to ancestral cemeteries that have been long forgotten.  I’ve had buyers who’ve worried about bodies being next door and others who’ve said, “We’ll have quiet neighbors.”

Sometimes developers gain permission to relocate the burial sites, but at other times the remains must remain.  When they stay put, the heirs may gain the right to visit them … even to cross your property to gain access.

Ingress is the legal right to enter the property.  Egress is the right to leave the property.  Both are real estate terms that may also apply to public works employees, electric and gas company workers, and others who may need to access something on or next to your property in order to complete a job.  Or families just visiting their gone but not fogotten family members.

Here’s a whole different enchilada on using ingress and egress rights.

When we purchased our home there was an existing easement granted to the neighbors for ingress/egress.  We have no problem with this.  A problem has now arisen because we have asked them to somehow tone down the water on the one side as it creates a muddy mess in our horse’s pen.  They are saying we can not have anything in the easement except the existing barn that everyone has agreed to it staying.

The advise given and being followed is the best,

I will take your advice and speak with an attorney after I get copies of the items I need from title.

Photo by Shoothead via Flickr Creative Commons.

File this under the “Did You Know” line of thinking.  DID YOU KNOW that when you make an offer on a house, it doesn’t necessarily have to be kept SECRET?

It is the listing agent’s fiduciary duty to get the seller the most money for their home.  In the event of multiple offers - a phenomenon making a return - the list agent may inform all parties of the current highest bid and say, “This is where we are now. Make your highest offer.”

A couple of caveats to consider though:

1. Only do so with permission from the seller.  I’d want this permission in WRITING, but email counts as written permission.
2. Always get permission from the seller.
3. Permission.  From the seller.

The buyer may protect himself or herself from their offer being disclosed.  In the contract offer, they can specify under special stipulations that all parts of the offer are to be kept confidential between the buyer, the seller, and their agents.

Still. There have been numerous times I’ve wanted to know what the other party has offered.  From now on, I’ll be asking.

Photo by Coffee Go via Flickr Creative Commons.

In an interesting development of this struggling real estate market (yes I know to say “struggling” could be debated since sales were way up in July … tell that to my husband and our checkbook), the shoe seems to be shifting to the other foot in some cases.

Recently we’ve noted a turnaround in the sales process.  Instead of buyer writing offers to sellers after they’ve toured a home and decided they love it, SELLERS are writing offers to buyers.  The legal question came from our state association of Realtors, “As the buyer’s agent, if I receive an offer from a seller, do I legally have to present it to my buyer who may have no interest at all?”

The answer is a resounding yes.  We have a duty that we owe to clients - and it doesn’t specify whether clients are buyers or sellers - to present all offers and counter-offers.  As in any negotiation, however, the buyer and the seller can say one of three things:  Yes, No, or Maybe (a counter).

I think this strategy is riveting… it’s one I’ll definitely put in my head as a possible way to sell a house on behalf of my listings.

I wrote over at Banks.com about a pickle of a situation in my real estate area.  To summarize, a broker has generated a report that shows production to date in one county, by agent.  The report is definitely skewed because it doesn’t reveal if an agent sold homes in another county, whether they’re in a contract now (as a lease purchase or a pending sale), their current listings, and other activity that’s traditional with real estate agents.  That and all the moral ethics issues aside, it begs the question How Do You Measure Success?

Realtors have often been compared to used car salesmen.  You know the stereotype … will do anything to sell a car.  In the popularity-ometer of respected professions, we’re right up there with dentists and politicians.  Why?  Because of the view that Realtors are in it to just make money.  The perception is that we don’t care about someone’s ability to buy a house … if we can help them find a way to buy, then we will find a way.  Some would compare Realtors and their desire to make money to what 18th century poet John Wolcot once said about fame,

When the rage for fame
Attends both great and small
Better be damned
Than not mentioned at all.

When the rage for money attends both great and small, better be damned and make as much as possible, perhaps?  Ironically, the vast majority of Realtors today - while we enjoy earning a living (who wouldn’t?) - take great pride in providing good customer service.  What did we do to help those first-time homebuyers?  Did we do everything in our power to get the house sold for the couple about to foreclose?  Did we tell our buyers that just because they’re “qualified” to buy a $200,000 house, that doesn’t mean they can afford it.

As a Realtor, I’ve convinced people to walk away from homes they are thinking about buying because of problems ranging from sewer issues to the fact that they really don’t want to give up their lake home to be closer to their adult children.  At great cost to myself and to my family, I might add.  As a Realtor, I’ve swept and vacuumed floors.  I’ve taken a beating on my commission because the family selling would lose everything if I didn’t.  I’ve shown compassion.  I’ve given my heart to my clients.

So do I measure success in black and white numbers that say my production this year is WAY down (like the economy) or WAY up (as in economies past)?  Do I measure success through the fact that I’ve made the top 10 list this month or this year?  While these are fun ‘atta boys, my success is measured when I sit at the closing table with a buyer who’s looked at 100 homes - a buyer whose lost three bids to buy because of multiple offer situations - and I hand her the keys to her new house.  I measure my success in the thanks I receive from people when they tell me everyone else has told them they won’t help because they only want to spend $70,000 on a house.  I measure my success in helping the Hurricane Katrina victim find a safe home after she and her son survived the horrors of that devastating storm.

I don’t measure it in how much money I’ve made or what my production has been this year.  I measure it in my noble deeds, my compassion for my clients, my ability to say yes, but to also say no when necessary.  How do you measure success?

An article was published last week by Suburban Dollar explaining there are three things that could cost you your dream home.  Let me tell you how true this article is and this past month has proven it so.

The title to your home is usually owned by your bank but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are the only ones who hold it hostage. There are several things that could affect the title to your future home and you may have no idea. If someone fails to pay for a debt the creditor could sue to have a lien put on their property to secure repayment of the debt. When the lien is placed on the home the title becomes “dirty” and the selling price of the home would have to both cover the amount of the lien as well as the outstanding mortgage on the home.

I have a buyer who I had to sit down with last week and explain why they probably won’t get to close on their lease purchase.  When a builder doesn’t pay his subcontractors, they put liens on the houses.  In this case, the subcontractor didn’t put one lien on one house… they put it on ALL the homes owned by the builder.

This market - even with all the willing sellers - is still a difficult one to navigate for buyers.  It’s still a hot mess for buyers and sellers and one that dictates the cautionary tale: don’t get too attached to a house until the ink is dry.

Photo from The Cincy Blog.

Foreclosures, bankruptcies, short sales … all have such negative impact on homeowners (or former homeowners to be exact).  However, the stigma of having declared bankruptcy or having lost a home is not as great as it used to be.

Remember in college when we were told, “Look to your left.  Now look to your right.  These people will probably not make it to graduation.”  It almost feels like those days have returned, but instead of not making it to graduation, it’s more like “These people are having financial problems and could lose their homes.”  The stigma of bankruptcy or foreclosure isn’t as great because it could be any of us!

But how long will one of these difficult financial situations follow your credit report?  RIS Media - a firm that specializes in information for real estate professionals - says seven to 10 years.

A foreclosure can be reported on your credit report for seven years from the date the foreclosure was filed in the court.  …

Bankruptcy, she said, legally can remain for 10 years from the date you filed - not the date of discharge or when the bankruptcy is completed. However, credit reporting agencies have agreed to voluntarily remove completed Chapter 13 filings - where someone pays off part or all of their debt under a court-supervised plan - seven years from the date of filing.