Real Estate Transitions
Moving UP or DOWN, or just moving can be a headache in itself.
Staying at home in 2020 caused of lot of owners to think about how nice it would be to have a larger home to accommodate the additional activities that come along with isolating. Particularly for people with children at home or possibly, the potential of either adult children or parents coming to live with them.
There are other owners who are trying to weigh the pros and cons of selling their larger home and downsizing. For entirely different reasons, the advantages could be very appealing to an owner. A smaller home is easier to maintain and usually, has lower utilities, insurance, and property taxes.
Some people might be considering the convenience and ease of mobility of a single level home. It may be finding a location with proximity to the activities they are now interested in. A newer home might have less maintenance and be more energy efficient.
Married taxpayers who have owned and occupied a principal residence for two years can exclude up to $500,000 of capital gain while a single taxpayer can exclude up to $250,000. Liquidating the equity in their home without a tax liability could have multiple benefits.
Some people might choose to pay cash for the replacement home. Others might put 20% down to avoid mortgage insurance and possibly, even get a 15-year loan to get the lowest rate. The balance of the equity could be invested at a rate higher than the interest on their new mortgage. Still, others might want to have some reserve funds available for whatever the next unanticipated crisis might be.
It could be a way to fund a longtime goal like children’s or grandchildren’s education, or wedding, or a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Maybe part of the equity could be used to start a business or make a grant to a worthwhile charity.
Selling a home and purchasing another will have expenses involved that have to be taken into consideration. Purchase costs could be 1.5 to 3% while sales expenses could be easily be 2.5 times that much. The transition of selling and buying in itself is very technical. There are many moving parts to keep in mind so ensure a smooth transition.
Regardless of whether it is moving to a larger home or a smaller one, now may be a good time to make the move. Due to the low inventory in most markets, homes are selling quickly, many times, in less than a few days. Normally, these winter months typically have less activity which means less competition for buyers. Although with inventory as low as it is, the competition continues to be strong.
Another driving factor are the incredibly low mortgage rates. As of 1/21/21, the 30-year fixed rate was at 2.77% and the 15-year at 2.21%. This environment is encouraging many buyers to purchase as they see prices continue to increase.
Like any other big change in life, it is recommended that you take your time to consider the possible alternatives and outcomes that may affect you. You can expect that we will provide information that can be valuable in the discernment process such as what your home is worth, what you will net from a sale, marketing strategies, as well as, alternative properties for your next stage in life.
If you would like any professional residential Real Estate advice, contact us at Paramount Real Estate Services. 1008 12th St. SE Salem, OR 97302 503-851-1645
Also, to mobilize us right away to help you move, visit us here:
The Value of Pre Listing Inspections
Pre-Listing Inspections
Imagine what happens when there is not a pre-listing inspection. The buyer contracts for the home with a provision for professional home inspection. When it is made, there could be things that the buyer didn’t expect or even, anticipate. If it doesn’t trigger an action to terminate the contract, the buyer will inevitably, ask the seller to make all the repairs.
When presented with the buyer’s request, the seller may take the opposite position of not wanting to do any of the repairs. The buyer could accept the property in its “as is” condition or negotiate the repairs or a reduced price with the seller.
Any experienced agent can tell you that sometimes a mutually agreed negotiation is reached and other times, an impasse is met that cannot be resolved. The contract is terminated, and the house has to go back on the market but this time, a disclosure has to be made to all parties looking at the home which may deter showings.
Taking a pro-active approach, by obtaining a pre-listing inspection, the seller can find out about things that will probably show up in a buyer’s inspection. They can get them repaired before the home is shown and it will help the buyer feel more confident with the home. Another option would be to disclose them as not working and make a price adjustment, either way, the seller is in control and is taking a position of transparency with potential buyers.
In some cases, the pre-listing inspection may show things in working order that the buyer’s inspection indicates as needing repair. With two disinterested parties having opposing opinions, negotiations have a more likely chance for a mutual agreement.
Disclosing things that are not in working order can reduce liability in the future. Some deficiencies with the home are not discovered prior to the closing and the surprise issues could lead to liability. The pre-listing inspection by a professional combined with the seller disclosing it properly can reduce potential liability.
For the small investment in the pre-listing inspection, the benefits are well worth the expense. For example, it can provide opportunities to take care of potential issues on your own time with control over who does the work at a certain cost. For a qualified do-it-yourself type homeowner, some items may lend to offering you to perform the work before a buyer puts the house in contract. This can save a lot of money and time without needing the work of a contractor, although it can be risky to take on the liability if repairs are not performed correctly and to code.
You and potential buyers will also have a better idea of the condition of your property and know what to expect. You can present the property in a transparent way that will build confidence with the buyer. You’ll avoid unpleasant surprises as well as possible delays or terminations. Starting over as a seller can be a very challenging hurdle to overcome depending on the market conditions. Pre-listing inspections can lead to faster sales and satisfaction for everyone involved.
For more information, download the Sellers Guide.
Homes Coming Soon
Four Things Sellers Should Do Before the Sign Goes in the Yard
Just like buyers should be pre-approved before they begin to look at houses, Sellers should have their home pre-approved. The reasons are similar: appeal to the “right” buyers, discover issues with the home early, improve marketability, increase negotiations position and close quicker.
For the seller, there are few things that need to be done before the sign goes in the yard and definitely before prospective buyers see the home. The first is to understand that once you decide to sell the home that it needs to appeal to the broadest base of buyers and that means depersonalizing your home.
Once the home is sold, you will need to pack your things for the new home. Think of this as starting the process early. Get moving boxes and make decisions on what you intend to give away or discard in each room and closet. Identify and pack those items before the home goes on the market. This will be the first wave of making your home more marketable.
When your home hits the market, it needs to be a neutral commodity and not “your” home. A good rule of thumb is to remove items that involve religion, hunting and sports. That means removing personal items like family photos or collections displayed in the room.
Next, in round two, go through every room to remove the items that make too large of a statement or take up too much room. Pool tables may be appropriate in a game room, but they are not in a dining room or a living room.
Personal collections may have taken you years to accumulate and you’re proud of them but the people who come to see your home will either not appreciate them or they will become distracted by looking at them instead of the home. The livability of your home needs to be the focal point. The buyers need to visualize themselves living in the property that will become “their” home.
The four most important rooms to address are the primary bedroom, kitchen, living room and dining room. These rooms have a major influence on buyers when determining whether “it is the right home.” Bright colors, possibly used as accent walls, should be neutralized.
After you have depersonalized the home and removed non-essential items that could make the rooms or closets look small, you might want to consider another technique referred to as staging. Rearranging furniture so the room shows to its best advantage is simple and doesn’t cost a thing. You might decide that a coffee table or statement piece would be nice and your REALTOR® or stager can suggest a place to rent it rather than buying it.
Once the home is depersonalized and staged, you are ready to have a professional photographer take the pictures that visually describe your home to potential buyers long before they ever look at the home physically. These will be used on websites, portal sites, MLS, and social media. Anyone with a point and shoot camera thinks they are a photographer but a pro with the correct wide angle lens, who understands lighting and has an “eye” for what makes a great picture is worth every dime you’ll spend.
One more consideration should be to have the home inspected before it goes on the market. It won’t replace the buyer’s inspections but it will discover any items that need repair and they should be done before the home goes on the market. This will probably save you money because it might cost less to repair them than they’ll want in second round of negotiations when their inspector finds it.
Another benefit is that if their inspector identifies a problem area that your inspector did not, you have a basis for legitimate disagreement that could just be personal opinion instead of a “fact.”
While the process of depersonalizing should take part before you put the home on the market, you’ll want you have the benefit of your real estate agent’s experience to help you with the process. At age 18, a person can expect to move nine more times but by age 45, they may only expect to move another 2.7 times. Your REALTOR®’s experience can be valuable not only in saving your time and money but actually, make the difference in a successful sale.
If you would like any professional residential Real Estate advice, contact us at Paramount Real Estate Services. 1008 12th St. SE Salem, OR 97302 503-851-1645
Also, to mobilize us right away to help you move, visit us here:
Home Values
Who Decides Value?
The seller can put a price on the home but the value is ultimately, determined by the buyer. Individually, a buyer could pay over market value because they love the location, or the elevation of the home or the proximity to something that is important to them. The shortage of available homes resulting in increased competition among buyers could drive the value higher.
Most experts agree initially pricing it properly will generally result in the highest sales price. If a home starts out too high, it could actually sell for a lower price after it has been on the market for a while. It gives the impression that there must be something “wrong” with the house because it didn’t sell immediately.
So, how does a seller determine what price to put on the home? It has nothing to do with what the seller needs to get out of it. Nor does the price the seller paid for it make any difference now. Even if the seller made considerable improvements, they may not affect the value of the home.
There are three common sources for a seller to determine market value: an appraisal, a broker price opinion or an automated value model found online.
AVM, automated value models, are mathematical estimates that analyze limited public record data to determine a value. While this process can easily compare square footage, age, number of bedrooms as objective data, it is much more challenging to make adjustments for subjective data like appeal, quality of construction, floorplan and updating. Zillow Zestimates are the most common AVMs but there are many others providing similar services. It is important to note that many of these values are just gimmicks to get website traction and are not all that accurate.
Appraisals can only be made by a licensed appraiser. Most mortgages require an appraisal as part of the underwriting process to verify that there is ample collateral to secure the mortgage in case of default by the borrower. FHA, VA, FNMA, Freddie Mac and USDA as well as most private lenders require an appraisal especially for high loan-to-value mortgages. In some situations where the risk is lower, some lenders may use an AVM.
An appraisal requires the appraiser to visit the property, perform a visual inspection, analyze the property considering three approaches to value and accurately report the property information that is verifiable.
Broker Price Opinion, BPO, as the name indicates, is a price opinion on a property made by a licensed real estate agent. The determination of whether the estimate accurately reflects the market will depend on the experience of the agent with that type of property and market area. It is possible that a BPO could be more sensitive to the actual market because it will consider homes currently for sale and recently expired properties as well as comparable sales.
While all three methods, used recent, comparable sales to arrive at a value, the appraiser and the real estate professional can make a series of adjustments for the differences in the comparables. While the appraiser is highly trained in this technique, the real estate professional also adds credibility to this process based on their experience in how the buying public might react to specific features and the home in general including positive and negative influences.
Current condition of the property is very important for a number of reasons. In some price ranges, a buyer may only have the necessary down payment and closing costs but is not able to make improvements like paint, floor coverings, appliances or other major items. In this situation, a buyer would have to live with the house in its current condition until they could afford to make wanted improvements.
Investors may not be deterred by making an additional investment in the home after purchasing it but will probably be motivated to do so only if it will increase the potential profit to be made.
An AVM can be a tool that a homeowner, prospective buyer, mortgage officer, appraiser or real estate agent can use to get a quick idea of price but there are inherent limitations that can only be considered by personal examination balanced with experience in the market place.
Experience and understanding of the subject property and the marketplace are critical to having confidence that a value is accurate. Any person could go through the same steps to arrive at a value but an experienced, well-trained professional is far more likely to assess all of the variables more accurately. If you are curious what your home is worth, call us at (503) 851-1645 or email brianandnina@paramountoregon.
Also, to mobilize us right away to help you move, visit us here:
How much does Convenience Cost?
Convenience at a Cost
The convenience of selling your home without the hassle of getting it ready, putting it on the market, showings, open houses, negotiations and repairs comes at a cost … a significant part of your equity.
The companies, referred to as iBuyers, that buy homes from sellers are for-profit organizations. They expect to make a profit from sellers who are willing to discount the proceeds they’ll realize as an alternative to the conventional method of selling a home for people who need a quick sale.
The promotions for these companies generally state that you can receive a cash offer in a few minutes after putting your address online. The discount can be between 10 to 18% compared to normal selling costs from 6 to 9%. The cost to a person with a $100,000 equity could be as much as ten thousand dollars.
Even after you have accepted an offer, there can be contingencies in the contract that allow the company to inspect the home to discover the condition and reassess the offer to possibly make even more deductions. If the seller isn’t willing to accept them, the buyer can withdraw from the sale without penalty.
This appears on the surface to be a friendly, accommodating service but it can be an adversarial situation. The seller wants to maximize their proceeds and the buyer wants to buy it as cheap as possible.
Compare this to working directly with a real estate professional acting as your agent. They have to put your interests above their own. They have a fiduciary duty of care, integrity, honesty and loyalty in their dealings with you. Other duties include confidentiality, disclosure, obedience and accounting to the seller.
In this traditional model, your agent will provide you with the facts of what homes have sold for in the area and their opinion and recommendations on what the most likely sales price will be. Your agent will provide you an estimate of the sales expenses based on different sales possibilities.
They can advise you on work to be done prior to putting the home on the market, staging so your home will show at its best and estimate the time it will be on the market. Based on low inventories in some price ranges, it could be surprisingly short.
As an owner, you made an investment in your home in cash and maintenance. You are entitled to maximize your proceeds based on the risk taken to purchase a home instead of renting. The convenience of a quick offer has a cost to it. You need to compare the two alternatives to see which one benefits you the most based on your individual situation.
For more information, download the Sellers Guide.
If you would like any professional residential Real Estate advice, contact us at Paramount Real Estate Services. 1008 12th St. SE Salem, OR 97302 503-851-1645
Also, to mobilize us right away to help you move, visit us here:
Sellers
April Jobs Report tied to Strategic Defaults?
Jobs continued to gain in the month of April according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics. 290,000 non farm jobs were created with 66,000 of them for the government as temporary jobs for the census continue to gain momentum. Have you had your friendly census worker visit you yet?
Over the last 2.5 years this Great Recession has contributed to approximately 8 Million jobs lost. Last months jobs report is encouraging, but I am not expecting numbers like that to follow month after month. And even if it did it would take about 3 years to get all of those jobs back that we lost. I hate to be a pessimist here. I want this our economy to thrive again and thrive now! I hope I am wrong, but I just don’t see how we can continue to spend the money that we don’t have and sustain any kind of momentum that we are seeing. The bailout of Greece is a prime example of that. The U. S. holds 17% responsibility in the International Monetary Fund and they just decided to bail out Greece for a whopping 1 Trillion Dollars! Greece is a perfect example of entitlement programs coming to a head. The working class can not afford to pay for all of these programs! More taxes means higher costs for good and services or less jobs. Period.
A lot of this “growth” that we are seeing is believed to be due to the seasonal time of year and the notion that many people are out spending more money instead of paying for their mortgage every month. Many of these are people who have jobs and have the money to pay for their bills, but they are strategically missing payments in order to have a little more fun this year. People are frustrated that their equity is gone so they are not seeing the value in making their mortgage payments. This is known as Strategic Defaulting. They miss a couple of months, which can mount out to a chunk of change, every month or so until the bank comes knocking. The borrower then makes a payment to appease their lender and the cycle continues over and over again. This obviously brings up a moral dilemma. What would you do? Studies show that once the value of a person’s home decreases to 75% of their balance owed, that person considers a strategic default. The more popular this idea becomes the more people will consider it. This won’t help out the recovery of our economy, but it is the sign of the times.