Real Estate Investors Have Positive Effect!

The Washington Post

By Justin Pierce

Despite some shifts in the housing market that make it more difficult to earn money investing in residential real estate, a large majority of people in that field plan to buy as many or more properties in the next 12 months to rent out or sell for profit. That’s one of the findings of a study released last month that attempted to measure the impact people involved in income or speculative real estate are having on the housing market . The survey — sponsored by BiggerPockets.com, the nation’s leading social Web site for real estate investors, and Memphis Invest, one of the largest providers of single-family rentals — shows that 65 percent of investors plan to buy a lot more homes during the next 12 months. Still, from my experience in the Washington area, business conditions are changing with rising home prices, stiffening competition and shrinking margins. Anyone seeking to get into real estate investing should proceed with caution and not expect to earn the same money that has been made in the past few years. The report points out that investors played a fairly substantial role in the housing recovery. The housing crisis pushed nearly 4 million foreclosures onto the open market, devastating home values. This and the coinciding financial crisis squashed homebuyers’ confidence and their ability to buy. At that time, real estate investors began buying up the foreclosures when few other people could enter the market. They bought up so many properties that they established single-family rentals as a $100 billion business. In fact, the report says that single-family rentals now outnumber apartment units. They are also renovating the homes they buy and spending an average of $7,500 per home. That totals more than $9.2 billion every year in construction-related spending, according to the report. This is critical business for an industry that was hit hard by the recession

Real Estate Sales Santa Rosa Beach, FL

Market Trends in Niceville Florida

Average Listing Price  $316,792  -1.1%

Median Sales Price  $241,000  +12.1%

Average Price/sqft  $124  +10.7%

Number of Sales  109  -32.7%

Market Report on Miramar Beach Florida

Miramar Beach Summary

The median sales price for homes in Miramar Beach FL for Jul 12 to Sep 12 was $250,000. This represents a decline of 0.8%, or $2,000, compared to the prior quarter and an increase of 8.7% compared to the prior year. Sales prices have depreciated 38.2% over the last 5 years in Miramar Beach. The average listing price for Miramar Beach homes for sale on Trulia was $588,757 for the week ending Oct 03, which represents a decline of 1.7%, or $10,065, compared to the prior week and a decline of 2.9%, or $17,327, compared to the week ending Sep 12. Average price per square foot for Miramar Beach FL was $168, a decrease of 6.1% compared to the same period last year.

 

Market View for Fort Walton Beach

Avg. Listing Price$307,441Wk ending Sep 12

          +$2,656           +0.9% w-o-w

Median Sales Price$145,000Jun ’12 – Aug ’12

        -$2,000         -1.4% y-o-y

532	Homes For Sale	0	Open Homes
396	Recently Sold	496	Foreclosures

Market Trends for Fort Walton Beach

Embed

Average Listing Price

$307,441

+0.9%

w-o-w

Median Sales Price

$145,000

-1.4%

y-o-y

Average Price/sqft

$120

+4.3%

y-o-y

Number of Sales

143

-42.1%

y-o-y

For Sale By Owner–I can do it myself and save lots of money!

The house has to be immaculate inside and out,

Potential buyers are beating on your door and calling the number you posted out in the yard

The legal and financial details of the home sale process loom.

Don’t be tempted to handle this situation by yourself; instead, make your life infinitely easier and use a Realtor to help you sell
your home.

The lure of saving money is a strong one.

Most Realtors charge between 6 to 7% on commission. As the seller, this comes out of your proceeds
at closing. I know you’re thinking that there’s no way that using a Realtor is worth anywhere near this much money.

However, it truly is worth every penny; here are the top reasons why you should use a Realtor when selling your home.

1. The Security of Your Family and Home

You cannot put a value on the security of your family and home. You
want your family to be safe in your home without having to worry. But remember
when I mentioned the hoards of potential buyers for your home? If you sell your
home yourself, you have to meet with each one of these buyers by yourself. The
problem is you never know who these people really are. It’s horrific to
consider, but it has happened where people have gone to a home on the premise of
looking to purchase it and instead have committed a crime.

The realtor, with the use of an electronic lockbox, knows exactly who was in the house AND when!  Realtors also get to know their clients, so there are not strangers casing your home.

When you use a Realtor, you don’t have to meet with the potential buyers and expose yourself and your family to possible harm. Instead, each person that enters your home is accompanied by a licensed Realtor.
Because the person is in your home with a Realtor, you and your family don’t need to be there. This mitigates the risk of someone harming you while in your home.

The chance of someone committing a crime against your property, either through theft or vandalism, is drastically reduced by their Realtor being
present.

2. The Value of Your Time

Let’s consider the hassle of dealing with potential buyers. When you sell your home yourself, you’re the sole contact with potential buyers.
If someone wants information, they contact you. This means your phone can be ringing constantly.  You can’t just ignore these calls; if you do, your house will take even longer to sell.

Remember the part about keeping your house immaculate? When you sell your home yourself, this has to be true 100% of the time.

People can and will pull up outside your home and demand to look inside at any time of the day or night. If you ask them to come back at
a more convenient time, you could easily lose a sale.

By using a Realtor, your time is reaffirmed to be as valuable as I know that it is.  A Realtor handles all the phone calls, and is
specially trained in how to answer these calls professionally without compromising the sale of your home. Your Realtor coordinates the showings
with other Realtors, leaving you with specific times for the showings. This will allow you to relax and enjoy the time you have remaining in your home.

3.  The Value of Peace of Mind for the Future

Selling a home is a complicated legal and financial prospect. Sure, you can buy generic forms to fill out for the Purchase Agreement and everything else.   But what assurance do you have that they’re filled out in a way that protects you for the future? After all, you certainly don’t want to deal with a lawsuit five years from now with your buyer saying that you made an error in the paperwork on the transaction.

When you hire a Realtor, they shoulder this burden. Realtors are required to carry what’s known as Errors & Omissions insurance. This
insurance protects you from such little errors. If there’s a problem, the insurance company is who works to resolve the situation, not you.

So don’t succumb to the lure of saving the commission money.

Hiring a Realtor is the absolute best thing you can do as you prepare to sell your home

Top 10 Agent Protocol Tips – Rules for Working With Agents

By Elizabeth Weintraub

Here are protocols you can use while shopping for a home that will keep you out of hot water:

1. Understand Agents Work on Commission

• Very few real estate agents work on salary.
• Most real estate agents are paid commission. If an agent does not close a transaction, she does not get paid.
• Agents are not public servants and do not work for free. Do not ask an agent to work for you if you intend to cut the agent out of your deal.

2. Keep Appointments & Be On Time

• Be respectful, use common courtesy and don’t expect an agent to drop what she is doing to run out to show you a home. You are probably not that agent’s only prospect / client. And if you are, lord help you.
• Do not make an appointment with an agent and then forget to show up.
• If you are going to be late, call and let your agent know when you expect to arrive.

3. Choose A Real Estate Agent

• Decide whether you want to work without representation: dealing directly with listing agents, or if you want to hire your own agent.
• If you decide to hire your own agent, find an agent with whom you are comfortable.
• If you are interviewing agents, let each agent know you are in the interview stage.
• Never, never, never interview two different agents from the same company. Trust me, don’t do it.

4. Do Not Call The Listing Agent if You Are Working With a Buying Agent

• Listing agents work for the seller, not the buyer. If you hire the listing agent to represent you, that agent will now be working under dual agency.
• If listing agents show you the property, the listing agent will expect to represent you.
• Listing agents do not want to do the buying agent’s job. Let your buyer’s agent do her job.

5. Practice Open House Protocol

• Ask your agent if it’s considered proper for you to attend open houses alone. In some areas, it is frowned upon to go to open houses unescorted.
• Hand your agent’s business card to the agent hosting the open house. Sometimes this agent will be the listing agent, but often it is an agent also looking for unrepresented buyers. Announcing you are represented protects you.
• Do not ask the open house host questions about the seller or the seller’s motivation. Let your agent ask those questions for you.

6. Sign a Buyer’s Broker Agreement with a Buying Agent

• Expect to sign a buyer’s broker agreement. It creates a relationship between you and the agent, and explains the agent’s duties to you and vice versa.
• Ask about the difference between an Exclusive and Non-Exclusive Buyer’s Broker Agreement.
• If you’re not ready to sign a buyer’s broker, do not ask that agent to show you homes. Otherwise, procuring causemay pop up.
• Ask your agent if she will release you from the contract if you become dissatisfied. If she refuses, hire somebody else.

7. Always Ask For and Sign an Agency Agreement

• By law, agents are required to give buyers an Agency Disclosure.
• Signing an agency disclosure is your proof of receipt. It is solely a disclosure. It is not an agreement to agency. Read it.
• The best and most practiced type of agency is the single agency. This mean you are represented by your own agent who owes you a fiduciary responsibility.

8. Make Your Expectations Known

• If you expect your agent to pick you up at your front door and drive you home after showing homes, tell her. Many will provide that service. If not, they will ask you to meet at the office.
• Let your agent know how you want her to communicate with you and how often. Do you want phone calls, e-mails, text messages, IM‘s or all of the above?
• Set realistic goals and a time frame to find your home. Ask your agent how you can help by supplying feedback.
• If you are displeased, say so.

 

Biggest Mistakes Buyers Make in a Hot Seller’s Market

In the current seller’s market that exists in many parts of the country, buyers need to perform near perfectly to attain the home of their dreams. Many of the best new listings that come to market are receiving multiple offers . . . and in just a few days on the market. So what can you do as a buyer to enhance your odds of getting your offer accepted?

1)      Get Serious and Work with a Real Estate Agent – while this sounds like a given, many buyers are casually looking and only get serious when they see a home on the internet and start their quest to buy that home from whatever agent they can find. By the time they get mobilized the home is gone!  Here in the Destin, and most of the Northwest Florida market, many homes that are terrific deals have multiple offers almost immediately after going on the market.

2)      Get Ready to Buy – There are great local lenders here in Destin, Niceville, Fort Walton Beach, Crestview, and Navarre markets – be sure to get prequalified or better yet preapproved for your loan. This eliminates any surprises and demonstrates to sellers that you are serious, qualified, and able to close. Have your proof of funds ready to show which is often required.  Especially if you find a foreclosure, they will want this proof of funds to come with the offer.

3)      Operate with a Sense of Urgency – Have your real estate agent set you up a new listings alert and when a hot property comes to market moving quickly is extremely important. If a listing comes to market on a Wednesday, waiting until Saturday to see it because you want to watch TV won’t work. Always assume that other interested buyers are seeing the home on day 1 and making an offer on day 1!

4)      Make Clean Offers – offers that are not clean result in delays and counter offers– delays results in more buyer offers – multiple offers drive prices up and probability of getting your dream home down. If there is something specific that the seller is looking for in your offer do everything possible to accommodate it.

Why Hire A Real Estate Agent?

The typical real estate transaction involves at least two dozen separate individuals – insurance assessors, mortgage brokers and underwriters, inspectors, appraisers, escrow officers, buyer’s agents, seller’s agents, bankers, title researchers, and a number of other individuals whose actions and decisions have to be orchestrated in order to perform in harmony and get a home sale closed. It is the responsibility of your real estate agent to expertly coordinate all the professionals involved in your home purchase and to act as the advocate for you and your interests throughout.

Seven main roles of your real estate agent
A Buyer’s Real Estate Agent:

1. Educates you about your market.
2. Analyzes your wants and needs.
3. Guides you to homes that fit your criteria.
4. Coordinates the work of other needed professionals.
5. Negotiates on your behalf.
6. Checks and double-checks paperwork and deadlines.
7. Solves any problems that may arise.

Home Staging–Things That Help (Or Hinder)

Silly Staging Ideas Room-by-Room:

Living Room. Displaying photos of people more attractive than family members by hanging frames with manufacturers’ photos still inside, or even displaying photos of celebrities around the room, are not good ideas. Not only silly, this breaks the ‘de-personalize’ staging rule. Remove any photos, diplomas or similar items, as they do nothing but distract buyers.  Look for some tasteful art for staging instead.

Kitchen and Dining Room. Nothing screams ‘staged home’ like a formally set dining room. Less is more! Skip the formal setting and put a simple vase of flowers on the table instead. Clear kitchen counters of all clutter and add a simple bowl of fruit for a clean, open look.

Bedroom. The casually draped throw over the foot of the bed with ‘tea for two’ on top has been overdone, and buyers know you don’t live that way. Invest in some nice bedding, put night tables on either side of the bed and include one long dresser and a tall chest of drawers in the master bedroom. If the room seems crowded with those items, use a double bed instead of a queen or king.

Bathroom.Tassels draped over hand towels, seashells nestled atop a stack of towels wrapped in a bow and champagne flutes on the bathtub are perhaps befitting for a honeymoon suite, but not a family home. Don’t fill the bathtub with blue-tinted water and don’t tie a ribbon around the toilet seat either. These have been done, but don’t make the same silly mistake. Invest in new hand towels, a new shower curtain and remove personal items from countertops such as toothbrushes and makeup.

A buyer won’t buy based on dining room settings or a frou-frou bathroom. After staging your home, you want a clean, de-personalized, clutter-free space. If you’ve done a good job, a buyer won’t be able to tell it was staged at all.