One of the anxiety high-points during the sale of a home is waiting for the buyer’s home inspection report.  Most sellers willingly disclose what they know about their home to any potential buyers.  The concern stems from the inspector finding something that they’re totally unaware of and that it will either cost them a lot of money to correct or the buyer will simply use it to void the contract.

If the inspection does reveal some unknown problem with the home, it’s probably as big a surprise to the buyer who is not as emotionally or financially invested as the seller.  It is human nature to fear what you don’t understand and when a report identifies defects, they may simply opt-out of the home.

The solution to the situation may be for the seller to have the home inspected prior to putting it on the market.  There is still a risk of becoming surprised by an unknown defect which at that point, would have to be disclosed to potential buyers or repaired by the seller.  The advantage is that it creates a baseline to compare discrepancies that may arise when a future buyer has the home inspected.

If the seller’s inspection report is made available during the marketing process, it could give buyers a sense of confidence about the home even though they may still choose to have the home checked by their own inspector.

The cost of the inspection, possibly $500, keeps some sellers from taking this initiative when selling their home.  In an effort to minimize their expenses, they forego getting valuable, disinterested 3rd party advice that could help sell their home.  On a $175,000 home, the fee for the inspection will probably be less than 3/10 of one percent of the sales price.

Another option to the seller to increase marketability of the property and bolster buyer confidence in the home would be to offer a home protection plan.  Generally, the seller doesn’t incur cost for this coverage until the home is sold and there may even be some coverage for the seller during the listing period.  The benefit to the buyer is avoiding unanticipated expenses for specific items that are covered during their first year of ownership.

Contact me for recommendations of home inspectors or home protection plans.

 

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

When you’re buying or selling, the obvious source to get your real estate question answered is your agent but where do you go the rest of the time?  As a homeowner for many years to come, you’ll need reliable help and solid suggestions.

Our business goal is to have a select group of our friends and past customers who consider us their lifelong real estate professional. We want to earn that trusted position so they’ll enthusiastically refer their friends to us.  Our plan to achieve this is simply to help these people with all of their real estate needs not just when they buy or sell but for all the years in between.

Throughout the year, we offer reminders and suggestions by email and social media that benefit your homeowner experience.  When we find good articles to help you be a better homeowner, we’ll pass them along.  You’ll discover new ways to maintain your property, minimize expenses and manage debt and risk.

We want to be your “Go-To” person for everything to do with real estate.  If we don’t have the answer you need, we’ll point you in the right direction to find it.

We’re here for you and your friends…now and in the future.  Please let us know how we can help you.

 

 

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

 

At the start of our day, I sent this quote to my team to remind them that the depth of their desire definitely impacts their success. The responses I got back were surprising, after their initial “WOW” wore off, they realized that their desire wasn’t at the depth they needed it to be at to achieve their goals. So, they began wanting their success on a whole new level! I believe desire is the motivating factor that compels people to come up with creative solutions to be successful.  When people want to succeed as desperately as they want to breathe, it is impossible to stop them! 

I took a course recently that strongly suggested that we stop being negative.  I participated at a high level and it resulted in tremendously helping me personally and in my business.  I’m not judging, I’m just saying that negative thoughts result in negative actions.  From a scientific prospective, we were taught that our cells actually eavesdrop on our thoughts and subsequently we become our thoughts.  So the theory here is to have positive thoughts and you will get positive actions.  Now this is nothing new there are many books written on the subject.  One famous book I can think of is: The power of positive thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.  We may not be able to control our 1^st thought but we can control our second and with enough practice we can eventually control our every thought.  To achieve this, the course taught us to wear a rubber bracelet and we were to switch wrists every time we had a negative thought.  What this resulted in was a raised level of awareness of all the negative energy in our lives and to focus on changing our thoughts.  As the weeks went by, I found myself receiving phone calls from family and friends, wanting me to come and list their homes, or help them find a home.  The positive energy came pouring in and I believe it was a result of putting positive energy out.  I feel it helped me in my personal life as well; one result was it helped me become a better listener.  Really listening to people helped me isolate the actual issues and not focus on the “smoke” so to speak, instead to focus on the “fire”.  In practicing this, I have been able to give great advice, which helped my loved ones and clients alike.  My big take away from the course: when we have positive energy we can use it to have a great life.

 

 

 

Refinance to Remove a Person

Most people are familiar with the various reasons a homeowner refinances their home which generally result in two major benefits: saving interest and building equity.

There is however another reason to refinance which may not be as common which is to remove a person from the loan. In the case of a divorce, when one party wants to keep the home and the other party wants their equity out of the home, it is possible for the remaining party to refinance the home. If the equity is sufficient to justify it and the remaining owner can qualify for the new loan, the refinance can provide the proceeds to buy out the other spouse.

Refinancing to remove a person from the loan could also involve a situation where two or more heirs jointly own a property and have differing opinions on when to sell. The same situation could apply to a rental property with multiple owners and the refinance would provide a way to buy out a partner.

Sometimes, it’s not about taking cash out of the home to buy out the other party. If a person’s name is on the mortgage, they’re responsible if it goes to default. One party may be willing to deed the home to the other party but it doesn’t necessarily relieve them of the liability of the mortgage they originated.

Many times, once a person has made their mind to move on, they’ll take the fastest and easiest way out. Removing a person from the deed or a mortgage is a reason to consider obtaining legal advice to protect your interests. Refinance Analysis calculator.

Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News