Not Found business of real estate | Garage with a Detached Home | Gwinnett County GA

LaneBailey.com

Garage with a Detached Home

Contact Lane

  • Browse Listings

    Take a look at what is currently on the market in the areas that interest you.

    Read More

  • Custom Listings

    Sign up to get notified when new listingscome on the market that meet your specs.

    Read More

  • What's YOUR Home Worth?

    Get a free Maximum Price Analysis to find out the current market value of your home.

    Read More
  • 1

Follow Me on Pinterest

Category Archives: business of real estate

Don’t make me call you…

Thursday, 08 May 2008 23:23
Written by
3 Comments

I hate cold calling. I’m not likely to do it. The world is in a much better way when you call me.

I hate GETTING the calls. I bet you do, too. If you are a seller and your listing expires… you know EXACTLY what I mean. A hundred agents calling isn’t that uncommon. A long time ago I had a listing that expired (I was the agent on it) and I got 50 calls on one day… and I said in the listing that I was the agent.

I don’t want people to yell at me and hang up.

I don’t want people to set the phone down in front of the TV.

I don’t want air horns or sirens blared in my ear.

But, if you listing is expiring, or has expired… call me. We can talk about why. We can see if there is a way to get your house sold. As you might figure out from this post… I’m not going to employ thumb screws. I am not going to put on the pressure and go for the hard sell.

What I am going to do is tell you the truth. I’m also going to help you find out why your house isn’t sold. That is the goal. Right?

From the Mailbag… Part VII (Foreclosure deals?)

Wednesday, 07 May 2008 23:04
Written by
0 Comments

I did the first six parts of this on my A/R blog.  I thought I would drop one here, too…  Here are the previous visits to the mailbag:

Part I, Buyer’s Price Range

Part II, When should we start to look?

Part III, New Homes inducements

Part IV, Should we sell?

Part V (A), What should we do to our house?

Part V (B), And what else?

Part VI, Why didn’t my house sell?

I get asked a lot about foreclosures.  A LOT.  Seriously.  Everyone is thinking that there is money to be made in foreclosures, or killer, super-duper, bona-fide deals.  And… there are.  But, these are dangerous waters.  Navigate carefully.

What it comes down to is that there are some VERY important considerations to keep in mind when looking at foreclosures.  These are also true with short sales and pre-foreclosure sales… in fact, almost ANY distressed property is going to have pitfalls.

There are only two tools that can be used to address the pitfalls.  Either or both may need to be employed.  Money.  Time. Anything can be solved by money alone.  You can simply hire someone to take care of it.  Some things CAN’T be solved with just time, but time can be traded in for money.

  • Here is the first thing to remember, Time is NOT free.  If you are looking at a house, and it needs paint and other work, even though the money isn’t high (paint is only a couple hundred dollars for a whole house), it WILL take a lot of time if it isn’t hired out.  And that is time that you could work or play or stare at the TV… or blog.

So, since we know that no matter what, there will be expenses, and we can be sure that the “seller” won’t want to come out of pocket with a lot of allowances…

  • Know that buying a distressed property requires cash AFTER the closing. It might be as cheap as paint and serious cleaning… and filters and septic treatments, etc.  Or it might be a roof and fixing foundation damage.

The next thing that needs to be kept in mind is that when people can’t make the house payment, or they are stretched to the absolute limit, maintenance is NOT a priority.  We have a euphemism… deferred maintenance.  Even in homes that look good at first glance, there will be things that have been let go.

  • Next on the list, Inspections are your friend.  And don’t think that the inspection is something you should scrimp on.  Get a good inspector.  Get an inspector that you trust.  Ask questions.  Understand EXACTLY what the results are, and how they will affect you.

Since everyone is asking me about foreclosures and distressed properties, I know that there is competition for the “best” deals.  That’s right.  Right here in the middle of a huge Buyer’s Market, there are properties that have competition.  Low-ball offers and outrageous demands aren’t making it with the banks in general (even on the properties that suck…) and certainly not on the ones that are actually worth buying.

  • Finally, when you find a good deal, be ready to buy it.  Just because Katie Couric and Clark Howard are saying that this is the best buyer’s market in the last 40 years, for money making properties, you have to move and move fast.

I love to get question.  Email me, and I will answer your questions on my blog, or via email.

Biggest no brainer in the history of Earth

Thursday, 01 May 2008 21:08
Written by
1 Comment

If you are in the Atlanta area… or even if you aren’t… you’ve probably heard the commercials.  His tagline is “It’s the biggest no-brainer in the history of Earth.”  Usually he starts with some obvious pronouncements… and then he launches into something else.

But a recurring theme is “… no closing costs.  We don’t roll them into the cost of the loan, we pay them…”  There is one little problem.  He fails to mention that the consumer DOES pay the closing costs… in fact, they pay WAY more than the closing costs.  They pay a bit of that every month.

How you ask?

With a higher interest rate.  The broker makes a better spread by charging a higher rate.  So, he makes his money on the front end because he can sell the loan for more money.  If you keep the loan for a while, that extra little bit of interest rate can cost several times the original closing costs.

My friend Ken Cook at Novation Mortgage ran across a Cease and Desist order from the state of Georgia against this company for deceptive advertising practices.  Here is a link to Ken.

Now, why do I bring this up?

Honestly, if you are buying a house from me, I don’t care so much where you get your loan.  To a certain extent.  What I don’t like to see:

  • Buyers getting ripped off by high rates
  • Mortgage brokers that don’t fulfill their promises (fail to fund, don’t stand behind their pre-qual letters, don’t return calls while things are going south)
  • Mortgage Brokers that put their buyers through the wringer before giving them a loan.
  • Buyers being lied to.

So, I don’t care where my buyers get their loan.  I don’t get kickbacks from lenders for steering business to them.  I recommend a few people… because I know that I won’t have to deal with the things I don’t like to see.  Occasionally, I might ask that one of the lenders I know run a buyer through their process (especially when I am working with a seller and things for the buyer are looking wonky).

The reason for the post is that I am tired of this particular company not telling the truth.

And here is how you can tell…

Get several quotes.  Call a couple different brokers.  If someone is out of the normal range, ask why.  If they are low, ask if they are going to bring YOUR loan in to closing at that rate and payment.   Ask how you can be sure of that.

And, the biggest no-brainer in the history of Earth is to think that this guy doesn’t make any money when he writes a loan…

What would my agent do?

Wednesday, 30 April 2008 21:05
Written by
0 Comments

A month or so ago, I posed a question on ActiveRain. It was interesting, and another post I recently ran across brought it back up in my mind.

If you have a real estate license, would you still hire an agent to sell your home?

It is an interesting question to ask real estate agents for a couple of reasons:

  • One of the reasons that REAs (real estate agents) give to unrepresented sellers (FSBOs) that they should hire an agent is because of the emotional detachment a neutral agent can provide.
  • I see a lot of agents poorly representing themselves.
  • Quite often on forums or venues that have a lot of anti-REA support, consumers will say that in order to save money they would be better off getting a license and doing it themselves.

And there are two comparisons I’m drawn to immediately when I think on this question.

  • A mechanic will usually do their own repair work. They know that they can trust themselves to take more care of their car than someone else. They have all of the tools (and as REAs, we should too!). They have the ability.
  • Lawyers generally don’t represent themselves. They pay another professional to handle it… while remaining emotionally uninvolved to the same level. Even though they have the tools and ability, it is in their best interest to hire out the job.

In the interest of complete disclosure, I don’t know if i will sell my own house when it is time to move. I think that I would market it better than another agent might… but I don’t have that emotional distance. My sons are growing up here. My wife and I bought this house from DisneyWorld while we were on our honeymoon. I don’t know if i would want to save the money, or if I would decide to hire it out.

But, the real reason for this post is this: I have been seeing a lot of agent owned properties for sale lately… and they are so poorly represented it isn’t funny. Few and/or poor pictures. Showing restrictions. Bad staging. Lousy descriptions. Over-priced. Every sin we rail against… right there for the world to see.

I know I won’t be hiring one of those agents…

What is my agent doing to sell my home?

Saturday, 26 April 2008 10:09
Written by
5 Comments

That is a question that every seller asks when their home isn’t sold.  And it is a very valid question.

Let’s look at a few things:

  • The number of buyers that begin their search on the internet is approaching 90%

Does your home have an exceptional internet presence?  Sure, it is on the MLS, and that means that some sources that get “feeds” from the MLS will have it, like Realtor.com.  Your agent may also post it on Craigslist… good strategy, but not exceptional.  Does your home have a website?  What is on the website?  How does it compare with other homes in your neighborhood?

  • Buyers want to see pictures.

FMLS allows 12 pictures.  This is up from 8 pictures last year.  Only about 20% of listings have 12 pictures.  Only about 10% have a virtual tour of some sort.  Almost half of the listings don’t even have 8 pictures.  About 15% only have one picture… or worse, NO picture.  If there aren’t pictures, buyers won’t take the time to visit the house.  If the pictures aren’t good, the buyers won’t take the time to visit the house.

  • What is in the ad copy?

If you’ve spent any time looking at listings, you will notice that most of the ad copy is interchangeable.  I wonder if some agents just recycle the same stuff for every listing.  Listing the features and rooms of a house isn’t going to sell the house.  It might get a look, and there certainly is a place for telling a buyer what is there, but look at the advertising that grabs your attention and makes you want to look into a product… is it facts and figures?  Or is it about lifestyle?

Here are a few things that you should be doing with your agent:

  • Look over the agent and buyer copies of the listing sheet.
  • Review where the property is being promoted (keep in mind that there will be extras and it is very difficult to keep up with every Craigslist ad… sometimes they are updated every two days).
  • Make sure that your property has a website and that it is promoted on all of the flyers, ads, etc.  There is a lot more space to talk about the property on a website than any flyer.
  • Review the other houses that a buyer might look at to see exactly how yours stands up.
  • Be honest with yourself.
  • After looking at the other homes, put on your “I’m a buyer with no preconceived notions about any of these houses” hat… and think about how your home compares to the others.
  • Look at the price again.

Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

  • Buyers prefer a house that is ready to go, even if it costs a little more than one that “needs a little TLC.”
  • Buyers won’t overpay for a house.
  • Buyers probably won’t look at a house if they think it is overpriced.
  • Buyers will start to form their opinion of your house BEFORE they step through the front door.
  • Buyers will start to form their opinion about your house before they get into the neighborhood.
  • Buyers will start to form their opinion about your house when they see the first picture… at this point it is likely that their opinion is positive… that means that if they are coming to look they are excited about your house and if nothing spoils it, they will remain positive.
  • Details matter… even details that shouldn’t matter.
  • If your house isn’t available, there is a good chance it won’t be seen by that buyer later… they will just move on.

Yesterday I wrote a post on my Active Rain blog about a listing I ran across that was Unacceptable.   That kind of situation angers me.  And there isn’t much I can do about it.  But, hopefully I can educate a few sellers so that they aren’t victims of this type of behavior.

We will cover this subject in the Seller Seminar in May.

Copyright © 2009 - 2019 Garage with a Detached Home | Gwinnett County GA. All Rights Reserved. Created by Blog Copyright.