Should I buy or Wait in Today’s Market

Have you ever gone shopping and found the perfect item but you wanted to wait for it to go on sale only to find out that it is no longer available?  It is disappointing.  Housing can have the same result with decisions such as: “ We will just wait until the interest rate drops; ’ We will wait until the housing hits bottom ;’ or, ‘we will save up more for a bigger down payment’.”   A lot of folks were going to wait until the interest rate dropped some more when it was 5.5%, now the average is around 6.3%.  In many places the homes have actually gone up slightly, only some areas “bottomed out.”  Waiting for a bigger down payment may not be a wise thing when a home can be bought several thousands of dollars less than last year.  By the time the additional down payment is saved up, homes very well could have gone up.  All of these things need to be weighed against your ability to pay your house payment.  Another consideration is the $7500 tax credit new to first time home buyers.  In addition, weigh the pros and cons of interest write offs against what your rent and house payment would be.  These are just a few ideas to think about in today’s market where it is the best time to buy with large inventories and interest rates so low.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Should I Take the Offer on My Home- Part II

Probably the most difficult part of selling a home is whether or not to accept or reject an offer given to you.  Do I accept it as written?  Do I reject it and counter offer?  Do I just reject it with no response?  What is the answer?  It depends on you.  It is tempting to work with an offer that is brought to you even though it is nothing close to what you had wanted.  Some times it is better to just simply reject those types of offers.  A rejection and then a counter tells them some of what you would have liked but when two people are so far apart it doesn’t always make sense to let them know what you would have taken that quickly.  Even in a more difficult market, if it is not what you wanted, just turn it down.  It saves everyone involved a lot of time.  There are exceptions.  Even though the offer is low, there may be something out there you want that would save you money; or, make you more money,  so it is wise to work with the offer on the table.  If you are facing foreclosure, it is better to have a little money than to risk loosing it all and have a foreclosure on your record that you have to work against for the next few years.  If the offer is within a few thousand dollars and it is a difficult market with an average of six months market time, it may be wise to save six months payments and take a little less for your home.  The bottom line is….it is your bottom line that matters.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

How to sell a home quicker-Part I

Have you ever wondered why one home on the same street which is similar in design sells months ahead of another one? What is the secret?  There are many factors that makes one home more saleable than another.  Maybe one home has a bigger yard.  Perhaps one is a corner lot while another is in a court.  One home may have a steeper driveway than the other.  One of the neighbors may be less tidy than another which may turn customers to the other home.  These are all factors that usually cannot be changed.  Fortunately, most of the things that attract buyers are in our control.

The condition of the home would be the most important item.  Most buyers have saved up for the purchase of a home and don’t have money left over to repair things; or, replace big items such as carpeting.  If you don’t have the money to re-carpet, a carpet allowance could be very helpful to the buyer.  If the bank will not allow a cash credit for carpeting (roof, heat and air etc), then perhaps the seller could pay some of the buyer’s closing costs to preserve the buyer’s cash to do these things.  One of my “pet peeves” is sellers passing their maintenance issues on to the buyers.  For example, the roof is 20 years old, curling and obviously needs to be replaced. Unless a roof is upgraded, it doesn’t usually add value to a home.  However, a new roof will help the home sell quicker and would give that competitive edge one home over another.  Buyers expect such things as roofs, driveways, windows etc to be functional. 

Comments (0) | Permalink | Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Parallel Marketing in Lexington, Kentucky

What is your home worth?  How does a homeowner decide how to price their home in this very different market we have today? Parallel marketing is important to know about before you are pricing your home as there are two very distinct markets in play today.  There is one market pricing category that is for customers that are doing business as usual.  They are simply buying another home for normal reasons.  For example, they may be downsizing or upsizing; or just wanting something different. May be  they are  relocating to another area. The other market pricing is the foreclosure, short sale and distressed sale pricing. These homes generally vary as much as 20-30 percent in the pricing. 

They each  have different staging needs.  Typically the  marketing for homes doing business as usual would entail near perfect condition with all rooms as neutral as possible so that the buyer can envision their own furniture and things in the home.  A kind of “blank slate” to go on.  The condition has to be on the “cutting edge” of the market to compete with the number of homes that are on the market today.  The more distressed sales category need the basics.  A thorough cleaning, utility transfer to the real estate company for ease of showing, winterizing if in the winter months and in some cases bids for the major repairs to put buyers at ease.  If a bank is involved, they will many times allow for painting and other repairs to be done to effect a better price.

It is interesting that buyers seem to fall in to one category or the other.  Pricing in the wrong category can mean many more months on the market; or, a much lower sales price than was desired by the seller.

Comments (0) | Permalink | Real Estate, Education, CityBlog, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

City Lifestyles

What are the lifestyle opportunities in and around Lexington, Kentucky. Are there hiking clubs, biking trails, civic clubs, golf clubs, local arts and theater, lakes, streams, fishing, boating, camping or other types of lifestyle opportunities?

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lifestyle, Chamber of Commerce | Flag as offensive

Loading Form....

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...