How To Recognize Foreclosures in the MLS

When you are looking at homes in the MLS (either from the MarketWatch books or your custom MLS search), there are several clues that can help you to identify that a property is a foreclosure.

• Anytime a property says AS-IS in the description – the odds are 95% or better that the home is a foreclosure. 
• Ocwen.com is a foreclosure management site for VA foreclosures and other smaller banks.  Anytime you see a comment mentioning Ocwen.com – you will know it is a foreclosure and most likely a VA foreclosure.
• HUD homes will often have verbiage in the description that say bid deadline is ______, or they will say “brokers may receive up to a 5% commission”, or sometimes they will say “HUD property 492-xxxxxxx”.  SouthwestAlliance.com is their management site – so you might even see a reference sending you to the southwestalliance.com.
• The phrase, “Special Addendums Required” or something to that effect will either indicate a foreclosure or sometimes a relocation company.
• One other phrase to watch for is “Short Sale”.  This is not a foreclosure…yet.  What it means is the seller is going to ask the bank to take a loss on the sale of their home.  The seller still owns the home, but at the price they need to sell it for – they will owe money at closing.  Instead of them owing money – they ask the bank to take a short sale (a loss).

We have lots of experience in dealing with foreclosures and will consult with you on the best strategy for negotiating on each home.

How Do Sellers Price Their Homes & How Much Should I Offer?

We’re often asked “How much under the listing price should we offer?”  This is an excellent question.  The answer is difficult.  There are 4 basic ways that sellers price their homes.

1. Ridiculously Overpriced! These seller have listened to a real estate sales person over-inflate the value of their home in an effort to obtain a listing.  There is a natural tendency on the part of sellers to list with the real estate consultant who gives them the highest promise.  Some real estate agents give the seller a high”value” in an effort to obtain the listing.  The homes can be 10-20% overpriced.  These sellers may need a “dose of reality” for a few months before they begin to realize that their home is way overpriced as compared to others in the area.  The longer an overpriced home is for sale, the more likely we can get the seller to face reality and sell at a fair price.
2. A Little Overpriced…Perhaps 75% of all homes for sale are priced in this range.  Theses sellers fall into 2 categories   Those that feel their home is worth every penny of their asking price.  Those that want to leave a little “negotiating” room.  These homes can be 4-10% overpriced.
3. Priced At Fair Market Value…  These sellers have carefully and realistically studied other homes for sale.  They have priced their homes very competitively.  These homes usually sell within 4 weeks at or very near the listed price.  In an active market, timing is everything.  In the good old days, you might have the luxury of viewing a home several times – even dragging your relatives to see it… before you actually made an offer.  “He/she who hesitates is lost” aptly explains buyers who dally to make a buying decision today.
4. Priced Below Fair Market Value… These homes are priced below value.  Perhaps their real estate sales person recommended too low of a price.  These homes usually sell within 7-10 days, at or above the listed price.  There are usually competing offers in this situation, and you may need to make your first offer your best offer.

What is the FREE Home Buyer Workshop?

Buying a home is a complex process: Title insurance…inspecitons…negotiations…financing.  To help ensure that your home purchase is porfitable and problem free, we have teamed up with By Referral Mortgage to sponsor a home buyer’s class to teach you the secrets of successful home buying. 

The class is presented in an information-packed 2 hour format, and held at the offices of DFW Real Estate Center (in our education room).  Whether you presently own a home, or this is your first time, you’ll learn new tips and strategies for getting the best buy and the best loan.

At the class, you’ll learn:

• How much home can I afford?
• What government programs do I qualify for?
• How many zero down home loan programs do I qualify for?
• What are closing costs?
• How do mortgages work?
• What programs do I qualify for that will pay my closing costs for me?
• How can I get the seller to pay for my closing costs?
• Do I qualify for a low interest rate government loan?
• Is my credit good enough?
• Can I see my credit report?
• What is the best way to find the right home?
• How do I buy a foreclosure or HUD repo?
• What is involved in the escrow process?
• What should I be aware of in the inspection?
• What should I do if I am thinking about a new home instead of pre-existing?

You may be able to buy more home than you think.  Just by making two small changes, you could buy $10,000 more home without increasing your payment.  This means you can have that extra bedroom or a two-car garage just by knowing secrets that few buyers know!

At the class you’ll get answers to all your questions.  Uncertainty will be cleared away and replaced with practical down to earth knowledge that you can use now.  From getting started to getting moved in, you’ll learn how to navigate the entire home buying and borrowing process.

There is no cost for this class, nor are you under any obligation to any instructor as a result of attending.  You may bring a guest – but you must pre-register.  Class size is limited, so register early.  In order to register, click here: Free Home Buyer Workshop Signup.

To see the schedule of classes, click here: Workshop Schedule

I’m The One Buying A Home – Just Who Are All These Other People?

Many people are involved in the home buying process.  These professionals have based their careers on helping you find and purchase the home of your dreams.  But do you really know just what they do for you?

1. Real Estate Consultant

The first person that you’ll probably become involved with when you begin your search for a home is the Real Estate Consultant.  This term includes real estate agents, sales persons, brokers, Realtors, Listing agents and Buyer agents, all of whom must be licensed to serve you.  The agents and sales persons work for a broker.  Those licensed to sell may represent either buyers or sellers.  However, the listing agents typically represent only sellers, and buyer’s agents represent only the buyers – so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest.  Only those that are members of the National Association of Realtors may use the designation “Realtor”

2. Lender

The person that you work with to get your loan is generically called a Lender.  This person may also be a mortgage loan officer, banker, or broker.  The job of the lender is to take your application for a loan, and verify your income, employment and credit history.

3. Attorney

There may be several Attorneys involved in the purchase of a home, one for the seller, one for you, the buyer, and one for the title insurance company.  The role of YOUR attorney is to make sure that you avoid any pitfalls in your purchase contract.

4. Title Company

The Title Company can act as the escrow agent (and hold your deposit), examines the title, insures the title, and issues a title report – verifying that you can become the rightful owner of the property.

5. Appraiser

The Appraiser, who is usually state-certified, is frequently involved in the pricing of the home, before you even begin your search.  They examine the appearance, condition, size and quality of the home – then estimate the home’s value based on other sales in the neighborhood or area. 

6. Surveyor

The Surveyor checks the boundaries of the property to ensure that the home is ONLY on its property – and the ONLY home on its property.

7. Home Inspector

The Home Inspector checks the working condition of electrical, mechanical, structural, and plumbing systems in the home.

8. Pest Control Operator

Lenders require that you have the home checked for wood-destroying-pests – termites and ants are the typical villains.  These professionals poke around the attic, basement, walls, and grounds to ensure that these pests aren’t squatters in your dream home.

How Long Will It Take To Buy A Home?

Many factors can affect the answer to this question, so let’s first look at the general rule of thumb and then account for the other influences.

1. About the fastest way to purchase a home is with cash.  The length of time to complete a cash transaction is realistically two weeks.  It can be pushed quicker – but we have to wait on the title search to be completed and documents prepared.  So if you are buying a home with cash – we will normally put two weeks as the quickest close date.
2. If you are financing the home and have good credit (A paper loan), then we normally will put a 30 day close.  It can be pushed through in 21 days if you have already gotten pretty far in the approval process before we locate the home. 
3. If you are financing with a manual underwrite (exceptions to the loan, sub prime), we normally have taken you pretty far on the approval process before even starting to look at properties.  These loans still are safest to put at a 30 day closing, to account for any last minute conditions given by the underwriter.
4. If you are using a grant program or bond money program – 45 to 60 days is the better answer.  45 is a bare minimum and it is safer to expect 60.  However, many sellers are not happy with the thought of a 60 day closing, so we will often put down 45 and then really push hard for the grant program to finish their work.  The issue we encounter is that the grant people are giving free money – they hold all the cards, and service is not at the top of their list.  We can only push so much before our packet ends up on the bottom of the stack…
5. HUD foreclosure – maximum days to close 45.
6. Other foreclosure – all bets are off.  Often times the negotiation will take several weeks.  Once the contract is negotiated though, the times stated in 1-3 are applicable.

There are some factors that can influence these estimates: 

• A cloud on title – if we run into issues getting clear title to the property (usually a result of death or divorce), it could slow down the closing
• Delay in verification of rent and verification of employment.  These two items can sometimes cause real headaches if the verifying party is unresponsive
• Change in program guidelines.  It doesn’t happen too often, but occasionally this will occur and impact the processing of the loan
• Backlog at the grant money office

When we sit down and negotiate a contract with you – we will discuss the most likely timing and request a closing date with the seller that is obtainable based on all of the factors.

How Are Real Estate Consultants Paid?

This is a question that is universal in the minds of buyers!  Many have a vague idea that real estate consultants are paid on commission, but do not fully understand what that means.  So let me break it down a little more. 

We work on a contingency basis.  That means that we put in the up front time, energy, experience, expertise, and cost to serve you.  This service comes in many forms:

• Our Free Home Buyer Workshop,
• Saturday Tour of Homes,
• Your Custom Home Buyer Portal,
• The Buyer Planning and Strategy Session
• MarketWatch Booklets,
• Exclusive Buyers Agency Relationship,
• Consulting With You – Asking Insightful Questions and Presenting Strategic Options,
• Powerfully Negotiating For You and
• Organizing All of the Details of Your Transaction

We do not get paid until you actually purchase and close on a home with us.  The payment is made by the seller out of his proceeds at closing.    We work hard to deliver outstanding, cutting edge service to you.  In return we count on both your loyalty to our services as well as your not keeping us a secret. 

Our system is completely developed with you in mind – you as a person – with hopes and dreams, and needs and fears. The purpose of our business is to make you so outrageously happy with our services that you will gladly refer at least two people to us during the process!  We look forward to helping you find your dream home.

What IS a Referral…

A referral is sending someone you care about to someone you respect.

Let’s break that sentence down further and really get to the root of this matter.

SOMEONE you care about.

Who is the next person you know who is wanting to buy or sell a home?  Maybe a family member, an extended family member, a co-worker or someone else from work, maybe it is someone from your civic organization or your church, what about a neighbor, a parent on your child’s soccer team, or a person from the gym.  They could be someone from your spouse’s job, or a parent of one of your children’s friend, or even a teacher up at the school.  Who is the next person you know who might need our help?

Someone you CARE about.

In this market, Realtors come and go.  Almost everyone has a friend or an uncle who “tried” the business and didn’t do much.  Almost everyone also has a friend’s wife or cousin who just got into the business…or is doing it part time.  AND everyone has heard the horror stories of their friends’ experiences in purchasing a home.  This is a hard business – if you are going to do it right.  The people that go into real estate part time, or after they retire, or because they plan to make lots of money, often do not have the systems in place or even the overall business plan developed to really understand the full process from the client’s point of view.  They are looking at it entirely from the point of view…”I want to make some money – they need a house – how hard can this be?”  This haphazard way of starting into the business is the root of many of the horror stories that are circulating.  These “try it and see” Realtors run their businesses like taxi cabs…how fast can they get you out of the cab and go find someone else.  So when you are about someone, you do not want them experiencing the unreliable taxi – or the horror stories that others have had.  You want to save then from potential frustration and heartache.  When you care about someone, you want them to experience the home buying process from a limousine.

Someone you RESPECT

Respect is about knowledge, service and going the extra mile.  We work hard to earn your trust and deliver beyond your expectations so that you will respect us and want to send your friends and family members to us to help.  Respect is knowing that your “someone” will get the same caring, consistent service that you received.  And respect is being confident that the needs of your friend, family member or co-worker will be heard and addressed.  When you send someone you care about to us, we are really working for two clients.  Most importantly we are working for you.  It is imperative for us to do a good job with your referral so that you will continue to send clients to us.  Secondly we are working very hard for them so that one day they will also be comfortable sending someone they care about to us.

If you have someone you would like to refer to us, have them call our Referral Hotline at (888) 323-8807 ext 2 to listen to a free recorded message about our company.  Also, please give us a call so we can discuss the best way to approach them.  (817) 664-0700 ext. 228

If You Like This Site…

By all means…Tell Your Friends!!!  We run our business like a limousine service – concentrating on delivering outstanding customer service to you!  In turn, we depend on you to tell other people about our services.  Almost 70% of our business comes from current and past clients referring their friends, family and co-workers to us. 

How would you rather us spend our time…focusing on your needs and helping you to find your dream home…or constantly out looking for new clients?  We really count on you to refer at least two people to our company while you are in the process of looking for a home.  During this time, many of your conversations will be with people about buying a home.  It is during these conversations that you are most likely to hear about someone else who is interested in purchasing a home.  We are counting on you to not keep us a secret!  The next time you are in a conversation with someone and they mention that they are interested in finding a new home, have them call our referral hotline to hear more information about our company and services (888) 323-8807 ext. 2.  Also – show them your custom home buying portal page…this is an example of the quality of service that they will also receive when they enlist us to help them find their dream home. 

To make it even easier, when you know of someone who is going to be purchasing a house, click the comments section of this post and tell us about it.  That way we can strategize with you on the best way to approach them and serve them.

If you like this site, and the service you receive…tell two friends…we are grateful when our clients respect us and our services enough to help us grow our business.

How To Shop For A New Home Builder

If you have even briefly thought about purchasing a new home instead of a preexisting home, we have created an exclusive program just for you.  It is called the Builder Education and Familiarization Program. 

There are so many builders out there – they all have benefits (and drawbacks) and depending on what is important to you – certain builders will be a better fit than others.  We are experts in the field of newly built homes.  We are very familiar with the different builders, their practices, their pros and cons, the different neighborhoods and things that can be red flags about certain lots, certain building locations, and other things that will impact your happiness (and house value) in the future.

The Builder Education and Familiarization Program starts with a new build consultation at our office.  We will discuss specifically your wants, needs, goals, and future plans to help determine which builders would be a good fit – and in general discuss the process of purchasing a new build…including the difference between an inventory home, a home already in the build process, and starting from picking your own lot.  There are many things to consider when looking at a new build and we will help you to sift through the different scenarios and determine the best strategy.  Then we will take you on a New Home Builder Tour.

Builders love to work with Realtors, and are continually sending us special discounts for our clients that we bring to them.  These are not offered to people who walk in off the street – unrepresented.  Some people have the misconception that they will save money by not having an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent representing them.  The truth is – the builder offers the homes at the same prices whether there is a Buyer’s Agent involved or not.  It improves their bottom line a little, but that is nothing you will ever see.  Additionally, you lose out on the added specials that they have sent to us to get our attention. 

But the most important reason to have your Buyer Agent represent you when you visit a builder is to help consult with you on your different options, and help explain from an impartial position the differences between different builders and different neighborhoods.  Buying a home is a very emotional decision.  The sales people can be very persuasive and often very biased on the information that they give you about the area, and their company in general.  Your Buyer’s Agent will help protect you from their aggressive sales techniques, and also help you to consider the implications of various upgrades on current and future value. 

To sign up for our Builder Education and Familiarization Program, either make a comment at the bottom of this entry, or call us at (817) 664-0700 ext. 228 and we will take care of the details.

Thoughts to consider: New vs. Nearly New

Do you have a preference for a brand new home over a nearly new one?  Many Americans prefer a new home.  However, a brand new home can come with hidden costs and surprises.

As your Real Estate Consultants, we suggest you ponder these points.

A brand new home will give you more current features.  Want a home with special wiring for the extra phone lines, cable hookups and electric service needed for a home-based business?  You’re more likely to find it in a brand-new home.

A brand new home often comes with financing “sweeteners”.  Are you short on cash or tight on the income you need to qualify for a home purchase?  Then a new-home builder can sometimes help ease your financial pain.  They may pick-up some of your closing costs.  A nearly new home can spare you cash on finishing and upgrades.  Many buyers of brand new homes forget about all the hidden costs of bringing a home up to their expectations.  Chief among these are the cost of window coverings and putting more greenery around a new place.  Landscaping is quite expensive and usually a nearly new home already had landscaping.    And even modest window coverings such as honeycomb blinds or simple draperies for a new house can run more than $1,000.  A nearly new home should give you a more predictable outcome.  The buyers of nearly new homes can gain a better feel, too, for the builder’s quality of workmanship and how the overall community will look — even if the builder hasn’t completed his entire subdivision.

The decision of whether to buy it ultimately a very personal one.  Buying a nearly new home is a practical choice for a lot of households.  Not only does it save money on upgrades, but it also spares buyers a lot of turmoil.  “A big pro is that you don’t have to deal with the construction mess,”  Fields says.  But even those who know that the road to new construction is rugged and sometimes uncertain one are excited at the concept of buying a brand new home.