Buying a foreclosure is the latest rave. We get calls into our Louisville real estate office daily from Buyers wanting to take advantage of all the great foreclosures that have hit the Louisville real estate market. Buying a foreclosure is not for everyone. Lenders want to move their foreclosure inventory quickly so they turn to real estate agents to list the properties. We in turn list them on the MLS and market them to any qualified Buyers. Investors gobble up most of them but there are some savvy Buyers that make offers and win. If you are not properly educated, it can be a problem-filled process to get to the closing table. Here are 5 tips to help you successfully buy a foreclosure.
1. Use a Buyer’s Agent that is an expert in foreclosures. Don’t ever use the listing agent that represents the bank. Most Buyers think that they will get a better deal if they use the listing agent. This mistake can only cost you money, as the listing agent wants to get top dollar for their lender. Dual agency is a touchy subject and I personally do not understand how the listing agent can truly make sure you get the best deal while also making sure their lender gets the best price. The Miles & Smith Real Estate Group sell several foreclosures each year. We also guide our Buyers on the rehab process. We assist with determining value once the property is fixed up and what necessities the property should have to reach that value potential.
2. Know your financing options: All foreclosed homes are going to require a pre-approval letter submitted with any offers. They will also not accept any contingencies in the offer. Most foreclosure homes will...
What do you do when you get the phone call only weeks before you’re closing that the home doesn’t appraise for the contract price?
You are not alone as 16% of real estate agents reported that their sale fell through due to a low appraisal.
You have options and you can fight back!
Appraisals in Louisville are based on recent sales in your area. Over the past couple of years this has been challenging because values rose quickly during the boom and fell just as fast during the bust. . The deals that Buyers have received with foreclosures and short sales have created dual pricing between normal sales and distressed sales.
Appraisals are not to protect the Buyer or the Seller, but to protect the lender should the Buyer default on the loan. The lender wants to make sure that they are making a worthy investment. They want to know that if the Buyer defaults they can sell the home for what is owed. Due to the huge losses banks have taken on foreclosures in the past years, they are not taking any risks. They care more about protecting themselves from a bad investment than giving a Buyer a loan.
So what can you do to protect yourself from having your entire home packed up a ready to move only to find out you have to unpack everything?
1. Sellers get an appraisal before you list your Louisville home for sale. Unless you are listing your home with an experienced real estate group like www.MilesSmithGroup.com, you should consider asking a licensed appraiser to determine value. This is also a huge selling point that you can advertise to any potential Buyers. Buyers are very leery of pricing on homes and always want a deal. An appraisal...
Selling your home during the holidays can be a tough decision to make. Holiday decorations go against the number one rule when showing your home – keep everything impersonal. It is very hard to find a balance between selling your home and celebrating the season. Below are a few helpful to do’s and don’ts to help you show your Louisville home during the holidays.
DON’T decorate the exterior of your home any earlier than 2 weeks before the holiday.
DON’T leave your decorations up for any longer than 1 week after the holiday
DON’T congest your home with decorations.
DON’T use holiday lawn ornaments
DON’T forget to salt your driveway and pathways and clear all snow and ice before a showing.
DO keep decorations to a minimum. Don’t let your decorations take away from some of the great features your home offers.
DO consider purchasing a smaller tree. A large 10” tree can crowd a room and make it feel smaller.
DO try to stick to non-specific holiday themes. Winter themes with garland, pinecones etc.
DO add to the exterior appeal of your home by adding some color with mums or poinsettias.
When it comes to energy efficiency, look for smart features and expertise to help you save energy and money and add value to your home.
1. Begin with a Right-Sized Home.
If the home you buy is simply too large for you or your family’s needs or plans, you stand a good chance of wasting energy through excessive heating and cooling costs. If it’s too small, you’ll feel cramped and uncomfortable. It’s a big investment, so seek balance and buy it “right” from the outset.
2. Purchase Energy Star Appliances Such as Your TV, Dishwasher, Washer and Dryer, and Microwave.
And especially the refrigerator, as it alone contributes about 10 percent of the energy use in a home. Also, unplug electronics not in use or turn off power strips to avoid phantom charges.
3. Install Efficient Lighting Such as Compact Flourescent (CLF) or LED Bulbs in Every Fixture.
Lighting accounts for about 6 percent of an energy bill each year.
4. Get an Energy Audit and Have Tests Performed to Identify Ways of Improving Your Efficiency.
You can always upgrade your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system as well as your thermal envelope, which includes insulation, windows, and doors and the seals or weather stripping around them. Visit energy.gov/energytips for more tips.
Real estate agents cannot stick a sign in the yard anymore and cross their fingers. They actually have to have a plan in place to present the home to the market. The 3 most important components of this plan are pricing, staging and marketing. Without all 3 components, the home will sit on the market along with over 11,000 other listings currently on the MLS with the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors. Pricing is key. In 2010 48% of Sellers that Keller Williams surveyed priced thier home according to what thier agent's interpretation of its market value was. Those Sellers sold in an average of 56 days on the market compared to 105 days. Those Sellers also SOLD for 6.7% higher in the list to sell price ratio. Staging/Updates and Repairs are also critical as Buyer's in today's market have high expectations. If a Buyer is going to pay asking price for a home then they expect it to be perfect. If it isn't perfect then they expect to get a deal since they will be investing their own money into the home after closing. 75% of homes sold in 2010 were either fairly updated or very updated. 96% of homes in better condition sold for an average of 96% of the list price compared to homes in fair to poor condition sold for 92% of the list price. In conclusion you could receive a 4% more for your home by making a few updates/repairs and having the home staged. Last but not lease is the marketing. Once the home is ready for its debut and priced at...
Windy Hills -One of Louisville’s most beautiful Neighborhoods There are so many great Louisville neighborhoods to choose from… Windy Hills, in my opinion, is amongst the best. Located on Louisville's north east side between Brownsboro Rd and Westport Rd, you really can’t find a better location. Considered a city of historic homes, Windy Hills was built in 1952, before hwy 264 was even conceived. One of the most amazing little known facts about this neighborhood is that Windy Hills contains some of the oldest homes in Louisville. Six of these wonderful homes were built between 1790 and 1825. One housed former U.S. President Zachary Taylor during the 1790’s. The city is the result of careful planning which, during its conception, respected the historic nature of its beginnings. Mature trees and large lawns with sidewalks characterize a place of pride where neighbors get to know neighbors and quality of life and beautification are always topics of concern. Local stores, restaurants, great schools and places of worship are only just a short walk or drive away… Some of the benefits of this neighborhood include a low tax rate that features year round street maintenance, twice weekly trash pickup and weekly yard waste pick up. There are free community gatherings held every Spring and Summer and a beautiful children’s park. The community also benefits from St. Matthews fire protection services and Graymoor-Devondale police protection. There is even a shared cost tree planting...
On Tuesday March 1st, 2011 funds will become available for the Welcome Home Program. This program provides a $5,000 grant to any home buyer that meets the income requirements. The Buyer cannot currently own any real estate, but does not have to be a first time home buyer. Requirements; 1. Max income is based off of 80% of Jefferson County median income and family size. 2. Grant is forgiven after the Buyer has lived in the home for 5 years. 3. Accepted contract on a home must be presented in order to reserve the funds. 4. Buyer must have $500 invested into the purchase. This can be in the form of paying for a home inspection etc. $300 of the $500 can be in the form of a gift from a family member. 5. Total available funds for the program is 7.1 million. Reservations for these funds will be accepted until the funds are exhausted or the deadline of Dec 1st, 2011 is reached. This program is only available through select lenders. For more information please email us at Patrice@TheMilesTeam.com. Also visit us at www.TheMilesTeam.com to search for homes or get more information about real estate in the Louisville Market.
Adorable 3rd floor condo that faces the back side of the building overlooking grassy common area. Upon walking in you are greeted with a gorgeous open floor plan that features vaulted ceilings. The eat-in kitchen offers wood floors, cherry staining cabinets, large pantry refrigerator, stove, dishwasher and microwave. The kitchen flows into the large dining room that will fit any size table and chairs. The family room is very spacious and walks out onto your deck. The large master suite is king size and features a vaulted ceiling, his & her large walk-in closets and a private bath with dual vanities, decorative mirrors and tiled floors. The guest bedroom is very spacious and offers a large walk-in closet too. The guest bath also has been updated with tiled floors. The 3rd bedroom is currently being used as an office but the doors can be added to give the privacy needed for a true 3rd bedroom. The monthly mait fee includes water, exterior mait, master insurance, 1 assigned parking space and vistor parking, access to the clubhouse, pool and fitness center.
Beautifully remodeled brick ranch located in desirable Windy Hills. This light filled freshly painted home features a spacious and open floor plan, great for entertaining! Upon entry you will notice the spacious foyer with beautiful tile that flows into a wonderful living room that offers a wood burning fireplace, vaulted ceiling and gorgeous refinished hardwood floors. The living room opens into a bright and cheerful eat-in kitchen. Off the kitchen you will find a sun porch perfect for relaxing and formal dining room that will accommodate a large table for family and friends. Down the hall there are three good sized bedrooms featuring large closets and beautiful hardwood. The gorgeous master bedroom features a sitting room and tall vaulted ceiling. The master bath has been recently updated and has dual vanities and a spacious tiled shower. Outside you will find a large back yard featuring a two tiered deck, mature trees and 2.5 car garage. A superior location this home is close to excellent schools, premier shopping and entertainment! It is definitely a must see! Call today for you private showing. Visit www.4424rudyln.isnowforsale.com for additional pictures and virtual tours. Visit www.TheMilesTeam.com for more information on this home and others for sale.
There are many people sitting on the sidelines right now afraid to pull the trigger on a real estate purchase. Some are first time buyers; some are thinking of moving up to the home of their dreams; others are looking to purchase a vacation home or perhaps a future retirement home. Fear has prevented them from moving forward. Though their concern is understandable, we must never allow fear to ultimately determine who we are nor what we do. We must live our lifes. The fear causing so many to hesitate comes from three areas:
The lackluster economy
The unemployment numbers
Real estate’s performance in the recent past
Should they stop us from moving forward with our dreams and aspirations.
The Economy
Actually, the economy is doing much better. The news is more positive every day.Consumer Affairssaid this:
The U.S. Federal Reserve, which has administered life support to the economy over the last two years, says it’s seeing some promising signs of life.In its “Beige Book,” containing reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts, the central bank finds “moderate expansion” of economic activity at the end of the year.It said conditions were improving in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond Districts. Activity increased modestly to moderately in the Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Dallas Districts.The economy of the Minneapolis District “continued its moderate recovery,” while...
One of the most important questions to be answered prior to selling in this challenging market is “how much is my home worth?” An uninformed decision could literally end up costing you thousands of dollars! You could potentially make the mistake of selling your home for less than it’s worth; or if you price too high you could cost yourself and your Realtor precious time by not getting the house sold and chasing the market. The only way to truly determine the fair market value of your property is to get an unbiased appraisal from a licensed professional. An appraiser will visit your home and do a thorough walk-through to determine its quality, condition, and marketability. He will measure to determine the correct square footage. Then, after gathering all the necessary data about your home, he will complete a thorough analysis of the neighborhood/area and current market activity as it pertains to your property. Given this information, and other tools at his disposal, an appraiser can provide you with a professional opinion of your home’s value. This will assist you and your Realtor with setting a listing price and during negotiations. An appraisal will ultimately help to get the home SOLD much more quickly and for a better return on your investment! And, if you’re a buyer in this unprecedented market (lucky you) an appraisal can help prevent you from spending too much money! Just like a home inspection, an appraisal is an essential tool to help facilitate any real estate transaction. And remember, the appraiser does not work on commission. ...
How often to you find free reports online that weren't worth the price of admission? Even when the price of admission was just an opt-in like your name or email address. All too often Free Reports, Guides or Whitepapers are just slapped together in an attempt to gain permission to market to you. In other words they lack depth or substance or value. Not always but many times. Well we don't want you to make that assumption with our 'What's your home worth?' free report. Here are a couple screenshots from the actual report.
So why should you download the free report?
You'll get it INSTANTLY
You can get current information about local schools
You can get current information about local shopping or churches
You can get current information about home sales in the neighborhood
You can get information about public services like fire departments and hospitals
Traditionally many Louisvillians wait until the warmth of the Spring to place their home onto the market. The thought is that as the days heat up so does the Louisville real estate market. There is truth to this fact... The Louisville market historically is cyclical. We heat up until Derby at that point the entire town takes a week's vacation and then its back to business until mid July. At that point the real estate market peaks and then continues to slow through the Thanksgiving holiday. What many locals don't understand is the savvy benefits of putting their house up for sale during the cold winter months. However, many strategic minds are starting to understand the clear benefits of going against the grain. So why is it a good idea to put your house onto the market during the winter months? Here are a few current facts to keep in mind...
By going on the market during the winter sellers beat the pent up rush of homes that will come on in March. Remember the early lister catches the buyer!
There is currently twice as much housing inventory as we have in a typical market. But many of these homes go off the market during the winter. So, your direct competition can be as much as halved during this time!
Buyers are looking at 20-25 homes before they buy! This is unprecedented. Less competition means a more likely sale.
During the winter the buyers are typically more serious than at any other time of year. If they're looking at homes and it snowing outside you can pretty much guarantee a much greater sense of urgency. You'll have fewer lookers and more serious buyers viewing your home.
At present there is less discounted properties on the market. With the banks currently trying...
And the winner is.....Cason Miles announces below. Watch the video to find out who is the winner of two tickets to the Muhammad Ali Museum and dinner for two and the Bristol Bar and Grill. Make sure to watch every month for our trivia question and prize!!
So your Realtor is asking you for a price reduction… You’ve had some buyer showings and the feedback has consistently been that the home needs updating. So what do you do? Well, you can reduce the price in hopes of being the best deal in the neighborhood. Then, maybe Buyers will look past the problem areas because the home will be such a good value. Or you can leave your price alone and spend the money on making the updates. Decisions, Decisions… The Miles & Smith Real Estate Group deals with these critical decisions every day. The answer to the question is twofold. Consider this… It’s a fact that over 90% of all Buyers in today’s very competitive market start their searches on the internet. If you are considering a price reduction, you’ll need to reduce your price enough to reposition your listing in a new price category search. For example, if you are currently priced at $249,900 and then reduce to $244,900, you are still attracting the same $249,900 Buyer demographic. Ultimately, you would need to do a price reduction to the $224,900-$229,900 range in order to grab the attention of a totally different Buyer. $20,000-$25,000 is a lot of money!! Think of all the wonderful updating you could do for that amount… The Miles & Smith Real Estate Group has experts on staff that can help you transform your home into something modern and beautiful on a limited budget. See example below… This property was priced at $219,900. Ultimately, to capture the attention of a different buyer and renew interest in the home, we would have needed to reduce the price down to the $204,900-$209,900 range. The feedback we had received was that the home was too small and needed too much updating for the price. Buyers were overwhelmed at the prospect and as a result continued to walk away. So, instead of doing a price reduction, the Sellers gave The Miles & Smith Real Estate Group a budget of $5000 to directly address these concerns....
Trivia QuestionThe winner this month will get two tickets to a museum in downtown Louisville and also a $50 gift certificate to The Bristol for dinner. Patrice Miles' son, Cason, is here to give you the trivia question.
Please remember to send Patrice an email to patrice@themilesteam.com to get your answer submitted!
Why not do both? With The Miles & Smith Real Estate Group we offer not only to sell your home but to lease it at the same time. This helps our Sellers take full advantage of the market. We do not want to leave any stone unturned. Who would lease my home? Relocation clients make up 50% of our tenants right now. These tenants are relocating to Louisville and want to get to know the area before purchasing a home. The other 50% of tenants cannot qualify for a loan so they have to rent. The lending industry has changed a lot in the past 3 years. Self employed individuals and business owners normally cannot get a loan on a home unless they show good income on their tax returns. Also, due to the short sale and foreclosure crisis we have been going through, homeowners are now homeless. These individuals have recovered from their loss and make adequate income now but because they have not met the 3 year guidelines they cannot get a home loan. How will I know they will be a good tenant? We take care of everything. All applications submitted to lease your home will be screened. We run criminal, employee, and credit checks on every individual. What do I do once I have an accepted lease? At this point you can either take over or our property management company can. Property management takes the pressure off of you. Here are a couple of ways that a good company can keep you out of trouble while your home is in the tenant’s hands: Most landlords know it only takes one bothersome tenant to cause major legal and economic headaches. A good property manager is equipped with the awareness of the latest landlord-tenant laws and will make sure that you are not leaving yourself...
The holiday season, aka winter months, finds many sellers choosing to take their homes off the market. However, those who decide to weather the variables will find some advantages to the season. Since the chill in the air causes the numbers of marketable homes and the “looky-loos” to dwindle, the buyers that do come-a-knockin’ are serious candidates and are looking to make a purchase. ‘Tis the season to capitalize on this situation! This is done through various staging features. You might be saying at this point “Not one more thing…” For that very reason it is the perfect time to bring in a professional home staging business to do the winter make-over. An hour consultation or a couple hours to transform the rooms can be just the gift that reduces your holiday check list. Before specifically addressing holiday staging tips, there are a few elements that need attention due to the seasonal change. Shorter days equate to darker spaces. The first order of business is to adjust your lighting scheme, inside and out. This time of year many buyers will be viewing the home when it is dark. It is essential to add more lamps for both mood and task activities. Amber colored bulbs in a lamp or two will turn up the toasty-warm atmosphere in a given area. For the outside create a solar light path which would effortlessly lead buyers to the front door. These affordable lights could be artfully clustered throughout the front and back yard to add a bit of sparkle and interest to areas that are not very visible. Simplicity and restraint are still the staging guideposts during the holidays but within the margins loads of cheer can be displayed. Remember you are selling real estate - not your holiday collections - the buyers need to see your home’s square footage and outstanding features.
Exterior: A grouping of poinsettias, door wreath...
Does your realtor know how to speak the truth in love? What do we mean by that? Well many realtors can only tell customers what they want to hear. The price 'may' be too high but we'll just see. The condition of those cabinets 'may' be an issue. Those pictures 'will do'. We can 'probably' get away without staging this home. What they're essentially saying to you is; if we wait long enough, we may find a sucker who wants to pay top dollar for this house, in this condition, even in this market. If you're hearing things like this from your realtor, then do yourself a favor and find a realtor who will level with you. Find one who will tell you the price is way too high. We're getting lots of showings but no offers. The bathroom really needs to be painted before we can show this home. Those minor repairs must be fixed before we can list this home. Those are the tough conversations that have to be had. Get a realtor with the backbone to speak the truth, but also get one that can do it with grace. In this market, there's no time to play around. Get serious.
With an open house, a lot is out of the control of the seller and the realtor team. You can't force buyers and agents to come look at your home. Occasionally if the situation merits it, you can get creative with a contest or promotion. But you still can't push a button and dial up genuine interest. So what can you control? Here's a quick list. Running an ad about the open house is still often a good idea. Sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist and on a website or blog are all givens these days. People like to consume information across several different platforms. Getting the word out to an email list and a list of agents is also crucial. Get a realtor team with a big list. Taking the little steps can also lead to an advantage for the seller. Little steps equals proper signage that actually stands up and stands out. Directional signs for hard to find neighborhoods are a must. Balloons are a part of the arsenal as well. Another big key is getting the word out to neighbors. Knocking on a few doors to see if someone has a friend, relative of business associate who may be interested in living nearby. Neighbors have a vested interest in who moves in. Remember that. Questionnaires at the open house are a great way to tweak the strategy based on early feedback. All that being said, only 4% of homes sell via open house offers. So open houses are part of an overall strategy but don't bet the house on them. Literally.
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