MLS SEARCH - Alpharetta, Ga,

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Hot Home Deals in a Cool Market - Alpharetta, Ga

Get a Hot Deal in a Cool Market

 

Buying or selling a home? Here’s how to strengthen your hand in rough times.

Birth, death, marriage, divorce. Throw in new careers and lost jobs, and you’ve got the reasons most of us fail miserably at timing the real estate market. We sell and buy because life — not market conditions — drives the decision.

It’s how you manage the deal that dictates whether you’ll give up too much of your profit in a fire sale or forsake future profit by paying too much — especially now that the housing market has taken a chilly turn. In the fourth quarter of 2007, the median home price in the U.S. fell 5.8% over the same period 12 months prior, according to the National Association of Realtors. And 13% fewer homes were sold last year than the year before. Below, we have tips for both buyers and sellers to help you strengthen your hand in these rough times, no matter what side of the transaction you’re on. (Hint: It wouldn’t hurt to read both sections so you know the other team’s strategy, too.)

Buyer Tips

Buyers definitely have the upper hand in a cool market. You can press your advantage to negotiate the best price possible. However, bear in mind that today’s credit crunch has lenders tightening their belts, so you’ll need to make the right moves to get a good deal on a mortgage. Also, dust off those negotiating skills that went unused during the seller’s market of the past few years.

• Have a down payment. A 100% financing deal is much harder to get. So be prepared to put at least 5% down. Lenders also want you to have at least two months’ worth of PITI (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) in reserve.
• Boost your credit score. Based on current interest rates, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is about 1.3 percentage points lower for someone with a credit score of 760 to 850 than for someone with a score of 620 to 659. On a $200,000 loan, a borrower with a top-tier score would pay $173 less per month — a saving of $2,076 per year — than a borrower near the bottom, according to MyFICO.com.
• Do your homework. Learn as much as you can about the local housing market and the seller’s motivations. For example, find out what similar homes in the neighborhood are selling for at Zillow.com. Ask questions about the sellers, such as why they’re selling, how long the home has been on the market, when they bought the home and how much they paid. Once you zero in on a property, hire a home inspector to find any defects in the home.
• Sharpen your negotiating skills. Just about everything is negotiable when buying a house, especially in a buyer’s market. When making an offer, it can include contingencies that protect you, such as requiring that the home pass an inspection, appraises for at least as much as you’re paying for it and that the seller accept your offer by a certain time.

You also can ask that the seller pay part of your closing costs, include a redecorating allowance or remove an above-ground pool you don’t want. The trick, though, is to prove to the seller you’re a serious buyer without looking too eager. And you’ve got to be willing to walk away from a home if the seller refuses to negotiate in price or make concessions to your satisfaction.

Seller Tips

A cool market means it may take you longer to sell your home, and you might not get as much money as you’d like. Those are two tough pills to swallow. But if you make the right moves, you can increase your odds of striking a good deal and getting the most from your sale.

• Pick the right agent. You want somebody who is going to market the place, not some slacker who talks you into setting a low-ball price and then waits for a bargain hunter to trip over the house on the MLS. Your best bet is to find someone who was in the business during the last downturn. That’s a survivor who knows how to sell when others can’t. Interview several agents.
• Shop the market yourself to get a feel for prices. Ask your agent to show you listings that are competing with your own.
• Buy down the interest rate. It’s not a sales price that people are buying — it’s the mortgage payment. And buying down the buyer’s interest rate is a smart way to attract buyers without giving up your profits. For example, lowering the buyer’s interest rate from 6.5% to 5.5% on a $150,000 loan reduces the monthly payment by almost $100 per month. The buy-down would cost you about 4.75% of the loan amount, or $7,125 in this example. Alternatively, if you lowered your sale price by that amount, the buyer would save only $45 a month. You can also offer to buy down the interest rate for the first year or two for less money. Either way, you’re allowing buyers to get more home than they would have otherwise been able to afford.  

   

   

• Dress up the house. Agents call it staging: Haul out the oversize furniture; get rid of clutter; break out the touch-up paint; polish the glass; buff brass fixtures; eradicate smells. “Things you were willing to live with are not necessarily something you want a buyer to see,” says Kevin Cook, president of the Cottage Realty Ltd. in Berthoud, Colo.
• Hire an inspector. Most buyers make their purchases contingent on a home inspection. But hiring your own inspector before placing your house on the market can help you identify things to fix ahead of time and make your home more attractive to the buyer. For example, you’ll find out if your roof needs replacement or if any electrical or plumbing work should be done.

Copyrighted, Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.

 

Would you like more information on homes for sale in your area? Call me at 678-575-6735 or search the Georgia MLS. CLICK HERE to be directed to the Georgia MLS

 

Bargains for home buyers

Consumer Reports
Recession’s bright side? Bargains for brave consumers

Lets say you have some cash on hand, your job (or other source of income) is secure, and you love a good bargain. What opportunities might a recession bring?

First a disclaimer: Nobody, including us, knows whats ahead for this economy or, indeed, precisely whats happening now. (Recessions are officially determined after the fact by the National Bureau of Economic Research.)

However, the battle-scarred veterans of our Money team have seen our share of recessions, and some of us even took notes. Based on our collective judgment, here are some of the possible buying opportunities that consumers with cashand the guts to spend itmay find:

Homes. Home prices are already down in many parts of the U.S. Where they go from here is anybodys guess, but few of us would expect them to rise at a steep pace anytime soon. So if youre in the market for a home, now could be a good time to start looking and get a baseline feel for the marketeven if you decide to hold off buying for a while.

Mortgages. Interest rates are already relatively low, averaging 5.42 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as we write this. Credit standards have been tightening, though, so expect higher hurdles in getting the very best rates.

Stocks. Some are sure to become bargains, but unless youre a stellar stock picker, consider a no-load stock index fund and hope to benefit from an overall rise in the market. Keep in mind that stock prices will often start upward well before a recession ends, as investors look ahead to better times.

Credit cards. Our resident credit expert thinks people with good credit scores should have a golden opportunity to negotiate for lower rates. Issuers will want to hold onto creditworthy customers more than ever.

Cars. If demand continues to drop (sales for 2007 were down compared to 2006), carmakers and dealers will have to do something to move their wares.

Appliances and electronics. Ditto.

Luxury goods. Sales are already slowing, we hear, so high-end goods may carry less-high prices.

EBay stuff. People eager to raise cash may be auctioning off knickknacks and whatnots in record numbers. So that Pee-wee Herman doll or first edition of Proust youve long wanted could be yours for the clicking.

Home remodeling. Lower demand should mean more room to bargain and, possibly, less wait to get the work started. If you need to finance your home improvement, you might also find favorable borrowing terms if your credit score is high. ? ? Travel. Our travel expert says to expect fare cuts from the airlines, but beware of the carrier going bankrupt before you can use your ticket. Hotels and rental cars should see cuts too.

Other services. If its something consumers can put off until the economic clouds clear (cosmetic dentistry vs. an aching tooth, for example), demand should drop and prices along with it. And it rarely hurts to haggleeven in the best of times.

Copyright © 2004-2008 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc

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Buying A Home - Alpharetta, Ga

  

CNN Money 101 - Buying a Home

Top things to know

1. Don’t buy if you can’t stay put.

If you can’t commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner.

2. Start by shoring up your credit.

Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.

3. Aim for a home you can really afford.

The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you’ll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford.

4. Don’t worry if you can’t put down the usual 20 percent.

There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low-interest mortgages that require a down payment as small as 3 percent of the purchase price.

5. Buy in a district with good schools.

In most areas, this advice applies even if you don’t have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you’ll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.

6. Get professional help.

Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.

7. Choose carefully between points and rate

When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points — a portion of the interest that you pay at closing — in exchange for a lower interest rate. If you stay in the house for a long time — say five to seven years or more — it’s usually a better deal to take the points. The lower interest rate will save you more in the long run.

8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.

Getting pre-approved will you save yourself the grief of looking at houses you can’t afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt and credit history.

9. Do your homework before bidding.

Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that’s about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.

10. Hire a home inspector.

Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But that’s just the bank’s way of determining whether the house is worth the price you’ve agreed to pay. Separately, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.

For information about Alpharetta, the Real Estate Market & Happenings around town. Send me an e mail huntforhouses@yahoo.com or call 678-575-6735