How To Sell and Buy a Property In 2012!
Real Estate Resolutions for 2012
After
the past few years of real estate mayhem, it makes sense to pause
before the New Year and formulate a real estate strategy. Do you want to
stay in your home, keep renting your apartment, sell your home, reprice
your home, etc. What do you want your home to look like in 2012?
Here are a few tips if you’re trying to sell your home this coming year:
This
was a tough year for home sellers. Almost half of homeowners who spent
more than four months trying to sell their home, settled for less than
90% of their asking price. So when you put your home on the market,
check out the comparable sales data from your neighborhood, and keep
your price in line, if not lower. You’re always better off pricing your
home low and starting a bidding war. That’s one way to turn this buyer’s
market around. The best best way to get the right price is by getting a
current appraisal value and work from there.
- A Picture Tells a Thousand Words, But a Video or voice description Seals the Deal CLICK FOR A SAMPLE
Pictures
of your home are terrific, but there are so many buyers who won’t make
time to see your home if they don’t already think they want it. And the
best way to convince them is through a clean, professional quality video
that allows the viewer to feel like they’re actually walking through
the home. If your agent is well-versed in video marketing and can make
your home look its best, great. If not, there are several companies out
there who will make a great video tour of your home for a reasonable
fee.
There are a
lot of properties on the market, so you have to make yours stand out. In
this day and age, a fully finished basement won’t cut it anymore.
Sweeten the deal with say, six months of maintenance fees on your condo,
or landscaping costs on your home. Offer the buyer a year’s worth of
Drano for that one problem sink. If you venture outside the normal
parameters, you raise your chances of someone coming to look at your
home, even if it’s just to meet the Drano nut.
Click here to see how i will market your property. Not all Real Estate Agents are created equal.
Buyer take advantages of this Market!
For
many American families, the American dream doesn't stop with the first
home. But saving enough to turn the key to a vacation home is
challenging: buyers need a large down payment and have to pass even more
lending hurdles than when they bought their primary residence. With
some planning, budgeting and perspective, a second home is attainable.
Here's how.
Become a desirable borrower. Buyers need to impress lenders even more than when they're buying a primary residence.
Save a lot of cash.
In most cases, you'll have to make at least a 20% down payment --though
lenders can ask for more. Among buyers who finance, the median down
payment on a vacation home is now 32%.
Pay down your debt.
Lenders will look at your mortgages, car and student loans, and credit
cards to make sure your debt including your future second home mortgage
doesn't surpass 36% of your pretax income.
Add it up before you bid:This SmartMoney calculator will show you how much second home you can afford; try this calculator to see if you have too much debt.
Build up a home cash reserve.
Dual home or property owners have double the mortgages, property taxes
and maintenance fees. To stay afloat, you'll need a vacation home
emergency fund.
Put cash aside.
Think about a second home as a second life, with its own mishaps and
surprises. In a savings or money market account, set aside enough money
to cover two to six months of mortgage and property tax payments. That
money will come in handy in case of a sudden job loss or unexpected
repair work.
Get insurance.
Speak with your realtor or mortgage broker to find out if your home is
in an area prone to natural disasters, like flooding or earthquakes,
which aren't covered by basic homeowner insurance policies. If so,
you'll need disaster insurance or even more in cash reserves.
Calculate taxes and insurance: Figure out what you can expect on property taxes and disaster insurance.
Buy right. Some locations
for second homes go through boom and bust cycles. Others constantly
boom; while more remote locations simply follow mortgage rates.
Get the right mortgage.
To make monthly home payments more affordable, consider signing up for a
30-year mortgage, where payments on average are 20% to 30% smaller than
a 15-year mortgage. If you have extra cash leftover each month, you
could send more money to the loan.
Buy at a discount. Fannie Mae's HomePath and Freddie Mac's HomeSteps list thousands of foreclosed homes that are selling at up to a $100,000 discount off similar homes in the area.
Crunch the numbers: Determine what mortgage is the most affordable and manageable and whether you can afford the hidden costs that accompany most vacation homes.
What not to do. If you're considering any of the following, you could be setting yourself up for disaster.
Don't overborrow.
If a vacation home raises your total annual debt payments to more than
36% of your income, you could risk falling behind on mortgage payments
and losing a home to foreclosure.
Don't lie about your intentions.
Lenders will ask if you plan to rent the home, and if so you'll have to
make a larger down payment. Don't lie. If the lender finds out, you
might be required to pay the entire mortgage on the spot.
Don't take equity out of your primary home.
Home values are volatile in many parts of the country. Try not to take
cash out of your home to buy another one, or you could end up underwater
on one or both. SEARCH PUERTO RICO MLS HERE!
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