About 19669247

How to juggle selling 1 home and buying another

So you think you want to buy a new home. (But) you’re afraid to sell your current home first because you don’t want to wind up homeless. So, you talk it over and come up with a plan to find the perfect house— and then put your current house on the market. Finally, when it sells you can buy your dream house!

Well, it would be really nice if that strategy actually worked. But alas this is the real world and sorry, but that just ain’t gonna’ happen. No sir-ree! Here’s how things usually play out when you attempt to execute that game plan… You look and look for the perfect house. Finally it comes on the market and you go look at it. You’re not even out of the house and you’re looking at your partner to say “this is it, this is it!” So, you rush around getting your current house ready to put on the market, cleaning it up, decluttering, painting a few walls, buying potted plants and hanging baskets, getting an extra key made. You and your Realtor decide on a price and sign all the paperwork. Now it’s your Realtor’s turn to rush around getting lockboxes installed, the listing entered into the BLC/MLS, ads placed, flyers designed and printed, and a sign in the yard. (And that’s probably an oversimplification for both the seller and the Realtor. But regardless, and despite the best of intentions, it doesn’t usually all get done in 48 hours, if you catch my drift.)

So, the house is now on the market. You want it sold fast but you don’t want to give it away. So you’ve priced it at what you think is fair. Now you need a potential buyer who likes the house a lot (enough to make an offer) and who thinks the price is not fair, but good (in their mind). Maybe that happens the first month, maybe not. And maybe you will need to reduce your price to get the job done. Even if you’re one of those super success stories where you get a full price offer during the first week, you will still have a gauntlet to run.

At this point many will opt to go back to their newfound dream home just to be sure it is, in fact, “the one.” Hopefully, it still is! So, you draw up an offer and your Realtor presents it to the listing agent. Negotiations ensue. You really love this house but you don’t want to pay more than what you think is a good deal! Back and forth the negotiations go. Let’s say things come together and your final counter-offer is accepted. Next on your plate is the home inspection, and possibly another round of negotiations. And besides getting final approval on your mortgage loan, you still must get past the appraisal hurdle. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the person buying your current house is working their way through the same process.

Unfortunately that’s the real world. It ain’t easy and it sure ain’t simple! So what’s a body to do? Not to worry. Despite the complexity of the process, tens of thousands of people buy and sell houses every single day. The system does work. Here’s what you need to do:

Get pre-qualified by a trusted mortgage originator.
Investigate the market just enough to confirm that the type of house you want is available in the areas you’d like to live, and at a price you can afford. (If you have champagne taste and a beer budget, then you will need to get realistic.)
Get your finances in shape (based on directions from the mortgage originator).
Work with your Realtor to develop a marketing plan for your current house (price, condition, updating, decluttering, pets, sign restrictions, whatever).
Complete whatever work is necessary to get your house ready to put on the market.
Put your house on the market— at a price that’ll sell.
Once you do accept an offer, immediately get hustling to find the house you want!
Be confident, stay positive, do what you need to do. Move in to your new home!

To catch other great blog posts, simply go to www.indyschoicerealestate.com. And please keep in mind… “I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob

Should You “Invest” in Real Estate?

This past weekend my wife and I went for a boat ride with another couple. While motoring leisurely around the lake, my friend asked me, “Bob, a couple guys at Rotary are wanting me to invest in some real estate. Do you think that’s a good idea?” Well, what I think is “real estate” covers a lot of territory— think raw land, developed lots, single family houses, apartments, commercial, industrial and the list just keeps going on and on. Then there’s the where. I mean, some places are better bets than others. Real estate is local. Even in a recession there are some places where investing in real estate makes good sense. And the inverse is also true- even in a hot market some buys are nothing but a Trojan Horse. So, I didn’t have a simple answer for him (at least not without asking a few questions).

To be sure, you can make a LOT of money investing in real estate. (You can also lose a lot of money investing in real estate.) From what I’ve seen over the years, a couple things help separate the winners from the losers. #1 to be successful you need to learn quite a bit about the specific type of RE you’re wanting to invest in and about the specific area you’re thinking of investing in. For something to be hot is not enough of a good reason to invest in it. For example, in many cities across the country right now, the number of people moving into the downtown core has already peaked and yet, construction of new housing units continues unabated. Converting warehouse space to loft apartments may be a hot topic, but in some markets doing so at this time could put a cold chill on your investment returns.

#2 put together a team that you trust. Vet them. Make sure they are competent and above all else, make sure they’ll work in your best interest. You don’t need team members whose top priority is separating you from your money. You want teammates who make money when you make money. Read those two sentences again!

#3 while national numbers may be important, it is maybe even more important to pay attention to local numbers. And local can be as small as a neighborhood, maybe even a block.

As you go about investing, develop a cookie cutter; your own personal M.O. when it comes to real estate investing. This should include type of property, type of location, flip or hold strategy, etc. Then venture away from your script only with extreme caution. Some of the most successful investors I ‘ve seen stuck to their guns with religious tenacity. At the same time, I’ve seen investors buried when they ventured into the latest hot new thing. Dance with what brung ya’!

Back to that boat ride. An hour later, my friend is telling me about their trip last weekend to Puerto Rico, where a member of his daughter-in-law’s family was having a destination wedding. He shared how the wedding had to have cost six figures and then some, and of a conversation he’d had with his son’s father-in-law. An immigrant, he’d taken his wage earnings and invested them in real estate. Apartment buildings, in his own backyard, and for the long-term, to be specific. That personal gameplan had made him a bunch of money over the years— enough even to allow him to pay for this lavish wedding.

To catch other great blog posts, simply go to www.indyschoicerealestate.com. And please keep in mind… “I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob

Fewer Foreclosures Available

The number of foreclosures available on the market continues its downward trend, and now is only a fraction of what was available at the height of the last recession. They now comprise just 1 in 20 new listings, which is a lesser percentage of the entire market than what it has been previously.

A large percentage of higher priced foreclosures have been cleared out, and the current foreclosure market is dominated by houses priced under $100,000. In fact, the median sales price is now $65,200 and the average discount from list price is 9% (meaning that house with the 100k ask price will likely sell for around $91,000). But, to be sure, there are still some great deals to be found.

The foreclosures are not spread evenly. While just 1.5% of Hamilton County listings are foreclosures, a BIG 13.8% of Madison County’s are. If you’d like to check out the good foreclosure deals, just send me an email, text or give me a call.