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Home Buyers: Lock n’ Load

Home Buyers: Lock and Load!

MIBOR just released market numbers for June, and it’s pretty much good news. Sales up 5% over last June. Median average sale price up 3%. Buyers getting an average $6000 discount off the original asking price.

But the amount of available supply continues to shrink. And that means home buyers need to put themselves in the best possible position to get what they want. Here’s a few tips:

Get pre-qualified for your mortgage. This is true even if you’ve been through this before. Need a name— well, I know a guy!
Figure out what you want (area, house size, # of bedrooms/baths, and amenities). Make two lists- what you must have and what you’d like to have. S. You may have to look at the inside of a half-dozen houses to fully figure this out!
And when you finally find the house you’re looking for— be ready mentally to pull the trigger.

‘Nuff said! If you’d like to see how you might best position yourself to get the house you truly want then shoot me an email or give me a call. And please keep in mind…

“I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob

June = Good News for Sellers

Let’s see… sales up 5% over last June. Median average sale price up 3%. Sellers getting a very high 96% of their original asking price. And the amount of available supply continues to shrink. What’s not to like?!

‘Nuff said! If you’d like to see how you might take advantage of this “Seller’s market” shoot me an email or give me a call. And please keep in mind…

“I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob

Should You Sell “As Is”?

Truth is… Nobody likes negotiating inspection issues— not the seller, not the buyer, not the Realtors. Nobody. Make no mistake about that.

Sellers feel like they’ve already negotiated the deal, “and that’s that.” (And generally speaking, sellers think most buyers are way too picky, as in “If they wanted a new house then they should’ve bought one!”) On the other hand, many buyers feel that items uncovered during the inspection process should be corrected. And since the average inspection report cites 40-50 issues, buyers generally feel like they’re doing the seller a favor by only asking for 2 or 3 or 10 things to be repaired. And the two Realtors are caught in a no man’s land and just want it all to be over.

Indiana law and the standard purchase agreement forms are about as clear as mud on this topic. There simply is no right or wrong answer when it comes to inspection issues. Because of this some sellers try to avoid “going there” altogether. So, they advertise their property for sale “as is”… take it or leave it, warts and all. This sometimes causes would be buyers to steer clear, as they interpret the “as is” advertisement to imply that there are serious structural or mechanical problems with the property. (While that is sometimes the case, it is not always.) And even when advertised “as is”, buyers are still afforded the opportunity to have the property inspected. Sellers will say that buyers may do so but regardless of the findings, they will not make any repairs. And once again, that is true more often than not, but not always.

So, a seller has to decide whether they will lose a potential buyer (or buyers) because they have it advertised as is versus the amount of money they might possibly save because the buyer will shy away from asking for repairs to be made.

Now, if you’d like a better answer than that— call me and I’ll help you find your way down this path! Keep in mind…

“I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob