Selling

Lawsuit Filed Against Zillow

Barbara Anderson, a Glenview, Illinois homeowner has filed suit against Zillow over use of its Zestimate.  Anderson, who recently had a townhome for sale, alleges that Zillow’s Zestimate has impaired the marketability of the sale of her home.  Taking up an opinion that many others have put forth, she claims Zillow’s Zestimate constitutes the unlicensed practice of real estate appraising, and on top it all it doesn’t do a very good job!  Many people in the biz agree with her, especially about the quality of the product.

Many home buyers turn to Zillow for information about homes for sale.  Included in that is a Zestimate or estimate of market value.  It is a ready tool and Keasily understood on the surface.  However, Realtors and mortgage lenders get tired of explaining to home buyers the many flaws with the Zestimate and find it causes some home buyers to pass on looking at homes that might just work for them (all because of a flawed Zestimate).  Count me in that group.  I have no use for the product.  It’s flaws out number its’ benefits.  I hope she wins.

If you’re shopping for a new home and want more personalized and accurate insight into the market value of homes for sale, give me a call.  I work harder to make good things happen!

Who Pays Closing Costs?

They’re lots of misconceptions on this topic.  It seems, sellers think buyers should pay for just about everything, and many buyers want sellers to pay all costs (thus reducing their required cash out of pocket).  The truth is the answer as to “who pays?” is negotiable.

So, when it comes to closing costs, what exactly are we talking about?  On the seller’s side are real estate commissions, legal fees, pro-rated real estate taxes, and owner’s title insurance.  Sellers almost always pay the commissions; and pay the other items as well more often than not.  On the buyer’s side are inspection fees, appraisal, loan fees, homeowners insurance, and escrow set-up costs.  Buyers pay these almost always, unless they can negotiate to have the seller pay some or all of them.  Generally speaking, sellers pay buyer’s closing costs most often on lower-priced homes and on deals where the buyer has a limited cash down payment (say, like 5% or less).  

Sometimes the amount of buyer’s closing costs Kthat seller can pay is limited by law.  For example, VA loans only allow the seller to pay buyer’s costs up to 4% of the price.  With FHA that number is 6% and with Conventional mortgages it is 3% if the buyer puts 10% or less down, and 6% otherwise.  On contract transactions their is no limitation.

Like so many things in a real estate deal, who actually pays closing costs is negotiable.  If you have questions about how to best structure a deal so it works for you in your specific situation… call, text or write.  I work harder to make good things happen!

How Long Have You Been in Real Estate?

You know, that’s a question newbies to the biz are reluctant to answer.  (And given how real world experience helps deliver on client needs, that’s no surprise.)  As 2016 draws to a close, I’m reminded I started out in the real estate industry in Bloomington 40 years ago.  A college buddy and I pooled what cash we had and borrowed off our credit cards to scrape together enough to buy a duplex.   What lessons we learned on that one small property!  I still remember going over there to begin remodeling, only to discover the water pipes and toilets had froze and burst, spewing water all over the floors.  Boy, what fun that was to clean up!  And then there was our first experience with gas lines- definitely not something we were prepared for.  Flames!!  And then Gil grabbing the nearest bucket (which just happened to contain the filthy water from cleaning the floor) and tossing it on me.  We were really lucky not to blow the place up.  But somehow we managed to get it fixed up and rented out to a couple international students.  Back then none of us even knew what the word Diversity meant in today’s context, but I guess when we walked in one day to make a repair and found a live chicken in the kitchen cabinet, well, that was Diversity!  But hey, we stumbled through it all Kand sold the property for a nice little profit.  And off we went to buy another, bigger and better property.

I’d like to say I learned it all on that first property.  But not so.  In fact, I’ve learned a ton of lessons since.  Wearing a lot of different hats has sure helped.  Over the years I’ve been a remodeling contractor, property manager, builder, developer, appraiser, mortgage lender, inspector and realtor.  And whenever the situation arises I employ the lessons learned from whichever hat I was wearing at the time— to help clients improve their future.  But truth be told, I’m hoping I don’t come across anymore chickens in a kitchen cabinet!