Buying tip # 1
Go to a lender or two and get pre-qualified. Until you get pre-qualified you are wasting your own time, the Realtors time, and most important of all you are asking people to take their families and pets out of the home so you can look at it. It is not fair to them if you can not afford the house and it can be very embarrassing to you to be told that your credit rating at best allows you to buy a 50 year old mobile home if it's listed for $500.00.
Buying tip #2
If your going to use a Realtor find one you like by visiting with him/her in their office. If you are not comfortable with the first person you visit with don't lead them on, just tell them you want to visit with others before committing to a "right to represent" agreement. Before you look at any house sign a "right to represent agreement", this makes the agent legally bound to look out for you best interests, not the sellers.
Buying tip #3
Think twice about signing an "exclusive right to represent" agreement or a form authorizing "dual agency". Neither one is bad in it's self but just make sure you understand how each one may limit your choices.
Buying tip #4
Where slip-on shoes and dark socks or bring slippers along when viewing homes. Most home owners request you remove your shoes, even home owners with pets who or dirty basements.
Buying tip #5
When making an offer keep it clean. By asking for pieces of furniture, spots in carpet to be cleaned, the snow blower, lawn mower, etc. you cloud the offer and often just make the seller angry. Let your offer do the talking. If your offer is a lot lower then the asking price you can explain in a note that your offer is low because.... (carpet cleaning, shingles missing, landscaping etc.)
Buying tip #6
If you ask anybody who knows Real Estate what the 3 most important things are they are going to tell you "Location, Location, Location". That advice is not just for businesses, it also applies to homes. Busy streets, rundown neighborhoods, mobile home parks, a railroad in the back yard with a big bridge in the front yard, and other situations can bring down a homes value and even more importantly can make the home hard to sell when your needs change. Can you afford to buy a home that it may take you a year or two to sell in the future (think job transfer). Ask your Realtor how long has this property been on the market, if it seems to be a long period of time ask the Realtor if he knows why?
Selling tip #1
Clean and de-clutter your home. A dirty or cluttered home says you do not have time to take care of the house or worse yet, you don't care about the house. A clean house shows pride of ownership.
Selling tip #2
Kennel your pets or better yet remove them from the home when the home is to be shown to perspective buyers. Many times I've seen buyers walk away from a good home because it had exotic pets, live snakes or ferrets. Cats need to be kenneled or removed during showings as well. You may not smell them but many people will and a candle lit in every room only tells perspective buyer that your house really stinks. I do not have enough fingers on my two hands to count how many times I have actually seen a well trained cat traumatized by strangers in the home and urinate right in front of us on the carpet.
Selling tip #3
Don't light a candle in every room. Get rid of the source of the smell to get rid of the odor properly, don't cover it up. If your house doesn't naturally smell clean the buyer is going to think the house needs new floor coverings due to something in the carpet and that will be reflected in their LOW offer.
Selling tip #4
See buyers tip #2. Don't hire the Realtor who "promises" to get you a fantastically high price. Do a little research. What does the city assessor assess the home at? Todays buyers have easy access to tools on the internet and they DO check. If you are way above the City value be prepaired to sit on the house for a long time. Ask for the Realtor to provide you with comparable sales in your neighborhood and then check and see that they really are comparable (a home with the same number of bedrooms but twice the square footage in a more desirable area of town is NOT a comparable home).
Selling tip #5
Don't lie about your properties condition. If you do make sure you can withstand a large lawsuit. Case in point: A home owner I personally know had some landscaping done and the landscaper discovered a broken basement window that was covered with fill on the outside and paneled over on the inside. The wall was also crumbling below the window. The homeowner was leaving the state and was already upside down on the house. They chose to remove the glass from the window, board it up, but a vapor barrier in front of it, but did nothing about the crumbling wall. Everything was then covered back up with fill and the sellers never disclosed the damaged wall. A year later the new homeowner decided to remodel the basement and when he removed the paneling he found the crumbling wall. Today there is a lawsuit pending against the past owners.
Selling tip #6
If you are a "fair" do-it-yourselfer don't make repairs that require a professional, it may even cost you money to do it yourself where as if a professional did it it can up the value of your house. Cleaning the house and tidying it up can do more for your bottom line then amateur repairs.
If you have a tip you think would be helpful to others please let me know and I will print it. I will even give you credit for the tip if you wish. Thanks!
Add Bob, C Results!
Bob L. TimmCell (701) 720-8513
Toll Free 888-234-0105
FAX (701) 838-7573
Oak Park Realty
1500 NW 4th Avenue Minot ND 58103