Your Friendly Local Realtor
When you’ve found a home or homes you like, we can start sending in offers. What do we do first? Usually the agent should check the values of similar homes in that neighborhood that have sold recently. These values and the analysis are called “Comps” or “Comparable Market Value Analysis.” Why are “Comps” important? Basically,…
After you’ve got your loan pre-approval and told your agent what you’re looking for, you should start getting e-mails with lists of homes that match your criteria. What should I expect? What follows are a lot of mobile phone screenshots and explanations. This is to give you an idea of the kind of information you…
After you’ve gotten your loan pre-approval or have your bank statements ready, you’re ready to start shopping! In the 2nd step of the home buying process, you should tell your agent what you’re looking for, so they can start searching for homes that match your needs. The more specific you are, the less time you…
This first step in buying a home is setting up your wallet (getting a loan pre-approval) so that when you go shopping, you can actually make bids on anything you like. For cash buyers, you just need to print a bank statement balance showing enough funds and have it ready. Why should I go through…
Choosing a good real estate can make the difference between a frustrating experience and a pleasant one. Here’s a few tips I would recommend for making sure a listing agent is good for you. Tip #1 – Make sure your agent actually listens to you. This should be obvious, but I need to stress the…
First, what is a loan pre-approval letter? A loan pre-approval letter is a document from a loan officer that states how much of a loan you are approved for and how much you would be putting down for down payment. Note: The more information that the loan officer has reviewed about the buyer’s situation, the…
A licensed real estate agent needs to understand how to perform a comparative value analysis. This is like a rough but technical estimate of value. Not an official appraisal. In real estate school, we’re taught what factors influence the worth of the home. I don’t need you, the reader, to use me as your agent.…
Here are some tips I’ve learned on staging or presenting a home to maximize the beautiful impression your home can make on a buyer. If everyone who walks through your home has an amazing impression and doesn’t want to leave, there will be more demand for your home and it will tend to get more…
Not every home project you’ve done helps you sell the home. The money we put into the home is the cost of the upgrades. But that doesn’t always translate to value for the buyers. Example: You may love your custom purple and magenta wallpaper put in by professionals for $10,000, but James, a buyer moving…
5 Quiz Questions to Test If You’re Ready to Sell Your House It seems like a simple process… Put up a sign. Take some pictures. Put it online. People come and see it. Agree on a price, and we’re good to go. Right? Let’s make sure you don’t jump in blind. Here’s a quiz I wrote to test…