Category Archives: Sapphire, NC Real Estate

Reduced Prices Attract Sapphire House Hunters

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When you are skimming through the Sapphire listings, now and then you come across attention-grabbing terms like “one of a kind” or “extremely motivated seller.” “Reduced” is another one.

After all, who doesn’t like a bargain? Especially when that bargain is associated with a major commitment, who wouldn’t think it’s worth looking into? Today’s listings may no longer be saturated with short sales, foreclosures, and scores of listings reduced by enormous percentages, but patient Sapphire house hunters can still strike pay dirt if they are diligent and methodical. Nevertheless, there are some tried-and-true cautions that need to be observed to ensure that the “penny-wise, pound foolish” saying doesn’t wind up describing the result.

Most of what is being written on the subject of real estate bargain hunting falls into the common sense category—for instance

⦁ Low-balling the offer seldom works. The hope that you can create a bargain just by making a shot-in-the-dark low-ball offer is much more likely to result in a resentful homeowner than a successful deal. As in most business transactions, success is more likely to develop when both sides understand the motives and goals of the other. Since any seller whose Sapphire property is on the market is assuredly quite well aware of the likely value of his offering, unless the seller is in desperate need of a deal, this tactic is counterproductive (and if the seller does really need to move on, odds are the property has already been reduced to reflect that).
⦁ ‘As-Is’ also means ‘Heads-Up!’ A home that’s been “reduced” simply means the market is suggesting that an asking price correction is needed. When “as-is” is appended, it could also indicate that the place probably needs work—maintenance work (and work from potential buyers to discover how costly that maintenance is likely to be). In some cases—when a home has been perfectly maintained—it could mean that some features that are expected in today’s Sapphire homes are missing. In any case, “as-is” means “heads-up.”

There is one more caution that isn’t usually written about, but which can be easy to overlook when an epic bargain looks to be within reach. Since the process of buying a house takes some time to accomplish, it’s one that often occurs before it’s too late, anyway—namely, it’s not a bargain if it’s not what you really want! It can happen that the asking price is so affordable for a home that has more (or better) features than you thought you could manage, that you are in danger of being charmed into making an offer on something that’s not a very good fit. When you discover a property that’s been reduced to bring it within your price range, it still needs to fit your family’s most important requirements. An Olympic-sized swimming pool can add an exciting and unexpected dimension, but if the place is one bedroom short, in the long run, it might not be such a bargain, after all.

This spring, many sensational offerings are out there for Sapphire home hunters. Give me a call when you are ready to take a tour of the ones that meet your requirements!

Avoiding Getting Hooked on Sapphire Real Estate Technology

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You wouldn’t think that real estate technology could be as addictive as one of those games like Candy Crush or Angry Birds—but don’t tell that to Money magazine. They researched the subject in depth, and they found that two-thirds of recent home buyers said they were addicted to online listings!

Come to think of it, who hasn’t found themselves walking away from the computer, wondering what happened to the last two hours? You shouldn’t blame all that on the real estate-connected sites, because the internet has a way of pulling you away from any task by throwing distractions at you, like the latest cat hijinks video.

Don’t get me wrong: exploring today’s Sapphire real estate scene through the web can be awfully efficient. It’s just hard to deny that it’s also easy to get hooked if you succumb to the siren’s call of instantly available, constantly updated information.

Curiosity has to be the culprit. When you leave an open paper bag on the floor, any cat (not a YouTube cat; I mean a real one) will jump inside to see what’s there. The same thing happens to someone who is in the hunt for a home in Sapphire. Once they’ve seen the way the Sapphire real estate listings get updated, they have a hard time staying away, because something might have just changed. Better check! This could drive you crazy (although there are no documented cases of Sapphire home shoppers who have been institutionalized for that reason).

If you are on the lookout for the Sapphire home of your dreams, unlike what the cat experiences, every once in a while you’re rewarded. Finding a new listing that meets your search parameters does feel a little like finding the toy in a Cracker Jack box…actually, a lot better than that, because Cracker Jack toys are consistently disappointing, while new listings are at least interesting.

The easiest way to handle the addictive call of the Sapphire real estate online listings is to have me let you know as soon as a qualified property enters the scene. That’s as easy as using my site’s Contact link. That way I can keep an eye on everything for you (and often come up with some extra insights, as well).

The whole advance of real estate technology has created a much more informed buying public—and a significantly more sophisticated marketplace. In one poll, nearly half of those queried said that using technology helped them save money. As many as 92% said it saved time. In the same survey, 90% reported “an overall positive experience” (but failed to reveal if that included any cat videos).

The next time you are ready to zero in on the Sapphire home of your dreams—or find yourself checking out the latest listings with an eye toward selling—do give me a call!

Sapphire Market Values Seldom Equal their Replacement Values

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“Ideal” is a Shangri-La kind of a word. It’s not just because of its feel-good, pie-in-the-sky definition (“a standard of perfection or excellence”)—but because contained right there inside the word itself is a tacit admission. It’s only an idea—not something necessarily connected to concrete reality.

Sapphire residents don’t come across “ideal” anything very often in their daily routines, so few would be surprised to learn that even in something as important as determining the value of their Sapphire residence, the calculation turns out to be less than straightforward. The ambiguity owes to the fact that it all depends on how you look at it.

In reality, there are two quite different approaches for determining any Sapphire home’s value. Ideally, both methods would produce the same value for the same Sapphire property. That would be the Shangri-La outcome—a fine idea—but it’s seldom the case. The two methods are the Market Value approach and the Replacement Cost approach. Knowing how and why they differ explains why they yield dissimilar results.

When Sapphire homeowners examine their home insurance policies, they may find a breakdown of the replacement cost. The face amount of such a policy is meant to cover what the current cost would be to construct a similar building of equal quality—one that would have the same utility as the one that was destroyed. Such factors as materials, labor, the builder’s overhead, profit and fees are probably part of that calculation. In actuality, some of the costs that might be encountered may not be included, though: things like demolition of the old structure, debris removal, licenses and permits. It depends on the policy.

The market value is an estimate of the amount a buyer would pay in today’s market to purchase the same home in its current condition. Right off the bat, you can see that this would include the cost of the land—so you might deduce that its market value would automatically be greater than the replacement value. Ideally, that might be true. If the home were brand new. But for structures that have been in existence for a while, that might or might not hold true. For a home in less than top condition, the total might be less… likewise, if the local residential market were in a slump. On the other hand, for older homes having architectural details with fine workmanship that is expensive to duplicate today, the reverse would be true. You get the idea: given the vast number of variables that can influence the difference between market and replacement value calculations, it would be miraculous if the two ever came out the same.

When you are buying, selling—or even insuring—your Sapphire home, weighing market and replacement values is more than an abstract exercise. I’m here to help with those and many other issues that will help you determine how to make the choices that serve you best. Call me!

Home Inspection or Offer? Which Comes First?

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A reasonable question posted recently on a real estate website can open an interesting discussion. It’s one that touches on a fundamental component of most Sapphire real estate sales.

The question was, “Can I request a home inspection before I make an offer on the home?”

The answer from the moderator was, “I can’t think of one good reason why you would do this.” The moderator should have thought a little harder! And the truth is, for any would-be Sapphire buyer who has never been involved in buying or selling a home, it’s a pretty logical question.

Take a fictional example. We have a young couple who have no previous real estate experience. Their parents never walked them through how they had gone about buying the homes they’d been raised in, and although both husband and wife have college degrees, neither has been exposed to the first thing about buying and selling a house (this is a hole in the educational setup that would seem to be pretty easy to fix…but at least for now, parents have to fill the void).

Our couple has fallen in love with an existing home. They like its size, style, and its Sapphire neighborhood—which is in a superior school district. They have some reservation about the asking price, which is a little more than their pre-determined target, but they decide to make an offer that shaves a few percentage points off the asking. They agree with their agent that for the seller to entertain their offer seriously, they need to accompany it with a 1%-2% earnest money deposit.

Just as they are on the verge of taking the leap…one other thing occurs to them. What, they wonder, will guarantee that there aren’t serious mechanical or other difficulties with the house? The solution would be simple—just order an inspection—except that, not yet being in a contract, the $300 – $600 inspection fee could be a waste of money. What if the sellers accept an offer in between the time the young couple orders the inspection and submits their offer?

In practice, a “before offer” inspection IS done in some cases – usually when a multiple offer situation is expected. In such cases, multiple sets of buyers would probably be advised by their savvy agents to invest the money on the front end to increase their odds of writing the offer that will be accepted. The way savvy agents help their seller clients avoid this problem for buyers is to have the sellers order a home inspection report themselves—and make it available to any potential buyers for review. This helps the sellers to get ahead of any unknown issues that might come up, as well as encouraging offers. When buyers have information about the basic condition of the home, it frees them to write an offer with more confidence.

A sound offer triggers the start of a process that ends in handshakes and smiles all around—and the transfer of a very valuable set of keys.

Whether buying or selling, strategic guidance regarding the offer is just one contribution of your chosen Sapphire real estate agent—and another reason why teaming with the right one is so key to getting the result you are looking for. I hope you’ll give me a call to discuss how I will help you reach those goals!

3 Benchmarks for Sapphire Real Estate Agent Dowsing

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Whenever a buyer or seller is set to enter the market, they find themselves faced with the task of identifying the Sapphire real estate agent who will serve them best. There are many of us to choose from—and not a lot guidance on how to proceed.

Maybe there should be something like a Real Estate Agent Dowser. You remember dowsers—the folks who divine where to drill for ground water. Most do it by walking around, holding a dowsing rod (usually Y-shaped). When it shivers or points down, BINGO! That’s where the water is. Pay the fee and call the drilling company. Now, it’s said that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that dowsing works. Yet there are plenty of folks who live out in the country who will tell you that, of course it’s hard to believe, but still… That’s why dowsing is a real occupation. Just ask any one of the American Society of Dowsers’ 3,000 members…

Here in Sapphire, when you set out to find a real estate agent to help with buying or selling a home, there is no American Society of Real Estate Agent Dowsers to help. Fortunately, Sapphire’s real estate agents aren’t as hard to find as underground water pockets—but even so, detecting which of us is best suited to be your partner is no “gimme.”

One good solution is to interview the candidates with an eye toward finding out how they stack up against three practical benchmarks:

Selling Skill. A great real estate agent is a great salesperson—easy to talk to, sympathetic to your needs—genuinely likeable. When you are interviewing potential agents, offer an objection or two to test how seamlessly the conversation proceeds. The most valuable sales representatives are those who can adapt to resistance without batting an eye, or letting negativity prevail.
Current knowledge and experience. Being able to provide accurate and fact-based market information and analysis is an important indicator— as is having successfully performed in a variety of Sapphire real estate transactions.
Negotiation Skill. When all else points to a good fit, discuss the terms that candidate proposes between you. Your chosen real estate agent will be negotiating on your behalf—so your agent’s ability to present hard business matters in a relaxed and amenable way will serve you well.

When you become your own real estate agent dowser, you won’t need a witch hazel stick to point the way. A few thoughtful interviews will do the trick—and I hope you’ll be sure to give me a call as soon as you go dowsing!

Sapphire Buyers and Sellers Arrive with Differing Mindsets

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Right now, just a few days into spring, we are right at the start of Sapphire’s peak real estate selling season. I’ve always found it odd that you don’t hear much about it—but that also makes it the beginning of the buying season, too!

As a licensed Sapphire Realtor®, throughout the course of the year I am privileged to act as the agent for both buyers and sellers in many different transactions. The details I’m called upon to manage do vary somewhat depending on which side I am representing in any given sale—but there is one very significant goal that I regard as identical, no matter in which capacity I serve (more on that later).

There are some generalizations that usually hold true about the difference in mindset between prospective buyers and sellers. For one thing, sellers automatically have in-depth knowledge about their Sapphire property. Gained through the years, they know the community; they know the most reliable local tradespeople; they know the ins and outs of getting around town. Sellers have a degree of confidence that comes with experience: and when it come to the property at issue, they’re old hands!

Buyers, on the other hand, find themselves to some extent venturing into the unknown. Even if they are already Sapphire residents, the prospective neighborhood may be largely terra incognita. And for sure, they can’t be positive about the details of the property—what are its strong points, and (worrisome, this) its unknown vulnerabilities, if there are any. In short, buyers automatically come armed with less confidence.

Bringing more parity to the two sides is one of the key services that will lead to the result both want. Whether my own client happens to be on the seller side or buyer side, when the buyers gain confidence that they are as close as possible to the sellers’ encyclopedic knowledge of the property, the best result has the best chance of being met.

As a practical matter, that means digging in and working diligently to assemble and relate all possible information that can be gathered. It can also mean sometimes finding out where the buyers feel least confident, and laboring as needed to see that the gap is filled.

Before, I noted that there is one significant way in which my goal as representative for Sapphire’s buyers and sellers is always the same. It’s this: the best result is always achieved when both sides come away fully satisfied that their interests have been well served.

For the seller, importantly, that means that they’ve received fair compensation for their home. For the buyer, likewise—with the added element of emerging with the gut feeling that no matter what the future holds, they know that they have been leveled with. When buyers and sellers each have confidence that the sale has resulted in fair dealing, the positive feeling lasts.

Whether your next Sapphire real estate venture is buying or selling, I hope you’ll give my office a call!

Sapphire Home Loan Calculations Depend on DTI Diagnosis

3-23-16-homeloanIt might sound shocking, but Sapphire’s homeowners—present and future—have DTIs!

Although the press has been largely silent, it’s important that the public be fully educated on the subject. But before anyone calls an emergency meeting to see what can be done…

The good news is that, despite how dire it may sound, having DTIs isn’t a health menace (even though it is true that Sapphire homeowners have both front-end and back-end DTIs). In fact, they’re not only not a problem, the truth is that without DTIs, it’s doubtful any of us could qualify for even the simplest Sapphire home loan.

You needn’t bother Googling “DTIs”—they are Debt-To-Income ratios. So everyone with debts and an income has them. They are quite useful when it comes to predicting the maximum home loan amount that can be handled comfortably. Knowing your DTI will clue you in on how much home you can easily afford. It will also tell the bank or other mortgage lender the same thing—once they verify from your credit history that you are an established bill-paying good citizen.

DTI computations are wonderfully simple. In fact, even without formally knowing how they are calculated, most Sapphire residents have a feel for what they measure—it comes with paying the bills every month.

The front-end ratio is easy to arrive at. By taking a home loan payment (all-in: principal, interest, taxes and insurance) and dividing it by the monthly before-tax income, you come up with a percentage. A $2,000 mortgage payment with an $8,000 income yields 2000/8000, or 20%. Most lenders would smile on that number; but a maximum of 28% is considered standard for the front-end ratio (although no debt ratio rule is carved in stone).

The back-end ratio is broader. It’s what’s usually meant when “DTI” is cited. Among the bills included are those for credit card and car loan payments, alimony and/or child support, student loans, personal installment loans and payments for co-signed loans (even if the co-signee is paying them). NOT included are other monthly expenses like utility bills, health insurance payments, cell phone and cable bills.

To finish calculating the back-end ratio, just take those debt payments, add them to the home loan payment, then divide that total by income: the resulting ratio comes out as a percentage. An income of $6,000 with debts of $2,500 would yield a DTI of 41.67%, which is within the federal “qualified mortgage rule.” Forty-three percent is the top number officially allowed.

So, a rule-of-thumb like “no more than 28% of debt should go toward servicing a home loan” actually just restates the front-end DTI guideline. Other factors—like credit history and liquid assets available for a down payment—go into the banks’ decision-making, but as soon as you familiarize yourself with your DTIs, you’re talking the lenders’ language!

Call me when it’s time to buy or sell, and we’ll soon be talking all of the dialects that make up Sapphire’s real estate language!

Looking into Words That Go with “House for Sale” Advice

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You will find that most advice about preparing your Sapphire house for sale features a couple of indispensable terms: de-clutter, clean, and de-clutter. That’s not a typo: you can’t say ‘de-clutter’ often enough. It has to be emphasized that “clutter” doesn’t necessarily refer to shabby or threadbare items—it means literally everything that doesn’t advance the look and feel of a spacious, ready-to-move-into dwelling.

That’s why this specialized definition of “clutter” might include a good-looking leather ottoman that perfectly matches its recliner (but which leaves too little space for walking from the den into the kitchen) … or the wide-shaded authentic Tiffany standing lamp with the stunning dragonfly motif that doesn’t match anything else in the house…or the chest in the hall that holds all the winter stuff. Even if Sapphire’s winter hadn’t ended last Sunday, that chest and the winter gear ought to find a temporary home in a less obtrusive housing.

In other words, when you have a house for sale in Sapphire, clearing away non-essentials to emphasize spaciousness is a high priority—even if it might mean sacrificing some degree of livability. Yes, you DO have to continue to live in your house, so the de-cluttering has to be within reason. Likewise, the cleaning.

Now; about the cleaning.

There is cleaning—the kind we do all the time—but then there is also “deep cleaning.” Like “de-cluttering,” “deep cleaning” is a real estate watchword invoked by everyone writing about preparing a house for sale. The phrase would seem to be clear, but it needs to be pointed out that professionals usually do a better job of it than we civilians can. They simply see dirt that normal householders don’t (and also somehow manage to get rid of it a lot quicker than we can).

The finer points of deep cleaning include being in possession of an assortment cleaning tools and substances that aren’t found in every closet. But in addition to those, it takes a dirt detective’s eye to recognize the many areas that are easily overlooked:

Light bulbs. Trash cans. Drawer organizers. Bed skirts. Dishwasher and washing machine seals. Undersides of cushions. Ceiling fan blades (all right; you probably knew they were dusty, but keep putting off figuring out how to get the vacuum up a stepladder to do anything about it). Beneath the range, beneath the refrigerator, behind the toilet…etc.

You get the best results when your Sapphire house for sale is presented in a way that invites prospective buyers to easily envision living there. Open spaces that are uncluttered and clean invite them to do just that. I’m here, too, to help with ideas and suggestions that will have proved to make the entire process as easy as possible. Why not give me a call?

Springtime in Sapphire Can Prompt Home Décor Decisions

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There is something about spring that gets everybody at least thinking about fixing up the house, and it’s that time of year again. Throughout the length and breadth of Sapphire, home décor decisions are being pondered. Ambitious landscaping and fix-up plans are being laid, budgets drawn, and troops assembled (the troops will be armed with paint brushes and rollers, hedge clippers and rakes).

Perhaps it’s the weather; perhaps the angle of the sun—or maybe even last Sunday’s clock-adjusting exercise—for whatever the reason, this time of year is when we look around the house and decide changes will be made!!

It’s also the time of year when occasional disagreements between Sapphire’s husbands and wives have been known to crop up. The Home Improvement section of the realtor® web site just ran a feature titled “When Couples Disagree About Home Décor,” which promised to tell who the winner is in such arguments. It pointed out that women have different priorities than men (women: “leather makes those embarrassing noises each time you sit or stand” vs. men: “but you’re going to freak out each time someone sits on [the linen cushions] with a drink”). The woman who wrote the article says that she won the argument—but admits that now she freaks out every time someone sits on her sofa with a drink (it’s already freckled with water marks). So maybe the man won in the long run…

If your home décor efforts are getting special attention this season because you plan to add your home to the Sapphire listings, “what’s hot” might suddenly be more of a consideration. But a different home décor impasse can come about when the fashion zeitgeist points in one direction while your personal taste pulls in another. Even worse, you may find that the fashion world is arguing amongst themselves!

The Realty Skinny says, for instance, that gray is about to overtake white in popularity (simultaneously also “pushing out the beige era”). That’s not a problem for The Washington Post, which agrees that “gray makes all your possessions pop out” (except, I have to believe, the gray ones). On the other hand, the Pantone Color Institute, which practically wrote the book on color, couldn’t disagree more. They think that pinkish Rose Quartz (“warm, embracing”) and faintly bluish Serenity (“calm-inducing”) are what’s happening right now. In fact, it/they are its Color[/s] of the Year. That is because “the pairing…brings a feeling of calm and relaxation into the home environment.” That would be welcome—especially when you’re freaked out about the water marks on the sofa.

You don’t have to be selling your home for home décor tweaks and garden renewal to occupy your thoughts, but if you do, I hope you will give me a call. My free, no-obligation consultation will let you in on the latest Sapphire market information. I think you’ll agree that knowing exactly what’s happening has a definite serenity-producing effect!

Comparing Mortgage Offers Rewards Sapphire Home Buyers

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For Sapphire home shoppers who anticipate taking advantage of today’s low mortgage interest rates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a few words of interest. The CFPB thinks it has found a way for consumers to get the best home loan deals.

The way they recommend is to shop around.

Now, it may seem as if everybody in Sapphire would know that without needing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clue them in, but the CFPB has evidence to the contrary. The last time they looked, nearly half of mortgage borrowers hadn’t shopped around before they signed up for their loan (47% of them, to be precise). That is rather surprising, since even an eighth of a percentage point difference in the interest rate works out to a lot more than spare change. Why more home buyers don’t compare mortgage deals may be due to a number of factors.

For one thing, anyone who has spent much time on the internet has had the unfortunate experience of being promised that they can “see today’s rate” with no strings attached, only to eventually discover (after entering a lot more information than seems relevant) that they will be contacted (phone number, please) by what is likely to be a high pressure salesman. You get the feeling that you may have shared too much information to web denizens you don’t really know.

Another reason might be concern about qualifying. If you’ve had credit rejections in the past, the good news that comes with receiving any offer might make some folks accept it out of sheer relief.

Yet another reason might be especially true in today’s Sapphire market. Especially if you have earlier familiarity with the much higher rates from previous eras, the first mortgage rate you hear may be so low that you are delighted to accept it. There is also the fact that if you are offered several options with different loan types, terms, and point-rate tradeoffs, the act of choosing between them can satisfy the natural inclination to shop around.

The CFPB would like to encourage more aggressive consumerist behavior. To accomplish that—to make everyone “feel comfortable shopping in the mortgage market”—their web site has various educational tools. Their staff produced a number of charts. The one that shows interest rates from 1990 to 2014 slopes delightfully downward. Less informative is another chart that shows how borrowers who feel “confidence in their knowledge of available interest rates” are almost twice as likely to shop around as those who say they are “unfamiliar with available interest rates.” That doesn’t seem to be much of a revelation—it’s like saying that learning to read price tags increases your ability to comparison shop…

For those who do expend the effort to do mortgage comparisons, there is also agreement that having a professional in your corner leads to the most satisfactory results. It’s another good reason why, on the way to acquiring your Sapphire dream home, giving me a call is an excellent idea!