WORST Columbus MLS Home Photo of the Week 3-3

March 4th, 2008 The Ugly, WORST MLS Photo No Comments

At first, THIS is another you got me photo, where I have NO idea what Im looking at. Then, realization dawns and I know to turn my head to the right sideways and squint its an overexposed photo of a fireplace. (Buyers shouldnt have to work this hard to figure out what they are seeing.)

With the advent of Spring (hopefully) around the corner, heres a couple of photos that arent the WORST, but definitely fit in the fun/bizarre category. and yes, these are the real colors showing up in the MLS

Bad Columbus MLS Photo of The Week 12/30

December 30th, 2007 The Ugly, WORST MLS Photo No Comments

THIS beauty takes the saying of a drive-by shooting to a whole new level.. this condo has been For Sale for 150+ days so far, and this is the first photo the Internet buyer sees:

Want to guess why this property is still on the market?

Bad Columbus MLS Home Photo of The Week 12-17

December 18th, 2007 The Ugly, WORST MLS Photo No Comments

Sondra note: I’m starting a new category based on part fun, part frustration.  Yes…. this photo DOES exist in the Columbus MLS– part of a series of photos that is SUPPOSED to help ‘sell’ a home.

‘Fun’ because we can all have a good chuckle; ‘frustration’ because I’m tired of seeing hideous photos out there that guarantees the home does NOT sell.

Look forward for a new photo each week….addresses and agents will remain anonymous.  I’m not here to embarass anyone; just to say– WHAT were you THINKING of?

Sellers: You have the right to expect professional marketing of your home.  There are many good professional agents out there that will do a fine job.  Don’t accept bad workmanship– find a good Realtor that knows what to do to get your home sold.

So… to start this category off with a flourish, here’s a color scheme that may not be the most popular:

What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong With My Home Sale Or Purchase?

September 8th, 2007 Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, The Ugly No Comments

Ask that and ye shall receive. I’ve referred to this general story before, but this update from blogger Doug Quance is a great saga of how something that should be right can go so horribly wrong, and what the not-so-subtle impact of the developing mortgage drama is causing.

The bottom line:

1. If you’re thinking you’ll be merrily skipping along to your home closing WITHOUT good guidance or direction, there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed.

2. People are buying homes, people are selling homes, and people are getting the mortages to do so. That will not change. It’s just getting a bit more complicated. A smart buyer or seller is going to look for those mentors who have the knowledge and experience to work through a sticky experience (better known at Realtors and Loan Officers).

3. While Doug’s story is the Queen Mother of what can go wrong, it gives a good perspective of the many potential road blocks that can – and do – happen. It’s critical to have a professional watching your back, communicating throughout, and working diligently to solve each issue as it comes up.

MORE Bank-Owned/ Short Sale Home Hurdles- Buyers Beware

July 24th, 2007 Bank-Owned/Short Sale Homes, Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, The Bad, The Ugly 3 Comments

I’ve written before on the many challenges of buying a Bank-Owned home or a Short Sale home (take a look at these links for complete details), but as I’ve worked with other owners trying to get to the finish line of an actual closing, a few more barriers have reared their ugly heads:

1. Some banks are requiring you to be pre-approved with THEM before they will even look at your offer.  If you’re pre-approved with another lender– too bad, so sad….

2. Some banks will ONLY allow a maximum of 3% of the purchase price to be given to the buyers for their closing costs and down payment assistance.  If a buyer (who has no money) is doing an FHA loan, there is a minimum of 3% needed for the down payment, plus there can be 2–3% needed for closing costs.  That necessary 5–6% of the purchase price eliminates them from the bank considering their offer.

3. Some banks are not allowing ANY buyer assistance to be included.  That’s eliminating a HUGE group of buyers……

4. Some banks (in a short sale) are charging the Seller with the costs of any buyer assistance (like closing costs or down payment).  This presents a HUGE problem… the Seller is selling the house because they don’t have the money to keep up with the payments.  The chances are very good that they also do not have the money to pay several thousand dollars on the buyer’s behalf….

I’ll be blunt– this section of the marketplace is meant for those rare individuals who have the cash to buy– and the banks are increasingly creating scenarios that focus on this type of buyer.  You’ve got to have money and be a bit of a gambler (all these properties are in as-is condition) to thrive in this challenge-ridden market…..

Just What Do Realtors DO Anyway??

April 1st, 2007 Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, From Professional to Personal, It's My Opinion, The Ugly 1 Comment

“I don’t know why realtors should get paid what they do JUST for opening a door to show a house or putting a sign in the yard.”

Sound familiar?

I imagine everyone has heard this at least once (if not actually said something similar). For all those who have thought or said this, I’ve found they are coming from three different places:
1. They’re the type of person who believes the world is out to ‘get them,’ and the same statement is used for all kinds of service professions. They’re convinced the world is out to rip them off– and they’re not having it.
2. They’ve had a bad experience with a bad realtor, who did as little as possible and did it poorly.  They think THAT experience is the sum of what the real estate world comes to.
3. They truly don’t know or understand the process and the work involved in a real estate transaction. And when a problem comes up, what it can take to get a transaction to close.

Here’s a great example of the latter.  Doug Quance, a realtor in Atlanta, GA, has written a good story about the saga of getting to the closing table. 

No, this does not happen in all transactions.  But yes…. there are many transactions where something just as unique and individualized to the situation DOES happen… and the only reason people were happy in the end with a ‘Sold’ property was because of the expertise and dedication of their realtor.

Doug’s story involves struggles with lenders; other problem situations could be due to issues with title companies, non-cooperative parties on the other side of the transaction, unreasonable demands, delayed closing dates… the list is endless. And the person at the center of the storm, busy moving the issues from point A to point B to a successful conclusion is Your Realtor.

So…. as they say in the movie Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade….. “Choose wisely.”  Pick a professional who knows their job and who hangs in there when the going gets tough.

Watching the Sub-Prime Loan Avalanche Slide Down The Hill….

March 20th, 2007 Bank-Owned/Short Sale Homes, Columbus Buyer Info, The Ugly 3 Comments

It’s not much of a surprise, really…. except for the media, who’s ‘discovered’ a juicy new topic to obsess on.  And for the politicians, who definitely knew about it but can now create succinct sound-bites to further their campaign.

Hot News Flash for those who were asleep at the switch- there’s been too many loans made to people who can’t repay them. Mortgage defaults are on the rise. Banks are losing money- as is Wall Street, who gladly invested in these banks when the money was flowing. And Mother of all Mothers- there’s actually been crooks and thieves taking advantage of the system.

The avalanche is currently only about mid-way and gathering steam. There’s been over 24 mortgage companies that have gone bankrupt since the start of 2006. New Century Financial Corporation, the 2nd largest US lender to subprime applicants, has stopped making new loans. Countrywide Mortgage shares have fallen and they have cut 108 subprime jobs in their wholesale lending department. Increasing interest rates on Adjustable Rate mortgages are going to tip some borrowers over the edge. Predatory lending tactics on credit risky uninformed buyers has increased. Last of all, the problem of buyers’ extremely suspect transactions are causing state and federal eyebrows to raise.

Expect much more to come…. public and political outcry, legislative investigations, ‘in-depth’ news reports, etc. etc. etc.

Is this the ‘end of the world as we know it?’  Not exactly. When the snow has settled and the final damage assessed, there will be a few good (and not so good) changes:

1. Those with golden credit are going to be even more golden. Bankers and investors love a safe bet, and those buyers with a good credit history are going to be in hot demand. Use common sense, keep your bills paid and up to date, and the offers to lend you money are going to pour in… with a good chance of enticing incentives to tempt your wallet.

2. Those with bad credit are going to find it harder to get a home loan. Interest rates will be higher, qualifications tougher, and the 100% financing with no money down will be a lot harder to come by… if it exists at all.

3. FHA loans will become more popular.  With a minimum 3% down payment, and the (still available) possibility of having the seller assist you with this money, there will be a resurgence of this type of financing.

4. The increase in bank-owned homes will be here for a while. If you live in a neighborhood with many bank-owned homes on the market, your property’s value is definitely going to suffer. Eventually, this trend will shake itself out…

5. People will cry, banks will fold, government will wring their hands (and ask for your vote), crooks will go to jail….. and Life will go on. The majority of folks will not have this impact their lives at all. 

To prevent being an avalanche casualty, save your money wisely, pay your bills on time….. and do all those common-sense things your Mother told you to do all along.

The Bitter Battle of Buying A Bank-Owned Home

March 14th, 2007 Bank-Owned/Short Sale Homes, Columbus Buyer Info, Investment Property, The Ugly 3 Comments

Tops on the list of getting a property that is a real ‘bargain’ is to buy a bank-owned home that’s below market value, fix it up and earn instant equity.

The actual process of doing this is not for the faint-hearted….. here’s a very recent experience of a couple I’m working with and what they discovered.

“Bank-owned” means exactly that- the bank (who gave the original mortgage) now has ownership of the home because the original homeowners defaulted on the loan…. as in they did not make payments, so the bank had to take the home back. This is a long and tedious process… often a property has been sitting empty for a year or so. The previous homeowners have either left or been evicted, the bank has sludged through their process (sometimes trying to sell it at a sheriff’s sale, etc.), has listed it with a realtor (often specializing in listing this type of property), and is waiting for an offer.

Logic would say that the bank is anxious to get this property off their books, but logic is definitely not part of this process.  Banks are slow and difficult to work with. I often tell my clients to think of a guy (or woman), sitting at a desk far away (usually in another state), with a HUGE stack of paperwork for this and other homes and no personal knowledge of the property. This person has to justify their job- and the way to do that is keep moving the paperwork.
There is usually no regard for contract timelines- even if you give them several days to respond.
They are going to counter and quibble over the most inane details… things that would normally be a given. 
And most importantly, there is no accountability or motivation to get that property SOLD.

My clients found a property in pretty good condition (many of these homes are in nasty condition…. I’ve seen homes with holes in the walls, feces on the floor, missing the furnace, toilets… it can be shocking) and made an offer.  It took THREE weeks negotiating back and forth- most of that time waiting for the bank to respond back to us. 

By the time we got in contract (and had to wait 5 more days for the bank to get us their signature), my clients had signed 5 times that the sale of the property was AS-IS (it was stated 3 times on 1 counteroffer- talk about overkill!), we had 5 days to do inspections, and my clients had to pay $250.00 up front out of their pocket to have the property de-winterized so the water could be turned on.  (”What?!” you say.  It was one of those ‘it-is-what-it-is’ situations…. if you want the house, that was one of the terms.  The bank ALSO wanted my client to put the utilities in her name and be responsible to get the water turned on… this we refused- which was a good thing in the end….).

The day of the inspection, our first challenge was an inch of water on the basement floor. The sump pump motor had quit working properly.  The inspector got it operating and the water quickly drained. The basement was unfinished, and the water had not risen high enough to affect the furnace, so things seemed OK.  The inspection went well…. until the inspector turned on the water main. 

Within minutes water was pouring through the kitchen ceiling. After a few minutes of panic, it was determined that the plumbing within the walls from the shower had a serious problem.  Water also poured down the exterior wall into the basement.

My clients decided to terminate the contract, and gave notice. It’s now 1 1/2 weeks later, and we’re still waiting for the Release from the bank to return the earnest money deposit to my buyers. After spending $250.00 for the de-winterization, and $370.00 for inspections, we are back to square one in the home search…..

(Note: for MORE battles to buy a bank-owned home, click on this later post….)

Don’t Have Real Estate Commission-Breath

February 21st, 2007 Columbus Buyer Info, Columbus Seller Info, Down to Business, It's My Opinion, The Ugly No Comments

A couple of years ago a potential seller contacted me for a market analysis. While reviewing similar sold properties, it became obvious that she had purchased well above the fair market rate when she had moved into the area from out-of-state three years before, and she would have a tough time recouping her costs with the sale.

She sighed when I told her the news. Her buyer’s agent at the time had not given her comparable sales, and had kept pushing her that this home ‘was a great buy.’ Although she accepted her current situation, her comment about the previous real estate agent stuck in my mind. “I just felt like I was only a paycheck to him- I don’t think he really cared about my needs.”

Her feelings are a great example of commission-breath. I love that term, and would love to take credit for it, but the credit goes to Ken Blanchard, the author of The One Minute Manager who used this term in a recent presentation to realtors at the Keller Williams Family Reunion.

We’ve all experienced commission-breath…. from car salesmen, appliance salesmen, and all those other sorts of ’salesmen’ that look at us with a gleam in their eye and see dollar signs. They push hard for a ’sale’ and use a myriad of techniques to ‘make the close.’

Yuck. I feel used and discarded after these attempts have happened to me. I also feel pretty lousy when I hear about realtors with bad commission-breath.

We’ve got a Realtor Code of Ethics that we have agreed to live and work by and state laws that compel us to honor and represent our client’s best interests. The minute a realtor gets commission-breath he’s violating those interests, and in most cases, that client can sense it.

Yes, realtors earn a living helping people buy and sell homes. Those events are life-changing in our client’s lives. If we haven’t done our best to make that life-changing event a good experience, we’re violating our fiduciary responsibility to our client, and we probably have a case of commission-breath

Is THIS Your Clintonville Home?

February 16th, 2007 Columbus and Central Ohio Real Estate Tid Bits, The Ugly 1 Comment

As a realtor, I often see see interesting things in the real estate world. While waiting at another home in Clintonville to show it to a buyer, I took a photo of this home across the street. Can you see what the problems are?

Two things– this is an older home with the outside ‘storm windows’ that are common. Their function is to keep the cold outside, and can be opened in the summer to allow breezes in through screens.

This day, the temperature was 5 degrees. The owner of this home must have whopping heating bills, because I counted 9 windows with the storm windows open. Cold air is working its way through the inside single pane windows…..

Next, the back downspout is missing… see the frozen ice hanging? When the thaw comes, water is going to flow down the foundation and the owners will be wondering WHY the back corner of the basement is wet along the walls.

It’s the SIMPLE things in Life that can save a lot of money… and grief.