Often I see buyer brokers who can't find their clients a new dream home, and when I inquire as to what they are looking for, their search is so narrow it's no wonder! I hate to say it, but sometimes we really get in the way of what our clients' goals are. Let me explain. A buyer will tell us specifically what they want - size, bedrooms, function, features ....and then they tell us the price. It's often impossible. I said one day "Let's put a palm tree in the front yard and it might even become more difficult!" I was being facetious. First, start by telling your broker what the features are that you require, do not put in an area or price . Give your broker the square footage, the number of bedrooms, the features....and then let's take a look at those results. If you see a pattern in the price results, you might be on to something. Is everything above your wished for price range? Do you see a pattern in the locations, too? Some locati...

How Buyers Can Irk Sellers I loved this article about how good behavior, or bad, can affect your real estate purchase! 1)  Keep your kids quiet, show up on time, don't rearrange the furniture and stay out of the bathroom.  The stories I have heard and experienced.....I had one colleague who had a family attend a showing (vacant house) and someone apparently used the bathroom and the water had been turned off.  She spent the next hour borrowing buckets of water from the neighbors in order to flush the toilets...that's all I'm going to say about that one. 2)  Don't remind the sellers how much you don't like the house, in the offer.   Yes, giving them a list of defects and problems doesn't exactly paint the picture of you being a willing buyer.  Submitting a 'love letter' for the house is much better!  In fact, a love letter can cushion the pain of a lower offer if you can explain, in plain language, why you really love the house (despite the defec...

There is often much discussion and even more resistance by buyers to be prequalified and ready to write an offer before seeing homes... Why is it so important? Many changes have occurred to our contracts and one of them is Paragraph 5a of the Purchase Agreement. This paragraph refers to what MUST be in place before a seller can move forward with your offer. Buyer agrees to provide Seller with a Pre-Qualification Letter from a lender no later than _____ days after the Date of Acceptance. Pre-Qualification Letter must stipulate that: (1) a written loan application has been made; (2) a credit report has been obtained and reviewed by a lender; (3) a preliminary loan commitment has been secured from the same lender; (4) financing equal to the loan amount provided in Paragraph 2(B) of this agreement is available to complete the transaction as per the Settlement Date stated herein subject to contingencies provided for in this Agreement and subject to underwriting approval. If Buye...