John Beckett's Real Estate Blog

If a new house is listed for only slightly more than older ones you’re looking at, is it worth jumping on? Here’s a look at the pros and cons.

Some homebuyers will take nothing less than a new home with an untouched bathtub. Others want a home with character in an established neighborhood.

Personal preferences aside, there are pros and cons to buying a newly built home over a resale, as well as financial implications for each option.

New-home advantages
Rochelle Fitzgerald, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Rockwall office near Dallas, says, “There’s no question that some people prefer that ‘new-home smell’ and the idea that no one else’s feet have been on the carpet. On top of that, many people like to personalize their home by picking out everything from the beginning.”

Some buyers focus on the more practical aspect of buying a new home because it typically will require less maintenance than an older house.

“It’s very important to some buyers to have everything new, plus they have the peace of mind that comes along with the builder’s warranty,” says Dan Kruse, broker/owner of Century 21 Affiliated in Madison, Wis.

On the financial side, builders, particularly in a slow real-estate market, offer plenty of incentives to buyers.

“In a sellers market, new homebuyers will often spend as much as 10% or more above the purchase price for optional features,” says Jeff Ristine, broker/owner of Weichert, Realtors: Kingsland Properties near Chicago. “Now many builders are offering free options as an incentive to buyers, such as a finished basement and an upgraded kitchen. Builders are tailoring their incentives to specific buyers, so some will throw in things like initiation fees for a country-club membership.”

New-home disadvantages
In spite of the added builder incentives, real-estate experts say new homes are typically more expensive than existing homes.

“Traditionally, new homes are more expensive because they are being built from the ground up,” Kruse says. “In recent years, some new homes have come down somewhat in cost because the builders have been hurt so badly by the downturn in the housing market. For the most part, though, builders try to keep price integrity and will offer closing-cost assistance or upgrades rather than lower the base price.”

Upgrades and closing costs are typically tied to the buyer using a builder-designated lender and title company.

“I would caution buyers, at least in our market in the Chicago area, to be careful buying a new home because builders are competing against foreclosures and it could be long time before a new home will increase in value,” Ristine says. “Even with builder incentives, you are usually paying a premium for buying a new home, so you need to hold onto it for five years or more to build any equity.”

Fitzgerald says buyers of new homes should expect to own for longer than buyers of existing homes because of differences in price appreciation.

“In a new-home community, if you need to sell within a year or two, you are competing against the other homes that are still being built and can be customized,” Fitzgerald says. “Buyers will choose a brand-new home rather than a 1-year-old home, especially if the builder can offer incentives that a regular seller cannot.”

One other downside is the potential for living amid a construction site for several years, particularly if the builder has slowed development because of the recession.

When to buy a new home
Real-estate agents agree that the best values for a new home come when the development is nearly complete.

“In years past, buyers wanted to get in early to take advantage of pre-construction pricing and a better location within the community,” Kruse says. “But now, buyers want to get in late, so if you have to sell you won’t be competing with newer homes in the development.”

Ristine says buyers should be cautious about buying before a community is nearly complete, because some builders are so financially strapped that they cannot complete their developments.

Existing-home advantages
“The biggest advantage of existing homes is the maturity of the community,” Kruse says. Buyers can look at how well the homes have held their value historically. Plus, buyers willing to purchase a fixer-upper can more easily increase the value of their property than someone with a new home.

Fitzgerald says that buying in an established community allows homeowners to know more about the schools and neighbors before they buy.

Long-term value in new and existing homes
For most homebuyers today, the biggest concern is whether the property will hold its value.

“In 10 years, a new home purchased today is likely to have more value simply because you own a newer home designed to meet today’s standards,” Fitzgerald says. “A new community will have newer amenities, too, including schools and shopping areas.”

Kruse and Ristine believe long-term value depends more on location than the age of the property.

“Value depends on where a home is located and how well the home has been maintained,” Ristine says. “People do like new things, but if a home has been upgraded with a new kitchen and bath, it can compete very well with a new home.”

Ultimately, the decision to buy a new or existing home comes down to what a buyer values more: a maintenance-free, new home or a mature neighborhood.

Read at:  http://realestate.msn.com/should-you-buy-a-newly-built-home

November is a good month to move some maintenance efforts indoors. This month also provides an opportunity to see if your hard work during earlier months paid off — nothing tests waterproofing efforts like a hard November rain.

Maintain large appliances

As the holiday season begins, make sure your appliances are prepared for the demands you will place on them. Pull your refrigerator from the wall and clean the condenser coils in back with a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. Also, vacuum dust from the front lower grille and clean the drip pan and the drain leading to it (if your unit has one). Clean the oven and stove drip pans on your electric range. Clean the surface burner on your gas stove to ensure proper flame level. De-stench your in-sink garbage disposal by packing it with ice cubes and 1/4 cup of baking soda; then turn it on. After the ice-grinding noise stops, pour a kettle full of boiling water into the sink. Check the dishwasher strainer and washer arm; clean if necessary.

Clean and maintain closets

Go to your closets and perform these two simple tests: Can you see floor space, and can you easily close the door? If the answer to either one of these questions is no, clean your closet. Cramped closets can provide haven for pests, too-full racks can break free from walls, and sliding doors can be derailed by too much stuff. Add compartments and hanging racks at different levels to utilize more space.

Maintain woodwork

November is a good month to repair and reglue woodwork, since indoor air is at its driest. If you are regluing wobbly dining room chairs, clamp during drying by wrapping a rope tightly around the perimeter of the legs. Be sure to protect wood surfaces with cardboard before tightening rope. Try using toothpaste on white water stains on wood surfaces. Once the stain is removed, polish with furniture polish. Use paste wax and elbow grease to put a new sheen on wood furniture.

Clear leaves from gutter

Cleaning gutters is a slimy job, but the task will protect your siding and basement from expensive water damage. Don long rubber gloves, grab a gallon bucket and scoop leaves into the bucket by hand. Trying to use a garden trowel or other device just makes the task more cumbersome and can damage gutters. Blast the scum from the bottom of the gutter with a hose equipped with a pressure nozzle. If it doesn’t drain well, feed your running hose up the pipe to knock loose the clog. Dump the contents of the bucket on your compost pile and pat yourself on the back for a dirty job well done.

Speaking of leaves …

Check some other places where accumulated leaves can be a problem. If leaves are piled in the valleys of your roof, they can retain water and initiate leaks. Walk your property with a shovel and clear drainage ditches and culverts of leaf buildup. Also, a moderate amount of leaves on a lawn can provide a natural mulch, but if large amounts are left to soak up winter rains, they will smother the grass beneath them.

Have problem trees trimmed

Now that you’ve cleaned your gutters, you know which trees are dumping leaves on your roof, shading it enough to encourage moss, and close enough to cause serious damage should they lose a branch in a storm. Trees are dormant this time of the year and can withstand extensive pruning. Decide which ones need cutting back and hire a professional to do the job. This is not a do-it-yourself task if the trees you are looking at are high enough to affect your roof. Trimming large trees is a dangerous job that should be left to an expert.

Maintain moisture

Heaters, especially forced air and wood stoves, can rob a home of humidity. A touch of moisture in the air makes heated air feel warmer, so you can keep the heat at a slightly lower temperature if your humidity is balanced. If your woodwork is cracking or your skin seems excessively dry, you need more moisture in your home. A furnace-mounted humidifier is likely the answer if your home has central forced-air heat and other measures don’t moisten things up. If you have a wood stove, put a nonwhistling teakettle on it and add water regularly (check it daily to make sure the water hasn’t evaporated). If you prefer not to go by feel, buy an inexpensive instrument called a hygrometer that measures humidity.

Maintain pools down south

For most of the country, pools are out of sight and out of mind during November. But if you live in sunny southern climes, this month marks the beginning of the dry season and the time to begin any pool maintenance job that requires emptying the pool. If a pool is emptied when groundwater levels are high, it can “float” and damage itself. So if you’re fortunate enough to live in a place where you can actually enjoy your pool in December, consider having major maintenance like replastering done this time of year.

Check your sump pump

Some unfinished basements in wet areas have sump pumps installed. These pumps switch on automatically when groundwater levels rise, eliminating basement water before it becomes a problem. If you have one, make sure it is in good working order before the rainy season starts.

Buy foam-cup covers for outdoor faucets

Be prepared to protect your spigots when the weather gets chilly and flirts with going below the freezing level. The foam cups are commonly sold at hardware stores and provide a cheap insurance policy that will help keep exposed pipes from freezing.

Read at: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13107890

I just read this article sent to me from the REALTOR MAG which is from the National Association of Realtors. I wanted to pass on this great information.

The seemingly endless run of bad housing news is discouraging some potential home buyers from considering a purchase. But the truth is that the advantages of homeownership have very little to do with investment gains. The best things about owning a home have a lot more to do with personal comfort and satisfaction.

Here are five of them:

· Be your own landlord. The bank can only kick you out if you don’t pay; a landlord can be much less dependable – deciding to sell the property or choosing to live there themselves.

· Paying the principal is forced savings. Yes, it’s possible that home prices will fall further. It is also possible that your 401(k) will lose value. But over the long haul, both are likely to enjoy modest gains in value.

· Fixed-rate mortgages never rise – and eventually you pay them off. With mortgage rates at record lows, people who buy now are locking in real bargains.

· Good schools. Family-sized rentals are harder to come by in areas with excellent public schools.

· Spacious properties in pleasant neighborhoods. Sizable homes in attractive communities are almost always owned – not rented.

Source: The New York Times, Ron Lieber (08/27/2010)

Here are the companies hiring in September:

Aflac
Industry: Sales
Number of openings: 500
Sample job titles: Sales associates
Location: Nationwide

Allied Cash Advance
Industry: Credit union, finance, banking
Number of openings: 78
Sample job titles: Brand manager, district manager, customer service representative, branch team members, branch assistant manager
Location: California, Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Texas, Virginia, Florida

City National Bank
Industry: Banking, financial services
Number of openings: 141
Sample job titles: Financial sales advisors, relationship managers, residential lending officers, senior mortgage loan underwriters, operations supervisors, policy and procedures supervisors
Location: California, New York

Davaco Inc.
Industry: Retail, restaurant contract services
Number of openings: 500
Sample job titles: Finish-out installers and lead installers, product merchandisers
Locations: Nationwide

Dollar Tree, Inc.
Industry: Retail
Number of openings: 1300
Sample job titles: Assistant store managers, store managers, distribution center associates
Locations: National

Edward Jones
Industry: Financial investments
Number of openings: 400
Sample job titles: Financial advisors, branch office administrators
Location: Nationwide

Oldcastle
Industry: Sales, construction, manufacturing
Number of openings: 500
Sample job titles: Outside sales, plant engineer, skilled labor
Location: Nationwide

Orkin Pest Control
Industry: Pest Control
Number of openings: 138
Sample job titles: Pest control specialist, national accounts sales director, security analyst, network engineer, branch manager trainee, administrative assistant, outbound sales specialist
Location: Nationwide

Securitas Security Services USA Inc.
Industry: Security guard
Number of openings: 300
Sample job titles: Security officer, supervisor, EMT
Location: Nationwide

UPS
Industry: Sales, warehouse and transportation
Number of openings: 500
Sample job titles: Package handler, driver, accounting, inside sales, mechanic, outside sales
Location: 50

Waggoner’s Trucking
Industry: Transportation
Number of openings: 100
Sample job title: Truck driver
Location: Nationwide

More at: http://msn.careerbuilder.com/

The proliferation of services that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real-estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real-estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commissions that many real-estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go — and could end up being more costly than a commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial and emotional undertaking. Find out why you shouldn’t discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet.

1. Better access/more convenience

A real-estate agent’s full-time job is to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. This means that he or she will have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents and will know what needs to be done to get a deal together. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, a real-estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, get in touch with sellers’ agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may be especially difficult if you’re shopping for homes that are for sale by owner. Similarly, if you are looking to sell your home yourself, you will have to solicit calls from interested parties, answer questions and make appointments. Keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy or don’t respond quickly enough. Alternatively, you may find yourself making an appointment and rushing home, only to find that no one shows up.

2. Negotiating is tricky business

Many people don’t like the idea of doing a real-estate deal through an agent and think that direct negotiation between buyers and sellers is more transparent and allows the parties to look after their own interests better. This is probably true — assuming that both the buyer and seller are reasonable people who are able to get along. Unfortunately, this isn’t always an easy relationship. What if you, as a buyer, like a home but despise its wood-paneled walls, shag carpet and lurid orange kitchen? If you are working with an agent, you can express your contempt for the current owner’s decorating skills and rant about how much it’ll cost you to upgrade the home without insulting the owner. For all you know, the owner’s late mother may have lovingly chosen the décor. Your real-estate agent can convey your concerns to the seller’s agent. Acting as a messenger, the agent may be in a better position to negotiate a discount without ruffling the homeowner’s feathers. A real-estate agent can also play the “bad guy” in a transaction, preventing the bad blood between a buyer and seller that can kill a deal. Keep in mind that sellers can reject a potential buyer’s offer for any reason — including just because they hate his or her guts. An agent can help by speaking for you in tough transactions and smoothing things over to keep them from getting too personal. This can put you in a better position to get the house you want. The same is true for the seller, who can benefit from a hard-nosed real-estate agent who will represent his or her interests without turning off potential buyers who want to niggle about the price.

3. Contracts can be hard to handle

If you decide to buy or sell a home, the offer-to-purchase contract is there to protect you and ensure that you are able to back out of the deal if certain conditions aren’t met. For example, if you plan to buy a home with a mortgage but you fail to make financing one of the conditions of the sale — and you aren’t approved for the mortgage — you can lose your deposit on the home and could even be sued by the seller for failing to fulfill your end of the contract. (Keep in mind that the details of any contract may vary based on state law.) An experienced real-estate agent deals with the same contracts and conditions on a regular basis and is familiar with which conditions should be used, when they can be removed safely and how to use the contract to protect you, whether you’re buying or selling your home.

4. Real-estate agents can’t lie

Well, OK, actually they can. But because they are licensed professionals, there are more repercussions if they do than for a private buyer or seller. If you are working with a licensed real-estate agent under an agency agreement, such as a conventional, full-service commission agreement in which the agent agrees to represent you, your agent will be bound by law to a fiduciary relationship. In other words, the agent is bound by law to act in his clients’ best interest, not his own. In addition, most real-estate agents rely on referrals and repeat business to build the kind of client base they’ll need to survive in the business. This means that doing what’s best for their clients should be as important to them as any individual sale. Finally, if you do find that your agent has gotten away with lying to you, you will have more avenues for recourse, such as through your agent’s broker or professional association or possibly even in court if you can prove that your agent has failed to uphold his fiduciary duties. When a buyer and seller work together directly, they can — and should — seek legal counsel, but because each is expected to act in his or her best interest, there isn’t much you can do if you find out later that you’ve been duped about multiple offers or the home’s condition. And having a lawyer on retainer any time you want to talk about potentially buying or selling a house could cost far more than an agent’s commissions by the time the transaction is complete.

5.  Not everyone can save money

Many people eschew using a real-estate agent in order to save money, but keep in mind that it is unlikely that both the buyer and seller will reap the benefits of not having to pay commissions. For example, if you are selling your home on your own, you will price it based on the sale prices of other comparable properties in your area. Many of these properties will be sold with the help of an agent. This means that the seller gets to keep the percentage of the home’s sale price that might otherwise be paid to the real-estate agent. However, buyers who are looking to purchase a home sold by owners may also believe they can save some money on the home by not having an agent involved. They might even expect it and make an offer accordingly. However, unless buyer and seller agree to split the savings, they can’t both save the commission.

The bottom line
While there are certainly people who are qualified to sell their own homes, taking a quick look at the long list of frequently asked questions on most “for sale by owner” websites suggests the process isn’t as simple as many people assume. And when you get into a difficult situation, it can really pay to have a professional on your side.

Read at: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=25368603