Category Archives: buyers agent

New Year Message to 2018 Home Buyers

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New Year home buying

New Years Day has always been an interesting holiday, inherently spent reflecting on my plans, goals and aspirations for the coming year.   This years freeze outside has us inside watching “Texas Flip and Move” on the DIY network.   Watching various groups of low budget, virtually no profit developers go about planning rennovation projects of homes that have to be moved with virtually no professional assistance makes me cringe inside.  After weeks of work, profits are small.   It got me thinking about the home buying process for our normal, non-televised buyers, and what we as Realtors bring to the table.

Surveys from the National Association of Realtors tell us that the buyer perspective is that the number 1 thing buyer’s agents do is find the house.   Obviously finding the right house is important, and Realtors have tremendous resources and opportunities to find homes, but the truth is that finding the house is almost always a team effort.   The role the agent has in the process does vary depending upon how involved the buyer’s want to be, and how much they want their agent involved.   Some buyer’s, despite having help from their buyer’s agent, don’t even look at searches from the agent, but rely on mobile apps or advertising sites like Realtor.com, Zillow and even other agents websites.  The problem with buyer’s doing more leg-work, is that, more often than not, they find homes that are already sold, aren’t for sale, or don’t even meet their own criteria.  On many occasions, a passionate, and even ANGRY client emails me asking, “WHY HASN’T THIS HOME COME UP ON MY SEARCH ?” (from the MLS).   It takes a minute, but with one exception, it is always because the home was excluded because of the limitations the buyer’s have given me, or the home is no longer available.   One time the home was sold 5 years earlier!   After hundreds of experiences and many years in the business, there’s no shortage of stories.  With home buying and selling being such an emotional process, its alway serious business, but in retrospect can be funny too.

No transaction is ever the same, and some buyer’s need support in areas that don’t even exist with other transactions.  From my experience, I say the number 1 thing that we do to help buyer’s is ESTABLISHING A STRATEGY.   To me, this outranks several other super important things we do, like NEGOTIATIONS, house finding, etc. because meeting with a buyer’s agent before the home search process begins and establishing a well thought out BUYING STRATEGY helps the licensed professional to factor in the importance of every facet of the home buying process.   Often times, in establishing a strategy, the agent discovers some of the ideas the buyer may have that are absolutely unrealistic.  Achieving a buyer’s ideals sounds super duper important.   It is, but if they want a condominium in a city where condominiums don’t exist, or they want to build new construction, but don’t have a down-payment, they could be setting themselves up for misery down the road.

So STRATEGIZE.  That’s the deal.  What better time to talk STRATEGY than New Years Day.   

If you know a person interested in starting the buying process, most likely their idea may be to wait until spring time.    Their ideal could be to wait to contact an agent (or not contact an agent at all) until they see the PERFECT HOME at an open house.   To me, this is like showing up at a gun fight -thinking that you’ll have time to shop for a gun.   We experience this all the time.   In today’s market, that’s usually a non-starter.   When we list a property, we first let all our buyers know about it, then post it on agent only “coming soon” sites, then calling or texting our colleagues to let them know what it is and when its coming.  This is the new normal.  During the spring and summer months, we sometimes have multiple buyers lined up before the ink is dry, so at the first open house, we have buyers and agents circling like hungry sharks.   When the unrepresented buyer shows up at the end of the day starting to sheepishly ask questions, it may already be sold.

The point is that if you’re like me, and you’re sitting unprepared home buyer around reflecting on what 2018 brings, and you HAPPEN TO BE considering a home purchase, MAKE THE CALL THIS WEEK!   It doesn’t hurt anyone to plan ahead.  Share you’re ideas with an agent 3-6 months before the search to take advantage of the experience of your soon to be agent and work out a strategy that works in the world that you are buying in.  Sign an exclusive buyer’s agency agreement, so that you’re on the ‘radar’ of a real estate professional when they start hearing about homes that match your ‘perfect home’.    Interestingly, since we’ve been in the business, buyers strategies have changed many times. The market your friend, pastor, personal trainer, psychic, or parents bought in may be TOTALLY DIFFERENT than today’s market, so the strategy they give you might suck.   Don’t make the last one to find out your game plan be your Realtor!

Greetings Holiday Shoppers!

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holiday home buyer

Growing up, I watched the story about gifting real estate for Christmas several times per season.  Suprisingly, my first year in real estate, I was concerned that I’d only be able to help home buyer’s during the springtime.   The “seasonality myth” as it’s known in the industry, seems to be propagated by those that start to place focus on holiday parties, family, and worship.  I call that realtors hibernating.    While making this choice isn’t a bad thing for a person,  for a personal decision to affect such an important decision of others, like prospective home buyers, is unfortunate.  Ask any home buyer trying to buy in the springtime and being consistently out bid by $20,000+.   Ask the FHA home buyer that makes offer after offer, but is outbid not by price, but by folks putting more money down and using conventional financing.  Buyer’s need to know that lots of agents are eager to get out in December and January.

One home buyer couple I used to work for seemingly called me every time the weather was snowy and cold.   We’d look at house after house and be grateful we weren’t shopping when prices were higher and people were fighting us for the home, creating bidding wars.

The year 2017 has been a tremendous SELLER’s MARKET, but even in an overall market, there are mini shifts that buyer’s can take advantage of to get better pricing and availability.  So bottom line, if you want to buy…. get out there now and take advantage of the holiday home buying season!

 

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Sunset Hills, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

7 Tips for Buyer’s in a Shifting Market

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home buying tipsMarkets in transition are an interesting thing to deal with in real estate.  When markets shift, the rules change.  What was gospel last month is all of the sudden thrown out and new practices have to be used.

The new market is competitive and swift.  The “right” properties are out there, but only stay on the market for hours in some cases.  Check out this list and your chances for landing the perfect house will be much improved.

1.  Work with EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS.

Real estate is a business where on the job training reigns supreme.  The only way to get that training is to be active in the current market.

2.  Work with Agents that have PAPERLESS CAPABILITY.

To beat out other buyer’s with similar desires, having an agent that can put together an offer on a tablet, get your signature, then email the offer can make the difference between getting the right house, or the runner up.

3.  Get pre-approved in advance and have a digitized copy available.

This has been an old rule for many years, but during the housing slump, it became less important.  New urgency requires the need to impress that seller once again.

4.  Know where you stand financially

Aside from getting a pre-approval, lots of buyer’s seem to be confused about what is a comfortable payment for them due to all the other bills and expenses they have.   Despite having gotten a pre-approval and working with a lender, they sometimes hesitate due to lack of awareness of things like when their lease ends, and what their home will cost with taxes and home owners insurance added.

5.  Make a ‘Community Wish List’

Most buyers have wish lists for home features, but often times looking at the type of neighborhood isn’t something that’s explored as much.  Giving your Realtor general ideas about the type of community you want to reside in can go a long way in helping find perspective homes.  It can also help to narrow down listings or decide between homes.

6.  CALL YOUR INSPECTOR QUICKLY

Most of your contract contingencies are based on the execution date of the contract and the first one is generally the inspection contingency.  In years past, getting an inspector in a few days wasn’t a problem, but in this market, inspectors are swamped.  Call them the minute you’re aware you’re contract has been accepted and get a list of good inspectors from your Realtor.

7.  Once you’ve found the right place, DON’T HESITATE!

This is a good rule any time, but particularly now when buyer’s are finding themselves in competition  more frequently.  Sometimes pausing seems like the right thing to do, but if you’ve done your home work and have used the information to make the best decision, waiting only increases the chances of loosing out.  Remember, “he who hesitates is lost!”

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood,Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.  Follow Chris Grus @

Big Sales, Little Inventory

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Fast pace sales in the fall St Louis real estate market is beginning to lead to a “luxury problem” for home buyers:  lack of inventory.

Obviously this is going to vary based on what market and how narrow a buyer’s search criteria is.

Good buyer’s agents work hard in times like this to poll other local agents to find prospective listings for buyer’s to view, since good agents know about their ‘pipeline’ of listings months in advance.    Viewings can be arranged in advance of the home going on the market, and the buyer can take advantage of additional variety to choose from.  The downside to this type of prospecting is that homes “pre-listing” periods often times catch the seller when they may have less realistic pricing.  The lack of inventory gives them a sense of confidence that may not be respected by an appraiser weeks later.  Another option is to look through the expired listings.  Homes that were listed earlier in the year are often just waiting for the chance to sell.  Reaching out to them can produce a prospective home for a buyer and having already been listed unsuccessfuly, the seller may be ready to deal.

What’s a buyer to do?

Good professional consultation about the market is important.  An opinion is one of the easiest things to get:  Mom and Dad, bus drivers, homeless people, cashiers and undertakers all have opinions on what home buyer should do.  Home buyer’s should be careful that the opinion being offered is an informed, relevant, and timely idea from a local professional that is actively working in the local market a buyer wants, presently.

Lastly, a good general suggestion is to have patience.  Obviously convenience and timing are important for making transitions smooth, but buying the right home is something that a buyer will enjoy the most ESPECIALLY when its time to sell.  There are some situations where now means now, but often times the hard and fast deadline for home buyer’s is something that isn’t as hard and fast as it is presented.  Landlords will often extend leases, and temporary housing is available when the right home just isn’t there.

HAPPY HOLIDAY HUNTING from StL Buyer Guide!

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood,Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

St Louis Real Estate Wiki

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Home buyers in St Louis looking for their questions about home buying can now look to a new resource specific to the St Louis area, the new St Louis real estate wiki.

If I was a non-real estate or legal professional, I would ask, “why does it matter? Why do we need a real estate wiki specific to St Louis?”

As real estate professionals, we’ve seen for years where information on some of the nationally known websites, newspapers and television shows describe the real estate transaction or process of buying a home that is specific to the state they are covering. Typically there’s no disclaimer saying that, but ‘all real estate is local.’ Real estate is governed by local laws, which is shaped and influenced by local customs.

One example is the sale contract. Sales contracts must be legally appropriate in the state that they are used. Going one step further, some states, like Missouri, have different local associations that provide contracts and forms that are used solely in their local area. In St Louis, Realtors mostly use contracts from the St Louis Association of Realtors, and can also use contracts provided by the Missouri Association of Realtors. Other items are laws that vary from state to state. When the general public wants information about real estate, often times they get information that isn’t accurate for the state in which they live or are buying property. This may cause confusion and problems with transactions based on relying on inaccurate information.

Another item is the difference in local market conditions and practices.

After a few years in the business, it started to register with us that some seller clients would comment about not receiving offers after open houses.  It didn’t register immediately, but one day when watching a show about amateur home remodelers, it dawned on me that seller’s view shows like that as real estate resources.  On that show, they typically show the remodeling process all the way up to the seller’s first open house.  After that, they interview the seller, which almost always refers to the offers they’ve received.   As viewers, we can only assume that the offers are received at the open house.  In reality, that probably doesn’t happen, but in areas where the home supply is much lower (like California) it may be more common.  In St Louis, most open house attendees aren’t in the market to buy a home within the next 60 days, and some are waiting more than a year.  This underscores why having a local real estate resource is desperately needed.

 

Loan (pre) Approval vs. Loan Commitment

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mortgage approvalThe process of getting a home mortgage can be confusing.

Its confusing mostly because its overwhelming. Lender spin accounts for a little confusion too. Lastly, the consumers desire for things to be simple makes it more overwhelming still.

One thing that trips up a lot of buyers is the pre-approval.

There’s the pre-approval mantra we hear so often. Homes listed used to say “bring your pre-approved buyers”, bank tag-lines talk about getting pre-approved, stream-lined pre-approval process, pre-qualification and more. Buyers meet up and tell their Realtor that “the loan is APPROVED, we just need to pick the house.” That tells me the mortgage lender is blowing some serious smoke where they shouldn’t be. That seems to be a common belief among buyers though.

Changing gears a bit, the St Louis Association of Realtors standard Residential Contract has a built in loan contingency in the contract. This contingency is called the loan commitment period, a time after which one can not back out of the contract due to the inability to obtain a loan without being in “breach of contract”. Restated simply, a home buyer has a certain period to get their loan approved. Usually about 3-4 weeks are needed to get this (clear) ‘loan commitment’ from a lender.

Back to the whole pre-approval thing. So if a buyer gets pre-approved before starting the whole real estate buying venture, what else needs to be done? Is the home shopper really “approved”?

The answer is NO.

The pre-approval process is usually a basic analysis of the major qualifying information. A few questions about employment terms, annual income, name, date of birth, social security number and so on. A credit report is run, but otherwise, little if any verification takes place before the buyer is pre-approved. Some lenders go further. They may ask for the last two years W-2 forms. The bottom line is that pre-approval amounts to a preliminary screening of the credit worthiness of a buyer.

The buyer finds the perfect St Louis home with their Realtor of choice, they negotiate a deal and are “under contract. Then what?

There’s a bunch of things we’re not addressing on the real estate side, but regarding the mortgage, here’s what happens:

1. The lender gets a copy of the contract and reviews the terms.

2. The lender will need to meet with the buyer, or work via mail to prepare a mortgage loan application.

3. The loan application, along with 2 years of tax returns, a check for the appraisal and other documentation specific to you will be returned to the lender.

4. Good lenders wait until buyer’s have passed through the inspection period to move forward with appraisals, but once they get the green light, an appraisal is ordered.

5. CONDO’s or HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION HOMES ONLY -Good lenders get necessary questionaire completed early in the process. There may be a fee for this also. Finding out if a condominium can be financed before ordering an appraisal can be good.

6. Lenders get the application, credit reports, all corresponding documentation and the appraisal and submit it to their UNDERWRITER. Good lenders have “in house” underwriters, since having to submit items to an outside source complicate things immensely.

7. The Underwriter responds to the application at some point with CONDITIONS. These are the conditions that need to be “cleared” for them to approve the loan. The fewer conditions the better. Most good lenders would anticipate what conditions would come up and “put out the fires before they start”. Conditions that come up usually are letters of explanation from the buyer, their employers, the appraiser and additional documentation. Sometimes the underwriter can reject an appraisal completely and ask for a new one.

8. Responses to all the conditions must be submitted to the underwriter, then, ideally the loan passes from underwriting to the closing department. At this point, the buyer or buyer’s agent may receive what is known in the St Louis area as “loan commitment”. Other areas of the country are often times not familiar with this term. Here in St Louis, its part of the Residential Sales Contract.

So between the pre-approval process and LOAN COMMITMENT, there are 8 basic “hoops” that need to be jumped through, plus everything else, from writing the contract through inspections that need to be addressed before the bank can give the real approval. Final approval usually happens when the bank wires the funds and authorizes the title company to “fund” the deal, so BUYER’S, keep this process in the back of your mind when you make an offer and make sure you choose your lender quickly after your contract is written.

The moral of this story: a week after a contract is accepted is not the time to still be shopping rates and interviewing lenders! Talk to your Realtor every step of the way and make sure YOUR THINKING correlates to what you’ve agreed to in the contract and everything should turn out fine.

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

Word to the Wise: PRIORITIZE!

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St Louis home buyingIn working with St Louis home buyers, there are lots of variations. Some buyers know exactly what they want, what they can pay, and where to look; they just need a REALTOR to make the connection. Other buyers in St Louis are really clueless. They have no idea what they want or where to look. They want a REALTOR to tell them where to go and what to do throughout the entire home buying process.

Question: which is better off?

Answer: Neither

Some would say that home buyer #1 is in better shape. They’ve done their homework, they are confident, they have a plan.

The problem with this type of buyer in many cases is that they make their plan BEFORE they have the benefit of working with a professional. Sometimes this type of buyer has begun the process of narrowing down their search and has ruled out homes or areas based on the direction of misinformation or the opinions or wishes of others.

Home buyer #2, some would argue, shouldn’t even buy a home. They need to know what they want before they start working with a REALTOR. This may be true in some cases. Often times this type of buyer allows a professional to get involved to assist them through the ENTIRE process, not just the final act. Often times a REALTOR can help a home buyer do a better job of considering all possibilities then methodically narrowing down the search based on realistic factors.

In ALL cases, there’s no “1 right way” to buy a home. Factors vary for everyone. The point is, that either too much preparation, or too little preparation can put a home buyer in a position where they aren’t allowing their real estate professional to help them or putting too much in their hands.

Buyer’s best bet is to take the time to make out a list of priorities about what they want in a residence. Proximity to work, proximity to family or friends, price range, type of community, type of home, and realistic idea of the duration of the residency should all be considered. Nothing is more disappointing to buyer’s agents as a call from a home buyer shortly after a purchase when they are disappointed in where or what they’ve purchased. Also a drag is when a buyer finds themselves wanting or needing to move because certain factors weren’t considered prior to the purchase.

Home buying is a PERSONAL decision, so allowing anyone to have too much influence in the factors that are personal can lead to frustration. That’s why taking a few minutes to list priorities BEFORE friends, family and strangers start the process of unsolicited counseling.

Once home buyers have that list, a REALTOR should be consulted. Often times a good buyer’s agent might think of possibilities that a home buyer may not consider just based on information on the list.

St Louis home buying is exciting! Finding a place can be exhilarating and a fantastic investment. Something to really be proud of! The right amount of preparation in advance can make a wonderful impact on the whole process.

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

Difference between Ads & Service

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homes for sale in st louis moThe tech stock world is ablaze today with the initial stock offering (IPO) of the real estate website Zillow. Exceeding the pricing expectations anticipated, the investment world is watching.

First thing monday I missed a call from one of my pals at Zillow. Every other month or so, a sales person from Zillow contacts me about their latest “whiz bang” program for agents. As an agent, I see Zillow for what it really is; an ADVERTISING COMPANY!

There are lots of other advertising company’s out there…Trulia, HomeGain, and more. Then there’s the local paper & their websites. All funded and supported by ads.

While these can all be decent sites to check out, they have major limitation. The best source for information on the real estate market is still the MLS (multiple listing service). Instead of a cross section of homes, it has everything on the market. Instead of being updated daily, weekly or monthly; its updated in ‘real time’ and instead of homes that are “under contract” and just awaiting their closing date, the MLS updates those homes too.

The only seeming drawback of the MLS is that a person has to contact an industry professional to have access. Is that really a problem? No obligation or fees to have a professional with experience in finding, inspecting, insuring, buying, negotiating, writing contracts on homes, with a rolodex full of other resources. Not a bad deal!
St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

Buyer Beware!

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buyers agent st louisHome buyers are often nervous.

They should be. There’s a lot of factors involved and often times an overwhelming amount of details to consider.

A good professional buyer’s agent with relevant experience can make a huge difference in the end result.

That begs a question: how much should a buyer pay for this service?

Historically, the buyer’s agent has been paid by the seller. Commission to sell the home covers the listing agent and the buyer’s agent, split based on the listing agreement and published in the MLS.

Some of the giant real estate corporations are starting to break away from what has been a successful system for Realtor compensation. These corporations, often housing less experienced agents, are charging fees to the buyer at closing.

Last month, I experienced this for the first time. An agent with absolutely no experience in the given market charged her buyer’s an extra $500 on top of the commission paid by the seller. What was most frustrating for our agents was that the buyer’s agent had to be ‘baby-sat’ throughout the entire transaction. We work with many agents that are astute and competent, seeing them charge extra wouldn’t be nearly as hard to swallow.

The interesting thing is that many prospective home buyers don’t even know how a buyer’s agent is compensated, so seeing the ‘big corporate bonus’ isn’t as much of a suprise as it is to the agents.

Big corporations are a relatively new phenomenon in the real estate world. These corporations are building themselves up by adding income streams to the traditional real estate model to add to their bottom lines. Charging large fees to new agents and selling signs and other materials for a profit are things that typically don’t happen with smaller “boutique” REALTORS.
Word to the buyer: stick with the tradition and look for an agent with plenty of experience in your market BEFORE you pay a fee!

St Louis real estate is our specialty! If you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search now.

Great Reasons to Buy in the Fall Winter

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Home for Sale in St Louis

Our First Home

Last week this article in the Wall Street Joural really caught my attention. “10 Reasons to Buy a Home” was a pretty good response to Time Magazines yellow journalism in last months article decrying home ownership. The Wall Street Journal article points out they had a very different tone when home prices were peaking back in 2005-6. What comes to mind is Warren Buffet’s statement “Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.” When everyone was ridiculously excited about real estate, we now know that it wasn’t the best time to buy. Now that prices are low and interest rates are extremely low and other buyers are hestitant, its a GREAT TIME to BUY. History constantly shows that many people won’t be excited until prices start climbing again, and by that time, the deals won’t be nearly as good as now.

My thoughts go to my first home buying experience. Not that we did everything right, but our apartment lease was coming due in 6 months and I was itching to buy a house. My new bride and I were at odds about location, but we both liked Kirkwood and Webster Groves area. I wanted to buy in the City, she wasn’t familiar enough. We looked and looked. One day my mother called and told me that we should look in the subdivision just north of hers in the City of Manchester. There were was a place selling in our range, we called our Realtor to take a look.

The house was in dire shape, but it was winter, and there weren’t many other buyers in the market. It was an estate home (owned by heirs of the prior owner) and they were getting desperate. We got an analysis of the neighborhood sales from our agent and discussed strategies on how to make an offer. We end up getting the home for a great price and had many happy years there.

Ever since then, I’ve experienced some really great reasons to buy a home during the off peak months of fall and winter. A few are listed below:

1. Seller’s are at a psychological disadvantage. Many sellers are anxious about the lower amount of traffic from summer. Offers are taken more seriously as there is less certainty that another offer will come along.

2. Realtors have more time. When I work with buyers in the fall and winter, most realtors have more time to spend because they aren’t working with as many other clients.

3. Prices have dropped on many of the homes that were listed in the spring and summer, sellers are more motivated.

4. Homes don’t show as well in bad weather and less tidy landscaping, and it gives buyers more leverage.

5. Buyer’s are less likely to encounter “multiple offers” which tilts negotiations in the sellers favor.

6. The average days on market is usually longer (fewer seller’s try to sell in the fall / winter) so the homes that are on the market have been ‘sitting’.

7. Other services, like mortgage brokers, inspectors and title companies aren’t as busy and have more time to work with a buyer’ schedule.

Buyer’s can have great experiences in their efforts all year long. If getting the most for your money and being able to thoroughly explore areas with the full assistance of a Realtor is important to you, then fall / winter buying might be the best alternative for you. Happy Home buying!

St Louis real estate is our specialty! Visit us online at 4SaleStLouis.comIf you’re looking for real estate anywhere in the St Louis, MO area, including St Louis City, St Louis County, St Charles, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, or one of the other areas we serve, simply click the “Search St Louis Real Estate” link at the top or bottom of this page to begin your home search