By the Law of Contrast, a valuable house looks even more valuable when it comes after a worthless house.

If you find yourself viewing houses that are just rip offs, be careful when you see a decent house. It is actually less valuable than you believe. You Real Estate Agent may even try to compliment those worthless houses so that when decent house shows up, you believe it’s your perfect home!

2. Making you travel to look at the houses you want to buy first.
This is a very common practice and it would seem to make sense. You would need to look at the houses before buying it, correct? Well, there is reason behind the Real Estate Agent wanting you to travel and spend your valuable time staring at these houses. By spending so much time on one house, it becomes too much of an effort to find your perfect house. You end up settling for your less than desired house.

What should be happening is that before looking at the house, you should request a comparable analysis. Your Real Estate Agent has statistical information about the houses you are looking at and houses similar to what you are looking at. This statistical information reveals the market value of the home and whether the home is worth you TIME. By not showing you the comparable analysis, the time, effort and pain it takes for you to search for a home causes you to make a decision faster. If the Real Estate Agent shows you the comparable analysis first, it reduces the pain and you would wait longer to decide. Also, the Real Estate agent has to spend time to create the comparable analysis report where most likely, they would not want to do.

Rule of thumb: Find a Real Estate Agent that will give you the comparable analysis first.

Now, this isn’t to say you should never look for the house first.

There is one exception.

When you first meet your new Real Estate Agent, there is some level of concern on the agent’s side. The agent is spending valuable free time on you, gambling that you would buy a house through him. So if you start off by requesting comparable analysis, he will not do it. Any honest Real Estate Agent would not do it. A comparable analysis is valuable information that the Real Estate Agent gets for being a Real Estate Agent. They need to pay a fee to be a Real Estate Agent.

What the Real Estate Agent needs to know, is that you need to provide some “level of comfort” that you will certainly buy the house through him in order to get the comparable analysis. To me, this is fair because if the Real Estate Agent is going to spend the time on you to help you find a home, then it would only be fair that you buy through him and let him get the commission.

The legal way to show this “level of comfort” is to sign the 90-day commitment contract that indicates you would only work with him and no other agent for 90 days. This legal way is by no means the only way nor is this a bad way, either. It is only a matter of preference and your relationship with your Real Estate Agent that determines the best approach.

3. Encouraging you to put a high security deposit when writing up a contract to purchase your desired home.

A security deposit informs the seller you are interested in purchasing the property and the amount lets the seller know how serious you are. The higher the amount, the more serious you are.

The moment the contract is agreed upon by both parties and signed, you must provide the security deposit within the set time specified in the contract. This security deposit is suppose to be returned to you if the contract becomes null and void, if the conditions (usually financing and inspection) specified in the contract fails.

Now, this procedure seems to be fair. Here is where the problem lies:

If the contract becomes null and void and you want your money back, all parties must sign a form called a Mutual Release. This signature must include the buyer, buyer’s agent, seller and seller’s agent. If any one party does not sign, you will not get your money even if the contract has been null and void. If anyone party refuses to sign, you have to go through court, most likely small claims court, to settle your dispute and if you know anything about the court system in Canada, you know your court date could be as long as two years away!

You should never be serious in buying house. It is poor negotiating tactics. If your Real Estate Agent encourages you to put a high security deposit, it is because your Real Estate Agent wants you to be serious about purchasing the property even though it is poor negotiating tactics.

The reality is your security deposit can be very difficult to get back. Sadly, this is the general process in most home buying transactions and it is a very poor process.

And did you know…

IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO PUT A SECURITY DEPOSIT AT ALL!

There are no limitations to a contract. It is only a matter of agreement. You can write anything you want on the contract as long as both party agrees. My suggestion is to encourage your Real Estate Agent to only provide the deposit after the contract passes the conditions. This is possible, but only if your Real Estate Agent is willing.

Once again, I cannot stress this enough, to find a Real Estate Agent do not search through the Internet and pick the first one you see. Good salesmen do not make good Real Estate Agents.

If you have any more questions or concerns, feel free to e-mail me at admin@freerentalads.ca
You are also certainly welcome to e-mail me your good and bad home buying experiences. I may or may not choose to post them up.

More to Come!

Real Investments Real Estate Sources

1.   Newspapers are a great place to start to find real quality investments properties for sale. All states are required by law to post a public notice of auction in a newspaper for all foreclosure properties. You can regularly locate this list in your local real estate classifieds section of your newspaper and contact these homeowners about their foreclosure properties to see if they want to sell, some homeowners may not. The better “flip side” of this is to place a real estate ad in your newspaper stating that you buy real foreclosure investments properties. A well written “We buy foreclosure properties” ad will attract several calls per week from motivated owners that need to sell quickly. These owners have recently discovered that they need to get out, and you will find many of the best real investments foreclosure properties come unsolicited through these types of “feeler” ads.

2.   Real Estate Agents find real good investment properties for sale There are a number of sources available when you are looking to find a real good residential investment property. Some of these sources are much better than others. Finding real investment properties is much easier than you might think. The trick, however, is two-fold and very important.

1. Finding real investments in the market that are actually for sale.

2. Finding the best real estate investments before your competition finds them.

You can find real investments properties in your local news paper, through an real estate agent, on the internet, with direct mail, word of mouth, and lenders just to name a few. Finding properties for sale and finding the best foreclosure investment properties before the competition are the two tricks we will be discussing here.

and for a living on a daily basis and are waiting for a strong motivated buyer like you who is willing and able to close the deal. Let them know that you buy foreclosure properties, are looking for real investments, give them the specific criteria about the type of foreclosure properties you are looking for; price, location, condition, etc. and send them searching. In a strong market there will be a lot of competition, so make sure you are ready, willing and able to snap up a deal.

3.   The internet is the BEST place to find real investments properties for sale. Several foreclosure listing companies actually search out notifications of default and sell a subscription to those who are willing to pay for this information. The most advanced foreclosure properties sites will provide three key benefits: Plenty of foreclosure properties for sale, evaluation methods to find the best foreclosure properties based on your requirements, and easy and complete methods for contacting the foreclosure properties owner or agent. Beware that some of these foreclosure properties sites are just a way to make money and provide little or outdated information on these foreclosure properties.

4.   Word of mouth is a technique that all the good investors use to fing real investments. Let it be known to everyone you come in contact with that you are a real estate investor who specializes in buying real foreclosure investments. You should make some business cards as well that say “I buy foreclosure properties” and hand them out to everyone you know.

There are so many excellent ways to real investments right in your own market. The idea is to work smart, not hard, and to let the tools that are made available work for you. You’ve always got to be ready and have your system working to find the best foreclosure properties. Start on the web and try a few methods of finding foreclosure properties until you find the best one that works for you.

First they must have an idea of the home prices in the market. Do they have a budget for such range? Next, the quality of living in that neighborhood. This involves assessment of the community and the surrounding area.

In finding prices, they can visit real estate websites or contact agents from real estate agent lists. Here they can ask about prices, the community and more. But this is just the beginning. In the end, it all boils down to whether they can afford a house or not.

Buying merely takes a few months or even weeks. But ‘owning’ it is another story; it takes years, even decades, to achieve. In this case, a constant source of funding is a must. It can be from their personal savings, personal loans or mortgage loans; or, could be the pooling of all these three.

To qualify for the loans, they must have a good credit history. This will entitle them to bigger amounts. Additionally, it will help them qualify for loans with lower interest rates and privileges on insurance and rewards. They just need to research the best personal loans or mortgage loans that are on offer. Furthermore, they can seek aid from the government to further get discounts on homebuying.

In bank or credit union loans, there are fixed payment periods and failure to meet them can cost buyers additional penalty charges. Now adding those to the balance, the next due will be harder to pay. In addition, homebuyers need to know that loans can make a big dent on their income monthly. Therefore, the ability to work out a budget and diligence in paying is a must. They must accept that for the forseeable future, they may have to live as best as possible on a shoestring budget.

But to make up for it and avoid late payments, they can work on an extra income. In fact, it is normal and other times a must, for homebuyers to do this. It’ll help them to get by and ultimately keep up with their loan responsibilities.

Homebuying is a serious business. It is a long-term quest but in the end, it is all worth it. The key to success here is financial preparedness and intent focus on finishing the payment. Without these, people could lose their homes and acquire a large amount of debt leaving them homeless and bankrupt.

The good news is, there is a better way to sell your house fast, often in one hour or less! Yes, it’s true… you can sell your house faster than you ever thought possible by selling your house to a professional, local home buyer such as One Hour Homebuyers. Professional home buyers buy ugly houses and pretty houses in neighborhoods just like yours each and everyday for investment purposes. They can pay all cash, take over your mortgage payments immediately or work with you to come up with some other creative solution to help solve your home selling problem fast.

If you need to sell your house fast for any reason whatsoever, please visit our website at OneHourHomebuyers.com before you list your house. Take a minute to complete our Confidential Seller Questionnaire to see if your house qualifies for our One Hour Rapid Home Purchase Program. One Hour Homebuyers is a nationwide group of local, professional home buying companies that buy houses fast all over the USA in any area, condition or price range and may be able to buy your house fast… one hour fast!

Todd Proa says (so does everyone else for that matter! ) that blunders often result in failure and heavy losses. None of the initial starters in any business, be it a real estate business or writing business, can know everything about it and hence are prone to making mistakes. Todd Proa, a researcher of the real estate industry from Upstate New York, says “to avoid committing blunders, dig facts before committing yourself to the cause! One can avoid a mistake only if he/she knows what the mistake is!!!” It is suggested by Todd Proa that if you want to avoid blunders/mistakes then you must search for a good mentor or take guidance from someone who is a good real estate agent so that your mistakes do not get converted into blunders.

Todd Proa cites some of the common blunders that initial real estate investors are prone to commit, often leading them to heavy losses, are:

Becoming over-confident and covering every market: Todd Proa is of the view that, typically, new real estate investors’ sign up for all sorts of lists and receive emails about real estate deals all over the country. Todd Proa, as researcher of the real estate industry, suggests that ideally a real estate investor, who is new, must keep his focus on his own local market first. After attaining good understanding about one’s local market, one should think about venturing into buying properties in other market areas. Todd Proa suggests that a new real estate investor, having a strong and reliable partner or guide who can help him fully, should make a couple of deals in his own area and only then think of venturing in other market areas.

Wrong estimate of the amount of work it takes: Often, it has been seen that seminars and boot camps misguide new real estate investors that they can make easy and fast money by becoming a real estate investor. The truth according to Todd Proa, a real estate industry researcher from Upstate New York, about real estate investments is that like other businesses real estate investment also takes loads of time and effort to climb up the stairs of success. It is important to understand that no deal is going to fall in your lap overnight just by attending seminars and meetings! Be patient. Todd Proa says that real estate investment requires persistent marketing, building good relationships with those who are already in field like realtors, attorneys, appraisers, mortgage brokers etc. and be aggressive at going after the deals.

Lack of planning – Todd Proa believes that lack of planning and not planning in advance is the biggest mistake that often turns up into a blunder. A real estate investor must find a house after making a proper investment strategy rather than looking a house to fit the plan. Majority of new real estate investors purchase a property just because they are getting a good deal and after that they try to fit it into their plan. Todd Proa suggests that the investors should ideally concentrate on the number and try to make offers on multiple properties. This will help them to ensure a good property that will not only match their investment model but will also work out well with the numbers they had planned for.

Sandpoint Idaho is a happy place. Good schools, modern shopping, beautiful scenery and lots of recreational opportunities. Some quick research reveals that there are hundreds of Sandpoint Idaho real estate agents. Since North Idaho is such a great place to live it makes sense that there would be plenty of professionals to help people come and go. Some agents focus on transactions in raw land, others on homes, others on commercial. Any prospective buyer or seller can find an agent to help them with what they need. If you are more comfortable dealing with a nationally franchised real estate company you can easily find that. If you’d rather work with a smaller, more private agency, you can do that as well. No matter what your preference, Sandpoint, Idaho real estate agents are going to be able to help make your real estate goals and dreams come true.

Here is a list of some of the agencies in or near Sandpoint, just to name a few:

Century 21 RiverStone Real Estate

Maiden Rock Real Estate

Dover Bay Real Estate

CM Brewster & Co Real Estate

Windermere Real Estate/Idaho First Realty, Inc

Remax All Season Real Estate

Four Seasons Real Estate

Lake Country Real Estate

Dover ID Real Estate

Evergreen-Realty

Now let’s face it, some people make good agents and others don’t. I have experienced both good and bad Sandpoint Idaho real estate agents. Years ago, when I was renting a house that was on the market, I had a situation that bugs me to this day. The real estate agent came to the house when we weren’t home to show it to a prospective buyer. For whatever reason he didn’t have a way in to the main house, but knew that there was a key in the garage / shop. He had his little boy with him so he got creative. An open window in the shop area allowed him to lower his kid into the room, and unfortunately down on to a balsa wood RC airplane that I had been building. The kid stepped on the wing and broke a piece off. They got what they needed and left, leaving me a little note that said, “No key, got one from shop, sorry about plane.” I called him about it and he told me that’s what happens sometimes. That’s it! No apology, no offer to remunerate me. I lost some respect that day for that agent.

But, I realize that not all Sandpoint, Idaho real estate agents are that way by any means. In fact, one of the best business experiences I’ve ever had came from working with an agent that was a real pro. She constantly kept us informed, did everything possible to ease our concerns and stresses along the way through negotiations, and in the end even gave us some wonderful house warming gifts.

If I were buying or selling real estate in the Sandpoint area, and needed an agent today, I would do some careful research first. I would consider the Sandpoint Idaho real estate agents, their reputations, how satisfied previous clients are, and then pick one that I trusted and thought would be energetic in working to assist me in my goals.

Great Expectations

Many sellers have unrealistic expectations for their property value, particularly on condominiums and townhouses. These types of property at least here in Florida do not seize their value very well, and very few of them only appreciate. Often the builders of new condos and townhouses charge buyers too much money and when the buyer resells years later, they are stunned to observe how much value their unit lost. They will have a rigid time selling their condo, especially if the maintenance fees are high.

So how do you price your home?

There are three tools to use, a property appraiser, a listing real estate agent, and a record of recent home selling prices in your neighborhood. If you chose your listing agent shrewdly and they have knowledge in your neighborhood, they can steer you to a ball park selling price, then the appraiser will fine tune that number, and you can utilize a list of current selling prices as a sanity check.

Pretty it up before you list it!

Before you turn your home over to the listing agent, make sure it’s in its best form. First impressions count and the first thing buyers see are your front lawn and garden. Make sure your lawn and trees are fertilized about 2 weeks before you list the house. Also make certain that the lawn is in good shape, and has a perfect edge along the perimeter, make sure the garden looks nice, with no weeds, and repair any cosmetic damage to the house that can be seen from the outside. Replace your AC filter and any other filters that might be checked during the inspection process. Remove any excess rugs and furniture to make the rooms look bigger.

How To Interview And Hire A Real Estate Agent:

You want much more from them than just listing your house on MLS and waiting for results, you want a full scale media blitz. By using popular home buying sites like Home Gain, you are pitting local real estate agents against one another to compete for your business. The agent with the best marketing plan wins. Since agents know that there are other agents competing for your business, you’ll get some aggressive marketing plans presented to you. Make sure your house is advertised with color photos wherever possible, and make sure it’s outlined in your Real Estate Agent’s marketing contract that there will be color photos. Buyers love open houses and half the fight in selling your house is just getting buyers to come look at it.

Stay away from long term contracts!

Do not sign long term exclusive agent contracts. Any decent agent should have your house sold in 90 days in a good market. In fact if they really are as good as the picture they painted for you, they should have your house sold in no time. Only with a 90 day listing period, you put the pressure on your Real Estate Agent to do some work and sell your house.

Have a good Internet marketing plan to sell your home!

Many people don’t just comprehend that by adding your home listing to a regional online classifieds, it could get picked up by the major real estate portals sites like Home Gain. Big real estate portals are signing regularly that deals with MLSs and regional home listings for presenting their listings when users of the portals search for a house. Internet listings are crucial to get your house sold, especially to out of town buyers who are unfamiliar with your area, and your listing is the only one they know. Real estate portals sites like Home Gain are good if you live in a questionable area where picky buyers in your city don’t want your house, but ignorant buyers from out of town don’t know any better.

The kinds of properties available listed in commercial real estate listings include retail, industrial, R&D and flex. There are also sections on commercial real estate property on lease and commercial real estate property on sale, including properties like office space, executive suites, vacant land, mixed use, medical office and investment properties.

The commercial real estate listings online include detailed information on the available properties, such as details on the physical status of the property, information about its neighborhood, estimated cost, the person to be contacted and information on the real estate broker who is dealing with the property.

One of the best features is that these listings are available for free and one can search for the best property available as per the requirements and preferences. All you have to do is to enter the type and size of properties you are looking for and select the best one out of the search results. The commercial real estate listings online are regularly updated thereby providing latest information on the commercial real estate properties available.    

If you are not able to figure out which would be the right kind of commercial property suitable for your business purpose, there are services of professional real estate broker available that can make your efforts easier. One can search for the right kind of a real estate agent through the availability of real estate broker listing online. The real estate broker listing offered online provides brokers as per specialization in the types of properties.  Being expert in the field, the real estate agent will make your selection simpler perfectly matching your needs. 

If you also confused to decide what size of shop or office will be right for your business meeting your budget then the services of real estate agent available via real estate broker listing would serve your purpose the best.

Fountain Hills is just east of North Scottsdale. The scenery is stunning, the people are friendly, and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. Many people are attracted to Fountain Hills for several reasons. Several times a day an enormous fountain in the middle of a lake shoots water hundreds of feet high that can be seen for miles around. This is perhaps the main feature of Fountain Hills and the biggest tourist attraction. Around this lake each year there are several festivities, art shows, fire works, and much more. This peaceful community is certainly upscale luxury living.

When purchasing a home in Fountain Hills, it is important to find a Realtor that knows the area well, knows how to negotiate contracts aggressively to save you money, and can find what you are looking for. The difference between a terrible Realtor and a wonderful Realtor could seriously cost you thousands of dollars. An experienced Realtor is a must. Keep in mind, at any time while reading this article you can view all homes for sale in Fountain Hills by clicking on the website associated with this article, then clicking on property search. You can search by city, zip code, price, square footage, and much more. You can view any home for sale in Arizona here.

When selling property in Fountain Hill the same principles apply. You must get a Realtor that can price your home correctly, market your home effectively, and answer all of your questions. If you are moving from Fountain Hills to another area of Arizona, you want to make sure that you Realtor coordinates the two transactions so that you are not left living in a hotel between transactions. This process can be very tricky. Let a professional Realtor handle this for you. You may find such a Realtor by clicking on the link associated with this article.

When buying or selling, it is extremely important that you are properly protected. Did you know that when selling, there are free programs available to put your home under warranty through the duration of the listing? For example, if your air conditioning unit breaks during your listing, this warranty plan will cover you so you do not have to claim such a tragedy on your home owners insurance. Many Realtors do not even know about these types of programs nor do they even offer such programs. Realtors are not allowed by law to give tax advise to clients in Arizona, but we can show you articles written by accountants that show you how to maximize your tax write offs. You would be surprised when moving, what you can and can not write off on your taxes. Many Realtors barely know how to do their own taxes let alone show you the right resources to maximize your savings. There is much you can gain from using an experienced Realtor and an enormous amount of money to be saved.

If you have been thinking about buying or selling a home in Arizona, you are in the right spot. We specialize in communities such as DC Ranch, Silver Leaf, Troon, McCormick Ranch, McDowell Mountain Ranch, Fountain Hills, Grayhawk, Legend Trail, Ancala, Desert Mountain, Desert Ridge and the Scottsdale Kierland area. However, we help people buy and sell homes all over the state of Arizona. If you have any questions regarding buying, selling, or leasing property in Arizona please contact us anytime.