One way to alleviate this tumultuous period is for the Seller to conduct the home inspection prior to listing their home! Here are the reasons to support this course of action:

1- The Seller will be able to address the issue on their terms and condition rather than waiting to see how the buyer wants to address them!

2- The Seller can correct the major defects before listing the home and in the process let potential buyers know that they are getting a home that defects that have been corrected!

3- The Seller will have a more salable property after completing the corrections found in the pre-listing home inspection!

4- The Seller can provide the buyer with a copy of the report indicating what items were corrected. If the Seller chooses to not correct an item they can reflect it in their asking price!

5- A pre-listing inspection increases the likelihood of the Buyer deciding not to have their own inspection or at the very least, the Buyer will know up front how the Seller is willing to address the issues of the report.

6- If the Buyer chooses to do a home inspection, then they the Seller can be reasonably certain the buyers home inspector wont find anything different. In most instances.

7- A pre-listing inspection could shorten the time frame for getting a house closed. The time period to do a home inspection may not be a factor if the buyer chooses to pass on the home inspection!

8- The Seller might want to consider allowing the buyer to discuss the inspection report with the home inspector who did the pre-listing inspection.  This would give the Buyer confidence in the pre-listing inspection!

The reasons above are only a few, albeit, the main ones, that give support for the Seller doing a pre-listing inspection when selling their home! If your looking to sell your house in Cincinnati, I can put you in contact with a couple of ASHI home inspectors that could help!

Some other factors play a part in determining if a home sells:

1- Pricing…Price is always a factor. Here again, the motivation to sell the property has to be greater than the need for a specific price! Sometimes a Seller is between a rock and a hard place with the price and they may not be able to reduce the price because of the amount they owe on it. If your home hasn’t sold and you can’t reduce it anymore because of the amount owed or other financial reasons, then the options available to you are: 1)A short sale, 2) Rent the property out, 3) Take the property off the market and try selling when the market is more conducive to obtaining the price you need.

2- The Economy…The economy is always a factor when selling. Homes and properties sell in ANY economy though. There are always people who need to buy and people who need to sell. The economy is an outside factor that determines the price a Seller will be able to obtain. If the Seller is not in a position to get the price they need, then they need to take the property off the market or reduce the price. Motivation will help dictate the course of action here.

3- The Lack of Marketing performed…In todays rapidly changing Internet world, it is important to have an Internet marketing strategy combined with more traditional marketing strategies. The Internet marketing strategies of today commonly include “Social Media Marketing“. Many websites and mediums are now available to market a property to selected niches and markets. A full-time Realtor will be able to use the Social Media tools on a regular basis to extend the marketing of homes to more targeted markets thus creating an increased chance of selling the home!

4- The Condition of the Property…The condition of a property has to be considered when pricing the home. Many resources are available to help the Seller in selling their home: Home Stagers; Interior Decorators; Realtors; more! It is imperative that the price reflects the condition. If not, the home will sit without any offers. The market will usually indicate pretty quickly whether a home is priced correctly to reflect the condition. Here again, motivation is important. A motivated Seller will do what is necessary to get the home sold!

In summary, motivation is the key element in getting a home sold in any market! If you would like a market analysis on your home or have any other real estate related questions, please contact me at jdurso@comey.com.

Here are some points to ponder before proceeding with looking or writing an offer on a “short sale” property:

1- Most properties that are subject to short sale will take a number of months before the Sellers’ lender will even give an answer on the offer made. It is always a good idea to check with the listing agent first to see if the Seller has even started the paperwork with their lender to begin the short sale process. If the Seller hasn’t, then you’re looking at a longer process!
2- Even if you get your offer accepted by the Seller, the offer will be subject to the Sellers’  lender approving the sale.  This may take a long time. While you are waiting to hear whether the Sellers’ lender will accept your offer or not, the Seller may be accepting other offers contingent upon the Sellers’ lender’s approval! You may not find out about the other offers until 2,3,4, or more months down the road! At that time the Sellers’ lender will instruct the listing agent to ask each potential buyer to give their “highest and best” offer! If you’re a buyer and have already gone to your highest point, you may not get the property and will have lost the time it took to find out!

3- In most instances, the Seller will be selling the property in “as is” condition, which means they will not be able to negotiate with the buyer on any inspection issues. The Sellers simply do not have the money to make any corrections!

4- A pre-approval is mandatory for any “short sale” property or bank owned property for that matter. In fact it is good practice to always get pre-approved first before starting the buying process.

5- The time lost in waiting to hear on a short sale offer being accepted by the bank can be quite long. Various Realtor Boards have addendums that allow buyers to continue to look for other homes, while they are waiting to hear on the short sale offer. Homes for sale hit the market every day!

In summary, enter into a short sale contract with your eyes wide open. Here is a thought to keep in mind when looking for a home: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”… The home you are meant to own will come available when the time is right!

If I can help you with any other real estate questions, or if you’re looking to buy or sell, please contact me in Cincinnati at 513-979-2617 or jdurso@comey.com. You can also connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or www.johndurso.com.

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Social Media marketing has become a valuable toolbox to assist Realtors in conducting successful business. In addition to making regular marketing phone calls a Realtor now has tools such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blog Sites, YouTube, Ning, and a myriad list of other Social Media sites that enable Realtors to target audiences and reach more people. Doing something productive everyday to sell houses is the name of the game: prospecting for new listings; calling potential new buyers for listings; tweeting; blogging; Linking; Facebooking; YouTubing; etc.

It all starts with what I like to refer to as a landing site, i.e. a personal website or a blog site. Having one or both of those will allow the Realtor to direct web traffic back to them via the other mediums. The landing site will have all the information about the Realtor, their company, listing search capability, and other helpful links. Here is how it all comes together:

Twitter allows agents to “tweet” to their “Followers” about various real estate trends and community news. This is word of mouth marketing in the truest form! The more followers an agent has following them, the more people will be informed about the agents’ listings and be referred back to the landing site for more information!

Facebook is similar to Twitter in that you have “friends” that follow you. The Realtor has a number of options on Facebook: send out updates on properties; create a business or fan page to keep their “fans” informed about the real estate market; join groups that target specific audiences; write ads for the Facebook marketplace; post Facebook ads about listings that target specific markets; and more!

LinkedIn is another resource tool that allows Realtors to connect with many people to network with. Realtors can let their contacts know of any real estate news that may be helpful. Realtors can join various groups on LinkedIn and participate in various discussions. Realtors can let their contacts know of new listings and price changes.

Todays marketing tools are plentiful and Realtors can use these tools to target specific markets for listings as well as the Realtor’s services. The key to Social Media marketing in real estate is for the Realtor to join various sites, become active, engage others, participate in the discussions, offer helpful information, and consequently become a Trusted Agent for those various communities.  

If you would like a specific targeted marketing plan for your home, please contact me at jdurso@comey.com.

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* Low mortgage interest rates! Rates are in a range of 4.5% to 5.75% depending on the loan term.

* Government tax credits to buy houses! First time buyers get up to $8000 for a home purchase, while repeat buyers are eligible for up to $6500! (Good for contracts written thru April 30, 2010). Here is the link for more detailed information on the tax credits…http://www.realtor.org/fedistrk.nsf/files/government_affairs_tax_credit_ext_chart_110409.pdf/$FILE/government_affairs_tax_credit_ext_chart_110409.pdf

* Low home prices! In Hamilton County, including Cincinnati, home prices are down on average to the price level not seen since 1999!  Each neighborhood is different however, and the following chart will indicate that:

 (Information provided from the Greater Cincinnati MLS)

So my question is ….What’s stopping you from acting on this amazing buying opportunity presently available? Let’s examine a few possible roadblocks. 1) You need to sell a home first. Ok, that is a reasonable one. Consider that any money you lose in the sale of your home, you should more than make up for with the three buying reasons above! 2) Your job is not secure. This is a major factor. The good news is the economy is showing signs of turning around which should not only help people feel more secure in their jobs, but more jobs should become available going forward.

Given the three factors mentioned above, anyone buying now and in the next few months can get a super real estate buy. Now is not the time to be greedy…see the headline above!

So what is stopping you? Now is the time to act. Call me or email me today if you would like an analysis for your neighborhood, similar to the one above, or if you would like to start your search! I can be reached at 513-979-2617 or jdurso@comey.com.