13. Consider painting! – Probably the best dollar-for-dollar investment for selling your home fast is fresh paint. Neutral colors are best. Next to fresh paint, new carpeting if replaced for either condition or color can make a huge difference when selling by for sale by owner.

14. Unfortunately you can not trust everybody! – Anything that has a monetary or personal value and easily concealed should be packed away. You will not know everybody that comes into your house, and it is best to be safe rather than sorry.

15. Do not put money into your home that you will not get back! – Keep in mind that if you do extensive remodeling you run the risk of over-improving your home, you might not be able to recoup your investment when you sell. If your improvements will push your homes value to more than 20% over the average neighboring home values then do not expect to recoup the entire cost. However, some major projects, like replacing a roof or deck, should be done if they are needed.

16. It is a good idea to have someone with you! – Never show your house by yourself. You do not want all your friends over scaring and making perspective buyers uncomfortable when showing your house, but do not show it alone.
continue reading>>.

Hans Anderson

Subscribe in a reader

Here are the four basic steps to the home foreclosure process which can and will help prospective investors to purchase properties at the best possible price.

1. Pre-foreclosure- This is the stage which a property owner starts missing payments and the stress of falling behind starts to mount. Keep in mind that this stage is before any legal action has begone. A property owner may be more likely at this time to consider any offer if it means they have a chance to save their credit and avoid foreclosure. This is the best time to make a deal with the home owner and make this a win-win situation.
continue reading>>

Hans Anderson

Foreclosure Investing

Canadian Foreclosures

Subscribe in a reader

Selling Your Own Home Guide

It’s important to weigh all options and scenarios whenever you plan on selling a house. 

Far too often people think that their home will sell just by slapping a “For Sale” sign in the window or on the front lawn. Or they list their home with a real estate agent only to be unsatisfied by the efforts of their chosen realtor. 

I’ve been there and I’m in constant communication with others online regarding their experiences in real estate transactions. I’m always amazed that I never stop learning.

For instance, did you know that when it’s time to sell, it’s important to remember three things:

- You want the right price
- At the right terms
- In the right amount of time

And, to reach these goals, there are three important objectives that every homeowner must always remember if they want their property to sell quickly:

- Make your home look good.
- Price it at market value right away.
- Use real estate professionals.

I picked up a few of these tips through my friends at the Foreclosure Insiders Club.  I’d strongly recommend joining the Foreclosure Insiders Club if you’re a homebuyer or investor looking to find properties at bargain.  Members to the site have access to a list of pre-foreclosures in their area that the owners are desperate to sell to avoid bank foreclosure.  You never know what offer they will accept to escape their situation!

I’m going to summarize a few specifics that I’ve learned that could help you sell your home.

How To Make Your Home Look Good

It’s important you make your home look presentable before you put it on the market. Exterior and interior paint will give you the best return on your money. Clean up the yard, fertilize and add some flowers for that most important first impression.

Have an agent preview your house to give you suggestions.  If yours is an older house, your agent should recommend a termite and or property inspection at the beginning. This can work to your advantage in a couple of ways.

For one, negotiations will go much smoother if you are aware of problems at the beginning.  This will allow you time to fix or correct things before an offer is brought to the table.  This will
also give the buyer confidence to offer more money.   Being aware
of the problems early on will allow you and your agent more time to come up with ways to negotiate around them, should you choose not to fix them.

How To Price It Right

Pricing your house at market value from the start will typically result in getting the best price for the property in the least amount of time.  Immediately listing your property too high will only help sell other houses in your market that are comparable to your own. 

It’s important to remember that buyers preview a lot of homes and will have a general idea as to whether or not something is overpriced.  The sales price also has to appraise at market value in order for them to get their loan.  If your asking price can’t be justified by comparable sales in your area and can’t be justified by an appraisal, you are looking at months and months of going nowhere.

Pricing a Home is Key  When you figure extra mortgage payments, property tax, insurance, the time and energy to keep your home looking good and the inconvenience of having your home on the market a couple extra months, overpricing isn’t practical.

How To Find Real Estate Professionals

Real estate today has become a business that is very labor intensive on many fronts. Continuing education is required to stay up with all the changes and requirements for a real estate transaction. 

Most home owners, despite the persuasion to sell their property without a middle man, don’t have the time or knowledge to successfully market and sell their home or get the best price.

To save a commission, some people start marketing their home by FSBO (for sale by owner).  Some are successful but most will eventually find that it’s crucial to list the house with an agent.

Most buyers will work with an agent because they have no desire of going through the buying process without the assistance of a knowledgeable professional.  After all, they are essentially getting this service and expertise for free.

Since the commission on a listed house is typically the source of income for the buyers agent, FSBOs get far less market exposure.
Agents typically prefer not to work with FSBOs as they wind up doing much more work.

The reason for this is FSBOs typically don’t have the knowledge and required forms needed to sell a home.  The agent winds up providing for and consulting with the owner, in addition to the buyer, creating more work for them.

Real estate professionals have the needed information to arrive at market value. A real estate agent will conduct a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) using the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  This involves a survey of homes that are on the market or have recently sold that are similar to yours. The agent will advise you on the additional value (or deficit) of your home’s unique features and factor that into the equation.

Going with the agent who recommends the highest price isn’t always the best decision. This technique is used to get the listing. 
Myself, and most of the sellers I’ve communicated with through the Foreclosure Insiders Club, will dismiss any agent who can’t justify a high price estimate.  Sellers mistakenly believe that they should price their house higher knowing that they can come down in price if it doesn’t sell. Buyers shop around before buying and recognize value in a specific price range because of comparison shopping.
Homes that end up on the market too long will typically sell below market value.

Commission

A quick word about commissions.  Commissions are negotiable.  They can vary between 4%-10%, depending on the type of property, current market conditions, and the seller’s motivation. 6% seems to be most typical.  Many people wrongly assume the whole commission goes to one person. Typically it is divided four ways: the listing agent, the listing agent’s broker, the buyer’s agent and the buyer’s agent’s broker. Referral fees and franchise fees many times are a factor also.

Getting your home listed at 5% may not net you more then if you listed at 6%.  When a home is listed, the commission is split between the listing office and the buyer’s agent’s office. When agents show properties to potential buyers, one thing they
generally look at is how much commission is being offered.  

Agents typically will show homes offering 3% before the ones offering 2.5%.  If your home is offering 2.5% to the other agents, it will get fewer showings meaning fewer people will even look at your house.

The result: you will be helping other sellers get their homes sold first.  If the listing office offers 3% to buyer agents on a 5.5% or less listing contract
- this is the best of both worlds. This scenario reduces costs to you along with good marketing incentives for other agents.  MLS fees, insurance and membership dues can run thousands of  dollars a year for each agent. There is the cost of overhead, computers, office equipment, transportation, signs, and advertisement and so on. It’s a business with many expenses without a weekly paycheck.

Marketing Real Estate

MLS

The MLS is still the best effective way to market your home to the public.  The Internet is fast becoming the preferred method for finding homes.

Internet

More and more potential buyers start looking for homes on the Internet.  A tremendous amount of information can be found online.  Soon the Internet is expected to be the norm for buying and selling real estate.

Prospective buyers can take a virtual tour of any home advertised online with the click of a mouse.  More and more homes will be marketed this way, especially high end homes or special property.
Real estate companies that use this technology will be serving their clients better.  Flyers on a “For Sale” sign are common today, virtual tours will be common tomorrow.

Signs

A FOR SALE sign should be placed on your front yard.  Not allowing a sign on you property will greatly decrease your marketing power.
Use signs that have a box for flyers about the property.

It’s important that you have a lock box so agents can preview and show the property during the day. Not allowing a lock box will dramatically reduce the needed exposure to properly market your home. Lock boxes are very secure devices that records who uses it.
Agents don’t like to show property if access is an inconvenience.

Bottom line:  Use a lock box!

Talking Houses, is a new effective marketing device, allowing potential buyers driving by, to tune in a radio station to hear about your home’s features. It also allows the agent to get a phone number to that person for further marketing.

Advertising in property magazines, newspapers and open houses are additional methods used and probably the least effective ways to market real estate.

Does the size of a realty company matter?  Is a bigger real estate company better?  Most large franchises want sellers and their agents to believe that.  Which Company is the Best?  Larger companies can’t be as flexible on commission because they have more layers to feed.  Smaller companies have less overhead with less or no other ownership involved to feed. As a result, a lower commission can be agreed upon with the same effective marketing a large company offers. Talk with agents from different companies to find out what services they can provide and decide what is the best value for getting your property sold.

Based on what we’ve already discussed, I typically advise people to consider the following when choosing the Real Estate Agent or Company they’d like to use. 

You want your real estate agent to have:

- Good local market knowledge

- The ability to market through the MLS

- A quality, easy to navigate web site – Internet marketing is becoming more and more important!

-  The best value for commission rate.

I always suggest using a local real estate agent with a proven expertise and experience marketing homes in your specific
neighborhood.   Someone familiar with your area will have a more
accurate sense of how much your home is likely to sell for based on their familiarity with your neighborhood and knowledge of comparable sales.

I hope this breakdown simplifies some of these steps for you. I can recall stories from friends and family members about nightmare scenarios where a property they needed to sell didn’t move and their frustrations with realtors.  Hopefully I can spare a few people such torment!

Canadian Foreclosures Enroll Now

Foreclosure Insider Club

Subscribe in a reader

Alexis McGee does a fantastic job explaining everything you need to know about Buying A HUD Home. Alexis will explain how HUD sells their property, working with HUD agents, HUD buying process and the pros and cons of a HUD home. Make sure you read this article.

How to Buy a HUD Home
by Alexis McGee – July 2009

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) act as an insurance agency for banks, savings & loans and mortgage bankers who make real estate loans to buyers and investors. HUD/FHA does not make loans; they insure lenders against loss in the event of default.

HUD properties are sold to the public when HUD/FHA mortgages are foreclosed. HUD pays the original lender the amount of the loan due and other expenses and then resells their real estate-owned (REO) property.

How HUD Sells Their Property

When HUD gets a property back through foreclosure, it turns it over to its Property Disposition Department which first secures the property from vandalism or damage. Next, this department determines if the property will be sold directly or through an outside broker.

If an outside broker is used, she must complete the necessary repairs required by HUD, secure the property, advertise the property, accept sealed bids, control the escrow account and make sure the escrow closes. HUD will pay a 6% sales commission to agents involved in the sale, whether sold through a broker or sold by HUD directly.

Working with HUD Agents

You can find HUD properties while searching Foreclosures.com nationwide REO property listings. To buy a HUD property, you must contact a HUD broker or other agent authorized to sell HUD owned homes. You may contact HUD directly to receive a list of HUD authorized brokers in your area. HUD brokers will also receive new listings of HUD homes every week – but this will be well after they have already been published on ForeclosureS.com REO listings.

Alert: HUD will allow real estate agents to acquire HUD properties. An agent bidding on a HUD property can reduce her bid price by the amount of commission he may earn on the sale.

The HUD Buying Process

HUD restricts the sale of some properties to “owner occupant” only. Generally advertised under the heading “New Listings,” HUD wants the buyers of these properties to actually reside at that property for at least one year.

The HUD property report will list the case number, address, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, price, an unrepaired price and repair escrow amount if available. The due dates for bids are listed as well. There will also be a statement indicating whether or not these properties are eligible for FHA insured financing.

If you would like to submit an offer you will need to contact an authorized HUD agent. HUD claims to use current appraisals to establish each homes value according to age, condition, size, location, lot size, etc.

Always do your own thorough inspection, inside and out, and make sure you check comparable sales to determine today’s market value as taught to you in my Seven Steps to Mastering Foreclosures.

If you still want the property, you must submit a HUD bid package containing a complete set of contracts to a HUD field office with your deposit of 5%. The deposit must be in cash, cashiers check, money order or appropriate letter of credit.

The HUD bid package contains instructions, a sales contract, a “Forfeiture of Earnest Money Deposit” document and an addendum regarding lead-based paints. This document clearly states that if an inpidual buyer submits a contract to purchase a HUD home and does not perform, HUD will retain the 5% deposit on a non-refundable basis.

You may bid more or less than the asking amount for any HUD home. If you are not the successful bidder, your earnest money deposit will be refunded to you. If you are the successful bidder, the earnest money deposit is credited toward your down payment.

The buyer then has 30 days to close escrow once the bid has been accepted. HUD can authorize extensions of this deadline with prior written approval. Extensions are normally granted when a private lender has agreed to finance the property but needs more time to process the loan application.

Pros and Cons of a HUD Home

Some benefits to buying HUD homes are that a real estate broker will prepare and submit your offer and deposit for you without charging you. HUD pays up to 5% of the closing costs, saving you thousands. You can move in faster if you purchase a HUD home eligible for FHA-insured mortgage, because it has already been appraised. HUD homes may be eligible for repair loans built into the mortgage and buyers may qualify for 3% down payments.

The negative to buying HUD homes is in getting our big discounts on price. During our last downturn in the late 1990’s HUD’s own internal documents show that many of their REO’s had been sold for MORE THAN APPRAISED VALUE! And about half of those had prices exceeding their value by more than 10%. (Learn how HUD encouraged these high prices in “Government Foreclosures: Are There Deals in There?”)

In Summary

With the growing number of government guaranteed loans going bad, our government is now the dominant owner of U.S. property. And while stepped-up efforts by Obama and the Fed lessen the pain of foreclosures, it’s likely that our government will end up holding the bag on even more foreclosed homes.

We all know that our government does not want to own real estate. That means there are tremendous opportunities for you to find great deals on government foreclosed homes. And with many of these bad loans securing new homes bought in the last few years, a large majority of these government-owned foreclosures are new and will require little or no rehab!

The biggest hurdle for investors looking to purchase government-owned real estate is that the pros scoop all the best properties up long before the rest of the investor community gets to pick through the leftovers. That is why it is so important that you do not wait for your foreclosed houses to hit the MLS. Being a part of a multiple-offer bidding frenzy is simply not worth your time.

You must work your ForeclosureS.com REO’s listings as taught to you in your Seven Steps to Mastering Foreclosures home study course to see houses as they are foreclosed. Oftentimes you know about them before they even hit the banks REO department!

Happy Investing! Alexis J

Alexis is one of the top trainers in the country, click on the link below to get this link and really Kick Start Your Foreclosure Investing

Foreclosure Information
Copyright © 2009 Foreclosures.com.
This article is available for free distribution under the following terms:
a) You may not edit, delete or add any content to this article.
b) You must maintain all links to Foreclosures.com.
c) This article must be distributed free of charge.
d) This Resource Box must stay intact.

Subscribe in a reader

If your looking for an investment property, consider getting a pre-purchase inspection of the property you intend to buy.

A home inspection is a visual examination of the property to determine the overall condition of the home. In the process, the inspector should be checking all major components (roofs, ceilings, walls, floors, foundations, crawl spaces, attics, retaining walls, etc.) and systems (electrical, heating, plumbing, drainage, exterior weather proofing, etc.). The results of the inspection should be provided to the investor in written form, in detail, generally within 24 hours of the inspection.

A pre-purchase property inspection can add peace of mind and make a difficult decision much easier. It may indicate that the property needs major structural repairs which can be factored into your buying decision or offer.

A home inspection helps remove a number of unknowns and increases the likelihood of a successful purchase at a good price.

The last thing you want is to purchase a property then find out you over paid for it because it has major structural damage.

Hans Anderson

Subscribe in a reader