Appraisers Are Running Scared

Hello – a while back I had a post regarding the fact that we were going to sell our own house.  We had every intention of putting it on every MLS and every list on the internet and seeing what would happen.  We also were planning on doing this without packing up and scaling down and without a for sale sign in the front yard.

We also considered doing a re-finance and decided to look into that.  We contacted two lenders – Third Federal and B B & T.  No lender can choose any certain appraiser, that is against the law.  It is not either lender’s fault that our re-fi did not happen but I think both of them could have done more and helped us with their individual underwriting departments.

The first appraiser came out and the only thing she was concerned with was if she would get home before it rained.  She mentioned that three times.  She never asked any questions and when we received her appraisal it was a duplicate of what any of us can find on zillow.com.  We would have needed to put a hefty down payment into the re-fi and we did not want to do that.  She never asked one question about any upgrades and was gone in under 30 minutes.  Her appraisal came in at $190,000.

Who is monitoring their work???

The second appraiser came out and my husband was here for it.  He had also done a lot of homework for this appraiser.  He performed our own appraisal – 3 different ways as he was taught in Broker’s classes.  On average based on the three homes that had recently sold in our neighborhood our appraisal should be coming in at $202,000.  We could live with that number even though we would be “in the hole” so to speak.

Larry showed him all his facts and figures.  He went with him into every room pointing out all our features.  We were really hopeful.  His appraisal came in at a shocking $179,000.  It is wrong.  We know that.  It is what it is though in today’s appraising world, or is it?

Last week I received an email from the President of the National Association of Realtors.  It seems this is happening all over the country causing deals to fall apart. 

He is taking it to task and below my sign off is a portion of the email he sent.  If this has happened to you let the NAR know.  Something is not right here.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

To:      All REALTORS®From: Charles McMillan, 2009 NAR President Re:     Appraisals Dear Fellow REALTOR®, During the past two months, we have heard from many of you regarding problems with appraisals that are causing deals to be delayed or canceled altogether. I assure you that we on the NAR Leadership Team are experiencing the same problems in our businesses. In fact, VP & Liaison to Committees Steve Brown recently shared his experiences in Ohio on the Voices of Real Estate blog. http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/president/2009/06/all_is_not_quiet_on_the_midwes.html is doing to resolve these problems quickly.NARLet me update you on what On Monday, June 29th, I will be in New York to meet with the Deputy Attorney General and his staff who worked directly on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. I plan to share our concerns, as well as your stories, and ask for their assistance in resolving any problems related to the HVCC. On Tuesday, June 30th, I will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to discuss ways we can work with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and lenders to ensure that appraisals are accurate.

It Never Hurts to Review Selling Your House in Today’s Market

We all need refresher courses now and then – and now is the time that I feel I need to refresh you on how to be a success in selling your house.

You have to be 100% committed to selling your house.  This is not the time to just throw it out there on the market and wait for the dust to settle.  If you truly want to sell your house then you have a reason.  That reason is the prime motivator, and price is not the prime reason.

Pricing needs to be on target.  Go on line to those sites you see advertised all over the web.  Have a real appraisal done -and then price it to sell.

I stage homes for a living – for goodness sakes read my staging tips here and hire a professional stager to help you – the messier your house is the less money it will bring in an offer.

Don’t say no to a yard sign.  In fact ask for a post sign if it is allowed in your area.  The bigger the better – buyers do drive by and call on the signs they see.  Also don’t say no to a lock box on your front door.  You want to make it easy for people to see your house.

Get feedback from the showing agent.  If you hear the same thing about your house several times attend to it.  Do not have hurt feelings – just change it.

If you have done all the above and you are not getting showings face it your price is too high.  Showings and no offers, again the price is too high.

This is a stressful time in your life.  You are selling, you are buying and you are moving – this all adds up to major stress.  Talk to your agent, ask for their advice and take it.  After all they are the experts.  Ask them what they would do to sell it if they lived there.

Offer comes in and it is lower than you expected now what?  In this market – my advice is if possible take it.  You can make it up on the other end. 

Check with your agent on what the average days on the market is in your area.  You should also ask how much time usually lapses before a seller reduces their price – they have all these numbers in their computers.  Use them to help you make a decision on a price reduction schedule.  I never fool around with my sellers when it comes to pricing.

I tell them that we will look at pricing again at certain intervals when I take the listing.  They know when I leave that there is a schedule for everything – no surprises makes for happy sellers.  And when you as a seller are happy you will refer other people to your me the agent.

Don’t we all like win/win situations?

OKAY that completes the refresher course in selling your house successfully.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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Do You REALLY Want to Own Your Own Home?

Yes, I am asking you that question.  So please answer it in your mind.  If the answer is yes, go to the next step and ask yourself why do I want to own a home.  In fact get a pen and paper out and write the following:

I want to own a home because………..”

Done?  OK!  You have your list of reasons so here is another question to ask yourself:

What am I waiting for then?

What are you waiting for – the bottom, forget it.  In many markets the bottom is gone and the trends are moving up the sales graphs.  It is not too late to jump on that train, it is still at the bottom of the hill.

In Florida many areas are showing sales figures in the black for 6 months now over the same amount of sales last year.  We are also seeing builders raising their prices.  Builders do that when sales are happening.

So the bottom may have been reached, you can mentally scratch that reason for waiting off your list now.

Let’s move on.  Interest rates are great and there are lenders who are trustworthy and in good financial shape.  This is not the time to deal with “Joe Blow Home Lending” that you found on line though.   I always tell my customers use a local brick and mortar lender.

You can’t use high interest rates as an excuse so let’s move on again.

You are sitting there thinking your credit stinks.  Do you know your credit score?  If you don’t you can get it free once a year, so go get it now and here is the web site address:

www.FreeCreditReport.com

Even with a “shaky” score there are programs out there that will lend money.  There are also ways to repair your credit and it can be done within months in some instances. 

Now I hear you thinking “yeah but I am embarrassed to have to admit my mistakes to a stranger (the lender).  A lender wants to do business with you, they are there to help you.  They don’t want to say “no” and if they have to they should be offering assistance to you to get things turned around.

If your credit score comes back low, chances are that you already knew that and isn’t it time to get that fixed?

This is Filene’s Basement Sale in the housing market time people. 

Everyone loves a sale-and houses increase in value-they appreciate.  Can you say that about your vehicle?

It really is the time to get off the fence and take the first step toward the American dream of home ownership.  If that happens to be in the sunshine state of Florida, Castle Dream Real Estate, LLC is ready to help you make that happen.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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More on Chinese Drywall

Last week a friend of mine who reads my real estate blogs regularly and lives in Nevada sent me this link on the CNN story about a family living in a house with Chinese dry wall.

I have been reporting on this here and there and find it important enough to continue to talk about it. 

It is not as if the entire state of Florida has nothing but Chinese dry wall in new construction but it is about knowing and educating yourself on the problem and hiring a Realtor who is on top of it also.  (and that would be me of course.

Here is the link from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/06/florida.chinese.drywall.family/index.html

As always we at Castle Dream Real Estate believe in keeping you totally informed with the latest news.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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Look Out Sellers DANGER Ahead

Did that catch your eye?  It was meant to do that.  In the past month I have had a personal friend go through hell trying to close on the sale of her house.  It is technically sold and under contract due to close in early May, and just yesterday she found out that the title company never sent the required papers to her ex.  Her Realtor is dodging her calls – why????  Because her Realtor did not follow through she dropped the ball – and that is something that I can guarantee will not happen in our office.

How can I be so sure – this is a no brainer!  Castle Dream Real Estate, LLC uses a transaction coordinator.  WHOA Nellie – that is a new term to many of you, and sounds expensive. 

Our transaction coordinator is a former title agent with years of experience.  She knows how to dot every i and cross every t.

ANYONE CAN SELL A HOUSE – EVEN YOU.

That is an absolutely true statement.  It is after the final signatures that most deals fall apart.  Did you know that?????  In many states that contract passes on to 8-10 different people and quite frankly I do not want to be chasing after all these people when I am trying to sell YOUR house.

We hire a transaction coordinator and it doesn’t cost a buyer or a seller a dime.  We pay the fee out of our commission at closing.

There are only three things we do here in our office.  We list property.  We sell property.  We negotiate contracts.  That is it.  After that we hand a deal over to our trusted transaction coordinator who knows how to get that deal to closing efficiently and with no errors.

If your house is on the market and your agent is not using a transaction coordinator to close the deal I would be asking point blank why not making sure you remind your agent that most contracts fall apart after acceptance.

People you want your house to close – don’t let one missed happening screw it all up for you ever!

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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You Do Understand the 1st Time Buyer Tax Credit, Right?

In February Congress changed the first-time home buyer tax credit from $7500 to $8000 with no required repayment.

But in many cases buyers are not aware of it and I am not sure why there is this gap in information unless other non-related new governmental changes have over-shadowed it.

The tax credit is a great incentive to get first-time buyers off the fence because it is only in effect until December 1, 2009. 

Here is the link to go to for more information:

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/index.html

Here in our business we have people who qualify for this tax credit and they are thrilled to be using it.

If you are wavering on the fence this should be the push you need to help you in making your buying decision.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Fl Realtor
TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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The Bottom Has Hit Here in Florida

How can I say this?  What do I know?  Well, Florida’s standings in the foreclosure stats has gone from #1 to #4 – there is a good sign.  Another indication is that many short sale homes have 3-4 contract offers pending.  Let me say that again.  Many short sale homes have 3-4 different contract offers pending.  It is like the bidding wars on homes from 4 years ago.

Here in Hernando County where we live we have limited developmental building going on and resales are a hot commodity.  We have new construction housing – never lived in homes on 1/2 to 1 acre lots selling for less than $110,000.  Those are the 4/2/2 houses.  The 3/2/2 houses sell for less than $100,000 and that is the best bargain you are going to come across.

1800 – 2000 sq. foot houses for $100,000 – this is a giveaway.  I cannot stress this enough to potential buyers – this inventory will be depleted and when supply goes down, prices go up.

New construction housing is not as “cheap”.  There are builders here that know what they have is priced right and they are holding onto those prices, and they are selling homes too.

Oh ye of little faith – I have been talking about this since I started this blog in August.  Interest rates are favorable, prices are low, inventory is still high-all those phrases translate into this:

The bottom has hit here in Florida.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor
TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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The National News Media is Finally Catching On

MSN has a huge article about the housing market changing in a positive manner in certain areas.  Here is the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30032506/ and if it doesn’t open I apologize – but I am sure you can google the news.

I have been shouting this from Florida rooftops for months now.  This past two weekends we worked with buyers and more than 3/4’s of the houses we showed had multiple offers on them.

Beautiful new homes many which have never been occupied are at basement prices and selling.  4/2/2 homes $110,000 on 1/2 to full acre lots are going, going, gone.

A while back we were going to sell our house – I posted about it but we held off.  Interest rates are incredible now and we liked the idea of refinancing first and we cannot list it and refinance it at the same time.  The builders in our development just wrote a couple new contracts and the pricing in my development has not taken a big drop.  Values will come back up.

Values are coming back up-even MSN agrees.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor
TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

See Our Listings

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Free Florida New Home Search

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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One More Update on the Chinese Drywall

Obviously this problem is not going to just disappear and it needs to be discussed further because this is a problem for homeowners especially in Southern Florida.

I dug into this debacle further because I know consumers want answers. 

The first thing I learned was that it is very easy to check your home to see if you have it.  The gases released by the Chinese drywall can corrode copper coiling which is found in almost every home.  It will look like black scaling.

However you do not need to go around and cut out sections of your walls to find out if you have Chinese drywall because the #1 indicator is the smell.  Your house will smell like rotten eggs.

You can head up into your crawl space and look at the back of your drywall to see if the name Knauf is present if you can access it too.

The smell would be present from the day you moved in, it does not suddenly appear four years down the road.

If your house smells like rotten eggs then you should call an environmental testing company to legally verify that you have Chinese drywall in your home.

You should also be monitoring any health symptoms that you suspect could be caused by the drywall.  Note I said “could be caused” because there isn’t any concrete health information yet.

Lennar Homes who has been at the root of this reporting states that independent contractors installed Chinese drywall in a small percentage of homes in Nov 2005 – Nov 2006.  If you are one of those people who own a Lennar Home with Chinese drywall or suspect that you may have it you can call Division President Darin McMurray at 239-278-1177,

The drywall from China is made from waste at coal-fired plants.  It was recycled into a drywall prodycr rather than be taken to a landfill.

You should not waste your money on lab testing.  If you think you have it, call an environmental testing company to come out and verify it.  It can be verified for legal purposes without expensive lab tests.

And remember if you do have Chinese drywall in your house and you put it on the market even after it has been taken care of, you need to disclose it.  It was or is a known defect.

As always I am doing my job in keeping you informed as a consumer because here at Castle Dream Real Estate, LLC our mission is to keep you in touch with what is going on in the housing market.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

See Our Listings

SEND TO A FRIEND

Free Florida New Home Search

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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Home Sales are UP! UP! UP!

 

 

 

 

I ahve been shouting this from the rooftops for weeks now – we know they are up in Florida.  How do we know, because we are all getting buyers-good buyers, buyers with financing approval in hand. We are closing deals.  So please read on:

 

MSNBC.com Existing-home sales post surprising 5% gain Sales activity remains slow, but plunging prices draw in first-time buyers The Associated Press updated 2:14 p.m. ET, Mon., March. 23, 2009 WASHINGTON – Sales of previously occupied homes jumped unexpectedly in February by the largest amount in nearly six years as first-time buyers took advantage of deep discounts on foreclosures and other distressed properties. Economists said sales, while still extremely slow, may finally be coming back to life after declining sharply following the stock market plunge last autumn. Prices, however, are expected to keep falling well into the year. Tens of thousands of homes reman tied up in the foreclosure process and are not yet for sale. Plus, as the recession deepens and job losses mount, many buyers are likely to stay on the sidelines. “The four-letter word in the housing market is ‘jobs,’’ said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “If you’re worried about having a job tomorrow, you’re not likely to buy a home now.” The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes grew 5.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.72 million last month, from 4.49 million units in January. It was the largest monthly sales jump since July 2003, with first-time buyers accounting for about half of all transactions, according the the data released Monday. Sales had been expected to dip to an annual pace of 4.45 million units, according to Thomson Reuters. The results, which came after a steep decline in January, mean that sales activity has returned to December’s levels, but still remains lower than most of last year. “If January was a disaster for housing, February may be the rebound month,” wrote Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. The sales figures don’t yet reflect the new $8,000 tax credit designed to lure even more first-time buyers into the market. That should juice up early summer sales, but how much will depend on the overall condition of the U.S. economy. “If the economy stabilizes around midyear and financial conditions improve, then sales will probably begin to slowly increase as buyers step back into the market,” wrote JPMorgan Chase analyst Abiel Reinhart. “An important reason for this is that affordability has already increased sharply, both as a result of lower prices and lower mortgage rates.” The median sales price plunged to $165,400, down 15.5 percent from $195,800 a year earlier. That was the second-largest drop on record and prices are now off 28 percent from their peak in July 2006. However, in a positive sign, asking prices are starting to rise in places like San Diego and Orange County, Calif., where declines have been severe, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors. That could be an early indication that prices are stabilizing in the most distressed parts of the country. Meanwhile, in contrast with the housing boom, when buyers took out ever-riskier loans and maxed out their home equity lines, “homebuyers are not overstretching” Yun said. “They want to stay within their budget.” The number of unsold homes on the market last month rose 5.2 percent to 3.8 million, a typical increase for the winter months. At February’s sales pace, it would take 9.7 months to rid the market of all of those properties. “Inventories are still high relative to sales rates, and would probably be even more so if all those wishing to sell their home actually had the house on the market instead of pulling it off in the face of rapidly eroding prices,” wrote Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc. Sellers don’t want to compete with foreclosures that have swamped the market, especially in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona. About 45 percent of sales nationwide are foreclosures or other distressed property sales, which typically sell at a 20 percent discount, according to the Realtors group. That’s great news for buyers, who are paying the most attractive prices in years. Plus, interest rates have sunk to historic lows. The Federal Reserve last week moved to reduce already low rates by printing $1.2 trillion and pumping it into the economy through the purchases of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury debt. The central bank also will double its purchases of debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $200 billion. © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29836196/

Thank you MSNBC!

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

See Our Listings

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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