Home Selling Questions | The Difference Between a Short Sale and a Foreclosure

I had worked in real estate for several years before I had experienced a short sale. A Short Sale, is just that, the homeowner is either in default or about to default on their mortgage, and they hoping to sell their home for less than what they owe. In other words they want to sell it “short.” While the homeowner may get permission from their Lenders to sell short, the Lender does not approve the short sale price. For a Buyer, the biggest downside to a short sale is that the Lender can and does take 60 to 90 days to answer an offer. Within that time period, the home is still for sale and other offers may come in. The Lender often times will reject all the offers and counter with a higher amount than what the homeowner is asking. They also can ask the Buyer to pay any past due fees, such as liens or HOA fees, that may have accrued. It can be a frustrating and disappointing process for a Buyer.

A Foreclosed home is one that the bank or Lender has already taken back because the homeowner has defaulted on the mortgage. They foreclose on the loan. Banks and Lenders are not in the business of owning homes, so want to sell the home and try to recoup the money that is being lost. They may try to sell it a public auction or sale, or they may turn it over to a real estate agent who will put it up for sale.

Once a home is taken back or is owned by the Lender it is called a Real Estate Owned property or an REO. There are pros and cons to buying an REO.

Once the bank owns the property, a potential Buyer can usually arrange for a title search and will be given access to the home for inspections. The bank now has a vested interest in this home and they want to get out from under it and recover some money, so they may be more likely to finance a home they own. Also, typically an REO is a vacant property and once the bank accepts an offer, the new owner can have immediate access to their home.

The downside to buying a foreclosed home is that it is typically an “as is” sale. Good inspections are definitely advised. A homeowner who has not been able to pay their mortgage has most likely deferred maintenance on the home.

Many times you can get a great deal on a foreclosed home, but make sure your realtor checks on comparable sales in the area. A bank wants to make as much money as possible.

Finally, even though a bank wants to sell, they can be very unresponsive and often times it will take several weeks to get a response to an offer. Many times they will counter back all the offers, asking for the potential Buyers “best and highest” offer.

If you are patient, are ready to buy and you have a real estate agent who will do their homework, foreclosed sales can be a great way, especially for first time Buyers, to buy a home.

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Home Selling Questions | Should I have my home staged?

Home staging is putting a happy face on your home. Essentially it is window dressing. Statistics tell us that a vacant home will sell approximately 35% faster if it is staged and that is not the only reason to stage your home. Homes that are staged usually sell for more money. Even if your home is not vacant, staging can be a very useful tool. A consultation with a professional stager will help the Seller to see their home through a Buyer’s eyes. A stager will make suggestions about things that should be moved or replaced. They will offer suggestions on how to place furniture to best showcase the rooms of your home. In today’s market, Buyers can be very fickle. Staging can set the mood for the Buyers. The best time to stage is right before your home goes on the market, but even after, if you have made a price reduction and it still not selling, you may want to try staging. Staging your home will typically cost you less than your first price reduction. That is more money for you and makes the home-selling process less stressful. When you list with the Thornberry Team every effort will be made to sell your home with creative and result driven marketing strategies.

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Home Selling Questions | How long will it take to sell my home?

The booming Seller’s market real estate days are over, but that doesn’t mean that your home will figuratively sit on the shelf and not sell in a reasonable amount of time. How quickly your home will sell depends on what you do to prepare your home for sale. There are some simple, yet important steps you should take prior to putting your home on the market. The first thing a Buyer sees when they come to your home is the exterior. Curb appeal is very important. Make sure the lawn is mowed, plant some colorful flowers, and the front door should have a fresh coat of paint. Moving inside, make sure that all appliances staying with the home are in working order. Touch up or give a fresh coat of paint to baseboards and walls. Leaky faucets should be repaired. You home should be clean and free from clutter. Remove personal items, such as photographs, and you may need to remove some furniture. Windows should be cleaned inside and out. Carpets and flooring should be clean and fresh looking. In other words, if you want to have a selling edge, you need to put a happy face on your home, inside and outside. Once you put your home on the market, it should be made available for showing to prospective clients at all reasonable times. A potential home Buyer will move on to another home if it is not convenient to view yours. You want to expose your home to as many Buyers as possible as much as possible. All of these tips will help your home to sell in a reasonable amount of time, but the key to finding a Buyer for your home is pricing. You will need to forcefully price your home. Price it somewhere in the middle range of homes for sale that are comparable to yours. Too high of a price is not only a deterrent to your home selling, but it deters Buyers from even looking at your home. If the response to your home is low, drop the price. Your real estate agent is critical at this time. They should be able to show you comparable sales and guide you through the pricing process.

As your real estate agents, the Thornberry Team will not promise you that we can sell your home within a certain amount of time, but what we will do is work with you to give your home the edge needed to find a suitable, qualified Buyer.

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Home Selling Questions | What is your commission?

I can answer this question with one word —–FLEXIBLE.

Let me explain the commission process. No matter what you may think, the realtor who lists your home almost never gets the full commission. As a matter of fact, they usually get only a small portion of that commission. Off the top, a commission is split between the Buyers broker and the Sellers broker. It is usually divided equally. The brokers then give a portion of that commission to the agent. How much the selling or buying agent receives depends on the split they have negotiated with their broker. When you factor in marketing costs, flyers, ads, etc. the agent’s split gets smaller and smaller.  

Commissions vary from area to area and service to service. There is no straight or set commission in real estate. It can be as high as 7% or as low as 1%.  Typically real estate commissions run 4% to 5%. A home seller has every right to negotiate a real estate commission. A home seller can and should interview potential selling agents, not only to find out their commission, but to find out what they are going to do to earn that commission.  Keep in mind when negotiating a real estate commission, that you are paying for the expertise, and a level of service from the agent. The agent who is willing to take the lowest commission is not always going to provide you with the best service and the goal here is to sell your home for the most amount of money in the least amount of time with as little stress as possible. The Thornberry Team are dedicated real estate professionals who are committed to providing our clients with the best possible real estate experience.

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Home Selling Questions | How much is my home worth?

I am thinking of selling my home. How much is my home worth?

In today’s up and down real estate market, there is no pat answer to that question. The basic answer is, your home is worth what the market will bear, or in other words, it’s worth what someone will pay for it.

What does that mean? As a real estate professional, I will analyze comparable sales in your neighborhood. This will give us a base to value your home. From that point we look at upgrades and improvements that make your home different from other homes in your neighborhood. We look at the current inventory in your area and we track current real estate markets.

There are several online sites where you can put in your home’s address and get a ball park value for your home, but this is a very generic way of valuing a home. When we estimate the value of your home, we like to give you a value range. It is an educated guess on our part, nobody can tell you exactly what someone is going to pay for your home.

You want to avoid pricing your home too high. Home prices are on the rise, but most homes that sit on the market week after week are there because they are priced too high. Pricing a home in this flexible market is a very important step in the real estate process. You may not get a second chance at that perfect buyer, so choose your real estate professional wisely. The one that estimates the highest price for your home is not always the one who will get your home sold.

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5 Common Home Selling Questions – Hayward, California

To start off our CityScoop column we’re publishing a short series on 5 common questions that we get.  Over the next few weeks we’ll be answering each of these questions below in detail.  When we’re finished we’re going to build a FAQ page and add them to the page.  Over the course of the year we’ll be building out our FAQ page to help provide the answers you’re looking for.

HOME SELLING QUESTIONS

How much is my home worth?
What is your commission? 
How long will it take to sell my home?
Should I have it staged? 
What happens if the bank forecloses on our home?

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Announcing The Homes For Sale News Column In Hayward, CA!

Welcome to the CityScoop column for Homes For Sale News in hayward, CA. Check back soon for weekly updates.

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