The Top 5 Mistakes Home Buyer's Make

The Top 5 Mistakes Home Buyer's Make

This blog post is inspired by some of my previous experiences with people who have contacted me that want to buy a house.

These are 5 biggest and most common mistakes I've seen that ruin a buyer's chance to buy the home of their dreams.

1. Have sufficient income but claim part of it as a loss on your tax returns. The income that you've claimed as a loss will not count toward your qualifying income for a mortgage loan to buy a home in Florida. Most lenders will use the last 2 years of tax returns if you're self employed and your net income is traditionally the only income that will count.

2. Lack of knowledge about the area they think they want to buy or live in. Several buyers say they want to live in a certain area but they have no direct knowledge of the area, the schools, the shopping centers, the entertainment and most importantly of all-the prices of the homes in the area. I'm paying for a lead service for zip code 33024 in Cooper City Florida and you wouldn't believe the number of people looking to buy foreclosures and fixer uppers in Cooper City. Those home types in that area are few and far between, can we just say "looking for a needle in a haystack". If you want to buy a home in Cooper City Florida, the average home price is $465,000.

3. Uneducated on the price range in the area they're looking to buy a Florida home in. You cannot say you're looking to buy in an area where the median home price is $500,000 and want to find a home for $100,000. Either you would want to adjust your price range for the area you want to buy a home in or adjust the area you want to buy a home in to the price range you want.

4. Not using a licensed Real Estate Agent to buy their home. The market in South Florida is tricky because the "regular" home buyer has competition from investor buyers and it makes it difficult for an unlicensed person to know exactly what and how to negotiate the sale. Make the best home buying choice by selecting a licensed professional to help you. We're legally licensed and officially trained to help you find the home you want to buy anywhere in the state of Florida.

5. Not having enough saved for their closing costs. There are some ways to buy a home with no money down, but for the most part you'll need approximately 5-20% of the purchase price saved for a down payment, earnest money and your closing costs combined.

If you're in the market to buy a home in South Florida please take this advice to heart and make wise money moves that will ensure you have a pleasant and successful home buying experience.

Priscilla Hammond
Licensed Real Estate Agent
RE/MAX Consultants Realty 1
1625 SE 17th St. Causeway
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 Office 954-767-4667
Direct 305-783-4269
Direct 770-875-4780

Top 4 Reasons You Need A Termite Inspection When Buying A House

 

Top 4 Reasons You Need A Termite Inspection When Buying A House

You're in the process of buying a home and your Real Estate Agent calls you and tells you that the seller has accepted your offer on your dream home!!  Woohoo, Yippee, Hooray!!!!  Then your Agent tells you that the seller doesn’t have a termite letter and you should get a termite inspection.

 What is a termite inspection and do you really need one?

The answer is most definitely, yes. It's a minuscule cost for such a major investment.
 

1. The termite inspection can save you a lot of money, time and trouble down the road. 

2. You want to be aware of any termite damage to the home before ownership of the home is transferred to you. If termites are found, the real estate agent who's representing you can go back to the seller and attempt to re-negotiate your sales contract before you purchase the home. If the seller has not already given you a credit for repairs on the home and sometimes even when they have.

3. If you’re getting a loan for the home your lender will usually require a termite letter dated within a specified time frame of your closing. As soon as the termite inspection is performed, the buyer’s agent or the buyer should make sure the lender gets a copy of the report.

4. A termite bond is a contract between the property owner and a termite treatment company which addresses future termite infestations.

A re-treatment bond obligates the termite company to re-treat the property in the event of a future termite infestation.

A repair bond obligates the termite company to re-treat the property for future infestations and repair any damage caused by the termites. There is traditionally a limited dollar amount for those repairs specified in your contract/bond with the termite company. This is the preferred option.

Should you buy a home that the termite company has found to have termites or termite damage? That is mainly up to you and would depend on several factors. How bad do you want the home? The extent of the infestation and the damage? Are you comfortable with having the termite company treat and/or repair the home?

#termite inspection #termite bond  #buying a home  

Priscilla Hammond, Licensed Real Estate Agent

RE/MAX Consultants Realty 1 Office (954) 767-4667                

Direct (305) 783-4269 

How To Sell Your House Fast in Pembroke Pines Florida

How To Sell Your House Fast in Pembroke Pines Florida

This detailed guide will show you how to sell your house fast in Pembroke Pines Florida. We'll cover pricing strategies, preparing your house for showing appointments and finding the right real estate agent.

Days On The Market VS. List Price

 

If you want to know your home's value in today's Pembroke Pines real estate market call Priscilla at 305-783-4269.

Simple Pricing Strategies To Move Your Home Fast

The main key to successfully selling your home is to list your home at the right price. You have some pricing flexibility if your mortgage is paid off or paid down. If your mortgage is still on the high side you're forced to list your price for at least your payoff amount, if the market prices are at those levels, if the market trends are not high enough to meet your mortgage payoff amount then you'd need to consider selling your home as a short sale.

 You have to realize that you can't price it for "x" amount just because that's what you paid for it, the Florida real estate market prices go up and down. You can't sell it for the price you paid for it combined together with the price of all the improvements you've put into it or work you've had done on it. You can't price it at the same price as your neighbors' homes. In most instances, you will only get a buyer if it's priced at what the buyer is willing to pay for your home.

 The way to find the "golden" price to list your home at is to research the recent sales in your area. You want to search within a 1/4 mile radius of your house, same number of bedrooms, same number of bathrooms, same number of half bathrooms, same house style, same year built and same square footage sold within the last 90 days. Select 5 homes that are most similar to yours, these will be your comparables. Add those sales prices together and divide them by 5, that's an average price of what your home is worth today.

 Depending on the value you arrived at by using the above search criteria, list your home's price about $5,000 or more lower than that figure. Now you're probably asking yourself why I said list your house for sale at a lower price, because you want multiple offers and the competitive pricing strategy is the best way to get a lot of action fast on your house. You don't want just 1 offer, you want multiple offers just in case one of the buyers fall through and so they will have a bidding war on your home to outbid each other. Keep in mind this section is about how to sell your house quickly so you'd want to take the steps listed here to do that. 

Another method is to use the same search criteria as above and divide the price the house sold for by the square feet of the house. Do this for all of the five comparable homes separately and add the total and then divide it by 5 to get the sold price per square foot. Multiply that number by the number of square feet in your home and that's your proper list price.

You could pay an appraiser for an appraisal if you don't want to do it yourself.

Your other option is to enlist the assistance of a great Real Estate Agent.

Original List Price VS. Sales Price

Preparing Your Home For Showing Appointments

Since you're selling your home we're going to assume that you'll be moving out of it, get ready for that now. What I mean by that is either pack up everything and put it in a storage facility or get a portable storage unit to put all of your belongings in.

 You want to take everything of value and all of your photos, knick-knacks, pictures, decorative items, your furniture if it's outdated, your out of season clothes (if it's summertime, put the fall, spring and winter clothes in the storage unit), your linens, your dishes, etc. I don't mean everything but almost everything and definitely everything that makes the home look cluttered.

 Nothing looks worse than a beautiful home with clutter that's blocking the true beauty and everyone has different tastes so to appeal to the masses, you MUST do this. Learn how to live like a minimalist temporarily, it'll payoff in the end.

 Spring clean your whole house, clean the walls, baseboards, windows, carpet, flooring. You want to clean it so well that it looks like a brand new house, that's what it will be to your buyer.

 You've been living comfortably in your house for years with all of your decorations and additions that you love so you're used to looking at everything in your home and you like it. Since you want to sell your house, it no longer matters whether it appeals to you or not.

 You need "virgin" eyes to look at your home to give you tips on what to remove to make it more appealing. By virgin eyes I mean someone who's never been inside your home that will give you an honest opinion of your home. You wouldn't be the best judge of that because you're used to it.

Just prior to a showing pour about 3 cups of water and 1/4th cup of Fabuloso into a pot and bring it to a boil and then you'll want to reduce it to simmer immediately. If you leave it boiling too long it'll emit a burnt smell. This will give your home a nice fresh and clean smell and will eliminate any odors present in your home that you've gone "nose-blind" to such as pets, food smells, cigarettes, pipes, etc. It even eliminates the smell of fried fish and we all know how strong those odors can be. Do not use potpourri or air fresheners with food scents like apple pie, cinnamon or vanilla, a fresh and clean scent is always the best. 

Fold your towels and toilet paper like the hotels do, that's always more appealing than just having them hang there.

Open all the curtains and blinds to make your house as bright and sunny as possible.

Sales Price Trends Last 12 Months

Finding The Right Real Estate Agent

We were all born with the perfect "phony" radar which is our gut instinct. If you meet with a Real Estate Agent and something doesn't feel right, go with your gut instinct and move on to the next one. On the other hand I'd say that if you feel that way towards all of the Agents you interview with, the possibility exists that you're not ready to sell your home or that you don't want to sell your home.

There's no rule that says you have to select someone who's been an Agent for 30 years, these days newer could mean fresher with more up to date marketing techniques. If you do interview someone who's had their license for less than a year verify with them that they have a superb support system at their brokerage or a mentor that can help them with any questions if you're leaning towards selecting them as your Listing Agent. Newbies can be okay as long as they have some help when they need it.

Everyone you're interviewing should come prepared with a comparative market analysis also known as a CMA in the real estate industry. If they didn't, they're not genuinely serious about helping you and won't be prepared for other important issues during the transaction. 

This is the number one tool they need to list your house at the right price and if they didn't do that then it's highly likely that they won't do anything else right.

Never ever ever select a Real Estate Agent as your Listing Agent if they seem timid, shy or if they agree with everything you say.

You're choosing someone who's supposed to be negotiating contracts for the sell of (most likely) your biggest asset and you don't want someone who'll back down at the first sign of confrontation. What kind of negotiating would they really be able to do???
 We all have our professions for a reason and we use different professionals for whatever their specialty is.

The Agent you're interviewing should be able to answer instantaneously when you ask them what their number 1 selling tool is. If they can't then either they're not selling any homes, they're trying to figure out what answer you want to hear, they're not doing their own marketing or they haven' t researched their numbers to figure out what works best. In either instance you don't want them as your Agent.

 #HowToSellYourHouseFast

#SimplePricingStrategiesToMoveYourHomeFast

#PreparingYourHomeForShowingAppointments

#FindingTheRightRealEstateAgent
#SellingAHome

Get Creative With Your Income To Buy A House

Get Creative With Your Income To Buy A House

Yes YOU can buy a house. With home prices and interest rates on the rise, it's going to be the people with self discipline and self control who'll be able to buckle down and do what it takes to buy their own home. See a Real Estate Market Trends chart here.

 

The real estate market inventory is low for resale homes but new construction is on the rise and for the most part, they're not going to be priced below $300,000.

 

That may sound high to you but don't count yourself out until you've given a true effort!!

 

Everyone should own their own home at least once or twice in their lifetime. I say once or twice because typically the home we start out with may no longer fit our needs after our family size increases or decreases. Or if our job transfers us to a new location, to be closer to family (or not) LOL. Life brings about many reasons why our housing needs may change.

 

First things first-live on a tight budget. It's only temporary, it won't kill you to cutback on some of the wasteful spending for 6 months to a year. And I hate to break it to you but NO!! cable IS NOT a necessity. I haven't owned a TV or had cable since 2009, on purpose. 😄 And I was a TV junkie who used to schedule their day around TV programming.

 

Calculate your necessities which are your housing expenses+transportation+food+personal hygiene+credit card or other important bills+household cleaning items.

 

Divide that amount by your paycheck frequency for example if that amount came out to $1,300 and you get paid weekly then divide $1,300/4=$325 weekly that you put into your expense bank account to pay your monthly bills. 

 

Let's say your household income is $600 weekly that leaves $275 weekly. Take $150 of that and put it into an interest bearing savings account every week. Save the other $125 for unexpected emergencies or car repairs, etc. in a separate interest bearing savings account. That will always be there if you need it, with the emphasis on IF you NEED it. I know how bad you might want that $300 hairstyle but can you live in it?

 

That's the savings part of it, now let's get down to the nitty gritty. You need more income, point blank, period.

 

I don't know why they're contributing the reduction in the unemployment rate to anything other than Uber. Let's keep it real, opportunities such as Uber and Lyft have helped more people become financially self sufficient more than anything over these past few years.

 

  It's easy to qualify, you need a clean background, a vehicle and the will to increase your income. Even if you don't have your own vehicle they make it simple for you by allowing you to borrow someone's car, they have a car rental program and auto finance companies that are more lenient with their credit requirements if you're a rideshare driver. So there are no excuses there, except for if you don't like to drive, but as I stated earlier if you need more income you have to do what you have to do, it's not just going to come knocking at your door. Click here to sign up to drive for Uber. I'm an Uber Driver.

 

Another easy way to make extra money is by sharing your space. Trust and believe people are spending money to sleep on couches in other peoples' homes when they're traveling as well as in tents and RV's in their back yards. We have an Airbnb guest in our spare bedroom at this very moment. Get rid of any fears you have of trying something new, your future is depending on it. Sign up to be an Airbnb host here. I'm an Airbnb host.

 

Ok so you don't want to drive or allow visitors into your home. Get off of the games and write a blog to sell a product online. Affiliate marketing is a genuine way to make extra money but you have to be dedicated to it. I know you like playing those games on Facebook, but can you live in them? Click here to be an affiliate marketer for JVZoo. I'm an affiliate marketer who used to play Facebook games at least 3 hours daily.

 

My point is, there are several ways for people to earn supplemental income by having a side hustle and I've only touched on a few of them here, in these times of new and emerging technology there are gobs of different things you can do to make extra money. See some other ways here.

 

Calculate the $150 weekly that you're saving and add an additional $150 weekly from the "side hustle" of your choice and in approximately 8 months you'll have saved, wait for it.....$10,000 which should be enough for a down payment on your dream home.

 

Well wishes for an abundance of happiness, prosperity and good health to you all. And this is one of my "side hustles" I might get compensated if you sign up under me or buy anything from the Adsense ads. 😁 Oh and I'm a Real Estate Agent too!!

 

#how to save to buy a house #how to make more money #how to live on a budget #buying a home

Hollywood Florida Renters, Are You Ready To Buy A Home??

Hollywood Florida Renters, Are You Ready To Buy A Home??

And stop throwing your hard earned $$$$ away!!

 

The average rent for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom rental is $2,150 monthly and typically 3 times that amount to move in which comes out to $6,450.

For first time home buyers to purchase a home with an FHA mortgage loan they would need almost the same amount for their down payment.

 For example for a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house purchased at $250,000 you would need 3.5% down payment which would come out to be about $8,750.

 That's with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 5% interest rate your mortgage payment would be $1,667 a month.

That's a savings of $483 monthly which calculates to $5,796 yearly and multiply that for 30 years which is a total savings of $173,880. Not including tax deductions and the credits you can claim for home ownership and work from home businesses if that applies to you.

Get an estimate on mortgage payments and down payment amounts with the mortgage loan calculator below.

Free Mortgage Calculators  

To see homes for sale in Hollywood Florida that cost $250,000 or less, click here.
As of the date of this blog December 31, 2017 there are currently over 600 homes for sale that are $250,000 or lower in price.

 If that's not enough consider the fact that if you're in an apartment you have to live with certain limitations so as not to bother your neighbors, vice versa.

You may not be able to decorate, paint or remodel like you wish to.

The money you're spending on rent every month is paying for your Landlord's assets and not your own.

You have no assets to leave to your heirs. 

Priscilla Hammond Licensed Real Estate Agent
RE/MAX Consultants Realty 1
1625 SE 17th St. Causeway
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Office 954-767-4667
Direct 305-783-4269

#homes for sale in Hollywood Florida #first time home buyers #mortgage loan calculator #buying a home

Help With The Question- Should I Really Sell My Home?

Help With The Question- Should I Really Sell My Home?

Many homeowners are ready to sell their current home to buy a new house because of so many different reasons.


There are some homeowners who currently owe more than what their home is worth. Does that mean they should sell it? Not necessarily. The home values will go back up in the future and you will no longer owe more than what your home's value is.


 You should sell if:

    You’re moving to a new area and you need to sell your home to buy a new house.
    You can make a decent profit on selling your home.
    There is no way possible to maintain your mortgage payment and you’ve already tried a loan modification.
    Your home no longer fits your current family composition, budget and or lifestyle.

But don’t abandon it and let it get foreclosed on. Owning your own home is still every American's dream, so don’t just give up on yours without a fight. There are several alternatives to help prevent you from losing your home and I can give you tips on how to prevent foreclosure.


For example, I know a guy that had to move out-of-state due to a family emergency. He could no longer afford his current mortgage payment because he had a household to maintain out-of-state. He was going to abandon his home and let it get foreclosed on.


I advised him that before he allows that to happen, I could try to help him. I called his mortgage company to find out how bad his situation was. Luckily he was only 2 payments behind and not nearing the foreclosure process yet. They told me that if he can just pay something on it during the month of October it would keep him safe for a little while.


I talked to him about allowing me to find a tenant for it and to provide property management services for his home since he lived out-of-state.


I found 4 tenants for his property within a week (which the rent amount will cover his mortgage payment and my fee) and I’m going to manage his property for him and pay the mortgage monthly with the rent that I’ll be collecting from the tenant.


There are several other viable solutions to just allowing your home to get foreclosed on, call for a consultation, no problem is too big or too small for me.

#should I sell my home #how to prevent foreclosure #selling a home

Priscilla Hammond, Real Estate Agent

RE/MAX Consultants Realty 1

1625 SE 17th St. Causeway

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

Cell 305-783-4269

Office 954-767-4667

Cooper City FL Real Estate Market Trends Last 10 Years

Cooper City Florida Real Estate Market Trends Chart

 

 The chart is made from this data which is the average sales price per month for every month beginning January 2007 through November 2017 for single family houses that are within a 5 mile radius from the center of Cooper City, Florida. There were a total of 26,335 home sales used in the composition of this chart.

Month 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 January $366,700 $300,000 $196,750 $161,835 $205,000 $183,000 February $350,000 $310,000 $202,500 $199,900 $185,000 $172,000 March $356,000 $302,500 $227,500 $240,000 $187,750 $190,000 April $350,000 $299,500 $200,000 $205,000 $170,000 $188,750 May $335,000 $276,500 $190,000 $187,500 $177,500 $210,000 June $361,800 $280,000 $222,500 $190,000 $194,250 $210,000 July $364,900 $276,000 $218,500 $185,500 $187,500 $212,450 August $372,000 $263,000 $205,500 $197,750 $215,000 $201,000 September $328,450 $238,900 $236,000 $207,000 $185,500 $190,500 October $365,000 $250,000 $213,000 $200,000 $187,000 $224,000 November $343,000 $220,000 $185,500 $189,500 $219,450 $230,000 December $304,000 $221,000 $188,200 $185,500 $185,000 $200,000 Total SP $4,202,850.00 $3,237,400.00 $2,485,950.00 $2,349,485.00 $2,298,950.00 $2,411,700.00 Average SP $350,237.50 $269,783.33 $207,162.50 $195,790.42 $191,579.17 $200,975.00

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 $237,450 $230,500 $285,950 $281,000 $333,000 $210,000 $240,000 $285,000 $310,000 $329,250 $235,750 $270,000 $287,750 $297,500 $346,500 $235,000 $268,000 $283,950 $315,000 $325,000 $273,100 $263,450 $268,000 $320,550 $320,000 $265,450 $263,000 $310,000 $324,750 $372,250 $280,000 $265,000 $335,000 $317,000 $351,000 $266,500 $285,000 $300,000 $340,000 $355,000 $270,000 $261,907 $272,000 $330,000 $365,000 $274,500 $279,938 $280,500 $325,000 $340,000 $265,500 $265,500 $276,750 $339,900 $346,000 $247,250 $285,000 $315,000 $310,000 $3,060,500.00 $3,177,295.00 $3,499,900.00 $3,810,700.00 $3,783,000.00 $255,041.67 $264,774.58 $291,658.33 $317,558.33 $315,250.00

Looking at this chart 2007 was the year with the highest median single family home price coming in at $350,238 for the average sales price in the Cooper City, FL area. In 2007 the month with the highest median home sale price was August for $372,000 and the month with the lowest median sale price for single family detached homes was December for $304,000. In 2008 there was a big drop in the median sale price going down to $269,783 with February being the highest month at $310,000 and November being the lowest month at $220,000, that's over $100k price drop from November 2007 which was $343,000. 2009 had a median sales price of $207,163 with September being the highest month at $236,000 and November being the lowest month at $185,500. 2010's median home sales price was $195,790 with the month of March being the highest month at $240,000 and January was the lowest at $161,835. For 2011 we had an average price of $191,579 with the highest in November $219,450 and the lowest average sales price of $170,000 in April. $200,975 was the median sales price in 2012 with November as the highest month at $230,000 and February being the lowest at $172,000. If you purchased your house in 2009-2012 you should be sitting pretty currently. 2013 is the year the median home prices started on an upwards trend at $255,042 for the yearly median home sales price. July was the highest month averaging out at $280,000 and $210,000 in February was the lowest. 2014 was $264,775 for the average price for the year. August and December tied for the highest at $285,000 and the lowest was January at $230,500. The median sales price for 2015 was $291, 658 with the month of July being the highest at $335,000 and May was the lowest at $268,000. 2016's average sales price was $317,558 with August as the highest month at $340,000 average home selling price and March was the lowest at $297,500. 2017 is going to be the year with the highest average sales price since the market failure because without December's sales being added in it's already at $315,250. The highest month was June at $372,250 and the lowest was May at $320,000. If you're in Florida and you want to know the market sales trends for your area, text me. Priscilla Hammond, Real Estate Agent RE/MAX Consultants Realty 1 1625 SE 17th St. Causeway Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 Cell 305-783-4269 Office 954-767-4667

#Cooper City Florida Real Estate Market Trends #single family houses that are within a 5 mile radius from the center of Cooper City, Florida #selling a home #buying a home