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Facts about "For Sale By Owners"
Many homeowners try the "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO) approach, thinking that they will maximize their profits. Initially, they feel that they are well qualified to sell their home, so why pay a broker's fee for something they can do themselves? In fact, close to 25% of all the homes sold last year were FSBO's.
However, almost half of these home sellers said that they would hire a professional next time they sold. Thirty percent said they were unhappy with the results they achieved by choosing the FSBO approach. Why?
Many FSBO sellers complained that the additional time and paperwork, interference with their regular job, and everyday responsibilities involved were not worth the amount of money saved. For some, the financial savings were disappointing. By the time they figured in the cost of attorneys, inspectors, appraisers, title clerks, escrow and loan officers, marketing and advertising... they calculated that they would actually have come out ahead by paying the broker's fee, which would have included many of these charges.
Selling a home requires experience, and an in-depth understanding of the real estate market. If the property is priced too high, it will sit and develop a reputation for being a "problem property". If the property is priced too low you may lose thousands of dollars. Some FSBO seller's felt that money lost due to poor decisions outweighed the cost of an agent's commission.
Not surprisingly, many FSBOs convert to broker listings, sometimes after much owner disappointment and aggravation. In some cases, a broker can make the difference and there's a quick turn-around, but wasted time and effort is never regained
Ask yourself the following questions before you decide, and weigh the answers in terms of assuming the responsibility versus hiring a professional who only earns a commission when you get the desired results.
Questions To Consider:
Do you have the time, energy, know-how, and ability to devote a full forced effort to sell your home? Are you willing and able to show the property at the buyers convenience ?
Realize that a certain amount of hours each day is necessary to sell your home.
Are you prepared to deal with an onslaught of buyers who perceive FSBO's as targets for low balling? Are you qualified to screen out "distressed property" buyers?
Are you able to offer financing options to the buyer? Can you answer questions about financing?
Do you fully understand the legal ramifications and necessary steps required in selling a home? Are you completely informed of all the steps necessary to sell real estate, including inspection, disclosures and all related paperwork?
Do you have the negotiation skills and capability of handling disputes with buyers directly?
Do you have established relationships with title companies, inspectors (home and pest), attorneys, and escrow companies that you know and trust to be effective?
If these questions raise concerns about selling your home as a FSBO, you may want to hire a professional. We're here to help. Please contact our office if we can be of any further service to you.
Mortgage Qualifying: FICO Scores
FICO stands for Fair Isaac & Company, and your FICO report is the first thing a lending agency looks at when qualifying your loan. It consists of (among other things) credit scores from each of the three major credit bureaus: TRW (Experian), Equifax, and Trans-Union. The score varies from each bureau because each one places a slightly different emphasis on different items. Scores range from 365 to 840.
Some of the things that affect your FICO scores:
Delinquencies
Too many accounts opened within the last twelve months
Short credit history
Balances on revolving credit are near the maximum limits
Public records, such as tax liens, judgments, or bankruptcies
No recent credit card balances
Too many recent credit inquiries
Too few revolving accounts
Too many revolving accounts
How your FICO scores translate to a Lender:
FICO Score | Odds of a Delinquent Account | ||
| 595 | 2.25 | to | 1 |
| 600 | 4.5 | to | 1 |
| 615 | 9 | to | 1 |
| 630 | 18 | to | 1 |
| 645 | 36 | to | 1 |
| 660 | 72 | to | 1 |
| 680 | 144 | to | 1 |
| 700 | 288 | to | 1 |
| 780 | 576 | to | 1 |
Guidelines on how to view the FICO scores vary little from lender to lender. Usually, a score above 680 will require a very basic review of the entire loan package. Scores between 640 and 680 require more thorough underwriting. Once a score gets below 640, an underwriter will look at a loan application with caution approach. Some lenders will not even consider a loan with a FICO score below 600, some as high as 620. Credit scores can affect more than whether your loan gets approved or not. They can also affect the interest cost of the loan. Some lenders establish a "base price" and reduce points on the loan if the credit score is above a certain level. A point is equal to one percent of the loan amount.
Other lenders may establish their base price, but instead of reducing the cost for good FICO scores, they "add on" costs for lower FICO scores. The results from either method would work out to be approximately the same. It is just that the second way "looks" better when you are quoting interest rates on a rate sheet or advertisement.
The Multiple Listing Service or MLS
Submitting your home to the Multiple Listing Service is the first and most important thing that any Realtor® does to insure maximum exposure of your home. The absolute number one tip for any and all home sellers is: make sure you get full Multiple Listing Service (MLS) coverage. Don't even look at an offer until you are sure your home is on the MLS system, because once it is, you will have an entire army of Realtors® at your disposal.
Real estate surveys in Florida show that owners lose an average of $2000 when their house is sold by the same office or Realtor® that listed their home. Not because the listing agent price was too low, but because the offer was written before any one else knew it was for sale. This is because a certain distinctive feature of a home, or neighborhood, or other factor has a much higher value to one certain buyer over all others. Finding that buyer is the key to success and the key to finding that buyer is the MLS service.
When you list your home with Peeler Properties, it is placed on the MLS system as soon as possible, as well as on this website. MLS = maximum exposure and peelerhomes.com = maximum detail to further captivate interested buyers with more detailed info. and photo images. That's a winning combination, when combined with our follow-up expertise and experience.
Property Values and Location
The best way to determine property values is to monitor the sale of similar properties in the same geographical area. This way you can track how much a home is listing for, how quickly the home sells, and at what price. Real estate agents know and can provide this information. Just like nearly everything else, it is supply and demand that influences home prices. The demand for the prices of homes in an area are driven partly by the economic health and vitality of the area. When there is an increase in jobs, especially higher paying jobs, there will be an increase in the price of homes in that area. If there is an over-abundance of housing, home prices may remain stagnant even in an area with considerable job growth.
Ultimately it is the market the will dictate demand, often as a result of the overall economy and interest rates, but location is a huge determining factor for buyers, as it relates to schools, healthcare, climate, recreation, economic stability, transportation, crime statistics, tax rates, government services and communities. Because all these factors can be attributed to LOCATION, it is thought to be the single most important characteristic in determining a properties current and future (resale) value.
Keeping in mind that locations which appeal to the largest number of buyers will drive the highest property value rates, location is critical in determining property value. But not all buyers have the same motivations, desires or "taste". If they did, then 90% of the people who could afford to would be living in 10% of the most desirable areas. We all know that there are hundreds of independently wealthy people spread out across the United States who could live comfortably wherever they chose to. They chose their current residence based on a combination of winning factors that are important to them.
How does Florida rate among other states ? Information compiled from 2004 data can be found here. Most impressive for home buyers is that 9 Florida cities made the list of America's TOP 100 Places to Live, including nearby Tallahassee, Florida and # 1 Venice, Florida, base on education, crime, employment & housing data, as well as votes.
Why 1031 Tax Exchanges ?
Tax deferred exchanges have actually been around for many years. Throughout our nation's history, farmers have traded land for land, tractor for tractor, livestock for livestock, etc. There were no tax consequence on these types of transactions until 1918, when the first income tax was imposed.
The process for conducting 1031 exchanges today is actually the result of a 1979 court case involving a man named Starker. Starker won his case (for the most part) against the government, establishing the case law that has provided the foundation for modern day exchanges. That is why many refer to a 1031 as a "Starker Exchange".
Although the Starker Decision validated the taxpayer's right to conduct tax deferred exchanges, 1031's did not really gain widespread popularity until the "Final Treasury Regulations" were issued in 1991. Since that time, 1031's have become increasingly popular. So popular in fact, that 1031's are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception in real estate transactions.
Most buyers and sellers today can benefit from 1031 exchanges. To follow is our personal "1031 Top Ten List", the ten most important things to know about 1031 exchanges:
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