Bad Real Estate Day….

OK today was not a good real estate day….  Real estate has me down today….  We had a re-inspection on my pending…. Everything on the list passed but due to the 1.5 inches of rain we got (and all the melting snow) there was 1 or 2 inches of water underneath the plastic in the crawl space….. This is the sound of Debbie beating her head against a stone wall…. My seller is way past his lower limit and the buyer will probably walk tomorrow…. I would guess my seller ought to fix the problem and try to sell at a higher price…. The market is improving so this is possible… We thought the problems were finished.  We took all sorts of actions that were un-testable due to our dry winter.   The day is gray and it matches my mood…. Just after I had this cheery news I talked to my very sick tenant… She has pulmonary embolisms in her lungs and developed a fungal pneumonia… She is at home and requested a grab bar for the shower.  I scheduled my workman to do it on Saturday.

I hope tomorrow I get it together….  I must prospect…. The serenity prayer is in order today…. I must remember my people are all well, nobody died…. Just problems…. Lots of problems….

Contingent short sale? What is it?

So we know a short sale is when the seller owes more then the house is worth….. So the third party the lender needs to approve or even renegotiate the deal….. We have all seen this…..

 

So the short sale listing gets an offer the buyers and the sellers come to terms….. Now the package is sent to the bank… If the buyer and seller are lucky the bank has given the listing agent an idea where the house should be listed…. More likely they told the agent they wouldn’t talk until the agent had an offer….

At this stage the sale is marked as a contingent short sale… The sale is contingent on the bank agreeing to the terms or renegotiating the contract.  The bank can take as long as they want….They never seem to care what the timeframe of the offer is…. The classic question of the buyer is when can we move in?  The answer is 30 days to never.   All rules of ethics seems to go out in a short sale situation.  Unless the listing agent sets rules position doesn’t matter very much…If more offers are sent to the bank they just reject the lower offer no matter when it comes in…   The sale is still active in the multiple listing service (CSS) but venders like Zillow don’t seem to have this information… Also some buyers are insistant on seeing them… Once in while you get the news that they welcome backup offers because the buyer is about to walk…Or the offer is to low….

I ask my buyer why would you want to look at a contingent short sale?  It’s mostly like a pending without bank approval… During the time the a property is a contingent short sale everyone waits…. No money is spent and all timelines are suspended while bank approval is sought..  The bank will either say yes, no or renegotiate…. Often the bank will let the home go to foreclosure (especially if the offer is low)…

Many times a buyer walks (they actually do want to buy something) and the agents lists the home as active and seeks another buyer to slip into the spot.  These are better for the new buyer because the process is started…

If you need to settle a deal quickly it important to stay away from most short sales and contingent short sales…Once in a while the buyer walked as the bank came back… Those are the safe short sales to buy in a timely manner…Your real estate agent knows the lingo to indicate that a short sale can settle quickly.

After the bank comes to terms with the buyer and the seller the listing status changes from contingent short sale to pending…. I hope this helps…

  Debbie Holmes

Gold Key Real Estate    

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website

Yesterday ended up as one of those hectic days leading up to the holiday…Part 1 fixing my dishwasher!

Yesterday I had one of those really hectic days leading up to the holiday….  I thought it was going to be a light day but in our industry

When I woke up I started putting my dishes away and realized that they were gross… That meant the filter in my 2007 Whirlpool dishwasher had clogged yet again….It is a slow gradual decline… Then one day the glasses have a white layer of scum on them.  I had paid 3 times for the repairman and paid him more then the dishwasher was worth to come and spend 10 minutes with it.  On the third time I told him he had to teach me or I would throw out the dishwasher next time….  He really likes my dishwasher and didn’t want me to get rid of it (besides a lady who runs 11 rentals is a good customer).  The first time I did it I couldn’t remember everything.  I found a cool video that explained how to do it then my son was frustrated with my moaning and helped me…That was 8 months ago…. The same son was home…But he was asleep…I had already tried to just get him to do the job…. My kitchen was so backed up with dishes it wasn’t funny… So I started….I got my computer and started….This time when I got stuck I was a bit threatening…Something about not needing to buy him anything but coal for Chanukah….  Finally my husband got nervous…Here was dishwasher parts spread out over the kitchen floor….He was afraid I would break something…. He told my sleeping beauty that he had to wake up and help his mom….Have I ever told you that fixing things and being a true mathematical genius do not go together…The skills it take to prove and come up with mathematical theorems is not the same skills required for household maintenance.. I am not great but my physical science know how helps a bit….And I watch my repairmen… My youngest son however seems to be a natural engineer… He can fix things… Somebody in the family needs these skills… I have sometimes hired him to work with my handyman so that he could learn more about mechanical things…. He even figured out how to fix my kitchen drawer when it broke.

Well halfway into the repair (once kid was up) I get a call that I have an fully signed offer on my last pending.  I need to work and here starts my hectic day of December 20,2011.  With my dishwasher in pieces around us…

Josh figures out how to deal with the dishwasher using the video I downloaded and adding a turkey baster   to pull up the water from the bottom…. We now have clean glasses and the dishwasher is together….I seem to be writing a book so I will write this blog in parts….We still have real estate, shopping and Chanukah to go….Stay tuned…

Debbie Holmes

Gold Key Real Estate

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website

Should I take my home off the market for Christmas?

Wondering about the wisdom of taking a home off for the market for Christmas

As Christmas approaches there are less homes on the market…. Who wants people going into your home while you are getting ready for the holiday?  Your family is coming…. You have presents to wrap…. Parties to go to and make….  The holiday is a lot of work!  The holiday is also a lot of fun!  Who wants to show or buy houses now?

 

I have sold homes….One on Christmas eve…. I have a listing at 105 E. Bridgewater Ct., Boise, ID 83706 …. Since I have exactly one listing left and I cannot put up directional signs in the neighborhood, I have been opening it up for 3 weeks running….In preparation of the open house I prepared a list of homes in the area for sale… On Dec. 4 there were 12 homes in the subdivision for sale… On Dec. 11 there were 10 homes for sale in the subdivision… On Dec. 18 there were 7 homes for sale in the subdivision…. Some went pending other listings were cancelled…. So what does it mean to the seller?

There are less houses to choose from!  You might just get the best Christmas present of all… A good offer on your home…. I just had an offer on Saturday on Bridgewater!  We are now $1500 apart… I think we will settle…. If I had pulled the listing because we were getting close to Christmas I wouldn’t have the offer… My seller would still be wondering…  

 Remember the movie “ Miracle on 34^th ST”?  What is a better present to give your family than a home to celebrate the holidays in… Some people are still looking…. If you can bear the intrusion on your holiday keep your home on the market!

 

 

 

 

  Debbie Holmes

Gold Key Real Estate    

(208)761-2551 Email: d5holmes@msn.com

To search Boise Homes visit my website

Long day…Car troubles… 2 pendings in two days…Great friends! Or all’s well then end’s well…

This has been a very busy day. On Friday my buyers finally found a house and we came to terms on Monday. The ninth offer of 10 was accepted…. Not only that my listing, 722 Pearl had an offer on it. Today we have a ratified contract!

I scheduled my inspection for the buyers at 1 PM. The inspector’s business manager (wife) rescheduled us for 4 PM. I knew the inspector was busy so I called him around 3:30 PM… He was still in Payette (over an hour away). He thought he could be there by 5:30… I was a little nervous about an inspection in the dark. At 4:30 I call him to see if he had left Payette. He was just leaving but he was sending his partner to do the outside stuff in the light. I told him I would meet him there but it would take me 20 minutes to pick up my client and get to the site. That was OK because the other guy was going to do the roof and outside stuff. I call my client and tell her I am on my way…

I get into my car and plug the phone in and the little light doesn’t go on….I can’t figure out why….Then I go to start my car…Nothing happens….I check my lights and sure enough I had turned them on in the daytime and left them on….I try to call hubby at home…He isn’t there (he is at work without a car because he walked)… Then I have a brainstorm… Some very good friends (and yes former clients, friends before they bought a home for their son) lived around the corner from my office. I call and I get the husband (who likes to work on cars) and ask him if he can jump my car… I tell him I have an appointment in 15 minutes…Yes I have roadside assistance just no time to wait… He doesn’t have jumper cables but they can get me to where I need to be. I call my client (her hubby is out of town) and tell her my car wont start but I can get a ride to the hotel then either she or I would drive the car to the new home…My client is a very new driver who doesn’t usually drive herself anywhere)…. My friend comes with her grand-baby in the backseat and takes me to the client’s hotel.

I thank her profusely and we have a nice chat on the way to the hotel. On the way the male half of my clients call me. He is worried that I will have his wife drive into the city… I assure I will work out getting home from the hotel by myself. It will be fine. Turns out the female half of my clients is a pretty good driver who just needs someone to sit next to her for a bit while she gets more practice. The inspection goes very well. I call my hubby to meet us at the hotel and we go back. My client stays with me while I wait for hubby. He shows up a bit later then expected but I expected that…We have dinner go back to my office and jump the car…

Today was a good day with some trials that I got over with some help from my friends….Thank you Fred and Carol!