Multiple Offers And Your Mindset‏

As the market shifts, mindset needs to shift as well. As agents we need to change our thinking. As a buyer, you need to shift your thinking if you want to truly compete with the competition out there. If you have read some of my recent articles, you understand that we have shifted from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market.

Inventory has dropped significantly and buyers have suddenly found that most listings have multiple offers on them. This can be a shock. Especially if you, as the buyer, were searching for property in 2011 before we saw this shift.

This is where the shift in mindset comes in. Prices are still low but demand is up. Sellers no longer NEED your offer. They have others. You can’t come in at 80% of list price. Sellers will get higher offers.

This mindset change is crucial. For buyers, if you don’t shift your thinking, you will lose out on possibly your dream home. You could potentially not find a home for several weeks or several months. This can be difficult as we are still seeing a ton of short sales on the market (which can take up to 6 months to get bank approvals).

You need to make sure you are aggressive but fair to yourself. You need to find the balance between competing with other offers and not getting so competitive that you end up with a home you love but a mortgage you’re uncomfortable with.

A professional real estate agent can help guide you through the buying process in this market. Make sure you find yourself a good one.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

I bet a lot of you are saying “But I wrote an offer much higher than list price. What’s the problem?” The problem is everyone is doing that now. You aren’t the first or the only one. You need to make an offer that is as enticing as possible. Show the seller you are willing to wait for the property.

At the end of the day, most properties that are selling are still distressed. They are either bank owned or a short sale. The homeowner in these scenarios are just trying to sell the property with as few hiccups as possible. If your offer seems hiccup prone, you will most likely not get that signed offer. Contingencies on other homes, needing appraisals, or long close of escrow times make the seller cringe. Don’t make the seller cringe. Stay away from them if you can. If you can purchase all cash, I would do so. With fast closing times and the flexibility, cash is king right now.

Also, the easiest thing you can do today is jumping on properties as soon as possible. The first person to schedule a viewing of the home is going to have the better part of the agent’s ear then the 20th call.

Lastly, have your real estate agent ask as many questions as possible. What is the seller looking for? Is there something they prefer (a certain title company, financing, contingencies)? These questions can only provide beneficial information. They can’t hurt.

If you have any real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

Right now, if you didn’t know, we are in a seller’s market. No, you aren’t misreading the first sentence. I said it. We are in a seller’s market. Right now, there is more demand to BUY a home than there are properties available. When this happens, things get a little crazy. Buyer’s agents fight for showing times. More than a couple of offers and the whole thing turns into a bidding war. It is just insanity. You won’t understand what I am talking about unless you’re trying to buy a home right now. Imagine 2006 market but no one has equity.

Well, most likely, if you’re connected with a Realtor and reading this article, you are interested in some sort of real estate transaction. My guess is, you are a buyer. (If you aren’t buying but selling, don’t hesitate to visit my short sale website: http://realestatewizkid.com) A few tips and tricks might be able to get your dream home.

• Offer The Most you Are Willing To Pay For A Home (If there are multiple offers, you won’t always get a counter offer.)
• Get Set Up To Be Notified If A Property Goes On The Market (You have to move fast these days.)
• Try An Escalating Clause (Increasing your offer to meet or beat any other offer)

Once again, it is madness out there right now. If you need help buying a property, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Jeff Buettner

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

REALTORS CAN HANDLE RENTALS AS WELL

Yes, as Realtors, what we actually do for a living is unknown to most people. Fortunately our real estate license doesn’t limit us to only helping people buy and sell real estate. We can, in fact, help you rent as well.

In some cases, renting a property can be more complicated than buying. The rental market is similar to the wild west. Different procedures, deposits, and forms ensure that no two rental searches follow the same path.

Fortunately, the basics of a rental transaction are pretty straight forward. Almost all Realtors will be able to help you rent a place. The tricky part is you might have a little more work on your hands.

Why? Not all landlords put their property on the MLS. You might have to do some searching on your own. Craigslist and other sites might be used to advertise the property. Some tips for first time renters:

1. Once you find a home you like, have your Realtor call the landlord. They are going to know the right questions to ask.
2. Make sure a Realtor reviews your rental contract. Some people negotiate a rental on their own. This is fine but a lot of people don’t know the state’s Tenant/Landlord laws. Your landlord might try and sneak something past you.
3. Make sure your do a walk-through on the home with your Realtor and THE LANDLORD! Make sure you properly document EVERYTHING that is wrong with the house otherwise you might be liable when you move out.

Everything is changing. Movies are in three dimensions. Picture frames don’t hold stills anymore and a good chunk of the population is using and have these tablets that no one even knew about 5 years ago. What’s the trend?  How are we changing? Everything and everyone is getting more tech savvy. Real estate, for the most part, is headed in the same direction. Realtor’s are always looking to gain an edge on their competition. They want that one thing that let’s them stand apart. On top of that, they are always looking to be more efficient and effective (to get the job done better in less time).

So, there is clearly a reason why we are changing. There are 3 motivating factors.

1. We want an edge.
2. Do A Better Job.
3. Get It Done Faster.

I believe if you look at the motivations you can draw a pretty accurate conclusion.

Flyers were the bee’s knees at one point. If you listed a home, you put up a sign and a whole boat load of flyers. If you were lucky, someone who needed to buy a home yesterday just fired their Realtor and luckily drove past your post.

There was only one problem. If you put 50 flyers out and only got 1 call, who were the other 49 people? Why did they take a flyer if they weren’t going to call and ask questions? Did they need to buy a house? Did a bird use them to build a nest? You had no idea. It felt like throwing worms in a lake and hoping a few fish would jump in the back of your truck.

So, what did we do? We came up with a few systems where you, the consumer, had to come to US for information. Informational 1-800 numbers with recorded messages about the house, QR codes, and text messaging for info. All of these things evolved not because it made your life easier but because it made our life’s easier.

Slowly but surely, flyers will become a thing of the past. Homeowners will see this change and expect the newest and best technology. In fact, I predict that agents using these old systems will have a harder time locking down a listing as time goes on.

This fight to constantly have an edge and do things “smarter” and “better” will be the catalyst for change. On top of that, technology allows us to change faster than we ever have before. What normally might have taken 4-5 years to ebb and flow might now get cut down to 1 year.  We will just have to see but expect bigger, faster, and better change as time moves on.

Thanks for reading!

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

The Homeowner’s Association can make or break whether you have a pleasant living experience in your home. A Homeowner’s Association is defined as an organization created by a real estate developer for the purpose of controlling the appearance and managing any common-area assets during the marketing, managing, and selling of homes and sites in a residential subdivision.

So if you just look at the first sentence of that definition I think you can begin to understand what I am talking about. The HOA was created for the purpose of CONTROLLING the appearance and managing any common-area assets. So what does this mean for you? Well, most HOAs maintain common-areas. They make sure that grass patch in the median gets mowed. They might clean the streets or trim the bushes on the side of the road. Some HOAs go above and beyond and not in the good way. I have seen HOAs limit what color you can paint the house, what you can have in the front of your yard, and whether you can park in the driveway.

Some might love these uniform rules. Unfortunately, they aren’t the best for everyone. What happens if you’re a car collector and your agent does go over the HOA with you. You move in and get a notice because you aren’t allowed to park a car on the side of your house, or even build a new garage.

This little mis-step can be detrimental to not only your experience in your newly bought home but to your happiness. So make sure you do your research.

Thanks for reading!

Yours truly,

Jeff Buettner Realtor & CEO, The Buettner Team
Tel: 480.365.8025 | Fax: 480.223.5465
jeff@thebuettnerteam.com | www.thebuettnerteam.com

If you have ever bought a home, you know that you will inevitably look at a lot of homes. While this is absolutely recommended it can tend to get a little confusing. I mean, think about it. If you look at ten homes in a day, you are looking at ten kitchens, ten bathrooms, and possibly even forty different bedrooms.

What is the ultimate key to figuring it all out? Simply take some notes. It seems simple but very few people bring a pad and pen when looking at homes. I take it one step further for all my clients. When I show homes I bring a worksheet that I have drawn up. It allows the buyer to take notes on the property and even rate the property.

8 – 10 ~ The property has everything they deemed “necessary” and then some.

5 – 7 ~ The property has everything they deemed necessary but not too much passed that.

3 – 4 ~ The property is a fixer upper.

1 – 2 ~ You wouldn’t touch the home with a ten foot pole.

This allows you to not only remember the homes you looked at but also sort through them. Feel free to implement this system into your current home search. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped my clients.

Thanks for reading!

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

The year is coming to an end. Resolutions are being made for the future and the past is being observed. The Arizona Real Estate market has been in a bad place for a few years but the media surrounding the housing market has certainly had it’s ups and downs.

The new year, 2012, is going to be very interesting and, I think, very important. There are three key things that I think you should consider and look at when you contemplating a future investment in real estate.

1. Have we really hit bottom and on the rise? There is a lot of speculation about where we are headed. The housing inventory in Arizona has shrunk compared to last year and the demand seems to have risen. These are extremely positive things. Are we going to continue down this path? If so, I think we will see prices start to rise. There is a chance we don’t see this continue though. What about the bank owned shadow inventory? Has demand really increased or does it seem this way because of the lowered supply? These are all things to think about.
2. There are niche markets within the Phoenix economy. People tend to look at Phoenix as a whole. While sometimes looking at generalized Phoenix-Metro data can be beneficial, most of the time is not. I think everyone, consumers and Realtors alike, need to start doing research on the sub-niches within the Phoenix Metro area (Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, etc.). You need to base your decision off that data. I think in 2012 we are going to see a widening of the gap in growth between sub-cities. It is just a fact of life. Some areas, even within a particular city, are just more desirable to live in. The more desirable areas are going to bounce back a lot faster and stronger than some of the less desirable parts of Phoenix. Take a look at where you live or want to live. Is it a desirable place to a lot of people? What is the travel time to the hear of Phoenix? This separation will be something to look at before pulling that buying trigger.
3. The 2012 election. The economy has a lot to do with consumer confidence. A lot of confidence is tied to politics on a state and national level. I think the 2012 election will play a role in the housing market’s recovery on a national and state level even if it is just for a short time. Don’t forget to think about that as well.

The Arizona economy seems to be on the rise. The new year brings some possibly exciting changes. As always, you need to do your homeowner. Don’t always look at what the media has to say. Look at the data and come to your own conclusion.

Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.

You’re thinking about purchasing a new home but you’re not sure what your future plans are.  You don’t want to fall in love with a home before you’re ready and you don’t want to lead an agent on. So you wait to contact a Realtor until you’re sure. Right? Wrong…

Yes, this may make some logical sense. Yes, you don’t want to fall in love with a home before you’re ready as I have seen that issue alone cause a lot of tension. Secondly, yes, you don’t want to lead a Realtor on (this is bad for both ends). At the same time, time is your best friend when searching for a dream home.

I don’t care if you are a year or more out from purchasing, you should contact a Realtor today for 4 simple reasons.

• You have to find the right agent. ~ I always recommend, if you’re buying, to contact a few agents and let all of them know what you are looking for. Be honest and tell them you have talked to a few people but you will be making final decision on an agent shortly. The last thing you want to do is make an offer on a home with an agent you can’t stand to talk to. So shop around.
• You have to figure out what area you want to live in. ~ Whether you live in Arizona or you are buying an Arizona property from out of state, you have to do research on where you want to live. Whether that means you have to visit the area several times, check out a few homes, or just do some online research, an area that you dreamed of living in all of your life just might not live up to it’s name.
• You have to find your dream home. ~ A good home has most of you of the items on your checklist crossed off. You have to have enough time set aside so that you can either find a home that meets your expectations or have enough time to adjust your expectations/area so your not stuck with a home you completely hate.
• You have to have time to facilitate the transaction. ~  Worst case, time wise, is you fall in love with a short sale. Even in the best case scenario, it could take you a couple of months to find the home you want plus time to negotiate the offer, then time for an appraisal, inspection, time for the loan to fund, etc… (in this market, any transaction can be lengthy.)

The home buying process can be a difficult and strenuous one. Don’t make it more stressful by combining everything you have to do into a constrained timeline. It can make the home buying process, which is suppose to be one the happiest times of your life, a nightmare.

Thanks for reading!