We Tell it Like It Is

Here's a sampling of weird things we've seen in houses we've shown:

-Lyrics to "Eye of the Tiger" printed out on white paper, framed, and hung on a living room wall

-A picture on a nightstand of Jesus playing baseball

-The listing agent in the process of painting the walls of the home fluorescent orange to "spruce it up" a bit

-The listing agent unexpectedly in the house wearing a Hawaiian shirt, relaxing on the couch watching tv

-A framed diploma from chemical dependency rehab hanging on the wall

-Satanic messages written in black marker on a basement bedroom wall along with various newspaper articles clipped and pasted next to them

-A basement meticulously & professionally constructed to mimic a small, European town w/storefront windows w/flower boxes, real doors to each "shop", green turf & brick paved walkways, and a scenic view of the Swiss Alps painted on one wall.

-A home built and designed to specifically mimic a castle from the Renaissance days including (but not limited to) a tower & stained glass windows.

-A home that was remodeled to look like an Egyptian palace with marble pillars and double doors leading to the master suite which consisted of purple carpet covering the floors, walls and ceiling.

-Another buyers agent sitting in the kitchen of someone else's home eating Taco Bell w/her clients.

My buyers did not buy any of these homes.

I can't express enough how important it is to actually sit down and meet with a mortgage person before you start seriously looking at homes. I've worked with MANY home buyers that were 100% certain they were able to buy a house and were looking in the right price range. After looking for months, they find a house they would like to buy and when its time to put in an offer:

1) They forgot to meet with a mortgage person and aren't pre-approved. (Sellers will not look at an offer unless a pre-approval letter comes with it) They then have to go through the pre-approval process and lose the house to another buyer that places an offer in the meantime.

2) They meet with a mortgage person and find out there were many factors that they didn't consider regarding their finances, etc. They realize they have been looking in the wrong price range and can't afford the house they want to put an offer in on (not to mention the fact that they wasted months of looking at homes they weren't even eligible for).

Mortgage people do not bite. And they don't charge you for any of their services unless you actually close on a property that they helped you finance. You are saving a lot of time and trouble by meeting with them at the beginning. They can give you what they call a "Good Faith Estimate" which will give you details of how much you can afford and how much it will cost you to purchase a home. Purchasing a home doesn't just consist of handing over $200,000 to the seller AND not everyone can get a home loan. Here are some basic questions to ask yourself:

1) Do I have money for a downpayment? The minimum you have to have right now for a downpayment is 3% of the sales price. And that comes in the form of cash out of your pocket.

2) Do I have the funds to provide for earnest money? Earnest money is due at the time you submit an offer to the seller. It is proof that you are serious about purchasing the home. Ignore non-realtors who tell you its no longer required--I'm a full time agent and I've never had a buyer get away with not submitting an earnest money check with their offer. Earnest money is 1-2% of the sales price. You do get that money back at closing but its held by the sellers agent as a safety deposit until then.

3) Ignore the listing prices of homes. Figure out and focus on what your monthly payments would be based on a 30 yr loan at 5-6% interest. Google "mortgage calculator" and plug in the numbers.

10. "Anyone can do YOUR job"

9. "I'll buy the house, but I'm not signing anything."

8. "So you wouldn't consider a meth lab to be a selling feature?"

7. "Your listing is on fire."

6. "Is your commission negotiable?"

5. "My 90-year-old grandpa will be performing the home inspection."

4. "I've been a plumber my whole life, but I know more about real estate than you do."

3. "I'd like to offer $100,000 under the asking price."

2. "I forgot to tell you...I technically don't own the house you're listing for me."

1. "Thanks for showing me all those homes. I'm excited to take all the info. back to show my realtor."

I ran into someone this week that said they wonder how long until the market bottoms. Are you kidding me? I don't think it could get much worse than it has been! Everyone, we have bottomed and we are already turning to go back up again!!

From the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors:

For the last week in August, there were 965 purchase agreements signed—a whopping increase of 51.3 percent from the same week last year. That's the highest year-over-year increase in pending sales since at least 2004. Home-buying activity is particularly heavy relative to last year due in all likelihood to a) the historically sluggish showing in August of last year as the credit crunch took hold, b) a bevy of buyers taking advantage of the final days of FHA's seller-funded downpayment assistance program, which sunsets on October 1 of this year and (c) new home buyers getting off the fence and taking advantage of the new home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500.