Experienced Agents Can Save You Money

This morning I got a frantic call from a new home buyer ( we closed yesterday.)  They said that the plumbing wasn’t working right in the house they had just bought.  I asked what they meant by not working right, and they explained the problems they were having.

The home that they purchased in Hutchinson, MN had been vacant for about 6 or 7 months.  I knew from past experience with problems like this that more than likely the problem was simply coming from the fact that things hadn’t been used for some time.  I suggested that they run a lot of water through everything and see if things didn’t straighten out.

I just talked to them and everything is working just fine now!  An inexperienced agent may have told them to call a plumber which would cost somebody a bunch of money.  Then there would be the adventure of figuring out who was going to pay for the plumber’s bill, the former seller or the new buyer.

So, experienced agents can save you money even after you own your new home!

Renters Beware

Renters aren’t immune to too-good-to-be-true pitches.

One popular scheme these days involves the perpetrators lifting a real estate agent’s online photos and information for an attractive residence that’s currently for sale — and then placing an ad on a free online classified-ads site that purports to offer the house for rent at below-market rates.

The pitch (from the ostensible landlord) is, ‘We’re leaving town quickly because we’re going to do missionary work in Africa’ ” and thus are offering the place at an excellent monthly rate.

In fact, the landlord says he’s leaving town so quickly there’s no time to show it, and so the tenant will have to go by what’s in the ad and wire the first and last month’s rent to the landlord (at an address that’s inevitably somewhere abroad) and the keys will be sent, he said.

Incredibly, this works (in the criminal’s favor) more often than you’d think. The price is so low, and people don’t want to pass it up. But they’re not doing their homework.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a renter contact us about a home that we have for sale here in Hutchinson, MN that was advertised for rent on Craigslist and unfortunately it was part of this scam. Luckily, the would be renter was smart enough to check things out before sending any money.

Yesterday our Regional Multiple Listing Service sent out a warning to all of us about this scam which apparently is being run out of Nigeria!

So, once again the phrase, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” holds true.

Good Time to Buy and Sell

In the past couple of weeks we have helped quite a few buyers find homes to buy in Hutchinson, MN. Many sellers have had their homes on the market for quite a while and aren’t interested in carrying them into and through the winter months.  So, fortunately for the buyers, they are able to purchase homes at some pretty good prices. 

 It may seem that it is unfortunate for the sellers, but the reality is that once their home is sold, they no longer have the expense of carrying it.  It’s not just the mortgage payments, but the utilities, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. 

 So, when a seller is presented with a less than wonderful offer from a buyer, many of them are realizing that by not accepting the lower offers, they could cost themselves much more money in the long run.  A seller needs to figure out what it would cost to carry the house and then determine how much more they would need to get for the house if they waited for another four to six months before another offer is made.

Buying a home now makes good sense for buyers and selling a home now makes good sense for sellers.

Tick tock on the tax credit means more “last call” buyers

Congratulations Hutchinson Manufacturing!

We are so fortunate to have companies such as Hutchinson Manufacturing here in Hutchinson, MN. Yesterday they held a ground breaking ceremony for a new plant they are building here in partnership with Westinghouse! This new company will employ about 50 people! Thank you to Tom Daggett and his family for all that they have invested in Hutchinson, MN. There are many people who have been employed by Hutchinson Manufacturing over the years. Now when the economy is still a bit shaky, we have a new company investing a great deal into our community. Congratulations and thank you!

Shorter Time for Short Sales

In Hutchinson, MN it seems in the last while that the process of short sales is getting shorter. Thank heavens. We have had buyers of homes for sale who have waited up to four months only to find out that the lender who holds the mortgage is not willing to accept the offer that they buyer made on the home that is for sale. Even though buyers know that the process will be long, many of them have decided to wait it out in hopes that the price they get the home they want for will be worth the wait. In the last couple of weeks, we have had faster response from lenders when offers are submitted on the short sales. I suspect that part of the reason is that we as real estate agents understand the process of the short sale better than we did a year ago. I also think that the banks are catching up on their work load and are getting better at doing their jobs to expediate the process of the short sale. Don’t misunderstand, it’s still a longer process than just buying a home when a short sale is not necessary. Everyone’s patience level is different and if you have the time, purchasing a home that needs to be a short sale can be beneficial.