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Thursday, May 25, 2017

How to Choose the Best Offer for Your House


What all goes into the home selling process? Since we're in a great market for sellers, you might receive multiple offers for your home, which means you'll need to carefully consider these factors.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report
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We're currently in a great market for home sellers. How does the selling process actually work, though?

It starts with a Realtor like myself coming to your home to assess it and tell you what it's worth, then providing you with some tips for making it more sellable. Next, we'll list it for sale. If and when offers start coming in, we'll examine a few different factors.
 

Say you list the house for $200,000 and the first offer uses FHA financing and asks for $3,000 in closing costs and the second offer is an all-cash, full price offer wanting to close in 30 with only 10 days possession. Say the third offer is a VA loan from a veteran for $206,000 and asks for $4,000 in closing costs. Let's say the last offer—and probably the best offer—is an FHA financed offer for $208,000 and asks for $3,000 in closing costs with a 40-day closing and 30 days possession after closing, and the buyer is pre-approved by a trusted local lender.

Of these offers, there are a lot of factors to consider. For one, having an offer that's approved by a trusted local lender is important. If an offer comes in from a bank I don't recognize or like, it will probably be shifted down the pile.

With every offer, there are plenty of factors you need to consider.
Also remember that when selling your house, you'll also need time to look for your next home and time to close on it so that you don't have to move twice. In the case of our best offer, the buyer is giving a 40-day window for closing and 30 days free possession, which gives us plenty of time shop for a house and close on it (hopefully on the same day as the other home's closing) and plenty of time to move.

Of course, there's a lot more that goes into examining these offers, but the important thing to remember is how much I study these offers to make sure you get the most for your situation and avoid having to move twice.

If you have any other questions about selling your house, don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd be more than happy to help you.

 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

What All First-Time Homebuyers Should Know


Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report
Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

Being a first-time homebuyer is very exciting, but there are a few things you should know and questions you should answer before starting the process. Before starting the process of buying your first home, you need to:

Financing is an important part of the puzzle.


  • Know what financing is best for you. If you can qualify for certain programs through the state of Michigan, you may be able to get a $7,500 grant. There are also financing programs from the USDA and VA that don’t require any down payment.
  • Know what you are looking for. What area do you want to live in? How many bedrooms/bathrooms do you want? What amenities do you need? Answering these questions will allow us to set up a profile for you on our home search website, which will only send you the listings that match your criteria.

Once you’ve found your dream home, we can go through it, take a look at everything, and advise you on where you should make an offer in the current market. It’s that simple!

If you have any questions for us or are looking to buy a home in Grand Rapids, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Find Foreclosure and Pre-Foreclosure Properties Quickly & Easily


Going online to find foreclosures isn't the best method. I can help you find them much quicker.

Selling your Grand Rapids home? Get a free home value report
Buying a Grand Rapids home? Search all homes for sale

A lot of my clients here in Grand Rapids ask me about Zillow. I will be providing you with a brief overview of the website including its pros and cons.

If you go to Zillow you will notice a pre-foreclosure tab, and this indicates homes that have not paid their mortgage for 30, 60 or 90 days. Oftentimes these homes are not actually for sale because websites like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com get their information from credit reporting agencies. Often times this information is inaccurate and can mislead buyers which can cost them time and money.

The other tab in Zillow is a foreclosure tab. Zillow finds these listings from court reports that indicate which properties have been repossessed by banks. These listings can also be inaccurate and outdated.

I have access to the latest foreclosures.

I have access to the most updated foreclosure and pre-foreclosure listings and will not lead you astray in your home search. Instead of wasting your time with real estate websites, I urge you to come to me so that we can expedite your home search.

If you are interested in finding these kinds of properties in the Grand Rapids area, then please do not hesitate to contact me via phone or email. I look forward to working with you.