Sheri’s Blog

Some years ago, my husband and I bought our second home. We found what we thought was a great house, made our offer, and then entered into a contract. Later the next day, I began thinking. The home seemed dark inside… so many trees. And we’d have to repaint and re-carpet… hmmm how much was all that going to cost? And the den, with all those dark beams running across the ceiling, they would have to be removed. Suddenly, I was besieged with fear. What had we done? I was in a full fledged panic now, and was feeling trapped by the contract. This house was just all wrong! I wanted out!

I had a good case of what we in the business call “buyer’s remorse”. And this is where many deals are lost, or buyers get themselves into trouble.

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Yesterday, I was talking to a gentleman about his home. He and his wife have decided to try their luck at selling “by owner”. They have priced their home well over $500,000. And though the neighborhood is nice, this seemed extremely high to me. When I asked how they arrived at the asking price, he said they based it on what they invested in the home over their last seven years of occupancy. This included necessary repairs (there had been many structural problems) as well as upgrades.

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Recently I wrote a contract for a client on a home located in Huntsville, Alabama. This buyer was an investor, looking to purchase a rental property. He had no emotional ties to the property we found. His focus was strictly on the bottom dollar, cash flow potential. In the written offer, we asked the seller to contribute $5,700 toward closing and prepaids. That is different than asking the seller to contribute only toward closing, which in this case amounted to about $3,500. What are closing costs and prepaids?

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This month, I worked with a family relocating to our beautiful Madison County, Alabama. We had begun our correspondence over the internet, after they expressed great interest in one of my listings. They were very excited about their relocation, and couldn’t wait to fly here and explore, hoping to find the home of their dreams. So they planned their trip, and feverishly began emailing me homes that they wanted to see once they arrived. They felt eager to buy, and came with checkbook in hand, ready to put down earnest money on a home.

Sure enough, they found a beautiful house that they loved, and we wrote up an offer. The only issue with the offer was they wanted to sell their current house before they bought a new one — to avoid a double mortgage payment. So, the offer was contingent on the sale and closing of their existing home.

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The business of selling a home is just that… business. That is why finding the right Realtor for the job is one of the most important steps in the process. Unfortunately, all too often sellers make decisions based on emotion, which costs them money and time. Here are three top mistakes sellers make when choosing a Realtor.

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Last week, a friend came to me looking to purchase another investment property. She and her husband purchased a home in Madison from me several years ago which turned out to be a very good investment, and now they were ready to buy another property in the Madison – Monrovia – Huntsville area. We spent an afternoon looking. The next day she called to tell me she found the perfect FSBO home, and wanted to enlist my advice. She was going to meet with the seller later that evening to sign the contract and turn over quite a hefty earnest money deposit.

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This is Business- Don’t take it Personally!

Different states have different rules regarding defects and disclosures (consult your local Realtor for details). Alabama is what we call a “non-disclosure” state, otherwise know as “buyer beware!” What this means is that it is up to the buyer to uncover defects.

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