Inside Park City Real Estate.com

I was a little late on “spring” cleaning this year. Maybe it was because I was running every weekend in preparation for the Ragnar Relay Race which took place on June 18th. Maybe it’s because there was snow on the ground until May. Anyway, I finally got around to going through every closet and got the kids to sort through their toys. I went through the mud room and found several snow suits and gloves in great condition but 2 sizes too small for any of my kids. What to do with 5 garbage bags and 3 boxes full of stuff that was in good condition but no longer needed by anyone in my family? Answer–The Christian Center in Park City.

I had not had the opportunity to check out their new digs in the former US Bank building on Deer Valley Drive. Wow! I was impressed. I drove to the drop off section in the back. I knew exactly where to go because they so thoughtfully put together a sign with directional arrows explaining where all their services are located. When I drove around to the back there was a gentleman sitting on a chair. I felt like he was waiting for me. He helped me unload everything from my car and he THANKED ME. He explained I needed to go inside the resale shop for a receipt. Everyone was so polite. The resale shop was neat and organized. Several people were shopping. The person who gave me my receipt also thanked me. When I got back to my car, the person who had helped me unload was already sorting my former treasures. I am so glad that I didn’t toss everything in the trash. I am so glad that what we didn’t need is going to help raise money for the Christian Center of Park City and help families who can’t pay retail for toys, snow boots and golf shirts. I drove away from the Christian Center with a sense of pride in my community and a complete sense of wonder as to the miracles that must happen every day under its roof.

I’ve come up with a non-scientific formula for my clients who have long term renters installed in a property they want to sell. The income you make on the rental will be deducted from the sale price you will eventually obtain when the property sells. For example–let’s say a $300,000 home is rented for $2,000/month. It takes twice as long to sell this property because it shows poorly and the tenants require 24-hour’s notice and access is limited. So if my area’s average day’s on market is 160, this property will sell in 8 months. 8 x 2000 = $16,000. I guarantee the sellers will get at least $16,000 less for the property than they would have if it were vacant, staged and easy to show. In a declining real estate market, these figures could look worse.

Unfortunately, many sellers can not afford to carry a vacant house. I understand this. However, the seller needs to understand that I am not a magician and can’t make their tenants clean their house and keep it in perfect showing condition at all times. Many tenants don’t want the property to sell and purposely make it difficult.

So, seller, the choice is yours. Either take the monthly income now and be prepared to receive less on the back end when the property sells, or wait until the tenant leaves, spruce up the home and give yourself the opportunity to sell for the highest amount of money possible.

Yesterday at our weekly sales meeting, many agents commented that multiple offer situations are starting to occur more frequently in our market. With 29 months of inventory and an average days on market of over 6 months, you would think this is unusual. Two of my last 3 transactions involved multiple offer situations (one was my buyer and the other my listing). Here is what the homes had in common: (1) They were priced right at market and both sold at 95% of list price; (2) They showed great. They were spotlessly clean and beautifully decorated. (3) They were not the highest priced homes in their neighborhoods but fell into the lower or middle price point.

Sellers–price your home right to begin with. Buyers–if your agent says “write an offer today and make it a good one”–believe it. My buyer listened to me and is now happily enjoying her new home while the buyers who competed with us missed an opportunity and are still searching.

As my broker, esteemed Utah Real Estate attorney David Johnson, says “What’s written into the contract does not become important until there is a problem.” At that point, whatever is in writing prevails and the party represented by the less competent agent loses. Two examples that happened to me this week–
1. My buyers were made aware the seller of the home they are purchasing was planning on “switching out” the hot tub. I turned to the contract where we had written plain as day that the hot tub was part of the purchase contract. Seller quickly realized her error and there was no issue. But what if I had written a contract that was ambiguous? I might be in the position of buying a hot tub for my buyers.
2. My sellers and I were anxiously waiting for the clock to tick to 5pm, the time the inspection contingency ran out. Yeah! We were home free as I had not heard from the buyer’s agent. At 6:00 she sends me a list of items the buyer wants repaired. Oops, I tell her. You are too late. Your clients have no leverage now because you got this to me after the deadline. I pointed to the section in the contract that she was obviously unaware of where it stated any inspection issues had to be resolved by the deadline. I am not sure what she told her clients, but my clients were pretty happy that they were represented by someone who was clearly protecting their interests.

So there you have it. One of the major purposes of hiring a real estate agent is to have your interests protected. Make sure you hire someone who has the knowledge and skills to provide you the best representation possible. Those who are good at their jobs make it look easy.

Those of us in real estate saw the writing on the wall here. Banks have to lend money and with such a huge number of people “in trouble” with real estate, they are not going to be able to discriminate against those who had good credit and just made a poor purchase.

Via George Souto (McCue Mortgage) FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages CT.:

Fannie Mae has announced a new updated. This time they are revising the waiting period for Deed-in-Lieu of foreclosure and Short Sale on conventional conforming loans effective with applications dated on or after July 1, 2010. Fannie Mae’s Automated Underwriting System (DU) will be updated to version 8.1 and implemented during the weekend of June 19, 2010 to include these changes. No changes will be made to bankruptcies or strict foreclosure, so the present guidelines will continue to apply.

Below is a breakdown and time periods for the new changes.

Deed-in-Liew of Foreclosure–2 years from completion date, MAX LTV 80%
Exception for Extenuating circumstances-Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure–2 years from completion date, Max LTV 90%
Short Sale–2 years from completion, Max LTV 90%
Exceptions for Extenuation circumstances Short Sale–2 years from completion date and Max LTV 90%

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com