Saturday, September 25th, 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Strides Against Cancer campaign. Coldwell Banker United Realtors is proud to be a supporter of this effort to fight against breast cancer. The Mooresville office, which is my home base, is committed to raising money to support this cause. Agents from this office will participate in a fundraising walk on September 25th in Charlotte.
As someone who has lost a loved one to this disease, I am going to be a part of this effort to support the cause. I could use the help of my friends, colleagues, clients, and casual readers to make the effort truly exceptional. Almost everyone can share a story of someone close to them that has struggled with breast cancer. This is a great way to honor them and make a difference for someone fighting that battle now, or in the future. Please take a minute to view the video below, and if you would like to help, call or email me or reply to this post with your commitment, and I will let you know where to send donations. If each of you contribute $5.00 to this cause, the impact could be incredible!
Want to know more about this worthy cause? Check out the American Cancer Society’s official website.
We’re moving closer and closer to a global economy. We already see foreign investors in the real estate market. In an effort to make the standard appraisal report more globally understandable, Fannie Mae, Ginnae Mae, and Freddy Mac have come to an agreement with their Eurpean counterparts effective as soon as they can implement it.
They are intended to standardize communications and reduce the misunderstandings in current reports. With increased multi-national lending and more computer databases accessing international data, this will give a global, unified language for appraisal reporting. These guidelines have been sent to the Appraisal Foundation where they are expected to be adopted as a standard part of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) later this year. North American appraisal organizations (including the Appraisal Institute, the American Society of Appraisers, and the Canadian Royal Appraisal Society) have agreed to set up committees to implement these guidelines for all appraisal and demonstration reports completed after January 1, 2010.
These guidelines establish a five-year phased implementation plan.
In the first year, “s” will be used instead of the soft “c”, and, the hard
“c” will be replased with “k”.
This should sertainly be well resieved. Not only will this klear up
konfusion, but keyboards kan have one less letter.
In the sekond year, the troublesome “ph” will be replased by “f”.
This kan make words like “fotograf” 20 per sent shorter.
In the third year, akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach
the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
The Appraisal Subkomittee will enkorage the removal of double letters,
which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, the Subkomite
wil end the horible mes of the silent “e” in the languag.
In the fourth year, the German Aprasl Gild has requested replasing “th” by
‘z’ and “w” by “v”.
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining
“ou”, and similr changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.
After zi fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl.
Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evirvun vil find it ezi tu
undrstand ech ozer.
Ze drem of vel vritn vrldvid aprasals vil finali kum tru.
frm ze Intrnatnl Joynt Comite On Aprasal Spelng*
*Reproduced from a joke about home appraisals found on the website, (www.about.com)
I have just listed this brick ranch home in Troutman, North Carolina. This home has year-round water views, a deeded boat slip, and a completely updated interior. It features beautiful hardwood floors, granite counters in the kitchen and baths, stainless steel appliances, and even has a built-in wine cooler. New carpet in the bedrooms, ceiling fans everywhere, and more. Look at the interior of this home. Offered at $329,900, this is a great deal for anyone looking to enjoy lake living!
If you would like to live on the lake, and not worry about yard work, my newest listing will be of interest to you. A three bedroom town house right on the water in a community with a pool, tennis courts, and boat slips for residents. Offered at $225,000, and Lake Norman out your back door! Your homeowners association takes care of the yard work, the exterior maintenance, and the upkeep of the amenities. You get to enjoy lake living at its best. Sell the mower, sell the yard tools. Take the money and buy a boat! Mariner Villas is a Lake Norman community with a home waiting for you!
Thinking about selling your home? Let me give you some sound advice. First; use the services of a Realtor®. Second; do not negotiate verbally with a prospective buyer. If you have someone serious about your property, they should be willing to put their offer in writing.
Thinking about buying a home: Take the same advice. Do not think that you can represent yourself in the transaction. In North Carolina the seller pays for the agent to represent the buyer 99% of the time. You would be so much better off having the assistance of a licensed real estate broker, and even better off with one that carries the Realtor® designation. Next piece of advice for buyers; do not negotiate verbally. If you want to make an offer, do it in writing.
Some folks seem to think it makes sense to iron out “all the details” before putting pen to paper, but the reality is that most people don’t even know what all the details are, let alone how to iron them out legally and to everyone’s satisfaction. Why do you think North Carolina, and every other state in the USA, require real estate brokers to be licensed, and to continually take classes to stay up on all the changes in real estate law?
I bring this topic up because I just had an instance where I and my clients disregarded my own advice, and the result were very disappointing. Let me just say that in the Bible, in the 5th chapter of Matthew, it says “let your yes be yes, and your no be no.” In the state of North Carolina, a verbal agreement is considered a contract, that while legal, is not enforcable. So it is then left to the parties who agreed to live up to the oral arrangement until it can be written and signed by both sides. I remember when I was a young man accompanying my father-in-law to a car dealer while he negotiated for a new vehicle. When we sat down to talk, the first thing my father-in-law did was put a $100 bill on the desk. Later I asked him why, because even back then $100 wasn’t much compared to the price of a car. He told me “so the salesman knew I was serious.” Think of the earnest money deposit that comes with an offer to purchase in the same way. Not much when compared to the purchase price, but it is a sign of the buyer’s commitment. (By the way, soon, it will be an even more serious commitment).
From a global perspective, it saddens me that people will not think twice about honoring their word. From a closer perspective, it makes me mad when it affects my clients. If you want to play with “what if?” scenarios, my suggestion is take it to the flea market. I know my clients in this particular transaction wil never again accept a verbal offer, and I will make it a part of my counsel to all my sellers now and in the future to refuse verbal negotiations.
As for the people that wasted our time recently, my thanks for reminding me of why we use a state-approved contract. By the way, the rest of the quote from Matthew says that everything else “is from evil.”
If you like the idea of living in a condominium minutes from shopping, dining, schools, and Lake Norman, check out my newest listing in The Terraces at Oakhurst in Cornelius. This two bedroom, two bath beauty looks like it was just built. It is truly ready to move into. The refrigerator in the kitchen is included, and the washer and dryer are, too. The furniture you see in the virtual tour is available as well. If you’re looking for a vacation home, or a full-time residence, this unit is perfect. It’s a second floor end unit, and the building has an elevator. Priced at $125,000, this is the best deal in the community.
If you or someone you know are interested in this unit or one of my other listings, give me a call or email me for more information. I’ll be glad to help.
I had a conversation the other morning with a business acquaintance that I thought was interesting on a few levels. He approached me, obviously frustrated, for advice on the sale of his home. Apparently he listed it 30 days ago with someone other than yours truly, and he hasn’t had a showing yet. He also has not had another conversation, either live , by phone, or email, from his agent. He wanted to know if his expectations were unrealistic, or should something should have happened by now.
My first question to him was about his property. I asked him if he felt it was priced right for the market. His response was, “I priced it high to start.” Judgment error number one. The first 30 days of your listing are critical. If you’re not priced competitively then, you will be passed over.
The second part of my response concerned his question about his expectations. When you list your home with any agent, you have the right to expect a detailed marketing plan, designed specifically for your property. It should outline what the agent will do the first week, the second week, etc. It should be concise, but thorough. You also have the right to regular communication on the progress of those marketing efforts. If you don’t get a plan like that, or get one and then don’t ever hear follow-up on the execution of that plan, why would you not assume that nothing is being done to sell your home. If you list and do not get this kind of commitment, you have just made judgment error number two.
I feel bad for this acquaintance, because he’s agreed to a six month listing, and thirty days into it he regrets his decision. Now, he can certainly go to the agent, or the agent’s broker in charge, and ask to be released because of his dissatisfaction. There’s no guarantee that he will be released.
Now, I didn’t write this post to humiliate this friend, or to make him feel any worse. But I have to say, if he had come to me, he would have had the detailed marketing plan, he would have heard from me regularly as I implemented the marketing efforts and, oh by the way, we would have had a heart to heart discussion on the importance of pricing the listing correctly. As an agent it’s easier to get a listing if you let the seller decide the pricing strategy. Selling that listing is another story altogether.
Then there’s the Coldwell Banker Seller Services Guarantee. This agreement between agent and seller outlines and promises what will happen during the listing, and it affords the seller the opportunity to get out of the listing if they are not happy with the marketing of their home. I offer that guarantee because I am confident that my clients will have no problems with my marketing efforts or my communication.
If you are considering listing your home in today’s market, remember that if you don’t price correctly, you will chase the market down until you are right. Remember, too, that not all agents, and not all companies are alike. If you would like to hear more, call me or email me, and we can talk. Please, call me before you list. Coming to me after you list with issues like my friend’s will just make you feel worse.
When it comes to real estate transactions, it’s not just haggling over the price that can be stressful. Sellers need to make some decisions about their home before they list it for sale. One of those issues that can be confusing is the definition of “Fixture.”
To understand how the NC Real Estate Commission views fixtures, read the excerpt below from the NC Offer to Purchase and Contract Form:
“2.FIXTURES: The following items, if any, and if owned by the Seller, are included in the purchase price free of liens: any built-in appliances, light fixtures, ceiling fans, attached floor coverings, blinds, shades, drapery rods and curtain rods, brackets and all related hardware, window and door screens, storm windows, combination doors, awnings, antennas, satellite dishes and receivers, burglar/fire/smoke alarms, pool and spa equipment, solar energy systems, attached fireplace screens, gas logs, fireplace inserts, electric garage door openers with controls, outdoor plants and trees (other than in movable containers), basketball goals, storage sheds, mailboxes, wall and/or door mirrors, attachedpropane gas tank, invisible fencing including all related equipment, lawn irrigation systems and all related equipment, water softener/conditioner and filter equipment, and any other items attached or affixed to the Property, EXCEPT any such items leased by the Seller and the following items: __________________________________”
So, refrigerators are not fixtures, because they are not attached or affixed to the house. However, ranges are considered fixtures, even though they are usually no more affixed than the refrigerator. A cooktop or built-in oven would be a fixture, but then, so would a built-in refrigerator. So when you buy, you should expect the range to be there when you move in, but not the refrigerator.
Another consideration for sellers is, do you have anything that you want to “detach” and take with you? If you’re in love with the dining room chandelier, and don’t want to leave it, my recommendation is to take it down before you list, and replace it with something decent. By decent I mean do not hang an attic light bulb receptacle in it’s place.
If it’s your favorite palm tree from the front yard, then you will need to list it on the counter offer. You should also include in the MLS that you intend to take it with you.
Deciding what you can take and what you must leave can be confusing. Your best bet is to enlist the aid of your qualified, experienced Realtor. If you don’t know one, and you’re in the Lake Norman area, call or email me and I will be glad to answer your questions. If you are out of the area, call me anyway. I can connect you with a qualified agent anywhere in the country that will be glad to help you. Just don’t enter into a contract to sell your home without understanding what you are selling and what you get to keep. No surprises.
Hard to believe that in a housing market like we are currently experiencing that someone could, and would, buy a home rumored to cost around $70 million, but it seems to have happened. Sad news for the sellers, who originally had the property listed at $85 million. I’m guessing they can absorb the loss.
So where did this happen? Why, California of course. Specifically Bel Air. This 48,000 square foot home features ten bedrooms and fourteen bathrooms. So you other would-be sellers in the area that are trying to sell homes from $125-$150 million, don’t give up hope.
As for you folks trying to sell a normal size and price home, whatever your market, I do think things are improving for you as well. Stay positive.
This immaculate two-story home in the Carrington Ridge community is pristine! It has four bedrooms, and the master suite is on the main floor. The kitchen has hardwood floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. You’ll love the spacious great room with it’s gas fireplace and high ceilings. The dining room and entry way have wainscoting on the walls, and the carpeted areas are spotless. The fourth bedroom/bonus room is huge! Built in 2007, this home still shows like new. Take a minute to tour this beauty!
Carrington Ridge has a neighborhood swimming pool, and is located in West Huntersville. Listed at $209,900, this home is a great value. If you’d like to visit it, call or email me and I will be glad to show it.
The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Coldwell Banker United, Realtors or the management/ownership of Coldwell Banker United, Realtors.
Recent Comments