Saturday, May 27, 2006

Common Real Estate Terms & Mortgage Terms Explained - Part 1

Although most of us are familar with many of meanings of many of the terms used in real estate, some of the terms can be confusing, misunderstood or even sound like a foreign language. To complicate matters, the meanings of some real estate terms can vary from country to country.

For the purposes of this real estate blog we will use the USA as our base.

So, with that in mind lets get started with our part 1 of real estate terms:

Agent
An person who represents a seller, a buyer (or both) in the sale or purchase of real estate.

Amortization
The schedule of loan payments that details the amount of payment to be applied to the principal and the amount to be applied to interest. An Amortization schedule is usually calculated to show a breakdown of payments on a monthly basis for the full term of the loan.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
The total interest rate of a mortgage. The Annual Percentage Rate includes the stated loan interest as well as any upfront interest paid in securing the loan. The Annual Percentage Rate will invariably differ from the mortgage rate quoted due to the inclusion of these items.

Friday, May 26, 2006

What's Your Reason For Selling? What Will You Tell A Homebuyer Or Real Estate Agent?

The reasons and motivations for selling a property can be many and varied. Most potential homebuyers know this and will be quick to ask, “Why are you selling.” How would you reply to that question?

Sometimes the potential homebuyer is just being curious. However, in most cases, the homebuyer has good basis for wanting to know the motivating reasons for the sale. The homebuyer will want to know what’s wrong with the house – if it is so good why are you selling?

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Home Selling Tip - What is motivating you to sell?

If you've decided to sell your home, chances are you're caught up in a horde of emotions. You may be looking forward to trading up to your new dream home or facing the uncertainty of a major relocation to another city. You may be hesitant to leave your memories behind or keen to start a new adventure. Whatever turbulent emotions you're experiencing right now, you need to be clear on exactly what’s motivating you to sell your home.

Where Many FSBO Sellers Go Wrong

Reading through the postings in this real estate blog you'll notice that many of the tips, tactics and strategies will come in the form of a question. This is deliberate, as I want you to think carefully about the whole property sales process. It is not just a case of accepting everything I say as “gospel.” I’m sure that some of the real estate ideas will be best adapted to suit your own situation. The key is to pose the right questions so that between us we come up with the right answers.

Also, from time-to-time I do mention the possibility of listing with a real estate agent. If you are thinking of selling your own home fsbo, don’t completely rule out the option of listing with a real estate agent. The reason is that a high percentage of "For-Sale-By-Owner" sellers will list with a real estate agent within the first 6 to 8 weeks. As I understand it, something like less than 10% of "For-Sale-By-Owner" sellers will sell their houses without outside help. In most instances that will mean a real estate agent.

Don’t get too depressed. Most of these home sellers are not well organized and have the wrong mindset. The fact is; most fsbo home sellers fail to have a clearly defined plan of action. They don’t attract enough potential buyers so fail to get offers on their home. Many give it a half-hearted go and then give up after a couple of weeks. This can cause considerable stress within families and can damages relationships.

You are different, because for starters you are smart enough to be reading this.

The key is to have the right mindset from day one. Understand exactly what you are doing, talk through the issues with your spouse and make the commitment to see the job through to its conclusion.

Read and re-read this ebook because many of the likely problems and opportunities are discussed. It is packed with ideas, tips, tactics and strategies to help you prepare the right game plan, so that you can sell your house yourself.

Overall, buying and selling property requires the need a positive attitude, patience and commitment to get the job done.

Be Creative With Selling Your House

Everyone can be creative. You may not believe that you are a creative person, but it is all in the mind. To be creative requires overcoming limitations brought on by either yourself or others. It involves thinking outside the square and taking chances… something your own defences may resist.

Creativity is a way of looking at things in a fresh way. It is about looking at the same things as everyone else and seeing something different. There are ideas everywhere – in places, people, objects and events. The car you drive, the pen you write with, the kettle you boil, the clothes you wear… they all started life in the mind of one person. Someone had an idea, and someone acted on it.

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a fresh new way. This means rearranging what you know in order to find out what you don’t know.
One way to think creatively is to simply take a fresh look at everything you take for granted. Ask yourself questions. The more questions you ask, the more ideas or solutions you’ll be able to come up with.

When problem solving try to look at things from a different perspective. Consider how things could be adapted, modified, rearranged or combined with other things. For example, think about that spare bedroom you have in the house. You’ve always looked upon it as being just a bedroom. Someone else might see it as an ideal office or games room.

The reverse might also apply. For example, a friend of mine who had trouble selling his house was getting depressed with the lack of phone calls. He was advertising his house as having 2 bedrooms and an office. He made one simple change to the advertisement and “the phone rang off the hook.” He sold the house within days by just changing “2 bedrooms and an office” to “3 bedrooms.”

So think creatively and keep an open mind.

Choosing Between A Fixed Rate or Adjustable Mortgage

Buying a home or investing in property usually means applying for a mortgage. The usual decision is between choosing a fixed rate (where the interest rate remains constant through the life of the mortgage) or an adjustable rate (in some countries have what is called a floating mortgage rate - where the interest rate floats with the market).

With an adjustable mortgage rate, the interest rate is adjusted (either up or down) at specified times during the mortgage term. Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) often have an initial interest rate lower than fixed rates but adjust upward (unless rates fall dramatically) usually after the first year. Some people prefer Adjustable Rate Mortgages for cases when they are certain they won't own the property for an extended period (more than 5-7 years) of time.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Introduction to Real Estate Know-How Blog

In this real estate know-how blog we will cover a lot of topics ranging from buying and selling houses to avoiding foreclosure, buying foreclosure properties, understanding how mortgages work, how to arrange a home appraisal, selling fsbo and many more real estate related topics.

I will say from day one, that the intention of this blog is NOT to "knock" real estate agents, but is instead intended to help property owners (or potential property owners) - whether they buy and sell properties, with or without a real estate agent.

I will do my best to esure that this real estate know-how blog is written in an easy-to-read format with each new idea, tip, tactic or strategy clearly explained in simple terms.

This blog also includes answers to many commonly asked For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) questions.

However, before we get started there are a couple of points I want you to fully understand above anything else.

Throughout this blog I will explain precisely why many properties stay on the market while others get sold around them. I’ll also tell you why many homeowners get bitterly disappointed with the final outcome from their house sale. If you do nothing else – please read the blog postings, because what I’m about to say might change your whole approach to buying/selling a property. In my experience these points are critical and are too often overlooked.

Welcome To Real Estate Know-How Blog

Get tips, ideas and useful information about buying and selling property as well as information on mortgages/loans etc in this helpful real estate blog.