Pocket Listings are not smart for the Seller

Many sellers and also their agents when they are hired by such a seller are not very smart when they agree to make a pocket listing. Both the seller and their agent will leave good money on the table.

The reason for this is that the pocket listings are not marketed to the biggest possible audience because it is a pocket listing. The nature of a pocket listing is that it sits in the pocket of the seller or the agent and only a hand selected buyer audience will have the chance to make an offer. 

On the other hand the members of this ‘elite’ crowd may not include that potential buyer with the deep pockets that the seller is hoping for or need to get out of his/her property. The buyer with the deep pockets is often outside this crowd and the seller will not get to this buyer because this buyer does not know that the seller wanted to sell his/her property. That is not a good position for the seller.

Therefore Mr. Seller you should think twice what is better for you – Make a pocket listing and get a lower price from a limited buyer audience or publish your listing with an broker on the MLS and get a higher sale price and a potential higher gain from your sale because your property is seen by a much bigger buyer crowd with deeper pocket?

You have a real estate question? We love to assist you – andrea@florida-informations.com.
In Real Estate we are always on your side - http://www.amazon.com/Your-Residence-Paradise-Property-Purchase/dp/0986252913

 

Buying a home and get financing – Changes at the beginning of August 2015

You are a frequent home buyer or a first time home, who is looking to purchase a home in the near future? Then you should keep in mind that there changes in the financing process in the coming summer. These change can impact you and your financing preparations.

After the financing crisis and hard to understand financing process with its costs and expenses along the way, the CFPB – that is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – is in the process developing a toolkit for home buyers in this matter. This toolkit will help you as the home buyer to understand the necessary steps in the process and the connected costs and expenses that come with the mortgage and the closing.

This toolkit will not only help the home buyers to understand the process better but also to find the best matching type of mortgage. It will also make it easier to understand the differences, requirements and benefits of the different mortgage types.

It is also intended that the mortgage industry use this toolkit with its customers. This toolkit will soon be available in English, Spanish and also for consumers with disabilities.

For more details to this topic please contact us at andrea@florida-informations.com   

What are Closing Cost?

This is a very important question for a home buyer because these costs are related to your home purchase and they are additional to the purchase price. The closing costs are expenses that are often ignored and not clearly explain to the buyer. The amount of these costs can easily add up to 2 to 5 % of the purchase price.

When you as the buyer make your probably biggest live time investment you are certainly interested to get your new home without any strings attached. To accomplish this goal you have to know that there are some service expenses involved. However, not all closings costs are paid by you as the buyer.

Parts of the closing expenses are paid by the seller but you are the beneficiary. The seller paid costs are the title and lien search to make sure that your title is clean and marketable. The seller also pays his/her part of the service costs of the title company and the documentary stamps for the transfer of the real estate property.

Your buyer part of the closing expenses are the title insurance, the title service fees, the recording fees at the court for your deed and the mortgage. The title insurance covers you as the buyer in case an unrecorded lien is put on your property but the seller or another former owner of your property is the debtor. Such a title insurance is a must have so that you will have a good night sleep in your new home. The title service fees and the court recording fees are mandatory to make sure that you are correctly noted on all legally relevant public records and documents.

Besides these direct related closing costs there are also the expenses for a home inspection, the survey and the lender’s appraisal cost in case you take out a loan on the property. Not every home buyer want these expenses and try to avoid them but that can be a big mistake in the future.

This is only a short summary and focused on a Florida real estate transaction. For more details you can reach us at andrea@florida-informations.com or find information at this link:  
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Residence-Paradise-Property-Purchase/dp/0986252913

Always check the license of a real estate professional

Every real estate professional in the United States must be licensed and each state has its own business license authority. In Florida the DBPR – Department of Business and Professional Regulations – has the authority to issue real estate licenses after the applicant has successful completed his/her education and passed the state exam. This license is only issued for two years and needs to be renewed at the end of every two years.

A properly licensed real estate agent has his/her state license always in the wallet because the license has only the size of a check or credit card. When the license is expired the real estate is no longer allowed to practice the real estate profession. The expiration date is stated on the license and easy to check.

Buying and selling of a property is for the most people a big deal and therefore you have to be careful with whom you are dealing. Unlicensed individuals do not know the proper procedure how to perform a real estate transaction correctly. They often try to scam you and sell or rent you poorly maintained properties with cloudy and dirty titles. When you realize this issues later on they have already disappeared and you have lost your invested money. I do not think that you want to make that experience – right?

In case you need more information to this topic please contact us at andrea@florida-informations.com or find details in this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Residence-Paradise-Property-Purchase/dp/0986252913

  

I want to sell the condo of my inherited condo

When I took that listing I thought that is an easy task. The market is good, the location is excellent and close to the beach. The unit is in good condition. Let’s move and we hoped to get the transaction closed within 30 days.

The public records of the property didn’t show any information that should rise a red flag. However, during the title examination we found out that the probate at the time of death of my customer’s father who was the former owner of the unit was not properly done. The father of my customer deceased in New York and the probate was done at the court in New York. During this probate proceedings my customer got papers that stated that she was the owner of the unit and she thought everything was okay.

Sadly the attorney who had done the probate case in New York forgot to file the probate case also in Florida. Because of this attorney’s mistake my customer had to retain a second probate attorney in Florida who did the missing filings. Such additional filings are a costly factor in a real estate transaction.

To prevent such a costly issue you should already at the purchase time decide if personal ownership is the best choice for you. There are better options to protect you of such a probate situation. To find out the best options for your specific situation the advice of a real estate attorney is the best protection.

Please contact us for further questions at andrea@florida-informations.com 

Make sure to choose a licensed real estate professional

One of the biggest industry in Florida is the housing market and it offers many individuals a job opportunity. To work in this field you have to be licensed by the State of Florida.

To get a real estate license in Florida you have to study the business objectives and must take the state exam for this industry field. This license exam is not an easy task. That show the following numbers: 50 % of the people who try to achieve their license failed the first time. Even at the second time still 66 % of the examinees failed again.

However, there were still 24,000 examinees successful in the last year and got their license for their profession in the real estate.

That is a huge number. When you are looking for a real estate agent, please keep in mind that you have to look for the matching agent for your needs. Not all agents are the same. To find the best fitting agent you need to know what are your real estate goals and your financial investment amount. A knowledgeable and experienced agent will be happy to assist you with all your needs.

To get started and find this fitting agent this book is the first step to your success (English and German available): 
 http://www.amazon.com/Your-Residence-Paradise-Property-Purchase/dp/0986252913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427503424&sr=8-1&keywords=your+residence+in+paradise