Tag Archives: seller
It Pays When You Buy Through A Realtor
by Amit Paul
Today most buyers who consider a resale home are increasingly educated in all facets of the real estate transaction, from the research to the viewings to how much they should be paying and the sale process itself. This knowledge has as much to do with the Internet as it does with a good buyer’s agent – a realtor who acts specifically on behalf of a buyer.
However, in my experience, the same isn’t true for those looking to purchase new. It seems that buying from a builder has a stigma of helplessness attached to it in terms of what the buyer’s rights are and what they can and should expect in the process.
The first thing I recommend to all my friends and inquisitors who are looking to purchase new is to seek the aid of a qualified realtor – someone who comes highly recommended from a trustworthy source, even after the sale has closed. Finding a realtor who meets this criterion can be challenging, but rest assured they do exist!
What many buyers don’t know is that purchasing via a buyer’s agent can be a huge advantage. The fact is that, contrary to popular belief, the builder’s terms, contracts, deposits, restrictions, and so on are all negotiable. What you need is a skilled and trained negotiator who can not only make sense of the phone-book sized documents presented to you, but is also familiar enough with the process to make the alterations that protect you as much as possible.
Yes, you read that correctly—builders’ contracts are not written in stone. I’ve worked with builders on numerous occasions, both directly and through buyers and sellers, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that they’re just as human as the rest of us. They’re understanding, willing to negotiate, and reasonable. The key lies in negotiating from a point of legality and sensible argument rather than emotional or subjective contention. When understood in this light, it’s easy to see why a realtor comes in handy when purchasing new.
Of course, as is the case with resale, your buyer’s agent would receive compensation from the builder, so there’s no financial loss to you. Also, the commission the builder pays to your agent cannot be taken off the purchase price if you go it alone. Remember, it’s all about legality – a commission is a tax-deductible expense, a cut in purchase price is not.
Everything from square footage variances, timelines, construction quality, design, appliances, potential fees, and everything else involved in the contract is subject to negotiation and should be put through the wringer to obtain maximum benefit for you. It only takes someone with the right influence and experience to find that perfect deal.
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Realistic pricing key to selling home
Luann Lasalle – The Canadian Press
Home buyers can expect more choice and lower prices in the second half of 2010, while sellers can expect fewer offers for their homes, says one of Canada’s leading real estate brokers.
“Accurate pricing is going to be really key,” said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
In its latest housing survey, Royal LePage said yesterday the real estate market will start to slow in the second half of 2010 with the number of sales expected to fall compared with the hot activity early in the year.
“I would say if you’re a seller, the first thing you should expect is fewer multiple offers on your home,” Soper said from Toronto.
Sellers who try to squeeze extra money out of their homes will likely have their homes “languish” on the market, unless they’re exceptional properties, he said.
“I believe we are through the highly volatile spiking of prices and activity levels, both up and down,” Soper said. “We’ll see a much a more stable, but frankly less exciting in a good way, real estate market in the next 18 months,” he said.
Soper said a lot of buyers were frustrated by a tight supply and “overexuberant competition,” particularly in the first quarter, but that’s easing with increased listings.
In the first half of this year, about half of real estate transactions were from people who were looking to buy a home, but weren’t necessarily selling one, he said.
“It took a while for sellers to get comfortable that the recovery from the recession was real. We had an all-time record number of new homes come on the market in the first quarter of 2010. It started to impact prices in the second half (of 2010).”
Soper also noted that “fiscally aware 20-somethings,” especially women, are now much more interested in buying homes than they were in the past.
Royal LePage said some markets will see a decline in home prices and sales volumes toward the end of 2010, but they should be seen more as a reflection of the highs reached late last year rather than a major slowdown.
Prices for detached bungalows and two-storey houses were up about 9% in the April-June quarter, compared with the same time last year. Condominiums were up 7.3%.
Royal LePage is forecasting that by the end of 2010, home prices will rise an average 6.8% over last year, while the number of home sales will increase by just over 1% from 2009.
Vancouver and Toronto showed some of the largest increases in the second quarter of 2010.
Average prices in Vancouver were up 16.6 to 19.1% while prices in Toronto rose by an average of 7.7 to 11.4%.
However St. John’s, N.L., had the country’s biggest increase with prices up an average of 18.4% to 9.6%.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416−388−1960
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Negotiating agreements takes nerves of steel
Mark Weisleder – Yourhome.ca
Real estate agreements typically start with an offer being made by an interested buyer and then accepted by a seller. But there is so much more that goes on in between and both buyers and sellers need to understand how to properly prepare for what can be very stressful negotiations.
In most real estate contracts, the buyer leaves the offer open for acceptance by the seller for a period of up to 24 hours. This is called the irrevocable date and time. By signing the offer under seal, once it is delivered, the buyer is not permitted to change his or her mind until the irrevocable date and time noted in the offer. Sellers can accept the offer, reject it or make a counter offer back to the buyer. Eventually, an agreement is reached.
However, many questions arise about the process, especially when there are multiple offers coming in on the same property. For example, let’s say an offer is made to the seller, but the seller notifies the buyer as follows: “I am thinking about your offer, can you improve it?” This is what typically goes on in discussions between real estate agents while the offer is being considered by the seller. What does this mean? Has the seller rejected the offer? Should the buyer say anything? The proper answer should be that this is the buyer’s best offer right now, and the seller can either accept it or make a counter offer. You do not want to end up negotiating against yourself.
What happens if you are asked to fax your offer to the seller and you have been told that there are other offers on the property? You are suspicious as to whether the seller really has any other offers. In this case, insist on your agent receiving a copy of the confirmation that the seller would have given to the other buyer agent who submitted the other offer. You will not see any of the details of the other offer, but at least you will know that it exists. If the seller refuses to provide this, think twice about participating in this process.
Let’s say your buyer agent is presenting the offer in person to the seller and the seller’s agent, and there are multiple buyers waiting outside for their own turn to present. If the seller indicates that they will not deal with any offer until they have seen all the presentations, then my advice is for your buyer agent to take the offer with them and go back to their car. Tell the seller that if they want to negotiate with you further, they can call you back. By taking the offer back, it has not been delivered and the buyer will still have the opportunity to negotiate further if the seller does indeed call you back.
All of these situations demonstrate the need to have an experienced real estate agent to protect your interests in this very stressful negotiation process, which usually happens late at night. You need an objective third party who can make sure that you do not get caught up in the emotion of the situation and either say anything or do anything that you will later regret.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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