Worthwhile Tips for Local First-Time Homebuyers

Utah First-Time Homebuyers Have a Key Bargaining Chip

The price tag that goes with buying a home is hefty enough to give anyone pause. After the fact, anyone – perhaps especially Salt Lake City and Beyond first-time homebuyers — can come away wondering if they have could have nailed down a better deal. Preventing any such nagging doubt is easy to do: it just takes a little forethought and preparation. Here are a few tips to bear in mind when buying a home.

After you have submitted an offer, be mentally prepared to respond in case a counteroffer follows. Along with the improvement in our Utah market, we’ve seen a rise in sellers’ confidence levels, so it’s best to be ready for some negotiating. Try not to let your emotions intrude — but always know the maximum amount that you are willing and able to spend. 

Major athletes have bargaining agents to go to bat for them. Your real estate agent is your bargaining agent whose very presence strengthens your position. Some of the legalities in real estate can seem ambiguous though they actually aren’t, so allowing a professional to do most of the talking is good practice. An inadvertent comment or slight change in the agreement between you and the seller could result in problems securing a mortgage from your lender. Real estate agents are trained to help you through the process of buying a home as smoothly as possible. Especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer, use your agent to the fullest advantage.

Being armed with knowledge can save you thousands. The best way first-time homebuyers can see if an offer is competitive is by scouting the most recent prices paid for comparable properties. The second part of being prepared is to be sure that a proper appraisal is conducted. Smaller details are easy to brush off in the excitement of buying your first home — but having done all your homework beforehand is the way to make first-time homebuyers know they’ve struck a great bargain.

Whether you’re a seasoned seller or one of those first-time homebuyers in Salt LakeCity and Beyond... I’m here to help make sure you stay on top of your game. Call me!

Imaginative Online Resources Can Shortcut Home Search

Web Resources Can Focus
Efforts to Buy a House

If you are looking to buy a house in Utah and haven’t yet taken advantage of the power of the Internet, wow! — are you missing out! A host of new technologies and online resources have simplified finding and analyzing properties. To help zero in on your ideal house in Salt Lake City and Beyond this fall, here are a few of my favorite online resources:

Google Maps can save hours of time. Just go to Google and click on the “Maps” option at the top. Key in the full address of the property you’d like to look at, and, voila! You’re instantly looking at it in a choice of satellite view or from street level. For a quick glance a property’s “curb appeal,” you can’t beat it!

Long before you buy a house you’ll want to know whether it’s a bargain or overpriced. The quickest way to get a rough (and rough is the operable word) estimate is at Zillow. Zillow.com provides a rough estimate (okay – very rough!) of the current valuation for most properties. Although these “zestimates” are approximate, you can also see what other properties in the surrounding neighborhood and area have sold for.

The Trulia website can help shorten the research needed before you buy a house. Here you pose questions about a property to be answered by local experts. Ask about prices, closing times and real estate commissions. You can also find detailed information about local neighborhoods like commute times, crime stats, and local school ratings.

Locally of course my favorites (being biased) are the VIP consumer websites that give immediate direct feeds of listings from the Wasatch Front MLS for any properties in the state of Utah. It gives you your own private platform for saving your favorites, request more information on property, or request a showing.

After selecting your search criteria, you will receive an email with new listings as they come on the market every day and the first to receive any changes on your favorite listings, such as price reduction or if it is under contract or expired. Both these search websites have valuable additional tools for your search.  

      www.searchpropertiesutah.com
      www.Homes4SaleUtahRealEstate.com
      www.SaltLakeCity-shortsales.com

 Online resources like these can reduce a lot of legwork (and gasoline consumption). Of course, nothing can replace the expert advice of a local Realtor^® and viewing a selection of properties in person — but using these resources helps shorten the process. 

Once you have narrowed down your search and are ready to go out in the trenches, then it is time to select your personal Buyer's Agent. It is important to understand the laws of agency in regards to real estate as a buyer and the protection it provides. As a buyer, having a professional personal buyer's agent costs you nothing! 

If you’re looking to buy property in Salt Lake City and beyond this fall, I’m here to help!

Two Culprits That Make Selling Your Utah Home Tougher

Selling Your Home Can be a Fall Success Story! Whenever a home lingers on the market, the likeliest two culprits are either a price that’s too high to be competitive, or a home that’s not in top showing condition.

If you were unsuccessful in selling your home in Salt Lake City and beyond this summer, it would be particularly disappointing given the strength of the selling season. The NAR reports that in July alone, sales of existing homes jumped 17.2% compared with July 2012. At the same time, some sellers reported the reappearance of multiple offers.

The good news? Selling your home in the fall or winter is not as difficult as most people commonly assume. In fact, selling your home in Salt Lake City and surrounding cities during the coming months can offer certain benefits. In what many people assume is an “off season,” fewer homes are on the market — less competition. At the same time, buyers in these seasons tend to be more serious about buying.

Pricing is almost always the overriding issue. Home values haven’t fully recovered from the peaks registered before the residential housing crash. Nationally, median prices are on the rise…but even so, they are still 7.3% below the high water marks reached in 2006. If you bought or appraised your home in 2004 – 2006, you might have to set your asking price slightly lower than the number you heard then. Selling your home with dispatch might depend on it.

Showing condition matters, too. Selling a home is different from living in it. To be competitive with the other Utah homes for sale, the property should be spotless for every showing. Removing excess furniture, art, and personal items such as family photos or trophies is important for creating a home that appears spacious and airy. It also lets buyers more easily imagine their own families living in your home.

Don’t let the lack of a summer sale discourage you. When you set your asking price correctly and provide an immaculate showing environment, you’ll give yourself a strong chance of selling your home in Utah during the cooler weather months. If you would like to talk strategy, call me today for an in-home assessment!

The Looky-Loo Eraser: a Local Salt Lake City Utah Tour

Salt Lake City Utah Virtual Tours Channels Energy to Where It Counts

My clients know how hard I strive to make every one of their home showings count. I know that your time is valuable, so cutting down on prospects who are not genuinely interested in homes like yours will conserve your energy for showings likely to pay off.

It’s why creating a UTAH HOME virtual tour can be so invaluable.

According to the National Association of Realtors^®, last year according to the 2012 National Association of REALTORS Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 90% of homebuyers used the Internet during their search. More and more frequently, what these buyers were looking for was to view a virtual tour of homes that piqued their interest. 

As the name suggests, a virtual tour gives potential buyers the chance to look both inside and outside of homes their own computer, tablet or smartphone screen. Buyers simply click on the virtual tour link on a home’s web site or online listing. That triggers the video tour, which can be as complicated or simple as you like.

When a virtual tour in Salt Lake City and Beyond works effectively, it increases the number of in-the-flesh showings. It also eliminates the buyers who are least likely to make an offer: a virtual tour is a looky-loo eliminator!

For instance, suppose a buyer clicks on your virtual tour and discovers that your home features a compact backyard. Any buyer who has his or her heart set on a generous outdoor space will certainly decide against scheduling a showing. This isn’t a negative — that’s a buyer who would surely pass on your home after a real showing. Yet, since your virtual tour showcases your home’s best features, the odds are high that a potential buyer will want to tour in person if they either want or don’t care about the backyard’s size.

When creating a virtual tour, though, virtual tour Rule 1 applies: it absolutely, unquestionably must look professional. A reputable videography company with good production values can showcase your home’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses. Doing that takes a pro.

The Internet has changed the way everyone shops for homes. To harness the power of your home’s online real estate listing, give me a call today!