Agents, Agents, Everywhere...And Not A Drop Of Ink Left In My Fax Machine!
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The buyer of my home removed all of his contingencies on Monday. Their real estate agent called to let me know before faxing over the paperwork. I also got a fax from the lender's agent that my loan was approved and Liberty Mutual's insurance agent faxed me 3 quotes to insure my new home in GA. The circle is certainly tightening up here as we prepare to move in just 3 weeks. I can't wait!
Even though I help people go through this process all the time, it never ceases to amaze me how complex the process of buying and selling a home can get, even more so through federal legislation to simplify it. I am not alone though. I've simply been dealing with a stressful situation over the last 6 weeks that is not unique - the selling of one home, while buying another.
Psychologists will tell you that among the top five most emotionally stressful events in life, moving is one of them. The other four are death of a loved one, marriage, child birth, and major injury. Side note: Last year my wife slipped on some loose stairwell carpeting and was in a wheelchair for 8 weeks. It was 4 days after we got married, on our honeymoon, and we had moved in to our new home less than a month beforehand -- in 5 weeks she experienced 3 of the top 5 and survived, so even you can make it through a move.
Once you've decided to take on a move, the first choice you have to make is whether to sell first or buy first. I could go on for quite some time about the logic and advantage of both sides, but in a nutshell it comes down to this: Is it more important to you to lock down the new home, or to sell the old one? That should be the onus of your decision. I chose to buy my new home first, while I still owned the old one.
While someone risky in that I could have been paying two mortgages if my home had not sold, I was confident in my ability as a real estate agent to stage, market, and price my own home accordingly. I sold it in 10 days while my next door neighbors home, which went on the market 3 weeks earlier than mine did, is still languishing on the market after 90 days and two price reductions. Object Lesson: Do NOT overprice your home. It will be your downfall financially and emotionally.
Although a typical move is done within the same state or locale, usually within 5-10 miles of the previous home, an out of state move is not as uncommon as you might think. When you consider moving on paper, the idea is simple: Sell one house, buy another, pack up, then move.
However, in the process of doing so you have to deal with agents. Who are these agents? They are people who are empowered to act for or represent another person or entity. And there's lots of them hiding in every nook and cranny of the home buying or selling experience!
As many as 4 individual real estate agents, who may have 4 completely different personalities, can be involved in this type of transaction! There's the agent representing your home sale, the agent representing the buyer's of your home, the agent representing the purchase of your new home, and the agent of the seller of the home you wish to buy. If you start working with agents who are couples or teams, or have transaction coordinators who handle all their paperwork, it can get even crazier!
Considering you've already got to deal with movers, home inspectors, appraisers, insurance agencies, contractors, termite inspectors, cleaners, escrow companies, lenders, banks, and your own family and pets, wouldn't you want to consolidate or coordinate some of those people and the information they relay through just one real estate agent or firm?
I certainly would. I'm dealing with 4 different agents right now, all working for different real estate companies in 2 different states and time zones, and that has certainly lead to some complications and confusion of the message when everything is getting filtered six ways to Sunday! It's a good thing I know what I'm doing.
The good news is that it's not as tough to do as it sounds. One agent can represent you for both the sale of your current home while helping you find a new one, if you're moving locally, or can refer you to a solid agent if you're moving out of state. In the absolute best case scenario, that same agent may even locate a buyer for your current home, as well as have a listing on a home you'd like to buy, meaning you'd only have to deal with one agent throughout the whole process if you had a problem anywhere along the line.
Is this realistic? Not so much in today's world with the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Placement on the MLS allows specific exposure of your home to targeted buyers of homes, much more than any advertising campaign in the newspaper. Considering there are over 10,000 members just in the San Diego Association of REALTORS, who are all by proxy members of the MLS, that's a lot of eyeballs looking in the right direction.
Don't make the mistake of keeping your home off the MLS or not putting it on lockbox. These are obstacles to buyers. Remember, if you're selling your home, sell it. Don't just put it out there to languish. This comes back full circle to proper pricing.
A good agent can and will give freely all kinds of advice to you if you're thinking about moving. Whether you're looking for information on the sale or purchase of a home, get the facts first.
I'm here when you need me.
Even though I help people go through this process all the time, it never ceases to amaze me how complex the process of buying and selling a home can get, even more so through federal legislation to simplify it. I am not alone though. I've simply been dealing with a stressful situation over the last 6 weeks that is not unique - the selling of one home, while buying another.
Psychologists will tell you that among the top five most emotionally stressful events in life, moving is one of them. The other four are death of a loved one, marriage, child birth, and major injury. Side note: Last year my wife slipped on some loose stairwell carpeting and was in a wheelchair for 8 weeks. It was 4 days after we got married, on our honeymoon, and we had moved in to our new home less than a month beforehand -- in 5 weeks she experienced 3 of the top 5 and survived, so even you can make it through a move.
Once you've decided to take on a move, the first choice you have to make is whether to sell first or buy first. I could go on for quite some time about the logic and advantage of both sides, but in a nutshell it comes down to this: Is it more important to you to lock down the new home, or to sell the old one? That should be the onus of your decision. I chose to buy my new home first, while I still owned the old one.
While someone risky in that I could have been paying two mortgages if my home had not sold, I was confident in my ability as a real estate agent to stage, market, and price my own home accordingly. I sold it in 10 days while my next door neighbors home, which went on the market 3 weeks earlier than mine did, is still languishing on the market after 90 days and two price reductions. Object Lesson: Do NOT overprice your home. It will be your downfall financially and emotionally.
Although a typical move is done within the same state or locale, usually within 5-10 miles of the previous home, an out of state move is not as uncommon as you might think. When you consider moving on paper, the idea is simple: Sell one house, buy another, pack up, then move.
However, in the process of doing so you have to deal with agents. Who are these agents? They are people who are empowered to act for or represent another person or entity. And there's lots of them hiding in every nook and cranny of the home buying or selling experience!
As many as 4 individual real estate agents, who may have 4 completely different personalities, can be involved in this type of transaction! There's the agent representing your home sale, the agent representing the buyer's of your home, the agent representing the purchase of your new home, and the agent of the seller of the home you wish to buy. If you start working with agents who are couples or teams, or have transaction coordinators who handle all their paperwork, it can get even crazier!
Considering you've already got to deal with movers, home inspectors, appraisers, insurance agencies, contractors, termite inspectors, cleaners, escrow companies, lenders, banks, and your own family and pets, wouldn't you want to consolidate or coordinate some of those people and the information they relay through just one real estate agent or firm?
I certainly would. I'm dealing with 4 different agents right now, all working for different real estate companies in 2 different states and time zones, and that has certainly lead to some complications and confusion of the message when everything is getting filtered six ways to Sunday! It's a good thing I know what I'm doing.
The good news is that it's not as tough to do as it sounds. One agent can represent you for both the sale of your current home while helping you find a new one, if you're moving locally, or can refer you to a solid agent if you're moving out of state. In the absolute best case scenario, that same agent may even locate a buyer for your current home, as well as have a listing on a home you'd like to buy, meaning you'd only have to deal with one agent throughout the whole process if you had a problem anywhere along the line.
Is this realistic? Not so much in today's world with the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). Placement on the MLS allows specific exposure of your home to targeted buyers of homes, much more than any advertising campaign in the newspaper. Considering there are over 10,000 members just in the San Diego Association of REALTORS, who are all by proxy members of the MLS, that's a lot of eyeballs looking in the right direction.
Don't make the mistake of keeping your home off the MLS or not putting it on lockbox. These are obstacles to buyers. Remember, if you're selling your home, sell it. Don't just put it out there to languish. This comes back full circle to proper pricing.
A good agent can and will give freely all kinds of advice to you if you're thinking about moving. Whether you're looking for information on the sale or purchase of a home, get the facts first.
I'm here when you need me.
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