Selling a home "as is"

momlove · April 13, 2010, 10:19pm

My sister-in-law and her husband purchased a home which was quite unique, very modern, and was being sold by the widow of the architect who built the home. They could only afford to spend $xx, which was quite a bit below the asking price. SIL and husband fell in love with the home. Believing that they appreciated the home’s uniqueness, and would not come in and change or remodel the home, the widow sold the home to them. She could have gotten more money as there were other offers, but it was most important to her that her husband’s legacy live on. I always thought that was so sweet. Now, 25 years later, they continue to maintain the home as it was when they bought it.

futurenyustudent · April 13, 2010, 11:34pm

With McMansion communities still going up by the day I don’t understand why anyone would go through that crap to buy a house in Northern VA. Not to mention those working in DC can also buy in MD and DC proper.

1moremom · April 14, 2010, 7:10am

Not everyone wants to live in a McMansion.

hayden · April 14, 2010, 7:11am

Pima, thanks so much! You should write a book. There are lots of books on staging, but I haven’t seen too many that include all the practical issues you bring up, including how to pick a realtor.

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 8:40am

future,

The number 1 real estate issue is LOCATION.

People buy on the VA side because of many reasons, but the biggest reason is the school system. Next is taxes. MD has higher RE taxes and worse schools. This is why many will put themselves through this. Fairfax county school budget is bigger than the lowest 8 states. YES, states, not counties. Their hs are nationally ranked yr after yr in the top 100 by multiple news magazines like USNWR and Time.

If you are going to spend 600K on either side of the Potomac and both have metro lines and same commute, i.e. location. You are going to choose the one with better school systems and lower RE taxes. To be honest people don’t want to live in PG county.

Nobody in DC who cares about education would never put their children in their public schools so DC is not a pull when it comes to the avg buyer.

I also tell my clients to think about the person after them when choosing the location, because you might not have children the school system means squat, but the next buyer might and a bad school system can put you out of the running.

Look it this way, why is the home cheaper or bigger on the MD side? Because of supply and demand. Va has less supply and more demand making the homes more expensive. Your home is your biggest asset, but if you chose poorly it can be your biggest liability too!

futurenyustudent · April 14, 2010, 9:29am

I’ll buy a McMansion over paying asking (esp in this economy) and jumping through such stupid hoops. The only school districts I’m willing to jump through such hoops for is Scarsdale where the spend per student is $13k. IMO there’s Westchester county schools, and then there’s everyone else. The difference between the rest (outside of California) is negligible. Then again, I would never live in DC so this is a nonissue for me.

And according to Redfin, houses are STILL going for below asking in Scarsdale.

I’m surprised that in such a competitive area houses aren’t going for above asking. If someone offers me asking and 30 day closing vs. asking+5%, buyer paid closing costs and 40 day closing, I’d go for the second offer, to hell with their “feelings” about the house. Who are you kidding? When you come back in 10 years, that house isn’t going to look like the house you sold them anyway.

And btw if I really cared about education, I wouldn’t be trusting public schools anyway, instead opting for private school starting from middle school on, so school district further becomes a nonissue.

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 10:03am

The one thing people don’t realize when they buy the brand new McMansion is the fact that even though you bought the home for X dollars, by the time you add in your upgrades that home will cost about 30% more.

Builders especially in this economy are downgrading their standard so they can make money on the upgrades.

I always shake my head in disbelief when my clients upgrade the fridge. I try to explain to them that the upgraded fridge is being mtg over 30 yrs. On top of that they are paying the exact same price if not more then they would if they bought it at Lowes. I try to stress to them take the std fridge, go buy another one at Lowes and now you have 2 fridges for the exact same price. Think about this logically, that fridge was coming with the house anyway, what you just did was actually buy the fridge for the builder and increased their net profits.

future you also just proved my point of why they choose VA because of the superior school districts. People are willing to jump through hoops to get into Fairfax schools. The market here is still tepid at best, but if the home is in an ideal location they will jump on it and you will see escalation clauses. For example, I had a listing in Fairfax on 1 acre, but when I say it was handyman special that would be “puffing” (realtor term for making it sound better than it is). I had 3 contracts within 3 days. The owner choose one of the contracts over the others because the couple had stated they intended to bring the home back to its glory and not tear it down. He was 94 yrs old so you can imagine the shape, but he built it with his own 2 hands over 4 yrs and it was important that it stayed like he built it. The buyers, all 3 wanted this particular area because of the large lot size and the hs it was districted in. It was the only house that was on the market that filled both needs. Had that buyer not written a letter of their intentions, I highly doubt they would have won the bid. The man had no mtg, he is 94 and to him 10K difference meant less than knowing that the home he shared with his wife for 50 yrs was going to be loved like they loved it.

Real estate is a very emotional roller coaster ride on both sides. The buyer wants to get the best bang for their buck and eek out every penny to their advantage. The seller wants that penny too, but they see it as you don’t love their child as much as they do because if you did you wouldn’t argue over the penny and just give it to them.

I would say that I predict the market will drop even more because with unemployment as high as it is we will see a new round of foreclosures. People will not be able to afford their home on unemployment payments. This time foreclosures will occur not because of faulty loans, but because of unemployment. Most people do not realize that 1 in 6 jobs are tied to the RE market. Can’t afford the home, you won’t be shopping at Lowe’s for a new kitchen sink. No new kitchen sink, Moen will lose profits and lay off people. Laid off employee can’t afford the mtg and the home is foreclosed on. BOA holds the loan has too many active foreclosures and their profits drop, thus they lay off employees. See how the ripple effect is going.

As far as education, please realize TJJHS is in Fairfax, it is a magnet school, that is so prestigious USNWR removed them from the public school list and said it had to go on the private side, even though it is public. Guess what TJJHS is number 1 in the nation for private.

Private schools in VA, the good ones run 25K a yr and if you want to be in Sidwell like Obama children you need to get them in for pre-school. Langley private runs 22K for pre-school. Not everyone can afford private. In No VA the schools are so good that the only ones going private are Senators and Congressman’s children. My friend teaches at a private, my cousin is a dean at a private, both of them sent their children to public hs, even when as an employee of the school they could get reduce rates. They just felt it wasn’t worth the money. Of course my cousins son went to TJJHS, and my girlfriends DD went to Yorktown. Both on the top 100 hs in the nation. The avg SAT score out of 1600 in Fairfax is 1350! In other words you are the dummy in the school if you don’t hit close to 700 on each section.

futurenyustudent · April 14, 2010, 10:27am

If people cared that much about the house they’re not ready to sell it. Emotionally speaking.

Honestly? If you, Mr. Buyer, like the house so much, don’t write me a sappy letter, cough up another 5%. A sappy letter won’t convince me to choose you. Another $30k on the purchase price will. Another $60k on the purchase price+buyer paid closing costs definitely will (you’ll get a yes within the hour). Maybe there aren’t that many sellers on the market that are so rational, but aren’t real estate agents supposed to be looking out for their client’s best interests?

Besides, when shopping for a house the first rule is to never get emotionally invested in any house. Because emotions hinder rational choices. When you get emotional, you make stupid choices. And those sellers you mention are letting emotions and their frankly clingy attachment to the house get in the way of making rational choices. If you sell the house, it’s theirs, they’ll change it to their liking, that’s a given (I would), come hell or high water. If they wanted it to stay the way it was, they shouldn’t have sold it.

Given that I myself would in all cases make at least SOME alterations to the house (the exception being if I bought a McMansion and got to pick out ALL of the finishes anyway, or had the place built from scratch), expecting the buyer to use the house exactly as is is frankly unrealistic and stupid. In some of the older houses on the market, I would be shocked not to see the place stripped down to the studs a week after closing. If you want it to stay the way it is, rent it out. If you sell it, the new owner WILL put their touch on it. And yes, it might involve a bulldozer.

Nrdsb4 · April 14, 2010, 10:53am

^^^^I can see both sides of that coin.

But I have to agree with you. If someone’s eyes light up when they enter my foyer, I’m thinking more along the lines that if they like it that much, they need to put their money where their mouths are, not that I’ll give them the house at a discount because I’m flattered that they appreciate my taste or hard work. But not everyone is all about the bottom line.

I did know an elderly person in my neighborhood who had a house that was certainly going to be a tear down. One successful builder in the neighborhood told her “whatever your best bid is, I’ll give you 5K above that.” That really irritated her-that he didn’t want to make a good faith effort to get the house just like any other builder. She sold the house to the guy who built my house because he’s truly a sweetheart and although he had a lot of building experience, was just starting out on his own. The other builder just couldn’t believe the owner would do such a “stupid” thing.

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 11:08am

Yes, we are suppose to look out for our clients best interests, but we are also bond by ethics. We are not allowed to say to a client write a contract for X amt or take this contract over that one.

We can only present the contracts and highlight the good and the bad of each contract. It is up to the owner to decide which one.

Some sellers take a lower offer because of the terms within the contract, for example a higher % of cash down and an earlier closing date. They do so because they believe it is safer than taking the higher price due to appraisals. Some sellers take the lower price because the buyer is taking it truly “as is”, no inspection. Some sellers take the contract because of the settlement date. There are many reasons to why they take one over the other, and we as realtors must support their decision.

For buyers the same is true. 99% of them will ask how much should we offer? I always respond, look I am not paying your mtg, you know what you can afford to pay and that is your decision. I show them all of the comps of solds and how much off the price it went for to give them a ballpark. For example, they can see that the avg home sold for 95% of the asking price and go from there.

Buyers who truly love a home will always sweeten the deal to a point. Writing a letter takes 5 minutes and it is not the only factor in the equation. Most of the times they will also throw in things like choice of settlement company (saves the seller money most of the time since they are most likely closing on a new home and now get a reduce rate from their attorney). They throw in things like paying for the warranty or not asking for the fridge. However, it is to a point, and at a certain time they cry UNCLE.

As I have stated RE is not only financial, but emotional to both parties and a good agent will be able to calm the client from the stress that they are feeling. The 1st thing I tell ALL of my clients is trust me you will at one point or another call me screaming or crying. I understand. They of course say they won’t and inevitably 10 at night or 7 in the morning I get a call and have to get them back down to a rational point. They also inevitably call me and apologize for ranting on me. I tell them I told you so, and it is okay because I was waiting for it. The rants come about because their emotions got hold of them. Movers, inspections, appraisals, loans, work, etc make the sale of a home emotional.

I also tell my sellers, to always put themselves in the buyers shoes. In other words, I expect them to have an answer as soon as I finish presenting. They know the dime they need to walk away with, and it isn’t fair to say give me a couple of days. The buyers life is on hold with baited breath. In the VA market because it has a quick turnover time, the buyer even gets more anxious/fearful that while the seller is reviewing their contract a better offer may come in.

Honestly, it is rational to say the letter won’t convince me, but if all things are equal, price, terms and conditions the letter will sway you. Remember the buyer does not know if the terms of other offers are identical. The selling agent cannot disclose the terms of other offers, all they can say is that there are other offers, but none have been ratified and they can say if it is a CLEAN contract (in other words, gave everything the seller wanted with no conditions). The buying agent has to do everything possible to win the contract. Additionally, most buyers who are told it is a CLEAN contract won’t waste their time writing an offer.

People who do not sell or are not in RE, especially VA don’t realize how time consuming writing a contract is. To write a contract in VA it is over 35 pages of paperwork. It will take 2-3 hours to properly go through the contract. Trust me buyers that have sat through the process 1x and lost to someone else are willing to do anything the next time to win the next bid.

TIP of the day: A good realtor will never ask you to sign any paperwork for a commitment the 1st time you meet them. They will also be smart enough to give you all of the documents (blank forms) that you will be required to sign as bedtime reading material.

I always tell my clients to go home and read this, because once we go active paperwork will be flying and you will sign for the sake of just signing, and if you do than you need to understand what you are signing and what it actually means from a legal standpoint.

TIP 2 of the day: If you are in the top end of the market $$$ wise, Century 21 has a really great subdivision. It is called Fine Homes and Estates. These realtors are certified by C21 for selling homes that are designated to be the top 5% in their market. They get special signage, and the homes go into high end magazines for advertisement.

TIP 3 of the day: If you live in a unique area, i.e. equestrian development or lake/boating subdivision ask the listing to placed in appropriate magazines. People with horses know what they need for their horses down to the type of grass. They typically buy subscriptions to equestrian magazine. People with boats know the size of the slip they need.

TIP 4 of the day: Ask somebody you trust for a Realtor. Contact the Realtor and negotiate the commission. Easiest way is to say, “Look, John gave me your name and my buy/sell will be gravy that you never would have gotten without him, so I am only willing to pay X%”. The realtor will say they have to clear it with their broker, this is not a lie. However, if that realtor says the broker said no, then RUN! The reason why is the good realtor will always convince the broker by saying, “Look, if I don’t cut it, they will go somewhere else and we lost a sale, or money in the brokers pocket”. I have cut my % more times than I can remember, but I will tell you I walk in to my broker and say Sally is here because of John, we got John because of Mike. My broker understands that I am growing my business and if it means cutting by 0.5% or 1% it means they will refer me to someone else.

TIP 5 of the day: UNDERSTAND how little the agent actually walks out with. For example, list a home for 200K with a 3% commission for selling side. 6K gross, now place in the following:
Royalty fees (C21, ReMax, etc) 7% off the top down to 5500
Broker fees can range from 20-55%, let’s use 30%, down to 3700, a new agent might have a 50-50 split and that means they are at 2750.
Lockbox fee : 125 a month, so basically on a good day down to 3500
Ads: let’s say you only run 2 on a Sunday at 150 each, down to 3200
Brokers luncheon: 200 down to 3000
Open House: 200 down to 2800
Self employment taxes 30% comes off of the 3700, down to 1700.

In other words you might think they are making 6K, but in reality you are way off the mark.

If you are on the buying side realize that the gas to drive you around all day Saturday and Sunday comes out of their pocket. You’d be amazed how quickly the realtor goes through a tank of gas.

futurenyustudent · April 14, 2010, 11:53am

Yes, writing up a contract is a pain in the ass but we all know that as buyers we need to be prepared to walk away up until the day they get the keys. It’s hard to stay rational though when you’re looking for a place to live.

That would be Tip 6 I guess. Be prepared to walk away, no matter how much your realtor hates you for it.

And the $220k I’m looking at spending on law school means that I’ll be able to draw those contracts up myself blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back. If I’m a corporate lawyer and I can’t even draw up a purchase contract for a house, my employer is getting robbed blind, and I’ll have gotten robbed blind by my law school.

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 12:15pm

Future, hate to tell you this, but you are way wrong regarding walking away. A contract is a contract and by walking away you default!

If you are approved for a mtg and write a Clean contract, you are stuck. You are stuck so hard that if you walk away the other party can SUE you not only for the deposit(EMD=Earnest Money Deposit), but for the whole price. Trust me, as a realtor I have gone down the road of getting the deposit for my clients. When it is typical to put at least 1% down and more, losing 10K because you walked away hurts. I have won as a selling agent. I can tell you it is amazing how quickly the buyers remorse changes when they realize that if they do not show up at the table the seller is keeping that EMD.
I can say 3 times I faced off with realtors who dragged their feet and changed settlement dates. I have told them if you are not there I will be handing over the EMD the next day.

TIP 7: ALWAYS ALWAYS have EMD held by your Realtor…buying side the broker will do everything to not give it to the seller within ethics, selling side, broker will tell buyer you DEFAULTED and did not show up to the table so the seller gets it.

As far as law school and being able to do it blindfolded as a corporate lawyer, again I have to say you are wrong. RE law is not the same as corporate. Yes, you will be able to read the contract better than the avg buyer, but please realize RE contracts are very specific down to HOAs and Radon levels. In NC a real estate contract includes different things than it does in VA. The avg lawyer does not know what are the rights of buyers regarding HOA docs. Yo can draw up that contract, but if the buyer has a realtor, the realtor knows specifically the break out points to be able to escape DEFAULT, the attorney who is in corporate law doesn’t since they are not specialized in that field.

For example, in VA, the last break out point is typically the 72 hr HOA doc review. You can write your contract every which way from Sunday, but that is the law and you will lose if you sue for default and they use HOA as the escape. I have sold to attorneys and for attorneys none of them knew of this clause.

In NC the last break out clause is lead paint levels, if you are not aware that the state mandates a specific level, your contract is not water tight.

You need to understand that RE attorneys are specific just as corporate. You can’t take the leap that a lawyer is a lawyer is a lawyer. If that was true RE attorneys would not exist nor would corporate.

FWIW no realtor would ever hate you for walking away, but the good ones will say to you that you are probably going to lose your EMD, are you okay with that? If they say yes, than okay I’ll pick you up tomorrow and we will start looking again. If they say NO, then you immediately contact your broker and the RE attorney to see how or if it is possible to get the EMD back.

I at first thought you were an adult with a child going to NYU, but now I realize you have yet to ever buy or sell a home and to you it is clinical. Come back and talk to me after you buy/sell your 1st home, you will definetly have a different perspective. You will feel differently when your lease is up on the 1st of the month and because the owners don’t want to close until the 15th you are homeless or you pay rent and a mtg for that month. You will feel differently when you accepted a closing date of the 15th, but the buyers hit a snafu and can’t close until the 22nd, yet you need to close on your new home on the 15th and now don’t have the funds to close without doing a bridge. Would you seriously say to the buyers screw you knowing that even if you did you would not have the money to close on your new home? Can you see the domino effect?

I will say a good RE agent is very versed in the RE law for that state. They are the ones that can write the best contract not Joe the avg lawyer. They know the laws backwards, forwards and upside down, to the point they can recite everything in that LEGAL contract just like an attorney.

I did feel you were making a dig at Realtors because you are goin gto have a law degree. FWIW, I have a dual undergrad (merit scholarship) and dual Masters. I choose RE so I could be a MOM and take the kids to school or Ortho, but yet at the same time have a career that doesn’t tie me to a desk. Most realtors are like me. College educated and want the flexibility of making their own work schedule. I take/took clients when I feel they are the right fit for me, but I have/had that luxury because my base was built and I no longer needed referrals. Honestly, I started turning down referrals because I didn’t click with the client, and felt somebody else in the office would mesh better.

futurenyustudent · April 14, 2010, 12:22pm

Fair enough. Be prepared to walk away for any reason or no reason at all. If you have to manufacture one, two words: inspection contingency. Suspected roof leak? Reason to walk. Possible structural movement? Reason to walk. Broken roof tile? Possible reason to walk. Even a brand new house sometimes has flaws. If an inspector tells me there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the place, I’d know for fact they’re lying through their teeth. Even if it’s a $30 fix, there’s gotta be something wrong with the house.

And ITE, I’d never write a clean contract in this market. It’s common for houses to sit on the market for multiple months and for new ones to come on the market every weekend. Why the hell would any rational person in their right mind offer asking?

btw 1%=$10k means the house costs $1 million.

That said, the best position to be in is to find a seller that’s desperate (relocating, facing foreclosure, been on the market for 9+ months).

worknprogress · April 14, 2010, 12:47pm

B & P - thank you so much for your generosity on this thread. I have printed out the responses so I will have them handy when my MIL or my other senior charges or I am ready to list. You have been very, very helpful. While some of your tips aren’t earth shattering news, they pinpoint the things you need to consider.

As for what you earn after a sale, since I have my own small business, I am the customer who thinks about all of the costs associated with a sale. I appreciate what you do and understand that the profit per customer ratio is even lower because you certainly see a lot of prospective buyers who never become your customer.

So, once again, thank you for your generosity on this thread.

Nrdsb4 · April 14, 2010, 12:51pm

My DH is a successful commercial broker/investor with 25 years experience in the business. He has a lot of respect for the differences between commercial and residential contracts. As a result, when we are at a closing, it takes all day because he literally reads every single word of every single page at closing. It used to annoy me, but now I’m grateful for it because this is too big of an investment to go in blindly signing things.

I’m also lucky to have someone on my side who understands and lives by the “don’t fall in love” credo. I’m very much the emotional one. We would have left a lot of money on the table over the years and made one really bad purchase had we bought according to my emotions. My DH is very practical and always looks past the aesthetics of a property and looks for the signs of problems or weaknesses of a property or location. He thinks “resale value” while I think about personal use and gratification. There is room for emotion, but it cannot overrule practical considerations.

B & P, you’ve provided absolutely fantastic information and advice and taken a lot of time to do so. Thanks so much.

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 1:26pm

future,

First off you will notice I said at least 1%, and I am a Fine Homes and Estate Designated Realtor, so yes, most of the EMD that I collect is 10K+. Again EMD is seen as a sweetener or good faith. The more money a client puts down the more confident the seller feels that the buyer is invested.

Let’s discuss this. In every state that I have worked or bought/sold homes this contingency is time specific. Actually in VA this contingency is the first and not last break out moment. It is also very difficult to break out from if the Seller is willing to agree to all of your terms. Leaky roof, can’t break out if the seller puts a new roof on. No GFI in the kitchen or bath, can’t break out if the seller agrees to place them in to county code.

In VA we have what is called a 3 turn regarding inspections. You fill in the blanks for the days that it will turn, for example, 7,3,3 means buyer will have inspected in 7 days, seller has 3 days to respond to the requests, buyer has 3 days to respond to their response. In NC you only have a 2 turn. Buyer requests the flaws to be corrected, seller can say yeah or nay. Say nay and the contract is dead if the buyer is unwilling to accept the counter.

In VA, within 10 days of ratification the buyer must be given the home docs for the HOA. They have 72 hrs to review and can use this as an opt out. Don’t like the fact that I can’t paint my house purple is allowable as an excuse to bail.

In NC, there is no HOA doc review. Buyers are told this is in an HOA and you must adhere to it.

In NJ, you can bail during attorney review, but again there is no HOA bail out.

You need to understand also what an inspector does. Inspectors are verifying the home is current to county code and health and safety issue. There is a difference between REPAIR and REPLACE. An inspector may say the filter is dirty, replace it. An inspector may say the sink plunger is not holding repair it. Dirty grout is not an out. Squeaky door is not an out either since it is not a health or safety issue. You can say the squeaky door is the deal breaker, but let’s be real, the seller is not going to lose the sale over a door squeaking and will fold…in other words your ARSE is still on the line for the whole kit and kaboodle.

You want to believe that a home inspection is your out, and an easy out. IT ISN’T. I just can’t stress enough if the Seller agrees to all of your conditions you are legally committed to purchase the home. Please, don’t place ideas in peoples head that inspections can be an easy out, because a good realtor on the selling side will have already placed a warranty on the home and the seller is only 100 bucks out to fix the issues.

Not tooting my own horn, but I will tell you everyone of my listings comes with a warranty out of my commission check because I want to make sure I have left no wiggle room for the buyer to escape. In other words I was already one step ahead of you the buyer. Home inspection is a non player since the warranty exists, the only player is appraisal (buyer has no control over) or the HOA if they live in an HOA. Since VA has a 10 day law and a 72 hr review, the worst case scenario is the last break out happens 13 days after ratification. AFter that the buyer is stuck with fulfilling the contract and showing up at the table.

Thank you to everyone who appreciates my advice, but honestly I give it freely because I believe the best client is the most informed client. If you all understand the in and outs of the world then you will have a different opinion of what realtors actually do. Many clients think we are needed because we own the key to get you in the home. They do not realize that it is much more than that. We are the ones that fight the appraisers when it comes in low for the seller. We are the ones that sit at the inspection for 4 hours and ask the inspector write REPLACE instead of REPAIR for our buyers. We are the ones that go through the HUD1 before you enter the settlement so you can understand in private exactly line by line why you are paying what you are paying. We are the ones while you are at work or at home with the kids fielding calls from other realtors, appraisers, underwriters and settlement agencies. Once you sell a home by yourself you will realize that it really is a full time job and that cost is not as bad as you thought before.

Last tip of the day: 88% of buyers purchase a home through a realtor. By going FSBO you just lost a huge market. If you bought through a realtor, than you need to ask why you should think you can sell without the realtor.

I have shown many FSBO’s, and honestly I am also a realtor who has no problem contacting an owner saying my clients drove by your home and loved it, I will not charge you the full fee if you are open to selling. Yes, I actually have had 2 sales that way. It really is amazing if your realtor can think out of the box. My one client absolutely loved the curb appeal of the one home, I went back to the office pulled the tax records, found the owners name and called them. 5 days later the contract was ratified. The buyers gave top dollar, but were happy to do so because they got a property that was never listed. The sellers got top dollar and paid less commission since I only asked to represent the buyers.

Like I said the more you all know the more you will be better qualified to understand the RE market.

Terms to speak to realtors before signing:
Contingent No Kick Out
Contingent Kick Out
Clean
Contract

Contingent No KO = ratified contract and only the inspection or HOA docs will break the contract

Contingent KO means the buyers typically have asked the opportunity to sell their home 1st within a specified time or get a bridge loan

Clean means that there are no contingencies, to the point that they even waive the appraisal.

Contract means that the Contract is now clean, inspections, hoa, etc have been completed and are not a factor, they are just waiting to get to the table.

Hope that helps

bulletandpima · April 14, 2010, 1:46pm

That is exactly what I mean when I say to my buyers you might love this home, but think about the next person behind you. The avg homeowner now stays for less than a decade, that means you need to think of resale.

I tell clients to look past the paint color or the carpet, because that you can change on the cheap. Walls are a whole nother story and so is location.

I recently had the opportunity to show President Ford’s home, the one he lived in as not only VEEP, but for 6 days as President. The client wanted the home for historical reasons, but I turned and said wait a second, look at the house for the walls, not because Ford owned it. They eventually bought on the same street, and decided that they will have that bit of history by saying President Ford lived across the street. They got a bigger better house for less money and will never have to worry about the fact that the pool leaks!

Again remember this is a FINANCIAL transaction.

QuantMech · April 14, 2010, 2:30pm

Re: Post #106 by futurenyustudent, in how many markets are any buyers still offering above the asking price? Not around here!

mathmom · April 14, 2010, 2:34pm

BTW, here in NY lawyers write real estate contracts, not realtors. At least in this area anyway.

futurenyustudent · April 14, 2010, 2:38pm

None that I know of. But if there’s more than one offer the prospective buyer knows exactly what they need to pay to get the place.

That said, I’m walking the second there’s a bidding war.

Well now at least I know never to buy from b and p. And I know who I want representing me if I want to buy in DC Metro.

Selling a home "as is"

CONNECT WITH US