For Boomers

Cash offers – getting it right

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

small houseEven with a cash offer there are closing costs. Those costs are much lower than the closing costs on a home loan.  When a home is being financed sometimes buyers will ask for cash back from the sellers to cover closing costs.

Before making a cash offer find out what the closing costs will be and adjust your offer as needed. If you will need more cash than you have for a full-priced offer and closing costs, offer less than the full price.  It is really pretty simple. I often ask a title company for help calculating closing costs on a cash sale.

Instead of a pre-approval letter for a loan a cash buyer needs to provide proof of funds, like a bank statement.

Cash offers are more common than they used to be. Last Fall about 31% of purchases were cash.

Negotiation is part of the homebuying process.

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
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Old Window

Real estate agents always need training. I have been in business for over 20 years and I am still learning. During the pandemic, there was an influx of new real estate agents. I can usually tell right away when I am working with someone new.

Often they don’t know what they don’t know so they do not ask the right questions. Real estate agents are usually independent contractors and they don’t get much supervision. Real estate brokers are responsible for all of the agents working under them and all agents must work under a broker.

I digress. It is the little things like not knowing that a request to have the carpet cleaned can go into an offer on a house. In fact, a buyer can ask to have a home professionally cleaned and they can ask for repairs too. The seller can say no but they often say yes.

Buyers can ask to have items removed from the house as a condition in a purchase agreement and they can ask for items to be left in the house too. Many things are negotiable including the price. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Agents who started in the last couple of years may not have had to use negotiating skills. Houses went on the market and got multiple offers there wasn’t much negotiating. That still happens today but not always.

. . I love to negotiate.

You found a house on the internet

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

porchFor the last 25 years or so people have been able to search the internet and find houses that are for sale. There are people who believe that because of this real estate agents are no longer needed.

Finding a house that is for sale is just one step in the home-buying process. It is the easiest step because in most cases all a buyer has to do is search the internet to find a home for sale.

Most of the houses were put on the internet by real estate agents.

When I want to help a buyer find a house I search the MLS (multiple listing service) through the internet.

In most cases, after a potential home buyer finds a house on the internet they want to see it in person. If they decide they want to buy it they need to figure out how much to offer. There also need to decide on the rest of the terms that will go into their offer.

The offer needs to be written. We call that a purchase agreement. The agreement could be drawn up on almost any piece of paper but usually, that won’t be enough space for all of the details.

People who have purchased real estate in the past have an easier time of it but the laws and rules changed often. No two properties are the same and each homeowner and buyer are unique too. I have helped hundreds of people buy and sell real estate and it is a little different each time. That is what keeps it all interesting.

Real estate agents also help people get ready so that if they do find that perfect house that they want to buy they can buy it.

Sevice has changed

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
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Turrets

The meaning of the word service has changed. It used to be all about helping clients and responding to client or customer needs.

I don’t believe that giving clients a questionnaire prior to meeting with them is a service. They do that before medical appointments so the doctor can set the tone and show how little they care about patients as humans.

I think that asking questions that are tailored to the situation is a much better use of my client’s time. Asking each question once should suffice.

I never ask anyone to download an app onto their phone so that they can work with me. For people who want to work with an app, I can make that happen but it isn’t required.

Customer satisfaction surveys are crap. Many businesses state that they are performing a great service when they ask us to fill out a satisfaction survey. The surveys often miss the point or fail to allow us to highlight our extreme dissatisfaction, or are so ridiculously long that I feel as though people should be paid for their time.

There are aspects of customer service that can be automated, like voice mail and autoresponders for email. They both help small companies like mine. I can not always answer the phone or an email immediately but it doesn’t take me long to get back to the people who contact me.

Sometimes I think that businesses believe that they will appear to be more professional if they use a lot of forms and processes. Often when people call with a question the very first thing they get is a series of questions. The processes create unnecessary friction that makes it harder for people to use a service or buy a product.

Nothing says I don’t care about you or have any empathy for your situation like a generic questionnaire. I think that is why doctors’ offices use them so much.

Customer service isn’t about putting people on hold and letting them know that their call may be recorded for quality purposes.

I don’t have any generic clients. Each one is unique and so is each property that I represent or sell.  You can call or write and I’ll do my best to provide professional help with your real estate needs.

The heating bill cometh

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
St. Paul

Just a heads up. Natural gas prices have quadrupled in the last two years.  I just got our utility bill for December. I just want to say “ouch”. The prices are up because demand is high, partly because natural gas is being exported. The natural gas market is global. Low production, sanctions, and war drive prices up.

Natural gas is literally sold to the highest bidder.

Going forward we may need to change to solar-powered heat pumps to heat our homes and businesses. For now setting the thermostat lower, wearing extra layers, and perhaps a part-time job will get us through the heating season.

It might also be fun to research heating from solar-powered heat pumps.

For those who qualify there is an energy assistance program through the Minnesota Department of Commerce.  There is also a federal program, Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

Let’s not forget the Minnesota cold weather rule: Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule (CWR) is a state law that protects residential utility customers from having electric or natural gas service shut off between October 1 and April 30. To protect your service from disconnection you must make and keep a payment plan that you and your utility agree on. The utility must offer a payment plan that is reasonable for your household’s financial circumstances. You can set up a CWR payment plan at any time during the CWR season.

 

What is an SRES?

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

What is SRES? Thanks for asking. SRES stands for Senior Real Estate Specialist. The specialist doesn’t have to be a senior but does have to specialize in real estate for seniors.

It is all actually quite interesting because there really isn’t such a thing as Senior real estate. Older houses are sometimes called “Historic” but never “senior”

There is such a thing as senior housing. Usually, it is housing that people have to be 55 or older to buy or rent. With some housing, a person has to be 62 or better to buy or rent.

The Senior Specialist Designation is through the National Association of Realtors. It is an area of study. Once the course is taken as I recall there is a test.

I have had many clients over the years who are 70 or older. I think my oldest client was in her early 90’s.  There is no one size fits all housing solution for people who are over 55. It mostly depends upon what kind of a lifestyle the person has or wants.

Health and money weigh into the equation too.  I have worked with a few people who are blind or almost blind. Some seniors like to jog and others don’t want a house where there are stairs to climb.

Sometimes families need help with a house that they inherited from a loved one. I have experience with that both as a family member and as a Realtor.

Some of my older clients have downsized while others have purchased larger homes. Sometimes it takes a larger house to meet the needs of a few generations.

Listening is the most important skill for working with seniors. It is best not to make any assumptions about the size, and style of a house a person might want.

I just renewed my SRES membership for another year. Feel free to call or write with questions. Boardman Realty is woman-owned and operated and I suppose technically we are senior citizens too.

Downsizing can be a challenge but we have done that ourselves and have helped family members and clients do the same. In fact sometimes I think about writing a book on how to pack up a life and move away.

Certificate SRES