The Benefits of Pier and Beam Foundations

Are you lucky enough to live on a pier and beam foundation? If you do, you know you have less foundation problems than the typical house in Dallas. Because the ground shifts so much, many homes in Texas have foundation issues. Having pier & beam is great because if you do need an adjustment, it's often much cheaper to fix than traditional concrete slab foundations.

Pier and Beam foundations on DFW real estate incorporate a crawl space beneath the home and footings filled with concrete to support the slab. The crawl space allows access to heating and plumbing utilities without having to break through the concrete slab. Traditional slab foundations are cheaper and easier to construct however don't last very long before foundation work is necessary.

If you do live in one of the many Tarrant County homes on pier and beam foundation you notice a lot of benefits including the ease on your joints. Wood has so much more give than concrete. Also your plumbing is so easily accessible. The only downside to having your plumbing is so accessible; you often get a sewer odor that just won't go away. Before you lose hope, I learned the coolest trick to get rid of that smell and it's much cheaper than calling a plumber!

First, purchase several bottles of bleach. Any kind will do. Pour the entire bottle of bleach down each drain where you have the sewer odor. Generally you will pour bleach down the kitchen drain, tub/shower drain, and toilets. For the toilets, first, remove the lid from the tank; flush the toilet and while the water starts filling, pour as much bleach as you can into the tank. Do this for every toilet. Then, throughout the course of the year, every time you flush, you are sanitizing your sewage water and eliminate that nasty odor that you had to experience.

This is a one time a year maintenance plan. The other alternative is to call a plumber and they can pour bleach or another substance that does the same thing and charge you for it. When it comes to resell value of your house you may find yourself selling to one of those We Buy Houses companies if you don't maintain the foundation, plumbing and all of your other homes systems.

~ Jennifer Clark with VIP Realty Platinum

Emotional Mistakes When Selling Your Home

We all have at one time or another said something in the heat of the moment just to wish we could take those words back. The truth is that we all commit emotional mistakes in different areas in our lives. But what about when it comes to selling a home? The stakes are too high to allow yourself and your sale to fall victim to your emotional pitfalls. Fortunately, what's predictable is certainly avoidable if you are willing to adjust for your feelings and how they can cloud your decision making abilities. Do your best to avoid these common decision traps driven by your emotions.

1. Confusion with Listing Price. Some sellers are confused about the mechanics of determining fair market value of a home and setting a realistic price. A DFW homes fair market value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay for it at a given time. The best way to estimate what a home is worth before it actually sells is to look at what homebuyers have actually paid for very similar homes nearby. This is what real estate agents call comparables or "comps". Most listing agents will do a formal version of this process called a Comparative Market Analysis, and present that to a seller to consider in setting the list price for their own home.

2. Stagnation of Price Reduction. Wikipedia, on the web, defines panic as "a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight or flight reaction." In cases where a home has been overpriced, the seller has most often started out overconfident in their home's value in the current market place. But as the days on the market turn into weeks, or months, that confidence turns into panic. Unfortunately, this panic is often accompanied by a fear that actually reducing the houses price will actually kick off a free fall in price and elicited low ball offers. This couldn't be further from the truth. When a house is overpriced, cutting the price is the only way to fix the problem and render the home more attractive to buyers. Some sellers have found that reducing their price gets them to a sweet spot and then they receive multiple offers and ends up selling somewhere between the reduced price and the original list price. The best way to deactivate this panic is to put a plan in place before it ever arises. Work with your agent to understand how to use the data around how long most homes in your area take to sell as a guidepost for making price reductions, if and when the need arises.

3. Ignoring the Needs of Your Buyers. By virtue of putting your house on the market for sale, you have become a marketer. Almost every marketer knows that it is essential to understand your buyer's wants needs and lifestyle in order for them to get top dollar for their house. It's up to you, working with your agent, to figure out who the target market for your home is and to market it accordingly. Understanding your target market is one thing but marketing appropriately for them is another. Your townhome buyer might be drawn in by mentions of built in closet organizers, an espresso and coffee machine included in the sale and incentives like HOA dues paid a month in advance. Make sure you mention just how close and convenient the place is to the subway station entrance in your marketing materials.

4. Celebrating the Sale. Multiple offers and above asking sales prices are happening frequently on today's market, even with all the foreclosures in Dallas. but it is critical not to assume your home will be in that number until the transaction actually closes. Sellers who celebrate too soon can put themselves at a disadvantage in a number of ways. Even in today's brisk market transactions sometimes fall out of escrow because a buyer has a change of heart, their job or their family, or because they could not qualify for the mortgage they were pre-approved for. Many sellers keep their houses meticulous and their finances in excellent shape throughout the entire time frame from property preparation through close of escrow.

With all that said some sellers are so emotional about their plans for the next stage of their life they convince themselves to base the list price for their current home not on its fair market value but base it on how much money they need for their next home purchase. This is the quickest and worst route to pricing your home so high that no one comes to see it and it sits on the market with no offers at all, or very low ones. Sellers can fight this tendency by staying focused on comparable sales data, and committing to being responsive to market feedback like low buyer traffic or having your home sit on the market for many days beyond the average in your area.

Online Buyers - How to Fill Your Open Houses

So you have a new listing and you want to hold an open house but you have been told by many of your peers that open houses are a waste of time. No one wants to waste a Saturday or Sunday afternoon sitting at an empty open house. These days with new digital tools it makes it easier than ever to get buyers in the front door. Here are some great ways to get home buyers out of their cars and in to your open house.

Attract the "Tire Kickers"

Encourage these seemingly unmotivated home buyers with your online marketing by mentioning that you will have a gift for all the folks who attend and complete your sign in form. Get these folks excited and have them post on sites like FoureSquare or Twitter. This way everyone on their networks will know they are at your open house, and you will expand your marketing reach tenfold. A good give might be a gift card or a scratch-off lottery ticket. Print fliers and remind your visitors to check in for a chance to win.

Update Your Open House Listing Information

Many DFW real estate agents mistakenly think that the details about their open house are automatically updated from one site to the next. It is paramount to make sure your open house times are updated on real estate websites like Realtor.com and other popular real estate sites. Make sure that your listing information is mobile friendly and will load properly on smart phones that are so popular today. This is important because many people are out and about running errands on the weekend.

Invite on FaceBook

FaceBook is all the rage today. It only takes minutes to set up a FaceBook Event for your open house even if you are holding Dallas foreclosures open. Make sure that you include photos of the home and selling details on the event page that will make people want to come to your open house. Once you have set up the event, you can advertise it on your FaceBook Business Page. Google + and Pinterest are great places to market your open house as well.

BackPage and Craig's List

More and more home buyers are searching for homes on BackPage and Craig's List to find open houses in their area. Marketing your open house on these sites is another simple way to spread the word online. To make sure your event stands out and increases your post's appeal, add photos or upload your online ad or property flyer.

Shout and Spread the Word

Tell everyone you know about your open house on social networks. Try making some minor modifications to your message to help keep it from getting shut off. Try some messages like these: "Baking cookies to bring to my open house at 423 Maple St today" or "Bummer, it's raining; I have my towels to protect the carpets for the buyers who brave the weather and come to my open house at 423 Maple St this afternoon." With so many people engaging online and accessing information on mobile, it's essential to use all the modern tools in your arsenal to communicate about your open house. Of course, there are many other ways to market online. Wherever you are - spread the word!

Previous Owner Costing You Money Because of Their Insurance Claim?

Some storm damage causes damage to your house and you file an insurance claim and collect a check from your insurer and then you make the repairs. You may think that it's over but it's bot. Every time you make a claim you make on your homeowners insurance the claim is recorded in a insurance industry database called a CLUE report. Most insurance companies use CLUE to check on the claims history of prospective policyholders. The CLUE report includes claims made on your house before you even bought it. This database is used by most insurance companies to check your claims history and it follows you from one insurer to another. Claims remain in the CLUE database for seven-years from the date you filed them. CLUE advises insurance carriers not to report loss information just because you called to ask a question about whether your policy will cover a particular loss. Individual insurance companies may keep a record of these inquires though.

How Insurance Companies Use CLUE

Insurance companies depend on CLUE reports for DFW real estate because these statistics show that if you have filed a claim in the past you are more likely to file another one in the future. The dollar amount of a claim is not as important as how often you have filed a claim. Each insurance company has its own formula to calculating how much a claim will affect your premium. It is safe to say that the fewer the claims you have filed the less you will likely be charged.

Homebuyers knowing what's on your CLUE report will give you an idea of whether you will need to pay extra for homeowners insurance or even if you run the risk of insurance rejection. Unfortunately, even a squeaky clean report doesn't mean you can be sure of getting homeowners insurance at the best price. This is because the claims on your CLUE report aren't the only things that affect your overall insurance risk.

Most insurance companies that insure Frisco real estate will also take into consideration your credit score, which is based on such things as how much debt you carry, whether you pay your bills on time, etc. Insurance company studies show that how people manage their finances is a good indicator of whether they will file an insurance claim. And the more likely you are to file a claim the bigger risk you are to them and more risk means a higher premium or denial of coverage all together. Other factors insurers take into consideration include the location of your home and its type of construction.

How to Understand Your CLUE Report

If you do decide to check your CLUE report, it is a relatively easy process. Under federal law, you can get one free CLUE report a year just like with credit reports. You can order the report online, by phone, or by mail.

Your CLUE report will include:

• The type of loss fire, water, etc. for each claim and the claim number

• Your name, home address, birth date, and Social Security number

• The number assigned to the report

• The name of your insurance company

• The type and number of the insurance policy

• The date of the loss and the amount of each claim

The report will also tell you how to dispute any errors you find. Because risk calculations vary by insurance company, it is nearly impossible to determine how a claim on your CLUE report will affect your insurance premium. This makes it tough for you to decide how much value checking your CLUE actually gives you. Taking less than an hour once a year to order and review your report could pay off big for you, especially if you find an error.

Finding You on the Internet - Realtors

How important is social networking for real estate agents? In today's market social networking is increasingly getting more important. What you post about yourself is really the first impression perspective clients have. Many employers have easy access to social media and use it to decide if they want to hire you or not. Are the photos you have up on Facebook something you would want a future employer to have of you or how about a future client? As a tech savvy person, you can find out practically anything about everything online.

Home buyers and sellers are doing all their research on the internet first before contacting a DFW real estate agent. It makes our jobs easier and tougher all at the same time. The act of searching for Dallas foreclosures or non-foreclosure homes is the building block for developing a working relationship. Perspective buyers and sellers have already met you online and have gotten to know your profile. You only get one chance to make a good impression. Your first chance was online, so don't screw it up when you meet them in person.

Just as your perspective client knows your profile. As an agent, you should do a little detective work and see if they have an online profile on Facebook, My Space, Linked in, Google+, etc. You would be surprised at how easy to see a photo of them and find out what their likes are. You can quickly find out who they are and it will help you relate to

Are We Living in a Renters Nation?

In a recent survey reveals optimism about homeownership rebounding as the housing market recovers. This includes young adults who were often pegged as home renters during the great recession. In the meantime, rising prices may encourage some homeowners to sell in 2013. The survey shows that today's consumers are more optimistic about the housing market and more ready to buy a home. The housing bubble burst has shaped the near term expectations about the market in general. Also, nearly all young renters want to buy a home in the long run. These consumers expect inventory to grow, and it looks like it may happen starting this year as long as prices stay on the rise. As price gains begin pushing more homeowners into a positive equity position, more will be ready to sell.

As 2012 came to a close, the DFW real estate market was looking up on all fronts. It was the very first year since 2006 in which home prices have increased. Both new construction and sales were both up significantly from their lowest point during the housing crisis. Vacancies, delinquencies, and foreclosures have come down. Job growth has strengthened, and unemployment has fallen. These trends give home buyers more buying power and confidence in the economy as a whole. At the same time both DFW short sales and Dallas foreclosures have declined.

 

Consumers are becoming increasingly bullish on buying homes. More than 27% of them are more positive about homeownership than they were six months ago. This translates into more renters being eager and willing to buy a home within the next two years:

The housing crisis looms especially for younger adults who are between the ages of 18 & 34 who have only been thinking seriously about home ownership in the recent years of boom and bust. They have no memory of the decades when home prices rose modestly but steadily, or when mortgage rates were 7%. These younger adults had a challenging time in the great recession. Their unemployment rate was very high and many of them put off their decision to buy or rent their own home. Instead doubled up with roommates or lived with parents.

 

Consumers, regardless of age, expect that both rents and housing prices will rise in 2013; they also expect more home inventory, both homes for rent and for sale along with higher mortgage rates. Younger adults have a harder time imagining price increases and higher mortgage rates than older adults who have lived through more years of rising prices and high rates. Many have higher hopes than older adults that homeownership will remain relatively affordable. Today's young renters may be overestimating what they'll be able to afford to buy when their time comes.

 

Rising Home Prices Will Encourage Sales in 2013. Nearly one third of renters want to buy in the next two years but will they find many homes for sale? The survey shows that rising prices in 2013 could trigger more sales-and therefore bring more inventory onto the market. Among current homeowners, 22% said they are somewhat likely, fairly likely, or extremely likely to sell their home in the next year. Who's going to sell in 2013? Based on the survey and local market conditions, the homeowners more likely to sell next year are those who:

• Can sell at a profit. Based on when respondents told us they bought their current home, and the sales-price trend in their metro area (according to FHFA), we estimated whether each respondent's home is worth more or less today than when they bought it. Among those whose homes are worth more today than at purchase, 28% say they're at least somewhat likely to sell in the next year, compared with 21% of those whose homes are worth less today than at purchase (among those who bought a home in the last ten years). The chance to make a profit will encourage some homeowners to sell.

• Expect prices to rise. Among people who expect home prices to rise in the next year. Homeowners who expect prices to rise are more likely to take advantage of those gains by selling.

• Bought very recently. People who bought a home in 2010, 2011, or 2012 are the most likely to sell next year. Therefore, 2013 might see a lot of new homeowners flipping their recent purchases.

If prices rise as expected in 2013, more home owners will be willing to sell. But prices and market trends aren't the only factors that determine who will sell. Many times personal reasons go into the decision whether to stay or move. Family is the top reason why homeowners might sell next year. But economics will still matter. A stronger economy could give more people reason to sell since they might find a new job worth moving for. During the recession, Americans became less mobile than in past times, but as the economy recovers, more might move for job opportunities.

 

Many consumers are more optimistic about the housing market going forward. More renters plan to buy, and more homeowners will sell. The housing crisis still hangs over the market in many regions of the country where consumers are more doubtful than others that home prices or mortgage rates will rise. But if consumers actually do what they say they will do in the next year, 2013 will be another year of housing market recovery.

Your Real Estate Business – Set Your Own Hours

Summary: This is your business. You set your own hours. Always answer your phone when possible.

Dallas Real Estate is a 24/7 job, however you don't need to run yourself ragged. This is your business! You define what hours you are going to work and set your schedule accordingly. Also, who are you targeting as your client base? Are you going to target Dallas foreclosures or high end DFW real estate, for instance? If you like working non-traditional hours then target those professions where clients will have odd hours like the food & beverage industry, airline industry, casino workers, hospital workers, firefighters, police officers, military, etc. If you like working a traditional schedule, then determine that and perhaps make alternate accommodations for clients that fall out of those traditional hours. Just because you can market to all, does not mean you should. The old saying is true, "If you aim for everyone then usually you will hit no one". If your target market is Collin County homes will you try to work a lead in Fort Worth?

 

 

The biggest complaints from clients are, "my real estate agent never answers my phone calls". Is your voicemail greeting set? Some agents update their greeting daily to reflect their schedule. Example, "Thanks for calling, it's Jan 1^st and I am out of the office today, however your call is important to me and I will return all calls tomorrow, Jan 2^nd at 10am". Don't be a secret agent, tell people you sell real estate and tell them your hours of operation.

 

 

Do your clients know that you can receive text and emails on your phone? Are you setting their expectations? Not all clients will email and text. There are still handfuls of clients that want an actual phone call. When you first meet with a client, the number one question should be is how they want to be contacted and how often.

 

 

If you always answer your phone when possible and make appointments for the times you want to work, you can actually appear to work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week when in reality you don't.

~ Jennifer Clark VIP Realty Platinum~