Buying a foreclosure property

A lot of people ask me about foreclosure properties. With all the news of mortgage defaults and homes going into foreclosure, the general sentiment is that this is an easy, cheap way to get a house. My response to that is generally, "no" and "probably not." Here's a great article that details what to look for and what to watch out for if your are considering buying foreclosure property.
Click here to read.

And you may say to yourself: "this is not my beautiful house!"

So my house hunting has begun in earnest. Man are there a lot of crappy homes out there! There are also some nice ones, too. I count myself lucky because, being in the biz, I'm used to reading and analyzing listing sheets very quickly. Thus, I've been able to process a lot of data and weed out homes, areas, etc online. That being said, at some point you just have to walk into a place and decide if it is a good fit. Some random thoughts on my search so far:

I'm basically looking in two different price ranges: "the fixer upper" price range and the "nothing more needs to be done with this house for a while and it's a damn good thing because after I buy it I won't have any money left in the bank" price range. I have been house poor before and I'd rather not revisit that state.

I cannot stress enough the importance of driving by prospective properties before a buyer considers purchasing. I've saved myself a lot of time by eliminating properties based on a "drive by." Now you have to know what to look for: a home could be beautiful on the inside and just need some new siding or tuckpointing. I'm also looking at the neighborhood and asking myself "is this the block I want to raise my daughter on?" If that answer is "no" then I don't care how nice it is inside.

As for safety, I find myself referring to the CPD's citizen I-cam site. It has proven invaluable for seeing what (if any,) crimes are being committed on certain blocks. Note: I'm trying to post the link to this site but the server is busy. Check back later...

And one more thing...Ever since I started blogging about my own homebuying experience, I seem to be inundated with friend requests from mortgage/real estate myspace cites. Coincidence? I think not. I guess if you use a few keywords like "I'm gonna buy a house," you can expect to get that kind of solicitation. If any of these people seemed reputable that wouldn't be bad but they all look pretty shady.

Go on. Take the money & run

So a few weeks ago, I was approached by a business owner in my neighborhood who wanted to know if I was interested in selling my home. I was not but I told him that I would listen to his offer. He asked me how much I would for it.

Whoa, stop right there. Don't try this at home. I am a professional! Seriously, because this is my business, I have a lot of experience in pricing homes--I do it day in day out. This is where most homeowners could easily get "taken" by selling their home for much less than its true worth because they don't know it's true worth.

Not only did I know what my home was worth, I knew that any potential offer would have to be well above that amount for me to take seriously. So I was in a great position to "name my price" knowing that after all, I didn't have to move. After much consternation on my buyer's part, he agreed to my price. He admitted that he planned to raze the property to use the land for parking. It will be sad to see my house go but I have to be pragmatic: If my home were to appreciate at a realistic rate (keep in mind the market is in a slump,) it would be another 5 years before I could see this much for my home.

Another upside to selling to a developer is that I could also set my closing date, other terms and have scavenger rights to my home. Simply put, I could take or sell off everything in my 2 flat: appliances, cabinetry, light fixtures, wood trim, doors, etc.

So now that the contract is signed, I have to find a new place to live! more on that next time...

A new client

An interesting client

If you have read my blog with any regularity, you have noticed that I don't tell too many war stories of my everyday life as a realtor. This is largely due to the fact that I don't want to talk about my clients too much online out of respect for their privacy.

Well it just so happens that I am working with a client who doesn't mind having his story shared throughout the blogosphere...and that client is me!

Through a strange turn of events, I am in the process of selling my residence and buying a new place to call home. Among other things, this affords me the opportunity to tell a very real account of what it is like to sell one home, buy and move into another--the good, the bad and the hideously ugly wall paper...

So check back over the next few weeks to view this online "diary" as is were. I'm excited to see how this all turns out!

Learning From Recent Mistakes

First, a few questions...and be honest:

Do you keep track of your monthly budget and expenses?
Do you check your free credit report at least once a year?
Do you pay off your credit cards regularly?

Well, if you said no to any or all of the above, you're not alone. It seems that most Americans of our generation don't really take their finances that seriously. Consequently, many of these same people find themselves in financial distress as a result of the current housing slump.

However, with every adverse situation comes an opportunity to learn (a "teaching moment" in parent lingo.) Here is a great article on some basic steps we should all be taking to get our financial house in order. Click on the link to read it.

6 Smart Buys to Help Save the Planet

By Kara G. Morrison
The Detroit News
Published April 19, 2007

Sunday is Earth Day, and with that in mind, we went out looking for six great buys that are almost a no-brainer for building a better planet:

1 Compact fluorescent lightbulbs. This may be one of the easiest ways we can save the planet. Replacing just one regular bulb in your home with a compact fluorescent one would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Sure, they cost a tad more, but they last up to six times longer. Manufacturers are making them look like regular bulbs, not just the squiggly designs. Four compact fluorescent 60-watt bulbs are $11.69 at Costco.

2 Water clock. Target.com and ThinkGeek.com sell an amazing little digital clock that runs on water. No batteries, no cords. Just fill up the four chambers on the back and set the digital display. $15.99 at Target.com.

3 Hand-crank flashlight. Brookstone sells the Readylight hand-crank flashlight radio. Crank for 30 seconds for up to 60 minutes of power. This handheld flashlight has five powerful LED lights, an AM/FM radio with telescoping antenna and a built-in (quite loud) siren with a flashing red light for emergencies. It's $50 at Brookstone stores or Brookstone.com.

4 Solar charger. Why don't we all have one of these? SolarStyle, a Baltimore-based company, makes a pocket-size solar charger that uses the sun (or any available light) to charge your cell phone, Blackberry, digital camera, GameBoy and even your iPod. The SolarStyle SC002 model comes with seven connectors (for phones and gadgets) for $55.99 at SolarStyle.com.

5 Cleaning products. Green cleaning products such as Seventh Generation (from Burlington, Vt.) and Mrs. Meyer's have a following. Seventh Generation (sold at Whole Foods) says if every U.S. household replaced one box of regular tissue with its 100 percent recycled box, we could save 283,000 trees, about 1,000 garbage trucks of landfill space and 102 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation two-ply facial tissue is $1.99 at Whole Foods.

6 Trees. Planting a tree offsets carbon emissions and acts as insulation for your home. Join the non-profit Arbor Day Foundation, and you'll instantly get 10 free flowering trees, oak trees or Colorado Blue Spruce trees. A six-month membership at ArborDay.org is only $10, including the trees. Members can buy additional trees at steep discounts.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

Saving the Earth, One Light Bulb at a Time

Did you know...
Compact florescent light bulbs use at least two-thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light, and they last up to 10 times longer. Compact florescent light bulbs also generate 70% less heat, so they are safer to operate and can also reduce energy costs associated with cooling homes and offices.

To read more about the benefits of these bulbs to both the environment and your wallet, click here.