We all want to hear stuff what makes us feel good (or at least not bad), but when you think about selling your home or other property you need wise counsel.  What do I mean? Read the rest of this article »

Real estate goes in cycles.  During the heyday of exponential price increases a few years ago, sellers called the shots. It wasn’t unusual to have more offers than what you really wanted. We stopped taking offers on listings once we had ten! Read the rest of this article »

You’re meeting with a prospective Realtor about selling your home. You’ve decided to go with him or her.

Now the agent is filling out the listing agreement. A key consideration is -  How long should the agreement be for?

Hint – many agents will want to “lock you up” and make the agreement 6 months or longer. Is this wise? The short answer is no. When we work with seller clients, we stress 60 or maybe 90 days. Why?

Because you’re not really sure if your Realtor can or will perform! If you’re happy with your relationship, you can always extend the listing agreement, but only if you’re getting the results you want and need. If you’ve signed a long term agreement and the relationship isn’t working out, you’re stuck and very unhappy.

So my advice is to keep it short. It also motivates your agent to sell your property!

What IS a short pay?

A short pay simply means you owe more on your home or property than what it’s worth. Many people who purchased a home in the past several years (with little or no down payment) now find themselves “upside down” in their homes, and maybe the financing on that purchase money loan (or loans) has (or will) reset to substantially higher payments. Read the rest of this article »