my old blog

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being lowest motivation (e.g. testing the market) and 10 being highest motivation (e.g. transferred and must sell in 30 days),  a seller with a motivation of 8-10 should price the house slightly below market value and then listen to what the market is telling them. (Not...

Scenario 1:  an older home in good condition with curb appeal in a desirable location has been on the market for six months. It's still getting showings, and had an offer 2 months ago, but the buyer was unable to get financing. The seller said recently that he wanted to sell it quickly. Scenario ...

In an NPR interview recently, Felix Salmon, financial columnist at Reuters.com, said that while there are "enormous psychological benefits" to home ownership, it's better to rent than pay a mortgage. "There's this weird fallacy that somehow, paying rent is throwing money away, whereas paying a mo...

        The Seller's part in the sales process is critical. The factors they control –pricing, condition, and accessibility-can make the difference between meeting their real estate goals and languishing on the market.       üPricing.  A good Realtor provides local market information and data on ...

The value of a house goes up and down, similar to other commodities.  Value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay. This doesn't mean that the seller will agree to any price that is offered.  There are many factors that affect value/price, including the following:   location convenience ...

Misconception: If you pay list price, you're paying too much. If you don't know what the current market value is for homes in the area and whether the market is appreciating or depreciating, you don't know what a fair price is and you're likely to miss out on a great deal by trying to low ball a ...

With important pending legislation on Health Care Reform, it's in everyone's  best interest to let our Senators know where we stand on: A bill that is 2400 pages long - too big and complex to be clearly understood by anyone  - see an article in the SF Examiner:   Size of health care bill is an is...

According to financial guru, Dave Ramsey, the way to financial peace is to become debt-free and make long-term investments to build wealth (see www.daveramsey.com).   Dave recommends home ownership (with caveats) and maintains that the only acceptable debt is a mortgage.  His formula for success ...

The value of a house varies over time, increasing as the economy is strong and usually decreasing when the economy is troubled. In most cases, if held long enough, a house will appreciate in value from the original purchase price, regardless of economic conditions.  Other factors have an affect s...

Here are some characteristics that would put a house on my Top Ten Best Value List: $/SQF for the neighborhood: Price is probably the first criteria for most buyers, but is only the starting place.  If yours is priced just below comparables, it becomes interesting, and if other aspects are in ord...