Introduction
Welcome to Real Estate Trends #5 Newsletter. With the holiday on Monday, it has been a very busy week so far. Looks like there will be more listings coming on the market for my buyers so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Today, I will be covering Buying a Bank Owned Home, Bank of America's $30,000 Short Sale Incentive and Virtual Tours. Enjoy!
Buying a Bank Owned Home
When buying a Bank Owned Home, it is obvious that you will be buying the home "As Is". What many buyers tend to forget is the bank/seller is exempt from some disclosures for the home. The reason why the seller/bank are exempt is becuase they never lived in the home so they wouldn't know the history of any plumbing problems, roof leaks, death in the home within the last 3 years, etc... One of my favorite disclosures is if there was a death in the home within the last 3 years. Here is a quick story why.
A few years ago my client loved a Bank Owned Home in Clairemont. We made an offer, got accepted, did the necessary inspections, etc... 5 days before the Close of Escrow, we do a Final Walkthrough. During the Final Walkthrough, everything was going great and we were about to leave but the "Neighborhoods Nosey Neighbor" walks in and introduces himself. Then he starts talking about everyone in the neighborhood and what they have done to their homes. Next he starts asking my client what is his plan for the home. Then he ends of that converstion with "did you know the owner shot himself in the living room last year on Halloween?!?" My client was obviously shocked and I was like "NOOOO, my deal"... Ok, I wasn't like "NOOO, my deal" but I was concerned. My clients and I left the house to do more research. After a day of research, my client didn't care about the death and continued with the purchase.
In the end, you might be getting a great deal on a Bank Owned Home but there are some catches to them.
$30,000 Short Sale Incentive
A few weeks ago Bank of America announced that they will be giving up to $30,000 in relocation for doing a Short Sale. Here is
UT's article about it.
The only other lender I heard giving this much in Incentives was Chase. With the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief and Short Sale Incentives, doing a Short Sale seems like a no brainer if a homeowner is in financial hardship (or Strategic Hardship). But everyone's situation is different so if you know anyone who might be interested in learning more, please let me know.
Professional Photos and Virtual Tours
Before I wasn't a big fan of Professional Photos and Virtual Tours for listings but now I think they are highly important to sell a house. Many buyers start there search for a home on the web and having stunning photos will get these buyers to go out and look at the home. If the buyers like the home, they will go back on their computer and look at the pictures again. So having professional photos are huge. Here are a few examples of a Virual Tour I recently got done for my listings.
http://insightphotostours.com/7314
http://insightphotostours.com/7173
Well that's it! Thanks for reading and as you know, I love referrals so if you know anyone interested in buying or selling, please refer me.
