Westlake Ohio Homes For Sale between $500,000 - $1,000,000.
As a Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR) and a REALTOR with strong negotiating experience, I would be happy to assist you with your next home purchase or sale in the Westlake Ohio real estate marketplace.
Here are currently (as of 11/15/2009) 48 homes for sale in Westlake Ohio between $500,000 - $1,000,000.
Westlake Ohio Homes For Sale between $250,000 - $500,000.
As a Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR) and a REALTOR with strong negotiating experience, I would be happy to assist you with your next home purchase or sale in the Westlake Ohio real estate marketplace.
Here are currently (as of 11/15/2009) 93 homes for sale in Westlake Ohio between $250,000 - $500,000.
For crying out loud, if the buyer is interested in my home and they don't like: _______________________________________________________________________
then I'll just offer them a credit at closing so they can put it in and pick out the color/material they like.
Let's think about it: How many times as a listing agent have you heard that?
What is your response back to your seller?
A listing agent's goal should be to not simply respond with the pros and cons to this question at that point in time. The mere fact that the question has come up AND, here's the real important part:
If this is the first time you are addressing this with your seller, then in my opinion, you have let your seller down as this type of information can almost always be known ahead of time by:
Knowing how this business works
Having your pulse on the market
Working regularly with buyers and knowing what they want and prefer
Knowing what home staging is and its strengths and weaknesses
Knowing what is selling in your community
Knowing what is NOT sellling in your community
Knowing the financial impact to a seller's net financial bottom line by utilizing a seller credit to the buyer versus eliminating the issue in question before the home goes on the market
Granted, there are always exceptions when having this conversation may not be appropriate:
Seller is strapped for cash
Short Sale
Divorce -- Attorneys, Court-Appointed Receivers
Elderly
Health Issues
etc.
But...for the average seller who has access to capital, these issues should be identified, analyzed and cost-effective solutions offered before the home goes on the market. If the seller does not opt for this course of action, that's fine, but you have done your job in preparing them for potential negative market feedback.
Which leads back to the original question: Why can't I just offer the buyer a credit?
Many buyers will:
Not pursue your property because of these deficiencies and the only feedback (if you receive any) won't be that illustrative.
Only see what is right in front of them.
Not visualize the "to be", they only see the "as is."
Get so hung up on the negatives, that they can't see the positives, and thereby are already going through in their heads "cha chunk" with a lower offer for all the things they will need to do to your property to make it okay for them.
I'm not sure of the origin or if I have this saying right: forEwarned is forearmed.
Here is how this will normally play out (short answer):
The seller will end up netting less by not addressing the issue
The property will stay on the market longer
A property that stays on the market longer will cost more to maintain, operate, monthly payments
A property that stays on the market longer makes the seller have less negotiating power
I work regularly with relocation buyers who have decided to make Greater Cleveland their home.
Depending on where these buyers are relocating from, there are always questions about property taxes. In some parts of the country, there is one tax rate for the entire county, and there may be 2-4 counties surrounding an entire metropolitan region -- for example, the Greater Washington, D.C. area.
However, here in Greater Cleveland, the county that surrounds the City of Cleveland is Cuyahoga County. In Cuyahoga County, each community sets its own property tax rate.
Using Shaker Heights as an example, as this community has the highest property tax rate in the State of Ohio, the tax as a percentage of market value is 3.12%.
If a property is valued by the County at $100,000, then the annual property taxes are 3,120. For a $500,000 home, that is approximately $15,000 in annual property taxes.
Since property taxes are one of the four components of your monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, taxes and insurance) (PITI), it's important to keep this in mind when analyzing communities, home prices, and the like.
Some residential property owners are fortunate enough to have a stream running through their property or perhaps their property adjoins a common area or some other entity that has a stream.
People are willing to pay higher prices for property with natural amenities such as wildlife, streams, lakes, ponds, panoramic views, etc.
For people who have a stream on their property, there are six easy things to do that can help maintain the health and vitality of your stream and also benefit your downstream neighbors.
Don't mow the lawn to the edge of the stream. Leave a buffer. Eliminating the plants and bushes in the buffer zone causes the root systems to be lost and creates more erosion problems.
Plant live, but dormant, unrooted cuttings (no buds, leaves or visible roots) in the buffer zone.
Don't Dump anything near the stream or into the stream. This includes organic material like leaves and grass. These will decompose and eliminate oxygen in the water -- a bad thing. Please ensure any contractor who cuts your lawn does not dump the grass clippings near the stream or even down the hillside or ravine that feeds a stream.
Remove Trash From Streams. In my neighborhood, a fellow resident and I co-developed an annual Spring Clean-Up Day in our neighborhood to clean our streams. After three years of doing this, we have seen dramatic improvements. We can now see clear running water and the shale beds underneath.
Don't change the path of the stream. Sometimes homeowners are thinking they are helping when in actuality, they are hurting the stream.
Septic Systems -- Keep in Good Condition. If you have a septic system, please ensure it is in good working order and be judicious or eliminate sending bleach, chemicals, etc., down your drain.
This is a photo of just "some" of the excess branches, twigs, etc., that were in my own community's streams that a group of 20 volunteers removed in one day. This doesn't include the 55-barrel drums, construction debris, plastic tarps, forts, plastic, glass and aluminum bottles and a host of other things we removed.
Question: How can I easily, quickly and for free, clean the outsides of my windows on my two-story home when I have windows that do NOT tilt in?
Now that you know the answer, the steps are easy.
I once bought a long painting pole that is threaded on one end so a threaded paint roller handle could be screwed on.
I was cruising down an aisle in Target last week with my son (he was after baseball cards) and I was after dog bones, when we ran by one of the cleaning aisles and I noticed this combination handle mop with a squeege. And guess what, both the handles on the mp and squeege were threaded.
So...for $9.99, I bought it -- (okay, this part isn't free) and off we went -- along with some dog bones and baseball trading cards.
With a bit of Dawn soap, a 5-gallon bucket with water, a garden hose set on "Jet" mode, I sprayed my 2nd floor windows, extended my 20' pole after screwing the mop handle on, washed all my upper windows, rinsed them with the hose, and then switched out the mop and put the squeege on, and I washed all the windows (1st and 2nd floor) windows in my home in under 15 minutes.
Since many companies charge $75 - $100 to clean the outside of a home's windows, it looks like there may be an opportunity there for a younger entrepreneur to clean up -- pun intended!
So...the next time I ask my sellers to have their windows cleaned before their home goes on the market, and if they hesitate, I may say: I'll do the outside if you do the inside.
Caveat: If the home is really old, say pre-WWII, and has true-divided light windows, I bet a special, small squeege would need to be found and ensure the triple-track or wood-framed storms are removed.
The City of Brecksville has negotiated a fixed gas rate of $6.74 through IGS Energy. There is NO early termination fee and it runs through October 2010.
If you are currently using an "Energy Choice" type of provider, please ensure the company does not charge an early termination fee.
The IRS has acknowledged that 2008 Amended Tax Returns for the first-time homebuyer tax credit has hit a brick wall in that refunds that were taking 6 weeks to process are now taking up to 20 weeks.
Why's that? Good question.
You can probably guess: FRAUD.
Yes, you got it. Some questionable claims were filed by none other than: IRS Employees. Filers as young as 4 years old were also asking for the refund.
These questionable claims are estimated to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Let's think about this for a second. The IRS has all of our information already on file. It surely can't be that hard to have an automated system of cross-referencing to prioritize legitimate requests from bogus claims. In fact, perhaps there needs to be a RETS like transaction standard for EDI for official tax reporting purposes to take the fraud aspect completely out of the picture.
So...for you first time home buyers who have recently amended your returns, I would be curious to know if you get your tax refund sooner than had you filed your 2009 tax return in Mid-February and the refund takes six weeks on average.
I recently ordered a television from Best Buy. The rep in the store said that customer service will call you the night before to let you know the window. I asked if I could pick the time-slot and asked how long the window was. He said 2 hours and NO. No? Say What?
You mean to tell me in this day and age, one can't have enough "intelligent scheduling" to at least give the customer a few options?
Sure enough, customer service called the evening before. She politely informed me they would be at my home between 2-4pm the next day. I said that window won't work, but I was available with other time slots.
Get this: the rep said the computer automatically schedules deliveries and we just make the calls to let customers know.
The delivery guys were nice and did a good job bringing it in, setting it up, etc. They then left a card for me to go fill out a questionnaire on my entire experience.
I couldn't help but think of a real estate analogy. Let's just say we have a super busy, mega listing agent who needs to schedule 10 listing appointments during the next 3 days.
I wonder what clients would think if they were told that the listing agent will be there be at your home at 3pm on Wednesday?
Best Buy says they take client satisfaction very seriously and they have a survey requesting feedback. My simple point is, perhaps they should look at the delivery schedule process more and worry less about the surveys.
That said, it sure beats the gas and water companies when sellers are moving out and they require them to be there for a four hour window.
Sell a 500K home, read a meter: 4 hours.
Buy a $500 television: 2 hours.
Heck, I would think the 4 hours should be 5 minutes and the TV should be 10 hours.
What is your customer service policy regarding appointments? Do you bend over backwards to accommodate your clients busy schedule? Ask them to meet you half-way with a mutually convenient time, or is it your way or the highway?
I know a few agents who stop at 5pm and don't work weekends. I wonder how they accommodate a two-wage earner family who both have demanding jobs during the day and during the week. Would you turn down a 1 Million Dollar Home Listing if the sellers could only meet at 7pm or later during the week or during the weekends?
Shaker Heights Ohio Homes For Sale from $1,000,000+.
As a Accredited Buyer's Representative (ABR) and a REALTOR with strong negotiating experience, I would be happy to assist you with your next home purchase or sale in the Shaker Heights Ohio real estate marketplace.
Here are currently (as of 11/8/2009) 9 homes for sale in Shaker Heights Ohio from $1,000,000+.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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