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buyer agent: Finding your "Dream Home" - 12/30/10 03:05 PM
After 23 years in this business of helping people buy and sell homes, I have come to the conclusion that the "dream" home is just around the next corner or bend in the road. For most, the buy decision is an emotional bonding, mixed with fear-of-loss (someone else is going to get it before me). I have been out with folks who swear allegiance to a 4-bedroom, 3-bath colonial on day one and, dump it for a 5-bedroom Contemporary nestled in a wooded setting on day two. In fairness, it really is a big-deal decision and everyone goes through the process … (1 comments)
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buyer agent: Another Disaster in the Making: ARM Resets - 02/05/10 05:31 AM
Many are expecting interest rates to rise quickly very soon by at least a point. This will cause many Homeowners already distressed by job loss or under water mortgage payments to have to pay even more every month. It is expected that the next adjustable rate mortgage reset will lead to another jump in residential defaults.
Specifically, here is what is in the works: Rates are resetting. Currently, interest rates are at historic lows with 30 year fixed mortgages below 5%. As interest rates increase ARMs are likely to readjust by as much as double where they are now. Just … (1 comments)
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buyer agent: Why you should be leery of HAMP/HAFA - 01/28/10 05:06 PM
The new federal rules for the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program announced November 30 Supplemental Directive 0909, to be effective April 5, but available for Lenders to start as soon as they have a policy in place regarding the new program.
While HAMP (Supplemental guideline 0901), the Home Affordable Modification Program, is designed for those who can fit modified payments into their budget at 31% of their total income or less, the HAFA program is for those who need to give up their primary residence because they fall outside the HAMP guidelines or they fail to make HAMP payments.
Every … (0 comments)
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buyer agent: Treasury Dept Announces Home Affordable Foreclosures Alternative Program - 01/24/10 07:02 AM
On April 5, 2010, a new Treasury Dept program entitles - Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) goes into effect. HAFA is part of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).
It provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. It is a complex program with 43 pages of guidelines and forms, designed to "simplify" and streamline use of short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosures.
Highlights of the HAFA:
Complements HAMP by providing … (0 comments)
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buyer agent: Agent feedback calls: Nuisance or Necessary? - 04/30/08 07:22 PM
Over the years, I have found the quantity and quality of calls requesting feedback to wax and wane inversely with the level of activity in the market. From 2000 to 2005, I could count on one hand the number of requests for feedback calls I received per month. Now, I’m getting called before I get my seatbelt fastened to move on to the next property.
Do you make or respond to requests for feedback on listings? What do you consider effective strategies in seeking feedback? Do you return calls asking for feedback? What situations really annoy you?
Some of … (3 comments)
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buyer agent: Who still previews??? - 10/22/07 04:02 PM
I asked this question a little over a year ago and, to my dismay, too few agents. I continue to marvel at the ever evolving technology that allows us to see just about everything in and around the property, but which cannot replace the feel, smell and ambiance that you take in when you physically walk a property. Way too many new and seasoned agents cite traffic congestion, other appointments and competing priorities as their refusal to maintain a current awareness of the available inventory in the market area they serve. New agents who haven’t formed many habits yet, are starting … (10 comments)
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buyer agent: Thinking about brand new homes? - 10/17/07 11:43 AM
I have a new agent who’s not afraid of anything! She started working with a buyer just one day after receiving her license and, is now getting ready to sit down with a builder’s representative and prepare an offer for purchase. I have offered to be there with her, but she insists she will learn more on her own. Sort of feeling like the parent sending the child off to her first day of school, I prepared the following letter:
Congratulations in assisting your buyer get to the point of a comfortable decision to purchase a new home. This type of … (3 comments)
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buyer agent: Party House or Lying Agent??? - 07/21/07 04:49 PM
Recently, one of my agents told about a property she is going to write an offer for contract. It seems there is a story that goes with the property and is being spread around by the current listing agent. The home has been on the market for nearly a year in a nice subdivision in an upper end part of town. The former listing agent was a personal friend of the owners who moved to Florida and left this fully-furnished home in trust and care by their friend and listing agent.
There have been, apparently, no offers, at least one major party … (4 comments)
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buyer agent: Part-Times Realtors: Who Needs Them? - 07/14/07 09:41 PM
I started out as a part-time Realtor in April of 1987 because I could not afford to have come into the business otherwise. As the owner of a small firm in Arlington, VA, I have seen, first-hand, the challenges and benefits of hiring and working with part-time Realtors. It's not easy for them or you. It's hard to imagine a comparable profession where someone can work 2 to 10 hours a week and be expected to perform like someone who works 35 to 50 hours per week.
So, here's a question: Should people be allowed into real estate when they physically do … (89 comments)
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buyer agent: Contract Phrases to protect your Client - 10/12/06 09:30 AM
Depending on market conditions, sometimes there is an ability as a Buyer Agent to include wording that requires the Seller to better ensure working order condition in different parts of the property that may not be covered by other provisions of the sales contract. The normal wording already included states to the effect that, as of the day of closing all utilities, heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems and all appliances shall be in “normal operating condition.” That last phrase has certainly generated some heated discussions, but has served us well over the years.
Beyond that above, a problem area that … (6 comments)
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buyer agent: Debit or Credit Cards for an Earnest Money Deposit? - 10/04/06 10:54 AM
I had a call recently from a “suspect” who I had shown several properties to, and as some of us have experienced – all buyers are liars until proven otherwise, who wanted to know if we accepted credit cards or debit cards for earnest money deposits. My response was, it depends on the loan and the lender. Most lenders do not allow any part of the down payment to be borrowed money, but there is no restriction on what is submitted with the offer for contract in the State of Virginia as long as it can be construed to be “consideration”, … (6 comments)
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buyer agent: Title Insurance: Who needs it?? - 10/01/06 08:48 AM
How many times have you gone to a closing as a listing agent and watched the drama unfold over whether or not the purchaser is going to buy title insurance? Most of the time, they are clueless about the cost and benefits. Oftentimes, the settlement agent isn’t much help because he then has to disclose that he gets to keep a big chunk of the premium as a commission. What do you do?
I am not an attorney, but I have been around long enough to know that if you are in ownership of real estate, you should seriously consider having … (8 comments)
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buyer agent: Variable/Reduced Commissions for Limited-Service Buyer Agents - 09/13/06 05:17 AM
As most of you know, there are new limited-service companies that are taking market share of un-represented buyers in return for commission rebates up to 2% of the sales price. A number of traditional brokerages are trying to find ways to circumvent this market penetration. I have to admit that it is more than a little annoying for a prospective buyer to call the owner or you and ask to see a property and then tell you he is represented by another agent who won't be at the showing. What do you do?
The limited-service company's agent will still write the contract, … (11 comments)
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buyer agent: Buyer Agents - Make certain you "go the distance" for your Client! - 09/12/06 05:23 AM
The Fifth District Court of Appeals of Ohio sitting in Delaware CountyRecently decided a case dealing with an alleged acreage shortage andAddressed the duties of the seller and the real estate agents involved inThat transaction. (See Schmiedebusch v. Rako Realty, Inc., 2005-Ohio-4884.)The case is insightful, as it illustrates the relatively minimal duties owedBy a seller and seller's agent to a buyer, yet the extremely high dutiesOwed by a buyer's agent to a buyer.Schmiedebusch dealt with a situation in which the buyer purchased a vacantLot in Delaware County on which he planned to build a home. After the buyerFound the lot through … (1 comments)
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Dave Rosenmarkle
Arlington,
VA
More about me…
Highland Realty
Address: 5317 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA, 22207
Office Phone: (703) 538-2566
Cell Phone: (703) 517-2748
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