Foreclosure? What does that mean to me as a buyer?

I had that question asked of me last week while I was showing homes to a lovely young couple.   The previous week I had the opportunity to explain to them what a short sale was and how it affected them as buyers, as we had toured homes and came upon one home listed as such.

Now, I was explaining foreclosures to my move up, not first time, home buyers.  Foreclosures have never been a big part of our market here in the Raleigh Cary Apex area in previous years and I usually showed them only to people who were specifically looking for foreclosures, or for a fixer upper.

So what did it mean to them as buyers?

1. The first thing I advised them as we were walking to the door is that the bank owns this home, not a person. You'll be dealing with a bank, not a homeowner every step of the way. The bank will have their own contracts and procedures. Banks are impersonal and don't care about you as the buyer personally, they only cares if you can pay for the house. 

It also means extra paper work and longer response times.  Hmm, just like what I had told them last week about a short sale.

 2.    Next, I told them that the house will be sold "as is" and that the bank, as seller, will make no repairs.  As buyer's, my lovely young couple usually will still have the right to do an inspection, and back away from the deal if the house needs too much work. However they should base their offer on any obvious defects that we see.

 3.  Finally, upon walking into the house, they could see what a foreclosure means to a buyer!   

            Condition!!! 

When my lovely young couple noticed that every outlet cover in the house was missing as were many of the doorknobs, most of the light fixtures, and even some cupboard doors, they were aghast.

All the so-called "improvements" or handyman projects that had been done in this house only detracted from the value. They were done so poorly that they would have to be ripped out.

 Needless to say, the house was filthy, with mold in the showers, some kind of unidentifiable brown gunk on the carpets and marks all over the walls.

I expressed to them that when a homeowner is being foreclosed on, they are usually not very happy campers. They will take everything in the house that is not nailed down, and even some things that are nailed down!  And they certainly won't clean the house once they move out.

Now this lovely couple had just seen their first foreclosure, and learned something new about house shopping that day:

Foreclosures are not always a bargain!

Surprisingly, this home was priced at about the same price/ square foot as a home we had just toured  previously that was in excellent condition and that my buyers really loved.  Just by a quick look, we figured this foreclosure home needed about $30,000 worth of repairs that we could see, and would have written an offer with that in mind.

As my North Carolina friend June Tassillo wrote in her blog last week, labeling a home a Foreclosure in a tough seller's market will make it stand out, but not necessarily make it a bargain.

If you're looking for homes, it's wise to have your agent do a Buyers Comparative Market Analysis on all the homes in the area of the house you're interested in before you write that offer or think a certain foreclosure is a bargain. 

March came in like a lamb today in the

Apex Cary area of North Carolina.

Although those pessimistic weather people are calling for a "wintry mix" again for tomorrow and Wednesday, today the forsythia were starting to bloom and the sun was shining.

Notice our "Carolina blue" sky?

By the end of March here in Raleigh going out like a lion usually means a rainstorm to help make the flowers grow.

The deer sightings have been few and far between this winter.  I had seen 2 dead deer lying by the side of the road near us, and was afraid they were from our "deer family of 4" that hung around our neighborhood the last 2 years.

How happy was I to look out my back window to see not just 4, but 5 deer lying close to my yard. Using my best "deer whisperer" voice, I tried to get them to let me take a picture.  Finally got 4 of them to stand still long enough for me to get one good shot, but then off they went deeper into the woods.

 If you'd like to find a home where the deer are in your woods, give me a call! The Apex & Cary area are wonderful places to enjoy nature, while being close to civilization!

Okay, well maybe Spring was going to get here eventually anyway, but with just a few days of warm sunny weather here in Apex North Carolina, it seems like everyone is in a more positive frame of mind. 

More people are out walking their dogs in Crowder Park, and more people are thinking of buying or selling their home.

I was at one of my listings yesterday restocking the flyer box and saw the first sign of spring.

Yes,the tulips were starting to come up!!

Just noticing the plants coming up made my client and I smile, therefore we had to go out and celebrate.

So it was out to lunch at another new fabulous place in Apex- Tommy's Deli at 2125 TenTen Rd, in the Pinnacle Peak shopping plaza.

Apparently in the few short months that Tommy's has been open, it's developed quite a following of regular customers by which the owner knows by name. 

One customer came in for Tommy's now world famous(?) ribs, which are usually available every Tuesday and Thursday. Because of shipment problems, they weren't available yesterday, but I'll be sure to try them out next time.

A departing customer had highly recommended the "Rachel" to us. Not labeled as such on the menu, it's a delicious Reuben made with pastrami instead of Corned Beef. Well worth the recommendation too!

Predictions are for a little more snow today, but I'm refusing to believe it will accumulate to anything.

 Once the flowers come out and people are eating outdoors, Spring is here!

Getting the house hunting bug, or have you been thinking of selling your home? Give me a call, visit my website, or just email me for some great tips on getting started.

Are you thinking of selling your home? Most potential sellers love their home and think everyone else will too.

Here's a great blog eloquently written by my friend Kristi in Colorado Springs.  Written from the perspective of a buyer's agent, she tell's it like buyer's see it.

If you're thinking of selling your home in the Raleigh/ Cary/ Apex area of Wake county, I can help you with giving your home the right "vibe" and getting it sold for top dollar.

I am now, always have been, probably always will be, a bona fide member of the "I hate February" club.

No matter where you live, it seems that February weather is usually the worst time of the year.

Growing up in Western New York, the weather was almost always cold, damp, windy, snowy, and miserable in February. And by February the holidays were over so you couldn't even pretend you were enjoying the snow for a white Christmas.  Valentines day didn't count as a real holiday.  All you could hope for was that spring would come soon.

On February 2 whether the groundhog saw his shadow, or not, you could say there was only "6 more weeks or winter".  Yeah right! That was only to give us a reason to get up in the morning. Usually we still had winter through March and April, and sometimes May or June too!

And because I lived in a farm town, there was nowhere to walk to if the schools were closed, which was rare.  My town prided itself on not closing the schools just for a mere 12 to 24 inches or so of snow.  We were tough! No wimps allowed!.  (I wanted to be a wimp)

So then I lived in California for 16 year. I still didn't enjoy February. Although the weather was nothing to complain about, as it never is in San Diego, February was just plain boring! No major holidays or time off to look forward to. We usually didn't have any visitors at that time of year, because all of our family in the East were snowed in.  It was still too cool to enjoy the beaches or the pool. To top it off, the kids were always "snowed under" with school projects and homework, which usually required parental assistance of varying degrees.

 Now that I live here in North Carolina, I still find February the most depressing month of the year. We've had unusually cold and snowy weather this year in the Raleigh Area. Just the threat of snow will keep the schools closed and everyone shut in their houses.  Days are gloomy and cold.  Today is sunny, but going out to take a walk I find that 34 degrees is still too cold.

I have become a wimp, and I like it!

In February it seems that all of nature is hibernating.  I look out my windows and don't see the green trees and flowers that I love.  All I see is the vertical lines of bare trees and dead flower stems.  I can't wait until the trees start budding, the azalea's bloom, and the sun warms up the earth a little.

Maybe I was meant to be a bear and will come out from my winter hibernation soon .

Talking to some of my friends, we all seem to agree that our brains are in slow motion, as if we need a month of hibernating every year just to recover and get ready for spring and summer.

I'm not the only one who seem to be hibernating. So many buyers and sellers seem to be "waiting until spring"  when everything is pretty and warm again to either go look at houses or put their house on the market. 

But houses still look good at this time of year!

Wake up everyone! Crawl out of your caves!

And to everyone interested in joining my "I Hate February" club (it doesn't matter where you happen to be living),  remember that the best part of this club is, we only have 28 days to be gloomy. Then it's on to March!

Here's the beauty of being married to the same person for more than 30 years.

 

 He isn't disappointed when you're showing buyers homes until late on Friday and don't make it home in time to go to the play he has tickets for.

He can take you to an auto show on Valentine's weekend, and tells you about the photo contest at the show to give you something interesting to do while he drools over the Jeeps and the trucks,

You get to pick the place for dinner after the Auto Show, and choose someplace new because you have a coupon, and he loves you for that!

Finally, he wants to go to the bookstore after dinner, He buys nothing for himself, but buys 3 books for you.

And after all these years, you're not disappointed that you're not driving that $266,000 Ferrari everyone was drooling over- knowing you couldn't even afford the headlight!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, whether you're married, dating, or happily single. 

 There's always plenty in life to love and enjoy.