Well, I thought I had seen everything... but not really... check this out: an agent in my firm had a buyer whose offer had been accepted on a bank owned property. The inspection was scheduled for the next week. Because of the lender requirements, the buyer had purchased and installed two lighting fixtures over open wire junction boxes... Nice fixtures that they expected to keep using once the purchase had closed.

There were issues with leaking pipes as well, so the listing agent called in his plumber to repair the pipes. When the buyers and our agent showed up for the inspection, the light fixtures had been removed. The inspector would have to return again once this issue was taken care of. This of course would cost the buyers additional money.

The buyer agent called the listing agent to let them know what had happened. He said that the only person who had been in the house other than our agent and buyer to install the fixtures was his plumber. He called the plumber, who at first denied anything about it.

Then, the plumber finally acknowledged that when he repaired the pipes, his wife was with him, and she liked the fixtures, and thinking it was not an issue at all, he removed them for installation at his own house. @*$%!?#

What?

I say, WHAT?

You thought it would not be an issue that you stole the seller (he thought) property? You thought it would be okay? What on this precious earth where you thinking?

My agent managed to get the fixtures returned, but I have never heard a contractor say that he actually thought it was not a problem to remove fixtures from a house for sale. Never in my born days... I had seen the results of such actions, what with copper removed, furnaces removed, etc., but I had never actually had a contractor SAY that he thought it was okay to do this...

My imagination goes nuts for a few hours, but in the end, for our buyers, it worked out okay... but I think this plumber should be jailed...

What do you think, we would like to know.

Not sure what this means: A listing agent is asking for Purchase Contracts from multiple buyers, to submit to the bank that owns the property. These need to be signed by the buyers, of course. Then, in one instance, where we accomodated this, it turns out that the sale goes to a contract for some $30,000 less than our buyer's offer, which was in fact submitted 5 days BEFORE the listing went into Pending Status. Then we are told we did not get the deal. And we see that the purchase if for this much less than our buyers offer. We asked the broker, who said it was simply because the other offer was accepted PRIOR to ours being submitted.

It turns out that the agent with the accepted buyer works for the same firm as the listing agent.

I suppose I look like an idiot, but I dont believe I am actually one... but it seems my looks ,ust have swayed this broker that he could make statements that dont fit the racts, and that I would somehow just agree.

Either it is time to change my looks, or time to step on this sort of practice.

What is your opinion, we would like to know.

These days, we hear many complain that the market is sluggish, that it is impossible to get a loan, that offers are not being accepted. While this may be true in many markets, I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate our top performing buyer agent: Mandie Sullivan. In the last month, she has successfully, and smoothly, closed 5 transactions for buyers. Mandie pays close attention to details for every client, and all walk away with a beautiful home, a reasonable financing structure, and payments they can afford.

Some of the properties closing have needed 203K loans for rehab, and others have been straight FHA loans, most have been first time buyers, excepting investors. All of us here at Focus Professsionals send our warmest regards to Mandie, and to her clients. It has been a great month, and we expect things to only improve as the buying season advances this Summer.

For those interested in working with a buyer representative, who will look out for your interests throughout the purchase cycle, visit the Focus Profesionals, Inc. Rhode Island Real Estate website, and contact Mandie. She can offer great service, experience, professionalism, and an eye for your interests in the transaction.

I was reading today and yesterday some State issued guidelines for receiving two distinct types of grants for fixing up a house: 1) is a weatherization grant, which delivers government grant money for fixing windows, insulating a house, and other aspects of making a home more economical in terms of heating costs. 2) is a grant from the State (using Stimulous money from the Federal Government) to update heating and hot water systems, adding green systems, like wind or solar powered system, etc. These two grants can total upwards of $3000 combined, and more, depending on the house, income levels, etc.

With these, plus the Federal tax credit of up to $8000 for first time buyers, a first time home buyer can now save on the purchase of a house that needs some repairs or upgrades in the amount of around $11,000... Check that number: $11,000!

This would apply to a 3 family house, owner occupied, as well, so I have my son now purchasing a fixer upper, for $90,000, and he will get all the grant money indicated above. SO the property will actually cost $82,000 and he will get an additional $3000 to assist with the upgrades.

FABULOUS!

He is now on his way to being a Donald Trump, or so he says. I try to keep that a bit realistic, but hey, forward looking optimism is a good thing in these days of economic instability.

If you are interested to talk about these possibilities, please feel free to contact us.

Realtor to Realtor

In keeping with our effort to build a library of testimonials, we are here presenting two testimonials for Mandie Sullivan, one of the top buyers agents in Rhode Island, and the key force in sales at Focus Professionals, Inc.: Mandie has two more closings this month, and 2 already scheduled for April. We wish her the best with her buyer clients! See our other blog post on our Rhode Island Real Estate Information blog for client testimonials.

Mandie:

I could not retire this file without thanking you again for your amazing efforts and expertise on this one. I don't think I could have done it without you and your very savvy buyers. I look forward to driving by at a future point and seeing what has been done [rehabbing the house]. It was a pleasure doing business with you and I hope there will be a repeat performance.

Best,

Ellen Kasle

Residential Properties

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Dear Mandie:

It was a pleasure working with you on the sale of 62 Aldrich Street. You could not have been more patient or more professional. I look forward to our next transaction, and thank you very much for your consummate professionalism.

Warmest Regards,

William Bell

Re/Max Advantage Group
Warwick, RI

Our firm is seeking to recruit several experienced buyer representatives to service leads in parts of South (Washington) County, parts of Kent County, and parts of Providence County.

Our compensation plan is very competitive, and we require no desk time or desk fee. We provide web sites, web support, promotional support, leads, and more.

We currently receive more viable leads than we can service in these areas, so if you are experienced, a self starter, who likes to work from your home office, in either of these counties, Give us a call, or email us.

Buyer agents experienced with Washington County, Providence County, or Kent County, we want you!

Call Mandie 401-293-0631 or email us from this page.

We are seeing a much slower decline in housing prices throughout Rhode Island, more or less, depending on the area. What we are seeing is that property in the Providence area, and in the more urban areas, is still declining slightly, whereas property in Newport, Washington, and Kent Counties are all holding far more steady than in recent months.

This brings me top my question, sparked by some other blog posts here on AR: What constitutes a buyers market? You see, we are seeing many instances of highest and best offers being submitted, with sales coming in at higher than listing prices... but does this mean the Buyers Market has ended? I dont think so.

You see, the characteristics of a buyers market include such things as the level of home inventory, the average number of days on market, whether prices are low in comparison to other time periods, whether financing costs are low by comparison to other time frames, and a host of other factors.

Currently, financing is a key factor, and availability of funding sources is a key in this market. However, still, many months worth of turnover still remain on the market, and prices are stabilizing. Buyers are coming to the market to acquire properties at reduced prices. So yes, there are buyers out there, and many compete for particular properties, but it remains a buyers market, in our opinion.

What do you think?

So now, as of yesterday, the work on the house mentioned in my previous post has been completed, to the tune of about $20,000 in repairs, and water damage remediation. Between electricians, plumbers, water damage crew, carpenters, sheet rockers, and painters, inspectors, and others, it was both a challenge to coordinate in a timely fashion, and to keep the costs down.

It took 12 days to dry the house out, using industrial refrigerator sized dehumidifiers. This while the plumbing and electrical work was being done. Then we had to sit and hurry up and wait. Of course, the electrical inspector only works 2 days a week, so we had delays there as well.

So overall the process to restore habitability to the house took about 1 month, all told. Considering the challenges of coordinating the contractors, this is not so bad.

We are now at the stage of filing insurance claims and reporting the invoices, and seeking reparations from the tenants.

We shall see how this goes.

If needed, I and my legal partners will persue as needed.

I will keep you all posted.

Belize Sunrise copyright 2000, Paul Silver Photography

With Rhode Island home prices now at the lowest in years and with interest rates on RI mortgages now achievable at under 5%, there has not been as good a time to buy real estate in Rhode Island in many years. But be careful.

There are some misconceptions out there with regard to financing: First: One does not need 20% down payment to gain a mortgage... one needs a minimum of 3.5%... that is much less. Second: credit scores do indeed need to be good, but at 650 or above, loans can be had. 700 is better of course. Third: Foreclosed properties are not necessarily the best buys out there. Many are damaged in expensive ways, such as having all the copper removed. Next, banks are attempting to sell the properties sat market prices in order to preserve their investments. Short sales may be better deals, but then, they are difficult, with many listing agents unfamiliar with how to deal with a short sale. Fourth: Inventory is high, which drives prices down, and motivates sellers. A reasonable offer stands a good chance of being accepted.

Advice: Find thee a qualified buyer agent to represent your interests in the face of often unqualified listing agents dealing with banks, and stick with them. They are perhaps the greatest resource that can be found in markets where conditions are chaotic, and where listing agents are pressed for cash, and unfortunately do not understand the market they are in, or how to deal with short sales or foreclosed properties. Remember, many agents entered the market during the boom years, and have never had to negotiate a price, deal with a buyers needs, or even properly advertise the listings they have. Find a good buyer agent and keep with them, they will save you time, energy, aggravation, and most of all, money.

For more info about buyer agency, take a look at our Buyer section, especially the agency page.