home: Do you have to submit all offers? - 06/05/07 12:17 PM
Recently I was talking with a few of my co-workers about making offers on properties. One of them, RB, spoke up and said that he made an offer on a property for his buyer client. The offer was considerably less than asking price.
The property is a nice home listed at over $300,000. The listing agent was very upset with RB, highly emotional, and said that the offer was an embarrassment to both her and her sellers. RB told her that this was not a personal matter, but rather a business decision made by his buyer client.
As their conversation progressed, the listing agent … (20 comments)

home: Landlords should use precautions with tenants - 05/21/07 10:03 AM
Recently I read a blog about tenants and how some of them respond to their landlords. I can relate to that. I used to own a Property Management company with more than 50+ units and I have seen some crazy things.
The tenants have a lot of rights and whether they are behind in rent, not paying, or trashing the place - you need to be very careful and follow the "Landlord/Tenant" laws for your city and/or state. In North Carolina, once you have filed for eviction with the court, the tenant still has time to vacate and that time can be prolonged … (4 comments)

home: Home Prices are Favoring Buyers In Most Areas - Part 1 - 05/19/07 02:05 PM
The National Realty News has an interesting article written on May 15, 2007. Below is Part 1.
State existing-home sales in the first quarter generally are below a year ago but more states are improving than reported in the fourth quarter of 2006, and home prices in most areas show that conditions are favoring buyers, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors®.
Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.41 million units in the first quarter, down 6.6 percent from a 6.86 million-unit pace in the first quarter … (2 comments)

home: Best cities for young singles - 05/14/07 06:30 AM
Today's local newspaper, The News & Observer, featured an article regarding Raleigh, NC as one of the best cities for young singles.
According to Kiplinger's Personal Finance, the Capital City joined Washington; Denver; Austin, Texas; and Lexington, Ky., as the best cities for young singles.
Among Kiplinger's criteria: "For young singles, two factors can be crucial to choosing where to live: Can I afford the rents? And what can I do there? Finding an apartment that fits a starting-out budget is key. And whatever money is left over often goes to meals out and concert tickets.
But what do the singles who call … (0 comments)

home: Family should come before work - 05/08/07 02:02 AM
Nearly every day when I get home from work, my son lights up like a Christmas tree. He usually comes running with a great, big smile on his face. "Daddy, are you ready to play?", he says. I say to him, "give me a few minutes and let me change clothes".
Usually, there are so many things to do after I get home and my time with him ends up being short. Once I change clothes, take care of a few loose ends that did not get finished from earlier in the day, eat dinner and do yard work or other things … (6 comments)

home: A Thriving, Hot Market - 05/04/07 02:08 AM
I am fortunate to be in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country - Raleigh/Durham, NC. With so many great places taking real estate and economic hits, our market has barely missed a beat. Forbes Magazine recently gave Raleigh, NC the top spot in the country as the "Best Places for Businesses and Careers". Raleigh's Economy has expanded 6% annually over the past three years.
You're welcome to my home......anytime!
… (1 comments)

home: Builders, build the rooms to size and..... - 05/03/07 05:02 AM
Twice today, I have gone into nice homes with great layouts only to find that either the living room was too small or the master bedroom was not built to size. The first home had a nice sized kitchen with a small bar but there was really no place for the dining room table to sit. If you had a dining table it would have to be situated literally right in front of the back door which in turn would take up part of the living room area. Next, there was an extremely small living room that had barely enough room for … (0 comments)

home: A seller that is not convinced ....... - 05/02/07 12:47 AM
Have you ever had a seller that really wants you to list their home but you just can't seem to convince them what their home should be listed for? Most seasoned real estate agents/Realtors have had this dilemma at some point in their career. The comps tell the story all day long, but the seller just isn't happy with that - and sometimes rightfully so. To them, the home is worth much more.
Part of our job as real estate agents is to educate the seller about the market. Not only what the market says about their property, but also how … (9 comments)

home: Does anyone like going on tour? - 04/30/07 01:05 AM
Our real estate office has an agent meeting every Tuesday morning. After the meeting , we go and tour a few of the most recent listings. It is good to do this for a couple of reasons; (1) the agents that have their listing on tour get first hand exposure and feedback from other agents, (2) it certainly makes their sellers feel good about having their home shown to the office, and (3) in our office, the agents that go on tour get a piece of "play money". These are usually valued at $1 in play money. If you accumulate enough of … (9 comments)

home: Please take pictures of your listings! - 04/24/07 07:23 AM
Today a potential buyer client called me and wanted to know the size of a bonus room for a particular property. I immediately contacted the listing agent and asked for the information. She was very nice and polite and said that she did not have the information in front of her at the moment but would call me back shortly. In the meantime, I had looked for the listing in MLS. Once I found the listing I noticed there were no pictures of the property. Soon she called me back and gave me the size of the bonus room. I asked … (9 comments)