Buying a Home This Year? Discover the Secrets of Home Negotiations That Leads to Fruition

When a home goes on the market in a popular neighborhood, it can quickly garner many offers. How can you get the home you want to buy at a price you can afford if there are several offers, and some buyers are even offering more than the listed purchase price?

It turns out that purchase price isn’t the only criterion that home sellers consider when they have multiple offers to buy their home. They can consider other factors, including loan or appraisal contingencies, and will appreciate buyers who are flexible on needed repairs.

What factors will sellers consider when choosing between offers on their home?

Earnest money deposits: to prevent a buyer from making multiple offers to buy multiple homes, a deposit of money with a real estate brokerage or escrow company can secure your offer and show sellers that you sincerely want to buy their home. Your real estate agent will advise you as to the right amount of earnest money deposit, which can vary depending on the seller and on the current real estate market in the neighborhood where you want to buy. Just a side note: make sure your purchase agreement discusses how your earnest money deposit will be refunded if there are problems like a failed home inspection.

  • Write your best offer: work with your real estate agent to determine the best offer that you can reasonably afford. Especially in tight real estate markets, this can help you to be the winning offer when the seller makes their decision.
  • Get loan pre-approval: We’ve previously written about the importance of being pre-approved for a loan. Having loan pre-approval greatly increases your chances of your offer being taken seriously and accepted.
  • Prepare a counter offer: work with your real estate agent to prepare a counteroffer in case the seller requests one. Your agent has the experience to advise you in the counter offer process.
  • Don’t get into a massive bidding war: We get it — you fell in love with a house and you really want it. But you could fall prey to overbidding. Basically no homes are worth paying more than you can afford. Give yourself some backup home choices, and leave the bidding wars to the ultra-competitive people who will get caught up in the desire to beat the other guy at any price.

All of this can sound overwhelming. Working with a real estate professional who can establish a good working relationship with sellers and seller agents will be key to helping you buy the home you want at a price you can afford.

Sources

https://www.thebalance.com/multiple-offers-competing-home-offers-1798836

https://la.curbed.com/2020/1/9/21056801/buy-house-los-angeles-real-estate-market-2019

Are You Currently Wondering If You’re Missing Out On Refi Opportunities? Hurry Now! Don’t Be the Last One to Take Advantage of Low Mortgage Refinance Rates

From Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the National Association of Realtors, experts are predicting that home loan interest rates will remain under 4% as we start 2020. Did you know that a difference of as little as one-tenth of one percent could make a difference in your monthly payments, and it could also save you a lot of money over the life of your own?

Chances are, interest rates won’t rise as high as they did in the early 80s, when they ranged between 16 and 18% for three years. But as recently as 2018, they were well over 4%.

How much could an interest rate reduction save?

Let’s say you’ve had your mortgage for a while at 4.5%. Would the savings be worth it to refinance to a mortgage at 3.5% interest if it was available? On a $500,000 30-year fixed rate mortgage, refinancing to 3.5% would reduce your monthly payments from approximately $2,533 to $2,245, a savings of nearly $300 a month ($288). Over the course of a 30-year mortgage, you would pay over $100,000 less in interest with 1% point difference. At .5% less, you would still save nearly $150 a month, and over $50,000 over the life of the mortgage.

You may find that it’s surprisingly simple to refinance your mortgage. If you have an FHA or a VA loan, these programs offer “streamline” refinance options if you are able to reduce your interest rate.

While as recently as 2010, the three biggest banks originated most of the mortgages in the U.S., now there are more choices in mortgage lending and financing. By refinancing your mortgage, you can lock in today’s low home mortgage interest rates and save money on your monthly mortgage payments. If you invest even a part of the money that you save, you’ll be financially far ahead of where you would be if you hadn’t taken that step to reduce your mortgage interest rate.

Sources

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/much-difference-25-make-monthly-mortgage-payment-100688.html [I just did the math myself and rounded the numbers – principal & interest only]

Understanding How to Clean Your Home from Coronavirus: Learn Expert Tips to Sanitize Your Home

With coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting so many aspects of life, we’re all spending more time at home. The disease is also affecting the way we think about cleaning and sanitizing. It’s probably fair to say most people want their homes to look clean and smell fresh, but the focus now is on keeping the virus away from ourselves and vulnerable family members. We’ve put together a few tips on how to keep your home clean and as free as possible from infectious viruses.

Do Daily Cleaning and Disinfecting​

First, before you start cleaning, the CDC advises you should wear disposable plastic gloves. Coronavirus can live on stainless steel and plastic surfaces for up to 72 hours. This is the reason why experts advise you to focus on faucet taps, doorknobs, and door handles, also known as “high-touch surfaces.” Clean these surfaces first with soap and water. Then, follow up with disinfectant.

What Qualifies as a Disinfectant?

Experts want everyone to know that some popular cleaning solutions like vinegar don’t kill coronavirus. Alcohol, bleach, and hydrogen peroxide are all effective chemicals that do kill the virus. Alcohol can be diluted to 70%, and household bleach should be diluted using the manufacturer’s instructions. Hydrogen peroxide can be used full strength. Alcohol wipes are effective in sanitizing and disinfecting electronics like keyboards and touchscreens.

Cleaning Faucet Today Main

Do you need to sanitize and clean the fabric?

According to the CDC, if no one in your house is infected with COVID-19, you can wash your clothing and other household fabrics as you normally do. However, if you’ve been out, you should remove your clothing and launder it as soon as possible. The virus is able to survive longer on plastic and stainless steel, so it could be present on buttons and zippers.
The CDC has another warning related to clothing and fabrics used by an infected person: don’t shake them before putting them in the washing machine. Shaking the items could disperse virus particles through the air. Washing clothing in a normal washing machine with detergent will kill the virus.
Other germs in addition to coronavirus can survive on towels and clothing, so laundering them regularly will help prevent infections in general.
Viruses have no way to move on their own. They make people cough so they are spread through the air. Sanitizing surfaces regularly can make your home safe from the coronavirus/COVID-19 disease.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/disinfecting-your-home.html

https://www.dailytargum.com/article/2020/03/rutgers-experts-explain-how-to-sanitize-homes-during-coronavirus-outbreak