Buyer Bonus

How to sell your home in todays real estate market

How to sell a home in today’s real estate market

 The current economic climate has certainly thrown a wrench in the traditional ways of doing business.

Pricing your home competitively is the most important piece of the puzzle. If you price your home too high, you will not get the traffic to generate an offer. Short sales and foreclosures are at an all time high and unfortunately this is affecting the price of homes in our area. Even though this may not be the reason why you are selling it still suppresses the price of your home.

 Plan your selling Strategy

 After you’ve crunched the numbers and made your decision that now is the right time to sell, come up with a strategy to achieve your financial and personal goals. Pricing your home correctly is the most important step in this process and will affect your ability to sell quickly and smoothly. A professional Realtor can prepare a CMA (comparative market analysis) in order to give you a range of your home value. This is usually accomplished by researching the market in your area.

 After you receive your CMA, the pricing of your home is very important to the success of the sale so you need to be realistic. Know your competition (previously owned homes, foreclosures, new construction) and find ways to make your home stand out.

Market your home strategically and effectively considering incentives. Fairfield County is a buyers market right now, so your strategy will make the difference between stale and sold. Your Realtor should be able to guide you through this process.

 Time your sale to maximize your selling price

 Real estate activity has two distinct peaks during the year — one just before spring and another in the fall. The influx of potential buyers during these periods can help improve your chances of finding a buyer and selling at top dollar.

 The first peak season typically begins in February or March and runs through          
Memorial Day, with house hunters looking to buy homes and move in by the summer. Parents of school-age children need to make cutoffs for enrollment and work to ensure a smooth transition for their children.

The second peak season starts after Labor Day and goes through November. Buyers  are looking for motivated sellers, such as those who missed the spring season or are juggling two mortgages.

 If possible, avoid selling during the winter month unless you have to. Most people are focused on the holidays or Christmas shopping, not on buying or selling a home. However, there is a benefit to this time of the year and that is there are a reduced amount of homes on the market, so there is less competition.

 Staging you home is of utmost importance

 You have a plan and now its time to execute. Prepare your home by cleaning and staging it so buyers can see themselves living there. In today’s market open houses and cookies are not enough to gets buyers interested. Skip the gimmicks and focus on marketing your house effectively. Technology and the internet have empowered buyers, so make them work for you too.

 Start with the outside

 Your lawn and the homes exterior is your first chance to reel in buyers. If they see an overgrown lawn, yard debris or peeling paint they will move on to the next property. Paint and landscaping will make the difference of them coming in your home or driving right past to the next.

 Now the inside

Make sure that your home has a fresh coat of paint. This is the least expensive and most impressive thing that you can do. Get rid of all unnecessary furniture the knickknacks and clutter.  Clean every room until it sparkles.

 Close the deal

 You’ve done all you can to prepare and show your home. Now you can sit back and watch all the offers come in. Not! Offers come in all forms, from the dreaded low ball to the contingency crazy. The key is not to take the offers personally. They are not reflections of your home, they are business propositions.

 Review every offer carefully, evaluate the buyer and negotiate terms so you could come to a deal. A signed contract doesn’t necessarily mean its over. You have to pass the inspections and negotiate more if needed. Once you are at the closing table and all paperwork has been signed the transaction is complete and you can celebrate!

 Betty Bondi
Bondi Realty Group LLC

www.Bondirealtygroup.com

203-899-9990

 

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First Time Homebuyers 101

First Time Homebuyers - 101

 Doing research on how to buy a home is a serious time investment. There are plenty of ways to get this info on your own. Newspapers are a good starting point to find information by taking a look at the local property transfers. This can help you see what homes have sold for and how much activity is taking place in the town you are interested in. You can also do plenty of research on the internet. This is a great way to start compiling your information. The next thing that you want to do is find a great real estate agent. The best way to do this is through a referral from family and friends or you may meet a great agent through a weekend open house.

 There is no need to be anxious about what comes next. The process can seem so overwhelming. The first thing that you need to do is talk over your financing options with a qualified reputable mortgage broker or bank. You can discuss your down payment options and see which loan programs best fit your needs. Then you will have a starting point on the price range for your new home. Now you are armed with your information. Its time to go home shopping.

 Do you want to live in the city or suburbs? What are you looking for in home? Do you want a certain style? How many bedrooms? What home style do you like? Do you want a ranch, colonial, condo or high rise? Once you narrow this down, take a look and see what fits in your price point.

 Now you go out with your Realtor and start looking. You will probably see a lot of properties your first time out. Don’t get confused. I recommend bringing a digital camera to document each property. You should also take notes and pay attention to the home’s surroundings. Remember the old saying “Location, location, location”. After leaving each property you should rate them right away. This allows you to make an easy decision later.

 You found your home, now what? You make an offer through your real estate agent. There will be some negotiating back and forth. Finally everyone agrees to terms and price. You give a 1% binder check to show good faith that you are serious about purchasing the home. There will be an offer to purchase which has information about the property including dates and contingencies. This is an agreement on paper that will provide the attorneys information to create a binding contract. Next its time to hire a building inspector to look over the property for you and you need to hire an attorney. It’s best if you hire an attorney that specializes in real estate law. If everything is okay you will go to contract the next few days. This will be the legal and binding document that your bank will need to continue processing the loan.

 From this point on the bank and your attorney will contact you and ask you for all sorts of paperwork and documentation to complete the loan process. When you receive your mortgage commitment, its time to start dreaming about paint colors and decorating.

  This year there is the first time home buyers tax credit of $8000 for qualified buyers.

You must have a contract to purchase a home by April 30^th, 2010 and close on the home by June 30, 2010. Eligible properties can be purchased up to $800,000. There are income limits for first time homebuyers. Single home purchaser’s income can be up to $125,000 and married couples up to $225,000. There is a partial tax credit for incomes that are within $20,000 of limits. There is also a tax credit of $6500 for “Step Up” home buyers. These are just some of the basic terms. For more information please go to www.Bondirealtygroup.com and click on Home Buyers Tax Credit.

 2010 is a great time to buy. Prices are affordable and there are many homes to choose from. Mortgage rates are historically low and there is the home buyer’s tax credit. This combination should help stimulate the real estate market for the immediate future.

 Betty Bondi
Bondi Realty Group LLC

203-899-9990

Real Estate News January 2010

State of the Real Estate Market 2010

  As a lifelong Norwalk resident and a realtor for over twenty years I decided to start my own company - Bondi Realty Group LLC. I felt that I wanted more flexibility in marketing and wanted to provide a more personal service & experience. We are a hometown family run business with many satisfied clients. We embrace each and every client with extraordinary customer service.

 

I am taking this opportunity to give you my professional opinion about our local real estate market. Through a series of articles I will bring you important information you should know. This will enable you to make an educated decision when the time comes to buy or sell your home.

 The real estate market has shown its sign of vulnerability over the last few years.

But right now is a perfect opportunity to buy. You have your $8000 first time home buyers credit, fabulous mortgage rates under 5% and bottom of the market prices.

There is also an incentive program for homeowners as well. If you have owned and occupied your home for at least five consecutive years you may be eligible for up to a $6500 tax credit. As long as you purchase another home and have a signed contract by April 30^th and close by June 30^th, 2010.

 I already see a trend of the bottom end of single family home prices starting to creep up ever so slowly. Some of these homes consist of foreclosures and short sales. There are so many homes to choose from at this time. Foreclosures and short sales unfortunately are still depressing the market, not only in Norwalk, but in surrounding towns as well. What this means is that if you have a property for sale at this time, your home values are in competition with those distressed properties. The realtors and appraisers are doing their comparatives not only on non foreclosed sales but on foreclosed sales and short sales as well.

 Everyone wants to know what is really happening out there in our local real estate market. I believe our current local real estate market has faired better then the rest of the country. Here are a few statistics from Consolidated Multiple Listing system.

 In 2007 sales were at an all time high. There were more buyers than sellers and properties were selling for over asking price. Supply, demand and lending incentives fueled the market resulting in 602 single family homes and 482 condo sales in Norwalk.

 Norwalk showed a dramatic decline in home sales from the buying frenzy of 2007.  In 2008 fueled by fears of the status of the economy people just didn’t come out to purchase homes. The marketplace amidst these fears showed a decline in 2008 sales tumbling to a total of 416 single family and 282 condos.

 At the end of 2009 Norwalk’s housing market was showing signs of stability but the banks are still being cautious with their lending.  Currently as of December 2009 there are 331 single family homes on the market and 251 condominiums for sale. 428 single family homes and 217 condos sold this year.

As we start the New Year the housing market is on track with its seasonal winter slow down. I feel that in the coming months we will see the local market start to build momentum. Homes will start to sell again. First time homebuyers will find the dream home that they have been looking for and people will realize that the home values were prematurely inflated over the past few years.

 

Betty Bondi

Owner/ Broker

Let us pay you to buy a home!

We pay you to buy a home!!!

Buyer Bonus!!!!! Buy a home with Bondi Realty Group LLC before August 31, 2010 and get $$ back after you close!

Bondi Realty Group wants to help you with your purchase of a new home. We are giving our clients who sign a buyer’s broker agreement with us & are financially qualified, 10% of our commission after closing on a property purchased through us. Every little bit helps! You can use your extra cash to buy furniture, paint, new carpeting or use it for whatever you need.

This offer is good from now until August 31, 2010. That means that you must find and close on a property within this time frame. You will receive your gift check 10 days after the closing of the property.

If you would like more information about this offer please call or email us. We are a family owned and operated business. We have a great reputation in the community and are honest and hard working. We look forward to working with you and helping you find your dream home.

Restrictions apply, please call for more information.
10 % Buyer Bonus does not apply to buyer agent commissions of less than 2.5%, bonus fees to
buyer agent or sales under $350,000. Buyer Bonus rebate is for New Clients only and cannot be combined with any other offers including referrals.

We are looking forward to working with you to find your Dream Home!

Betty & Peter Bondi
203-899-9990