Saying Goodbye to One Home and Hello to Another

Although the idea of moving up or to a different part of the country can be exciting, leaving the home where you have created many memories is not as thrilling for many.

Whether it's your first home, your family home, or a home that you have stayed in for decades, memories that still linger inside of the walls and landscape aren't able to be packed away. There are many ideas on how you can preserve the memories and celebrate the home itself so you can feel better about the separation.

Are there other ideas that you have come across that has helped you with your transition from one home to another?

Saying Goodbye to One Home and Hello to Another

Buying HUD Foreclosed Homes

Buying a HUD foreclosed home can be a great way to purchase a home in an area you are interested in at a great value.  The key to search for these homes is finding an agent who deals with HUD homes on a regular basis and has the knowledge to deal with the HUD process, paper work, and HUD guidelines. HUD uses different contracts that many agents are not accustom to and could potentially avoid these homes when they are searching for their client's potential home.

As I have been listing and selling HUD homes for the past few years, here are a few tips:

1. Find an agent who can handle the HUD process for you. Make sure they have sold these homes in the past. If they don't sound to enthusiastic about it, find a qualified agent.
2. Ask the agent to speak to a loan officer they know and get approved for a loan.  You will need to provide an approval letter showing you qualify to purchase the home. If you're paying cash for the home, you will need to show proof you have enough funds to buy the home.
3. You can go to hudhomestore.com and view the homes in your area. Your real estate agent can also send them to you through the local MLS system.
4. Once you find the home you would like to make an offer on, your agent can submit your offer online and go over the contract and any addendums that apply for the home.

  A real advantage with HUD homes is the insured homes qualify for FHA203b financing. Many of the insured homes will have escrows set up to fix the items needed in order for the home to qualify for FHA financing. These escrows are $5000 or lower and are added to your loan. They are not a credit to you. Once you purchase the home, the buyer will need to have a qualified contractor repair the items. Your loan company who holds the escrows will pay the contractor using these funds.

The process is a little more detailed than what is stated above, but this should help you with the beginning process to purchase a HUD home. If you would like to find out more about the HUD foreclosures in the Greater St. Louis area, feel free to contact me anytime at 314-714-7249.

Andy Colberg
Remax Best Choice
Over 20 years experience

It's Time

Having been in real estate for over 20 years, I have experienced many housing trends. I have seen inventory favoring the buyer at times and the seller at other times. Trends change constantly, it's a matter of taking advantage of the trend when it is in your favor. If you're buying a home and not selling, it's better to buy when the market is favoring the buyer. When the market favors the buyer, it's usually when the prices of homes are lower and there are a larger inventory of homes on the market to sell. If you are a seller, who will sequentially purchase another home, it is usually better to move up to a nicer home at this time. Think of it this way, if the market recovers 10% on a $300,000 home it will increase $30,000, compared to a $150,000 home increasing $15,000.00. With the $300,000 home, your profit would be $15,000 more than the $150,000 home.

Every day lately proves to be a busy day in real estate; homes are selling faster and prices are increasing. With homes getting multiple offers, many are selling well above list price. As mortgage rates increase and inventory decreases, the homes around the St Louis and Jefferson County market are sometimes selling before hitting a week of being on the market. If you're on the fence about buying a home, it's best to not wait any longer. You have two things going against you: prices and interest rates. Interest rates continue to tick higher. Waiting until next year will cause you to pay more for a home and have a higher payment as interest rates will likely increase.

Consider these aspects when choosing a qualified agent:

• Are they a full-time agent? If they have a supplemental career, then will they be on call when you need them to sell your home? As an example, would you trust a doctor with a surgery who does it part time. If the answer is no, then why trust a part-time agent with the largest purchase in your life? 
• You will be working with them until your home is sold or bought - personality counts. Can you work with them? Would you want to work with them again? This is a relationship that is worth cultivating since you need to trust your agent with their experience and knowledge. 
• Is the agent well experienced? Most experienced agents have dealt with many different situations and can handle the "bumps" in the road with past knowledge, smoothing them out.

If you know of someone who is looking to buy or sell, I would be more than happy to start a conversation with them. Please pass my name on to anyone who is even thinking about making their next move.