Terri Camp, Mom of 8, Published Author, and REALTOR® in Keller, TX Ta-Dah! Call Me! 817-914-4987
I Love Connecting!
When you buy a fixer-upper house, you can save a ton of money, or get yourself in a financial fix. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
Copyright 2011 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
To see a list of Tax Rates for Tarrant County – please click on the following link.
Property Taxes in Tarrant County
I’d love to have you join me as a friend My Facebook Profile I have some interesting discussions with people about buying and selling homes, as well as other topics of interest to me. A few days ago I was talking with a mom of a bunch of little kids. She is in the middle of selling her home. Of course I sent her to my article on Selling Your Home With Small Children In the House. She reminded me that she has Lyme’s disease and needs more like four hours to get her house into shape. As we talked, she found some great Youtube videos on cleaning your house in a hurry. Most of these use Don Aslett’s methods. A long time ago I had read all his books and even bought a VHS tape (yes, that long ago!)
Here are some of the best videos on cleaning your bathroom in a hurry. Whether you have your house on market, or you just want to save some cleaning time, these are great. Oh yea, be sure to have your older children watch these videos too! Great training tool!
Cleaning the bathroom isn’t just about the toilet. Take a look at this one too.
If you do this consistently – your home will always be ready to show in just a few minutes!
Want some more cleaning tips or to purchase any of the products shown in the videos, visit The Clean Report
I’m not trying to sell you on anything in these videos and I don’t get compensated for any sales. I just know they’ve worked for me — and I’m pretty sure they would work for you too.
I love this photo.
Joyful new home owners
Jared and Rachel purchased a foreclosure in the DFW Homes area. Sometimes purchasing foreclosures can be a difficult process. This one was no exception. Jared and Rachel hung in there and were finally able to walk (or be carried) victoriously into their new home!
After viewing fifteen houses in the Mesquite and Forney area, Jared and Rachel have narrowed it down to three.
The results are in – well, really Jared and Rachel decided to see one more house.
Here it is:
Which one do you think they will choose?
#1 is a house in Mesquite in the Hills of Tealwood. It is 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms with a huge backyard that backs up to a woodsy area.
#2 is in the subdivision of Honeysuckle Meadows in Forney. The house features 4 bedrooms and a game room. Looking out the back, you can see much country side.
#3 is a foreclosure in the subdivision Falcon S. Lair in Mesquite. It is the largest of the three at 2768 sq ft. The home has 4 bedrooms plus a study. The study is downstairs. The rest of the bedrooms and the game room are up.
Watch the videos and the comments by Jared and Rachel, then chime in about what home you think they should choose and why.
Listen to Jared and Rachel share what they love and don’t like on house #1
House #2
And now – Jared and Rachel chime in. Sorry about the wind noise, we decided to sit outside for this one.
House #3
Downstairs
Upstairs
Jared and Rachel share some great thoughts on this property.
Some aspects that are very important to Jared and Rachel: Safe and secure feeling, Rachel likes the idea of sitting outside and loves the idea of a peaceful location. She works from home and needs a workspace. Jared will work from the high school in Mesquite and doesn’t want too long of a commute. Rachel likes the idea of a nice community feel. As far as the home itself, Rachel likes to spend time in the kitchen, yet wants to be connected to the rest of the people in the house. They want a bathroom with a separate shower and enough space for both of them to get ready at the same time. Jared and Rachel like to entertain their friends by having poker nights, which means plenty of space inside for 4-6 tables.
Now it’s your turn to sound off on what house you would choose, or what house you think Rachel and Jared should choose.
I did a quick Twitter poll (you can follow me on twitter @tadahmom) and found out that most people don’t understand what a short sale is. The majority of people think it means the house can sell quickly – hence the word “short.” Do not let this word confuse you into thinking it will be a fast sale. It likely will not be fast.
A short sale means that the seller is accepting offers for their house that will likely be less than what the seller owes on the property. The seller will approach the lien holder with the offer and ask them to accept less for the house than what is owed. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. The process can take anywhere from 30 days to six months, and the bank still might not approve the short sale. If you’re going to be purchasing a short sale property, you have to be willing to wait and you must have a pro-active agent. Patience could be a great reward if you’re able to purchase a house for less than fair market value.
Often when you’re looking through the MLS you will find a house with a price that is “amazingly low.” It’s probably not that the seller is willing to give away his house, but that he is wanting to get offers for a short sale property. The bank won’t even begin the process in most cases, until an offer has been presented.
There are a few positive reasons to buy a short sale:
a) The house usually sells a bit below fair market value
b) You’re helping to keep the seller from foreclosure (I don’t really think this should be a motive)
Now for some of the negatives:
a) There are no guarantees you will be able to buy the house
1) The bank may not accept your offer even after working on it for several months
2) Offers are often accepted continuously – you won’t know if your offer is the one that will be ultimately accepted even if you’ve been told it is. (this part has been getting better recently)
b) Rarely will the sellers make any repairs on the property – what you see (and maybe what you don’t see) is what you get.
c) Sometimes you have to deal with sellers who are not happy with their situation and may be difficult to deal with.
If you are needing to move by a certain date, I usually don’t recommend looking at short sales, but if you are in a place where you can stay until the process completes and you want to get a good deal, a short sale might be just the ticket for you. Unfortunately when you are looking through listings on the MLS there is no way for you to really know if a house is a short sale or not. You have to check with an agent to see if the sale is short or simply a great deal.
One final word – if the price in the MLS makes you think, wow, this is a great deal — look closely.