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!

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.

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.

Even though I’m a Realtor and sell houses and land to people, this video encapsulates what I really want for my clients – I want for them to turn a house into their home. I love how she began right away adding light, but not just any light, the kind of light that makes her happy.  Everything she added to her space was something that gave her joy.

When you buy a house and begin to fill it with stuff, go slowly, adding the pieces that give you pleasure, otherwise you will wake up one day and realize you have a bunch of stuff, but you aren’t loving your surroundings.

You wouldn’t believe how many people want to sell their homes, but what they really need to do is just declutter all their stuff, keeping the pieces they like and getting rid of the rest of the stuff.

Of course if you do want to sell your home, it’s a great time to go through everything and have a giant garage sale. Keep what you love, and get rid of the rest! If your Great Aunt gave you something and you don’t like it, take a picture with your digital camera and keep the memory without keeping the stuff.

Fill your home with love – not just stuff!

When we first moved to the area, we didn’t bring our horses with us. But within a very short time, we found a place to board them. My girls who raise Arabian horses were able to keep them – even in the city.

There are many horse properties in this area. This is just a small sampling of what is available for sale. If you have other needs, please give me a call 817-914-4987. Use the scroll bar to view all of the properties in this sampling.

If you’re in the market for moving your horse facility to the South, yet you want city living nearby, call me to take a tour!

I wanted to address an issue that is one of the number one reasons why many Realtors quit the business. I’ve heard of many of some of the best who just couldn’t really take it anymore.

Realtors are one of the few people who work for someone without any pay – simply on the hope that there will be a closing with a paid commission. Most of the people who “hire” a Realtor for no pay, often treat them no different than a store clerk. Whichever one happens to be there when you’re ready to check out, that’s the one to use. Even if another clerk has been helping you all along. The difference here is that the clerk gets paid, regardless. The Realtor may spend hours and money, and doesn’t seem to receive the loyalty of the clients.

Allow me to use a real life example – hoping to give you a little of the bleeding heart.
A customer called me on one of my kids birthdays. She was ready to buy a house, had her financing in order, and wanted to see five properties that day. Since I’m a single mom trying to support my kids, I had to make the decision to show the houses. It meant a possible $4500.00 commission for me. As it turned out none of those houses worked. We met again a few days later…and a few days later…etc. Nothing was ever “good enough” for this client. We became friends while driving to the various properties. I probably spent a couple of hundred of dollars, just in gas for my car. That doesn’t count all the hours I spent researching “the perfect” property. I would call, e-mail, etc. Finally, she found the house that was “perfect.” It was a short sale, so I cautioned her about all the ins-and-outs with that. Well…somehow another contract came in higher than her very good offer and she lost the house. The next time I called she let me know that she was taking a break from looking. Too much heartache. A few months later I called to see how everything was going. She couldn’t wait to tell me how excited she was to be in her new house! I wanted to be happy for her. But part of me felt crushed. Not just at the lost commission, but because somehow I felt like a failure for not having sealed her loyalty.

I can see why Realtors want to walk away from the business when things like that happen. The good agents work really hard for our clients. And when they call an agent on a sign and use them instead, we feel defeated. … and used.

I heard of another Realtor who had a client from out of town. The Realtor had driven the couple around for three days showing them property after property, including all the countless computer work before the couple arrived in town. After the third day the Realtor dropped off the couple at their car with plans of meeting the next morning. The next morning the client called all excited. They drove around the night before and found “the perfect house!” They didn’t want “to bother” the agent again that night, so just called the agent on the sign and put in an offer, which was already accepted by the seller.

Is your heart breaking yet?

On one hand, the Realtor could have required them to sign the document for buyer representation. But sometimes, you just want them to have the common decency to use the person who has given their all to them.

If your Realtor is giving you great service (that doesn’t mean they are at your beckon call) – please be loyal to them.

One reason I decided to write this is because before I was a Realtor, I didn’t really know they didn’t get paid an hourly rate when they “worked” for a company. I could have easily used one Realtor one day, then called someone another. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, I sometimes wish I could go back and tell that Realtor I’m sorry…although “I’m sorry” doesn’t quite make up for a lost commission.

I know there are agents out there who really don’t do anything about looking for the house for you, and you probably should find someone who will be pro-active in helping you to look. If you aren’t satisfied with the level of service your Realtor is giving you, send them an e-mail stating that. If they don’t pull up a notch, then you have ever right to go out and look for another.

My pledge to my clients is that I will do everything within my power to help them find the home that they are looking for, and then follow through to get their contract through to closing. I give all of my clients my cell phone number and encourage them to call me night or day with questions. All I ask from my clients in return is that they be loyal to me while we’re looking for homes.