Have you watched a western recently? Every wagon train had a scout who rides ahead of the party to determine the  safest route and the best ways to avoid danger. The scout was always characterized as a born [...]]]> Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All Kansas City properties!

Have you watched a western recently? Every wagon train had a scout who rides ahead of the party to determine the  safest route and the best ways to avoid danger. The scout was always characterized as a born on the trail type and could wrestle with rattlesnakes and shoot better and straighter than your average cowboy. Most importantly the  scout knew every nook and cranny of the territory as well as its customs and idiosyncrasies.

Buying or selling a house may appear to be a relatively simple task. In reality buying or selling real property is a complex process. According to statistics the average American buys or sells their residence on average about every five to ten years. It seems every year the process becomes more complex.

Most of America’s net worth lies in the equity in our homes. It is your Best Associates’  job to safeguard your equity if you intend to sell and justify what you are willing to pay if you intend to buy.

Best Associates understand the territory. Consider for a moment a few of the steps required in selling your home. First you must determine value. Where do you find the data? Sure you can head down to the courthouse and spend the day researching recently sold and active properties similar to the one you are buying or planning to sell.

Best Associates have the data at their fingertips. What about things like zoning, disclosure, taxes, inspections, easements, title insurance, earnest deposits, qualifications ratios, radon, surveys, homes association declarations and deed restrictions, marketing plans, advertising, internet marketing, buyer’s agents, dual agents, designated agents, negotiating and last but not least legally binding contract forms. If you like most people you haven’t bought or sold property in years.

Consider your Best Associate your scout, They will find the BEST trail for you.

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-2378 to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace email to: info@kansascityehomes.com   or visit  www.kansascityehomes.com

Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All Kansas City properties!

Buying a house, whether your first or your fiftieth, can be an exhilarating process. A house must stand on it’s ‘own two feet’ in a marketplace that is always competing for customers. You make a [...]]]>  

Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All Kansas City properties!

Buying a house, whether your first or your fiftieth, can be an exhilarating process. A house must stand on it’s ‘own two feet’ in a marketplace that is always competing for customers. You make a house a home. Unless your plan is to build a house designed for you, there will be trade offs or concessions you’ll make in the house you purchase.

The KC marketplace in the last twenty has had its share of ‘buyer’s & seller’s markets’. A buyer’s market is one where there are more products available than there are customers to buy. The opposite market is a seller’s market where there are more buyers than products available. In a seller’s market you might have multiple offers on your property. In a buyer’s market you have plenty of products to choose from.

The marketplace is always competing for buyers. Therefore sellers who offer their products at the most competitive price compared to other similar products usually sell quicker and closer to the asking price. If you have a product to sell before you can buy, you are both a seller and a buyer.

Many sellers in today’s marketplace are reluctant to accept contingency offers. A contingency offer is an offer where something must happen before something else can happen. Most generally, this ’something’ is a house must sell before a buyer can buy. Most of us can’t afford to own two residences. A buyer making an offer to purchase subject to the sale of their residence has no negotiating strength. Even if you find a seller willing to accept a contingency offer, the seller almost always insists on the right to continue to show the property to other buyers while you try to sell yours. If the seller finds another buyer whose offer is not subject to the sale of a house you generally are given one to three days to remove the contingency or the other buyer buys the property.

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace. info@kansascityehomes.com www.kansascityehomes.com

Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All KC properties!

Real estate isn’t sold it is bought. Although a Realtors’ performance is often measured by his or her sales, veteran Realtors rarely “sell” real estate. Buyers, whether buying real estate or cantaloupe, buy after a comparative search of competitive [...]]]>  

Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates
Website to see All KC properties!

Real estate isn’t sold it is bought.
Although a Realtors’ performance is often measured by his or her sales, veteran
Realtors rarely “sell” real estate. Buyers, whether buying real
estate or cantaloupe, buy after a comparative search of competitive offerings.
In the case of cantaloupe you look at the skin and look for an orange hue and
press the navel of the fruit and breathe its scent. The purchase of real
property is different in many ways.

Veteran Realtors allow buyers to educate
their senses as to the physical attributes of properties. For some buyers the
orientation of the property is most important. Other buyers may require a
minimum number of bedrooms and baths. Still other buyers may require the
property search stay within a particular school district. Many buyers demand a
numbers analysis of an area before making an offer.

Real estate must “stand on it own two feet”
in the marketplace like any other product. Buyers don’t care what a seller owes
on a property nor should they. When representing a sellet it is your agent’s job to help
you position your properties at a price where the maximum number of
prospects may be exposed to the product. It is often helpful for a seller to
look at your property through the buyer’s eyes.

When representing a buyer it is your agent’s job to
provide you with all pertinent data regarding current sales and
competing properties in the price range the client has instructed your agent to
present. Buyers need input as to market inventory, financing options,
inspection options and negotiating strategies. After gaining the required
insights the buyer is ready to buy. If you feel like you are being sold, give
me a RE/MAX Best Associate a call. 

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling
or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or
913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the
marketplace. info@kansascityehomes.com www.kansascityehomes.com

 Can you imagine renting a car and trying to drive without a license or any instruction? Driving a car takes many hours of experience and training.  If you drive a “stick shift” car, do you remember the first time [...]]]> Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates
Website to see All KC properties!

 Can you imagine renting a car and trying
to drive without a license or any instruction? Driving a car takes many hours
of experience and training.  If you drive a “stick shift” car, do you
remember the first time you tried it?

Selling or buying a home can be a daunting
project if attempted without some instruction. You can place a for sale sign in
your yard and or drive by neighborhoods and stop in to open houses just as
easily as jumping in a car, starting the engine and driving off. The results
however may be ultimately as tragic.

Just as we need a understanding of how to
drive a car BEFORE we drive and an awareness of the laws that govern operating
a motor vehicle, buying or selling a home requires a broad spectrum of
knowledge. Before offering a property for sale, it is necessary to establish a
fair price. Correct pricing involves a thorough search and analysis of all
recently sold and active (on the market) properties in the subject area.

After price is established a marketing plan
is implemented. Buying groups are identified, and then target direct mail
pieces are sent to these prospects. Attempting to sell a home without a
marketing plan is similar to a driving a car without instruction. Buying a home
without assistance may be potentially as foolhardy.

Expertise in financing, contracts, closing
costs, taxation, surveying, database searches and negotiating are a few of the
necessary skills required to successfully buy or sell your home. The knowledge,
training and experience required to sell your home in the shortest amount of
time, for the most money and with as little hassle to you as possible requires
lots of practice. The question of how much can I save by doing it myself may be
better stated as how much can you bear to lose.  

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling
or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or
913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the
marketplace. info@kansascityehomes.com www.kansascityehomes.com

 We hear much about the changing dynamics of real estate marketing and some say the Internet and on line access to all “THE DATA” renders real estate agents powerless.

Hearing and seeing property information is far different than “doing” real [...]]]> Click this text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates
Website to see All KC properties!

 We hear much about the changing dynamics
of real estate marketing and some say the Internet and on line access to all
“THE DATA” renders real estate agents powerless.

Hearing and seeing property information is
far different than “doing” real property. Doing a property and
thereby understanding or eliminating it is defined as inspecting it in person.
This inspection includes seeing, hearing and understanding the property’s
positive and negative features. The culling and narrowing of one’s search for
particular types of properties is definitely enhanced by the consumers’ ability
to jump on the web and pull down property data.

Best Associates in their first meeting with
a new buyer client, utilize our media room to better understand their clients
specific needs. A digital model is built by completing a questionnaire which is
then connected to a central database which houses virtually all available
property inventory in the Kansas City metro area.

The resultant digital model becomes our base
line list of acceptable properties. The model is saved and matches are sought
daily that meet the clients’ needs. By a process of elimination the base list
is either reduced to an acceptable few or eliminated by “doing” each
property.

Real estate agents will continue to be the
eyes and ears of most clients. The awareness and understanding gained by
“doing” properties will never be replaced by cyber tours or virtual
inspections.

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling
or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or
913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the
marketplace. info@kansascityehomes.com www.kansascityehomes.com

The effects of buyer and seller remorse disable people rendering them unable to think clearly. Remorse by definition is anguish caused by a sense of guilt. We all second guess ourselves for whatever reason. However in real estate transactions buyer and [...]]]> Click this
text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All KC properties!

The effects of buyer and seller remorse disable people rendering them unable to think clearly. Remorse by definition is anguish caused by a sense of guilt. We all second guess ourselves for whatever reason. However in real estate transactions buyer and seller remorse may cause legal problems for one or more parties. We know The symptoms of remorse and have identified the best ways for sellers and buyers to avoid or at least minimize the consequences of the condition.

The operative words in the definition of remorse are anguish (or anxiety) and guilt. Anxiety is synonymous with fear and fear lives where lack of knowledge resides. The remorse in real estate transactions often goes beyond fear and the quilt factor generally involves a fear that something has been overlooked.

Fear is a powerful emotion. Buyer and seller remorse occurs most often AFTER all of the legal documents have been signed by all parties. The buyer, seller or both fear that the perceived risks out weigh the perceived potential benefits. Said another  way, one or more parties feel the potential for pain is greater than the potential for pleasure.

We tell clients they WILL feel remorse at some point in their transaction(s). We suggest buyers and sellers expect remorse, prepare for it and set it aside when it occurs. There is a time in every real estate transaction when risk management ends and trust begins. The time to prepare is early and as completely as possible.

The best way we’ve found to avoid remorse in real estate transactions is to acquire as much information about the process as possible. Every client should request copies of each form they may sign during the buying and selling process. Contract forms are not pleasurable reading. An average real estate transaction in the KC Metro area utilizes eleven fifteen contract pages.  Removing the fear of the forms can go a long way toward eliminating or minimizing the potential for remorse.

Before making the decision to buy, sell or both, write a list of positive and negatives. Draw a line down the middle of a  blank sheet of paper and list all the good things on one side of the page and the bad things on the other. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that can happen. Analyze why you want to move. Involve the entire family because input from everyone involved will decrease the chance of remorse. If the positives out way the negatives on your list and a vote is made to move  forward, just do it and don’t look back. When remorse occurs you will be prepared.

Whether
you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX
Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up
to date information about the marketplace today.

After completing all of the paperwork on the purchase or sale of a property a battery of people move into action. Two of the most important activities are the insurance inspection and the survey. Both of these activities are performed [...]]]> Click this
text to return to the RE/MAX Best Associates Website to see All KC properties!   

After completing all of the paperwork on the purchase or sale of a property a battery of people move into action. Two of the most important activities are the insurance inspection and the survey. Both of these activities are performed by different people and are generally completed the week prior to closing. Numerous transactions indicate a need for both buyers and sellers to request these activities be performed as soon as possible after all the pertinent contracts documents are signed by all parties.

Many insurance companies have endured massive losses due to hail, hurricanes and flooding in recent years. One company in particular has endured more loses than others and has initiated a restrictive policy based on their economic model relative to roofing (materials, conditions and installations.)

In a recent transaction, it was discovered the roof was installed eleven years ago without felt underlayment. The building code where the property is located clearly states the roof was installed correctly and that felt underlayment was not required. However, the insurance inspector informed the buyer the roof was uninsurable and advised the client (the buyer) to seek a way out of the contract. The seller elected to call another insurance agent to inquire as to the insurability of their roof. The seller’s agent assured all parties the roof was not only insurable but in sound condition. Fortunately these
discrepancies were discovered nearly a month prior to closing and to date the transaction is back on course.

In another recent transaction an encroachment was discovered by a survey crew 24 hours prior to closing. The encroachment was a power easement that encroached on the apron of an in ground pool. As it turned out the title company agreed to insure the buyer for “forced removal” and the parties agreed to proceed .

The message is if it can happen it will. Both buyers and sellers should get all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted as early as possible.

Whether
you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX
Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up
to date information about the marketplace today.

If you are selling a property and buying another, the first and most important consideration is to determine when you will receive the proceeds from [...]]]> Almost always one or both parties to the contract want the weekend to make their physical move. There are several things
to consider when determining the closing and possession dates on your contract.

If you are selling a property and buying another, the first and most important consideration is to determine when you
will receive the proceeds from the sale of your present property. Most people need the proceeds from their present property to use toward the closing of their next property. If your buyers close on a Friday it is difficult and sometimes impossible to receive your proceeds until the following Monday.

The time to determine the closing logistics is at contract negotiation time. If you need to make the physical move over the
weekend it is best to arrange the closing of your present property in the early part of any week. This will allow for normal closing glitches, transfer of funds and most importantly will allow you to close on your next property. If you are moving out of state or renting weekends may not be important to you.

Most contracts close near or at the end of a month. If you rent it is wise to bear in mind that you often must be out of
your rental by no later than the last day of the month or pay another months rent. Many leases contain a notice provision which 30 to 60 days notice prior to moving. Read your lease thoroughly to save your deposit and help you plan you move effectively.

Most lenders make a forty-five to sixty day loan commitment at their best rate. A closing outside of the forty-five or
sixty day window may cost you additional closing costs and or a higher interest rate. The key again is planning well in advance.

When negotiating possession dates it is wise as a seller to allow yourself enough time to receive your proceeds, close on
your next property and receive possession quick enough to allow the physical move out of your present property and move-in to your next property In some cases both parties want the weekend to move and the weekend is split where
possession is given at 5 PM on a Saturday. In rare cases one party moves out the front door and the new owner moves  in
through the garage door. Sellers on occasion ask to “rent back” their own property to allow time to move to their next property or for completion of their new home.

Closing and possession times and dates need considerable thought. Planning ahead will save you time and money to say
nothing of the prospect of having a nice weekend.

Whether you’re thinking about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates 800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date information about the marketplace.  

As a buyer, before you make an offer, ask for copies of every document necessary to complete your purchase. If you take the time early in the process to read all the legal contract language your thoughts will [...]]]> Once you make the decision to
buy or sell or both, the scout creed of always being prepared will serve you
well.

As a buyer, before you make an
offer, ask for copies of every document necessary to complete your purchase. If
you take the time early in the process to read all the legal contract language
your thoughts will neither be inhibited nor delayed when you are ready to make
an offer. You must also fiscally prepare yourself. Ideally, you should have a
loan approval letter from your lender of choice. You might be surprised how
many credit report clichés exist. Credit reporting issues are far easier solved
sooner than later.

As a seller you must prepare the
product you are selling. Try to look at your property through the buyer’s eyes.
Ask yourself the hard questions. These are the same questions you will ask as a
buyer if you are selling and buying. A thorough investigation of how similar
properties are priced and sold is required to prepare your product for market.
Then, you simply need to prepare yourself for the process of showing your
product.

Easy Right? Maybe, however it is
more likely a little assistance will go a long way toward maximizing you
preparedness. The more you anticipate potential problems and take the necessary
solution steps the more enjoyable the selling and buying process can be. There
comes a time in every real estate transaction when risk management ends and
faith begins. Be prepared.

Whether you’re thinking
about buying or selling or seeking information, rely on RE/MAX Best Associates
800-391-BEST(2378) or 913-345-BEST(2378) to provide accurate up to date
information about the marketplace. info@kansascityehomes.com realestate-matters.com