Tony & Darcy - The C Team's Blog

You have looked on the internet, driven through the neighborhoods in town and you are ready to buy a house. You are in the process of choosing a Real Estate Agent to help you buy that house.  Make sure that your agent does some things to assist you in buying a house.  Does your agent help you find the best house in the neighborhood with the schools and other ammenities that you want.  Does he even show you houses that fit your needs and wants? or does he just show you his own listings?

Does your agent help you determine a correct offer price with the appropriate contigencies?  Does he explain what a contingency is?  Does he use a Competetive Market Analysis to help you determine an offer price, or does he just tell you that in his opinion it is worth $XXX.  Does he tell you that he always makes his offers a percentage of the sales price, even when the sales price is already a great value?  I am not saying that he shouldn't try to get you the best price, but he should be able to tell you whether you are getting value for your offer price.

Does your Agent negotiate the final contract?  Or does he disappear once the offer was submitted?  

Does your Agent help you understand why it is important to have a home inspection done by a licensed, professional inspector?  Why Uncle Earl's opinion may not be your best option?  Does he explain the deadlines in the contract to you, and helps you make those deadlines.  Does he go with you to closing?  Does he have your interests at heart?  

These are all important things to consider when you hire an agent to help you buy a house.  Please choose a Realtor, they have sworn to uphold a Code of Ethics that is pretty strict and explicit.  Ask questions.  Make sure that your agent is qualified and knows what he or she is doing.  This is the largest, most expensive purchase that most people make in their lives, so get a professional to help you do it correctly and as easily as possible!

If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Cedar City, Utah; please give us a call.  We would love to earn your business!

You want to sell your house, whether it is is Cedar City, Utah or Anywhere Else, USA; does your real estate agent Provide you with a complete Competitive Market Analysis or CMA?  This will give you an idea of what your home will likely sell for and you will know that as of the day that the CMA was complete what your competition is.  It is vitally important that you have this valuable tool to correctly price your home!

Does your agent market your home to the most qualified buyers?  Does your real estate agent use the Internet, sign, print and any other effective media possible to market your homes?  Do they make sure that only buyers that have been prequalified view your home?  This is important for your marketing time and your security.

Does your agent sell homes as quickly and painlessly as possible, and for the highest possible price?  Anyone can give homes away, professionals sell them!

Does your agent negotiate all offers for you?  Do they help you with all of the disclosures, inspections, and contracts that are necessary?  Do they have a clue what they are doing?  

If your agent isn't doing at least these things for you, it may be time to find another agent to sell your house for you!  

If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Cedar City, Utah; give us a call.  We would love to earn your business!

1. Keep it real.  Understand that the perfect house may not exist in the city that you're looking to buy in.  That's okay, find something that meets your needs and wants then make it perfect!

2. Decide what you want prior to going out and looking at homes.  Know what style you want, how large the house is that you want, how much yard do you want.  How many bedrooms, how old of a home are you willing to buy. Are you interested in a complete turn key, or do you want a fixer upper?  All of these basic questions should be answered before you enter a house to look at it.  With the volume of homes on the market, this will help you and your agent narrow your search down to a managable number of homes.

3. Put your finances in order.  We have all seen the "Free Credit Report.com" commercials.  This is important, pay down your credit cards, and decrease your debt to income ratio.  These should help increase your credit score.  Do NOT decide that it is a good time to get a new car or boat while you're in the process of qualifying and buying a new house.  Wait until after you have moved in to your new house to begin to make these purchases! By all means, Do NOT open or take on new lines of credit while you're in the process of buying a house, don't even shop so that your credit score is pulled.  These can kill your chances of getting your house purchased and closed.

4. Know what you can afford.   Get prequalified by a loan officer or mortgage broker.  This strengthens any offer that you make on a house, it also tells you how much you can afford to spend on a house.  We all want that $ Million Dollar house on the hill with the pool riding stables, and 10 car garage, but the reality is that most of us can afford a 3 bedroom 2 bath tract style home; and that's okay, it will still build equity.

5. Know when you have to move.  Know when you have to report to your new job, when your lease is up or how much longer you can live under the same roof with your parents.  This affects how quickly you need to choose and move, ask if you can do a lease back, or extend your lease a week or so, it is cheaper than staying in a motel!  

6. Know your time frame.  This is different from when you have to move.  Are you buying a starter home that you plan to move from in 5 years, is it a home that you wish to stay in for the rest of your lives?  This knowledge affects they length and type of loans that you may consider as well as what type of house you are looking for.

7. Factor in all the costs of home ownership.  You don't want to be a slave to your mortgage!  You also don't want to have no money left over to decorate, repair or pay for any other emergency that may arrise.  Plus, you do want to save for your future.,

8. Protect yourself.  Make sure that you get a home inspection, done by a licensed, qualified home inspector.  This is what they do for a living, don't ask your brother who's a mechanic, even if he has owned a dozen homes in his life.  Get professional advice on every aspect of the contract, ask for a home warranty from the seller, or offer to split the cost.  This will protect you in case of say a water heater goes out a week after you move in.  Also use a Realtor, they will help you through this process, and their responsibility is to take care of your interests.  They should also know about all the programs that are available to assist you in the purchase of your new home!

9. Enjoy yourself.  If you have done the other 8 things, relax, you have made a great investment if you're willing to spend the time and maintain the home, it will appreciate in value over time.  Also remember the emotional value that a home brings, this may be where your children take their first steps, or are picked up for their first dates.  It is an important purchase, so enjoy it!

If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Cedar City, Utah; give us a call.  We would love to earn your business!

We had a good, yet somber office meeting this morning (I posted the reason for the mood in my previous post). We followed that up with a short office caravan through the new listings that our office has taken over the past week.  One thing that definately stood out was that number of new listings.  Normally, we have a dozen or so new listings to preview, this week we had 4.  

We have one of the if not the top listing office in our area, so I checked the MLS and it isn't just us, it is going on to all of the offices in our area.  Is this a sign that things are normalizing?  Is it a good sign? or is it a bad sign?  I am not sure.  We have a lot of inventory that is still out there so maybe it is a good thing that we aren't taking dozens of listings each week.  It may also mean that more people are not in a position where they have to sell.  Both of these would be good reasons.

I hope it is isn't that those that have to sell have given up hope!  That they just believe that it is better to just leave to the mortgage holder and walk away and those haven't quite gone to foreclosure and hit the market. 

I am really optimistic that things may be normalizing, and that we can begin to sell down our inventory and go back to a healthy market!  What ever the reason is, the fact remains that by next week it may all be different, there may be several new listings next week, and this may be the calm prior to the storm.  One thing about real estate, it is seldom boring!  Make it a great week!

If you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Cedar City, Utah; give us a call.  We would love to earn your business!

Several months ago I wrote a blog about an agent friend whose sister-in-law was killed in a tragic car accident. Leaving the brother of our friend to raise their children (activerain.com/blogsview/273150/life-is-worth-living), the story took a tragic turn for the worse tonight as the brother was also killed in a car accident, their teen aged son was taken by Life Flight.  It is tragic on every level, everyone was wearing a seat belt, the pickup that they were in rolled and killed another person besides the brother of our friend and fellow realtor.  The other person that was killed was a cousin.

So it is with a sad heart that we send this simple message of support to Holly and her family, especially her nieces and nephews.  May the Good Lord be with and bless you from this time forth!

Our prayers are certainly with the family, but I think that we should all give thanks for every day that we have with our loved ones.  We never know just how close the end is for someone.  So I guess what I am trying to say, is that I think that it is a good idea to give your loved ones a hug and let them know how important they are to you, because you just don't know!