Salting around your Home to Melt Ice... Interesting Facts

Interesting General fact:
The rock salt used on roads is the same salt that is used on your dinner table. The larger salt pieces are typically ground down to finer crystals before being placed on your supermarket shelves. Salt is collected by underground salt mines and then processed, packaged and distributed. The largest salt mining company in the United States, American Rock Salt, produces 10,000 to 18,000 tons of salt each day.

Watch how you use it around your Home:
First, you should shovel the area and remove as much of the snow and ice as you can yourself. When you apply the salt, only use it on ice and not on snow. This will require less salt to be introduced to the environment. You can also use 30 percent less salt if you add it to some water before applying it to icy areas. It's also important to keep salt away from your plants to avoid damaging them. The sodium chloride that makes up most salt is toxic to many forms of vegetation, choking out necessary nutrients they need to survive.

How it Works:
Salting roads works by altering the freezing point of water.
Water with a higher salt content has a lower freezing point than water with less salinity.
This accounts for the difference in Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales;
0 degrees C is the freezing point of fresh water, while 0 degrees F is the freezing point of brine solution that Daniel Fahrenheit mixed.
Salting icy roads and walkways lowers the freezing point of the water that forms ice which leads to melting and prevents falling snow or rain from being able to freeze.

Sorry, I guess that's still the Chemist in me.

Question about paying for a Buyers Closing Costs

Question:   My neighbor said he just sold his home but he had to pay the buyers closing costs. No one ever paid for my closing costs. If I didn’t have the money, I didn’t buy it. Why is this allowed?

Answer:    First off, your neighbor did not have to pay for his buyers closing costs. He chose to as part of the negotiations. Your neighbor was satisfied with his bottom line, which is simply the net sales price of the home.  There is no difference whether he paid for his buyers closing costs or simply reduced the sales price by the same amount. The closing costs were taken out of your neighbors proceeds at closing. No money was given to the buyer upfront.  This transaction must be viewed as only a business deal. Keep your emotions out of it.

Times are different now.  Paying a buyer’s closing costs has advantages to the seller and buyer. For sellers, it presents an option in negotiations to help them sell their home.  For buyers, it allows them to either ‘buy down’ their mortgage interest rate or to have extra cash to update the home or make other improvements that may be needed.

A successful business transaction takes place when both parties are satisfied with the deal.  Apparently your neighbor was satisfied or he wouldn’t have accepted the offer.    

Renter thinks renting is better than Buying....We Say No Way!

Question: In this poor housing market, why are people still buying homes? I am renting in an apartment complex and I don't have to worry about any real estate mess.

Answer:  Although real estate moves in cycles, sometimes up, sometimes down, over the years, real estate prices have consistently appreciated. There are bad cycles in every investment. Nothing is great ALL the time. 

One of the greatest benefits of owning your own home is the freedom it can give you. If you live in an apartment, you have to deal with thin walls and noisy neighbors, and the task of keeping your own household relatively noise free. Your landlord may come and go, and there are many rules that limit everything from whether you can have pets to the color of your walls. If you own your home, you can do whatever you want with it. You can hang pictures or paint the walls as you please.

Owning a home provides more control over the children than in an apartment complex. In a neighborhood, kids usually play in the yards or go to friend's house a few doors away. My clients have told me that in an apartment complex they never knew where the kids were. They could be in any of dozens of apartments, doing who knows what. In a house you get to know the neighbors and watch out for each other's kids.

When you first purchase your home, your down payment is your only stake, as you pay down your mortgage, you own more of what may be an increasingly valuable property. This is called equity. Unlike renting where your rent can go up yearly, fixed mortgage payments will stay the same even as the market fluctuates.

Since the days of our country's Founding Fathers, pride of ownership has been a reflection of the value Americans place on freedom and self-reliance. Ensuring the growth of homeownership has always been a major objective of American national policy, dating back to the Homestead Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, which provided ways for settlers to claim public property as their own.  We are happy that you are content in your apartment, but homeownership continues to be the American Dream.

Question:  I have a really nice home and it isn’t selling. I think it’s worth more than I’m asking for it. Any suggestions?

 Answer:  A Sellers Lament:

It’s been 53 weeks since my house went for sale.

My home must be invisible here on Timberline Trail.
Buyers should be coming round after round,
Because I buried St Joseph into the ground.

The Realtor said it needs some cleaning and shining.
And to transfer my energy to updating, not whining.
I’m changing some fixtures and adding new floors,
In hopes to see more buyers come through those new doors.

My plan must be working, more buyers are here.

I can feel it coming, a sale is near.
But another month passed, with no offer in sight,
That light in the tunnel is not looking too bright.

 The Realtor said to lower the price.

Then I told him my thoughts, which weren’t very nice.
I’ll give it some thought, I disgustingly said,
As he left my home, shaking his head.

My house is worth more, I’ve lived here for years.

So many memories and blood, sweat and tears.
But I lowered my price, just as I was told.
And a couple weeks later, my home finally sold.

When Selling, Look at the Whole Picture

Question:   I knew real estate prices in my area dropped, but I was shocked when a Realtor told me how much my home was really worth in this market. Should I wait for the market to boom again?

Answer:   Time marches on, not backward. Waiting for real estate prices to return to pre-recession levels before you put your home on the market, means you don't understand that time only goes forward. Forward from here, there are no real estate booms immediately on the horizon. Yes, we'll see booms again, but wait for the next one, and you'll end up financially behind all those that keep their money moving and multiplying in today's markets. This waiting loss is compounded by the fact that every passing year makes your house one year older. That's "older" in every way from dated decor and appliances to out-of-date plumbing and everything else. This means that, when real estate prices increase, your home will be discounted by the renovation factor - the perceived cost of bringing the house up to current standards. If your resale home does not look "nearly brand-new," buyers see second-hand real estate which warrants a second-rate purchase price.

Look at the whole picture: As a Seller, you can gain in the long run if you buy a home in a location where market values have dropped, just like they have in your current area. It can give you the opportunity to buy your dream home at a big savings. Here's why: Say the market value has dropped 30% in your area, and 30% in the area where you can buy a larger, more modern home with everything you want, then since your new home is worth more than your current home, you are actually coming out ahead! 

The net gain from selling and buying is what should be considered, not just the profit from selling. Often the obvious gain in selling is to be free to take the next step in your life and to move to a new home, ready to start a lot more treasured memories.

Multiple Offer Situations

Question: My son made an offer on a house. If there are multiple offers, how are they handled in a fair manner? If another buyer offers more money, will my son have the chance to up his bid?

Answer:   With multiple offers, the owner (or banks if it’s a foreclosure) usually counter back all parties and ask them to submit their highest and best offer by a particular date and time, giving your son another chance. However, if there’s a clear distinction between the offers, i.e. ‘one is all cash, at or above asking price’ vs a less than asking price, fha loan, perceived as a weaker offer, the owner may very well pick the best offer without countering the other ones. Your son’s agent should be in contact with the listing agent indicating that you would rather see a counter offer than a rejection. But in all cases, if one offer clearly stands out considerably from the rest, that buyer usually ends up getting their offer accepted.

Cash Buyer

Think working with a cash buyer is easy? We received proof of funds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars available in her account. When closing time comes, the Sellers, sellers Realtor and attorney, the closing agent and the Attorneys paralegal have all worked on this closing and are in attendance. But the buyer did not show up. She is busy, has kids to pick up. Can't make it today. Bla bla bla.

After several threatining phone calls to the buyers real estate agent, he calls back to say he doesn't know what is going on, because he hasn't done anything since he showed her the home.  (Side Note..... this is why you want a dependable Realtor like us, who are there for you when there are problems to solve).

The sellers attorney calls the buyers attorney. What is going on? Buyers attorney said her funds are not available today. So he doesn't come to the closing and doesn't let anyone else know about this.

Day 2: Buyer shows up and signs the closing documents but still has no funds available. Sellers attorney calls the buyers attorney. We need to know the truth here. What is going on? The sellers don't know if they should move out or stay. Buyers attorney says he is going to Chase bank with her client tomorrow (Day 3) to see why the funds are not available.

Day 3 (Noon) Still have not heard anything. Makes you wonder how people can be like this. No concern for anyone but themselves. How do you put sellers through something like this without caring?

Lesson learned. Now we as Realtors have seen just about everything. Cash buyers will now need quadruple the usual earnest money if they are cash and want to buy one of our clients homes. Enough is enough!

Frank Lloyd Wright Style Home

We Listed a property in Munster. The Architect, according to the owners son, was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Spectacular, contemporary home that has the feel of a Frank Lloyd Wright Home. Over 7500 sq ft of finished living space on 1.6 Acres. Addition added in 1990. Huge Living & Dining rooms w/ hardwood floors & fireplace. Panoramic windows look onto the pictuesque grounds. Unique Kitchen with Granite counters, Sub Zero refrigerator & Viking Oven-Range. Large windows look onto the front Courtyard. Stunning Family room addition w/ Panoramic windows, fireplace and a roof designed to provide a visible waterfal during rainfall, that splashes onto the rock formation on the side of home. Numerous skylights thruout the home provide a lot of natural lighting. Breakfast patio looks onto the garden & art sculptures.

Check this property out on the Norton Safe Link:

http://www.coldwellbankeronline.com/ID/3289230

We are ready to Purchase our first Home. We have a Question.

Question: We are in our mid 20’s and have been married for a few months. We are ready to purchase a home. Someone advised us that we should purchase a home for near the maximum amount of our preapproval which is $325,000.  What do you suggest?

Answer:  You did not mention who gave you that advice, but we do not know of any reputable Real estate or Mortgage professional who would tell you that! When considering a home purchase, your Family budget must take first priority. Although your home is very important, there is more to life than a home. How about being able to purchase the right things for your family?  How about having a little cash extra to enjoy life? How about the necessity of having savings for an emergency or to reward yourself once in a while for all your hard work?  Money problems are very stressful.

You were approved for that amount based on your income and debts. Sounds like you are in a pretty good financial position. Why mess that up? Remember that there is a fine line between need and desire.

You need to sit down with your spouse and make a family budget. Decide which home mortgage payment fits that budget. Get advice from your parents and a financial adviser. Don’t take advice from anyone unless they are qualified to make those financial  suggestions. Ask your lender what price home fits that monthly payment. Then look at homes in that price range. Keep in mind that a house payment includes homeowners insurance, a tax bill, utilities and possible mortgage insurance.  If you do not like the homes you see in that price range, then do what your parents and grandparents did…...Save more money!

My Wife Changed her Mind about Selling Our Home, After We Sold it!!

Question:   My wife and I are selling our home and now my wife has changed her mind about moving. We have a signed sales contract, with earnest money, between us and the buyer. Is there any way to back out of the sale?

Answer:   To start, sales agreements can fall through due to reasons of financing, condition, title, etc, so the deal could still fall through. However, if the buyer has a valid purchase agreement accepted by both you and your wife, and it sounds like they do, then you are expected to work in good faith to fulfill your end of the agreement.

It may be that the buyer would accept a cash buyout to discontinue the purchase. However, you need to consider that the Brokers involved have found a ready, willing and able buyer and are likely to be entitled to a commission for their work. If you simply refuse to complete the transaction, then the buyers may sue for damages as well as “specific performance,” a requirement to complete the sale. We suggest that you speak to an attorney.

Question: I recently sold my home. The buyers have applied for a loan, but the Broker refuses to give me a copy of the appraisal. As the seller, shouldn’t I get a copy?

Answer:  No. The appraisal was ordered by the lender and paid for by the borrowers. As long as the loan is approved, it’s none of your business. However, if the appraisal comes in below the sales price and the purchaser asks you for a price reduction, you would then be on good grounds to ask for a copy.

 E-mail us your Real estate questions at: Cathyah@aol.com

Q&A: Taking Personal Property with You

Question: I took a few small bushes from my yard because they were given to me by my late Mom. The buyer noticed this and complained that they had to stay. Does certain personal property have to stay with the home when I sell?

Answer:  When selling or buying a home, you need to think ahead about what you are actually selling along with the property and the house.

The general rule is, "if it attached to the structure or the ground, it is real property and stays with the house."

For example, curtains are attached, but will the sellers leave them?

They may match the decor in the seller’s next home. What if they take them and the buyers assumed they would stay?

This can cause a disagreement. Disagreements tend to move from minor issues to major issues, because emotions rule and logic melts away. 

So if you want to take your curtains with you, put it in the contract. Don't "assume" anything.

Buyers and sellers can argue about the silliest things.

Believe it or not, there is a story about how a deal almost fell apart because the buyer wanted the sellers to leave the welcome mat. It must have been a really nice welcome mat. Normally, sellers are free to take their welcome mat with them when they move.

The point is that you need to think about these things in advance. If you have to unscrew a screw, detach anything from the interior or exterior structure, or uproot anything from the ground -- and you want to take it with you when you move -- put it in the contract. That way there are no possible misunderstandings later.

As far as the bushes go, explain to the buyer the sentimental value in these bushes and ask if you can replace them with something else suitable to the buyers.

Gas Prices Around the World

Interesting to see the wide range of Gasoline Prices around the World: 
Chicago: $4.44
Venezuela: $0.10  (yes 10 cents)
Saudi Arabia: $0.45
South Caroline: $3.19
NYC: $3.79
Los Angeles: $3.99
San Francisco: $4.06
Hawaii:  $4.36
China: $4.74
Canada: $4.76
Kuwait: $0.81
Egypt: $1.14
Iran: $2.15
Pakistan: $3.98
India: $5.00
Luxemborg: 6.81
United Kingdom: $8.06
Norway: 9.63
Turkey: $9.89

Here is the article: http://editorial.autos.msn.com/gas-prices-around-the-world-2?icid=autos_4402

Happy Red, White & Blue Thoughts

“A man travels the world over in search of what he
needs and returns home to find it.”
- George Augustus Moore

I don’t know about you, but we are quite sure that we  have the best
job in the world! It’s not an easy job by any means. It takes
dedication, creativity, resourcefulness and a good sense of
humor to do what we do each and every day. But when you
take a step back, you realize that there are not many people
who can say it is their job to help make dreams come true!
So, as we drive through our neighborhood this weekend or
head off to the home of a family member or friend, we will be sure to
pay special attention to the smells from the BBQ grills and the
sound of laughter from children running through a sprinkler
or playing baseball in the street. Listen to neighbors chatting,
dogs barking, lawn mowers humming and marching bands
leading the parade and then we'll take a moment to smile and feel proud
knowing that we have helped a countless number of people
find the place they call HOME!

Wishing each of you a very Happy Red, White and Blue
holiday weekend!

 

Jim & Cathy Higgins

Q & A about Home Inspections

Question: My wife and I are planning on purchasing a home.  We were told a seller has to fill out a property disclosure form on the home. My friend told us that he received a property disclosure statement saying that the roof was new, the A/C was five years old and the furnace was a year old. He was in the home three months and he had to have an HVAC company in to check out a problem with the furnace. They checked the serial number and found out the unit is over 12 years old which puts it near the end of its predictable life.

The disclosure clearly stated that the furnace was only one-year old.  What can I do to protect ourselves from this same potential problem?

Answer:  You should never rely on a seller disclosure.  Why? The most-honest seller on the planet may not have sufficient information or understanding to complete such a form. For instance, if a form asks "does the roof leak" it may be that to the owner the roof does not leak because he has no information to the contrary. Of course, it may also be true that the owner has never been in the attic. The owner in this situation can honestly answer "no" because to him that's the way it is.

Or “does the furnace work properly”? The owner says yes because he doesn’t hear any strange noises and the home heats up well. But What if there is a crack in the heat exchanger? The owner may not know about the crack, but can honestly state that the furnace does what it is supposed to do….heat the home.

As a buyer, you want information about the condition of the property and the only way to get that information on a reliable basis is to have a professional home inspection. When you make an offer to purchase property be sure that it's "subject to" a home inspection which is "satisfactory" to you.

Q.    Are there any positives in this current real estate buyer’s market?

1. There sure are! Think about the whole picture. It always makes good sense to trade up in a buyer’s market. When prices are lower, it’s a one-time shot to get your hands on a bigger chunk of equity. For example, if you sell a $200,000 home at a reduced price of $184,000, you’ve in effect lost $16,000. But, if you immediately turn around & buy a $300,000 home in a different area you will probably come out ahead!  Remember, prices are down in many markets, and interest rates are at historical lows.                                                                       For example: Your Realtor recommends you lower your asking price $5,000 to greatly increase your chance of a sale.  You disagree because you are waiting for a market price increase. So you wait.
Here’s what could very well happen…. The economy is improving; this tends to lead to higher mortgage interest rates.                                                                                                               Say your dream home would require a $200,000 loan, with a current 3.75% interest rate for 30 years. Over the life of the loan you would pay $123,312 in interest.                                        What happens if you delay lowering the sale price and your home takes longer to sell and in the meantime, interest rates rise to 5% ?  You would then pay $186,512 in interest for the life of the loan. That’s an extra $63,200 in interest, which is the difference between a 3.75% & 5%  interest rate over 30 years.

                        Now maybe that $5,000 price reduction doesn’t sound so bad after all!

Good News on Homeownership!

It seems that Americans are continuing to dream of homeownership, at least according to JPMorgan Chase’s recent survey.

A total of 87% of those surveyed said owning a home is something they dream about.
"Owning a home is at the heart of most Americans' dreams," said Kevin Watters, CEO of mortgage banking at JPMorgan Chase. "And people are saving as much as possible to achieve homeownership."

Of those surveyed, 66% believe housing is a good financial investment and 75% see it as a crucial part of raising a family.
"Owning a home will not only give my husband and me pride and roots, but it will also bring pride in my children and respect from my friends and family," said one respondent.

Compared to six months ago, nearly two times as many potential first-time homebuyers are optimistic about being able to put money down on a home over the next six months.

Question & an Answer

Q. My Home is not selling with my current Realtor. You have sold several homes in my area.       Any recommendations?

A. Statistics show that in most current Markets, only the top 8% of the homes are selling, based on Condition, Updating & Price. So the question is, What do I need to do to get my home in the top 8% ?
First off, Since over 90% of the buyers search for their home on the Internet, you must have a powerful home web page that makes your home stand out amongst your competition. Here is an example of a powerful home web page that we use: Click the Norton safe home link:
http://www.coldwellbankeronline.com/ID/2879379

Once you are confident that your home is being marketed to the locations where there are the most prospective buyers, you need to focus on the Top 8% factors.

Condition: Have you kept up with your Home's maintenance? Does it look worn? Need of repair?
Updating: Has your home been updated, remodeled? Does it have the Wow factor?
If you've answered no, or not really to any of these 2 questions, then you have 3 options:
Bring your home up to top condition. (Sorry, but you shouldn't have waited until now)
Update your Home.... new kitchen & baths, etc.
If you do not want to do these factors, then you need to be realistic about your Home price and Lower it!
Unless your home is significantly lower than the competition, whose home is updated and in top condition, it is NOT in the top 8% and it will not sell. You would have to make it well worth the while of a prospective buyer to buy your home over one they can get with the Wow factor!
We see this all the time. If this were a sellers market, then probably the top 50% of the Homes would be selling. But, this is not a sellers market. It is a buyers market.

Remember, when selling, you are in a Price war & a Beauty Contest!
We would be happy to walk through your home and give our opinion on what you need to do to sell your Home and get it into that important top 8%.

Real Estate Q & A

Question: We signed a contract to sell our home contingent on the buyer getting a loan approved and closing by a given date. The buyer did not get the loan and the deal was off.  We started showing the house again but have now found out that the buyers got financing through a different bank and they can close by original deadline. Are we still obligated to close or can we change the contract to better represent our position?

Answer: Whoa. Go back to the part about the "deal was off." Did the buyers agree the transaction was finished? Did they get their deposit back? Or did they simply find a financial bump in the road?   Their offer was fair and acceptable -- otherwise you would not have had a contract. The offer from the   buyers may be the best you'll ever get. Instead of seeking advantage from their difficulty, congratulate them for trying to meet the terms of the agreement and enjoy your check at closing.