Words for Thought

"In Life, it's Important to Know 

When to stop Arguing with People 

& Simply Let Them be Wrong."

"I Fear the day that Technology will surpass

our Human interaction.

The World, will then, have a Generation of Idiots."

(Albert Einstein)

"Complaining about a problem 

without posing a solution

is Called Whining."

(Teddy Roosevelt)

Should a Seller be able to get Credit Information on a potential buyer?

Question: My Realtor placed my offer on a house with a pre-approval and 20 percent down. The selling agent called my loan officer to ask for my FICO score, how much money I have in the bank and other personal questions so she can run the info with her seller. My loan officer did not give any info except that I am a really good, serious buyer with A+ credit. Was the listing agent out of bounds with such questions?

Answer: There's a complexity within your question that needs to be addressed.

The listing agent wants to assure that any would-be purchaser is financially qualified to buy the property. The reason is that the owner (and the agent) do not want the property tied up for weeks with a buyer who is ultimately unable to close. Such a delay might mean the loss of a qualified buyer. Also, there may be competing offers for the property so the owner will want to consider the financial strength of the bidders since it does no good to accept a high offer from someone who cannot complete the sale.

In the usual case the buyer's agent provides a financial qualification statement or a letter from a lender. Neither is an absolute guarantee of financing, but both are useful.

Even though this personal information is considered private, the seller of the transaction needs to know that their buyer has an excellent chance to close the deal. Sellers also have packing to do, movers to schedule, and a new home to buy. Remember, too many Real estate deals fall apart due to a poor prequalification of the buyer, or information the buyer failed to disclose to their lender at the time of prequalification.

What the lender told the listing Broker in your case, should be enough information for a seller to feel they have a well-qualified buyer. What the lender could also have said is that his judgment was based on your ability to put down 20 percent plus his review of your A+ credit report. In other words, the lender cannot reveal the contents of the credit report but he can at least say that his analysis is not based on fantasy.

Halloween Stories

Question: You have been showing houses for a lot of years. Any spooky stories to share?

Answer: There was an old two-story house in my area that was on the market for a long time—a real fixer-upper in a hot neighborhood. It was eerie: Floors weren’t level, squeaky steps, the works. When I was inside, I felt like someone was watching me, and it wanted me to leave. It was when I noticed a light in the basement, so I calmly walked right out ... because the house had no electricity. 

Next two stories were told to me by Realtors in my office: During a showing, we walked into a vacant foreclosure that I thought no one else was showing at the time. There was no car in the driveway and no sign of anyone present. As we opened the front door, two men were coming down the staircase from upstairs—one wearing a long black robe like a priest would and a necklace with a huge cross. He had dark hair and a long, dark beard. The other man, whom I’m guessing was his agent, walked behind him. We all cordially greeted one another, and they walked out the back door. We never saw them get into a car or walk down the street. They just seemingly disappeared. My buyer never lets me forget that house and tells everyone that story. 

There was a bed set up in the main area of the basement. No one appeared to be home, but when we went downstairs the lights were on and music was playing. We noticed that there was someone under the covers of the bed. I said ‘Hello’ more than once but did not approach the bed. The person didn’t move, and it was clearly the silhouette of a person. So we quickly got out of there.

I was showing a townhouse. Everything was normal as we went through the house, nothing out of the ordinary until we got to the third bedroom. It was loaded with glass aquariums filled with spiders — nothing but spiders, everywhere you looked. And I'm not talking regular spiders either, they were tarantulas, wolf spiders — the big ones. It was like a room at a museum. Either the owner was a scientist or hoping to be the next Peter Parker. My clients didn't even consider the house.

The New Mr & Mrs Matthew Higgins

Married 9-28-19

Why are you Entitled?

Should Agents Coerce buyers to buy a Home

Question:  My home is currently for sale.  We are getting a lot of showings, but don’t think my real estate agent is doing enough to get these buyers to write an offer on my home. What is your opinion?

Answer:  Not quite sure what the problem is here. Your Realtor is marketing your home properly because you are getting a lot of showings. In order to sell your home, you need buyers to see it. You said: “Doing enough to get the buyers to make an offer on my home?”  A good real estate agent should answer all the buyer’s questions, point out the negatives and positives, but allow the buyer to make the final decision on a particular home. There should be no coercion by the agent.                                                                                                                                                               

The only problem I see is if you are getting a lot of showings with no offers, then your home price is probably too high. For example, if you go to the clothing store and are looking to buy a sweater and find that a similar sweater is less expensive and a better value at another store, you are going to that other store to buy it. Same goes with a home purchase. Buyers will purchase the home they feel offers the best value. The home with the best value will sell before the other homes. I would suggest stopping the blame game and sit down with your Realtor and look at how your home’s Value compares to other homes for sale.

Great Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide

From our Friends at Burnet Title:

Uses for Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

Boost Your Laundry

No need to buy those expensive commercial laundry products that have the words "oxy" in them and promise to whiten your clothes. Simply add a cup of hydrogen peroxide to your washing machine. when doing a load of whites. The hydrogen peroxide will also deodorize clothes and remove stains. You can pour it directly on stains but do a color-fast test first if you're applying to darker clothes.

Kill Mold and Mildew

Hydrogen peroxide kills bacteria, but it also dispatches fungi such as mold and mildew. So grab a spray bottle of hydrogen and spray your bathroom fixtures, floors, walls, humidifier, dehumidifier, even your shower curtain. That fizzy sound will tell you it's working.