Smart Home Buying

By lschottenstein on July 16, 2010

I have a buyer making an offer on a home listed at $650,000 in Blacklick Ohio. It was built 10 years ago for $687,000. The listing agent hints from the beginning that we could probably negotiate a quick deal at $600,000.  Looking at comps and homes for sale the home is a good deal under [...]

By lschottenstein on July 16, 2010

There are different ways home buyers approach home buying. 
Group #1. This group knows it all, they don’t trust agents and want to basically be left on their own.
Group #2. They start shopping around on line, go an open house or two and basically ends up with an agent by stumbling upon someone.
Group #3. The last group takes control of the [...]

By mhogan on July 1, 2010

The Senate approaved the Homebuyer Assistance and Improvement Act (H.R. 5623) giving home buyers who were under contract on a home purchased by April 30th until September 30th to close and claim the tax credit. Without this extension approximately 180,000 homebuyers who had signed purchase agreements would have missed the deadline.

By mhogan on July 1, 2010

For those who wanted to take advantage of the tax credit but missed the opportunity, it may have paid to wait. Reports have shown that with fewer buyers since the expiration, sellers have had to lower their prices to entice them. Although it depends on your price point, some of the decreases in the sales [...]

By lschottenstein on June 7, 2010

I was representing a buyer who was in contract to buy a 1950’s ranch house with an older finished basement, complete with red shag carpet and cheap brown paneling starting to peel off the walls. His plan was to gut the basement and refinish it. During the home inspection we actually saw live termites behind the paneling. [...]

By lschottenstein on May 10, 2010

Most people find a real estate agent by one of the following basic approaches. 
By market size. Agents with a large market share become familiar to you by their shear presence. Buyers and especially sellers are more likely to hire someone they are familiar with and market size creates familiarity. These agents will have their names [...]

By lschottenstein on May 10, 2010

This is a common story in real estate. There is a buyer looking in a specific area of town so he selects a  Top Producing agent specializing in the area. There are twelve listing currently in the buyers  price range and the agent has five of them listed.  As a buyer you are looking to have a buyers agent [...]

By medwards on May 2, 2010

Why Don’t Home Buyers Make Offers on Overpriced Listings?
They don’t want to offend the seller. It goes against human nature to offer substantially less than asking price to a seller. It’s insulting to the seller and embarrassing for the buyer.
Buyers erroneously believe that the seller knows the home is overpriced. They believe that if [...]

By amurphy on April 26, 2010

In a recent analysis, the New York Times recommends that the rent ratio – the purchase price of a typical house divided by the annual rent of a similar house – shows that Columbus’ market favors buying a home over renting one.

The rent ratio for Columbus for 2009 is 16.9 and, as the Times states, “a number well below 20 makes a better case for buying.”

By mnurre on February 27, 2010

BUYER BEWARE!  I recently did a home inspection for a young couple on a home in Columbus, Ohio.  The home was being sold by a lender that had foreclosed on the house.