Frequently Asked Questions
Open Houses
Question: Do you recommend open houses
for all houses?
Ed's Advice:
- $500,000 or higher homes. I don’t believe
in open houses on estates valued at $500,000 or higher. You don’t
want just anyone to go through your home. I recommend that only
pre-approved buyers have access to your home through private
showings.
- All other homes, I leave it up to the seller. If you want open
houses, I will schedule them.
House Inspections
Question: Do
you recommend that a seller get a home inspection before listing
their home?
Ed's Advice:
- It depends. Normally, I don’t recommend that a seller
get a home inspection before listing their home for two reasons:
- It is an unnecessary expense if the home does not sell
- Different home inspectors catch different things and it does
not assure that there will be a clean inspection when done
by the buyer.
- However, if there is a questionable item, such as a roof that
may not pass inspection, then it is best to go ahead with the
inspection and make the repairs to assure a better chance of
a smooth transaction when a buyer is interested.
Ed has access to the names of many reliable contractors
who will do a fine job of correcting the situation.
Pricing Your Home
Question: What is your
philosophy on pricing houses?
Ed's Advice:
- The biggest mistake that real estate professionals
make is to price a house too high. Then it stays on
the market too long and people begin to wonder what is wrong
with it. You end up bringing the price down in the long run
anyway and in the meantime, you risked losing some interested
buyers early on.
- I believe in pricing the house to sell -- basing the selling
price to the Comparative Market Analysis (CMP), to assure you
get fair market value.
Getting Pre-Approved
Question: Is there
an advantage to getting pre-approved with a mortgage lender?
Ed's Advice:
- Yes! This is the most important thing a prospective home buyer
can do – getting pre-approved with a mortgage lender.
Getting pre-approved will:
- Tell you how much of a house you can afford, so you don’t
waste your time looking and finding a dream house only to find
out that it is not within your budget.
- Give you a negotiating tool by making you a stronger buyer.
If there are two bids on a home – one from a pre-approved
buyer, such as yourself, and another from a non-preapproved
buyer, you will have a stronger chance of winning the bid – even
with a lower offer!
For example, if you are pre-approved for $300,000 we can
look at houses in the $250,000 to $325,000 range. Being pre-approved
allows us to negotiate a higher price down or perhaps I can find you
something that meets your needs for less.
Still Have Questions?
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