Understanding how your Credit Works

Credit scores were developed by Fair Isaac and company (FICO). The models created using FICO take all the detailed information about your credit report and produce your credit score using different weights and factors contained in the FICO scoring models.

The purpose of a FICO score is to show how likely you are to become at least 90 days late in making payments in the next 24 months based on patterns in your credit history, compared with patterns of millions of past customers.

Fair Isaac divides the scoring range into five risk categories.

• 780-850 Low Risk
• 740-780 Medium, Low Risk
• 690-740 Medium Risk
• 620-690 Medium High Risk
• 620 and Below High Risk or “Non Prime”

Each of the three major credit bureaus uses their own version of the FICO scoring model. Factors influencing your credit score are:

• Current or late payments
• How late the payments are
• Number of open accounts you have
• How much credit you are using in relation to how much credit you have available
• If there are serious delinquencies on your file like bankruptcy, liens and charge off accounts

Your credit score is a snapshot, in that it is developed at the time of inquiry by a credit grantor pulling your credit file. Your credit score can change with the passage of time as well as with the addition of new information to your credit file. As delinquency information in your file ages, it’s negative affect on your credit score lessens.

Credit Scoring uses the following five areas of information to calculate the score:

• Payment history 35%
• Amounts owed 30%
• Length of credit history 15%
• New credit inquiries 10%
• Type of credit used 10%

It is best to keep balances low on credit cards and other revolving accounts – maintain balances below 50 of the available credit limit. 24 is optimal. The best way to improve your score is to pay down revolving debt.

An inquiry is defined as a request by a lender for a copy of an applicant’s credit report. Inquiries remain on a credit report for two years, but credit scores only look at inquiries in the last 12 months. Your own request for a credit report to review for accuracy is not considered in your credit score.

Apply for new credit accounts only when you need them. Remember that closing accounts does not make them go away. A closed account with a poor payment history may become a more recent account because the date of activity will change. An open account with a low or zero balance is better than a closed account.

HELPFUL WEBSITES FOR YOUR REFERENCE: You can obtain your free annual credit report, without a FICO score, at www.annualcreditreport.com

To contact the credit bureaus:

Experian  1-888-397-3742   www.experian.com

Equifax  1-800-846-5279 www.equifax.com

Transunion  1-800-916-8800  www.transunion.com

DID YOU KNOW??

1. FICO scores are used not only for a mortgage and credit cards, but for auto loans, insurance and utilities.
2. Credit reports reflect charge offs or collection accounts for up to 7 years, and bankruptcies for up to 10 years.
3. You can order a free credit report annually, at no charge, without impacting your credit score.
4. Having a minor balance without missing a payment is better than closing an account.
5. Paying off an old collection may result in a drop in your credit score.
6. Consolidating credit cards increases your ratio of debt to available credit and lowers your score.
7. Using the maximum amount on a credit line can drop your score by 100 points.

For more information regarding financing or the economy, please call or email me at any time.  I can be reached via email at Bill’s Email or call me at 978-273-3227.

Bill Nickerson Training for the Pan Mass Challenge

 

10 Tips for First Time Homebuyers

1.  Be picky, but don’t be unrealistic.  Your first home may need a little work, some paint, carpet and perhaps some other updates.  Remember, this is your first home and the first step in investing in your future. Don’t avoid a home because it has bright pink walls or ugly floors.  Do avoid a home that may have structural damage such as rotted sills.

2.  Do your homework before you start looking.  Look online, work with a Real Estate Agent and begin the process of what style homes you like, neighborhoods and most important, the price range.

3.  Get your finances in order. Organize your bank accounts by having all of your funds in one or two different accounts.  Review your credit to make sure any and all accounts are up to date.

4.  Don’t wait to get a loan; Get pre-approved.  Call me today, 978-273-3227, get approved ahead of time to make sure you are properly prepared and you are realistically looking in the right price range. This is a free service!

5.  Don’t ask too many people for opinions.  Just because your best friend bought and sold 3 houses, does not make them an expert.  Ask the professionals that do this everyday.

6.  Decide when you could move. Set realistic time frames of how quickly you could move into your new home.  In the case of home purchases, some transactions can happen in as little as 30 days and some can take up to 6 months, you need to be prepared.

7.  Think long-term. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Are you buying to be in a good school system? Closer to work? Close to the City?  Figure out what is important to you today, will these wants/needs still be important in 10 years?  It’s ok to buy a starter home and then re-evaluate in 5 or so years.  This is an investment and it’s your future.

8.  Don’t let yourself be “House Poor”.  Don’t over buy, your first home does not have to be 5000 square feet. You want to make sure you can still live your life and afford to go out to dinner.

9.  Don’t be naive. If you have never swung a hammer, don’t by a fixer upper. Do your homework on what updates to a home cost before purchasing a home that may need TLC.

10.  Get help from a real estate agent. This is your best resource for your home purchase. To be properly “matched” up, call me as I work with real estate agents all over and can refer you to one that best suits your needs.

Bottom Line:  Being a first time home buyer can be a scary uncertain time in your life, seek help from trained professionals to get the best most up-to-date information.

At Merrimack Mortgage, our mortgage programs are designed to assist the many different needs of each unique individual’s needs.

Call or email me today to find out how I can assist you in financing a new home or refinancing your current one. 

Bill Nickerson NMLS#4194   179 Great Road, Acton MA 01720

Phone: 978-273-3227     Bill’s Email       Bill’s Website

National Open House Weekend April 20 and April 21, 2013

Did you know it is National Open House Weekend?  The National Association of Realtors is expecting to sell almost 10% of the current inventory. With lots of homes on the market and great low rates, this spring market is turning out to be fantastic!  This weekend real estate agents from around the area will be hosting open houses as part of the national Open House Weekend.  The Open House Weekend provides a great opportunity to visit some of the many homes in your local area while learning more about homeownership from a professional real estate agent.  Be sure to take advantage of this weekend and attend some of the open houses in your area!

Call me today to see the closing cost credits you are eligible for!!   

Need a realtor? Call me.  Need a real estate attorney?  Call me.  Need a mortgage or pre-approval?  Call me.  Have financing questions?  Call me.  Bill Nickerson 978-273-3227

Or send me an email at bill@billnickerson.com  If you need to apply online, visit my website at www.billnickerson.net

What is a Business Cycle?

The “Books” say an average business cycle is 44.4 months and we have lived through many of them. Some longer than that and some as short as a season in New England.  A business cycle is like the exhibit from our youth…“What makes an ocean wave, wave” at the New England Aquarium.  In the exhibit, you get to move the wave with a lever and if you move the lever too much you have to pull it back as the wave comes crashing down…and again, you go too far the other way and the wave crashes in the other direction.  It’s impossible to control an ocean wave.  So here we are now in the middle of a business cycle “The Ocean Wave”. 

As Americans we do the same thing.  When we feel confident and wealthy, we tend to spend a little too much; perhaps buy a car that has all the bells and whistles or buy the  house we all dreamed of or even dined at the newest expensive restaurant we’ve never been to… building up that ocean wave.  We did this as a nation and created a very large wave.  We are in the “Trough” of the business cycle which is like a dead calm in the sea.  Nothing moves.  We are paralyzed by our own actions and cannot find a direction to get back…there is just no wind for our sails.  As individuals, we are going through our own personal process of what will get us back on track.  In some cases, we cancel our vacations, limit the activities our children participate in at school or even bring lunch every day.  By drastically cutting our spending, we have moved the “wave” too far in the other direction thus hurting the economy even further.  Not only have we given up those fancy dinners…we are not even going to the local diner for the blue plate special.

Consumer confidence is measured at an all-time low today and we are letting our emotions and fear govern our decisions and actions.  The News Media has the ability to heighten this fear by focusing on the negative and over emphasizing the issues at hand.   As FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is Fear itself”.  This speech was given in 1933 in the middle of one of the biggest bank panics of the century which followed the Stock Market Crash of 1929.  There was a “RUN” on the banks where consumers wanted to withdraw all of the cash they had in the banks for fear it would be gone.  The banks had lent this money out for loans, mortgages etc. and the banks quickly ran out of cash.  FDR implemented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation “FDIC” that to this day insures our deposits up to $250,000.  This speech did spark a generation as well as the economy, and it was backed by a plan of how to get us moving as a country.  Today, we do not look up to our leaders.   And as of this moment, we do not have a plan of how to get out of the economic turmoil we are in.  So as a strong country, we must take matters in our own hands and move ahead…full steam ahead.

We are in a very unique situation in the economy: Mortgage rates are creating new historical lows every day, house prices are nearing levels of value we have not seen since 2004.  As we always do, we will look back on this day and say, “I wish I had bought that home, or vacation house or even that investment property”.  Trust me; it happens every time we go through these business cycles.  As I mentioned earlier, we are letting our emotions govern our business decisions.  That is not allowed in business.  It’s business and there is no crying in business!!  Remember the saying “Buy Low and Sell High”.  This is not just some catch phrase.  It is a sound business decision that should be followed regardless of your emotional ties. 

So what do we do now? 

·         Keep spending but in a healthy way.  Make sound buying decisions based on needs versus wants.  By putting some money back into the economy, we will slowly recover.

·         Look to your advisers!!  Not your friends or family, but your financial advisers.  This would be the person that handles your investments, your banking, and your estate.  These are professionals that do this time and time again all day every day. 

·         Be patient.  Throughout history we have experienced turbulent times in the business cycle.  And we have pulled out of it.  In the words of Warren Buffett, “Americans are in a cycle of fear which leads to people not wanting to spend and not wanting to make investments, and that leads to more fear. We’ll break out of it. It takes time.”

For information regarding home financing or the economy, please contact me at     Bill@billnickerson.com   or    978-273-3227

How Do We Get the Message Out that Mortgages Are NOT Car Loans?

Here is an interesting article written by Brian Koss of Mortgage Network, Inc. Find out what’s really going on with the industry.

There was a time in the late 90’s when all the focus was on getting the manufacturing of mortgages to mirror the manufacturing of car loans. The idea was that technology was the answer, formulas in black box models held all the answers. By eliminating expensive underwriters, appraisers and loan officers, the process would be cheaper and faster. By 2005 we were there with AUS running AVMs with online applications. A good FICO at a low LTV with “green light” and you could close tomorrow with a notary and title rundown.

Whiplash! We have gone so far back our necks are aching! Not only are we thoroughly underwriting files with every piece of FULL documentation. We are auditing and post-closing the file prior to close! 90% of the loans done today are Government loans, some of which involve Government hands touching the loan — RD underwrites, FHA Condos, VA appraisals, State Bond final approvals, FHA new construction, etc. So control is not always in the hands of even the largest lenders. This is not about broker v.s. lender; this is about double and triple checking to ensure the best chance of no buyback or compliance violation.

All trust and common sense has left the industry. By having a mortally wounded Fannie/Freddie backed into the corner as your primary lending source, it is liking forcing you into an abusive relationship. You keep coming back home but flinching every time you take a loan. This behavior cascades as it runs through the chain of lenders of every size. Add to that an unreadable and unimplementable regulatory position with an unforgiving prosecutorial mindset enforcing it, and you have a catatonic state that smothers creativity and automation. So the concept of applying for the car loan at the dealer with a mini-app and receiving a “greenlight” on a Saturday is beyond dead.

Ironically, the demand for those parties who were trying too be eliminated — good underwriters, good loan  officers, and good appraisers –has never been stronger. But you must be well licensed and thoroughly designated. If you are not a Govie expert or certified or insured etc you are not in demand. It is a new land for professionals. Professionals can also do miracles and handle emergencies well. What they will refuse to do is nothing but miracles and emergencies.

So why haven’t the Realtors been able to receive, understand and comprehend this message about the changing of our business? Why do they continue to demand unrealistic dates for their transactions? Maybe its because mortgage people are too afraid to discourage or refuse the demand to close that RD loan in 27 days or the FHA condo in 5 weeks or the 4 person investment deal in a month. Maybe, because we are afraid that if we tell them we don’t want to take that deal with the unrealistic closing dates we fear they take that as we can’t?

The fact is that we CAN do it; Hell we have closed in a few days if MDIA allows! It’s the question of protecting a deposit in case it doesn’t close and of course the managing of expectations. Every borrower says “Just do what you say you are going to do when you say you are to do it.” Why would anyone go into a transaction promising something they can’t deliver? If we were a builder we would be sued for negligence and bait and switch, but we allow ourselves to be pushed into it. That is our own fault as an industry. All the risk is ours and the customers. Their deposit is at risk and we are left with a rushed poorly manufactured loan with all the reps and warrants for the life of the loan. CRAZY!

I believe that the professional realtors out there would change their approach if they understood what they were asking for. I believe that the large majority of deals do not have to close as fast as they are requested. Its “wants v.s. needs”. We can assess each deal and let it be known up-front if the dates are realistic. But the threat of “if you cant meet this date, I’ll find someone who will” isn’t the right answer. The current and future regulatory environment wants the borrower to not be rushed and believes that 60-90 days is the right time to close. This is not your lender talking but your government on behalf of the borrower. So unless there is change in Washington don’t hang Main St. lenders out to dry….  (part 2 coming…)

Bill Nickerson NMLS #4194

Merrimack Mortgage Company     179 Great Road Acton MA 01720

Do I Really Need Title Insurance?

Title insurance is one of the important and least understood aspects of a real estate transaction. There are two types of title insurance; lenders’ coverage and owners’ coverage. Title insurance protects the lender and the owner against all types of title defects and also covers issues such as zoning, access, and protects the lender and owner against frivolous claims against title by providing legal defense against such claims.

In Massachusetts, a real estate attorney examines title to a property and must certify title to the lender and owner. However, this certification is based only upon a fifty year title search and is based only on the documents that are recorded at the Registry of Deeds.  There are many situations where an attorney has done his or her job perfectly, and yet title issues could exist. For instance, if there is a forgery in the chain of title or if there is an heir who was erroneously omitted from a probate notification, title to a property could be defective.  Additionally, if a document is improperly indexed at the Registry of Deeds or if a signatory to a deed is a minor or is incompetent, this could also make the title defective. These defects are called hidden defects and this is what makes title insurance so important to protect one’s interests.

The lender’s title insurance is required in practically every closing.  It is a common misconception on the part of buyers that if there is a lender’s policy in place, the owner’s policy adds little value, particularly where the mortgage is a high loan to value mortgage.  In fact, the lender’s policy does not protect the owner at all, as it only comes into play if the property is foreclosed by the lender and the lender is then unable to resell the property due to a defect.   In recent years, owner’s policies have saved the day when documents such as mortgage discharges and mortgage assignments have not been properly recorded at the Registry of Deeds, and the title insurance companies have provided the necessary assurances and guarantees to allow the closing to take place.

Each buyer should consult with his or her attorney to learn more about the costs and benefits of title insurance.  All title insurers provide a substantial discount when the lender’s policy and the owner’s policy are purchases simultaneously.

Courtesy of: 

Mark L. Scheier Esq.

Scheier & Katin P.C., Acton MA

MScheier@skactonlaw.com

Pumpkin Patches and More

I love autumn in New England!  The colors, the apple picking, Halloween and the pumpkin carving.  I’ve included some information on how to make your carved pumpkin last longer.  Also check out this link, Pumpkin Patches & More, for great local pumpkin patches, recipes and the history of Halloween.

How to Preserve Your Carved Pumpkin to Make It Last Longer!

A little simple Halloween magic with household items will make your Jack O’ Lantern last a week longer!

Did you carve a great pumpkin last year only to have it rot days before Halloween? Here’s how to preserve and protect it!

What causes the pumpkin to decay?

There are several primary causes heartbreak of “pumpkin rot”

• The intact skin of a pumpkin protects it until you carve it.  But then various organisms (fungi, bacteria, molds, fungi, protozoans, insects – scientifically know as “those little buggers!”) can get inside and start to break it down.
• Oxygen in the air can also easily enter and break down the pumpkin (oxidation).
• Simple dehydration (drying out) will will begin the moment the pumpkin is carved.

All of this will turn your carved young happy pumpkin face into a sad old man in several days time!

How to stop pumpkin aging:

Get Dad’s Rogaine and Mom’s Botox…. no, just kidding!  What we need to do is

• Sterilize the pumpkin’s carved surfaces (to kill fungi, mold, bacteria, bugs)
• Seal the surfaces to prevent drying and to keep out new “little buggers” and reduce drying

Essentially, we’re going to embalm your Jack O’ Lantern, just like the ancient Egyptians did their mummies! (Hey, maybe they practiced on pumpkins!)

Here are the simple steps:

1. Make a bleach solution of1 tablespoon of bleach (typical brand name “Clorox) per quart of water and put it in a spray bottle.
2. Remove dirt: Wipe the exterior surfaces of the pumpkin clean using a damp cloth.
3. Spray the pumpkin inside and all cut areas of the pumpkin with the solution.  This will kill much of the surface bacteria and mold that cause rotting.
4. Let it penetrate and dry for about 20 minutes
5. Next, rub all of the carved or cut surfaces with petroleum jelly. This will keep out new bacteria and molds as well as dramatically reduce the dehydration!
6. Wipe away excess with a paper towel!
7. Now, keep your pumpkin out of direct sunlight and try to keep it as cool as possible (but above freezing!) and you should get at least a week’s enjoyment out of it! Then when it’s time to go, you can employ several thousand laborers to build a giant pyramid in your backyard to entomb your Jack O’Mummy!

My New Radio Gig

I’ve always wanted to be on the radio.  Host a show or be a DJ playing the hottest and best music!  Well, last month I got to be a guest speaker on a radio talk show called, The Friends of Kevin Radio Show.   The show airs on WSMN in Nashua on Mondays from 11am to 12pm.  The topics in this segment that I spoke about were the importance of being pre-approved for a mortgage and the process of getting pre-approved. Check out the segment by clicking on the link below.

Radio Show segment from Friends of Kevin

Please contact me for more information regarding  home financing or the economy.                Bill@billnickerson.com    978-273-3227

My Personal Passion: The Pan Mass Challenge

Bill Nickerson

In 11 days I will be riding in my 9th PMC, raising funds for The Dana Farber/Jimmy fund.  I’m very excited to have the opportunity to once again ride for a great cause!  Please help me, help them by donating to my ride this year.  Click the link to Donate to Bill’s ride.  Thank you for helping to make a difference!  Ride On Baby!!

To learn more about this great cause, I have enclosed some basic information about the Pan Mass Challenge.  Please see below.

About the PMC:
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is an annual bike-a-thon and a pioneer of the athletic fundraising industry that today raises more money for charity than any other single event in the country. The organization was founded in 1980 and has since raised $338 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund. The PMC is a model of fundraising efficiency. The PMC donates 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar directly to the cause. In 2011, the PMC generated 60 percent of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue and it was Dana-Farber’s single largest contributor. Over 230,000 individual contributions were made to last year’s fundraising campaign. In 2012, PMC cyclists will ride with the goal of raising $36 million for Dana-Farber.

Click to Donate

The Ride:
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is a fully supported bike-a-thon — with food and water stops, mechanical and medical assistance, luggage transportation, and lodging — that runs through 46 towns across Massachusetts. Approximately 5,500 cyclists ride in the event. Cyclists choose from 11 routes of varying mileage designed to cater to all levels of cycling strength and fundraising ability. There are six two-day routes that range from 153 to 190 miles and five one-day rides that range from 25 to 110 miles. In 2012, cyclists are required to raise between $500 and $4,300 to ride in the PMC, depending on the chosen route.

When:
The 33nd annual PMC is Aug. 4 and 5, 2012. The ride has two starting lines on Saturday, Aug. 4, in Sturbridge and in Wellesley, and five finish lines in Provincetown (2), Bourne, Wellesley or Sharon on Saturday, Aug. 4 or Sunday, Aug. 5.

Bill Nickerson

Who:
Cyclists travel from 36 states and eight countries to ride in the PMC. Nearly 300 riders are cancer survivors or current patients. Some PMC cyclists are weekend warriors, others are trained triathletes. Most PMC participants ride in honor of a family member or friend fighting the disease. Cyclists range in age from 13 to 88. The average PMC cyclist is 45 years old, trains for three months, solicits 40 sponsors, and raises more than $6,000. During PMC weekend and throughout the year, more than 3,000 volunteers donate their time and 200 corporations provide over $4 million in products and services. The PMC was founded in 1980 by Billy Starr, who remains the event’s executive director, an annual cyclist and a fundraiser. It is presented by the Red Sox Foundation and New Balance.

YEARS RIDERS VOLUNTEERS DONATION
1980 – 1989 4,968 1,778 $3,665,800
1990 – 1999 16,668 11,921 $38,750,000
2000 – 2009 39,972 22,575 $227,200,000
32 Year Total 71,955 42,244 $338,000,000
2012 GOAL $36,000,000

SELLERS: 5 Musts for Generating Multiple Offers

Selling your home?  Interested in getting multiple offers on your home?  Check out this article from Trulia blogger Tara.

As you might have heard by now, multiple offers are the new black. Well – kind of; if your own home is on the market or soon to be, it can seem like you break your back to prepare your home and it lags and lags on the market while all the cool kids houses and their sellers sit idly by, making champagne toasts while they are inundated with more offers than they can shake a stick at.

Let’s bust one myth: getting multiple offers rarely happens by luck alone. That’s good news for you, as it means that generating multiple offers is more of a science than an art. And that, in turn, means there’s a whole lot you can do to replicate these results with your own home’s listing.

Here are five elements I nearly always see in listings that get multiple offers:

#1. Listed low. As I alluded to last week, homes that get multiple offers are often sold in what industry insiders call an auction atmosphere. If you think back to the last auction you saw on TV or participated in online, you’ll remember this basic element of Auctions 101: the starting price is lower – sometimes quite a bit lower – than the final sale price.

In fact, it’s the low list or starting price that gets people excited about the possibility of scoring a great value, whether they’re bidding on an antique Chinese pug figurine on eBay or on your home.  And when it comes to your home, it’s that same, low-price-seeking excitement that will cause many more buyers to show up and view your home than would have come at a higher price point.

In real estate, more showings are an inescapable prerequisite to more offers.

Now – I’m not at all suggesting you give away the farm, just that you price your home from a retailer or auctioneer’s perspective, rather than the all-too-common backwards reasoning to which home sellers so often fall prey. Work with your agent through the comparable sales data – as recent and as comparable as possible – and then do your best to list your home as a slight discount, not at a slight premium, compared to the recent neighborhood sales.  That will get buyers’ attention.

#2.  Easy to show.  Walk a mile with me, if you will, in the shoes of the average home buyer or their agent. Let’s say there are 50 homes on the market which meet your rough specifications in terms of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, price range and location. You can narrow it down to your 30 top priorities to see. But you only have time to see 8 today. Now, of those 30 top priority properties, about 15 are short sales or foreclosures and you can get into them anytime you want. And the other 15 are split down the middle – half of them are available to be seen with nothing more than a single phone call.  The other half require you to hurdle an arcane obstacle course of phone calls, 24 hour notice requirements, strange hours of availability and more phone calls to get an appointment to see the place.

Which would you go see, and which would get ruled out?

I am not exaggerating one iota when I tell you that your home could be priced well and marketed well, but if you make it too difficult for buyers to get in to see it, the statistical probability is that they will (a) find and choose another home from those that are more easily accessible to view, and/or (b) assume you are not motivated to sell, get irritated and pass on your home as a result.

Want multiple offers?  Make sure your home is available to be shown on demand, or as close as possible to that. Inconvenient?  Yes.  Frustrating?  Sometimes.  A challenge to keep the place clean at all times? Assuredly.  But, my dear reader, no one ever promised you a rose garden; decide what your priorities are and, if you decide that getting top dollar for your home is at the top of that priority list, then also decide to be willing to deal with the inconvenience involved in churning up multiple offers and getting your home sold.

#3:  Immaculate look and function.  The homes that get multiple offers (outside of the foreclosure arena, anyway), are those with look, feel and function that can be described in one word: covetable. You’re not trying to create a situation in which your home barely edges out the listing down the street in the hearts and minds of your target buyer. If you want multiple offers, what needs to happen is for multiple buyers to fall deeply in love with your home – enough to brave the competition and put their best foot (and top dollar) forward.

Today’s buyers are no dummies. They’ve just lived through the worst real estate recession anyone can remember, and they’re much more frugal than buyers were at the last peak of the market. To boot, mortgage and appraisal guidelines and their own smart sense of frugality prevents them from just hurling dollars at any old place. Accordingly, they are not easily tricked into competing for a home by a slipshod paint job and a few pieces of Pottery Barn furniture.  

To generate multiple offers, prepare your home by ensuring it is:
*immaculate from the inside out – basements, garages and crawl spaces included
*de-cluttered and staged to the nines – including fresh paint, carpet and other things that need replacing
*in fine mettle – make sure things like doors, windows and systems buyers test (e.g., stoves, faucets, heating and air conditioning) are not creaky, wonky, leaky or otherwise dysfunctional – and if you’ve done any major home improvements or replaced any appliances or systems lately, market that fact to show off the move-in readiness of the place.

#4: Just enough market exposure.  If your home is so lucky as to get an offer the first day or so on the market, count your blessings. But also calculate your opportunity costs: many buyers can’t get out to see homes that quickly – some are unable to house hunt except on the weekends! In my local markets, I’ve seen time and time again that listing agents who are skilled in cultivating multiple offers often plan from the jump to allow the home to be exposed to the market long enough for all qualified and interested buyers to see it and get their offers on the table.

And what’s more, they expressly message the calendar for market exposure, Open Houses and even the offer date and review timeline in the listing, from the very beginning. Here, it’s very common to see a listing come on the market with a calendar of 1-2 Open Houses and an offer date sometime early in the week following the second one. Ask your agent to brief you on the standard practices for market exposure in your local area.

Allowing for ample market exposure – and including the timeline in the listing – lets buyers know that they will be able to get to the property and get their offers considered, and creates some urgency, as well.  Smart buyers interested in properties like this will take care to have their agents contact the listing agent as soon as they think they may want to submit an offer, though; this way, if someone makes a so-called ‘pre-emptive’ offer, you’ll get a call from the listing agent and a chance to compete.

#5:  Sellers who are willing to revise.  If you think most of the tips here are not for you because you’ve already blown your chance to sell for more than asking – think again! A number of times, I’ve witnessed what I call the Sweet Spot Phenomenon, where an overpriced home sits on the market for months with no bites, sometimes even through multiple price reductions. Finally, the seller lowers the price to the ‘sweet spot,’ and it generates multiple offers and sells for more than the final list price.

There are definitely homes whose sellers net more than they expected because they were willing to revise the list price downward in response to market feedback (i.e., no showings, no offers or lowball offers).  

If your home’s been lagging on the market, talk with your listing agent about what sort of price reduction strategy is likely to maximize your net sale price. Hint: many more buyers are attracted by chunky reductions or reductions below a common online search price point limit than by tiny, incremental reductions. For example, you might draw more flies buyers, and ultimately more money, with the honey of a price reduction from $499,000 to $474,000 than with a series of small reductions from $499,000 to $479,000, because there is a set of buyers who may be cutting their search off at $475,000 – so a price cut below that point will expose your home to a whole new group of prospects.

For information about financing or the economy, please contact me at Bill@billnickerson.com   or  978-273-3227