When you see ugly houses, do you run away or see a jewel?

Eye Sores
Cary real estate is abundant at the moment, so most buyers just turn and run when they find a problem house.  Is it purple with pink trim?  Are the bathrooms dirty with old tile?  Is the fence looking a little rough and the deck full of rotten boards?  There are all things that can make many people decide to walk away, but to the right buyer with an imagination, you can save yourself thousands, even ten thousands of dollars.

So What Now?
Be realistic about what you want vs. need.  Many people greatly exaggerate what they need and it costs them a pretty penny.  Figure out what projects you can tackle in the first few months that will make living in the house that much better.  Try to never go into a house broke.  Sometimes a few hundred dollars can make for a great renovation in a room.  Those are some simple ideas that can make a great impact.

Helpful?
For honest, down-to-earth advice with a bit of humor, check out www.greenfoxrealty.com.

Cary Real Estate, Apex Real Estate, Raleigh Real Estate, Morrisville Real Estate, Holly Springs Real Estate, and more

Sometimes buying one of the first houses you see is genius.

Lets say you’re buying a new car.  You research for hours, days, weeks, and decide to buy a 2011 Honda Accord with a certain engine, interior, and paint color, and even a fancy satellite radio that reads your mind.  You know that they tend to cost $25,000.  Your first day looking you find the exact car for $20,000.  You immediately buy it up, tell all your friends, and post it on facebook. Was that silly? No way!

Buying a house is very similar.  If you know what you want, and you see it, go for it.  So many people pass up fantastic deals, lose houses they love, or get cold feet because they just think too much.  Over-thinking, negotiating on a bargain, or looking for peace of mind all hurt buyers.  Be smart and get that awesome house before somebody else does.  Even in a saturated market, amazing houses still get snatched up quickly.

I’ve had plenty of buyers who tell me right away that they want to see foreclosures, but here is some info to consider…

How did they get there?
Foreclosures by their very nature exist because somebody couldn’t pay their bills.  It’s sad but true, and that can translate into a lack of maintenance on the home, or other needed repairs as well.  Even if the homeowner does their very best, common items such as paint, flooring, cleaning, that would have been done in a normal sale, will probably not be done in a foreclosure.  The bank has seized the property in its current condition.

Make sure you have money available
When you buy a foreclosure, you usually won’t get a property disclosure that gives information about the current state of the systems in the house (electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc).  You may not know the age, condition, or even the type of what is in the home.  This matters because at any time you may have an unforeseen remodel come up.  You also need money for replacing a variety of items that may or may not be in good condition in the home, that we talked about above.  Some of the homes I’ve seen this month had broken windows, torn floors, stained carpet, walls with scratches, holes, cable/electrical outlets torn out of the wall, interior locks on exterior doors, and more.

The bottom line
Not all foreclosures are horror stories, but a good buyer is prepared for the worst, and hoping for the best.  Since you have less information about foreclosures, and they tend to need more initial investment, make sure you know what you’re getting into, and have the cash available in case you need it.  Always take care to do a thorough investigation of any property you purchase.

-Aaron

Anybody that’s trying to sell right now should have a good reason.  The market is getting better, but its still very difficult for most sellers.  The most common mistake I see out there is people trying to recoup the money they spent on a house 4-5 years ago when the market was hot for sellers.  Do you know that people used to be able to sell houses for whatever somebody would pay, and most of the time it would appraise for exactly what it sold for?  How Ridiculous is that?

What can a seller do right now?

Price it smart
The best thing a seller can do is be honest with themselves.  If you use a real estate agent, have them show you real comps with adjustments that they can explain, and be able to explain any reason why you’re trying to ask more than other homes are selling for.  You can list and sell a house for $300,000, and only appraises for $275,000, then how many buyers out there are going to be willing to pay an extra $25,000.  Beyond that, you probably would never get an offer close to $300,000 anyways, if you get an offer.

Condition
Make sure your house looks better than everybody else.  If you’re fighting for every dollar you can get, then make sure you’re attracting as many people as possible, and the only way you’ll do that is by spending money.  We provide 9 professional services to our sellers, and that makes us unique, but its not just so we get listings.  You need your house to be top notch and look better than all of your competition.

Price it right and get it ready, or you’re just being silly – Aaron

I’ve owned a Motorola Droid now for 5 months so I feel qualified to give a review of it.  Verizon gave me the Droid for free basically because I’d had so many issues with my last phone – guess I’m cursed?

Functionality
The Droid has a nice full size screen, plays all sorts of media (not everything), but lots, and has great sound.  The touch screen is better than most as far as responsiveness, but it still falls short of an Ipod or Iphone.

Apps
I’ve downloaded tons of programs for free, but the catch is you have to have a data plan to download them. In the long run its probably cheaper to just buy them from the Ipod touch, not sure about Iphone plans. I spend $30 a month to have unlimited data access, which is really the only way you can have a Droid. I also own an Ipod touch, which I much prefer for fun applications or games over my Droid.

Calls
It seems ok, but I have had quite a few people tell me that my voice is muffled. Overall its normal reception I’d say is decent. The last 3 weeks I’ve been dropping tons of calls and haven’t been able to determine whether its my coverage or the phone, so that’s under investigation.  Verizon says my tower looks fine at this point.

Reliability
The major issue I’ve had with the Droid is that it has a lot of programming issues. From day 1, if you have more than maybe 10-15 emails in your inbox, the program will fault and shut down. It’s a major problem for anybody that uses this phone for work. The Droid also has a lot of other issues with programs shutting down unexpectedly (Windows Vista twin?).

Hope this review was helpful in balancing out all the commercials you see on a daily basis