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June 22, 2009

Summer Reading

No question it’s been a slow few weeks in the Bay Area real estate world. But that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some outstanding writing these past few days that any good agent wouldn't find helpful.

Here are three worth reading.

From the Wall Street Journal

Tips for Selling Your Home to a First-Time Buyer

A federal tax credit of up to $8,000 is nudging many Americans into buying a home for the first time -- good news for those trying to sell one.

Still, selling a home isn't easy in most markets today. To get the typical first-time buyer to bite and submit an offer, a house has to stand apart from the competition -- and there's a lot of it, including foreclosure homes that are selling at hefty discounts.

One big thing working in favor of the traditional seller: A lived-in, maintained home is easier for buyers to imagine themselves living in than a vacant foreclosure. That has great appeal for someone buying a home for the first time, for practical and financial reasons.

Click here for the complete story

From the LA Times

Homeowners should be careful about how they hold title to properties

Reporting from Washington -- The manner in which homeowners hold title to their properties has significant legal ramifications. Consequently, it's not wise to leave this important decision to chance.

Escrow agents will ask how you would prefer the title to read. But often the question isn't posed until you near the close of the sale, and by then it may be too late to give any real thought to your options.

With that in mind, here's an overview of some of the more common forms of ownership.

Click here for the complete story

The Unfortunate Location

A WEEK after he moved into the circa-1800 farmhouse he had always dreamed of owning, David Evans spotted something glinting in his backyard. Within two hours, he had unearthed 19 spark plugs.

The discovery was no surprise. He knew his home had been a junkyard for the preceding 40 years — that’s one reason he bought it.

Without the spark plugs, windshield wipers and rotting transoms that dot his garden — as well as the not-so-appealing fact of having a trailer park and an abandoned gas station as neighbors — Mr. Evans and his partner, Jorge Ruiz, antiques dealers in the small Lowcountry town of Walterboro, S.C., say they could never have afforded the area’s oldest farmhouse.

When the challenging location and troubled economy drove down the seller’s asking price from $296,000 to $170,000, the home was finally within reach, and a few months ago, the couple bought it. A similar house would cost 35 percent more in a different location, according to Charles H. Bridges of United Country Joe Williams & Associates, the broker who sold them the house, which is about 45 minutes west of Charleston.

Houses like theirs are “the petunia in the onion patch,” says Gary Gestson, a broker with Long & Foster Real Estate in Gaithersburg, Md. They are charming and often historic, but bargains because their neighborhoods have long since vanished or become blighted.

Real estate agents warn against buying a good house in an undesirable area, saying location trumps all. But because the price is often so appealing, it is a way for buyers to get some of what they want without spending a fortune.

Click here for the complete story

Posted by Jeff Brooks on June 22, 2009 07:42 AM | Permalink

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