Top Real Estate Articles on Google Plus

With so many great real estate articles published on Google+ each month it makes it hard to pin-point the best information for buyers, sellers, and Realtor’s alike. September saw new faces in the real estate community, as well as familiar faces, and as always, a lot of great real estate content!

Each month a Realtor is selected to put together what they feel is the best information for Bill Gassett’s monthly round-up. It’s typical for people to miss a few of these, and the best of google plus segment gives you an opportunity to go back and read up on what you might have missed!

This month’s ‘best real estate articles on Google+’ are written by some of the Internets top real estate professionals. If you haven’t already, be sure to connect with the authors on google plus by clicking on their names below.

So without further ado…

The Best Real Estate Articles on Google+ from September 2015!

How to Handle an Expired Listing

Expired listings are unfortunate. They happen though. Knowing your options when your home becomes an expired listing, and what to do following is an important next step. Cincinnati Realtor®, Paul Sian, writes an excellent article on how to handle an expired listing.

In Paul’s article he analyzes why homes don’t sell and breaks it down into two categories: Things you can control, and things that are outside of your control. This is helpful for homeowners, especially the ones who are likely to freak out over the fact their home didn’t sell. Paul’s article will help you ease your nerves as you diagnose where your home sale went wrong.

Paul begins his article with the number one reason why a home does or doesn’t sell, and that is price. There are a lot of factors that go into determining the proper list price for a home and you should place your confidence in a top local Realtor before you start assuming the online ‘guestimates’ are accurate. Check out Paul’s article to see his other recommendations on why your home expired, and what you should do next!

Why are Mortgage Pre-approvals so Important?

Mortgage pre-approvals are a critical step towards purchasing a home. Coral Springs Realtor, Lynn Pineda, highlights the importance of a mortgage pre-approval for buyers and sellers. If you’re a buyer and you’ve made the decision to buy a home, your next step should be pre-approval. Without a pre-approval, and assuming you’re not paying cash, a seller will not take your offer seriously. You may also be shopping in the wrong price range.

Some of the financial documentation a lender will require to pre-approve you are things like:

• investment account statements
• bank statements
• pay-stubs and/or any income records
• W-2’s
• tax returns
• retirement account statements

These items help prove to yourself, the seller, and the lender, that you are an able buyer for their home. Smart buyers make pre-approval their first step when shopping for homes. As Lynn states, mortgage pre-approvals are not optional when you’re serious about buying homes. They are what gives you purchasing power!

How to Sell your House Fast, for Top Dollar

If you want to sell your home fast, and for top dollar, it starts with hiring a great Realtor. Luxury Las Vegas Real Estate Agent, Debbie Drummond, demonstrates exactly what it takes to sell a home fast for the most money. It starts with hiring a full-time, top Realtor, who has what it takes to get the job done.

It’s important for sellers to understand that not all Realtor’s are created equal, writes Debbie. This is clearly demonstrated with their marketing, communication, and negotiating skills. Some Real Estate Agents will list your home at whatever price you want them to, and these are the Agents you should stay away from. You need to use all available data to set your list price or you’ll just create future problems for yourself, whether your home expires or it doesn’t appraise.

Assuming you don’t want to sell your house at a steep discount, sellers should stay away from the ‘we will sell your home in under 90 days, or we’ll buy it!’ guaranteed home sale programs.

With the tips in Debbie’s article you can set yourself up for success as a seller, assuming your goal is to sell your home fast and for the highest price. Check it out!

Buying a Home – Fixtures vs. Real Property

One of the most common problems in a real estate transaction is when there is not a clear communication between parties as to what is a fixture and what is real property. While it creates for great stories (sellers taking door knobs with them), it embodies the problems real estate agents face on a weekly basis. Metrowest Realtor, Bill Gassett, writes what is considered personal property vs. real property and gives tips on how to avoid any confusion.

Whether you’re the buyer or the seller, you’ll want to make sure you’re absolutely clear about what stays with the home and what goes. In real estate lingo this is called an “exclusion”. Bill describes some of the typical reasons there is confusion between what stays and what goes in the sale of a home, like window treatments and basketball hoops.

If you want to avoid confusion between what is a fixture and real property in your home sale, do a final walk through. While you may assume some things are clearly defined as a fixture and others as real property there are often times when the two parties aren’t on the same page. The final walk through offers the buyers and sellers an opportunity to inspect the home one last time to make sure all is well with the sale.

Influencing the Price of your Home Sale

Rochester Real Estate Agent, Kyle Hiscock, has put together a great resource for sellers who want to sell their home for top dollar. There are ways in which you can influence the selling price of your home and it starts with finding a top local Realtor!

It’s common sellers will ask ‘what are you going to sell my home for?’ This is a loaded question and without a complete understanding of all the facts cannot be answered without studying the local market trends, your motivation, and comparable properties.

Many sellers want to know right away what you’re going to sell their home for. There are sellers who will hire an agent specifically based on the price they will list their home at. This is a terrible way of selecting a Real Estate Agent.

Check out how you can sell your home at a price you’ll love, by setting yourself up for success with Kyle’s article!

Upgrading your Rental Property

There are many ways renters can upgrade their rental property, through temporary changes. As a renter, you should receive permission from your landlord first before you do anything to make sure they’re OK with it. Warner Robins Realtor, Anita Clark, answers the question, what are some of the changes I can make to upgrade my rental property? In the list you will notice these are temporary changes designed to benefit the renter’s lifestyle while keeping the home intact.

Anita gives renters 10 options to upgrade their rental property, and some of my favorite include painting walls a color of your preference, fixing outdated cabinets in the kitchen, and going green. Again, it’s important to make sure your landlord is OK with the upgrades. It’s your living space, and to a certain degree your landlord should be comfortable with any improvements you make.

Check out Anita’s article to learn about other updates you can make to your rental property!

How to Sell your House For Sale By Owner (FSBO)

It’s not uncommon for someone to want to sell their home themselves, especially in a hot seller’s market. The thought process is to save a few percentage points on the listing side of the sale. Colorado Springs Realtor, Andrew Fortune, puts together a great resource for those wanting to sell their home by owner.

Broken down into 4 important steps, Andrew demonstrates exactly how one can sell their home by themselves. It starts with research, in which you will need to study the neighborhood comparable sales and your competition. Next, you need to prepare your home for sale with upgrades that will increase it’s value and appeal to more buyers. After that, it’s time to get your home listed with professional photography and a video walk-through. You want to make sure you market your home everywhere online because you never know where you’ll find a buyer. The final step is getting your home sold through negotiations, and clearing the title for sale.

From personal experience, and before he ended up in Real Estate, Andrew shares his real life story about selling his home for sale by owner. He highlights the fact that selling your home for the most money is not as easy as you may think!

Is it Smart to Buy a Home When You’re Young?

Buying real estate at a young age makes a lot of sense if you want to obtain a financially free lifestyle. In my article I discuss 10 reasons why buying real estate when you’re in your twenties is a wise decision.

You can pay off someone else’s mortgage or you can pay off your own. Which one makes more sense for you?

Do you want to escape the pressures of not having enough money, or owing someone rent at the end of each month? You can do that. Buy real estate, and either pay off a mortgage or rent out the bedrooms in your home to pay off your mortgage for you.

In my article I discuss the difference between buying assets and liabilities in order to obtain financial freedom. Real estate can be seen as both an asset and a liability so make sure you’re buying because you’re going to make it an asset.

There are many people who will tell you buying a home to live in is a liability. Well what is rent?
By buying your own house you can reduce your other liabilities (rent) which is an asset in itself. Whether you choose to rent out other bedrooms to friends is up to you. If you decide to rent out bedrooms than your real estate purchase instantly becomes an asset which is producing you income.

So not only are you no longer paying rent (a huge liability reduction) you’re gaining additional income (other people paying you rent money = asset) to pay off your own mortgage and live a financially free lifestyle.

If you’re considering buying real estate when you’re in your twenties, let me know. I’d love to chat with you about my own personal experiences!

This article is written by Ryan Fitzgerald of Raleigh Realty. Ryan, is a top Raleigh, NC Real Estate Agent who enjoys creating valuable content for the real estate community, and connecting with industry professionals on social media. His website is a great place to learn about real estate or search homes for sale in Raleigh.