Putting the "F" in FHA

I know FHA loans have many redeeming qualities.
I know the headache I'm experiencing is from the back and forth with the seller, not necessarily because of the loan.
I knew to be prepared for potential hiccups even after home inspections, until the appraisal was done.

But. At the end of this deal, I am going to know that I earned each and EVERY penny of this commission!! And thanks to the FHA my buyer will have a nice, dry, water tight basement and not a hint of peeling paint in the joint.

Weeping for Willow

How do you get over the one that got away? How do you get past having lost an opportunity because you simply didn't move fast enough, when it seemed you had all the time in the world? The same way you get over a relationship: time, putting yourself out there again and again, and tequila.

After the cream puff on Willow Rd slipped through my buyer's fingertips, even I went through a bit of mourning. After all, from the moment my heels clicked across the ceramic tile floors I wanted to move my things in and start painting. I could see my buyer's family growing in this house, could see them laughing in the bedrooms, cooking dinner together in the kitchen, playing with the dogs in the backyard. Now it was time to go back to pounding the pavements.

We viewed one property in Rox-a-roni (aka hilly, silly Roxborough) and I was happy to leave the borough quickly...if you could see my suburban ass trying to navigate the should-be-one-way-but-aren't streets, you'd understand. The Rox property was perfect for a single young professional. If anyone's interested let me know, we can check it out. Super pricey paver patio, nice layout, neat details, quiet street,

Anyway after I managed to not sideswipe any parked cars on my way out of Roxborough, we headed to Wallingford. The first home we saw ("distinctive", so said the flyer) was a duplex with a great backyard. The sellers had so graciously left every light on in the home, as if to demonstrate the place was so affordable you could just run up the utility bills with blatant disregard. They also left the stereo on for us, and there was a car in the driveway. I was half-expecting to startle someone as they emerged from the shower, having forgotten they had a showing scheduled. And yet, we were alone. Ultimately the home fell short when it came to the basement ceiling height, but could have been good nonetheless.

Then we have 211 Ash Street, which my buyer has nicknamed Ass St. Ass St. is one block over from the beloved Willow, and has the same street number but pales in comparison. Hence the new moniker. The overgrown roses on the bush out front are a cheerful yellow. So is the siding. So are the awnings. That much cheerfulness just seems, IDK, a little too much? Just a lil. I think the faux-wood contact paper covered tiles in the bedroom did it for me, but it was fun playing bus stop/train station/telephone booth in the oddly constructed back porch area. I wish I'd had my roller skates, because this home took me right back to 1989, being a little girl bored at my grandmom's house, skating back and forth on the walkway through her rowhome's backyard. Well...at least it gets point for nostalgia.

For all my skillful maneuvering through the snaky hills of Manayunk, it was backing out of this driveway that I clipped my passenger side mirror. I almost had a heart attack!! Do you know how much it costs to replace electronic side view mirrors with integrated turn signals? It ain't cheap! Luckily a few minor scratches were the extent of the damage and we were on our way.

Treating my clients to only the best is important to me. That's why when we hit up the drive through at McD's for tap water and a meatless cheeseburger, I made sure I took care of the $6 bill. I don't want other agents to be intimidated by my red-carpet service so keep that on the low....

I became so preoccupied with my crispy chicken ranch snack wrap that I took a wrong turn and we ended up on the main drag of Brookhaven. I remembered an awesome home I had shown there months ago, and surprisingly enough there was still a for sale sign in the yard. Oh my gosh! Could this be a sign? Could this be the one? We made a bold move...we pulled into the driveway with no appointment, prepared to knock on destiny's door. The homeowners pulled in seconds after us, creating an awkward parking scenario on top of the already ballsy ambush. Sadly, the home had sold and they just hadn't gotten around to removing the for sale sign. BUT it was worth a shot and good for a little rush.

We're back at it in a few nights. Hopefully we'll find a spot so great that they'll be thinking Willow Schmillow. For now, I'm listening to 'Weeping Willow' by the Verve on repeat and eating my feelings via Ben & Jerry's, hoping their offer falls through after the home inspection. I just can't believe it's over, waaaaaa!!!!

The delicate art of getting what you want for what you can afford

It doesn't have to be this way!! Later tonight (or as Matt would point out, days and days later) I will explain how to prioritize your wish list to get the biggest bang for your buck.

AND WE'RE BACK.......

The key to compromising without feeling like you're giving up on your dreams is simple in theory, but can be overwhelming in application. P-r-i-o-r-i-t-i-z-e. It sounds almost elementary. But anyone who's ever been forced to "settle" will tell you it's not easy when you're in it, especially when "it" is a home buying decision.

Priority numero uno: Location
Anyone who knows the first bit about real estate knows that location is paramount. Location is what gives value to the land. It determines school district, proximity to public transportation, playgrounds, cultural institutions, and the overall structure of the community. This should be one of the clearest decisions to make. If you had to choose between a home with all of the interior features of your dreams in Affordable Valley or maybe move into a home with yellow shag carpeting to get you into Prestigious Place, which would you choose? Folks, you can change the carpet but you can never (realistically) pick the home up and move it. Will you be forever embarrassed to say you live in the 19555 zip code? Or would you rather live in a more affordable zip but have a hot tub and finished basement to entertain your friends in?

Priority number two: Lifestyle
I hate to speak in generalities but if you drive through my community I feel it's evident than the majority of homeowners have financially stretched to get into their homes. How can I tell? Well for one there have been an underwhelming number of improvements made to the houses. Some additions put on here and there, some new shutters, pressure treated lumber decks, minimal landscaping. But nobody's added a pool, or a paver driveway, or an in-law suite...because these folks bought the most house they could comfortably afford. There are also the homes that haven't even been maintained at the average level: mildew on the siding, stained roof shingles, no landscaping or curb appeal. Those folks are obviously living beyond their means (or perhaps just have no pride of ownership, who knows).

Think about the life you want to live. Is spending every expendable penny to get more square footage the route you want to take? Or would you prefer to sacrifice granite counter tops and hardwood floors for the immediate future to know you will have a slush fund for vacations and shopping trips, mulch and flower bed installations, curtains and mattresses? No one can answer that question but you, however it can be a difficult question to answer truthfully when weighing such a life-changing purchasing decision. A third party or your Realtor can be a great sounding board to help you see things more clearly.

This goes back to Location a bit, but think about the impact the home's geography will have on your lifestyle: would it mean a long drive vs. railways access; if specialty food markets and dining/nightlife are important to you, do the areas in questions both offer the same number of possibilities; are the places of worship and cultural institutions you're accustomed to convenient or even accessible; will the new home require you to switch doctors, dentists and hair stylists? If so are you willing to make those changes?

Trois. That certain je ne sais quois....
Ladies you'll feel me on this....Wedding dress shopping. Picture this-- every dress you try on is one of a kind. Impossible to be duplicated. Once someone buys it, it's gone, not an option, you won't be getting it. You're in that fitting room, and you slip into a dress that instantly brings tears to your eyes. The one. Crazy.... the skirt isn't the style you had pictured, the neckline is completely opposite of what you've always wanted and yet, there is a certain intangible quality that makes this dress perfect. What would you do? You'd buy the dress, no questions asked, right? Because you know you will never be able to find that dress again if it's bought out from under you.

That's real estate. If you find a home that appeals to you in this manner, regardless of whether it meets every tic on your checklist of must-haves, you owe it to yourself to go with your gut. You can not put a dollar amount on the value of that emotional response, of walking into a stranger's house and feeling suddenly as though you've found your home. Until Zillow.com offers a search criterion for "That certain je ne sais quois" it will be difficult to find another place that makes you feel that way.

And buyer beware if you pass it up for no reason other than feeling like you SHOULD shop around. Because there is another bride just waiting to walk down the aisle in your hous-, er, dress. While throwin 'bows might help you win back a dress from the enemy bride, it isn't going to help wrestle the sales agreement out of the seller's hands so you can get your offer in.

When a house feels like home, it probably is.

Finalmente, numero quatro: Total cost of living
Equal list prices making it even harder to decide between two homes? Look past this apparent bottom line to the cost of living:
Heating and cooling- system type? windows new or old? any two story spaces? any large unfinished spaces to take into account?
Water- public or well?
Waste- sewage or septic?
Taxes- school, real estate, city wage?
Commuting costs- tolls? gas? train?
Homeowner's association or condo fee?
Exterior maintenance- large yard to maintain, need new riding mower?

If you are struggling with a unique purchasing dilemma that I haven't touched on, I'm happy to offer individualized consultation.

EL FIN.

If by short sale you mean looooooooooooong sale...

Let's get educated on today's hottest real estate buzzwords: Short Sale.

What it means for a seller. A short sale occurs when the total liens against the home (mortgage, 2nd mortgage, home equity loans) exceed the final sales price of the home. Kind of like being "upside down" on a car loan-- you want to sell your '05 Mazda, but you owe more on it than you can get. In the case of a short sale, the seller is requesting that the lender(s) take less than what they're owed, because they lack the funds to make up the difference. Why would a lein holder accept less? Well, it's a hell of a more attractive proposition for them than a foreclosure. It will have an impact on the borrower's credit, however the credit reporting bureaus are characteristically vague on what specific impact it will carry.

For a buyer, the term "short sale" could not carry a more contradictory implication. Short sales can actually take quite a long time to get to settlement. This occurs as the lender(s) mull over the offer before them, evaluate the impact acceptance of the offer will have on their institution, and continue to seek other (re: higher) offers. A short sale can take 30-120 days to clear lender approval. In a typical environment, this may not be a huge problem. Unless it's a relocation scenario, typically the buyer has a place to live for that duration of time, and though they may be antsy to get into their new digs, it's not a desperate situation. However with the clock ticking on the First Time Home Buyer's tax credit, there is a new objection to overcome in the short sale market. In order to be eligible for the +/-$8000 credit, settlement must occur prior to December 1. So if you write an offer today, August 17, on a short sale, you should be able to get in under the wire....but you may not.

That's not to say a short sale should be avoided. There are distinct advantages to purchasing a short sale. Since the seller's agenda and emotions have been largely removed from the decision to accept an offer or not, there is sometimes an opportunity to get the home for a lower price than you may have been able to otherwise. To the contrary if the seller is on the edge of a potential short sale and wants to avoid it in favor of settling quickly, there may be little to no room for negotiating on price.

As usual, the best route is to consult a Realtor to assist in determining what is best for your unique situation.

20,20,24 hours to go; I need to be sedated.

This is it: the last day of our contingency period for the Phoenixville sale scheduled for settlement Sept 15. What an emotional time for the buyer and seller! The seller is anxious to see what will be uncovered, feeling surprisingly exposed to the scrutiny of inspectors and contractors, not to mention the buyer and their agent and sometimes the buyer's family. The buyer's similarly wary, but with an element of pitched excitement. Trying not to get ahead of themselves until the keys are in their hand while simultaneously wanting to dance with elation that they've found their home...but what will the inspector find in their home?!

Then there's the agent (me) who is as emotionally vested in the process as both purchaser and seller and has a paycheck riding on the whole affair. What will the inspection uncover, how will further negotiating be received, will the contractor PLEASE hurry up and get us the estimate in writing before I have a coronary?!?!?! Etcetera.

It is a new day in the lending market, so I would be remiss to insinuate all stress is relieved after inspections and home sale contingencies are met. In this environment there is always a chance that loan programs could disappear between signing and closing, for the lender to go belly up, for the home not to appraise. But at the close of business today there will be one less bullet point on the "Things I Have No Control Over But Can't Stop Dwelling On" list.

Now, we just wait for seller's reply. Please put five more days on the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick.......

UPDATE: Proposal accepted!! Next step, appraisal.

Buyer Tour du Jour: San Francisco hills, Ghost Hunters night vision foreclosure, and a family we'll see on Intervention or Obsessed

House #1, Mt. Airy, Condo: Great style but super small, instant veto. I got to drive through Chestnut Hill on the way and I must say, I haven't been there since I was a kid and taking a look through adult eyes I see the appeal. As a matter of fact, I liked it so much that I'm adding it to the list of places I'd like to move to myself. Right below Doe Run but above Wallingford-Swarthmore. (No. There are no commonalities between the three, I'm just all over the place.)

Houses #2-5, Roxborough
#2- We arrive and the sellers greet us at the door. This is such a Gilbert Grape house. As in, a family with a very high level of dysfunction, so high a level in fact that the home has fallen into utter neglect right beneath their noses, seemingly unnoticed by the residents. They were kind enough to clear a walkway through their hoarder cattle-chutes, and the piles we were seeing were AFTER the UHaul had come. I'd venture to say things had been even worse before the truck got packed up. Someone had been smoking with all the windows shut for years. Delish. The appointment was scheduled for a 30 minute time slot. We lasted 30 seconds. See ya!

#3- Josephine and Harold Elderpeople had a lovely row home where time had stood still through many decorating trends. Interestingly enough, they had a glittery disco-ball style switchplate in the dining room, right next to the obligatory Last Supper painting hanging above the sideboard. Bert & Ernie twin beds pushed next to one another in the master, Mr. Elderpeople's pajamas laid out for the night. Crocheted tissue box covers. Lovin it. What? Why yes there was powder blue tile in the bathroom. How did you know?

#4- Do you smell the rice-a-roni? Because according to these hills, this is the San Fran section of Roxborough. Country bumpkin, distance-running Sarah deduces the next showing is "right around the corner" because I have no concept of how many feet are in an hour of walking and my Blackberry map makes it look super close. So with three dogs in tow, we go up and down, up and down, the neighborhood changing dramatically with each peak and valley. Thankfully after all the exertion this house gets the highest rating of the night, a 6 out of 10. No grass in the backyard but a nice first floor. The neighbor sends us the stink eye, but we kinda deserved it. If you're walking down Pechin Street in the Rox and you have three dogs with you and a Nalgene water bottle, and those dogs need a drink, here's what you don't do, apparently:
a) you don't dip the bottle into the neighbor's (above ground) pool (in their front yard) because they'll think you're tampering with their (chlorinated) water.
b) do not, I repeat, do NOT ask the blonde at Rich's water ice to fill the Nalgene bottle with tap water. It will just confuse her. They have tap water policies at Rich's Water Ice.

.........Creamsicle flavored water ice break........more walking..........

#5- We're now almost an hour late for this appointment due to the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk I just led us on, but the property is vacant so I have the agent's okay to show whenever. Well. It wouldn't have killed him to mention utilities are not running. We enter this amazing old building through the 'gorilla cage' of a front porch, after some lengthy admiration of the grapevines growing there, to discover we'll be touring this home by the light of our cell phones. It's pitch black outside, and pitch blacker inside. It looks like we're filming an episode of Ghost Hunters. I keep expecting a ghost or squatter or for some reason a menacing pirate (?) to step out of the shadows and into the greenish light cast by my Blackberry. While I'm busy admiring the backyard with buyer 1, buyer 2 shines his light upwards and voila-- we realize the kitchen ceiling is falling in and there is mold EVERYwhere. Buyers 1 & 2 freak out and rush to leave; I in turn freak out because I'm terrified of the dark and have been left to fend for myself against the squatters/ghosts/pirates. It totally sucks. If it weren't for the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work this place needs to be livable, it coulda been the one.

In conclusion, no winners tonight but progress comes from the misses as much as the hits. I'm starting to question my personal life as I found this to be one of the most enjoyable Friday nights I've had in a long time. Anyone free next week?

It's like a bad Chumbawumba song.

I get knocked down
But I get up again
No you're never gonna keep me down

Having a background in food service and bartending, I made an analogy for Greg (my teammate) about people's perceptions of Realtors and how we're paid. It's just like when you're a waiter or waitress: unless your customer has walked in those shoes, they don't get how it works. They don't get that you are making $2.83/hour ($0 after taxes) and that you're at the mercy of their tips for survival. And sometimes, frankly, they don't care.

Being a new agent is, well, a financial feat. Did you know that your agent is paid $0/hour and receives no health insurance benefits from their employer? That all the reports he or she has poured over to prepare for your appointments, the childcare accommodations that have been made to get you to your appointments, the gas money spent to get him or her to all ends of the earth for you: that is all 100% absolutely, completely not reimbursed by anyone unless you buy a home. I bet you could never tell by the way your realtor (if you've picked a good one) is ready to go at it day after day with a huge smile plastered on their face, as if their pockets were lined so fat they didn't care if they ever got paid.

It's hard out here for a pimp, riding a rollercoaster of emotion almost everyday. This morning I was whistling and practically leaping with joy as I walked through the halls of our office. I was writing an offer at 11, we had a buyer tour lined up for this evening. Floor duty (answering the phone at the office = chance to pick up new clients) at 2:30-4:30. It was a day full of promise. So explain what drove Greg and I to heavy drinking this evening? That's the thing...just a few hours can make or break your day, week, or month in this business. The offer was too slow, the buyer tour got cancelled, and no real prospects called in during floor time. Suddenly an 8 hour day had actually cost us money and set us back. Beer me.

Here's what will make or break an agent though: what do you do next? What do you do when you get beaten down? It's easy, as an independent contractor who receives ZERO compensation for going into the office, to say "$!%@ it, I'm staying in my jammies and blogging about Michael Vick all day", pop some Ellio's in the toaster oven and hang out with the dog. You can expect then, with that effort, to continue making $0 gross and net.

The agent who's going to make it is the one who, whether it takes them an after work martini binge or not, wakes up the next morning refreshed and genuinely ready to go at it again. Who gets excited when their phone starts ringing at 7 a.m. Who will meet the clients who have cancelled a zillion times and not hold a grudge, because maybe this is the time we'll find "the one" and there's only one way to find out.

He drinks a whiskey drink
He drinks a vodka drink
He drinks a lager drink
He drinks a cider drink

So you agents that are tuning in, let's all brush off the disappointments of today in favor of the opportunities tomorrow is bringing. If your brain is too cluttered with yesterday's shortcomings, you're gonna miss out on the sale staring you right in the face, or the chance to take floor calls, or you may be too bitter to give that sporadic appointment keeper another chance--the very day they decide to buy. I'm not UNICEF....when I want to do charity work I'll go back to Big Brothers, Big Sisters full time. That's why I'm skipping the Ellio's and PJs and getting geared up for another ride on the 'coaster.

We'll be singing
When we're winning

Apparently I set my DeLorean to 2004, because this can't be the "dead" market of today. Can it??

The first myth I need to dispel is this: the market sucks. False! There is one market that, even amidst dismal news of the national housing market at large, is booming. You got it-- the FIRST TIME HOME BUYER market. If you're looking at a home in the Greater Philadelphia area for under $250k, here are some further myths I'd like to dispel.

1) We can take our time, the market's dead.

Tell this to my buyer who, just this morning, lost a condo in Willistown because we sat down to write the offer at 11 a.m. only to discover the seller accepted an offer at dawn. What could we have done faster? We saw the property for the first time last night at 5 but the third buyer couldn't accompany, so we scheduled a second showing for the next day. Less than 24 hours of consideration and still we didn't move quickly enough. Then take into account a client in Kimberton who on four separate occasions had decided to write an offer...the same 4 days 4 other buyers decided to do the same, most only hours before us. Because of the climate that's been created for sellers, many listing agents seem to be shying away from entering multiple offer scenarios and sellers are taking their first offer, so long as it's marginally sound. Wow. Which brings me to my next myth busta'....

2) We've got 'em by the balls. I want to bid $70k under asking on this $180,000 single family home.

Sellers are very aware that to be positioned to attract the most showings and sell within a decent time frame they need to be priced correctly. I'm finding many properties currently listed in the $250k and below category are priced to move quickly. Much like buyers, sellers want to take advantage of the $8000 FTHO tax credit (settlement must occur prior to December 1) so they are not wasting time with a "high apple pie in the sky" opening price. Where you can probably roll up to a $2.6M estate in Villanova that's been on the market for 456 days and find a lot more room for negotiation, the leveraging position to take a seller over your lap just may not be there in the lower price points.

So can it hurt to lowball? In the case of my above example, had we been able to present our offer, yes, it could have definitely hurt our chances of reaching a deal. Depending on the other contingencies in the agreement, the sellers may not have even LOOKED at our 85%-of-asking-offer for more than a second before tossing it. At the end of the day this is your decision to make, and you need to consult your real estate professional instead of just taking my word for it. There are ways to sex up an offer that may fall short on price, but makes up for it in lack of contingencies. God created contingencies to keep Realtors up at night; I'm convinced he's in cahoots with the good people over there at the Ambien factory. Anyway, some extra flexibility in the inspections, settlement dates, and no home to sell are gonna help balance out a low price. Again, talk to a pro (a.k.a. shoot me an e-mail)....every deal is oh so different.

3. No one is getting approved for mortgages right now./Everyone is getting approved for mortgages right now.

The simple truth is this: if you have good credit and adequate money for a down payment and closing costs, you shalt fear not when applying for a loan. If you have horrendous credit and $2000 to your name (and that's before paying rent and Comcast), it's probably not the time to buy. If you've been self-employed for under 2 years and don't have documentation of income as reported to the IRS, it could be a long shot. If you have that documentation but have been, ahem, less than forthcoming about your income, now's not the time to think your "word" is going to be enough to woo the lender. These days proof of income is the thing to have. Remember, once you're pre-approved, you need to make application. Then you need a mortgage commitment. Then you want to be sure the deal is going to make it to settlement before you've sent out the Open House announcements to all your loved ones-- being sure you're financially prepared for this investment can only benefit you. If today isn't the right day, a mortgage lender, financial advisor, and Realtor can help get you ready for tomorrow.

If you're finding it hard to get above the doom and gloom messages so many people are spewing in your direction, but you're ready to get your house on the market, my number one piece of advice would be to find an agent who has energy, spunk and an optimistic outlook. The value those intangible qualities will bring to your selling process is priceless. Professionalism, knowledge, and integrity are qualities none of us forget to look for, but attitude is just as key and will open (or close) many a door.

As the Market Turns: A behind the scenes look at the soap opera that is the real estate biz

The intention behind this blog is manifold. First, my goal as a Realtor is to educate my clients and set their expectations for the buying or selling process. I want them to understand what agents do and how it should be done, why they do things the way they do them, and how they get paid. Second, to be a source of information for those considering finding an agent who may not know what to expect and want the real scoop before they get swept up with someone who may not be a great match for them. Ezra and Skye Kimbertonian may not be too keen on Johnny Bluetooth, showing up at their biodynamic farm in his Hummer, but they may get stuck with him if they sign before they think. And third, for my fellow Realtors out there, because sometimes we see things so crazy and rich, the stories just NEED to be shared.

My humor is dry and sarcastic and is not meant to offend. I strive to be real, unpretentious and relatable, and I hope that will be conveyed in my blog. Mean spirited comments or harmful identifying information will be removed. The purpose is to entertain and educate but not to publicly humiliate. Self deprecation and low blows at the stereotypical realtor? Those fly, so if you can't take the heat get your ass out of the Newly Remodeled State of the Art Kitchen!!