Don't Put This Off - Remember to Get Your Annual Credit Report

You are probably aware that Federal law entitles you to a free copy of your credit report annually by each of the three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. By regularly looking at each of these reports, you can determine if there are any errors on them and be aware of your credit worthiness.

Instead of ordering all three at the same time, experts recommend that you stagger them throughout the year. This will let you look at your credit at three different times during the year instead of only once a year.

An easy way make this happens on a timely basis is to set a recurring appointment on your digital calendar whether it is on your phone, your email program or a contact manager. Make the appointment to order a free credit report from www.AnnualCreditReport.com a recurring event to take place every four months. You’ll order one report from each of three companies once a year.

You can record that date and the bureau you ordered the last report in the appointment’s note section so that you’ll have a history and won’t try to order the same report twice in one year.

This isn’t just for people who are trying to clean-up their credit. This procedure allows you to monitor your credit to be sure that your report is accurate. You might even discover that someone is illegally using your good credit.

This is a SUPER Important thing to do every year!

Storm Lake real estate, not a lot to choose from and a highly competitive market. Not many homes available for sale in Storm Lake, 17 total as of today. If you are a buyer, it is very important you work with a Realtor who will take the time to help understand your needs and counsel you on what you need to do to secure a property. It isn't just going to see houses! You need highly skilled and trained Realtor working for you, they will need a signed Exclusive Buyer's Agency agreement, a pre-approval letter for a mortgage, you to be very flexible with days and time to get out to see properties as soon as they come on the market. You may need to e able to pay your own closing costs or at least be able to increase your offer the amount you are asking the seller to pay for closing costs.

Sellers have their own closing costs and in a low inventory market, there are more buyers who do not ask sellers to pay closing costs, so to be competitive you need to either pay your own or increase your offer by the amount you need the seller to pay. However, the property must still appraise for what you are offering.

As far as available properties in Storm Lake, of the 17 available homes, 8 are over $200,000, 3 of the 8 are over $300,000 and 1 is over $600,000. The remaining properties, 9, range from a condo at $59,900 to a house at $188,000. 

Of the 9 homes under $200,000 six have been on the market 25 or more days - indicating they are possibly over priced or have some other undesirable condition, since they have not sold in the very low inventory condition of the market.

One other tip is to have a successful, experienced, full-time Realtor who is a Certified Negotiations Expert (CNE) working for you. Your chance of securing a home with reasonable terms in a low inventory market with an inexperienced, part time realtor with no negotiations training is pretty low. 

Call me 712-291-0118, I can help

Georgia Weaver - Broker Owner

REALTOR, GREEN, CNE, CRS, PSI

www.WeaverRealtors.com

#1 Recommended Real Estate Company in Storm Lake on GOOGLE

POCKET LISTINGS!!!! More properties listed with an accepted offer! These properties were not made available to the general public prior to accepting an offer. Makes me VERY concerned that these sellers don't understand they are probably accepting less money since the home is not available to ALL BUYERS. (SUPPLY and DEMAND). Research shows for every $100,000 in value the seller misses out on around $15,000.

What is a Material Fact in Real Estate? It is a very important definition to know, for both buyers and sellers. If you are selling and you don't understand what is and what is not a material fact there is a stronger possibility you will be sued by a buyer who later discovers the omission. 

http://ow.ly/ETnd30cVYbt

This is a very short week with the 4th of July holiday, so cramming 3 closings into it has been a big deal. But, this week we have buyers purchasing 1309 Shoreway Rd, Lanlan Chu (new Buena Vista University Economics professor) and Yunfei Teng. Congratulations! 

We also represent both the buyers Juana Robles and Able Sanchez and the sellers Jay and Annette Benedict on the sale of 112A Birch St in Lakeside. Congratulations to everyone!

Last but not least we represent Becky and Steve Hesselman on the sale of their home at 300 Geneseo St. Congratulations!!!

Thank you so much everyone, I personally greatly appreciate your confidence and trust. YOU are why I do what I do and why our company has the highest and most Real Estate company recommendations in our area on Google. Thank you!

The local Storm Lake area housing market is super fast! This is great for sellers but not so great for buyers.

Buyers are competing with many other buyers on few properties. Sellers are less inclined to provide concessions like closing costs, home warranties, and inspection allowances when there are multiple offers.

So how do we help Buyers get into homes fast and make successful offers?

Part of our mission is to help educate the general public, buyers and sellers on how real estate works. So we provide an initial interview with buyers where we discuss and make recommendations on how to proceed and be successful in this type of market.

The first recommendation we make is that all buyers have their banking done and a pre-approval letter in hand. We prefer a local bank if at all possible, NO, I am not prejudice nor do I discriminate. But, I am an experienced, full-time professional Broker and I have been through hundreds of closings. A number of the online lenders are a nightmare to work with and in my experience some are at less than 30% getting the loan to close. 

The other topics we discuss include buyer's closing costs, home inspections, delayed closings, and moving in ahead of closing. Having the discussion about who pays the buyer's closing costs is very important. Both buyers and sellers have closing costs, in a buyer's market sometimes a buyer can ask the seller to help them with their closing costs, this is called a concession. However in a strong seller's market asking for closing costs can cost the buyer the property, especially if another offer comes in without closing costs requested. 

Home inspections are important in every purchase. In a strong seller's market it is important to have an inspection but to also understand the seller does not have an obligation to repair anything your inspection finds. So why have one; the inspection serves 2 purposes: 1. you  know the condition of the property and if it needs work and 2. if the inspection results in large issues you can void the offer (IF THE OFFER IS WRITTEN WITH THAT CONTINGENCY).

Delayed closings are when a buyer is unable to close within the standard amount of time, in the Storm Lake area that time frame is usually 45-60 days. The longer the closing is delayed the more risk the seller is taking that something could go wrong with the buyer's loan. Making the seller nervous is not a good option in a seller's market.

Moving in ahead of closing or Interim Occupancy - this is never a good idea in any market. Too many things can go wrong. What if the buyer looses his job, it has happened, or if the property has a fire, appliances break - who repairs? too many variables to risk.

It is all about the bottom line for the seller, as a buyer my job is to help you think like the seller so that we can put together an offer that stands out from the others. 

Well summer is here and we are nearly to the 4th of July. The local real estate market is very fast, we and in a strong seller's market. Which means more buyers than homes to buy, especially in several price ranges, like 3 bedroom 1.5 bath under $150,000.

July and August are always really fast because buyers want to get moved before their children start school. For a seller that is a good thing if they have their house in tip top shape and priced correctly, these properties usually have an accepted offer within 2-4 days on the Multiple Listing Service. 

For Buyers this is a tough time, they are competing with a number of other buyers for few homes. An agent or broker's skills and experience matter, they need to explain the current market condition, help buyers understand what a reasonable offer is by doing a Comparative Market Analysis, and then negotiate like they work for NATO to get the offer accepted! 

The May 1, 2017 Iowa Solar Energy System Tax Credit application deadline for 2016 installations is quickly approaching! If you installed a solar system during calendar year 2016, go to https://taxcredit.iowa.gov/ and fill out your application now. After the May 1, 2017 deadline, it will be too late to qualify for the credit. 

If you added any solar energy products your deadline to apply for tax credit is just a coming up fast.