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About Teresa
Teresa Turner, Realtor & Broker, with The Teresa Turner Realty Group at Keller Williams Town & Country Realty, is one of the most established and respected names in NW Florida Real Estate with 25+ years of experience in Residential Real Estate. Over that time, she has developed a superior pipeline of connections and is the go-to person for getting results in Residential Real Estate. She understands and cares for people and is excellent at coming up with unique marketing strategies to solve complex problems and get homes sold. She keeps your personal information confidential and considers discretion to be her duty in dealing with your real estate situation. Teresa maintains a strong work ethic and is committed to building relationships based on trust and integrity. She is a Real Person with Real Solutions to your real estate needs.
Category Archives: Short Sales
Flood Insurance: Don’t Give Lenders One More Reason to Say ‘No’
NAR President Moe Veissi told a panel of U.S. senators yesterday that the last thing the housing market needs right now is another reason for lenders to decline your client’s mortgage loan application.
“Tight lending standards remain a problem,” he told the members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee subcommittee on economic policy, “and we don’t want to give a lender another excuse not to approve a loan.”
The Senate panel was looking at long-term reauthorization and reform of the National Flood Insurance Program. NAR supports reauthorizing federal flood insurance for five years and making reforms that would strengthen the program. As it stands, the program is set to expire at the end of this month, and REALTORS®, when they’re in Washington next week for the Rally to Protect the American Dream and the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, will make the program reauthorization an advocacy priority. Members will be meeting with members of Congress from their state in their annual Hill visits.
Many lawmakers on a bipartisan basis support reauthorization, but extending the program is always a challenge. Congress in the past several years has reauthorized the program in short-term increments, and a couple of times it allowed the program to lapse for a short period. Those lapses, as short as they were, have been very hard on the market. Thousands of transactions couldn’t close—and that’s what President Veissi means when he talks about giving lenders another reason to say no.
And the problem isn’t a coastal issue. As President Veissi says in his testimony, which you can see in the the 3-minute video above, flood plains are everywhere, so the absence of insurance is a nationwide problem.
We need this Flood Insurance Program!
6 Things That Will Stop Your House from Selling
Poor curb appeal
Buyers won’t even go inside if the outside of the house looks unappealing. So clean up your front yard by tidying plants and pulling up weeds. Make sure the outside of your home looks well cared-for by painting the trim, mowing the lawn and placing attractive potted plants by the door.
Unpleasant odors
You may not even notice bad odors, but buyers surely will. Smoking and pets are the prime causes, so smoke outside while you are selling your house and consider what to do with your animals. Allow the house to air out thoroughly before viewings – don’t just try to mask the odor with another scent.
Loud and scary pets
Apart from the odor of some animals, a big dog or noisy bird can be off-putting to some buyers. So keep your dog away when you have viewings so your potential buyers aren’t distracted or, worse, scared.
Dirt and grime
Although dirt is usually only cosmetic, it deters buyers, who will start to think the house isn’t well cared for. So make sure your kitchen and bathroom, in particular, are clean.
Bad décor
Although your home’s décor shouldn’t matter…to many Buyers it does. That’s because they many want a house they can move into right away. So update your home as much as you can with neutral and more modern paint and flooring. If you can swing it financially, update your kitchen appliances and countertops too. This will go a long way towards getting you the right Buyer.
Wrong price
If your house it too expensive compared to similar properties on the market, you’ll turn away Buyers. So take your Real Estate Agent’s advice when it comes to setting a price for your home.
Is the First Offer Really Your Best Offer?
Real estate agents around the world generally go by the same mantra when discussing the first offer that a Seller receives on their home:
“The first offer is always your best offer.”
Of course, this isn’t true in every situation, but there are reasons why Real Estate Agents believe this, and why they often suggest that Sellers either accept the first offer or at least give it serious consideration.
Get in the buyer’s head
To understand why the first offer is usually the one you should accept, consider the Buyer and the journey they are on…
Buyers in the real estate market usually start by dipping their feet into the water. This may be before they even engage a Real Estate Agent. They generally go to a few open houses, check out prices online, and start to do their homework. They may even make first contact with a Real Estate Agent to assess what the Agent thinks about the state of the local market.
From there, Buyers begin to get more serious. They may start going on private, second or third showings with their Real Estate Agent. They really start to get engaged in the process. They become “the real dealer” — a Buyer who is completely in the game, approved for a mortgage, and actively engaged with their mortgage lender or broker. Maybe they’ve even written an offer or two. They’ve narrowed down their search parameters, spent months learning the market, pricing and checking the comparables.
Real dealers are often the ones who write the first offer a Seller receives on a property. And that’s why their offers should be taken seriously.
Real dealers will likely get an email notification about your listing within hours of it going online. Or, since they are so engaged with their Real Estate Agent at this point, the Real Estate Agent may spot it first and send them a text or email.
This Buyer will want to get in and see the property ASAP. Since they’re so familiar with the market, they’ll be able to tell once they step foot inside if it will work for them, if it’s priced right, if it shows well, and if it’s in line with present or past comparable sales. If the property meets their criteria, the real dealer, armed with all their knowledge and motivation, will make an offer.
The Real Dealer
Their offer may not come in within days of a property going on the market. But it will come from an informed Buyer who is knowledgeable of the market. If a home is priced too high and a month or two goes by without an offer, it will be the Real Deal Buyer who has been watching the listing and waiting to see how the market responds. If they note that there aren’t any offers on it and there is no activity after some time, the Real Dealer will come in with a low offer, which actually may be a good offer, on the Seller’s home.
While you may see it as an insulting “low ball” offer coming out of left field, you should still look closely at this offer. Who is the Buyer? How long have they been looking? Have they written other offers nearby? Are they working with a good local Real Estate Agent? Does the offer come with a pre-approval letter? Is this offer actually a number that is close to the number your Real Estate Agent initially suggested?
As hard as it may seem to contemplate an offer much lower than your asking price, serious Sellers should look at all the signs leading up to it and consider if this is the offer to accept. Trust your Real Estate Agent. And even better, trust the phrase, “The first offer is always your best offer.”
Bottom Line…Think long and hard over that first offer.
Formula for Successful Short Sale
Everyone has heard a Short Sale horror story or two. However, the reality is that Short Sales are here to stay and we are experiencing more success for both buyers and sellers than failure. The banks have gotten much more streamlined with their Short Sale processes and the length of time to close them has decreased as well.
What you need to know most is for your transaction to be successful there’s a formula…2 good & knowledgeable agents (Buyer’s Agent and Listing Agent) + a cooperative bank with a good process in place + very patient buyers = Short Sale Success!
