Earnest Money

Show me the money!

Let’s talk about earnest money. When a buyer makes an offer on a property, earnest money is tendered shortly there after.

If everything goes as planned, the earnest money is applied towards the purchase price at closing.

However, sometimes the wheels fall off the bus! Sometimes a buyer might decide to cancel their contract, typically this is because of inspection items.

If this happens, and the buyer cancels before their specified deadlines, their earnest money is 100% refundable.

So, when might the earnest money be non-refundable? Only if a buyer passes their loan approval deadline and cannot or will not close.

This is very rare and in 700+ transactions have only had a handful of buyers end up losing their earnest money.

Questions? Please leave them in the comments or DM me

This Music Knows Me

Have you ever felt a certain song or musical artist just connected with your soul?

Like the order of the notes was somehow linked to your DNA?

That from the moment you heard it you just knew it was something special.

Maybe even made just for you?

This is how I feel about the band Jamiroquai. From the very first rift in the very first song I knew this would be a band that I would love forever.

Its like the music KNOWS me.

I know that sounds weird but I cannot describe it any other way.

I would love to hear about the music in your life that makes you feel the same way.

Here’s a hint - if you own a box set (you young ones might not know what I am talking about) then that is probably your answer!

*Side note* I was lucky enough to see them in concert in Denver about 15 years ago. Since then the lead singer has been permanently banned from the US for driving too fast!

HOPE

I hope I get the job.

I hope I make the grade.

I hope I win the lottery.

I hope I can buy a house.

Here’s the thing. Hope is not a strategy. The things in life worth having take action, determination and effort.

You have to want what ever it is you hope for.

I want the job.

I want the grade.

I want to win the lottery. (don’t we all )

I want to buy a house.

And then you have to put the wheels into motion.

Tune up that resume.

Study hard for your test.

Buy more lottery tickets.

Meet with a lender and find out what you can afford for a home and then LISTEN to what they tell you to do and not do.

You don’t have to do this alone. I hope (no want) you to reach out if I can help in any way.

Read This One

You’re going to need your super readers for this one!

When I meet with sellers they often tell me about some of the repairs they never got around to… can you relate?

They suggest offering a credit to the buyer at closing to address these items. While that might work for things like flooring, its a weak place to work from regarding negotiations.

Think about it - you’ve already told the buyer to offer you less. And in my experience if a repair costs you $1000, the buyer will want $1500 to deal with the hassle.

Each situation is specific, and when we meet together I will give you the best advice possible to get your home ready to go on the market.

Learn From Someone's Mistake

You know how you can sometimes learn from someone else’s mistake?

Well here’s an opportunity for you.

I recently heard about a home that sold “off market”. This is a home that is sold privately, no Realtors involved.

Apparently the seller (lets just call her Jane) did not want to pay real estate commissions so she sold it herself.

There is nothing inherently wrong with this, however, while Jane saved herself the commissions she cost herself over $200,000 in the purchase price.

Had she called a local Realtor they would have helped her price her home accordingly, in line with fair market value. Jane ended up selling her home for WAY under market value.

Your home is likely your most valuable asset. Don’t leave it to chance, fate or your best guess. Get some expert and professional advice so you don’t end up like Jane.

When In Doubt, DISCLOSE!

The sellers property disclosure, your friendly form.

Did you know the number complaint with the division of real estate is non-disclosure by sellers?

What does this mean in plain English. “We bought a house from Mr and Mrs Seller and they never told us about the roof leak, the cracked foundation, the flood in the basement, fill in the blank.”

So how do sellers avoid this unpleasant situation?

There is this handy form we use in real estate called the Sellers Property Disclosure. This form is your opportunity to air all your homes dirty laundry.

Sometimes I have sellers balk at this form, they feel reluctant to fill it out.

But think of this form as your get out of jail free card.
The save your bacon form.
The keep you out of hot water form.

You can’t hide things from the new buyer!

Just picture this. New buyer moves in and who should saunter over, but Karen from across the street.

“Oh welcome to the neighborhood! I was just saying to my husband that I didn’t think anyone would buy this home with the moldy attic and all.”

Your neighbors know everything! And if something is wrong with your house the buyers are going to find out eventually.

It’s best to be as thorough and accurate as possible with the disclosure. It will protect you in the long run and keep you out of trouble.

Yes, you might have to make some repairs, but I can promise you it will be a lot cheaper than a lawsuit and attorney fees.

When in doubt, DISCLOSE!

Forever Grateful

I really love my job. I know lots of people feel that way but for me there are so many gratifying aspects of real estate.
And testimonials like this are what keep me coming back on the hard days.
If we have worked together in the past just know that I value our relationship and your trust in me. I am forever grateful.
With gratitude.

Invest in YOU

“We are all on the stairs, my friend; some of us are going down, some us are going up!” - Mehmet Murat ildan

Where are you going?

Why not head in the direction that invests in YOU!?

Did you know that 47% of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing?

With rates so low it’s worth looking into the pros and cons of homeownership.

I would love to talk with you more.

Things To Consider About Selling Your Home

Hold or Sell..

Should I stay or should I go?

Here are a couple of things to consider if you are thinking about selling your home.

1. If you’ve bought your home within the past 12 months you might not have enough equity in your home to end up ahead.

2. If you’ve not lived in your home for at least 2 years you might be subject to prorated capital gains even if it was your primary home.

3. If you’ve had a significant life change (divorce or death of a loved one) most experts would say not to make any changes to your living situation for at least 6 months if possible.

4. If the market is trending downward (not the case in today’s market) and you can stay put it might be a good idea to do so.

   If none of the above apply to you and your home no longer fits your needs give me a call, I’d love to help.

What Would You Do?

In January of 2016 the Powerball jackpot got up to $1.59 billon. That’s 12 zeros….

If you are anything like me you might daydream about what you would do with your winnings.

Pay off all of your family members homes.

Go on vacation - like all the time.

Donate to your favorite charities.

Pay it forward and bless complete strangers. Buy an island or a yacht.

And then you hear about the curses of winning the lottery. How good fortune turns to ruin.

But when I really started thinking about it there is only one thing I would really want that the lottery could give me, because truth be told, I love my life and I am blessed.

If money were no object, we would home school our kids and we would travel as much as possible. And the rest? I would give it away to help as many people as I could.

By train, plane and automobile. There is so much of the world I still want to explore.

If you won the Powerball what would you do

"Real Estater"

I was called a “real estater” the other day.

Not Realtor, not real estate agent, a real estater.

And it reminded me that there are still so many people who don’t fully understand what I do. I mean lots of people think all I do is open doors and go out to lunch with my clients!

Whether I am working with a buyer or seller my hope is that I am brining years of experience and connections to the table.

• Recommending pre-listing repairs for the biggest bang for your buck.

• Connecting you with experts in their fields for pre-purchase inspections.

• Coordinating with the title company to resolve unreleased liens.

• Brainstorming with the lender when we have an issue on the appraisal.

• Inside knowledge on things like well depth/quality or feisty HOA’s.

• Negotiating on your behalf when inspections items come up.

• Accurate pricing for the maximum return on investment in the shortest amount of time.

• Getting you the winning offer when you are competing against many other buyers.

• And sometimes being a shoulder to cry on, real estate can put you through the ringer.

With gratitude.

Become Wealthy

5 things that will make you wealthy by Dave Ramsey one more from me.

1. Have a written budget. You have to have a written game plan with money or you’re going to lose.

2. Get out of debt. When you don’t have any payments, do you know what you’ve got? MONEY!

3. Live on less than you make. In the house of the wise are choice food and oil, but a fool devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20

4. Save and invest. 100% of people who don’t save money don’t have any money saved.

5. Be generous. Follow the 7 Baby Steps and you can be outrageously generous!

And 6 - Buy a home! Long term renting will not create wealth (actually it will but for your landlord). It can be scary but its one of the BEST investments you can make for yourself. And you don’t have to have 20% down - that is an old wives’ tale. And remember the interest rate on rent is 100%.

Add Simplicity To Your Life

Here are three things you can do in 15 minutes each to add simplicity and joy to your life.

1. Clean out your purse or wallet. Get rid of old receipts, gum wrappers and anything you don’t use.

2. Go through your closet and find all the things you never wear and donate them.

3. Contact www.catalogchoice.org to remove your name from mailing lists that you no longer wish to receive.

   And one more for good measure.

4. Make a list of 10 of your go-to dinner meals and tape it to your fridge.

Looking Back

My teenage years are still very vivid.

I can literally conjure up the feelings I had as a teenager, those of angst, overall frustration with my parental units, longing for someone to understand me and that horrible feeling of never being good enough.

This is a photo from junior prom..

When I look at this 17 year old girl I think she is pretty, that she looks nice, that I might like to be her friend.

Unfortunately I didn’t think those things about myself at the time.

I let the world and my peers tell me I was less than. I was self conscious, afraid and constantly intimidated.

The grownups around me all had the same message; none of this matters and someday you will look back on your high school years and it won’t effect you at all.

.In my head I would be rolling my eyes and trying to hold back the tears.

Here’s the thing.

They were 100% correct!

Those kids that were mean to me, I don’t ever think about them. Those awkward moments I had as a very tall teenager, not even on my radar.

Those times I thought I would never be accepted for who I was…. quite the opposite in my life today.

I so wish I could go back to that teenage girl and tell her “you are smart, you are kind, you are so beautiful and someday the world will see what I see”.

With gratitude.

Check These Things

5 things to always check out when buying a home

1. The roof. Two things here. What’s the condition of the roof and how many layers of shingles. If there are already two layers of shingles you will have to tear off all layers and re-roof. If there is just one layer you can probably re-roof over it.

2. The septic system or sewer line. It is possible to have a septic issue and not know it, especially if you are buying a home that has been used as a second home.

3. Latent moisture. Looks like an old leak, and it might be. But there still could be mold behind the wall.

4. Water quality and quantity. Will you have enough water and is your water drinkable? Not as much of an issue when you have city water but if you are on a well its important to understand quality and quantity.

5. Radon levels. Radon is an invisible gas that the EPA reports can cause cancer. Its has been around since the beginning of time. Some homes have very high radon levels and while it might not be a concern to you, you will have to address it when you go to sell your home.

If you have questions, hit me up!

Knowing The Right Lender

First time buyer credits are a thing of the past. Sadly, your lender doesn’t care if you are a first time buyer or buying your 10th home.

But it’s not all bad news

If you are a teacher or first responder there are some special loan programs available to you.

Also if you a Veteran of the US Military, you likely qualify for a VA loan.

And many buyers qualify for down payment assistance and down payment grants.

A great lender will be able to figure out what programs are best for you. Please for the love of all that is good in the world, DO NOT, call one of the lenders with the fancy commercials.

You know who I am talking about. They work on volume not on repeat business. They spend millions of dollars on advertising to sell you one loan..

A local lender, recommended by your real estate agent, cares about your experience because they hope you might recommend your friends and neighbors down the road.

A MUST In Homes

Do you have one of these bad boys installed in your home?

If you don’t, I BEG you to go to the hardware store TODAY and pick one (or two, or three) up.

As a guideline, Colorado law requires carbon monoxide detectors be installed within 15 feet of all bedrooms upon the transfer of property. But even if you are not selling your home it’s imperative that you are protected..

Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and tasteless. It steals oxygen from your red blood cells and can steal the life right out of you. You essentially drown without getting wet.

The weather is getting colder and folks are turning on their gas powered heating, so please don’t take a chance.

This is serious stuff. If you read just one of my posts all year, this is the one I want you to really take to heart.

With gratitude.

Valuing Transparency and Honesty

I lost a potential listing the other day. They decided to go with someone else which is totally okay. You can’t win them all, right?!

In this market it’s incredibly hard to price property. A few homes are going for over asking and often with multiple offers and some homes are sitting, and sitting.

Sometimes I feel like an agent turned fortune teller, trying to predict the future for my clients.

I am a data freak. In other words, I rely on the data to guide me. So when you ask me to list your home, I am coming prepared with the facts.

What are homes selling for?

How long are they on the market?

What are the sold comps telling me about value?

What’s the available inventory?

What’s the appropriate listing price for the current market conditions?

At the end of the day, I told these sellers a list price they didn’t like.

I want all my clients, both buyers and sellers, to feel heard, not pressured and above all respected. But part of my job is delivering professional advice.

I can promise you I won’t blow smoke.

I will tell you the straight facts.

I value transparency and being honest.

I will give you my honest opinion on price but ultimately the the list price is up to you and I will likely support it even if its over what I think is appropriate.

And I will advocate for you every step of the way.

With gratitude.

Guide To Real Estate

Are you a first time buyer, first time seller, downsizing or upsizing?

I’ve got a guide for that. With step by step and in-depth explanations.

After over 2 decades in real estate I have discovered that people who fall into these categories have many of the same pain points.

First time home buyers experience fear of the unknown.

First time sellers are unfamiliar with the process.

Both up-sizers and down-sizers have concerns about logistics.

Do you fall into any of these categories?

I would love to share my knowledge with you. Please comment below or send me a private message.

Tomorrow Is Not A Guarantee

Take time to stop and smell the roses or in this case the peonies.

By now you have probably learned to accept there are certain things that you cannot change. As much as you want them to be different some things remain unaffected by our will and desire.

And if you are able to embrace this fact, space is made for being present.

Lingering no longer seems lazy.

Savoring now seems luxuriant.

And listening becomes easier.

In the mountains our summers are so sweet, and so short. So I really like to smell the flowers. Like a whole nose full of scent.

Because tomorrow is not a guarantee.

Groucho Marx said it perfectly. “Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”

With gratitude.