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The Essentials Of Selling A Luxury Home

essentials of selling a luxury home

The Essentials Of Selling A Luxury Home

By applying the same template that applies to all homes for selling a luxury home may result in a sale, but it will also result in extra expenditure of time and effort.  Since luxury homes require slightly different treatment than a non-luxury home the extra time and effort could be put to better use with the right marketing strategy.  When the prices are high the resulting buyer interest is reduced and as a result finding the right buyer becomes a critical task to get the luxury home sold.  The tips in this article take luxury home sellers through some essential areas that should be understood prior to going onto the market.

Home Preparation

Luxury home preparation is one of those areas where what is done for other homes also is applicable here with some exceptions.  Homes need to have clutter reduced, packed up and placed out of sight.  Personalization of the home throughout should be reduced so luxury home buyers can envision themselves in the home and not see the home through memories of the homeowner. Exotic art, collections and more also should be packed away and moved out of the home to avoid further buyer distraction and/or damage to those pieces.

Luxury homes need to be cleaned, repainted and update as time and budget allow in order to get the maximum value out of the home.  Luxury homebuyers today rarely come in looking for a project home unless a steep discount is involved.  As a result updates should be made so that old out of style wallpaper is removed and fresh neutral in color paint is put up in order to boost the appeal...

June 2017 Greater Cincinnati Luxury Real Estate Market Report

june 2017 greater Cincinnati luxury real estate market update

June 2017 Greater Cincinnati Luxury Real Estate Market Report

The luxury real estate market in Greater Cincinnati is a bit slower than homes that are non-luxury in category.  There are a number of reasons luxury homes (homes $600,000 and up in price) are sitting for longer on the market and requiring steeper price reductions in order to get offers.  Local employers such as Kroger and Macy’s are facing tough competition from online sales (Amazon anyone) and as a result are scaling back growth and hiring.  Consequently less money is being spent locally to hire people in senior level positions and less money being spent to expand or improve existing stores. 

Kroger in particular has decided to slow down expansion across the Greater Cincinnati area.  Due to Amazon.com announcing the purchase of Whole Foods the grocery sector in general will experience a big disruption which will force grocery retailers like Kroger to spend less and be more nimble in adopting services that customers have yet to express an actual demand for.  Less money being spent by Kroger for expansion means less money being distributed across the region, which will slow things down.   Also with the upcoming final movement of Toyota from Northern Kentucky to Fort Worth, Texas means plenty of high-level jobs leaving the region along with those employees selling their homes.  Those Toyota jobs being higher wage earners will put downward pressure on luxury homes. 

The ...

Tips For Buying A Home Sight Unseen

tips for buying a home sight unseen

Tips For Buying A Home Sight Unseen

Whether you are an investor looking to buy investment property in another state or a homebuyer who needs to buy a home in an area where you are moving to but won’t be able to see the home until you move in there are ways for it to be done.  Especially in this digital age where homes can be viewed online and  signatures can be done digitally from the comfort of one’s home or office a home can just as easily be purchased without visiting it in person.  There are some initial steps homebuyers need to take prior to buying a home without seeing it in person and this article will explore those steps in detail.

Work With A Knowledgeable Realtor

If you are buying a luxury home sight unseen then make sure you work with a Realtor who is experienced with buying and selling luxury homes, if you are buying investment property make sure the Realtor you are working with is experienced with investment property.  Whatever the property type the Realtor you are working with should have experience with buying and selling those properties.  Ask questions of the Realtor about their experience with buying and selling the property type you are interested in to make sure you find the best local expert. 

Especially for a Realtor who claims experience in investment property a great question to ask them is if they own any investment property and what types if they do.  While a Realtor does not have to currently own investment property to understand how to help a client buy or...

How Do I Appeal A Real Estate Appraisal For My Home?

how do I appeal a real estate appraisal for my home

How Do I Appeal A Real Estate Appraisal For A Home I Want To buy?

When buying a home with a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage on a home an appraisal is usually required in order to determine the value of the home.  The home value is used as part of financing a home under a mortgage whereby the mortgage lender wants to ensure that the value of the home will cover the mortgage in the event of default.  If the value of the home cannot cover the amount of the loan most mortgage lenders will deny the loan.

Different types of mortgage loans will have different value requirements for a home.  For instance the traditional mortgage where 80% of the value of the home is lent to the homebuyer the home must appraise for the full purchase price where borrowers need to put down 20% of their own cash in addition to the 80% from the lender.  For example a homebuyer is wanting to buy a home and makes an offer at $500,000.00 dollars where they will borrow $400,000.00 (80% of the value of the home) and put down $100,000.00 (20% of the value of the home) cash from their own savings.  If the home appraises at $500,000.00 or more the loan will be made to the homebuyer.  If the loan appraises at less than $500,000.00 then the lender will deny the loan absent changes to the offer price of the home.

Where the home value is appraised lower than the offer price there are a few options available to both the homebuyer and home seller.  The homebuyer can ask the home seller to accept a lower amount so that mortgage lender meets the 80/20% requirement.  If the home seller does not...

Alternative Ways To Buy A Home Without A Mortgage

alternative ways to buy a home without a mortgage

Alternative Ways To Buy A Home Without A Mortgage

For some seeking to buy a home the traditional way of purchasing through the use of a mortgage may not be available.  Mortgages are not available to some homebuyers due to credit issues, income issues, work history issues or other reasons.  The lack of a mortgage does not necessarily prevent a person from buying a home as there are other alternatives.  Those alternatives can be somewhat more expensive and more risky to the person wanting to use them.

Use Cash

One of the easiest alternatives to use to buy a home is to pay all cash for the purchase.  Now obviously not everyone has access to enough cash to pay for a home outright but for those few who do a cash purchase of a home represents a good way to buy the home and not have to jump through all the hoops of getting a mortgage.  Setting aside a large amount of cash to buy a home means there is less cash available for other investments or debt payments.  Sometimes there are other investments with better rates of return than homeownership which sometimes can also give negative returns(LINK to behance article) so tying up cash to buy a home may not always be the best move.

Land Contract

As noted above when a buyer currently does not have sufficient credit history to qualify for a loan a home seller may be willing to allow a buyer to purchase their home through the use of a land contract.  Under a land contract the seller is agreeing to finance the buyer’s purchase of their home.  Land contracts are kind of like lease agreements except with a land contract all of the monthly payments are being applied towards the purchase of...

Anatomy Of A Real Estate Offer

anatomy of a real estate offer

Anatomy Of A Real Estate Offer

Both homebuyers and home sellers need to understand what is involved in an offer to purchase a home.  Contracts to purchase a home contain many different terms and requirements that are binding to both the buyer and the seller.  Even a simple slip in missing a deadline can result in consequences the parties may not fully understand the consequences of.  So not only is a thorough understanding of the terms of the contract to purchase a home necessary understanding the critical timelines is also a must.

This article primarily deals with residential real estate.  While there are some similar concepts in commercial real estate, the buying of commercial real estate is a different type of transaction that does not have all the protections required under law that residential real estate has.  Regardless of the type of transaction, due to the complexities involved it is always advisable to have a professional Realtor or real estate attorney assist buyers or sellers with their real estate transaction.

Basics Of An Offer To Buy Real Estate

All contracts to buy or sell real estate must be in writing.  Generally formal contracts are used and provided by many states and real estate agent boards for use by home buyers and sellers.  The contract to purchase rental real estate must include the subject property information (usually the address), the amount being paid to purchase the property along with any other conditions and/or qualifications of the purchase, as well as the buyer and seller information. 

Both the buyer and the seller must accept the terms as is with no changes in order to have an accepted contract to sell the real...

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