#utahrealestate

Avoiding Contract Loopholes

The housing market today is frenetic, booming with robust demand, minimal days on the market, and dwindling supply due to shortages and homeowners reluctant to sell. Add to the mix emerging bidding wars fraught with complicated cash buy-outs, frustrated homebuyers, and cancelled closings… and you’ve got a sizzling barbecue of a real estate market.

As a buyer or seller, the legal documents you sign need to be done extremely carefully with the utmost attention to detail. It is pivotal to understand the contracts, disclosures and other forms you are signing. Realtors® are trained on pertinent legal and technical regulations to ensure your home transaction goes smoothly from start to finish.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling your home, here are 9 common contract “loopholes” or problem areas you need to be aware of and avoid.*

Buyer not delivering and depositing the earnest money within the deadline required in the purchase contract.
Buyer’s earnest money check bounces.
Missing initials.
Missing signatures.
Missing performance deadlines and dates.
The seller accepts the offer the day after the Acceptance Deadline and fails to address this issue in a subsequent addendum. The seller later uses this to argue there never was a valid contract.
Improperly numbering multiple addenda in your purchase contract which creates confusion.
Poorly written language in an addendum that creates an ambiguity.
Buyer needs a settlement extension but doesn’t get it in writing. Seller later argues Buyer breached the contract.

While selling on your own might seem like an attractive way to cut corners, you need an experienced Realtor® to help guide you through one of the most pivotal transactions of your life, to help avoid those loopholes. As realtors, we know the ins and outs of forms and disclosures required for the transaction of a home, and we can also help you stage your home as you prepare to sell and ensure sure you net the best possible price for it.

A recent study showed that homes sold by Realtors® sold for $60,000 to $90,000 more than homes sold by owners without an agent (FSBO). Realtors® can provide buyers and sellers specialized knowledge and valuable market intel of neighborhoods and current market conditions. As Realtors®, we can also assist you with commercial real estate such as offices, industrial, and land properties.

As Coldwell Banker agents, we are always undergoing training to become more knowledgeable. Even after being award-winning agents for over twenty years, we believe in constantly improving and bringing all we can to the table as your real estate agent. Having our useful skills and seasoned experience will help you avoid loopholes as you buy or sell your home.

The basic skillset of any Realtor® includes:

-Knowledge of local market value
-Marketing techniques
-Expertise in forms and legal documents
-Money-saving negotiating skills
-Lien and encumbrance protection
-A database of ready and willing buyers

To avoid contract loopholes in your real estate transaction, it’s important to hire a Realtor® who has experience with the local market and can understand and fulfill your needs. Make sure when hiring a Realtor® that you check their background and credentials to guarantee they’re the right fit for you.

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have about avoiding contract loopholes, buying or selling your home. Contact us today!

References:

Bullock, Curtis. “Curtis Bullock, Salt Lake Board of Realtors.” Facebook, Curtis Bullock, 3 May 2021, www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100013640683572.

How Accurate are online estimates?

Pop-up ads monopolize computer screens every day, showcasing free estimates of what your home is worth. On popular sites like Zillow and Redfin, simply typing in a street address will yield an enticing, high-end bracket estimate of what your home may sell for in today’s seller’s market. But determining the actual value of your home is a bit more complicated than the simple click of a button.

Utah is one of eleven states that are non-disclosure, meaning only if you have access to the MLS would you get accurate statistics on sales. So, while online estimates might paint an entertaining picture designed to get your attention, they don’t give an accurate assessment that can help you make a wise and significant financial decision.

Online sources lack accurate, up-to-date information about a property, such as upgrades, renovation, and landscaping, which can cause a higher or lower estimate than your home’s actual worth. Pricing your home correctly when you place it up for sale is vital. As a seller, if you price your home too high, even in today’s competitive market, it could sit and not receive offers. If you undervalue it to sell it faster, you could lose its net worth profit, which may be crucial to helping you into your next home.

Price is one of the first things buyers look for when searching for a new home. Having the wrong price on your property could deter the right buyer from making an offer. Whether you’re looking to buy or sell, or even if you’re a homeowner wanting to keep track of your home’s value, it’s essential to understand how to assess the worth of your home accurately.

As seasoned and award-winning real estate agents, we can help you determine the proper market value of your home, with no cost or contractual obligation to you at all!

There are three types of home values that are key in assessing the worth of a home – appraised value, assessed value, and true market value.

Appraised Value – With appraised value, a professional appraiser is in charge of determining the appraised value of a home. The appraiser is usually an objective, licensed professional who with no allegiance to the buyer, seller, or lender, regardless of who is paying their fee.

The appraiser ensures the lender that the buyer is not overpaying for the property. The appraiser will compare the property to similar homes in your neighborhood. They will evaluate factors such as location, square footage, appliances, upgrades, improvements, and the interior and exterior of the house.

Assessed Value – A local municipal property assessor assesses the home’s value by evaluating comparable homes in the neighborhood, the home’s size, age, overall condition, and any improvements or upgrades made while you’ve lived there. Most counties use a multiplier (between 60%-80%) to calculate the final assessed value.
Actual Market Value – Your real estate agent will determine the accurate market value with both their expertise in buying and selling properties and specialized Coldwell Banker technology that helps assess the true worth of your home. Having a real estate agent is the most accurate method, which will ensure you list your property for the right price. Your real estate agent can also offer suggestions and cost-efficient upgrades that will improve the actual market value, making sure your home sells for its net worth.

As Coldwell Banker agents, we can provide a competitive market analysis, which compares your home to similar homes in the area. We can accurately assess the condition of your home’s general location, exterior, interior, age, and style of the house and marry it with current market trends to ensure the best actual value.

While it’s entertaining to click those pop-up ads or enter your home address on popular real estate sites, stop and think – how accurate are online estimates? Does wishful thinking help you in the long run in determining how much your home will sell for? If the answer is no, contact us today. We can give you a no-obligation, free assessment of your home’s worth, along with a comparative market analysis that will help you assess which properties are available in your desired location.

Get started the right way, and rest assured that you’re in good hands with Inman Torres and Company. We’re here for you.

In today’s booming economy, we have countless investment options. Some people choose to invest in the stock market and take out shares in the hopes of seeing a return. Others invest in real estate, spanning market properties such as single-family homes, condos, townhomes, duplexes, and multi-family dwellings. While you may not know a lot about real estate investors, it’s essential to decide whether selling to an investor is the best choice for you. Here are some things to take into account about real estate investors when you’re looking through an investor’s offer.

There are three types of residential real estate investors:

Wholesalers
Short-term investors or flippers
Long-term investors.

Wholesalers negotiate to bring a property under contract and will shop the property around to other investors. They usually will assign it to another investor, who will complete the transaction.

Short-term investors or Flippers are similar to the home improvement shows you may have seen, where the short-term investors will buy a property (usually what they deem as a fixer-upper), make valuable improvements, and needed repairs. Then they will sell the property to another buyer. Short-term investors typically have a property anywhere from a month to six months.

Long-term investors intend to buy a property to live in it or eventually rent it out as the home appreciates and builds equity. Long-term investors seek homes with affordable mortgages and marketable

Selling to a real estate investor comes with various benefits:

A Faster Timeline: Real estate investors will meet your closing timeline needs. They are motivated to close fast, as they face penalties in carrying costs the longer it takes them to close. While this can be problematic, there is less red tape than with a traditional sale.
Fewer Repairs and Negotiations Needed: Particularly with short-term investors/flippers, with minimal negotiations, home inspection, or appraisal process, you can sell your home as-is without negotiation for needed repairs or costly maintenance.
More straightforward Financing/Cash Purchases: Many houses on the market today are going to those who pay cash. Not every real estate investor will make a cash offer, but the majority of them do. Taking this less conventional method means more reliability in your funding and less concern about the investor’s financing not falling through.
Rental Options: When the pandemic hit, most Americans faced financial hardship and had difficulty meeting their monthly rent and mortgage payments. If one of the reasons you intend to sell your property is financially motivated, selling your home to an investor may allow you to continue living in your home and pay the rent if they are willing to work with you.
Investors are more active than homebuyers: The real estate market is currently a seller’s market. With less supply and more demand, prospective homebuyers are losing bidding wars are turning away from potential homes for sale because the prices are too high or there is not enough inventory. On the other hand, investors are looking to add at least one property to their portfolio each year. Some investors will also give you a commission if you can find potential rental properties for them.
Less Traditional Sales Process: Without the process of a home inspection and appraisal, legal negotiations, and ensuring the transaction is put through all the proper channels, selling to a real estate investor will give you a quicker, more streamlined process geared toward the standalone sale. If your goal is a more effortless transaction over getting the maximum net worth from the sale of your property, selling to a real estate investor might be for you.

Whatever your situation, it’s crucial to look at all available options before selling your home and weigh which option is the best for you in the long run. Real estate agents will handle the transaction for you from start to finish, and by having an appraisal and home inspection, you can rest assured that you will net the maximum worth of your home while having financial and legal failsafe in place. As REALTORS®, we have an ethical obligation to adhere to the highest ethical standards and practices. But if you want to sell your home as quickly as possible without the traditional inspections and delays, and you aren’t concerned about how much it will sell for, selling to a real estate investor may be a good solution for you.

If you have any questions you’d like to ask about what’s the right option for you, we know the real estate business inside and out, and we would love to speak with you. At Inman Torres and Company, we work hard to help clients find the right home at the right price. With access to comprehensive reports and in-depth knowledge of current market conditions, we can also give you a free, no-obligation estimate of what your home is worth. Contact us today to see how we can help you buy or sell your home.

Real estate is hotter than lava this spring, and after recuperating from the whiplash that was 2020, everyone is casting an eye into the future of the housing market. Coldwell Banker reports that one in five homeowners (20%) plans to sell in the next 12 months and that the number of actual sales this year will surpass last year’s. Yes, you read that right. A robust housing market in 2021! But with a housing shortage, how can that be? Wouldn’t that conflict with the lack of homes for sale? We will tackle these questions and more as we delve further into the future of the housing market.

Selling a home can be stressful at the best of times, especially for people venturing into real estate for the first time. By staying up to date on the latest market details, researching, and consulting your real estate agent, you stand a much higher chance of succeeding in your home buying/selling endeavors than going at it alone.

Consumers are currently outbid at furious paces in bidding wars, the winner sometimes forking outwards of $70,000 over the listing price! Homebuyers are frustrated, agents are exhausted, and we’re facing a historic, unprecedented era in the history of housing, the likes of which we’ve never seen.

Yet, we’re seeing 9.1% higher sales than a year ago, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicts that 2021 will see an estimated 6.5 million home sales, up from 5.64 sales in 2020.

To understand how this might happen given the current housing shortage – and looking forward with no end in sight to either the pandemic or real estate mayhem, consider the delicate balance of inventory and demand and the tightrope the real estate market is carefully negotiating.

The statistics could meet NAR’s momentous prediction one of two ways:

The number of homes for sale could suddenly increase, doubling supply.
As the pandemic gets under control, fewer home buyers will seek out new homes.

In the first scenario, homeowners now are wary of putting their homes up for sale, concerned about having somewhere to go in such a tight market with little inventory. In the second scenario, those desperate to leave more highly infected areas searching for more comfortable living and working space may decide to stay where they are as the pandemic gets under control, and more people get vaccinated. Likely, a marriage of the two will calm the waves of the housing market once the pandemic begins to fade. Currently, demand is outpacing supply.

One often-overlooked solution to the lack of inventory is to build. 2021 is home builders’ time to shine. Luxury builders like Visionary Homes, Fieldstone Homes, and Ivory Homes build single-family houses and townhome communities at warp speed, even amid ever-rising prices and shortage of lumber. New building communities with new homes are popping up all over Davis County.

While new builder homes are a perfect solution for some, homeowners who would otherwise sell are still reluctant to put their homes into the housing market. The pandemic still looms, the real estate market lacks inventory, and homeowners want to see if their homes will appreciate any higher. The rise in home prices has significantly catapulted the worth of homes, resulting in wealth accumulation for current homeowners.

As the year progresses and more vaccines get distributed into people’s arms, we should see a shifting dynamic in more supply and less demand.

The pandemic lured buyers to purchase homes with more space and less cost, often causing some to move out of state and resettle in locations they otherwise would not have considered (e.g., the exodus from New Yorkers to the suburbs). As more people turn an eye toward using their stimulus payments in the economy and away from the housing market, that dynamic may be shifting.

The rising prices of homes may linger for the foreseeable future. Still, the high cap may also dissuade potential homebuyers due to the lack of affordability and fear of entering bidding wars until the lava cools.

NAR’s projections foresee a .5 percent increase in 30-year fixed interest rates over the next two years, resulting in higher monthly mortgage payments for consumers. While the housing market shortage won’t be solved instantaneously and may even last for a few years, it won’t skyrocket forever. So, where is the breaking point?

The good news here lies in the statistics and forecast from the NAR. NAR showed that Utah is one of the top states to have shown resilience and has predicted Utah will perform well in a post-pandemic environment. Homebuilding will continue, and new listings, constructions, and sellers will gradually emerge from the woodwork to restore balance. But until that happens, buckle in. It’s going to be a bumpy, frustrating year.

Coldwell Banker has been a trusted advisor for more than 114 years, helping buyers and sellers make the right decisions in times of prosperity and times of crises. Throughout our history, we have withstood numerous adversities and were born in emergencies following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Our goal has always been to bring honesty, integrity, and service to those in need.

As the news headlines raise questions and uncertainty over the housing market’s future, we at Inman Torres and Company are happy to provide you with real-time information and answer all of your real estate questions. You don’t have to go up to bat alone. We can supply you with vital market reports so you can be well-informed, including data on homes for sale in your area, homes sold, and your home’s current value.

Let us be your trusted advisor – we’re ready to share our expertise and answer all of your real estate questions. Please contact us today for a virtual presentation and discussion.

Risks Homesellers Take Selling Alone

Recent news stories and headlines have blown up with articles on bidding wars, the rising prices of homes, and the lack of inventory. Since March of 2020, the real estate industry has experienced a massive shift with urban-area dwellers flocking to the suburbs, searching for a more comfortable place to work from home and live during the pandemic.

In today’s high pressured, fast-paced competitive market, when home sellers try to go it alone in selling their home, they stand a much riskier chance without a real estate agent. With technology at our fingertips, it can be easy to assume selling a home without any help would be easy. Why wouldn’t it be? We can order groceries to be delivered, pay our bills online, and conduct business meetings remotely. How hard could selling your own home be?

More complex than you think.

Many factors go into selling your home that make having a real estate agent pivotal. Common risks most sellers aren’t aware of include:

Showing the Home to Multiple Buyers

Homes on the market today are guaranteed to get multiple offers, as many as twenty each. Exciting, certainly, but what this means for you as a seller is that you would have to coordinate showing your home to various buyers and agents at times that didn’t overlap. This means having a showing management system, keeping track of the agents’ and buyers’ contact information, and having their phones inundated with endless questions and scheduling. A clunkily organized home showing can turn a buyer off instantly. In addition to preparing the home to be showing through home staging, you as the seller would have to vet out who and when to show the house to, ensure the showings between buyers didn’t overlap, and hope you didn’t get confused with the showing times.

Real estate agents are skilled at organizing showings. They can handle facilitating the appointments and home showings the right way, and they can answer questions from other agents and potential homebuyers, so you don’t have to. Whether COVID-19 restrictions are loose or firm in your area, the need to have preventative measures such as face masks, social distancing, and clean surfaces when needed is real. Trained real estate agents have solid pandemic protocols in place to ensure everyone’s safety. They can safely coordinate a showing that does not include overlapping appointments or endangering anyone’s health. Agents act not only as essential negotiators and decision-makers when it comes to selling a home, but they are also responsible for the well-being of others, a safeguard you can’t afford to ignore.

Navigating the Fog of Bidding Wars

Let’s face it, there’s a lot going on out there right now. One phenomenon that’s emerged in all the rubble is bidding wars. With more people wanting homes than are available, homes are selling for startlingly higher amounts than their original listing price. To anyone wanting to sell their home, that sounds like a dream. But how familiar are you with going through offers and the paperwork, and understanding the fine points of each? Who do you choose? Some buyers will send their offer in writing, sometimes with a personalized letter. Some will have their attorney contact you. Some may have complex forms for you to look through. Depending on whether the buyer is in your area or out of state, these forms and provisions may vary. Without a comprehensive knowledge of the real estate industry and being familiar with these forms, sellers may select whatever looks simple and genuinely miss out on the opportunity to profit from their home’s sale. This is why you need a real estate agent.

Agents are specifically trained and skilled at sorting through multiple offers. Through in-depth knowledge and the honed strategy of experience, agents can help you make the best decision. Sometimes, offers don’t fall through because a buyer changes their mind or initially puts an offer on the house not thinking they’ll actually get it. Having an agent by your side will help ensure you choose the legitimate offers over the hokey ones, something inexperienced homesellers aren’t sure how to do. Selling a home is a stressful enough experience. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have someone deal with the legalities and details while you rest easy knowing you’re in good hands?

Impulsive Decisions

Many buyers these days are putting offers on each property that comes on the market because they don’t know if there will be another one available. Some buyers are doing this on homes they haven’t even seen in person. Today’s hot market challenge is not in getting offers – homes are rife with offers right now. The challenge is finding the right buyer for the home, and seeing it through until the end.

Impulsive decisions are born out of fear and desperation, which are two factors that have been prevalent in the last year. The problem with this is that you will get many buyers that are not all-in. If someone puts in a bid from afar and then decides to look at it, the home might not look as good as it did during the virtual tour during the inspection process. Maybe there’s not enough natural sunlight or the rooms look smaller in person. Perhaps too many repairs are needed, and you’re not sure what to say to keep them interested in the property. If a prospective buyer backs during or after the home inspection, it can bode poorly for the perception of the home’s value. Agents are adept at communicating with buyers and their agents and negotiating any potential loopholes or repairs.

Negotiation Strategies

A real estate agent can negotiate your transaction from start to finish, dealing with the paperwork, photography, home showings, offer retentions, and necessary legal forms needed to make your home sell for its maximum potential. Without comprehensively understanding the art of negotiation in the real estate industry, home sellers attempting to sell their property alone run the risk of making bad choices and not complying with all the legalities needed to complete a home transaction.

Unfamiliarity with the Market

Have you ever seen a movie where the characters are at an auction, and the auctioneer is rambling off an item so fast it’s hard to tell what they’re saying? You can equate that to trying to sell a home on your own with no knowledge of the real estate market. Sellers who don’t have an agent run the risk of costly mistakes.

Without the certified training real estate agents possess, professional photography for home tours and galleries, or knowing how to position a home listing correctly, sellers put themselves in an awkward and dangerous position of wasting time and money trying to sell their home. Real estate agents can give homeowners tips and tricks to help prepare the home to sell for the best possible value.

Red Tape and Repairs

Ever heard of Murphy’s Law? “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

There will always be some form of red tape when you buy or sell a home, and being prepared for that by having a real estate agent will help you sail right on through those murky waters. Some things that may go topsy-turvy include:

A buyer’s financing may not go through
Unexpected delays
Lender extensions
Prolonged processing times
Needed repairs (roof replacement/leaks)

Experienced agents have relationships with a myriad of lenders, title, escrow, contractors, and other service providers to get more insight or provide alternative solutions when needed.

Transitory Issues

With the need for homes greater than ever before and a shortage of inventory, it stands to reason that you might have trouble finding the home of your dreams when selling your current home. Many sellers want to stay in their home past the closing date in order to transition until their next offer is accepted safely. Do you know what a post-closing occupancy agreement is, or how it works? A real estate agent does, and they will be your saving grace when it comes to getting a little more time to transition safely.

Real estate agents will facilitate between you and the buyer to work out a period for you to have enough time to transition and move out of the home. Without a legal agreement drafted by an agent, sellers run the risk of not having anywhere to go once their home sells.

When there is a storm, we like to have an umbrella to protect us from the rain. During a pandemic, we wash our hands, wear a mask, and social distance. When you sell a home, a real estate agent acts as a negotiator, protector, and gatekeeper of your most trusted asset. With the market constantly shifting more than ever before and historically high movement over the last year, sellers need agents to help pave the way for them to safely and most efficiently net their home’s maximum worth, while safeguarding their interests. There is no room for complacency.

“The training and the support they provide and the technology and tools they have is amazing. There is such good communication between the broker and the agents and the office leader is super-supportive. Regarding technology, they are always trying to stay ahead of everybody else and provide the agents what they need.” – Coldwell Banker Affiliated Agent

According to a new agent perception study conducted by Coldwell Banker at the end of 2020, no one beats Coldwell Banker in agent satisfaction. We wholeheartedly agree.

As a company that’s led the real estate industry for over a century, we’d like to think we know a thing or two about what matters to real estate agents. Because right now, over 95,000 agents around the globe call the Coldwell Banker® brand their home. But the mission of understanding and catering to those in the real estate profession never stops. The world we live in is in a state of constant technological and cultural change (a fact made all too clear in the year 2020), and with that comes changing priorities for agents to which real estate companies must adapt.

Being Coldwell Banker agents sets us apart from other real estate brokerages in many ways. We have:

Better tools/training
Unbeatable resources
More team support
Better training
Greater global presence

We place high value on trust, taking charge, and striving to be the best we can be. By engaging in ongoing top-notch training to stay ahead of our competitors and a focus on constant progression, Inman Torres and Company is always ready to provide you with exceptional real estate knowledge and marketing tools to help you get the most from your transaction. One of the things that make our team great is that when one of our agents is training, the other is available to show homes and be there to care for all of your real estate needs. Contact us today to see how we can help you in your search for the perfect home.

The process of buying a home can be complex and stressful, especially in today’s competitive market. Susan and Marilee both have extensive experience and knowledge of current market conditions. By having them walk you through the available properties on the market (both existing homes and new construction), you can rest easy in knowing they will negotiate on your behalf and represent your values and real estate goals.

A buyer’s agent will:

Meet with you to discuss your needs and goals, and to plan your property search.
Help you with the pre-approval process and establish your budget.
Manage appointments to show you properties that meet your criteria.
Alert you of any new properties that come on the market.
Work with you until you find the right home.·
Help you strategize and determine your offer.
Negotiate the offer and contract.
Facilitate any inspections and resolve any issues.
Advise and prepare you for closing and any associated costs.
Keep you updated on the progress of your transaction every step of the way.

With most properties receiving multiple offers in almost every situation it is pivotal to have a buyer’s agent to help represent you and ease your way to homeownership.

When you choose Inman Torres and Company to represent you, you’ll have someone by your side every step of the way, giving you valuable insights and information, you need to have confidence in your decision.

Please contact us today for more information. We would be pleased to discuss any questions you may have.

Legacy. It’s so important. A solid legacy is all about the actions you take during your life, and the way those actions affect how people remember you. At Inman Torres and Company, one of the many wonderful benefits to working with our Clients for Life is the relationships we build along the way.

We don’t just help clients buy and sell homes, we cultivate friendships, bring families together, and assist clients in investing in their futures to help create positive lasting memories. We’re proud to say many of our previous clients have returned to work with us, and providing exceptional real estate service has always been our top priority.

Coldwell Banker has been a trusted advisor for more than 114 years, helping buyers and sellers make the right decisions in times of prosperity and times of crisis. In that same vein, we honor the trust you place in us and believe in going the extra mile as far as quality is concerned to give you a pleasant, memorable experience you can treasure, as well as solid advice that will help you flourish in the real estate industry. To this day we have clients that reach out to us with questions well after the purchase of their home, and we love reaching out to offer any help they may seek along the way.

At Inman Torres and Company, the transaction doesn’t end after the closing process. We value our Clients for Life. We’re here for you always, and ready to share our expertise and answer all of your real estate questions. Please contact us today for a virtual presentation and discussion.

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