Real Estate Information

Talk to a Lender Before You Sell Your Home


If you're looking to sell your home quickly, and for top dollar, the best thing you can do is to be able to offer your buyers some sound financing options. That's why developing a relationship with a lender can be the key to a quick sale, and to more money at closing.

Some of your potential buyers will have already gotten themselves preapproved with a lender, but many won't, and being able to offer financing options will open up a number of possibilities for selling your home. The easier you can make finding a loan for your potential buyers, the better your chances of selling your home.

Find out what type of loans are available at your local lending institutions, and what kinds of programs they can offer buyers. Ask about income qualifications, credit scores, down payment requirements, both for buyers with good credit and for those whose credit is less than perfect. Ask if the lender will allow you to contribute to the buyer's closing costs.

Get an Accurate Appraisal

If a banks or mortgage company uses in-house appraisers, it can sometimes cost you a considerable amount of money at closing. For instance, my husband and I once allowed buyers to use their own lender and ended up netting $13,000 less because of a low appraisal. We discovered later that the bank was known for understating appraisals.

Don't sign a sales contract contingent on the appraisal of a buyer's lender; draw up your sales contract with a firm price and then give the buyers a specific time to arrange financing, based on that price. You don't want to have to lower your sales price to reflect a lower appraised value. Make sure that your lender's appraisers consider properties sold, but not yet closed and competing listings of similar properties when doing their appraisals, and not just past sales, because past sales alone may not give an accurate picture of your home's true market value in a fast-moving market.

Even if buyers say that they are prequalified through a lender, it's worthwhile to explain that your lender may be able to offer better financing, and that you're willing to pay a certain portion of their closing costs for them if they'll use your lender.

Having a relationship with a lender who is willing to help your buyers finance your home will give you an edge on your competition, and will go a long way toward selling your house quickly, and for top dollar.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm


MORE RESOURCES:

Inland Real Estate Corporation Pays May and Declares June Cash Distribution to ...
MarketWatch (press release)
OAK BROOK, Ill., May 17, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Inland Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:IRC) today announced that it paid a cash distribution of $0.0475 per share on the outstanding shares of its common stock to common stockholders of record at the close ...

and more »


The New First Family of Real Estate
Wall Street Journal
By CANDACE JACKSON And LAUREN AE SCHUKER The real-estate purchases of the daughters of Formula 1 Racing boss Bernie Ecclestone call attention to a handful of ultrawealthy young people making waves at the very top of the real-estate market.

and more »


CBS News

Inland Empire real estate seems to improve, but 'don't call this a normal'
San Bernardino Sun
Rising home prices and falling foreclosures may signal that Inland Empire markets are moving toward "normal" conditions. "We're stressing that we are moving toward more normal conditions, but there are many ways this is not a normal market," said ...
Foreclosures fall again, for now, survey findsNewsday
Report: Fewer US homes foreclosed upon in AprilSan Jose Mercury News

all 393 news articles »


San Francisco Chronicle (blog)

Web 2.0 remaking real estate, again
San Francisco Chronicle (blog)
When the world-wide web began making real estate data easy for anyone to access, the world of real estate changed forever. Realtors are no longer gate keepers of information: the MLS is public domain; property history (including prior sale amounts, ...

and more »


Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust Announces Agreement To Acquire Fully Leased ...
MarketWatch (press release)
VANCOUVER, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust ("PIRET" or the "REIT") (CVE:CA:AAR.UN) today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a fully leased multi-tenant, income producing industrial property ...
Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust Announces Release of Q1 2012 Financial ...Sacramento Bee
Pure Industrial Real Estate Trust Announces Agreement to Acquire Two Fully ...African Business Review (press release)

all 25 news articles »


Globe and Mail

Canada Pension Posts 6.6% Return on Real Estate, Bonds
Bloomberg
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the country's second-biggest public pension manager, posted a return of 6.6 percent in the latest fiscal year, led by real estate, bonds and infrastructure investments. Investment income for the year ended March 31 ...
CPP Fund Totals $161.6 Billion at 2012 Fiscal Year-EndMarketWatch (press release)

all 35 news articles »


kypost.com

Realtors(R) Raise Awareness at Real Estate Rally
MarketWatch (press release)
WASHINGTON, DC, May 17, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- An estimated 10000 Realtors(R) converged on the grounds of the Washington Monument today to make their voices heard on behalf of homeowners, real estate investors, and those who aspire to ...
Realtors Raise Awareness at Real Estate RallyRisMedia.com (press release)
Chris Griffith: 'I'm thinking of getting a real estate license so I can sell ...Naples Daily News
OREA endorses Bill to enhance electronic real estate transactionsCanada NewsWire (press release)
Construction Digital (press release) -Sacramento Bee
all 41 news articles »


Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. to Present at Wells Fargo ...
MarketWatch (press release)
NEW YORK, NY, May 17, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (the "Company" or "ARI") (NYSE:ARI) today announced Stuart Rothstein, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, is scheduled to ...
CREW report: Myths still hindering women's progress in commercial real estateREjournals.com
APOLLO COMMERCIAL REAL EST. FINANCE INC : Apollo Commercial Real Estate ...4-traders
Street research for Ares Commercial Real Estate expected on May 22NASDAQ

all 6 news articles »


Open File

Real Estate Agents See Spring Home Sales And Bid Wars
Investor's Business Daily
By VANCE CARIAGA, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted 06:18 PM ET Anyone who makes a living in residential real estate knows better than to crack open the champagne just because of some encouraging housing data. Still, it's hard not to get cautiously ...
Space Cases: 100 years of complainingOpen File

all 2 news articles »


Press-Enterprise

REAL ESTATE: Inland Empire tops dubious foreclosure list
Press-Enterprise
... earlier this year with the federal and state governments on how they used to be processed, but that is expected to change in the next few months, said Steve Johnson, director of the Riverside office of MetroStudy, a real estate consulting firm.

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006