Housing News
Real estate short sales: addressing multiple offers
Cash isn’t always king in short sales, so reviewing offers on a short sale should take into account more than just the blinding qualities of cash.
Short Sales in a Seller’s Market
In many parts of the United States, the real estate market has transitioned from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market. Low inventory plagues many locations and is beginning to drive home values upward. Buyer and their agents face stiff competition when writing offers, and many buyers are offering on several homes before successfully entering into a single contract.
Three Reasons that Cash Isn’t King
With such competition for a home, you’d think that the highest offer is the best one and that cash is king. When it comes to short sales, here are three reasons that the highest offer may not be the best one and why cash may not always be king. (Listing agents, take heed.)
- Is the cash buyer willing to stick around? Everybody knows that there is nothing short about a short sale. Will the cash buyer be willing to wait patiently for the short sale approval letter(s)? Or, is the cash burning a hole in the buyer’s pocket?
- Does the offer come from an entity, such as a Corporation, a Trust, or an LLC? Some short sale lenders have specific guidelines prohibiting the purchase of a short sale by an entity. Before accepting an offer from an entity, investigate whether the short sale lender will allow the purchase.
- Is the buyer requesting that the short lender allocate costs for items such as pest control, septic repairs, or closing costs? Often times, the short sale lender will not pay such fees. If that happens, will the buyer continue with his or her purchase of the property?
The best short sale buyer, as long as he or she is well qualified, is the one that is willing to stick around the longest. It’s the buyer that has visited the home several times and already selected the paint colors and considered the placement of the sectional sofa. It’s the buyer that’s willing to be flexible when the short sale lender suggests alternate terms and conditions. So, the next time you write or review offers on a short sale, keep in mind that it’s not always cash that’s king. Sometimes it’s dedication, devotion, and loyalty.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
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Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
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