As a home ages it
becomes unique from it's
neighbors'. This is
especially true of the 50+
year vintage home.
Analyzing it's true market
value takes a Specialist.
Now YOU know one!
Buyer Info

Do  you envision living on the beach? In a forest? Having a view of the valley and/or the sunset?  How   
about 'just' living close enough to work so you can actually enjoy your home instead of tail lights?

Here are some of the basic "let's get started" steps:

1)  Get your thinking juices flowing!  View "Realty News from Kathryn" e-newsletter. Here . Not only will it
give you real estate market updates, but it  will also provide you with handy tips on important subjects like;
taxes, staging, financing and home maintenance and news on the housing market. You can subscribe
and receive an updated version at the beginning of each month: Here.

2)  Contact a mortgage broker and/or your local banker. Find out what you can afford. Don't just guess!  
Learn about the vast array of financing options available these days, (including no down payment, interest
only and Option ARMs). Keep in mind, 100% is available, but, the rates will be slightly higher. However,
given interest rates are still at historical lows, even using these rates can be an investment bargain!
(Note: Kathryn is a Mortgage Loan Agent.)

3)  Be prepared:  Have your mortgage professional pre-qualify you. This is a well spent 15 minutes!
Sellers are more willing to consider offers when they have assurance the buyer will get the required
financing.

4)  Start your search in the privacy of your own home.  This automated system will email you notification
when a home meeting your search criteria has just listed, (or the price has been changed/reduced). Here.

-OR-
5)  Contact Kathryn anytime with questions, concerns, or to set-up an appointment. She will work with you
to narrow down your needs / preferences / dreams and balance them with what's available in your price
range. This personal touch could save you a lot of time, money and disappoint down the road...
BUYERS:
Kathryn Hisert
LINKS FOR BUYERS
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Now is a GREAT time to be looking for a home!  Prices have stopped making their steep incline.
Sellers are working hard to be, and stay, competitive in the market. Interest rates have stabilized.  
Financing is still available (in most cases): Ask Kathryn.  Start looking while still at your computer.
See below.  Or, click here: "Instant Property Search" ... Enjoy!
NewVintageHome Where Life Begins...
                    
                              The Art of the Aggressive Offer

How to make a lowball offer a home seller just might accept
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Home sellers are not automatically turning up their noses at offers that
come in far below their asking price these days as prices stagnate and the inventory of homes for sale
remains elevated in many markets.

But buyers who do ask for deep discounts still risk offending sellers to the point where they quash any
deal. So before making an aggressive offer, some homework is in order, real-estate professionals say.
Further, buyers need to effectively explain why the price of a home should be lower

That's what Pat O'Heron did recently when buying a home in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was able to negotiate
a steep discount with a seller who relocated for a job, in a neighborhood that had two year's worth of
inventory on the market.

Before he even made an offer, the asking price had already dropped by about $80,000, he said. After
O'Heron made his case why the cost should be even lower, he eventually bought the home for
$270,400, with about $11,000 in other credits. The net price ended up being $115,000 below the initial
asking price.

O'Heron was able to take advantage of a market in which buyers decidedly hold the upper hand, with its
excessive for-sale inventory due in large part to job losses in the area. Even though housing is in a
slump in many parts of the U.S., those tactics won't work in markets that remain healthy.

And in any location in which an aggressive offer is attempted, there is always an inherent danger in
going too low. There's a real risk the offer will insult the seller to the point that they'll refuse to counter,
Realtors say, and the seller could easily make the assumption that the buyer isn't committed to making
a deal.

"There's a danger of them taking it too personally," said Jon Boyd, O'Heron's agent and president of the
National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. "When you're making the offer, if you justify that offer
with outside data, then it's much less likely to be perceived as being an insult or (the buyer) not as
serious," he added.

Heed these three guidelines on how -- and when -- to make an aggressive bid for a home:

1. Learn how motivated the seller is to make a deal
Certain sellers are going to be more willing than others to negotiate a low offer, and there are several
giveaways that might indicate more leeway on the issue of price.

For instance, if the sellers have already purchased another home and that sale has closed, they're
likely to be more willing to make a deal, said Dick Gaylord, president elect of the National Association of
Realtors and a broker with Re/Max Real Estate Specialists based in Long Beach, Calif. And certainly if
the property has been on the market for a long time, sellers will be interested in entertaining any offers,
he added.

To get at as many seller details as possible, Gaylord gets in the ear of his or her listing agent. The
nuggets of information he gets can be clues as to what kind of offers they'll consider.

Overall local market conditions also play a role. The housing market in which O'Heron bought, for
example, was sluggish, and the home he bought had been on the market for about a year. Because of
the job relocation, the seller needed to move and wasn't in the position to take the home off the market
until conditions were more favorable, O'Heron said.

2. Make your case with hard facts
When putting together an aggressive offer for a client, Boyd doesn't just hand the seller a purchase
agreement with the price the buyer is willing to pay -- he creates a cover letter explaining exactly where
that number came from.

In addition to citing comparable sales in making the offer, it also could be important to include details
regarding the amount of inventory in the immediate surrounding area, he said.
"If we just looked at the relative values of the houses that sold, we would end up paying too much for
that house because we know that the values are going to fall," he said. "If we see two years' worth of
inventory, we should be buying 5%, potentially 10% less than what houses have sold for in the past
year in the neighborhood."

Buyers may even personally write a letter to the sellers to make their point, as they did when the market
was hot and they aimed to stand out from the crowd, Gaylord said. That way, they can detail what they
like about the house but express their fear of future dropping values. That's still not to say the seller will
respond positively.

"The difficulty we're having in my market right now... sale prices are not dropping, things are staying on
the market longer," Gaylord said. "Buyers read about how terrible the market is; sellers don't want to
budge because they're reading that prices aren't falling."

3. Prepare for the possibility of rejection, or negotiation
Ultimately, a real-estate agent working on behalf of a buyer needs to honor and facilitate the offer that
the buyer wishes to make -- even if it seems to be too low.

Gaylord offers a word of warning to buyers making very low offers, pointing out that the seller might
refuse to negotiate. On a "super aggressive offer," Boyd might tell a client "there's a one in five chance
there will be a positive response."

Still, there's that potential for a seller to counter-offer, especially if there hasn't been many other bids.
Danielle Kennedy, a real-estate sales coach and author based in Pacific Palisades, Calif., advises
sellers not to think of a low offer as an insult but as "a sign of interest."

"And it begins the dialogue regarding the purchase of your house," she said in an email interview. "They
should make every effort to be grateful that an offer has come in."
Also, not all hope is lost even if a seller doesn't bite immediately.

Sometimes after time elapses, the seller comes around and decides to negotiate, Boyd said. Or new
information -- such as the sale of a comparable home at a lower price -- can nudge a seller to give an
aggressive offer a second look and open the negotiation process.