About Macon County, IL

Eventually almost everyone will buy; or attempt to buy a home. Many will succeed in the process, but some will walk away frustrated and decide that renting is the solution. That doesn't have to be the case, maybe things beyond their control caused the transaction not to occur. When the time comes to purchase real estate, follow this process and you will greatly reduce surprises.

1- Go to several lenders in your area and begin the loan process. you will need past tax returns, current pay stubs, and evidence of any additional income. A list of your current liabilities will also be needed.

2- Once you have given all the information the lender requested, and received from the lender a dollar amount that your income will support you can begin the search. By completing all of the lending research first you know what price range to be spending your time on, and are in a strong position to buy.

3- Statistics show that over 90% of all real estate sales begin with searching the Internet. The fact that you can view hundreds of homes for sale on the Internet without leaving your house makes economic sense. Another fact that not everyone knows is that all real estate professionals can and do show homes for sale by other agents from other brokers. In Lehman's terms, any agent can show any home. Research the area and find an agent who is representing the local market successfully.

4- OK, now you have found the home that meets your criteria. The agent that you have chosen will advise you on making an offer, terms, concessions, counter-offers, and finally agreement on price. Remember that not all real estate sales persons are Realtors. To be a Realtor one must abide by ethical standards not recognized by those outside the National, State, and Local Realtor Associations. During the process of purchasing a home you are going to have make decisions about Lead paint, if built before 1978, Radon, and functionality of systems in the home. Take the time to research these things so that you will understand them and know what to do when the time comes.

5- The current real estate marketplace is offering a truly once in a lifetime oppourtunity to secure a low interest rate, have tremendous selection of homes, and motivated sellers. By following the process as outlined for purchasing a home you will save time, money and grief. Hope to see you soon

It seems that recently all initial offers are considerably below listing price. Maybe it is because buyers assume everyone is desperately selling, or because competition is higher for certain price levels. It does present challenges when presenting these lower initial offers to your seller. Many sellers become almost offended by these offers at 15- 20% below list. If the selling agent has done their homework the pricing should be relatively close. It does seem that when you begin negotiating from these lower starting points you will inevitably end up with a lower sales price. The best a listing agent can do is get lots of comps from the area, which is becoming more difficult with less sales to utilize in marketing analysis. Agents should also inform sellers of possible potentially low offers so they don't think they are being manipulated. If possible gather your data from a specific price range and look further back in sales history to find more comps if your in a softer market. The more information that is collected the more accurate the market analysis will be, and the more accurate the listing price as well.

Feb 25-27 at Lakeland College in Mattoon IL. Information on Government grants, vendors and seminars on adopting wind energy on the consumer level. To register go to www.energyconf.org

Regardless if you agree with the stimulus bill or not, and it seems like it doesn't matter as this was passed against many Americans wishes. The Stimulus bill which will be signed on Tue. the 17th of Feb. has a provision for the housing industry. This tax credit of up to 8000.00, or 10% of the purchase price if less than $80000.00 to 1st time home buyers. A first time home buyer is defined as someone who has not owned a residence in the past 3 years. The purchase must occur between Jan 1 2009 and Dec 1 2009 to be filed on 2009 taxes. An example of the credit would be, purchasing a home costing $100000.00 in the required time frame. The buyer files taxes in 2010 and owes $1500.00 to the IRS. This buyer will receive a $6500.00 tax refund ($8000.00 tax credit minus $1500.00 tax due = $6500.00 check to taxpayer). This will help sellers by creating buyers whom otherwise may have not considered looking right now. The one requirement will be if the buyer sells this property within 3 years the tax credit must be paid in full. This stimulus, which will either be borrowed, or just printed by the government may cause interest rates to go up. The increased credit request would be a supply and demand issue, as credit is already short in supply. The only way for rates to go is up. If you would like a more detailed explanation of what this means to you in your unique situation please contact me and I will show you how it would affect your purchase. Serving clients in Central Illinois including Macon, Moultrie, and surrounding Counties.

In today's competitive real estate market, the more tools available to the seller, the greater the advantage you bring to your listing. For instance, have you ever looked on the Internet for properties and found a brief description and 1 picture of the house? So you call to see the property, because its the price and area you are looking for, only to find out that the home hasn't been updated and needs extra work. After a couple of showings like this its no wonder you start to give up!

As a seller the advantages of having detailed information and photos on the internet via a high traffic site are exposure, exposure, and yes exposure. On the Brinkoetter.com website the statistics are the proof, from Jan 19,2009-Jan 25,2009, the site received 6995 visits, 150336 page views, and averaged 9 minutes spent on the site. This information is passed on to the seller as a weekly email on the specific property, letting them know what kind of interest their listing is receiving.

As a buyer this type of information can save time and money. Eliminating all the driving and extras that go along with house hunting. On the Brinkoetter.com website you can access properties for sale by the MLS number or by knowing the street address. The entire Macon county MLS is in the system, even if it is not a Brinkoetter listing. However the Virtual Floor plan, and photo galleries are only available on Brinkoetter listings. This is not the only method of advertising used but rather a service that compliments the other marketing we do. The company that provides this service at a reasonable cost to the agents is Homesight. They can be reached at homesight.net

Homesight will go to the clients home, usually within a couple of days. They will take pictures with a wide angle camera,which shows amazing detail. While at the clients home they measure each room and create an interactive floor plan. This creates a CAD floor plan with the photos embedded in the drawing, by rolling the mouse over the rooms you can view the pictures. Above is a listing I had last year for a sample. Those interested can also go to Brinkoetter.com to view other examples that are current listings, that show the rollover feature.

Brinkoetter and Associates serves Decatur, IL and surrounding communities. Illinois counties covered are Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby, Cristian, Dewitt, and Western Sangamon. If considering listing or selling in these regions utilizing these tools call Todd Maxedon at Brinkoetter and Associates at 217.254.0530 or email at toddmaxedon@brinkoetter.com I look forward to making your experience trouble free.