Eileen Musser, Realtor, EcoAssociate, ePro,

Buyers are beginning to run into a strange new phenomenon. COMPETING OFFERS!! Somehow we have done such a good job of making buyers believe in the 'slowdown' that they are starting to act as if it were real. You know the buyer who wants to offer 20% less than asking price on every contract. It doesn't matter to him whether the home is priced correctly or not; the guys at the office are telling him that you should offer less and he doesn't want to look like a pushover. He hasn't had an offer accepted yet, but he knows its only a matter of time!

Well this week I am running into a different reality. Some sellers and their agents have got the message and are pricing great homes at real market value. The buyer I am working with this week no longer believes in the real estate slump here in Central Pa. She found a home she loved... we went to lunch to talk about it. Ring y ding; home sold!

Two days later she found a great home, almost new, perfect size, lots of features, and priced right. We submitted a contract. So did two other families! We are to submit our best and final offer by noon on Monday.

Two fairly priced homes don't make a trend, to be sure, and I am not making light of the fact that the market has made a correction, but this might just be a sign of the upturn to come!

PS Got home to find The Today Show discussing how to sell a home in this historic slump in the market. Here's a thought...........PRICE IT RIGHT!!

Lots of sellers seem to be lamenting the fact that strangers aren't streaming through their homes. Seems to me that might be a good thing!

Maybe an example would be instructive.

This evening I wrapped up a deal on a home for a family from out of town.

First I sent them dozens and dozens of listings and they searched on line for weeks. ( they live an hour away)

Next, they scheduled a three day trip to the area and selected their six favorite homes of the hundreds I had sent via email for their consideration. Although they thought they knew for sure what their first and second choices would be they wanted to see a few more just to be sure.

Day one of their visit we toured 5 homes; (one of their selections went UA the day they got here) They were stunned that their first and second choice homes on paper turned out to be last on their list by the end of the day. ...fell in love with a home that they didn't really like on paper. We decided to look at three more homes on day two, pretty much because they couldn't believe they found their home on the "first day".

Day two they came to the office and asked to write up an offer immediately; cancelled all other tours. We crunched the numbers, made an offer and countered the counter offer.

Day three everybody agreed on the price and terms and we sealed the deal, scheduled inspections, sent contracts to the lender. They spent the rest of the day playing tourist.

Tomorrow is day four and they head home, very happy campers.

Unusual? Yes, a little. But the point is they DID shop carefully and they knew what they wanted when they saw it. They didn't pay full price because they had seen what similar homes were going for and had a pretty good idea what the real market value was. But they did see the home because the seller had the good judgment to drop the price to nearly where it belonged. (A few weeks earlier they would not have found the home at all because it was listed at $30,000 over market value and ten thousand out of their search limits.)

Was there another home in the hundreds they rejected on paper that would have caught their eye if they had stepped inside to smell the cookies? Sure! Did they ever get to it? No, because it never jumped out at them on paper, or did not come up in their price range.

Did I drive them around? You betcha! Did I spend half as much time driving as I had spent on the internet with them. Not by a long shot!

It's a different world; you have to play a different game!

Oh, and did I mention that before we met for the first time they had selected me as their buyers agent? Their file was set up with a pre-approval letter, their preferences, and their absolute turn-offs. None of those other sellers even knew they had been considered and rejected.

But that may be a good thing because some sports fan got to watch the Tar Heels knock the tar out of somebody on their way to the championship. If we had been in his house he would have had to spend the evening down at the local WAWA drinking bad coffee and chomping at to bit to get back to his "man cave".

Sellers, let the new system do its job; you'll spend less time over bad coffee.

Eileen Musser, Realtor

GATEWAY REALTY INC.

Lancaster, Pa

800-765-3247 ext 545

717-615-3179

We all know that if it seems too good to be true it probably is, right? Well maybe not in this case.

Please take a look at the information below and then be sure to get the word out to those you care about who may qualify to take advantage of this TRUE GIFT!

The question and answer session below has been adapted from an article by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. I have added some additional comments and a link to additional information.

Eileen Musser, Realtor

In addition, remember that you can claim the tax credit on your 2008 tax return. If you have filed your 2008 tax return before you settle on the home, then it is your option to amend your 2008 return, or to take the credit on your 2009 return. I would think the sooner the better, but the choice is up to you. Consult your tax advisor for other questions.

Additional information can be found at http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/

Please pass this information on to anyone you know who can (should!) take advantage of this opportunity. This is a true gift! When combined with the right loan program and with certain qualifiers, it is possible to get into a first home with almost no money down.

Help us get the word out, please! We are ready and waiting to help you make the most of this great buying opportunity.

Eileen Musser, EcoAssociate, ePro, Realtor

Eileen's Green Team

GATEWAY REALTY, INC.

120 North Pointe Blvd.,

Lancaster, Pa. 17601

Serving York, Lancaster, South Central Pennsylvania

1-800-765-3247 ext 545

717-560-5374 office fax

eileen@gatewayrealtyinc.com

717-615-3179 cell phone

http://activerain.com/eileenmusser

is

A recent ad in our MLS says thie:

Rent Only: 5000 sq ft home on 5 ac. 1000 sq ft master suite. 5 bedrooms and a den. Two year lease preferred. $2395 per month.

THIS IS NOT MY LISTING, but it is a real one, and it got my attention.

Realtors are not going to want to hear this, but this may be a good time to RENT. Before you have a stroke, understand that I am talking about folks in special circumstances, not the average person who is looking for a home where they plan to stay for many years.

Yesterday I was talking with a family who may need to sell their large home because of a change in their circumstances. They own a beach house that they have been trying to sell with no success and are finding the load of owning two homes to be too much for them. They asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to sell their primary home and rent a less expensive place for a while.

First I went apoplectic, but when I calmed down I had to admit that they might have a point. By taking the equity out of their primary home they could pay down the mortgage on the beach house so that the payment would be at a very manageable. Several things work in their favor.

• Even though they will sell the home for less than they paid for it two years ago, prices in our area have dropped less than 20% from their highs.
• They are in a relatively high price range where homes are not selling well, which means that there are very nice rentals available for less than their mortgage payment.
• They will be staying in the area and with careful monitoring of the market they may be able to buy again if they see that prices are trending upward.

Of course they are also taking some risk.

• What if they miss the upturn in the market? Sell low, buy high is a real bite!
• What if circumstances change and they find themselves unable to qualify for a new mortgage when they are ready to purchase.
• There will be fees and costs associated with the sale of this home, and with the purchase of another one later. It could take a long time to recover those costs.

Still, as a stop-loss measure, in their situation it might be the best thing to do.

Would YOU be better off renting, and what is available if you decide to take that path?

It goes back to basics, doesn't it. This might be an option you should consider if:

• you are going to be in the area for less than two or three years
• you don't have the cash available to make a substantial down payment
• you expect to make a career change that will allow you to buy a better home in a few years

At lease in Central Pennsylvania where I operate, the larger the home, the more likely that you can rent for less than the mortgage. Homes that sell for $120,000 may rent for over $1000, while a home that might cost $700,000 is available for under $2400 per month!

Pretty good deal for an executive who expects to be transferred again in 2 years........ not such a good deal for the everyday Joe who just wants a home to call his own.

By the way, do contact me if you want to rent that awsome home above! Just make it snappy; those are not available every day.

So you want a bargain and you think a bank owned property is your best chance to get it? Well get your ducks in a row kid! The banks won't wait for you to collect your missing quackers!

Sometimes working with REO property can be exasperating. I am not sure that I understand the full question since it looks as if you ran out of space in mid sentence. Here are some general facts about today's real estate climate.

1. You can find some great bargains, but you have to be ready to compete for them. The market is still slow, but there are buyers out there looking for their next purchase. When a great deal is available there are often several offers.

2. In order to be competitive you need to have you paperwork ready to go. The sellers' employees are extremely busy and don't have any patience with Realtors who submit offers without all the required documentation. They have posted notices listing documentation and addenda that must accompany the offer. If any part of it is missing they will not look at your file. PERIOD.

3. One part of the paperwork that MUST accompany your offer for every lender that I know of is a WRITTEN pre-approval letter. A pre-qualifying letter is not strong enough. There must be solid evidence that you are truly qualified to purchase. Without proof of your ability to purchase your offer will not be considered. The days of "get it to us when you can" are OVER, at least for now.

4. When the seller is a bank, or bank approval is needed it will take some time to get a response to your offer. Again the Realtor has very little power to speed up the process.

5. The bank can impose rules on the process and stipulate terms. For instance it is not unusual for them to demand that the buyer pay all transfer taxes. I have seen fees charged to the buyer that are called 'loss mitigation, or loss abatement". The point is that you and your Realtor need to know what your costs will be so that you can take them into consideration when you are writing your offer. You don't want to battle over the last $500 of the contract price and then find out that you will pay thousands more in fees and taxes than you expected.

So go ahead and get your pre approval letter in writing. If your bank is not cooperating get another lender. You don't have a full raft (of ducks) without a loan pre approval.

Web Reference: http://eileenmusser.point2agent.com/