Judy Niemeyer

What Questions Should I Ask When Choosing My Mobile Bay Realtor?

Your Mobile Bay home is most likely the largest investment you have and choosing a Realtor to assist you with the sale is a major decision. Below are questions to ask when choosing a Mobile Bay Realtor:

Make sure you choose a REALTOR® who will provide top-notch service and meet your unique needs.

1. How long have you been in residential real estate sales? Is it your full-time job? While experience is no guarantee of skill, real estate - like many other professions - is mostly learned on the job.

2. What designations do you hold? Designations such as GRI and CRS®, which require that agents take additional, specialized real estate training, are held only by about one-quarter of real estate practitioners.

3. How many homes did you and your real estate brokerage sell last year? By asking this question, you'll get a good idea of how much experience the practitioner has.

4. How many days did it take you to sell the average home? How did that compare to the overall market? The REALTOR® you interview should have these facts on hand, and be able to present market statistics from the local MLS to provide a comparison.

5. How close to the initial asking prices of the homes you sold were the final sale prices? This is one indication of how skilled the REALTOR® is at pricing homes and marketing to suitable buyers. Of course, other factors also may be at play, including an exceptionally hot or cool real estate market.

6. What types of specific marketing systems and approaches will you use to sell my home? You don't want someone who's going to put a For Sale sign in the yard and hope for the best. Look for someone who has aggressive and innovative approaches, and knows how to market your property competitively on the Internet. Buyers today want information fast, so it's important that your REALTOR® is responsive.

7. Will you represent me exclusively, or will you represent both the buyer and the seller in the transaction? While it's usually legal to represent both parties in a transaction, it's important to understand where the practitioner's obligations lie. Your REALTOR® should explain his or her agency relationship to you and describe the rights of each party.

8. Can you recommend service providers who can help me obtain a mortgage, make home repairs, and help with other things I need done? Because REALTORS® are immersed in the industry, they're wonderful resources as you seek lenders, home improvement companies, and other home service providers. Practitioners should generally recommend more than one provider and let you know if they have any special relationship with or receive compensation from any of the providers.

9. What type of support and supervision does your brokerage office provide to you? Having resources such as in-house support staff, access to a real estate attorney, and assistance with technology can help an agent sell your home.

10. What's your business philosophy? While there's no right answer to this question, the response will help you assess what's important to the agent and determine how closely the agent's goals and business emphasis mesh with your own.

11. How will you keep me informed about the progress of my transaction? How frequently? Again, this is not a question with a correct answer, but how you judge the response will reflect your own desires. Do you want updates twice a week or do you prefer not to be bothered unless there's a hot prospect? Do you prefer phone, e-mail, or a personal visit?

12. Could you please give me the names and phone numbers of your three most recent clients? Ask recent clients if they would work with this REALTOR® again. Find out whether they were pleased with the communication style, follow-up, and work ethic of the REALTOR®.

When you are ready to interview Mobile Bay Realtors, give me a call. I am glad to answer the above questions and any additional questions you might have.

Learn more about selling a Mobile Bay home at JudySells.com.

Mobile Bay Real Estate: 5 Reasons Buying Vacation Home Is A Good Idea

With the stock market in turmoil, many people are looking for alternative investments. Most of us are scared to death of jumping into the market right now and wondering what to do with their nest egg...other than sticking it under the mattress.

Christine Karpinski, director of Owner Community for HomeAway.com (an online vacation home rental marketplace) and author of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner, 2nd Edition: The Complete Guide to Buy, Manage, Furnish, Rent, Maintain and Advertise Your Vacation Rental Investment, says buying a vacation home is an excellent home is a good investment right now.

Mobile Bay home values are down right now, but history shows they always rebound, making a vacation home a great long-term investment. Christine doesn't recommend buying with the thought of flipping it in a year, but buying as a long term investment.

You are probably asking why buying a vacation home is a good investment.

First, there are deals to be had. Prices are lower than a few years ago during the peak of the housing bubble. The excessive number of foreclosures is also keeping prices down and inventory up, making sellers more negotiable.

Interest rates also remain reasonably low, with rates hovering 6-6.5 percent. If you have good credit, there is mortgage money to be had.

Below are Christine Karpinski's 5 Reasons Why the Vacation Home Rental Market Is Holding Strong...Even in our Weak Economy

1. It's easy for consumers to find information on vacation homes. By visiting respectable websites travelers can quickly find the vacation home that's right for them. HomeAway's network of vacation rentals includes over 300,000 properties all over the world, making it possible for almost anyone to find one within a two- to three-hour driving distance from their home.

2. Vacation homes tend to be less expensive than hotel rooms. This is especially true if you're traveling with extended family or a group of friends. HomeAway recently contrasted a three-bedroom vacation rental private condo in Orlando with a popular three-star hotel and found that the condo was cheaper by more than $1,700! "That's a big difference, and in a tenuous economy it seems even bigger," notes Karpinski.

3. When airfare gets expensive, people start taking road trips instead. Even with gas prices relatively high, it's still far cheaper to drive a couple hundred miles to your mountain cabin than to fly to some lavish vacation destination. "Even with the bad economy, people need to take vacations," says Karpinski. "In fact, psychologically, they may need to get away more than ever. A fairly inexpensive stay in a nearby vacation home is the perfect solution."

4. The weak dollar makes U.S. tourist destinations attractive to European travelers, whose currency is still strong. "On my recent trip to Hawaii, I noticed a lot of German tourists," notes Karpinski. "And when I speak to many of the vacation homeowners I work with, they confirm that they've encountered a surprisingly high number of European travelers lately."

5. Business travelers still need a place to stay. When corporations must meet with business associates-who increasingly hail from overseas-they need good lodging solutions. Enter the vacation home. "More and more executives are putting their guests up in vacation homes instead of cramped, impersonal hotel rooms," notes Karpinski. "It's a far more comfortable option; plus many companies work out deals with homeowners whereby they can get ‘volume discounts.' It's a win/win for all parties involved."

Learn more about buying a Mobile Bay vacation home by visiting JudySells.com or give us a call, 251-990-0569.

Search all Mobile Bay real estate & vacation homes for sale.

Rising Commodities Will Lift Mobile Bay Home Prices

Mobile Bay home prices tend to rise with commodity prices over the long term. Currently, the Producer Price Index for construction is up 39 percent over the past five years, and prices for commodities like oil, copper, steel and cement are sky-high. Sooner or later the increasing costs of these raw materials will push home prices higher.

As the supreme commodity, every home is full of materials like steel, wood, and copper wiring. Presently, an oversupply of homes, along with an excess of foreclosures is keeping prices low, but home prices are rooted in hard costs and will eventually adjust to reflect the price of production.

Learn what your Mobile Bay home is worth.

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Mobile Bay Real Estate: Do I Really Want to Own Rental Property?

Investing in Mobile Bay real estate and owning rental property sounds glamorous, but it isn't for everyone.

Be sure you know what you're getting into and understand what you are getting into before signing on the dotted line. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before purchasing an investment property:

• Where will the down payment come from for this property?
• Do you have cash reserves so you handle periods of vacancy, i.e. no income?
• How about reserves for unexpected repairs and other expenses?
• Do you need property to rent immediately or do you have time and money for a "fixer-upper"?
• Will you make needed renovations and repairs or hire someone else for the job?
• What type of property do you want: single family, apartment, duplex, condominium, or vacation property?

Thinking it through ahead of time assures that you won't get caught making a rash decision you will regret later.

If you decide now is the time to take advantage of lower market prices and invest in Mobile Bay real estate and rental property, visit JudySells.com or give us a call, 251-990-0569.

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Al Eastern Shore Real Estate: Welcome to Fairhope

Description to follow will allow you to take a driving tour through the Eastern Shore. Please remember this is a partial list but we want to share our natural beauty with you.

Founded in 1894 by a group of idealists from Iowa seeking a Utopian quality of life focused on common ownership of the land, Fairhope has evolved rapidly into one of the main centers of the Eastern Shore's commercial and cultural activity. Its founders believed that their progressive project had "fair hope" of coming to fruition and indeed the city's prominence in the area may well be due in part to its heritage of fortitude and perseverance.

Bright flowers, brick walkways, downtown galleries and shops all add to the small town charm of this beautiful city. The public pier with its rose garden, beach area, and duck pond is the hub for most of the year. Activities from sailing to sunbathing can almost always be viewed from anywhere along the bluffs and waterfront in Fairhope. Even a potential "Jubilee" can be spotted, under rare conditions of course, in the summer. There is a wide variety of public and private schools as well as two colleges located in Fairhope.

Residential areas run along the bay, wrap around the downtown area, and branch out further from town in a more country setting. From small garden homes to huge estate homes, with bay views or with lush gardens, it is all available in Fairhope.

Fairhope has the quaintness and the atmosphere to allow you to stroll through Downtown. Downtown is locally called Fruit and Nut District and The Bluff Area, which both are walking distance to town and the Bay.

Subdivisions featured:

Quail Creek Built in conjunction with the municipal 18 hole golf course	Rock Creek Surrounding an 18 hole golf course and spectacular tennis facility plus fitness and swim.
Audubon	Trentino
Flying Creek	The Woodlands of Fairhope

HAVE FUN ON YOUR DRIVING TOUR!!!
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