Liz Landry

As a buyer in today's market you have a lot of useful tools and websites at your disposal online. You can look up mortgage calculators; see what some websites estimate as the value of your home, and even look at listings that are currently for sale. But how do you know if the website you're looking at has up to date or even legitimate information?

If you're looking to buy a home, and you want to know what is on the market and what's coming on the market (that meet's your criteria) your best bet is to have a licensed agent that belongs to the local Mulitple Listing Service send you properties or set you up on an autodrip. The agent you meet with will discuss what your wants and needs in a home are, and input that into their sytem sending you ONLY the homes that meet your criteria! It's a beautiful thing really! If you find a home on another website that was not sent by your agent, than it most likely didn't meet your criteria. As a member of the local MLS your agent has access to the fastest, most up to date and current information.

You hire an agent to do the searching and eliminating for you, trust them to help you and take care of the house buying process.

Jessica Touchton -Buyer's Agent w/ The Landry Team Keller Wiliams Realty jtouchton@kw.com

When you go to buy a home whether it's your first time or not you may get different advice about having a professional home inspection done. There are many buyers who are quite handy and may feel comfortable looking over the property themselves and that's fine.

My argument would be however, that unless you REALLY know what you're doing it can be very easy to miss something. If you don't discover the problem once your inspection deadline has passed or you've closed on the property then you're plain out of luck.

A professional home inspector knows of all the typical problems to look for, and has the experience and "eye" for catching things that most of us would likely miss.

Additionally, buying a home is a very emotional process and it's not easy staying neutral when it's YOUR potential next home. It's advantageous to have a neutral professional there to answer all of your questions and address the concerns you have. A professional home inspector will be able to differentiate between major and minor issues, and give you the needed piece of mind that you're making the right decision.

Jessica Touchton-Buyer's Agent w/ The Landry Team Keller Williams First Coast Realty jtouchton@kw.com

Working with buyers is something I truly enjoy doing. Helping them find the home that meets their wants and needs and taking part in the excitement of buying a home is very satisfying. What breaks my heart though is when I tell my buyers that if they REALLY want to buy that home that they need to go ahead and put in the offer....today!

Even in a buyer's market, homes that are in good condition at a good location and priced well will go and go fast. If for instance, your looking to buy a home in Orange Park and Fleming Island Florida you could even say that foreclosures are a seller's market. I have worked with many buyers who have looked at a foreclosure that was the perfect home for them. Despite my advice to put the offer in that day they insisted on "sleeping on it" and lost the house to another buyer. I have had buyer's that literally lost their dream home by just a few hours, and I can tell you from experience that it's extremely disappointing.

So if you're in the market to buy a home and are looking at REO's and foreclosures, be prepared to make the offer and have all of your ducks in a row (like pre-approval) so you don't miss out on the home that's right for you.

Jessica Touchton-Buyer's Agent w/ The Landry Team Keller Williams Realty jtouchton@kw.com

(904) 534-8416

In the high tech world we live in and enjoy today it is quite easy to get in contact with those we need as we have many options available to us now. Growing up we did not have cell phones (unless you were a rich executive who "needed" one) so if you wanted to get a hold of someone you had to wait until they were near a landline phone at the same time that you were next to one. Email was virtually non-existent and the internet was just in its infant years.

Now that most everyone (and their kids) have cell phones and email accounts it's easy and fast to communicate and get a hold of whoever it is you need to speak with. I have found that my buyers all have their preference as to how they like to be communicated with. Some want email, some want the traditional phone calls, and others are text"ers" . Now, I'll even run into people who communicate through sites like Facebook and Twitter!

The most important thing to remember when working with a professional or customer is to establish at the beginning of that business relationship what their preferred method of contact is. Set this up from the get go, and you should have a smooth and highly communicating relationship resulting in a great transaction and growing referral business.

Jessica Touchton Buyer's Agent w/ The Landry Team Keller Williams First Coast Realty

With nearly 1 in 10 mortgages in the country going into default the terms short sale and foreclosure have become very mainstream and acceptable. However, what I commonly find is that homeowners do not fully understand either of these terms. So, lets clarify.

What is a Short Sale?

Simply put, a Short Sale is used to describe the sale of a home in which the homeowner owes the bank more than the home is worth. The bank agrees to allow the home to be sold for less than what is owed (AKA "Short Sale").

Don't be fooled by the term though. Just because it says "short" sale, the process can be very exhausting and take months.

What is a Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is the legal and professional proceeding in which a mortgagee, or other lien holder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of a mortgagor's equitable right of redemption. Usually a lender obtains a security interest from a borrower who mortgages or pledges an asset like a house to secure the loan.

Also important to know; foreclosure is a process, not an event. The foreclosure process starts at the point where a mortgagee is 30 days behind on a payment, and can continue for man months depending on how backed up the banks are.

What to do?

The good news is that if you are upside down on your mortgage or falling behind you do have options. First- you need to contact a qualified real estate agent and discuss your options. Second- you need to call your mortgage company and inform them of what you intend to do with the home. The best thing you can to do is take action, the worst thing to do is avoid the situation.