Water Cooler Real Estate

Thinking about Buying a Home? Most people only purchase a home maybe 1, 2, or 3 times in a lifetime. As quickly as the landscape of the Lending Industry can change, you definitely want to make sure you're up to date. In this episode, The Insiders discuss important factors that will go into your decision to select the right loan for your needs.

Whereas in the 1990's, it seemed like Fixers were All the Rage, many of today's Home Buyers are really looking for Turn-Key homes with upgrades. Whether you are a buyer looking at New Construction, or maybe a Seller, looking to improve your home sale bottom line with some remodeling projects, working with Contractor/Builders can be a painstaking process. In this episode, The Insiders discuss questions and concerns you should address with your Contractor/Builder as you prepare to launch these types of home construction/ improvement undertakings. 

As a First time or first time in a long time Buyer, typically the most important criteria as to how much home you can afford comes down to your Total Monthly Payment.   In this episode, The Insiders break down and explain the 6 factors that make up the complete monthly outlay, when it comes to purchasing a home.   

Whether you are a Buyer or Seller, you may be considering doing some remodeling or new construction projects. In this episode, The Insiders offer you some helpful tips to think about before you hire a contractor to do the work. 

The Number One most vital criteria in evaluating and valuing Real Estate is the Location.   In this episode, The Insiders discuss various types of Location criteria that Buyers should take into consideration when deciding upon a city or neighborhood to move into, that checks off the most criteria on your list.

Buying and Selling you home can be a stressful, emotional, and rewarding time, especially when you are expected to carry on your "Normal" life at the same time.  When it comes time to actually move, the To Do list and time crunch, can really sneak up on you. In this week's episode, The Insiders introduce some Apps that can really help organize and coordinate those items on your moving checklist that may fall through the cracks, or send you on that last minute emotional roller coaster.

Selling your home is one of the largest financial and emotional endeavors most people tackle in their lifetime. In this episode, The Insiders share 12 Secrets of Selling, to boost your knowledge and confidence as you prepare to navigate through your upcoming transaction.

There are many financial reasons to owning a home versus renting. For most Americans, Home ownership is the single most important step in building personal wealth. However, in this week's episode, The Insiders focus on the emotional and personal reasons and benefits of Home Ownership.

The simple economics explanation of a Seller's Market is when the Demand for Homes outnumbers the existing Supply of homes available for sale in a given Real Estate market. In this episode, The Insiders discuss the signs that are indicative of a Seller's Market, along with various factors that create or drive a real estate market that overwhelmingly benefits Sellers over Buyers.

"That's Not What Zillow Says!" As a Realtor, our fiduciary responsibilities are to our clients, and so, as a client, you should be able, you Need to be able to talk to us about anything related to a home sale transaction. In this episode, The Insiders list some of the comments and/or questions that will make your Realtor cringe. The Insiders also discuss their context and help to explain why these comments are most likely not in the consumers best interest after all.

In almost every situation, buying a home is going to require some out-of-pocket cost for the perspective buyer.   Typically the down payment amount is self explanatory, and based on your loan.  In addition to the down payment, Buyer's Closing Costs are what will ultimately contribute to the overall cash a Buyer will need to bring to closing/Escrow, when purchasing their new home. In this episode, The Insiders list and help to explain the many charges, payments, and fees that are considered "Closing Costs", that the Buyer will ultimately find on a Final Closing Statement.  

The Real Estate Selling Process can really be a Rollercoaster of Emotions. In this episode, The Insiders discuss the various steps of the selling process, and how these situations lead Sellers to the emotional swings attributed to them. When Sellers can understand that these are Normal, it can be much easier to cope!

The Crooks are getting smarter and our societal never ending quest for convenience are contributing to a major win-fall of money for the Darkside. In this episode, The Insiders discuss how to protect yourself from wire fraud in Real Estate, and why your Real Estate transaction can be an easy, Big $ target for the new age Cyber-Thief.

When Buyers are shopping for homes online. they have access to Real Estate listings with an "Active" status. However, these are not technically all of the homes which are actually Available to the Buyer. In this episode, The Insiders discuss various levels of listing "Status", and explain the legal meanings, as well as touch on a few "Opportunities" a Buyer may find when working with an experienced Realtor.

When it comes to the Real Estate Industry, regardless of the market, there are some basic "Truths" that Seller's must understand, going into the Home Selling process.   In this episode, The Insiders list these 6 primary "Truths" and how Sellers can be the most successful in the sale of their home. 

FIRPTA - The Foreign Investment Real Property Tax Act The disposition of a U.S. real property interest by a foreign person (the transferor) is subject to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA) income tax withholding.   FIRPTA authorized the United States to tax foreign persons on dispositions of U.S. real property interests. In this episode, The Insiders discuss the FIRPTA process, and how it will now affect Buyers and Sellers in a real estate transaction.

In the 70s & 80s, much of the population were seeking the sprawl of the Suburbs.  However, now as Buyers are transitioning back to the Big Cities, they are finding that they cannot afford a single family home in the heart of the city. In this episode, The Insiders discuss the Pros & Cons of the Big City, High Rise Lifestyle.

As a Buyer, if you want to verify Seller repairs or property condition prior to closing, it is VITAL that you include "Final Walk Through" wording in your original offer or your accepted Repair Addendum.  In this episode, The Insiders clarify what is allowed in a Final Walk Through, and offer a checklist of items to look for while you are there.

You know what they say about a first impression . . . As you are preparing your home to sell, you want to maximize your home's first impression to Buyers. In this episode, The Insiders give you some Easy, Low Budget ideas to improve the "Show-ability" of your home to perspective Buyers!

When you are listing your home for sale, you strive to expose your home to the entire Buyers market.  Considering this upcoming exposure, there are a few important issues to think about. In this episode, The Insiders discuss how Sellers need to be knowledgeable and practical as they prepare their home and themselves for a safe and successful Selling Experience.

Your home is listed on the market, now you receive an offer. Great News! In this Episode, The Insiders ask Sellers to consider the many terms of the offer, but as important, the current market factors that may affect the overall value of the offer.  Each of these issues can and will affect the potential for an accepted offer, as well as a successful transaction that ultimately best meets the Sellers needs.

Buyers and Sellers across the country are wondering what to expect in Real Estate for 2019.  No crystal ball here, but The Insiders discuss thoughts and forecasts from national Real Estate Experts, as to the direction the Real Estate Market will head over the next few months.

Boom or Bust?  What to Expect in the coming months for the Real Estate Market in Beautiful Portland, Oregon!  In this Special Portland Episode, The Insiders offer a little market history, some of the current market factors, and a glimpse into the future of the PDX Real Estate Market.

So, you have decided to sell your home.  Naturally, one of your first steps in preparing your home to sell is going to be DIY projects throughout the house.  In this episode, The Insiders discuss which of those projects you should do, which projects will add value, and other projects you should avoid!

Every Buyer would LOVE to get a $Million home for $250,000.  In today's episode, The Insiders discuss 3 easy steps to help Buyers make the Home Buying Process as fruitful and as painless as possible.  Buyers need Expectations, Objectives, Goals, Prioritizing & Protections!

Homes aren't SOLD online, but they are Eliminated!  In this week's episode, The Insiders discuss that often times Less is truly More when presenting home photos online.  When Sellers understand that the SOLE object of marketing and promoting a home online is to get Buyers through the door, it then makes sense to be very particular with the photos we are utilizing to attract these Buyers. 

If you are going to be buying a home in the near future, this week's episode is VITAL! The Insiders touch on 5 easy steps to save you Thousands of Dollars in your upcoming purchase.

As an important Real Estate Mogul (Dru Wilkinson) often said, "Paying Rent is just Throwing Money Down a Rathole!" In this week's episode, The Insiders compare and discuss Rent Payments vs Mortgage Payments, and how the Tax Benefits can allow Home Owners to justify the larger payments, as well as Establish a basis for Future Wealth.

When you are out looking for a new home, one way to compare one home vs another is Price/sf.  Unfortunately, often times, Buyers trick themselves in to thinking that a lower price/sf is always better, and sometimes Buyers ultimately end up giving price/sf too much weight in their home purchase decision, which can really hurt their enjoyment factor down the road.  In this episode, The Insiders explain Price/sf, and discuss when this valuation is meaningful, versus when it should simply be thrown out of the home purchase decision making process. 

You have found a home, you are now working with the Lender to get all of the financing documentation in order. In this week's episode, The Insiders welcome Robin Weirich of SecurityNational Mortgage Company to discuss the Top 10 or so Pitfalls and Blunders that Buyers mistakenly make that will potentially sabotage their home purchase.

How do death, ghosts & crimes affect home Values and market times. In most states, Sellers are required by law to disclose known physical defects in a home for sale.  However, in this week's episode, The Insiders discuss the concept of Baseless Psychological Factors such as ghosts, spirits, and deaths in homes, and how, and to what extent these issues can potentially affect the home values.

For Your Listening Pleasure during the Holidays, The Insiders offer Five Quick Buying Tips to make sure you're prepared for your upcoming home purchase, and to ensure an all around pleasant Home Buying Experience.  

You never get a second chance to make a First Impression! In this episode, The Insiders talk to Sellers about 10 great ideas to improve the curb appeal of your home, in order to maximize the first impression for prospective Buyers.

Are you considering Buying a home?  Have you met with a lender to discuss financing? In this week's episode, The Insiders welcome Robin Weirich of SecurityNational Mortgage Company to discuss purchase preparation subjects such as credit reports and scores, credit line balances & limits, budgeting, and Debt to Income ratios.  For maximum benefits, Buyers should really consider meeting with a lender up to 6 months ahead of their purchase.

What to Expect when you are Inspecting!   In this week's episode, The Insiders welcome in our guest Gordon Tolbert of AmeriSpec Inspection Services, to talk about the home inspection portion of the Home Buyer's vital due diligence period.  Gordon discusses the inspection process, inspection tips, tricks,and the types of issues your home inspector may find throughout the house you are considering for purchase.

Hopefully this has never happened to you, but if it has, there are very few things worse than when the sewer backs up into your home.  In this week's WCRE episode, The Insiders welcome Greg Bailey of Apex Home Inspections, as they discuss the Dirt on Sewer Inspections.  Since the industry is mostly unregulated, there are many situations and opportunities for misleading and unfortunately, sometimes deceitful reporting.  A couple of take-aways are, attending the inspection, and hiring a company that conducts the inspections, but does not do the potential repairs. 

As a Seller, the best scenario is when you get multiple offers competing with each other for your home.  Sometimes, one or more of the offers may have what is called an Escalation Clause. In this episode, The Insiders explain the Escalation Clause and discuss how best to evaluate these offers and construct your strategy and your Seller response to these types of offers.  

In the perfect Seller situation, once your home goes on the market, you hope to get an offer within a relatively short period of time.  Even better, is when you actually receive multiple offers.  In this week's episode, The Insiders discuss Evaluating Multiple Offers.  They discuss ranking offers by Net Value, but also considering the other valuable terms of each offer.  In addition, The Insiders suggest using a Multiple Offer Procedure Form, requesting the highest and best from each Buyer.  In addition, consider sending a counter offer to the most solid offer presented.  Ideally, you strive for the highest sale price, but also want to benefit from the best combination of all other meaningful terms.

This week, The Insiders offer tips and advice for Sellers, helping them prepare their home when their Real Estate agent is having an Open House.  It is best to appeal to all of the senses, and The Insiders offer some easy, yet effective ideas.

In this week's episode, The Insiders discuss the mindset of a Buyer, when they have received a counter offer from the Seller in a Real Estate Negotiation. The Insiders outline strategies on how to address the most common terms in a Buyer's Counteroffer, with the intent of getting a Seller Counter or Seller Acceptance. 

In this episode, The Insiders discuss some common home Improvements and debate if they are Upgrades (Add Value) or simply updates or maintenance repairs which don't add value, but are sometimes necessary for Buyer financing.

Your home is on the market, now you get an offer.  In this week's episode, The Insiders cover the basic terms of the offer that you, as the Seller, should consider, evaluate, prioritize, and ultimately utilize to make your overall selling decision as to accept, reject, or counter the offer.

The Insiders discuss many topics related to buying vacant land.  In this episode, The Insiders  focus on buying a single lot or parcel of land for building a single family residential home.  They cover cost ratios, build-ability, builders, zoning, and other important issues to consider.

The Insiders discuss the Good & the Bad of HOAs, including all of the important documentation you need to review when placing an offer on a property that is affiliated with a Home Owners Association.

In this episode, The Insiders discuss many of the advantages, disadvantages, and other aspects to consider when buying a condominium. They also touch on the Condo lifestyle, types of condos, amenities, Home Owners' Associations, and many other important issues to investigate when you are considering buying a condominium...

In this week's episode, The Insiders discuss the Health Hazards of Wood Burning Stoves, along with many of the State & National Regulations of Wood Stoves which may affect Buyers and Sellers in a Real Estate Purchase.

Poor interior air quality can substantially affect your family's health.  When you have found a home you want to purchase, during the inspection period, one of the more serious issues you need to investigate is the interior air quality and the potential issues that may cause mold or other breathing hazards in the home.  The Insiders sit down with Nick, from Certified Indoor Environmental (www.certifiedmoldcleaning.com) to discuss the broad scope of mold, allergens, and some simple fixes to improving interior air quality issues.

In this week's episode, The Insiders speak to Sellers about the concept strategy of staging, staging options from "De-Cluttering" to whole room furniture replacement, as well as discussing the documented benefits of staging a home, prior to listing.

The Insiders discuss the potential hazards of lead based paint in your home, as well as reviewing the federally required documentation for Buying/Selling homes built before 1978.  

Buying A Vacation Home?The Insiders discuss 6 important questions/thoughts to think about, when you are considering buying a vacation home.