ECO-CONSIOUS ALBERTA REMODEL

Eco-aware remodel, 1910 Craftsman tastefully updated, Green features & charm of its vintage. Nestled in the desirable Alberta Arts; as many decrative details: box beam ceilings/formal dining, built-ins, fireplace, ecordian french doors/den,claw foot tub, mud-porch, crown molding and the always requested big front porch accented by ideal native plantings.

OPEN SAT 11-1 - OR call Alia Marie Hazen at 503.705.8414 for a showing today. This home will go fast as it has been updated and still has orginal charm -- not to mention to full Baths in Alberta -- very hard to find!~

No Special Treatment for First Offer

Recently in the middle of negotiating an offer on behalf of a seller, I was representing; we had one offer submitted to us and we were discussing a counter offer back to the buyer.
Suddenly, another agent contacted me and was planning on writing an offer on the same property for her buyer. Now there are multiple offers on the table. I put a call into the first buyer's agent letting them know the seller would not be responding to their offer until late that day and the seller had reviewed both offers. I advised that the agent ask their buyer to put in their best and final offer.
"This does not seem fair and the seller should should complete negotions on the first offer" was the response to the current situaion.
What happened is the seller technically rejected the first offer and requested that the buyer one submit a new offer that reflected the buyers "best" terms. It is then up to the buyer if they wants to submit a better offer, keep the offer as it stands or revoke their offer. This is not a personal attack on buyer one, it is negotiating the best terms for the seller and reviewing all active offers.
Fair or not purchasing a home does not come down to who came to the house first. It is who came to the table with the best offer: Best in price, closing date, loan terms, earnest money etc. and who was able to get mutual acceptance in writing.
In our current market, we are heavy in listings (16 months of active listings) we are seeing a new trend of properties that are very attractively priced and are not bank owned homes -- and this creates a great value opportunity for a buyer and many times multiple offers on the home.
In this situation buyer one had lost 3 other homes prior to this offer. Buyer one has shown they know how to find a great value in a home but they are negotiationg themselves out of a purchase.
A great value is not determined by how much you negotiated off the sale price, or how much you could get from the seller. A great deal is determined by how much lower you got it than market value. If a home is priced to sell often times the deal is had by moving quickly on an offer.
Often times the great deal is getting the home and finding a house priced to sell -- negotiating too hard with a seller often times does not get you the best deal. Offer price is just step one -- as a buyer you still need to negotiate repairs.
If offer one had been signed and mutually accepted, the seller would not have been able to break the current negotiated terms. The second offer cannot bump an accepted offer, even if the price and terms are better than offer one. An offer is active until all parties sign and have mutual acceptance of terms on a purchase and sale agreament or counter offer. Verbal is NOT binding.
All agents including myself have been bumped out of negotiations becuase a counter was not accepted quick enough and back to the seller before a better offer came in. The seller can and will negotiate the best terms for themselves until papers are signed and they are in a binding legal contract. Verbal again is not binding -- even if Susie Seller says the house is yours do not worry about that pesky paperwork. Do you think Susie Seller is going to feel the same way when Pesty Paul offers $10,000 higher in sale price than your offer? Close negotiations, dot the i and cross the t -- buying a home is very personal but it is also one of the biggest financial contracts you will negotiate.

$8000 TAX CREDIT

If you are reading this for the first time you may be spending too much time at the movies -- Big News for some -- there is a $8,000 credit to some buyer's in 2009.

I say some people because it is for people who have not owned a home with in the last three years. There are a bunch of other rules on it too which is fine we have to have rules. ($75,000 income limit per head, owner occupied 3 years).

A tax credit is more valuable than a tax deduction because A credit reduces dollar for dollar the amount of tax you owe, where as a deduction allows the tax payer to exclude some taxable dollars.

The tax credit is better than last years because it doesn't have to be paid back. It is a true tax credit, but here is the deal.

To buy a home buyers still need to have a job, a good credit rating, and some money for a down payment. If you have all of those things then you will be rewarded by being able to purchase a home and will get the tax credit on top of that" party dance time".

My take on it is that if you are in a position to buy a home and were planning on doing so the tax credit is a good thing. If you cannot afford to buy a home because your income is not high enough, your credit rating is not good enough or you don't have any money then the tax credit isn't going to have any impact on your situation what so ever.

There are some other programs for first time home buyers that may help: Oregon Bond, FHA.

I am offering a first time buyer class on March 25Th from 6-8pm. I offer one every other month and it is free. There will be a lender, escrow agent and myself at the class to answer your questions. 8 people per class -- contact me today to reserve a spot.