My Real Estate Tips

One of the best definitions I’ve heard for escrow is:

“A procedure in which a third party acts as a stakeholder for both the buyer and seller, carrying out both parties’ instructions, and assumes responsibility for handling all of the paperwork and distribution of funds.” 

In a real estate transaction or home purchase, the title company becomes the “third party.”  If you purchase a home through a real estate agent or broker, he/she will prepare the purchase contract or agreement.  Within the agreement there will be a paragraph that refers to the EARNEST MONEY and will spell out the amount to be deposited with an “escrow agent” (the title company).  Generally the amount is about 1% of the purchase price rounded up or down.

Escrow is often referred to as earnest money.  It’s referred to that way because a buyer who signs an agreement to purchase real estate is saying that by signing the agreement and putting up a deposit he means what he is saying in earnest.  He is making the deposit to show good faith.

 Escrow or Earnest money deposits are often confused with down payments, which they are not.  The earnest money deposit will eventually be applied toward the amount of down payment or to any of the other costs involved in the transaction.

 An easy way to think of escrow or earnest money is, pretend you are at a garage sale and you see a new set of tires that will just fit your vehicle.  They are asking $200 for a great set of tires that look like new, but you only have a $20 dollar bill with you.  The man running the sale doesn’t know you and if you leave to go get the money from the nearest ATM, he may sell the tires before you return.  So, you offer him a deposit toward the purchase to hold them until you can return with the money.  If he agrees he has just accepted your earnest money or good faith money, or escrow deposit.  It’s as simple as that.

 A second type of escrow account is created when you borrow money to finance the purchase of a home.  The mortgage lender becomes the escrow agent and creates an account in your name in order to set money aside to pay the real estate taxes and insurance on your property.  Taxes and insurance normally are paid in a lump sum annually.  To make it easier on you, a small amount is contributed to the account each month from your house payment.  It adds up through the year and when it’s time to pay the bill for your taxes and insurance, you have enough money in your escrow account to do it.  When taxes or insurance go up, which they all do, your mortgage company will increase (adjust) your monthly payment so there will be enough money there to pay for them when they become due.  On some rare occasions your payment may be adjusted downward when a surplus occurs.

 That’s it – one escrow account is created when you are in the process of purchasing a property, and the second is created by your mortgage company to accrue money each month towards the taxes and insurance on the property after you buy it.

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Owner financing is often attractive because it doesn’t appear to have the hassle involved with endless credit checks and personal employment and resource verifications.  It’s difficult to qualify for a home or commercial property loan if you are self employed or if you don’t have a verifiable employment history of at least 24 months.  If your credit score (FICO) is below 620 and you have a few glitches on your credit history it will be difficult to qualify for a property loan these days without doing some credit repair work.  So, owner financing becomes an attractive option.

If you are interested in owner financed real estate, you should be aware that there could be some pitfalls when securing owner financing.  Owner financing is often offered on properties that would be difficult to market with conventional financing, therefore as an incentive to buy they are offered with owner financing.  It doesn’t mean that the property is automatically no good, just that you should be cautiously aware of the reason owner financing is being offered and should check out the property carefully. 

There are some positive reason why owner financing can be a good alternative for both sellers and buyers.  For sellers who own their property outright, it may be much more profitable to carry the mortgage on the property they sell than to take cash from third party financing.  With the stock market still unstable, with limited and risky returns on investment and savings accounts, and certificate of deposit interest rates very low, a real estate backed mortgage with a decent rate of return of 6 or 7 % (and even higher on some owner financed transactions) looks pretty good. 

So, the owners get a return that’s often better than placing their money in stocks or savings accounts.   For buyers it should be easier to qualify for owner financing and loan process should be less time consuming. 

If you are offered owner financing, insist on receiving a title policy on the property involved, it can be paid for by the seller or buyer, but more often than not it is furnished by the seller to guarantee his title.  Be sure the financing offered contains a mortgage and deed of trust, with favorable terms on the note.  Get a fixed rate of interest and a term (length of loan) long enough to have affordable payments. 

I don’t recommend a transaction known as “contract for deed”.  These transactions are full of problems and are even illegal in some states.  This transaction is where the deed is not transferred to the buyer until he completely pays off the loan (contract).  Too many things can happen that are harmful to the buyer on these property transactions.  An example would be, the property could already have a loan to the seller attached to it.  That loan may be foreclosed on and the property claimed by the seller’s lender.  This could be the seller’s original purchase loan or even an equity loan for home improvement.  The property also could be taken by the IRS for the seller’s tax debt.  In other words, with a “contract for deed” you could make payments on a property for years and still lose it through no fault of your own. 

So be very careful when you consider owner financing.  Owner financing may be the perfect solution for you or it could be a real nightmare if you are not careful.  Proceed with caution.

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Recently my friends at Liberty Mortgage Company sent me an email alert regarding the latest scams in the credit repair market.  The mortgage company receives applications every day that have some credit issues that could block the path to home ownership.  Many of the people they talk with are under the impression that their credit issues are being repaired.  Unfortunately, the applicants often have fallen for one of the many credit repair scams that set their traps for well meaning home buyers with a few credit problems. 

Mortgage loan qualification requirements are stricter today than in the past – FHA / VA and Conventional Home Loan sources are requiring ever higher FICO scores — so the average applicant may need to improve their credit report before they can qualify for a home loan.  With the pent up demand for housing beginning to show, it makes a very ripe market for scammers. 

Credit Report Credit History

Most popular scams promise to wipe your credit report clean of all the negative information.  They usually charge an up front fee, sometimes as much as $1,500 for their service.  Often all the scammers will do is dispute all the negative information on your credit report.  This is something you can do on your own for free.

Federal law requires the credit reporting agencies to investigate all disputes within 30 days.  If the agency can not confirm the negative information it must be removed from the report, however if the information is confirmed, it does stay on the report.  Many creditors do not have the manpower or resources to confirm or deny negative information back to the agency within the time limit, so the information often gets removed, even if it turns out to be true.

Another “We will fix it” scam for a fee is to tell you that they will get you a new social security number.  The idea is with a new number most credit agencies would have to start a new file under that number with your name and it wouldn’t have the negative information that may have been reported under your old SS number.

The truth is, the Social Security Administration almost never agrees to assign a new SS number to an individual who already has a file and number.  What these “credit repair” scammers are doing is filing with the IRS for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) under your name.  An EIN is a nine-digit number that looks like a social security number, but it’s actually a number assigned to a business.  This number is used by the IRS to identify companies for tax payment purposes. 

If you fall for this one, the consequences are far reaching.  By using an EIN as your SS number, you change how your income is reported to the IRS.  You’ll find it’s a big problem when you retire and the Social Security Administration has no record of your work history.  In addition you may find yourself accused of conspiring to commit fraud with possible jail time in your future.  So, be informed and don’t be a victim. 

If you want to improve your credit report and FICO score, try some of the methods I recommended in an earlier article,  Oh FICO, My FICO.  If you would like more information and instructions, plus samples of dispute letters and more, go to Credit Score Maximizer for a proven system for improving your credit – it works.

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A bird dog is a hunter’s best friend.  I had a friend in my youth, Jerry Don, whose daddy owned a squirrel dog, Boots.  Jerry Don with his .22 and I with an old .410 would often visit the woods across the road from our family’s weekend farm house to hunt. 

One day the preacher’s wife from the local church offered to make squirrel gumbo the next weekend if we two boys would provide the squirrels.  We were both concerned about being good enough hunters to provide squirrels for a gumbo that would feed a whole church congregation, but Jerry Don’s dad said “take old Boots and you’ll do fine.”  Well, we need not have worried, as soon as we entered the woods Boots set to work.

Round and round the old trees he ran, dodging in and out of sight, as we hurried along trying to keep up.  All a sudden, he began to bark and circle a single tree.  High up in the branches Jerry Don spotted the swish of a tail just as our prey moved to the backside of the tree trunk.  Well, that scene played out over and over that day and it wasn’t long at all before we had a bag full to take to the preacher’s house. 

With old Boots along, we were able to do in several hours what would have taken us several days to accomplish.  We were good weekend hunters, but were no match for Boots, who spent his life in those woods, learning and understanding all the secrets within.

If you want to save a lot of time and expense when looking for great real estate properties to invest in, you’ve got to get yourself a good bird dog.  In real estate that would be, and no disrespect intended, an experienced, licensed real estate agent or broker.  

These people are trained professionals who spend all day, every day, looking at and thinking about real estate properties.  They have tools in their offices that allow them to complete market comparable property studies in minutes, that would take you days to accomplish, and many have software programs that will help you analyze investment income properties.  They often can help you make contact with craftsmen for building repairs, improvements and inspections.

You will also find them knowledgable on financial issues, and they often know of resources you might not be exposed to.  Their knowledge, training and expertise, if used just once, can save you from making mistakes that could cost you thousands of dollars.  Their service to you is often free, as they make a living from commissions, which means they have strong incentives to help you become a successful investor.  

However, even old Boots got a treat now and then for helping us that day long ago.  Be sure and reward your “Bird Dogs” for their help and loyalty to you by making your investment purchases through them.  Then they know that if they can help you make money by finding you good investments, you will be back and maybe even tell your friends that they helped you. 

Well, that’s my tip of the day, use it and you will save both time and money investing in real estate.

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It can be difficult to find legitimate help for foreclosure issues because of the many scams that abound these days.  It’s shameful that there are still people who try to take advantage of those who find themselves in this situation.  

Here is a list of programs that are either operated by the U.S. government or have the U.S. government’s seal of approval:

• To find a counselor, contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 569-4287 or (877) 483-1515, or go to www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm

• Call (888) 995-HOPE, the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline to reach a nonprofit, HUD-approved counselor through HOPE NOW, a cooperative effort of mortgage counselors and lenders to assist homeowners.  The HOPE NOW website: www.hopenow.com

• Visit NeighborWorks America’s Web site at www.nw.org/network/home.asp

• Go to this Web site for information on federal mortgage modification and refinancing programs: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov

• The Controller of the Currency’s consumer information site for banking-related questions is www.helpwithmybank.gov

• OCC Customer Assistance Group and consumer assistance site: www.occ.gov/customer.htm

• Federal Trade Commission: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/homes/rea04.shtm

• Federal Reserve Board: www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/foreclosurescamtips/default.htm

If you’re facing foreclosure, please take some time to check out the help that is available through these resources.

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According to CNN and Freddie Mac, recently residential mortgage loan rates have fallen to a 38 year low.  That’s really great, now that property values have fallen to a more realistic level it finally looks like a good time to buy property.  These rates don’t directly apply to all types of Real Estate of course, commercial, land (both rural and city), and multifamily rates will be different, but generally speaking all the rates seem to be coming down. 

Those of you who are interested in getting into a home for the first time, there are wonderful new programs that will assist you with your down payment and allow up to 6% of your closing cost to be paid by the seller (which many are happy to do).  6% should cover almost all your cost of closing including some prepaid items like taxes and insurance.  Check out these new programs.

For those of you who took a beating and bruising in the stock market, you can use principals you learned there and make some, if not all, of those losses back using leverage (see my articles “Investing in Income Producting Properties, Part One and Part Two” in the Archives).  I think there is an excellent opportunity these days for the person who is looking for an investment and who wants to get a place to live at the same time.  FHA has a program where you can buy up to four rental units (total loan can’t exceed $289,000).  As long as you plan to occupy one of the units yourself your down payment can be as low as 3-1/2%.  On $289,000 that’s only about ten thousand dollars.  It gets even better; the seller is allowed to pay your closing costs up to 6% on this one too.  Even better, you can use the income on the other three units, assuming you buy a fourplex, to be part of your qualifying income for the loan.

Buying properties that need repair and fixing them up is not only fun and can get your creative juices flowing, it’s a better than ever business to look at today.  If you have basic handyman or woman skills you can get some real buys in these properties.  Whether you buy them out of foreclosure or from people who don’t have the time, knowledge, or inclination to see a property restored through completion, those skills of yours are worth big bucks today.  There is more of this type of property on the market now than ever before.  For guidance in this kind of investing activity look at Fast fixer-upper profits. 

There are good opportunities to build income in Real Estate today more than ever before, because of this economic crisis.  Don’t sit on the sidelines and be caught ten years from now looking back and saying I wish I had gotten into Real Estate ten years ago when every thing was cheaper and available.  Get out there and find one of these opportunities that will work for you.  Be cautious and examine these programs before you get involved, we are not making guarantees here, just encouraging you to see if there is a Real Estate opportunity that can bring success to you in what looks like an environment full of opportunity.

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Some of you may know that I live on a small ranch in East Texas.  Something happened last year that reminded me of the importance of having good insurance on your Real Estate. 

I have mostly cattle rancher neighbors and until last year owned a small dog, Lucky.  Lucky was our official porch guard and coyote lookout.  I found her early one cold rainy foggy morning while driving into town for coffee.  She was mostly white and I spotted her movement making her way out of a black plastic trash bag.  She was a tiny puppy then and had been discarded along side of the road by someone.  It happens a lot in the country, people leave their unwanted pets far from home out in the country thinking that they won’t find their way back.  Not some of the human race’s proudest moments.  Anyway, Lucky came home with me to live at the ranch house. 

Once she was grown, during the days (and since I live way out of town) I would leave Lucky outside.  She would explore in the fields and woods near the house.  At night she liked to stay on the porch as long as the weather was good and bark at any night creatures (we have many coyotes, wild pigs, bobcats and so forth)who came near the house.  I like to think she was protecting my two cats, Leo and Mr. Black. 

One day I was off doing some real estate work and when I came home the county sheriff was waiting for me on the porch.  Lucky was laying nearby as I asked what the problem was.  It turns out it was calving season and a newborn calf belonging to my neighbor had been killed or perhaps stillborn and partially eaten by an animal.  Lucky had been spotted in the vicinity of the cows and calves on my neighbor’s land, in fact, my neighbor took a picture of Lucky leaving the area and heading towards my place.  He called the sheriff and filed a complaint that my dog Lucky had killed and partially eaten the calf.

Now I really don’t think Lucky had anything to do with the calf being killed, but was drawn to the area by the scent and was indeed there at the scene of the crime.  The report went on file at the sherif’fs department and my neighbor wrote me a letter asking me to reimburse him for the cost of the cow. 

Okay, that’s the story, and though I didn’t think Lucky was responsible, I did own the dog and did let her wander about while I was gone.  I remembered I had home owners insurance with some liability coverage and called my insurance agent.  He suggested I file a claim and I did.  The insurance company contacted my neighbor and they settled the claim without it having to go to court. 

I’ve told this story to illustrate that unexpected things happen in our lives and we must protect ourselves against them.  I’m sure I had no idea that my act of kindness in bringing Lucky home that rainy morning would lead to an eventual altercation with a neighbor and the sheriff.  If you are going to own real estate of any kind MAKE SURE you have liability insurance coverage on that property.  Things happen, often quite unexpectedly, and it’s much easier to deal with a small expense up front than deal with what could be catastrophic costs of potential liability issues against you later.  No, the claim against Lucky and I wasn’t large, but if it had been a person injured or killed, I would have ended up in court for years.  Play it safe, be insured.

And don’t forget to spend 30 minutes or so with your agent each year to make sure your coverage is up to date.  If you don’t have replacement value coverage on you buildings and belongings I recommend you get it, it’s money well spent.  Don’t forget to raise the value on your property policies when real estate starts to appreciate again.  Doing all this now can save you thousands in dollars and heartaches later.

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                         or,  How to raise your FICO score

FICO — The three primary credit agencies/bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion have a formula to evaluate an individual’s credit worthiness by arriving at and assigning a number to your credit file.  They do not give out the exact formula but do provide a lot of information on how they arrive at your (FICO) score.  The score can influence many things in your life depending on whether you have a low, medium, or high score.  The primary use is obvious, if you need to borrow money to buy a car, house, or pay your tuition for the next college session, you will need a respectable credit score.  Uses that are not so obvious are: 

Ø  If you are applying for a job, your potential employer may check your credit score.  Some feel it tells them how responsible you are about obligations.

Ø  If you need car or any other type of insurance and make application for it.  Insurance companies think it is an indication of the risk of writing a policy for you.  It can also of course tell them if you will pay your bill or not should they let you pay it over time.

Ø  If you need to rent a home or apartment your new landlord will in all probability check out your credit score along with your references to assure them you will pay the rent on time.

Ø  If you are looking for a new mate or love in your life and put yourself on the market with one or more dating/mating services, it’s more likely than not that eventually a potential mate will have your credit score checked.  Sounds cold and calculating, but with Internet resources as available as they are, let’s face it, you are going to get checked out.

So you can see that a good credit (FICO) score can be important in today’s world.

Credit scores range from 300 to 850 and your number is somewhere in between.  The minimum score most home lenders require today is 620, but for the best loan interest rate and term you will need one in excess of 720.  The higher the better is the rule.  Now if you have a FICO score below 620, you don’t  have to fold up your tent and silently steal away in the night, you can do something about it.

If you have a score below 500 it’s going to take more than just tweaking it a bit and will take more than a little time to get it above 700, but you can do it over time.  Here is the way to go about raising your credit score.

The first thing not to do — don’t pay someone money to do it, there are a number of businesses who say they will raise your credit score from 500 or so to above 700 in thirty days or less.  Unfortunately, all you will get from many is a bank account with less money and their unreturned calls and emails after you have paid $1,000 or more for their service.  There is no secret quick and legal way to raise your credit score several hundred points in thirty days.

 The following are things you really can do, and over time they will raise your FICO credit score.

Ø  Get a copy of your credit report, you can get a free one once a year from each credit bureau at annualcreditreport.com, which is a government run service for that purpose.  You can also get your report directly from any of the three major credit bureaus for a small fee.  Review the report line by line and highlight any inaccuracies, such as late payments that you believe were on time, accounts that are not yours or any negative information over 7 years old.  Write the credit agency and dispute any serious items.  They must remove them or tell you why they don’t in thirty days.  In many cases that’s all you need to do to get the negative information removed.

Ø  Stop using your major cards (Master card & Visa) and pay down the balances as quickly as you can.  You will move your score up as the differences between what you owe and your credit limit for each card grows.  Try to owe less than 30% of your limit on all your credit cards, especially the major ones.

Ø  Lately credit issuers have been reducing credit limits on cards.  That will lower your score if they do that to any of your accounts.  Pay close attention to those limits each month when you receive your bill.  If they have been lowered, call the card issuer right away and protest, asking them to reinstate your original limit, especially if you have been responsible with your handling of their card.  In many cases that is all it will take to get the limit reset.  Your alternative is that you can transfer the balance to another card or pay it off with an installment loan.

Ø  If you have one or more cards that you have charged up to the maximum limit, you may want to consider getting an installment loan and paying the balances down under 30%.  The installment loan will be treated differently on the FICO formula (more favorably) and you will have better appearing credit accounts.

Ø  Another way to increase your score is by borrowing enough to pay down your accounts by borrowing from a friend or relative.  The loan won’t show up on your report and your accounts that you paid down will raise your score.  Now don’t pay off the accounts just pay them down to small balances.  If you pay them off it will lower your score instead of raising it.  A word of caution here, make sure you can afford the extra payments using this strategy and the one above.

Ø  Don’t let your accounts go inactive with no balances, many credit card issuers are closing inactive accounts and if they do close yours it can lower your score.   Keep a small balance on the accounts to keep them active.  Remember, accounts with a balance under 30% of the credit limit on the account means a higher score overall.

Use some of the methods I’ve suggested here, pay attention to your credit accounts and maintain them by making regular on time payments, and you will be surprised at how quickly you can have a score above 720.

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                    (Subtitle:  You May Be a Veteran! )

…under starry skies above, the answer to your dream of owning property could be just around the corner.  Would you believe, there are Veterans who don’t even know they are Veterans.  Yes, in Texas and a few other states (Alaska, California, Oregon, and Wisconsin) there are Veteran’s programs that have less restrictive requirements to qualifying as a Veteran, and there are many qualified ex-Reservists and Guardsmen/women who are not aware that they are qualified for state Veteran’s programs. 

In Texas, for example, as long as you have reasonably good credit, all you need to qualify for Land loans or Home mortgages and even Home Improvement Loans under the Veteran’s programs is having spent at least 90 days active duty, and even that can be cumulative.  So all those summers you spent training instead of vacationing with your family and friends, well they count, too.  You can just add them together and if they total 90 days, you are in!  As far as I know, Texas is the only state that has a Land loan program, but the other states I mentioned above do have extended Veteran’s programs of their own.  Check it out, there may be a program that will help you.

I’m sure that if you’ve considered buying land, you’ve encountered some difficulty finding financing.  The Texas Veteran’s Land loan program offers 95% financing and a 30-year fixed rate of 7.25% interest, plus you can make your application on-line.  There is a 1 acre minimum in size and $80,000 maximum loan.  If you check around you will find that this is great!!  Consider the possibilities.  Let’s say you find a city property, a commercial lot, or a group of smaller lots zoned multifamily that in size add up to 43,560 square feet (an acre) — you can buy it with a Texas land loan.  That wonderful 1 acre lake view lot at your favorite recreation lake — it is within reach.  Or you can buy a few acres in the country, it’s left to your imagination.

If you qualify for a Texas Veteran’s Land loan you are also eligible for other programs as well.  Other state programs you probably don’t know about include Home Improvement loans.  You can borrow up to $25,000 to make improvements to your home, there are some restrictions on the type of projects that are accepted but the financing is FHA insured and for 20 years at a reasonable fixed rate.  There is another loan type that fills a niche where no funds are usually available from lenders, and that’s loans for homes under $50,000.  The Texas Veteran’s Land Bank will make direct home loans to those who qualify for homes up to $45,000.  There are still many small rural towns in Texas where you can find a home for sale under $45,000 and now financing is available under the Texas Veteran’s program.  They also underwrite loans for 1 to 4 family residential properties up to $325,000.  You could buy a duplex or even a fourplex as long as you occupied one of the units, and pay up to $325,000 with only 5% down under this program. 

So you can see, if you were in the Reserves or National Guard, you may, if you live in Texas, be considered a Veteran and be qualified for a great loan.  It’s worth your time to check it out.  In Texas go to:  http://www.glo.state.tx.us/vlb/ – and if you’re in other states, check your state’s veterans sites for their programs.

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If you really want to sell your home when you put it on the market there are some things you must know.  In an earlier article (Real Estate Values Are Always Local, Part 2) I gave information on how you could appraise your own property.  If you followed that advice you have found what your home is worth now using comparables.  For those of you who didn’t get a chance to read the article, here is an excerpt.

Call at least three Local real estate offices and tell them you are considering selling your property.   Ask one of their agents to make a comparative market study of your property.  Tell them to include ALL the sales in your market area that compare to your home.  They will call you back later and want to set an appointment to deliver the information and tell you about their company and ask you to list your property with them.  When they do, let them make their presentation, then ask them to leave all the information on the property analysis and their company, so you can study it and make a decision.   After you have all of the information from all three companies, lay it out on a BIG table and create a work sheet of your own.  Using one line per property, list each of the SOLD properties with their selling price per square foot on the far right.  You don’t need to worry about including the active listings that are up for sale, they aren’t relative to your study in determining the value of your property.  Do hold on to the information as they WILL be important later in determining the price you wish to ask for your property, because they will be the properties you are competing with.  That is, competing for the buyers that are available in the current market who will be looking at other properties actively listed.  Now, add up the column on the right and divide the results by the number of properties on your list.  Multiply that result by the number of square feet in your home, and the result should be the current value of your property, within a percent or two. 

The number you arrived at may be lower than you are comfortable with, and in some parts of the country it’s a shocking reality.  Even worse, to sell today you will probably need to price your property a little under the figure you arrived at.

People are accustomed to real estate values going up and up and up, year after year.   Most of us like to count our profits as that happens, we remember back to how much we paid for the property and in our minds calculate many times all the money we will make if we ever sell.  It becomes a source of pride of accomplishment and it is not something we will give up without some resistance.  It is much more difficult to admit or even think about losses.

If you are going to put your house on the market and want to sell it you must be competitive.  More than ever you will have strong competition.  Competition from properties that have been foreclosed on for default on loans and taxes.  These homes are often priced below the market for quick sales.  You are in competition with other property owners who are selling their properties to avoid foreclosure and these are often priced below the market.  There isn’t nearly as much demand as there is product.  In other words, there are a lot of homes/properties for sale now, making it a “buyers market.”

Here are some of the advantages for pricing your property correctly. 

•  A property usually gets the most attention just after it is placed on the market.  If it is priced competitively it will get the most attention.
• Real Estate sales agents are drawn to properties that are priced competitively and you will have more showings.  More showings equals better opportunities to sell.
• If a property is priced competitively there is usually less negotiation on the price.
• Competitive pricing will attract more qualified buyers

 Besides correct pricing there are other things you can do to help sell your property.  Creative marketing can help distinguish your property from all the other available properties, and in today’s buyer’s market, you want to stand out from the crowd.

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