We understand that most buyers search for homes on line and wanted consumers to understand that things are not always as their appear. For your education, we have put together a list of:

10 THINGS TO BE AWARE OF WHEN SEARCHING FOR A HOME ON THE INTERNET

1.     CONDITION – Photoshop is a powerful tool that is often abused by listing agents and homes rarely look as nice in person.

2.    LOCATION – When a home states “great location”, understand that “great” is a relative term. We suggest learning the specific neighborhoods so you know where you want to be located and use a tool like googlemaps to get a more accurate idea of the location of a home.

3.    ADVERSE CONDITIONS – Since a listing agent is trying to sell the home, they will never come right out and tell you that there are power lines or a highway located  directly behind the home. There may also be a commercial building right next door, conveniently cropped out of the front photo. Be weary of adverse factors that could greatly affect marketability of a home.

4.     STATUS – Don’t assume the home you love on line is still available. Some sites show outdated information and don’t clean up their site very often. To make sure a home is still an active listing, we recommend using a site that gets information directly from the local MLS ( Multiple Lisitng Service ).

5.     INACCURATE FEATURES – There is nothing worse than walking into what you thought was a 4 bedroom home only to find out it only has 3 real usable bedrooms.  A good agent will know these types of things so you don’t waste your time.

6.    READ BETWEEN THE LINES – The copy and description written on a home is like that on a resume, often embellished. The listing agents job is to get buyers in the door so just be mindful.

7.     TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE – Remember, if a home looks too good to be true on line, there may be a reason.  While there are some great deals out there, if a home seems priced abnormally low compared to other similar homes, find out why.

8.     EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE – Believe it or not, some homes actually look better in person. Some agents don’t take great pictures or put much effort into their listings and fantastic homes can get overlooked. A good agent will be able to point out some hidden gems.

9.     PUBLIC RECORDS ARE SOMETIMES WRONG – Information that appears on a listing sometimes gets imported directly from public records—and is inaccurate. Do yourself a favor and double check things on your own.

10.   THE LISTING AGENT DOES NOT REPRESENT YOU -  While many on line listings encourage you to contact the listing agent directly with questions, that agent does not represent you. If you have any questions about a home you see on line, call your buyer’s agent.

When all is said and done, viewing homes on line is a great way to start. However, a good buyers agent will preview homes on your behalf up front to save you valuable time and effort.

If you are serious about buying a home, hire a buyer’s agent. It won’t cost you money ( the seller pays real estate commissions ) and will be extremely helpful.

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The above information is compliments of The Schuman Team, Amy and Dan, of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

They can be reached at 216-346-3235 or 216-403-9189 or via email, danschuman@howardhanna.com or amyschuman@howardhanna.com.

The Schumans service the following Cleveland area suburbs: Bainbridge, Bay Village, Beachwood, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights, Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Hunting Valley, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Moreland Hills, Oakwood Village, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Woodmere.

On Line Home Search – What You See Is Not Always What You Get is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent.

When writing an offer, there are many factors that are considered to be important, such as price and closing dates. One of the often overlooked items that appear in the purchase agreement is earnest money, the topic of today’s post.

DO YOU REALLY NEED IT?

First off, earnest money, or good faith money is not required in Ohio. However, it is a way to convey your commitment to purchasing a home and is expected by local sellers. Sometimes it can even make a difference in whether or not a seller accepts an offer.

Buyers always ask us how much they should offer. There is no set rule on this although we do recommend at least 1-2% of the purchase price. So, for example, earnest money on a $300,000 offer would be $3000-$6000. Again, there’s no set rule on this and you could certainly go above or below this threshold if you’d like, it’s just a gauge we use.

Some buyers, especially first timers, are always a little reluctant to give any money up front because they often don’t understand how it works. There is actually very little risk in offering earnest money. The money is held by a third party, not given directly to the sellers. If for some reason the deal doesn’t work out for a legitimate reason, the money gets returned to the buyers.

IT CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Earnest money is a way to show your commitment and can actually be a deciding factor. I have been on the listing side of a transaction where we received two offers that were similar in price. The sellers felt that the buyer who offered a significant amount of earnest money was more serious and chose to work with them.  This may be a rare case, but is something not to be taken lightly.

When all is said and done, price is likely the most important thing to a seller. However, showing your strength as a buyer can make a difference so it’s worthy to discuss earnest money with your agent.

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The above information is compliments of The Schuman Team, Amy and Dan, of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

They can be reached at 216-346-3235 or 216-403-9189 or via email, danschuman@howardhanna.com or amyschuman@howardhanna.com.

The Schumans service the following Cleveland area suburbs: Bainbridge, Bay Village, Beachwood, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights, Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Hunting Valley, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Moreland Hills, Oakwood Village, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Woodmere.

Beware of Home Search Sites is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent.

Everyone knows that one of the best places to search for homes is on line. While some folks still look at the newspaper,  a majority of buyers take to the net for their home search. With such easy access to homes comes numerous pitfalls, and today’s post will discuss this.

Before getting into the main problems of some home search sites, let’s start with a little history lesson. Back before the internet was in existence, most data relating to homes was only available at the local real estate office. For example, if you wanted to buy a home in Gates Mills, you would  have to sit down with an agent in a Gates Mills office to see the inventory.

The Multiple Listing Service then came into play making it easy for agents to share data with each other, but consumers did not have access to this information.  They still had to go through an agent to see the inventory.

Now, all listing information is readily available on line for everyone to see. In fact, sites that show home listings are among the most popular in the country, receiving millions of visitors every month. What has happened over time is that non real estate companies saw the power of having all of these visitors and wanted to “get into the game”. The main problem is that many of these companies are not giving consumers accurate information.

Some companies, like Realtor.com, do offer accurate information as they get their data feed directly from the original source.  Others, however, do not. On many of these secondary sites, the information is simply wrong. Prices are getting changed, square footage is off and the status of homes is not up to date. It is not uncommon to see a home advertised that is no longer on the market. Home sellers are also getting angry when seeing their personal home being misrepresented on line. Basically, brokers have begun to lose control of their data.

Once on line, it is nearly impossible to have information corrected. That is why so many real estate companies nationwide are considering not sharing their listing information with anyone else. Until everything gets sorted out, consumers are paying the ultimate price by being subjected to bad information.

WHAT SHOULD A HOME BUYER DO?

Be careful about where you search for homes. We recommend a site that provides the most up to date information. Our personal home search tool gets its information directly from our local Multiple Listing Service and is the most accurate data you will find. You can find it by clicking the “search for homes” icon on the top right hand side of this page or go to the home page of our website, www.schumanteam.com. Here is what it looks like:

Once here, you can see current listings, create your personal home search and get homes emailed to you automatically. Or, you are welcome to contact us, let us know what you want, and we can create a personal home search for you.

Also, if you find a home on line that you really want to see, it is best to check with your agent to make sure it is still “active”. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve had buyers ask me about a home they saw somewhere on line and it was no longer available.

In the end, information will always be a valuable commodity and having a knowledgeable agent to help with your home search will definitely make a difference.

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The above information is compliments of The Schuman Team, Amy and Dan, of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

They can be reached at 216-346-3235 or 216-403-9189 or via email, danschuman@howardhanna.com or amyschuman@howardhanna.com.

The Schumans service the following Cleveland area suburbs: Bainbridge, Bay Village, Beachwood, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights, Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Hunting Valley, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Moreland Hills, Oakwood Village, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Woodmere.

Beware of Home Search Sites is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent.

Are The Tides Changing To A Seller's Market?

We are happy to say that the real estate market here in Northeast Ohio is picking up. Inventories are low, the weather has been unseasonably warm, and the buyers are out in full force.  The rush of activity is good news to everyone, including home sellers.  However, the influx of buyers making offers has created a different set of challenges that we haven’t seen in a long time.

SLOW MARKET = NO URGENCY

Over the past few years when the real estate market was slow, the buying and selling process often took a long time. Buyers were afraid of overpaying and sellers were unwilling to accept what the market was willing to bear for their home. Basically, there was gridlock and an overall lack of urgency on all parties to get anything done.

Buyers, until recently, had been in control. The general attitude of most was that a seller would be lucky to get an offer from them. Plus, if things didn’t work out, they would just buy another home. Their level of commitment was suspect as well with some buyers preferring to just make a verbal offer instead of putting it in writing.

Negotiations also dragged out over days and sometimes even weeks. Getting parties to agree to terms was near impossible and getting all parties to sign and date the documents was more of an afterthought.  Now,  a shift in the market has taken place and those not prepared are getting burned.

TAKE QUICK ACTION OR LOSE OUT

Today’s increased activity is causing things to happen at a much faster pace than many are used to, including some agents. Anyone approaching the process in a lackadaisical manner will end up learning the hard way, when the home they want is taken by someone else.

We are not saying that buyers should make hasty decisions. We are simply recommending  that once you know what you want to do, do it quickly. Make an offer, work out the details, and get all parties to sign and date the documents as soon as possibly. This is even more critical if there is heated competition for a particular home.

NO SIGNATURE, NO DEAL

A last bit of advice. Understand that until all required paperwork is signed, dated, and/or initialed by all parties, there is no deal. We have heard many stories lately of negotiations being verbally agreed on by both buyer and seller, and then another offer comes in out of nowhere before all documents are signed. This can create havoc on an already complicated transaction and sometimes lead to costly litigation.

In the end, you need to be prepared for today’s changing market and having a great agent by your side will certainly make a difference.  Otherwise, the American dream could turn into a nightmare for you.

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The above information is compliments of The Schuman Team, Amy and Dan, of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

They can be reached at 216-346-3235 or 216-403-9189 or via email, danschuman@howardhanna.com or amyschuman@howardhanna.com.

The Schumans service the following Cleveland area suburbs: Bainbridge, Bay Village, Beachwood, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights, Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Hunting Valley, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Moreland Hills, Oakwood Village, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Woodmere.

A Busy Market Requires High Sense Of Urgency is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent.

Note: The Schuman Team are not licensed attorneys and nothing contained in this post should be construed as legal advice. We recommend that all buyers and sellers have legal documents reviewed by a qualified real estate attorney before moving forward on a real estate transaction.

Multiple buyers fighting over the same home is not uncommon.

Although not the norm, it is not unusual in today’s market to see buyers fighting over the same home. This is termed a “multiple offer” situation, or “multiples” in real estate agent lingo. Regardless what the media says about it being a buyers market, bidding wars do happen and seem to be taking place more frequently.

By definition, “multiples” occurs when more than one buyer is attempting to purchase the same home at the same time. This happens not only on homes that are new to the market, but also to homes that have been sitting for a long time. I’ve personally seen homes listed for over a year that ended up having multiple bidders.

The important point of this article is that a multiple offer situation can happen at any time and will present additional challenges. Regardless if you are a buyer or seller, these transactions can be much more stressful.  On the buy side, not only do you have to negotiate with the seller, but you also have another buyer to worry about.  Strategy is extremely important in this situation and one wrong move could lose you the home of your dreams.

As a seller, while most dream of having multiple bidders for their home, it isn’t as great as it seems. Buyers are often put out at being in a competitive bidding situation and if you don’t play things right, you risk alienating all of your buyers and could end up with none.

The winning party sometimes ends up having buyers remorse,  feeling they were pressured to pay more than they wanted. Some end up backing out during the inspection period because of this. Additionally, the losing party ends up very resentful of the process. They are often so angry that they rarely come back in the event that the home comes back on the market.

The fact is, in a multiple offer situation, someone losses and it creates a lot of ill will. Whether justified or not, emotions will run higher than normal here. That is why we like to avoid them when representing our buyer clients.

We tell our buyers that if they like a particular home, odds are high that some other buyers will feel the same way about it.  So, don’t hesitate to make an offer quickly or risk either losing the home or having to get into a bidding war to get it.

When it comes to multiples, understand that they do exist in all price points and could happen at any time. Remember, nice homes that are priced well don’t last very long in any market. Unfortunately,  we tell our clients this but sometimes they end up learning the hard way.

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The above information is compliments of The Schuman Team, Amy and Dan, of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

They can be reached at 216-346-3235 or 216-403-9189 or via email, danschuman@howardhanna.com or amyschuman@howardhanna.com.

The Schumans service the following Cleveland area suburbs: Bainbridge, Bay Village, Beachwood, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Cleveland Heights, Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Hunting Valley, Lakewood, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Mayfield Village, Moreland Hills, Oakwood Village, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, Solon, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Woodmere.

Multiple Offers More Common Than You Think is the property of The Schuman Team and may not be duplicated or used without their written consent.

The home inspection process will make or break a transaction. It is by far the most important  step for both buyers and sellers. The following post will explain the process and offer some advice to make it easier for you.

Here are some basics about inspections. They are done to protect the buyer by informing them about the condition of the home and to uncover any defects. A thorough inspector will also take the time to educate the buyer about the home and how to properly care for it. We highly recommend a home inspection to anyone buying a home.

Historically, inspections were meant to put heavy focus on uncovering very specific things relating to structural defects or health and safety issues. These include things like mold in an attic, radon gas, or large cracks in a basement wall. Sellers typically offered to address these items as standard protocol.  It was a more simple process in the past.

Today, buyers seem to be asking for everything under the sun, even things they were aware of when they walked through the home ( broken outlet cover, rip in screen door, etc..). Now, the inspection typically results in round 2 of negotiations.

Usually, it is not what comes on the report that causes problems, but how the buyer deals with the information. Some buyers are more alarmist than others. Which brings us to our next point: emotions are at an all-time high during this phase of the process.

The inspection period occurs when buyers’ emotions are at a heightened state.  Buyers are initially very exited about their new home. After a few days pass however, additional feelings creep in such as nervousness, anxiety, and sometimes even buyer’s remorse ( did we pay too much, is this really the right house…). These are natural and every buyer feels them, some just handle the emotional aspect better than others.

Buyers can become more emotional and less rational when dealing with items that appear on an inspection report. The sellers in turn become defensive upon seeing a laundry list of petty items. It then becomes a long drawn out process, often worse than the original negotiations.

THE SOLUTION

We communicate to our buyers to offer a price based upon what they see when they walk through the home and what has been disclosed by the seller. If you are aware that there is a cracked window, or a broken screen door, either address it up front or factor it into the price.  If you know the roof is 24 years old, factor a new one into the price. Don’t wait until it shows up on the inspection report and then use it as a way to re-negotiate a better price. This is a little disingenuous to the negotiation process.

When it comes to addressing inspection issues, try to focus on health and safety issues or structural defects that were not previously disclosed.

Also, we believe it is best to respond to the seller as quickly as possible. Although the standard contract will typically give you a certain number of days to respond to the seller ( in Ohio it is 3 days ), waiting until the last minute and dragging the process out may do more harm than good. If you really want the sellers to do something, making them wait on pins and needles for three days is not the best way to get their cooperation.

The inspection process has become the most important phase of the buying and selling process. What happens here will often determine whether or not a transaction  ends up closing. Remaining calm and focusing on the big picture will often get you through it. That, and of course the help of a good agent.

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Solon Real Estate Market – Year In Review 2011

The following is our annual year in review for Solon Ohio real estate. We will give sales and pricing statistics for 2011 and make a comparison to 2010. Commentary will be provided afterwards.

ALL HOMES

Year          # of Homes Sold        Ave. Sales Price   Sales Price/List Price

2011                      227                    $287,205                 94.24%

2010                      202                    $292, 547                94.61%

WHAT ABOUT BANK OWNED HOMES?

While bank owned homes constitute a small percentage of sales, they still have a tendency to affect home values. We were curious to see what the numbers would look like if we excluded bank owned homes and have included them below:

2011                      212                    $291,708                 93.50%

2010                      192                    $293,265                 94.53%

LUXURY HOMES ( sales price over $500,000 )

2011                       29                     $626,888                94.58%

2010                       25                     $645,830                94.17%

2011 FIRST HALF VS. SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Jan. – June                99                 $282,575               94.40%

July – Dec.                113               $301,013               94.11%

Source: NEOHREX

COMMENTARY

While the last few years have been challenging to say the least, this past year showed us some positive signs. Below is a list of 5 important things that the above statistics tell us:

1.     2011 had more home sales than 2010

2.     The average price of a home in Solon was almost unchanged

3.     The market IMPROVED during the second half of 2011

4.     Homes are selling for a healthy 94% of asking price

5.     Affluent buyers are feeling more confident

INCREASED CONFIDENCE

The numbers show that buyers were more comfortable buying a home in 2011 compared to the previous year. There are likely many factors involved here, including a very slightly improving economy. The fact that values have stopped declining is worth noting as well.

Over the past few years, when home values were declining, buyers were not willing to pay market value for a home. Many buyers, fearing the market would continue to decline,  would attempt to buy a home for 5-10% less than market value just so they could have some security in the event the market continued to depreciate.

Basically, buyers wanted a built in cushion to protect them from future market fluctuations. As you could imagine, this approach didn’t fare well with sellers. Buyers are now more comfortable paying market value for a home, although bringing buyers and sellers together is still a challenge.

Moving forward, the recovery in the local market will still take some time. Areas like Solon will continue to be desirable thanks in part to the highly rated school system, but the Northeast Ohio real estate market in general is still soft.

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Every once in a while we like to spotlight a local business and today want to share with you one of Solon’s newest restaurants, Harvest Kitchen and Lounge.

Harvest is an upscale and fun restaurant with a creative menu that offers something for everyone.  It can be a place where people go for a special occasion, to impress out of town clients, or just to meet friends at the bar for a more casual evening.  Every time I’ve been there the food has been outstanding and I always have a difficult time deciding what to order because it all looks so good. ( A special note – I am very picky!)

In the past, our local restaurant scene consisted mainly of chains or moderate dining. For a special night on the town, we often had to go outside the city limits to places like Beachwood, Hudson, or even downtown. Harvest fills a much needed void. As a Solon resident, I am thrilled to have fine dining available right here in Solon.

Located on Bainbridge Road in the heart of Solon, it seems to draw a hip crowd not only on the weekends but during the week as well. It is open for both lunch and dinner.

If you enjoy trying out new restaurants and appreciate fine dining, we highly recommend checking out locally owned and operated Harvest Kitchen and Lounge.

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We would like to ask for your help this holiday season. Our company, Howard Hanna,  is collecting “Coats For Kids” and would appreciate any donations that you could give.

For those of you not familiar with the program, Coats For Kids was started 20 years ago by a local Cleveland radio station and has raised over $3,000,000 with 400,000 coats given out to local children.  Last year alone the Salvation Army distributed over 17,000 coats.

Can you imagine what it would be like for a child not to have a coat during a harsh Cleveland winter?  So far,  several of our clients and friends have so graciously donated coats but we certainly could use more.

Please take just a few minutes to clean out your closets and pick out coats that you will no longer be using ( gently worn ) and simply drop them off at one of our local offices.  You can also buy a new coat at a local store and donate as well.

Monetary donations are also appreciated and can be made by sending a check to :
COATS FOR KIDS
P.O. BOX 74767
Cleveland, Ohio 44194

Thank you all for your generosity and have a wonderful holiday season.

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