5. Make a list of everything you need and then everything you want in your new home. I call these the “needs” and “like to have” lists. This will help you narrow down style, size and important features you want in the home.

4. Contact a mortgage lender to determine exactly what your price range is before you start looking. You can either contact your bank or a specific mortgage broker. Either should be able to help you answer that question.

3. This one is my favorite…Call a Realtor! Sit down with them and tell them the things you came up with on your lists and what you’ve determined is your price range. Then watch the magic happen. Your realtor will be able to come up with lists of homes that fit into the criteria you’ve come up with. This person isn’t just a tour guide for the homes you choose to view, but your tour guide through this entire process from first viewings to closing on the one you love.

2. Visit as many houses as you need to see to comfortably narrow it down and choose one. This is going to be your home, so make sure it’s what you want and is somewhere you don’t mind spending some time. This is a big investment in both time, money and energy. So take your time with the decision.

And the Number 1 most important to do for buyers in the spring market is…….

1. HAVE FUN!! We are still in the midst of a strong buyers’ market. This is the perfect time for you to buy! The inventory or number of homes on the market is still pretty high so you have a huge selection of homes to choose from to find the one that suits your needs and wants. Remember that the huge inventory is playing a major role in keeping house prices low. Perfect for spring time or any time buying. Also, the interest rates on home mortgages continue to be an all time historic low. So get out there and get your piece of the American dream of homeownership. Now is the time!

Okay, this column is going to be a little different than previous columns. Usually, this space is dedicated to answering the questions that are sent in by readers, but this time I want to answer a question that is asked of me every time someone I meet realizes that I’m a Realtor®. That question is…”When is the market going to get better?”

I always answer the question the same way. It really depends on what you mean by “better”. If you define “better” by the late 90’s to early 2000’s boom that we experienced, then, in my professional opinion, that’s never coming back. I personally have a more realistic approach to thinking about the market. I think the market is getting better right now! Property is being bought and sold every day. The market in its current state is forcing us to be more realistic, which I think is a good thing. Let’s say, for example, you’re a seller and 10 years ago you bought a 1500 sq foot, 2 bedroom home on Richmond’s Northside for $100,000. In 2004, you may have been able to sell it for around $190,000, and today you can sell it for close to $160,000. Instead of thinking that you lost $30,000, take a more realistic view and realize that you were able to make a $60,000 return on your investment in a relatively short amount of time. You couldn’t do that in the stock market right? Now if you’re a buyer, these continue to be the great times for you. Take the following into account. In just the City of Richmond, there are currently listed for sale, in the multiple listing service (MLS), 223 single family homes, with at least 3 bedrooms and at least 2 full bathrooms. The price range of these homes is between $150,000 and $250,000. If you combine these low prices and large inventory, with the still historically low interest rates, then basically what I’m telling you is that houses are on sale! It’s a perfect storm for buyers! So when is the market getting better? It’s a matter of perspective and neither I nor my professional colleagues can predict an exact date when it will all even out. Real Estate continues to be a good long term investment and a vital and obtainable part of the American Dream.

QUESTION:
I looked at a house that had everything I want! As far as I’m concerned, I’m ready to bid now! Is this acceptable? How many homes should I look at before I choose one?

ANSWER:
WOW! Now this is a question/problem that every one of my colleagues wishes they had to deal with. I’m going to assume a few things in answering your question. The first is that you have already spent some time getting pre-approved for a home loan with a mortgage professional. The second is that you are working with a great Realtor. Okay, so you say you have found the house that has everything you want? So why are you concerned? There is no set number of houses you should look at before making a decision to buy. Shopping for a house isn’t a lot different than shopping for anything else. You know your sizes and relatively how much you want to spend and when you find something that fits you perfect…you buy it! You don’t find something that fits and then keep looking. It doesn’t matter if it’s two minutes into your shopping trip or two hours. It’s the same when searching for the perfect home. If you find the house of your dreams on your first trip out with your Realtor, then make an offer. Remember that if you like it, then someone else will too. Why take a chance on losing the home of your dreams just to say you looked at X number of houses. That’s never made sense to me. I always advise buyers, when I’m showing houses, to be honest with themselves and with me. If you love it, say you love it, and I’ll help you get it. If you don’t love it, then let’s keep looking. You and your Realtor know what you’re looking for in a home and it doesn’t matter how little or how much time it takes you to find what fits.

My mother, father and I owned a house together in the East End. In 2005, it was paid for completely, and was listed in all of our names. However, my father passed away in January and now my mother wants to add my younger brother and sister to the deed. Can she do that without my permission?

First, I’m sorry for the loss of your father. Your question forces me to do something I try never to do: I’m going to assume that your father’s interest in the home reverted to your mother and that your other siblings aren’t claiming any ownership, but that your mother just wants them to share in owning a home with the rest of the family. In order to add your younger siblings to the deed, a new deed has to be executed that lists you and your mother, the current owners, as grantors and then lists the “new” owners – you and your mother as well as your younger sister and brother – as grantees. This can be done with a simple quitclaim deed. So to answer your question, because you have to be listed on the quitclaim deed and sign as a current owner, it would be impossible for your mother to do this without your permission. I encourage you to speak with a real estate attorney. An attorney will be able to better advise you and your family regarding your ownership interests and whether you or either of your siblings can sell their interests or in the event of death does their interest automatically go to the other owners or to their heirs. This is a topic that can be a little tricky and difficult to navigate.

Send your real estate question to dell@urbanviewsweekly.com.

Dell, in your opinion, what are the best websites on the topic of real estate? Are there any that specifically cover homes and land in Central Virginia?

This is a great question, but also a very tough one. The Internet is a very big place. A Google search of the keywords “Richmond real estate” brings up around 25 million search results. It can all be a little overwhelming. It seems that everyone even closely affiliated with real estate has a Web presence. That is a good thing, but it can be hard to sift through all of it to find what you’re looking for. That being said, in my opinion the best real estate website out there is Realtor.com. It really does have everything and is easy to navigate. It’s the site that agents and brokers recommend. A lot of real estate websites are simply just a way to search for property. I’ve found that Realtor.com has useful information for both consumers and agents. There are mortgage calculators to help buyers and a feature that I recently noticed allows sellers to get free home value reports for their neighborhoods. These are just a couple of the really neat features on the site. I encourage you to check it out for yourself. My second favorite real estate website is www.letsopenhouse.com, but I’m a little biased about that one since that’s the realty company where I work.

I’m a single woman living in Petersburg and I recently read a book about finance. It urged readers to buy their own home. I grew up hearing an old rule: Don’t buy a house if its cost exceeds two and a half times your annual income. Does this rule still hold true?

Buying a home is a great move toward financial health and building a sound financial future. Homeownership will provide you with many benefits. They include, but aren’t limited to mortgage interest deductions, increase in value of the home, and my personal favorite, the pride of ownership. Funny thing is that I grew up hearing that same rule of thumb, and I sometimes hear it now when I meet with homebuyer clients. I have to tell you honestly that I don’t put much stock in rules of thumb. I just don’t believe this rule can give an accurate account of how much you can afford to spend on a home. I suggest that you contact a mortgage professional to determine exactly how much you can afford. A trained, skilled and experienced mortgage loan professional can interpret all the factors involved, like the amount of your down payment and credit score and use those details to determine exactly how much home you can afford to buy. By getting an accurate assessment of your situation, you may be surprised that you can afford more or sometimes less than you discovered by simply multiplying your annual salary.

So in my opinion, using two and a half times your salary is good for getting a ballpark figure. I personally don’t like ballpark figures when it comes to finances. Ballparks are for baseball. Go Squirrels! Opening Day is April 7!

dell@urbanviewsweekly.com
Twitter @dellsells

My sister and I are considering buying a house together. Which type of house is the better investment? I say it’s a new home. My sister says we should look for an existing house, even a “fixer upper”. Dell, who’s right?

Like everything, there are pros and cons to both. This decision may come down to a matter of personal preference. I’ll begin by saying that real estate is great investment and like all investments you want to make sound and informed decisions. Buying a new home is great if you’re looking to just move in. This is a smart decision if neither you nor your sister is very handy or able to do some minor repairs yourselves. In buying new you may also have the opportunity to make some customization decisions and have the house built to suit your vision, unlike with an older home or fixer-upper. New homes are usually located in new developments and as more homes in the neighborhood are sold, in most cases, the values will increase. In our current market, the increase in value is happening at a slower pace than in recent years. In most cases new homes are more expensive than fixer-uppers and this may also influence the decision to buy new or go with a fixer-upper. The best thing about fixer-uppers or older homes is usually the price. They’re older homes and usually require some work and are priced accordingly. So in buying an older home that needs work, you are more likely to save on purchase price, but those savings can be eaten away in needed repairs. It is always important to have any property you plan to buy inspected by a professional home inspector. Even if the sellers are not offering to make any repairs, you put yourself in the position of the informed buyer by having the home inspected. I will offer this bit of advice for upgrading a fixer-upper: Don’t get carried away with making the home into your dream home. Remember that the goal of the investment is to sell it at a profit. By making it into your dream home, you are less likely to find a buyer that shares your exact same tastes. So keep your remodeling simple and cost effective.

As you can see there are positives and negatives to both choices. I would say you’re both right, depending on the situation. If you are planning to live in the house, then I say buy new. You’ll be able to live comfortably as opposed to living in a construction site while renovating the fixer-upper. On the other hand, if you and your sister are looking strictly at an investment that you can either flip or rent, then I think a home that needs a little work is the best choice. Hope this helps and good luck with your home search.

Send questions to dell@urbanviewsweekly.com

My wife and I are going back and forth about which home project to undertake this year. I want to install a hot tub on our back deck. She says it’s more important to upgrade the appliances in the kitchen. Which home improvement projects in general add the most value to a home?

This is a great question. Given the current housing market many homeowners are making the decision to make improvements to their homes, not only to increase value, but to be more competitive with other homes for sale. With all the home improvement options available, you don’t want to sink money into an improvement that isn’t going to give you the most bang for your buck. According to a 2010 report by the National Association of Realtors, making a minor kitchen remodel will recoup 73 percent of the costs associated with the remodel. This percentage is based on national averages. I would say that if you can, in addition to upgrading your kitchen appliances, doing something as simple as painting or resurfacing your kitchen cabinets can add value and isn’t a huge undertaking like purchasing new cabinets. The same report lists replacing your front entryway door as the number one value-based improvement. Your front entryway is a big part of the initial impression potential buyers get of your home and plays a major role in its look. If you would like to take a look at the rest of the NAR report, as well as many other useful tips from around the real estate industry visit www.realtor.org.

While I think that having a hot tub on your rear deck is a lot of fun, I can’t justify making that addition over upgrading your kitchen appliances. So listen to your wife. She’s smart. That’s why you married her.

Send your questions to dell@urbanviewsweekly.com

What exactly is a timeshare? What are the benefits of owning one? What should I look out for before buying one?

Basically a timeshare is a property that gives multiple owners access to a specific property for a specified time period. That time period is most often a week. The most popular timeshares are in condominiums in resort locations and warm locales like Florida and the Bahamas. Many people purchase timeshares as a means of owning vacation homes without the costs of a full time vacation home. Owning a timeshare gives you a chance to share vacation home or condo with up to 52 other owners, because you each are entitled to one week at the property per year. Each timeshare owner is responsible for a portion of the maintenance costs, management fees and costs to maintain any common areas. So the financial benefits can be great. When buying a timeshare, I recommend you do some research and work with a professional with experience in timeshare transactions. Timeshare laws vary from state to state. So do your due diligence. I would also advise you to be especially cautious when purchasing a timeshare in another country. Laws here in the US won’t apply there and dealing with the authorities in another country could prove difficult and frustrating.

My brother and I are equal owners of a home in Southside that is paid for. He wants to mortgage the house for the money. I have refused to agree to this. But can he do so without my knowledge or consent? If so, what can I do to prevent this?

I’m going to assume that you and your brother own this property as joint tenants, which basically means that you each own equal stake in the property. Since you own the house essentially as partners, one partner can’t make decisions regarding the property without the consent or knowledge of the other. A bank or lender will not allow your brother to mortgage the property without you, because he is not truly the owner. The two of you together are owners. If by chance you decide that you no longer want any interest in the home, you have the option of signing a quitclaim deed which will turn your interests and rights to the home over to your brother. This is a scenario most often used in divorces. Only at that point could your brother make any decisions pertaining to the home without consulting you and getting your blessing.

I will leave you with this one bit of advice: Remember that family is more important than real estate. Enjoy your time with your family and have a happy holiday season.