June 24th, 2007 by George

I’m looking to buy a home. I can go to realtor.com, look at the listings available in my area of interest, find a home I like, and request a showing.

But, who will be showing me the house? The answer is… the seller’s agent.

This is where a potential conflict of interest can occur. The seller’s agent has a fiduciary obligation to the seller and is required to look after their best interests. This is where the conflict of interest can arise. If the seller’s agent is obligated to the seller, who is looking after your interests? Sure there are roles, termed dual agency, for example, that can be put into place, but is the best manner of approach?

Why not hire someone who will look after you and your interests in a potential transaction? By hiring a buyer’s agent, you have someone who as the same fiduciary obligation to you and is required to do what is best for you, exclusively.

What are the benefits of hiring a buyer’s agent if you are looking to purchase a home?

1. The buyer’s agent is paid by the seller. That’s right, you get someone who is experienced, ethically bound, and is working for you, yet you don’t have to pay them anything. The seller is contracted to pay a commision (e.g. 6%), which will be split by the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent.
2. The buyer’s agent is experienced in the home buying process. That means, when you have questions, (What are the HOA dues?, What am I financially obligated to at closing?, What is an ARM?) you have a direct pipeline to those with the answers.
3. The buyer’s agent works for YOU! Therefore, let them do what they know best, for you. No need to get swamped in a mountain of paperwork, frustrated with learning the system, or putting your trust in people who may not have your best interest at stake. A signed contract will make this enforceable, and if you are unhappy with their performance at the end of the contract, you can either go with another agent, or work alone.
4. The buyer’s agent has access to all homes for sale. They know your likes and dislikes, which can save you time in weeding out certain homes that don’t fit your criteria.

The buyer’s agent is experienced, paid by someone else, and works for you. Why not use their knowledge in the home buying process?

You can find some additional information on the dontrenew.com website here

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June 23rd, 2007 by George

     OR    

dontrenew.com was established for that very question.

Should I buy or should I continue to rent?

There are pros and cons to both, and only you can decide what is appropriate for you.  Let’s take a look at what some of these pros and cons are:

Buying Pros

• Historical uptrend in appreciation of real estate values
• Tax deductions provide huge incentives
• Place to call home
• Housing market set for rebound
• You are not paying someone else’s mortgage for them
• Seller are providing tons of incentives right now

Buying Cons

• Finances can become over-extended
• Risk of ownership

Renting Pros

• Rental rates typically a little lower than a mortgage payment
• Financial commitment is typically one year or less
• Risk of ownership is avoided

Renting Cons

• No chance of gaining appreciation of homes value
• No tax deductions
• You are paying someone else’s mortgage for them
• Rental rates continue to rise
• No sense of ownership

Well how do you decide which is best for you?  Its a financial decision for most people (while others may move frequently due to work, etc.).

1. Most importantly, Run the numbers - use dontrenew.com’s Buy vs. Rent calculator to decide what makes more sense
2. How long are you planning to live there?
3. What is your gut feeling?  What is your sense of ownership?

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June 21st, 2007 by George

Homebuying fees… where to begin. Let’s start at the beginning. And since I just went through all of this, representing myself, who better to take a renter thinking of buying or a first time buyer through it all?

I bought my first house earlier this year. My wife and I were so very proud! It is such a great feeling when you are sitting at that closing table and signing your name 74,345 times (did I mention I at least got a nice pen out of those signings?). The American Dream, as it is so termed, and it is fitting (Congress has even funded an initiative titled The American Dream). We are proud of our house. But… let me tell you about something that will make you wonder, is this really the American Dream?

A little thing called the settlement statement…

What all is contained on the settlement statement?  Everything you can think of, and plenty more you can not.

• Points and/or origination fees
• Escrow fees/prepaids
• Homeowner’s insurance
• Lawyer fees
• Private mortgage insurance (PMI)
• Recording fees
• Title search fees
• Credit report fees
• and on, and on, and on
• (read more here)

You need to be sure your lender is doing you justice.  Warehousing fees, markups, etc. may just be another way for the lender to pad their pocket.  When you get your HUD statement (be sure you review it prior to closing), make sure you go through it with a fine tooth comb.  If you are not sure what you are looking at, have someone qualified to take a look at it for you, or talk to your lawyer for the transaction.  They are typically unbiased and are experts when it comes to the buying/selling of a home.

When I received my HUD statement, the night before closing, there was over $2,000.00 worth of errors on it.  Panic began to settle in.  It ended up that taxes were credited to the seller when they should have been credited to me (which was an oversight on the lawyers part) and there were a couple of extra fees from the lender that should not have been there.  The point is to check and double check, after all, it is you who are writing the check.

 Some other savings tips:

• Appraisals, credit reports, & title insurance fees should be the same from lender to lender
• Your lender may be willing to drop or discount some fees
• Try to close your mortgage near the end of the month (which will save you money on prepaid interest)
• Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate!  You can have the sellers pay part or all of your closing costs!

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June 20th, 2007 by George

Maybe…

• You haven’t heard
• Didn’t know any better
• Didn’t really care

But if zillow has it’s way, you will hear, know and care. But at the same time, the way it’s being touted, you may think the endtimes are here and the rapture is upon us…

“Zillow has created a real estate revolution” - Fortune Magazine, Feb 2007

Zillow was created in 2006 by a couple of former Microsoft execs who also founded the little website expedia. They wanted to create a real estate website that can give people valuations. As you may expect, many real estate agents were not too eager to support this idea, because that is part of their service to you that is often referenced.

But really, what is zillow, how is it different and what can it do for you?

Zillow is unique for a few reasons:

It is a website designed to be beneficial to sellers, buyers, owners and professionals

You can take an area/city/town and look at the average real estate prices prices (e.g. North Charleston, SC) by going to the map& search function

134k in North Charleston, 133k Ladson, etc. - averages

When you do a search of a specific area, different colored flags (red, blue, yellow) represent homes that are for sale, have sold or…Make Me Move

Make Me Move is a homeowners opportunity to tell the world “Hey, my house is not for sale (at this time), but if you offer me $X dollars, I will move right on out!”

Make Me Move:

One of the coolest features that Zillow has is it’s Zestimate. This is where you can spend some time being an online voyuer.

When I look at an area at street level, Zillow will give me a Zestimate of the homes value in that area.

Its important to note that these Zestimates are just that, zestimates… I mean, estimates.

As the Wall Street Journal said in a February 2007 article, “when Zillow is bad, it can be terrible — off the mark by more than 25% on one in 10 homes. In one case it was off by $2 million.”

Check out Zillow.com. Spend some time on the website searching areas of interest to you and get a feel for the values of the area. You can see what neighboring areas are worth (which can help or harm the value of the area you’re looking at) and if you are in the ballpark with your budget. Zillow, just another tool to help you in the homebuying process.

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June 17th, 2007 by George

I was surfing youtube the other day, looking for real estate videos and information. What I wanted to watch was something more than the typical talking head, who just sat there explaining:

• how his method is better that everyone elses,
• how flipping homes is so easy,
• how he can make you a millionaire, without ever leaving the couch,
• if you just send him $495.00 for his informational video tapes…,
• with the placement of “tiny little classified ads in hundreds of newspapers”, you can become RICH,
• etc, etc, etc, ad nauseum

(On a side note, it’s amazing what these tiny classified ads can do for you… Even the Federal Government has taken note and erased the deficit using this money making system…)

When, suddenly, I ran across a very cool video added by speculativebubble. What he did was use an index of home prices (adjusted for inflation) that was created by Yale economist Robert Shiller

speculativebubble used this index in a roller coaster simulation as a means of visualizing the trends year over year.

Be sure you stick around at the end, as the roller coaster gives a final turn to see the ride you have just been on. It will be interesting to see how this video gets updated over the next few years, what ups & downs we will be apart of.

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June 16th, 2007 by George

Welcome to dontrenew.com  

Well, they say there is a first time for everything.  First dates, first kiss, first home, and first BLOG!   Since working at Summerville Homes as a part-time agent, there have been many firsts, this blog included.  The goal of this blog is to provide a resource for others, especially renters and first time homebuyers… allow you to learn about home buying, locate real estate resources, make an educated and informed decision, and assist you in the homebuying process.

What is going to make dontrenew.com different from the other real estate websites is this is an information portal first and a George Bower portal  second.  This website is not merely a means to promote me.  I want to provide you with the resources, links, people, et.al. that can help you in buying your home!

My wife (Danielle) and I bought our first home in January of this year.  Wow, it is an undertaking, especially if you are trying to do it all yourself, not to mention being fairly uneducated prior to the purchase.  But, what a difference a year makes.  The wealth of knowledge gained from doing the buying first hand, enabled me to learn so much more.  This is what I will bring to dontrenew.com and to you!

I hope dontrenew.com becomes a resource for people looking to purchase a home.  The point of the site is not to show you and list for you, all the homes that are available in Charleston and the tri-county vicinity.  There are plenty of websites that do that.   The point is to bring you information.

Knowledge is Power (…and can save you money!)

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