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Old 06-25-2016, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Florida
3,128 posts, read 2,220,844 times
Reputation: 9157

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I am within a few months of retirement and plan to move to a SFH in the North Port vicinity. As I am so far away and have never moved long distance I obviously need the help of a competent realtor. As you can imagine I have a lot of questions,and while forums such as this one help I really need to speak with people directly.

I would appreciate any suggestions on helpful questions to ask,and if it's not a violation of the community the names of agents or local companies I should contact.
Thanks!
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Old 06-26-2016, 01:43 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,566 posts, read 7,432,481 times
Reputation: 5954
First, let me say that North Port is not normally within the area I work, so I have no dog in this hunt, so to speak. Just some basic suggestions for finding an agent.

Picking the right real estate agent to help you find your next house could save you many hours of wading through Internet listings, viewing homes that aren't right for you, and perhaps save you $$$ in the negotiation process .

I would suggest selecting an agent who normally works not only in the area where you wish to purchase a home but also the price range. He/she should be up to date and knowledgeable about local listings, neighborhoods, schools and general area information. They should be up do date on recent sales in your targeted area and/or neighborhoods.

Some agents may disagree with me, but most buyers would be better served by working with a real estate agent who does real estate full time vs a part-time agent. You want an agent that makes real estate a priority. Along that same line, I would also suggest asking the agent how long they have been working in real estate. While the amount of time they have been a real estate agent doesn't guarantee their ability to do a good job, the skills needed are mostly learned while actually doing the job. So hiring an agent who makes their living by listing/selling real estate full time and have been doing so for at least a few years generally equates to a better, more knowledgeable agent.

When you contact an agent you should definitely ask whether you will work directly with that agent or will they hand you off to a member of their team. There's nothing wrong with an agent having a team, but if you are going to work with a designated buyer's agent from a team, you should really be interviewing that team member not the agent you originally contacted to see if the agent is a good fit for you.

The agents you contact should spend at least a half hour to an hour with you initially, either in person or by phone, to get a good feel as to what type of home you are specifically looking for, going into details as to your likes and dislikes. That's a good time to evaluate the agent's communication skills and whether they are really listening to your answers. The agent should ask probing, detailed questions about the features & style of home, neighborhood and other criteria important to you. They should also ask questions regarding your finances - will you be paying by cash or mortgage. If you will be getting a mortgage, the agent should go into more details with you as to what type of financing, down payments and if you are pre-approved (vs just pre-qualified) for a mortgage.

You should also ask how often they plan to keep in touch with you after your initial consultation. Will it be whenever new listings come on the market, daily, weekly? How will they contact you -- by email, phone, text? Even if there aren't new listings that match your needs, your agent should still be contacting you on a weekly basis to keep you up to date on the local market, prices, inventory, etc. And ask if you do call the agent, how soon do they normally get back to their customers -- within the hour, day? Or even later?

You can also ask the agent if they can provide you with references from recent customers who have bought homes through the agent.

You will want to know if they have a readily available list of qualified vendors to assist you in the home buying process, such as home inspectors, pest inspectors, mortgage brokers, title companies, real estate attorneys, insurance agents, roofers, AC technicians, etc.

I would not suggest signing an exclusive agreement to work with just one buyer's agent unless you have spent some time meeting with him/her and looked at a few properties together first. You don't want to lock yourself in for several months time into using the exclusive services of one agent without knowing if you can work well with the agent first.

You may have to go thru several agents before you find the one that is a good fit for you and your situation, so don't get discouraged by the process.
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Old 06-26-2016, 03:32 PM
 
21 posts, read 22,245 times
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Ron61, I don't have an answer for you because we have only been here for a year and haven't connected with a realtor yet (we have been renting for the last year). I share your question, but with a twist. We recently found a short sale that interests us, but I have no idea how to navigate a short sale (or any house purchase, for that matter). Based on my research, it seems that short sales can get complicated and involve issues that do not arise with a normal sale. I need someone who is experienced with short sales to guide us through the process, but don't know where to start. Does anyone have suggestions?
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Old 06-26-2016, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,566 posts, read 7,432,481 times
Reputation: 5954
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilmmom View Post
Ron61, I don't have an answer for you because we have only been here for a year and haven't connected with a realtor yet (we have been renting for the last year). I share your question, but with a twist. We recently found a short sale that interests us, but I have no idea how to navigate a short sale (or any house purchase, for that matter). Based on my research, it seems that short sales can get complicated and involve issues that do not arise with a normal sale. I need someone who is experienced with short sales to guide us through the process, but don't know where to start. Does anyone have suggestions?

One option is to select someone from the agents that carry the NAR designation of SFR (short sale & foreclosure resource certification). Those agents have additional education on the ins and outs of short sales. Many agents who list/sell short sales will also mention it on their web sites as a specialty.

Short sales are still complicated, but the process has been refined substantially from when we started dealing with short sales in 2008. Many short sales now have local real estate attorneys negotiating on behalf of the sellers, which also helps.

There have been a number of threads on this forum in the past on short sales, you may want to pull a few of those up.



Keep in mind a few basics on short sales:

1) You must be able to work with a flexible closing deadline, because short sales can take 2 months, 3 months, sometimes 9 months or more, depending on the number of investors and lien holders that must sign off on it.

2) The contract will be your standard purchase agreement but with a short sale addendum. The short sale addendum explains the seller is not obligated to complete the transaction if their lien holder(s) refuse to cooperate on the short sale.

3) The seller's lien holders are under absolutely no obligation to cooperate on the short sale, sometimes they do, sometimes they go ahead and foreclose (especially lately, as home prices are rising).

4) The seller's lien holders are not a party to the contract, they can and often do make a counter offer on the price that is higher than your contract price. That is because agents often try to list the property at a less than market price to attract offers, but the seller's lien holders are going to have BPO's (Broker Price Opinion) done to determine current market price.

5) Unless you put an opt out deadline in your short sale addendum to the contract, you are stuck in the contract until you either close or seller cancels because their lien holders won't cooperate on the short sale. If another home comes along while you are waiting that you like better, you cannot just go out and write an offer on that other home -- unless, of course, you can afford to purchase 2 properties.


So if you absolutely fall in love with a home that's a short sale and are willing to deal with 1 - 5, then go for it. Otherwise, you may want to keep searching for something that is a "regular" sale instead.
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Old 06-26-2016, 10:05 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,825,883 times
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Since you mentioned North Port, I'll chime in. I lived in North Port for roughly 12 years and I own a home there. There's a lot to learn about the area. It's the second largest city in land area but much of it is still vacant land. The flood zones have recently shifted, so that's one thing to be aware of. There also a small area up by Lamarque Elementary the recently got an assessment for city water.

If you're looking for a more populated area with less vacant land you look in the square of Toledo Blade Blvd down to Hillsborough Blvd up to I75 and over to Sumter Blvd. if you're looking for a more rural area you might want to be south of Toledo Blade Blvd and east of I75.

Many of the homes in North Port were built in the 2005-06 housing boom. There is lots of new construction going on and prices are steadily rising.

In the last few years North Port has had a lot of new construction. Benderson commercial has brought in several new shopping centers with a Five Below, Chicos, Panera Bread, Starbucks, First Watch, Hobby Lobby and many other stores.

Foreclosures and short sales are few and far between these days. I used to list several a month and now I might get one every six months.
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Old 06-26-2016, 11:26 PM
 
1,751 posts, read 1,333,299 times
Reputation: 4386
Some thoughts:

On realtor.com find the top selling agents in an area (pay close attention to the maps that come up and specifically where the properties were sold by a particular agent - it can be that the site shows someone as a volume seller, but is selling most, if not all, of their properties far from where you want to be buying).

Be careful how you do this; you want to ensure that you are choosing from among the top listing agents who have recently sold the most in the area you are interested in....and not just someone with the most listings. I know you're looking for an agent who will act as a buyer's agent, but the reason agents are chosen as realtors by people to sell their home is because they're good at what they do. And while nearly all agents work both sides, agents who work with more buyers then sellers are typically less experienced. (There will be those here who will disagree.)

So once you have a list of, say, the top 10 recent sellers in your area of interest, google their names along with the name of the local board of realtors - ie: "jane smith northport board of realtors" and find out which ones have been elected to office of the local board (past presidents are good choices....I'd avoid a current president myself, simply because it strikes me that they might be very busy at the moment). Also google their names in google's news section, to see who the press have gone to for quotes in articles (journalists want to quote someone who is held in high regard in the area).

Choose only from the ones you can get good intel on. Then pick out three to call. Think of what you want to ask them first, then remember when you call to listen carefully for any red flags. Keep some extra names on hand, because there will be at least one who you cannot reach, (phone tag? or doesn't pick up after two attempts by you?) ...avoid choosing that one, naturally. Do your phone interview, then meet with one or two you've chosen. See how the fit is. Go with your gut.

Good luck.
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Old 06-27-2016, 12:38 AM
 
Location: Florida
3,128 posts, read 2,220,844 times
Reputation: 9157
All very good responses. You've given me a lot to think about. The distance issue really does add to the confusion of it all as well.
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