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Why Should You Hire A Realtor? It’s a great question. It’s one I get all the time. Especially if we’ve just met, or you haven’t been through the process before or perhaps you had a really bad experience with somebody when you bought your last home or investment property. These are all valid questions and I think you deserve an explanation and you’re going to need to investigate the benefits of hiring a Realtor before you do.

In Colorado we have 2 types of relationships with Realtors as a buyer.

• You can either have a buyer’s agent

• or just a transaction broker.

If you don’t sign a Buyers Listing Agreement or a Buyers Agency Agreement then I’m just a transaction broker. If you do sign an agreement with us then we’re a buyer’s agent.

Here’s the difference:

• An agent’s going to be in your corner giving you advice and fighting for you every step of the way.

• A transaction broker is just going to do what you tell them to do.

Now, if you don’t know what to tell them to do, then how effective can that really be? Let me give you another example. I’m going to use a football analogy. In football, there’s 2 key positions on the field during a game. One is a coach and another one is a referee. As a buyer’s agent, I’m going to be your coach.

• I’m going to be on your sidelines rooting for you,
• sending you the plays,
• giving you advice,
• telling you what you should offer on a home,
• what kind of terms we should negotiate.
• I’m going to be working with your lender to make sure we get the best deal,
• I’m going to make darn sure that you do get the best deal (and that you feel comfortable with it),

and importantly, along the way,

• I’m going to make sure that we don’t hit any speed bumps and that we get everything taken care of (to get the contract closed).
• I’m going to give you advice on inspection items,
• what we want to ask the seller to fix for you (if we find anything broken during the inspections).
• What kind of inspections should you get? (Boy, there’s a huge list of those!) Wouldn’t you want the advice on that to make sure you don’t miss anything?

That’s what an agent does. I’m like a coach, rooting for you, making sure that we win.

On the other hand, if you don’t hire an agent, and someone’s just working as a transaction broker for you, then, that’s more like a referee. All we’re doing is making sure everybody plays fair and that the game starts and ends on time. So, which would you rather have? Someone fighting for you, or someone just watching the plays? If you don’t know what to ask the referee, then are you sure they’re calling the game in your favor and not in the opponents favor?

So, give it some thought and think about it. I can explain more in detail and give you the questions to ask when you interview a Realtor during our free 1-hour consultation for buyers. Just give me a call at 303-526-2606 or email me Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com In the meantime, take a look at the homes out there, search like a Realtor does, on www.EasyDenverHomeSearch.com

Until next time

I’m going to share with you what’s happening in the market give you my thoughts on what it means for buyers. And then give you some advice on, ‘What to do if you’re thinking about buying a home right now.’

Don’t forget that the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit expires November 30th.  So far, that has not been extended. I know there’s rumors in the news that it might be, but right now it has not been. So, you need to be under contract on the property in October to be able to close by the end of November in order to take advantage of that $8,000 credit.

It’s important that as you are searching for listings that you know about what’s happening in the market so you can actually purchase the property you want.  The reason that I’m going to go into this today is because it is getting more competitive. It’s not necessarily a buyer’s market right now. It’s not a seller’s market either, but it’s more of an equilibrium.

You’re going to have to be realistic about your purchase prices. You can’t low-ball sellers anymore, (well you can, but you won’t get the properties) because the good ones are seeing multiple offers in a short amount of time.  The very good ones are selling very quickly within the first couple of weeks of being on the market.

There’s only about 21,000 homes on the market, just under 21,000 and there’s over 440 homes a month that are selling. So, if you do the math, what that means that there’s less than 5 months of inventory on the market. The National Association of Realtors says that, ‘6 months supply and more is a buyer’s market.’ ‘Under 6 months supply is not a buyer’s market anymore.’

I want you to be aware that if you find properties you like:

• you have to act fast
• you have to be reasonable about what you’re going to pay

Also, prices have actually inched upwards this year. They’re still lower than they were at the same time last year by about an average of $10,000, they’re up anywhere from 2-3% depending on what area of town, and I can tell you about specific areas and neighborhoods, if you’d like. July was down a little bit again, but overall this year prices are trending upward.  What this means is that seller’s are pricing their homes appropriately now.

Keep in mind that this represents a smaller amount of foreclosure inventory. There’s very few foreclosures in the market right now, therefore, average prices are up because the more high quality and good shape properties are the ones that are selling since the foreclosures aren’t on the market as much.

If you’d like more information or if you’d like my complete set of market update charts or more information on your specific neighborhood that you’re interested in, call me:  303-526-2606

or send me an email:  Sam [at] SamWilsonGroup.com

or visit a great search website, called:  www.EasyDenverHomeSearch.com
(Where you can search for listings and any neighborhood 24/7 and you can even sign up to get email alerts, so you can see all the good new properties before they go!)

And they are going fast. You’ll see when you’re out there looking at what’s available today, if it’s priced right and in good shape, it’s probably under contract within a week or two.

Until next time

Owning a home is a dream of almost everyone. However some people simply can’t afford to buy. You should first prepare an estimate and find out how much you can actually afford to buy a home.

Once you have estimated your affordable amount, then it becomes easier for you to search for a home that suits your budget and other requirements. A pre qualification also indicates your credit worthiness. With this pre qualification you can boldly negotiate with your seller. On the other hand the seller will understand that you are a genuine buyer and therefore will offer you his best price.

What are the things you should do to pre qualify to buy a home? First you should calculate your regular monthly expenses such as mortgage or rent, bills, education expenses, gas, groceries and maintenance expenses accurately. You should also include the expenses such as auto insurance, medical insurance and property taxes. Then you should calculate your actual monthly income exactly. You may include your part time income and interest from your investments as well. We do provide some some helpful mortgage calculators that help you quickly determine how much house you can really afford.

Now you know how much you can pay as your monthly installment. You can easily obtain your mortgage with your pre qualification in hand. You can buy a home with out much stress and difficulties. Moreover you won’t have any stress even after you buy the home and start paying your monthly payments. As always Sam Wilson is available to help guide you through that financial maze. You can contact him directly at (303)526-2606 or email san (at) samwilsongroup.com.