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.

I know there are a lot of fine agents out there and there are a lot of us to choose from. Whether it’s the neighborhood realtor, a referral that you received from a friend or family or business associate or just somebody you found on the internet, like me. But how do you go about interviewing them?

It’s important to cover 4 specific areas in the interview:

1. Pricing Strategy
2. Marketing Plan
3. Communication Plan
4. Commission

Let’s go through these briefly. And feel free to contact me anytime if you’d like more information or would like to interview me for the job, I’m up for it. You can reach me at, 303-526-2606 or e-mail me at Sam (at) HomeSam.com or check out some of my listings and how I do it at www.HomeSam.com

1. Your pricing strategy. And I do mean strategy. I don’t mean, ‘What’s the broker’s price opinion?’ or ‘What does the CMA say?’ I mean, ‘What’s the strategy to price your home competitively to give you an edge in the market against your neighbors and your neighborhood?’It’s important that you not only have a marketing analysis but know where your home fits within what’s happening. Will your agent take you out to see the competitive listings that are currently active in your neighborhood? I will.
2. The marketing strategy. And what I like to talk about in this market is, ‘Positioning Your Home For Success.’ And what that means is, not only ‘How are we going to advertise and market your property?’ but, ‘How are we going to position it so that it attracts serious buyers and brings offers?’So, within a marketing plan there are 2 key areas:
   
   
   • Internet Advertising
   • Print Advertising

   
   Sure, we’re all going to be in the MLS and stick a sign in the yard. And that’s great! But how are we going to enhance the listing through multimedia services?

   The internet is critically important. Almost 90% of people start their searches there. You can’t just be in the MLS and a link to www.Realtor.com. You have to have enhanced listings in www.Realtor.com which I pay for for you and you have to be on several other websites.  For example, with me, you’ll be visible on about 20 other websites.

   And then, what about print advertising? I know a lot of agents think it’s passé, but it’s really Not. Think about it. I use ‘Homes and Land, for example, and they distribute 35,000 copies that are picked up every month! If 35,000 copies are picked up every month, do you really think it’s unnecessary? It’s very important. Think about the people that are coming in from out of town, out of state, and just want to pick up a magazine at the airport or a hotel.

3. The communication plan. Sure, we’re all great at interviewing and we really look good when we come and sit down in your kitchen and show you our listing plan and our great sales plans. But what about once were listed? Is your agent going to do a weekly update for you? That’s how I do it. I provide you with a written weekly update that includes:
   
   
   • Feedback from showings. Which is very important.
   • Other activity that sprung up in your neighborhood – new listings houses that have sold and any activity that you should be aware of, so that you can make strategic decisions on how to reposition your home, if necessary.
4. The commission. Well, for all you get, you definitely get what you pay for in this business. And it’s important that you’re comfortable with what you’re paying an agent to provide the service and value that you deserve.By law, commissions are negotiable. So, we should all be willing to negotiate our commissions. And we should also be willing to do the work that is required to get your home sold. Because guess what, we don’t make a dime until your house sells.

So, it’s a win-win situation. And you want to negotiate from that standpoint. And if you’d like any information on any of these topics or would like to interview me for your job, then please contact me, (303-526-2606)

Until next time.

I just received the April 2009 year-to-date results from the Denver MLS. It’s good news for sellers because prices are starting to stabilize. We’ll see what the rest of the summer brings but so far this year in 2009 we have not seen any price declines. In fact, in April prices were up about 1% vs March. That’s good news.

If you’ve been thinking about selling it might be the perfect time. Remember if you’re going to up-size or downsize to buy a replacement home, there’s never been a better time to buy.

Here’s why I think prices are stabilizing:

1. There is a first time home buyer $8,000 tax credit. That is bringing a lot of buyers into the market that weren’t previously able to purchase.
2. Interest rates remain at an all time low, below 5% and as low as 4.375%. So there are a lot of people taking advantage of that.
3. Less inventory on the market. There is only about a 6 month supply in the Denver metro area. According to the National Association of Realtors, that’s equilibrium and a healthy market.

So right now, it’s not so much a buyer’s market as it was recently. Therefore it’s a much better opportunity to sell your home.

In order to sell your home there are three key elements:

1. Get it priced right.
2. Get it aggressively marketed.
3. Make sure it’s prepared for showings.

If you’d like to find out what your home is worth, and more information about how to prepare a home for sale, just visit my website www.homesam.com. Just click on “Find out what your home is worth”. Within a day or so I’ll have a complete market analysis and some advice prepared for you to review.

You can always call me directly at 303-526-2606 or email sam (at) homesam.com.