Give me a Real Estate 101 lesson

MyColonyNJ

We are *thinking* about moving to PA in the near future.  MH works in PA, and his commute it pretty long.

Anyway, although we own a house, this is our first house, and it was a pre-forclosure, the only house we looked at, put zero down, etc.

So, we really have no experience with selling or really buying a house.

Selling:
Obviously, I we have to de-clutter, do any minor repairs, etc.  But - how do we find an agent?  What type of questions do we ask of them to make sure they are working to sell our house?  Do agents tell clients things about the house that might make it easier to sell.  Give me the whole scoop.

Buying:
We will be moving out of state, so we will be using an agent in the state we will be living in.  But, can our selling agent also work as our buying agent?

Do we just give them a list of must haves / nice to have and they do their work?  Or, do we just look at the MLS and tell them what we want to see?  Combo of both?  I am sure there are things that never even make it to the list.

Did you use some kind of worksheet to keep houses in order?

How does the down-payment work?  We will hopefully have extra cash from when we sell our house.  Is that the down-payment?  Is the down-payment given in cash at closing - or we have to give it when we make the offer?

Can you get offer more than the listing price and get the extra cash back at closing.  So, if you know that you need to do work to the house, and need $25K to do the repairs - can you offer $25K more, which basically would add that amount to your loan??

What does closing costs cover?  Does it include the attorney fees?

Like I said - I need tons of Real Estate 101

Thanks

Liz051405

Selling:

We looked up a bunch of agents and had them come over. We could tell based on how prepared they were with comps, what they said based on the comps, what they said they do, etc if they were the one for us. If you have friends that sold recently you could ask them for recommendations.

They did give us some tips.

Buying:

Whether you can use the same agent will depend on if they are licensed in PA too. 

For searching we used a combo of looking at listings ourselves and having the agents find some based on our wishlists. The more houses we saw, the better they understood what we wanted.

We put a small amount of "good faith (like $1K) money down when the offer was made. We brought the down payment to closing. But in our case we couldn't use the profits from the sale for the purchase because 1) we didn't make a profit and 2) We technically sold the house after we bought the new one.

You can make an offer contingent on sale of your current one, but it will make a weaker offer. In our case it wasn't considered with that in there.

As far as money for repairs we did do some cashback in our original purchase. It doesn't have to be over the listing price, but you can make an offer that is say "425K with 25K cashback at closing". That said, you have to be able to appraise at 425K that way.

MyColonyNJ

Thanks!

Melanie2003

we've bought and sold a few times. i am no guru, nor did i understand everything that was happening, but i'll answer what i can:

MyColonyNJ:

Selling:

Obviously, I we have to de-clutter, do any minor repairs, etc.  But - how do we find an agent?  What type of questions do we ask of them to make sure they are working to sell our house?  Do agents tell clients things about the house that might make it easier to sell.  Give me the whole scoop.

you ask for references from friends and family and neighbors who either have used an agent or know an agent. Our last agent to buy our current home is my parents' neighbor. I don't know her well, but I knew from the 30yrs of "knowing" her that she'd treat us well and she's a well known agent in the area too, so i know she knows how to do her business. Your agent should point out things to buyers or buyers agents that are great selling points. Our selling agent staged our TH and it really brought out more of the value with her changes. She has a warehouse/storage space full of items she uses for this and a handyman who accompanies her to shlep things, move furniture, hang drapes. That was a nice bonus. Ask them if they have an agent open house, or how often they hold open houses, or why they think open houses are a waste, or where they will advertise, etc.

 

Buying:
We will be moving out of state, so we will be using an agent in the state we will be living in.  But, can our selling agent also work as our buying agent?

they likely won't be licensed in two states, but may refer you to a colleague in a sister office. 

Do we just give them a list of must haves / nice to have and they do their work?  Or, do we just look at the MLS and tell them what we want to see?  Combo of both?  I am sure there are things that never even make it to the list.

we did a combo - and a lot of mls was outdated or we saw stuff before it was posted. also their access to mls is a little different - they get more info on the property, like how many days it is on the market and when it was last on the market - some people take it on and off so it appears as new. starting with a list is a great beginning. know what is a must and what you can compromise on - whetehr you are ok with something that needs work or if you want a move-in ready for us only. 

Did you use some kind of worksheet to keep houses in order?

no, but i can see how it would be helpful. we often had mls print outs that we wrote comments on after seeing the place. a lot of the same ones cycle through, especially if you use more than one agent or if you go to open houses on your own.

How does the down-payment work?  We will hopefully have extra cash from when we sell our house.  Is that the down-payment?  Is the down-payment given in cash at closing - or we have to give it when we make the offer?

first time - a ton of savings on our part. after that, the profit from the sale plus our cashed that we had been saving.  you give an "earnest" deposit amount during the offer period when you go into contract - usually $1000.  the down payment balance is at closing, but when working the mortgage in the weeks prior, you are showing proof of it.

Can you get offer more than the listing price and get the extra cash back at closing.  So, if you know that you need to do work to the house, and need $25K to do the repairs - can you offer $25K more, which basically would add that amount to your loan??

i'm not sure how this works anymore because you won't get a mortgage for more than the house is worth. 

also, my husband and i read real estate for dummies or house buying for dummies - whatever it was called in that series - and it explained things simply and that was helpful too!

MrsDB

i just sent you a FB message with a realtor rec for selling.  I know she'd do a good job for you.  

As far as buying goes- our realtor sends us listings, but we find a lot on our own and tell her we want to see it.  I know it goes both ways- like some people have realtors who just bring them to see houses at their discretion.  We don't go to see anything we don't WANT to see, and usually do drive-bys first. Of course, we're looking primarily in our area, and have young kids, so we don't want to waste our time looking at something if the neighbors house is obviously falling apart.