Are You Wide Open During Your Open House? Safety Tips for Sellers.

You have signed the listing contract and the first order of business is the open house. Are you ready? Really ready? More than picking up and making the home sparkle, what are some additional things to consider when holding an open house in your home. Most likely there will be just one agent present at the open house. Is your home ready for an influx of buyers and anyone else who wants to walk thru?

While your agent has probably prepped you on what takes place during an open house and how to prepare for it, there may be a few things you can do to be more prepared. Here is a must do check list, to make sure you are not Wide Open.

1. Valuables-Make sure all your valuables-jewelry, money, change, watches are either in a safe that cannot be removed or open at the premises, or bring them with you. Think you have the best hiding spot? In your shoe boxes? Underwear drawer, under your pillow. Yeah, those are the first places a savvy thief will look.

2. Keys and Remotes- Don't leave your garage remotes out or your extra car or house keys. Those are easy items for a thief to snag. While your away at work, they can come back walk up to the garage and with a tap of the garage remote, they so easily hocked, they have full access to your home. I personally do not open garages during open houses. I can't be in the house and the garage at the same time, and don't want to open the open up to risk. So take those with you, I am sure your agent will feel much better.

3. Drugs,Prescription Drugs or Over the counter drugs-Whatever you got, lock it away or take it with you. Besides the fact that your possible buyer will check out the medicine cabinet and possibly find out why you are on an antibiotic, or that you have athletes foot. They may also take them. Those left over painkillers from your root canal are just the thing a druggie is looking for.

4. Computers, Ipads, WII's - Yes, those have been hocked. That cute little couple with the baby in the carrier, yeah, they just changed the diaper and added a little more than powder. Take them with you and lock them up. A professional can steal a WII in less than a minute.

5. You- Are you doing your own open house? If you are, ask a friend or partner to do your open with you. Open houses are open to everyone. If your home is vacant, make sure you have your cell phone with and have someone check in on you. Real Estate Agents have been killed at open houses in vacant homes. Be Safe.

These suggestions may seem overboard and you may be on top of your visitors like white on rice. Thieves are professionals and have all sorts of distractions, slip of the hand etc. They have outsmarted the best. Be prepared and be safe. Be Open, just not Wide Open.

Finding the Right Lender - The More You Know

One of the most important steps in purchasing a home is finding the right lender. Thinking over the last few transactions I have had, and the conversations I have had with buyers about lenders made me want to write this blog.  Buyers are often new to the whole process and really don’t understand the importance of a good lender.

My first question to a buyer is, are you preapproved?  Often the response I get is no, but I was going to talk with my bank.  Okay, that’s fine I say. What bank are you using? Do you know anyone that has had a successful closing or purchase with your bank?  At this point I am sure the buyer is thinking, well I have my savings account there. I haven’t had issues putting money in and taking it out. I am sure the bank can help me get a loan for a house.

If only it were that simple, right? As an experienced agent I have stories I could tell, as I am sure most agents can, about the closing that didn’t happen because of the lender or the preapproval that wasn’t worth the ink printed on it. It’s my job to educate buyers about this process. I am the guide, the negotiator, the coordinator to get those buyers into the home of their dreams. I want the buyer to have the best transaction they could and close on the home of their dreams.

So if you are a buyer what should you look for in a lender? First off, I would say get referrals. Ask your agent, your parents, your friends who they used and if they were happy. Did the home sale close on time, did they have hiccups along the way, if they had hiccups, was the lender able to help them through it, was the lender available to talk with them and answer questions in a timely manner? I personally like local lenders. I want to be able talk in person to the person who is going to play a major role in home buying process.

Once you have a couple of lenders that you were referred to. Next step is to find out what kind of products do they have. What kind of loan best suits your needs?  There are FHA, VA, Wheda, conventional, arm or in house loans. Find out what they have and how they work. Research if they are the best fit for you? What are closing costs for that lender?  I have found rates are usually so close that I wouldn’t suggest picking a lender based on that. Each lender advertises their rates a little differently. So what you think is the lowest rate, might be, but are you paying money (points) to bring down the rate. Do you have money to do that? You might want to check to see if grants are available to help you with your down payment. There is so much that goes into finding the right loan. If this seems overwhelming there are lenders and organizations that offer first time buyer classes. These classes often address other topics including owning a home, what to expect for maintenance, home inspections, refinancing etc. Take a class. The more you know the better.