What to expect when buying, "AIR"

Time and time again, when selling Albuquerque Real Estate, buyers ask "What's next? What else is left?" when in comes to the entire process of buying a home. As many may know, buying a home can be as complicated as you want, but it can also fairly easy if you just let your realtor filter out all the stress. If your Realtor is dumping every little problem on to you, well....that's unfortunate.

I believe part of a Realtor's job is to make the entire process as stress free as possible. By this I mean he or she should not call you about every little thing that may go wrong or to complain about the other realtor, lender, inspector - you get the idea (unless you ask them to. A reason eludes me at the moment...). A good little acronym I like to use as a check list for buyers looking for Albuquerque homes for sale (and myself) is "AIR" (the picture provided is the only one I could think of. Sorry. I'm a product of the 90's!)

"AIR" simply stands for "A" - appraisal, "I" - inspections, and "R" - repairs. That's it. That's all. Once these three major things are complete, and you satisfy the lender and the buyer, then the rest should be in good shape.

With that being said, of course there are several details that could slow the process down. You could dissect a deal until you go mad. But couldn't you do that with anything? Like making a sandwich? You could sit there and worry about carbs in the bread. You could worry about calories in the dressing. You could worry whether or not the tomatoes and lettuce are organic. Did the pig die happy? Is the plate clean? What am I going to drink? OR, you could just make a BLT.

Importance of loan pre-approval BEFORE home search

It seems that time and time again I will get a call from a willing buyer that is interested in buying a home, willing to commit to a licensed Realtor, willing to take the time to go see homes, and has not even spoke with a licensed mortgage professional yet (notice the word "licensed"). This is the very first step and most important step when finding a home to purchase. I tell customers that it really isn't fun finding the perfect home and then realizing you cannot qualify to purchase it.

When selling Albuquerque Real Estate, the very first two questions I ask a potential client is "are you currently working with a Realtor and have you been pre-approved for a loan?". It may seem a little forward and every now and then I get some resistance, but in the end it makes the journey just that much more clear. People who are working with a licensed Realtor soon realize that they should be asking their Realtor about the property and that they really should speak with a licensed mortgage pro if they haven't already.

Some don't quite know the difference regarding a "pre-approval" and a "pre-qualification", and rightly so. The stronger of the two and the most accepted is the pre-approval. With a pre-approval, you are telling the seller that you have spoken with a loan pro and have provided the preliminary documents to obtain a mortgage for the asking price within the offer minus the down payment. A pre-qualification can be obtained be just telling a loan officer about your financial situation and not give any documents to verify your information at that moment. As you can see, a person may "stretch the truth" are not know their current situation. For example, a person may think that their credit score is a 660 and when the scores are actually pulled, the middle score could be a 635. Is most cases this could be a deal breaker for underwriting.

Just a little FYI when searching for Albuquerque homes for sale.

Short Sales Vs. Foreclosures: What to expect when purchasing

As more and more homes come into the Albuquerque Foreclosure market, the inquiries relating to these properties increase. Prospective buyers of Albuquerque Real Estate are identifying these properties as opportunities to get into a home at an attractive price. And rightly so! In most cases these properties are EXCELLENT investments! The holders of these Albuquerque Foreclosures do not want to keep them on their books and often have them priced to move quickly!

But in the midst of these homes for sale exists home owners which are attempting to sell at less than what is owed to the mortgage holders: short sales...

A prospective purchaser must be aware that often these properties cannot sell for the listed price set by the owner because the mortgage company that holds the first hasn't agreed to do so. Sure, the seller wants to sell but often the bank will not sell at even the listed price. Additionally, the process can take anywhere from 60 days to 9 months to close or even to get an acceptance. The entire process can be very frustrating to say the least! But, if you are patient (and willing to see many other opportunities slip by) you can negotiate a great price. If you are a buyer under a time limit (i.e., rate lock), I cannot recommend writing up a short sale.

Remember, the foreclosed properties mentioned earlier? These can be purchased within a specific time period and are priced to sell quickly by the mortgage holders themselves and there are no occupants in the home. The mortgage holders offer the properties "as is" so you will definitely want to get inspections done on these properties as there will be no seller's disclosure to review. Once you have been satisfied with the results of the inspections, you can move forward to closing, which should fall within the customary time frame of purchasing a home.

If you are thinking about writing an offer on a foreclosed property, be prepared to provide financial approval from a qualified lender or proof of funds, and an earnest money check.

People very often confuse Foreclosures with Short Sales. Be aware of what you are previewing to purchase and make your decisions based on your needs. Consult your Albuquerque Realtor.

Springtime real estate activity

Personally, I love everything about spring. The green, new growth, the warmth in the air and summer fun right around the corner! And this year it seems to mean a little more than in the past few years for Albuquerque Real Estate. Realtors seem to be abuzz with the idea that the market will continue to slowly, but surely, tick up more than the following year. I think the entire country would love to see it!

I keep hearing time and time again from buyers wanting to buy Albuquerque homes for sale and that they are going to wait for spring to roll around before they get serious about purchasing a home. O.K., I can understand that. But are there advantages to buying now? You better believe it!

The inventory for Albuquerque Homes for sale is high and interest rates are LOW! That is what we know right now at this very minute. Will inventory increase in the spring? Probably. Will competition for buying Albuquerque Real Estate increase as well? Yes. Seems logical. Will interest rates increase...and increase...and increase? All signs point to yes.

A Realtor can not tell you what to do, and he/she shouldn't (if they are trying to tell you what to do, find another! Buying a home should not be taken lightly!). We can only advise. My advice would be to consider buying before the spring rush. But if you do wait, be ready for a little competition and possibly multiple offer situations accompanied with rises in interest rates.

Things are looking up in Albuquerque!

The Albuquerque metro area has mirrored the national trend for sales of previously owned homes!

 

Closings leaped from 469 closings in November to 505 closings for December 2010. The median price of existing, detached houses was $178,000. This was a slight increase of $1,000 from November 2010. It should be noted that the median price (the price at which 1/2 the homes are above and 1/2 the homes are below) is considered the most accurate because it is less affected by activity at either end of the market.

 

Other good news regarding the Albuquerque Real Estate market is that when compared to 2009, the median price for Albuquerque homes for sale increased year over year for the 4th consecutive month, and the average price increased year over year for the sixth consecutive month!

 

2010 was the lowest point for closed sales in Albuquerque for a number of years, but the sales activity seems to be gaining momentum so far in January 2011.

 

If you are planing to buy a property, I would get in the market as quickly as possible to possibly avoid the springtime rush.

Advantages to Selling Albuquerque Real Estate ;)

One of the advantages to selling Albuquerque Real Estate is finding the cities great little secrets before the word gets out. One secret that I was let in on over the past holiday season was an excellent microbrewery located in the downtown area of Albuquerque called 'Marble Brewery'.

If you aren't looking for Marble, you will drive right past it. The building itself is a very humble one story, cinder block structure with a patio in the front and the interior is very cozy with warm tones. Behind the bar you can admire the mash-kettle tanks and all the beautiful equipment they use to brew the ales on site (must be a guy thing but I think its neat to see!

Marble offers several micro brews as smooth or as hoppy as you want.

The ales range from a smooth, very drinkable "Wild Flower" wheat to an oatmeal stout, to a double IPA for the hardcore hops lovers! Marble also was just recognized in Draft magazines top 25 beers of the year for their barrel aged specialty Belgium ale. I highly recommend it!

Bottom line, I loved Marble and I especially loved that I got to spend some quality time with a few buyers that I helped find Albuquerque homes this past year.

I love my job!

Our New Albuquequerque Real Estate Website!

Check us out!

We have a brand new website, and what we think is the absolute BEST search tool we've ever seen. You'll find big, bright photos, information by neighborhood, a complete list of Albuquerque Foreclosures, and more to come. Our Albuquerque MLS is so big, we felt like we needed a better way to present it and to help our potential buyers in finding the perfect home.

You can now search for all Albuquerque real estate, as well as Corrales real estate, Rio Rancho real estate, and any of the other surrounding areas.  Check it out and let us know what you think!

If you signed up to have new listings sent to your email from our old site, we're afraid you'll have to cancel that and sign up again on the new one.  But you'll like it so much better it's worth the trouble!  We look forward to talking to everyone we've helped before, and all the new clients we meet soon!  Thank you for choosing us as your Albuquerque Realtors!