When your home is well maintained, staged well, in a great location and priced competitively, chances are you will be getting multiple offers in this market. So, how do you leverage and get the most for your home? Here’s what you could do when countering:
1. Always counter ALL offers, even the one that low-balled you. You never know as offers are rather dynamic.
2. Counter with “highest and best price”. Based on my experience, you can be almost certain to get the highest and best among multiple buyers.
3. Reduce the number of days for buyer to remove contingencies in counter.
4. The more down payment the better.
5. Do not pay for 1-year home warranty.
When you are reviewing the offers, the all cash offer with no loan or appraisal contingencies and fast closing will be most desired, even though sometimes it may mean a little lower offer price. Always go through the contract carefully with your agent to make sure you understand all the terms and conditions.
Title insurance is meant to protect an owner's or a lender's financial interest in real property against loss due to title defects, liens or other matters. A title insurance policy insures against events that occurred in the past of the real estate property and the people who owned it.
There are two types of policies: owner and lender. Lenders require title insurance to protect their interest in the collateral of loans secured by real estate. Buyers purchasing properties for cash or with a mortgage lender often want title insurance, an owner’s policy, as well.
The cost of title insurance has two components: premium charges and service fees. Premium rates are based on five cost considerations, including those related to:
1. Maintaining current title information
2. Searching and examining the title to subject properties
3. Resolving or clearing defects to title
4. Covering title defects
5. Allowing for a reasonable profit
Usually, when you have a mortgage, and you use the same title company for both owner and lender title insurance, you get somewhat discount. But A federal law called the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) entitles the individual homeowner to choose a title insurance company when purchasing or refinancing residential property. Typically, homeowners don't make this decision for themselves, instead relying on their bank's or attorney's choice; however, the homeowner retains the right.
David Charron, president and CEO of Rockville-based multiple-listing service MRIS, writes an occasional column about the Washington-area real estate market.
It’s a stubborn truth about the real estate market that nobody has a crystal ball.
If only we could see exactly what was coming down the road, and adjust accordingly, our jobs would be much easier. Similarly, everything looks remarkably clear when viewed through the rear-view mirror.
Broadly speaking, this spring was a tough one for D.C.-area homebuyers, with not a lot of homes to choose from and lots of competition to buy.
It seems in retrospect that the combination of enormous pent-up demand and record low interest rates led to homes receiving multiple offers and being snapped up quickly. In the next year, the situation should normalize and come more into balance, with things easing up for buyers while being slightly less favorable to sellers. And while it’s never as simple as saying we anticipate a “good” or “bad” market in any given season, demand is still very high, which should make for a pretty brisk fall sales season.
Here are some of the developing trends we at MRIS are tracking this fall, and how we think they will impact the market:
• Demand will diminish. It’s no secret that the fourth quarter of the year is, comparatively speaking, a slower time of year for home sales — typically a good 15 percent lower than the third quarter. While there is often a small end-of-summer, back-from-vacation uptick in new contracts in the fall, November and December traditionally show very modest contract activity.
You can’t compare the “apples” of modest November sales to the “oranges” of brisk May sales. That said, if you are a serious buyer, opportunities will present themselves.
•Interest rates will rise. The fall/winter 2013 housing market in our area could definitely be impacted by interest rates, which are almost certain to continue to creep up.
But even if they rise another full point, which could happen by the end of next year, they are still going to be at historic lows. Rising interest rates will require committed buyers to reset their expectations. If buyers are stretching every penny they have to get a house, they’re going to have to dial back their notion of how much home they can afford.
If buyers have a little more flexibility, they’re going to have to be willing to pay a little more each month to land the home they want. This small increase in monthly payment, however, may knock a small segment of the buying population out of the market completely.
• Inventory, though improving, will remain tight. Over the past five years, the D.C. metro area has had an average of 12,000 homes for sale at any given time.
Inventory levels have declined in this area for years, but are finally creeping back up. After dropping by an average of 8.6 percent per month between April 2011 and March 2013, new listing activity showed double-digit percent increases from April through August of this year, which may represent a turning point.
Since fewer homeowners are underwater, they now are able to extract equity when selling, making sales more attractive. Thus, I believe, inventory will continue to stabilize in the coming months. The active listings registered at the end of August were 10 percent lower than August 2012, but represented a much lower year-over-year gap than at the beginning of this year in March, when active supply was a good 40 percent lower than it had been in the same period of 2012.
• Days on the market will rise. There are currently more buyers than sellers in the market, which means that homes tend to sell quickly. We are seeing DOM numbers — indicating the number of days homes stay on the market before being sold — comparable to where they were back in 2005.
Townhouse sales have had the greatest activity, with a median of only nine days on the market, while condos typically sell in 13 days and detached homes in 16. But supply and demand is a simple concept: As more sellers enter the market and the number of available properties goes up, DOM will inevitably rise as a result in the next few months.
The real estate market dynamics are always changing, and no matter where you are in the buying/selling cycle it is important to understand your housing and financial position to make the best decision in any housing market.
Today, we are in unchartered territory with the recent government shutdown. The results from the fourth quarter will be telling in terms of the repercussions of the government budget issues.
Just hours before his deadline at midnight last night, Governor Jerry Brown signed or vetoed all the legislative bills on his desk to end the legislative process for 2013. C.A.R.’s Legal Department has summarized and made available on our webpage about 130 of these New Laws mostly taking effect next year that may affect your real estate practice or otherwise be of interest to REALTORS®. The full text of each new law is available at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
This legislative session’s new laws cover a wide range of topics of interest, including disclosure requirements, licensing matters, adjoining owners, affiliated real estate services, landlord-tenant, subdivisions, land use, employment, and many more. Some of the significant new laws that you as home owner or landlord might be interested - TDS Revised to Include Construction Defect Litigation
Effective July 1, 2014, the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) has been revised to require disclosure of the seller’s knowledge of certain construction defect claims for newly constructed homes under a law commonly referred to as SB 800. As amended, the TDS will inquire, in question 16 of Section 11C, as to whether a seller is aware of any claims or lawsuits involving construction defects threatening to or affecting the real property, including any pre-litigation claims of a construction defect, claims of breach of warranty, or claims for breach of an enhanced protection agreement under SB 800. Senate Bill 652. FTB Information Return for Out-of-State Acquisition in 1031 Exchange
For any 1031 exchange that occurs on or after January 1, 2014, a taxpayer acquiring a "like-kind" property located outside of California must file an information return with the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) for that taxable year and every year thereafter in which the gain or loss from the exchange has not been recognized. If a taxpayer fails to file such information return and tax returns, the FTB may propose to assess the amount of tax, interest, and penalties due by estimating net income from any available information, including the amount of gain. Assembly Bill 92.
Adjoining Owners Equally Responsible for Shared Fences and Boundaries
Commencing January 1, 2014, adjoining landowners must share equally the responsibility for maintaining boundaries and monuments between them. Adjoining landowners are presumed to share an equal benefit from any fence dividing their properties, as well as equal costs for construction or maintenance, unless otherwise agreed in writing. This new law also provides specific procedural requirements for an owner who intends to incur costs for a division fence to notify the adjoining owner of the estimated costs and other information. Existing law enacted in 1872 which requires a homeowner who fully encloses a property to refund a neighbor a just proportion of the value of a division fence has been repealed. Assembly Bill 1404.
Smoke Detectors Specifications Changed
Starting on July 1, 2014, the State Fire Marshall will not approve a battery-operated smoke alarm unless it contains a non-replaceable, non-removable battery capable of powering the smoke alarm for at least 10 years. This rule was originally slated to take effect on January 1, 2014. Until July 1, 2015, an exception to this rule applies to smoke alarms ordered by, or in the inventory of, an owner, managing agent, contractor, wholesaler, or retailer on or before July 1, 2014. Furthermore, starting January 1, 2015, the State Fire Marshal will not approve a smoke alarm unless it does all of the following: (1) displays the date of manufacture on the device; (2) provides a place on the device to insert the date of installation; and (3) incorporate a hush feature. A previous requirement for the smoke alarm to incorporate an end-of-life feature that provides notice that the device needs to be replaced has been eliminated. The requirements taking effect on January 1, 2015 was originally slated to take effect on January 1, 2014. The State Fire Marshal has the authority to create exceptions to these requirements. Senate Bill 745.
Landlord Required to Provide Specific Utility Rate Schedules
Starting January 1, 2014, a master-meter customer of an apartment building, mobilehome park, or similar residential complex, must post in a conspicuous place the applicable specific current residential gas or electrical rate schedule as published by the serving utility, rather than the prevailing residential utilities rate schedule as previously required. Alternatively, the landlord as a master-meter customer may elect to post a website address for a tenant to access the schedule as long as the landlord also does the following: (1) state in the posting that an individual user may request a copy of the specific current residential gas or electrical rate schedule from the master-meter customer; and (2) provide the schedule upon request at no cost. Senate Bill 196.
Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking as Tenants
Beginning January 1, 2014, a residential tenant can terminate a tenancy within 30 days by notifying the landlord that the tenant was a victim of human trafficking as defined. The tenant’s notice to terminate tenancy must generally include a copy of a police report or court order regarding the tenant or tenant’s household member. From January 1, 2014 to January 2016, however, a tenant may simply provide documentation from a qualified third party professional indicating that the tenant or household member is seeking assistance for physical or mental injuries resulting from the offense. This law also prohibits a landlord from terminating a tenancy, or failing to renew a tenancy, based on acts of human trafficking if documented by a police report or protective court order and the wrongdoer is not a tenant of the same dwelling unit. The landlord, however, may terminate the tenancy if, after invoking protection under this law, the tenant allows the wrongdoer named in the police report or protective order to visit the property, or the landlord reasonably believes that the wrongdoer poses a physical threat to other tenants or to the tenant’s right to quiet possession. Existing law already protects a tenant if the tenant or tenant’s household member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or elder or dependent adult abuse. Senate Bill 612.
Minimum Wage Increased to $10 Per Hour
Minimum wage in California has been increased from $8 per hour to $10 per hour. A one-dollar increment from $8 per hour to $9 per hour will come into effect on July 1, 2014, and another one-dollar increment from $9 per hour to $10 per hour will come into effect on January 1, 2016. The minimum wage has been $8 per hour since January 1, 2008. Assembly Bill 10.
Breast cancer以前大多在50多岁的妇女身上发生，但随着环境、饮食结构的变化，生活的压力，它越来越有年轻化的趋势。我的好邻居她的女儿去年被查出乳腺癌时还没过41岁的生日，我老公朋友的老婆前年患乳腺癌也是差不多这岁数，我以前的同事加好朋友得乳腺癌时才五十岁。前两天朋友微信中复旦女博士于娟32岁被确诊患上乳腺癌， 一年半不到就没了，让人叹息。她们都没有家庭病史。
以下是Breast Cancer的一些数据 -
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. About 1 in 8 (12%) women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime.
The American Cancer Society's estimates for breast cancer in the United States for 2013 are:
About 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
About 64,640 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
