Why You Will Need To Sell Your Home Twice

Photo courtesy of [the nest]

Keeping Current Matters published an article recently in which they state that in order to sell a house, home owners don't sell it once.  You actually sell it twice!

In order for a house to sell, all parties in the transaction must agree on at least one thing...THE PRICE!

First, there's the sales price.  Hopefully your Realtor helped you determine an appropriate price range to attract buyers and sell your home quickly at a price that's fair to you.

If you are working with a cash buyer, the only other hurdle you must negotiate may be repairs or price adjustments for repairs.

But, if your buyers are like the majority of buyers and require a loan, then the home has to be "sold" one more time.  This time to the lender.

The lender will hire an appraiser to perform a reasonable home valuation called an appraisal.  The appraisal's purpose is to ensure the lender they are lending money to purchase a home which could be reasonably resold for the same price if the borrowers.  Unfortunately, people don't always pay off their loans. (see: Foreclosure)

Hopefully you and your Realtor took the recent sales of other similar, or comparable, properties into consideration when arriving at your list price and accepted sales price, because this is exactly what the appraiser does.

If the appraised value of the home is determined to be in line with or higher than the agreed to sales price, all parties may proceed with the transaction.

However, if the appraised value of the home is determined to be less than the agreed to sales price, there are three options.

First, the lender may refuse to loan the money required to purchase the home.

Next, the lender may require the borrower to come up with additional funds to bridge the gap between the sales price and the appraised price.

Finally, the seller may reduce the sales price of the home to fall in line with the home's appraised value.

This is just one more reason why it is so important to price your home correctly at the beginning of your listing.

Check out Fannie Mae's post on "Sales Price vs. Appraised (Market) Price" on their website, The Home Story, for a more detailed explanation.

About the Author:
Jimmy Grappone is a Realtor® living in the Charlotte area for nearly a decade. His hobbies include fishing, playing golf, watching football, and helping his clients find their way home. Jimmy is a licensed Realtor® with Allen Tate Company in North Carolina and South Carolina. He is passionate about helping his clients find shelter and having a good time along the way!

Contact the Author:

Facebook.com/JimmyGrapponeRealtor

Twitter & IG: @jimmygrapponeOnline: www.jimmygrappone.com & www.itsjimmyon.com
Email:  Jimmy.Grappone@AllenTate.com
Phone:  980-298-9385

Five Tips to Winterize Your Home

Five Tips to Winterize Your Home in the Carolinas

It is that time of year again!

With freezing temperatures upon us in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is once again time to prepare your home for the winter season.

Here are five tips to help you with the winterization process.

1.  Clean out your gutters. Most leaves have already fallen by now and there’s a good chance they are clogging up your gutters!  Not only do clogged gutters affect drainage, but they are also very heavy and can cause unwanted damage to your home. Water that freezes in the gutters against your house can also create ice dams and cause water to drip into your house.

2.  Close the vents. I’m talking about the vents on the outside of your home, particularly if your home has a crawl space! Shutting the dampers on the outside of your home helps prevent the pipes under your home from freezing.

3.  Check for leaks around your windows and doors. Check out this factoid from the Allen Tate Company Blog: “According to EarthWorks Group, the average American home has leaks that amount to a nine-square-foot hole in the wall...that’s a lot of cold air coming into your home during those winter months!

4.  Disconnect hoses and insulate your spigots. Outdoor faucets are exposed to freezing temperatures during the winter, and they are a direct conduit to the pipes beneath your home. Freezing and thawing water expands and contracts, putting tremendous pressure on your pipes that could cause them to burst, resulting in costly water damage and repairs. By disconnecting hoses and insulating outdoor spigots with a foam sleeve, you’re reducing your risk of burst pipes.

5.  Set your heat to at least 55 degrees. This is, of course, if you are taking a holiday trip out of town. You may also want to turn on your faucets just enough to produce a very slow drip as another safeguard to prevent frozen pipes...and water damage!

About the Author:
Jimmy Grappone is a Realtor® living in the Charlotte area for nearly a decade. His hobbies include fishing, playing golf, watching football, and helping his clients find their way home. Jimmy is a licensed Realtor® with Allen Tate Company in North Carolina and South Carolina. He is passionate about helping his clients find shelter and having a good time along the way!

Contact the Author:
Social Media: @jimmygrappone
Online: www.jimmygrappone.com & www.itsjimmyon.blogspot.com
Email:  Jimmy.Grappone@AllenTate.com
Phone:  980-298-9385

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

This blog post isn't exactly an article.  It is certainly not a Top 10 list or tips on winterizing your home (though that's on the agenda).

This post is simply to state what I'm grateful for and to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am grateful for my wife, Lauren, and my dog Jack, and the home we share.

I am grateful for my parents who live close by and for my in-laws who are essentially my other parents and friends.

I am thankful for my sometimes crazy, but always caring sister, Kristin, up in Virginia and hopeful we'll someday live nearby again.

I am thankful for my extended family in Virginia and here in the Carolinas.

I am grateful for my friends, some who I see and talk to on a regular basis, as well as those who I can go ages apart from and fall back into step with like a day hasn't passed between us.

I am grateful for my colleagues and for having a career that I love and that excites me and teaches me something new every day, and for the successes I've experienced and those that are yet to come.

I am thankful to no longer work in retail sales -- no offense, T-Mobile -- and to be on the golf course with my dad on Black Friday instead of working.

I am grateful for the all-blue Color Rush Panthers unis.

I am thankful for the undefeated Carolina Panthers, who are 10-0 this season heading into today's Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys.

I am grateful for the great weather -- 60 degrees and sunny in Charlotte -- and great food and fellowship that will be shared with family today.

I am thankful to live in the small American town of Waxhaw, North Carolina and to feel safe on a day-to-day basis despite the chaos taking place in this crazy world.

I am grateful to be alive and to live, laugh, and love, because that is what life is all about.

And I am thankful for you all -- my readers, my supporters, my friends and family, my clients, my neighbors...

And I am grateful for God and / or whatever reason we get to experience this meaningful life!

Thank you all!

About the Author:
Jimmy Grappone is a Realtor® living in the Charlotte area for nearly a decade. His hobbies include fishing, playing golf, watching football, and helping his clients find their way home. Jimmy is a licensed Realtor® with Allen Tate Company in North Carolina and South Carolina. He is passionate about helping his clients find shelter and having a good time along the way!

Contact the Author:
Social Media: @jimmygrappone
Online: www.jimmygrappone.com & www.itsjimmyon.blogspot.com
Email:  Jimmy.Grappone@AllenTate.com
Phone:  980-298-9385