The real reason you hire a Realtor to sell your home.

Why should you hire a Realtor to buy or sell a house? Don't you just stick a sign in your yard and wait for people to bring you a fistful of cash?

Sorry everyone, it isn't quite that easy. What a Realtor can (and should) do is MARKET your house. Well, let me tell you what The Troy Walseth Team does:
We do a walk through of your home and then do a market evaluation, basically an appraisal of how much your house is worth based on comparables properties that have sold in the last year in your neighborhood. We will present you with the market evaluation and give you a price range that we think your home is worth, BUT the price you list your house at is completely up to you, after all, our evaluation is just our opinion. We then take 25-30 high quality pictures that feature you home's best assets and features. Next, we post your house online on sites like trulia.com , zillow.com , homes.com, realtor.com, and the regional MLS (multiple listing service) so that every person and Realtor has access to see your home. We highlight your home on our website, Facebook, and blogs to ensure that anyone looking for your house is able to find it. Then, we hold open houses and advertise on billboards, through RE/MAX (an international brokerage), and most importantly by word of mouth through our 3 buyer's agents who exclusively look for "the perfect house" for their clients.


After our team procures a buyer for your house, we walk you through all of the necessary steps required until closing. There is quite a bit of paperwork involved in closing a house and you don't want to mess it up and delay closing (payday for us and the homeowner).

3D printer building houses in 2050?

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/3d-printer-builds-house-in-24-hours-2014-1
Now this is a sweet idea! Start on a small scale for testing and then go big!

What do you think? Would you trust a 3D printer to build your house? Any safety concerns? How expensive would it be starting out?

Foreclosures and short sales and bank-owned, oh my!

This is a huge source of confusion in the real estate world and even agents get things wrong so let me begin by giving the definitions of each.

In foreclosure - a house cannot be "a foreclosure" but rather it is "in foreclosure". When a house is in foreclosure, all it means is that the owner is behind on payments. You cannot buy a house in foreclosure unless the owner wants to sell it.

Short Sale - selling a home which is in the process of being foreclosed. In order to avoid the bank/lender foreclosing on their home, an owner can short sell the house with approval from the lender. This is a way to avoid the harsh consequences on credit and ability to borrow in the future that a foreclosure would cause.
First, the seller must prove they've had a "hardship" which can be anything from being laid off to the market crashing. Next, they call a real estate agent and list the house for sale at a fair market price. Then, once they receive an offer, the bank must approve the price. They do this by conducting a broker's price opinion (BPO) which is essentially an appraisal. Last, the bank sends a counter-offer based on the BPO. The ultimate selling price does NOT affect the home-owner whatsoever. It could sell for $500,000 or $50,000 and it wouldn't help or hurt the person short selling the house.

Bank-owned - A bank-owned property is exactly that. Once a property forecloses, the bank becomes the new owner of the property and the seller's credit and borrowing ability is damaged for 5-7 years.

Here's what $799,000 looks like on Clearwater Beach!

Hey everyone, here is an open house I did on Gulf Boulevard in a gorgeous 2100 square foot condo. Check it out!

These are the views from the condo:

Here is a tour of the condo, courtesy of Troy Walseth

Video walk through of a potential FLIP

Flip house on the water. Go easy on me everyone, it's my first video!

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCusbFQaSwqUfFSJKc_zv7Sg

Here is a link to my channel as well. We'll be uploading our listings and other cool videos often.

How do you define "success"?

How do you define "success"?

Is success making lots of money? Buying a big house on the water? Helping your kids through college? Being happy? Obtaining the perfect career that you love? Getting to Heaven?

You can see what I'm getting at, none of these things are right or wrong, but they are all different measures of success.

Success is defined as "the accomplishment of one's goals." These goals are your own. YOU get to decide what they are.

Whether your goal is walking on the moon or becoming famous the attitude you need to achieve your personal success is the same.

 First, and most importantly you need to know what you want. Sounds simple enough, right? Set goals for yourself to get you to where you want to be.

Second, you need to have "a burning desire to achieve your goal." - Napoleon Hill (1938) "You cannot just kind of want it, you need to want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe." -Eric Thomas

Third, never give up... NEVER. "Don't ever let someone tell you that you can't do something, if you have a dream, you've got to protect it." -Will Smith "Many of life's failures are people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up" - Thomas Edison or my personal favorite:

Even if this quick post only helps you for the day, I feel like it is worth it. Come back and reread it on your toughest days. Read somebody else's advice. Watch a motivational video. Comment on your favorite motivation in the comments below. Look at all of the endlessly successful people who failed and kept pushing on to succeed. Then ask yourself, "If everything I wanted was so easy to achieve would it taste as good in the end when I finally get it?"

Young Professionals

How do young professionals earn the respect of their community, meet potential customers, and most importantly get referrals?
These are questions that I had and that I'm sure many of you have whether you are young or old. Here is what I've found:

1. Follow the PLATINUM RULE, (one step above the "golden rule") Treat others the way THEY want to be treated. To go along with this rule, treat all your customers the same. It doesn't matter whether they are buying a mobile home or a mansion, treat them both with the respect they deserve as human beings and give them your full attention.

2. Under promise and over deliver. Do NOT make promises you cannot keep. Again, do NOT make promises you cannot keep. Surprise your customers when you get them more than they wanted at a lower price and they will never forget you.

3. Be yourself. Don't get caught up in acting like somebody you are not and having to fake your way through a relationship especially if you plan on working with them in the future.

Lastly, be patient. You are not going to become a superstar overnight. You need to gradually build your client base and your network with real relationships that you EARN.

$10,000 First Time Home Buyer Program... WHY RENT?

Sorry in advance to anyone not living in Florida (and not just because it's 81 degrees and sunny here). Florida residents can easily qualify for an interest free $10,000 loan.\
Here's what you need:

1. To be a first-time home buyer or to not have purchased a home (or lived in your own home) for the last 3 years.

2. Have a median credit score of 640

3. Maximum sales price of $190,000

4. The home must qualify for FHA financing (it must be in good condition so no rehabs or fixer-uppers)

THAT'S IT!

You can use the $10,000 for closing costs, downpayment, and/or pre-paids like homeowner's insurance or taxes.

Why would you rent and toss money out the window when you could be investing in your home and future?


There are only a few participating lenders/banks right now so you must contact them to do your loan.
Linda Kemp from Raymond James Bank has been excellent to work with thus far so I would recommend her at this time. 727-567-2568 or Linda.Kemp@raymondjames.com

Pulling the Trigger

For obvious reasons this is not essential to every real estate transaction, however too many people miss out on the perfect property because they drag their feet.

A real estate agent needs to begin a client-broker relationship with some prequalification questions for both parties' best interests. Agents should be asking if the buyer has spoken to a lender and how much money they have, and are comfortable to use. This doesn't have to be a personal, prying question, but rather a means to narrow down the search criteria. Agents should also ask as many questions as possible about what their clients are looking for. Sometimes, while it may come off as cheesy, asking a buyer what their "dream house" or "perfect property" would look like can get you a long way. A buyer must trust their agent to give them accurate and relevant information quickly so when the perfect property does come around they will be ready to pull the trigger (make an offer).

I've already had too many clients miss out on the perfect property for them because they were dragging their feet. The house just happened to be the first one we looked at. While they loved the house on their first visit, they didn't take any action because they didn't want to hastily make a decision, which is very understandable. What they didn't consider, even though I advised them to, is making an offer right away. It doesn't matter if the offer is full price or $50,000 low, as long as they have one on the table the house isn't going to get away from them.

Making an offer on a house is NOT a buying decision even if it looks and feels like one. A customer can back out of an offer for any reason and at no cost/risk to them. Once an offer is made, the buyer has 15 days to decide whether or not they want the house* (the inspection period). All you have to have to make an offer on a house is a prequalification or a proof of funds letter from a bank.

In short, writing an offer on something that you might be serious about is not as scary as it seems. After you write the offer, you have a minimum of 15 days to rescind the offer at no cost to you.

*In Florida

FLIP that house! The secret formula to turning a profit

Before I begin, "flip" is the new dirty word in the lending industry. Banks are more and more unwilling to give you a loan in order to flip a house (buy a fixer-upper and sell it for a profit). That being said, many people need cash or hard money lenders (high interest short term loans) to be able to flip something.

Below is the promised formula and some terms that are needed to complete it:

ARV = After repaired value - What the house is worth after you fix it based on comparable properties sold in the last 6 months in the same area.

CS - Cost of Selling - this is the amount of money you have to pay a Realtor (because the seller is responsible for paying the full commission)

CF - Cost of Financing - The interest you will have to pay someone to use their money.

R - Repairs - How much will it cost to fix/update the house.

X - Cost to buy the house

P - Profit - The most important variable. How much do you expect to make?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is where following the formula is very important. You need to start with an accurate ARV based on comps. Let's say $250,000 is what your comps support, and you buy the house for $160,000.

1. ARV - X =  $90,000

2. $90,000 - CS (6% of $250,000 = $15,000) = $75,000

3. $75,000 - CF = Let's say you have $50,000 in cash so you only need a loan for $200,000. 10% per year is a cheap rate on hard money and you only plan to hold the flip for 3 months. 10% of $200,000 divided by 4 (3 months at 10%) is $5,000.
CF = $5,000 so now we have $75,000 - $5,000 = $70,000 left

4. Repairs - Repairs can vary greatly but on something this expensive with a large gap between ARV and X I imagine you will need $40,000 - $50,000 in repair money. Let's use $50,000. Now we have $70,000-$50,000 = $20,000

5. Profit. $20,000 is the profit you expect to make and any money you save by spending less on repairs or selling the house quickly adds to the profit. Any extra costs such as a lower offer, more repair costs, or longer than 3 months to sell will come off the profit.

The formula is just a little more complicated but MUCH more accurate in determining whether something fits in the FLIP category.

Looking at houses in the age of technology

There are now dozens of ways to research and see houses before you actually schedule a showing to see one in person. These sites have pictures, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, and updates and improvements. Most even are available via a mobile app.

To name a few websites: http://www.trulia.com/ , http://www.zillow.com/ , http://www.realtor.com/ , http://www.homes.com/ , http://www.remax.com ,  http://www.craigslist.org , and thousands of agents' personal websites have MLS search engines on them such as www.troywalseth.com

Another excellent way to research is to check with the county tax assessor's website to see the different permits that have been pulled over the years, any additions done, and if/when the roof was replaced.

This way, you can eliminate the need to physically go see 50 houses with a Realtor and you can narrow down what you like and dislike about certain properties. On many of these sites, you can even log in and save the properties you are interested in and share them with whomever you like.

 

Commissions of realtors

I'm writing this article for informational purposes only. Every scenario varies slightly but I want customers to understand what is going on and know that this information is not confidential.

Who wants to know what Realtors make?! This is especially important to buyers (or unimportant really) because buyers do NOT pay their representative(s). The seller is solely responsible for paying out commissions to both sides, the listing and buyer's agents.

1. A listing agent will negotiate a commission with the seller when he or she lists the house. This is usually between 5%-7%.
2. The listing agent then puts the property on the MLS and advertises a 50-50 split in commission, 3% for the buyer's agent (an incentive for us to provide a buyer) and 3% for the listing agent (if the commission is 6%).

Example: So on a 6% commission on a $100,000 house, the listing agent's broker will get $3,000 and the buyer's agent's broker will get $3,000.

3. The broker (the company that the agent works for) then takes its cut out of the commission and give the agent the remainder.

The cut of the broker varies greatly depending on what company an agent works for. It can range from 50% to 97.5% or the broker can take a flat fee per transaction, or both a percentage and a flat fee.

4. The agents are then left with approximately their $3,000 minus a 5% cut from the broker ($2,850) minus a $300 flat fee ($2,550).

Lastly, Then, you have to consider the time and effort the agent put into the sale. Sometimes, it's only a single visit and unlocking the door, other times it take 15 showings, 150 miles driven, and a great number of hours including document prep time and paperwork.

 

Chase Walseth for sale. 5'9", hard worker, honest, excellent negotiator...

My official title is Licensed Real Estate Agent but most people refer to me as a REALTOR. I call myself a Buyer's agent because I work almost exclusively with people looking for a house to buy (while Troy Walseth is our listing agent). My job is to find people the house, home, investment, condo, land that they want and are looking for and offer them advice. You are not selling somebody a house like you would sell somebody a car. You are selling yourself, your advice, your experience, your opinion, you work ethic, your marketing plan, and your honesty Let me give you an example: 

A car salesman can ONLY sell the cars on his car lot. He has to "sell" you one of the few cars that he has available to him or he doesn't get paid. A buyer's agent has every "car" on every "car lot" in the state at his disposal and can show you any of them and sell you any of them AND the buyer doesn't pay him, the seller does! As a former (proud) car salesman, this fact makes me feel 1000x better about my current job!

Casas en venta en Seminole

Esta buscando por la casa de sus sueños? Tenemos casas de construcción nueva en Seminole y St. Petersburg, FL. The Cove at Bay Pines es un desarrollo nuevo de casas lujosas.


El sitio de web es: http://www.kbhome.com/new-homes-tampa/the-cove-at-bay-pines


Hay 6 planes de piso diferentes desde 2300 pies cuadrados hasta 3300 pies cuadrados. Desde 4 dormitorios hasta 6. También, hay 2 áreas de vivir, una cocina totalmente moderna, y la posibilidad de añadir una piscina.


Casas personalizadas de $330.000 hasta $420.000


Preguntas o para ver un modelo de la casa,
Contacta:

 

Chase Walseth

Troy Walseth Team

RE/MAX All Star

15023 Gulf Blvd

Madeira Beach, FL 33708

(727)-755-3830

chase@troywalsethteam.com

New homes for sale in Seminole, FL

New construction anybody? The Cove at Bay Pines development is the only new construction going on in Pinellas county with luxury homes.

They start out at $330,000 for a 2300 square foot, 4 to 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, house with a ton of upgrades and amenities. Here is what comes standard inside your home:

Energy Star appliances, windows, doors, siding, roof, translating into energy saving insurance credits, tall baseboard and crown molding, tempered safety glass sliding doors, Sherwin Williams LOXON paint, built-in USB ports for charging in the kitchen, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a fully sodded St. Augustine grass yard.

Additionally, The Cove at Bay Pines offers 6 different plans ranging from 2300 square feet to 3300 square feet and 4 - 6 bedrooms, 2 living areas, a den, a giant master sweet, and a walk-in closet that looks more like a child's bedroom!

There is a model home on site that is open 7 days a week and is available to show by appointment with a realtor or with a KB Homes representative.

Here is the website:

http://www.kbhome.com/new-homes-tampa/the-cove-at-bay-pines

Feel free to contact me with any questions,

Chase Walseth

Troy Walseth Team

RE/MAX All Star

15023 Gulf Blvd

Madeira Beach, FL 33708

(727)-755-3830

chase@troywalsethteam.com



What's the market like?

This is the number one question I get from current and past clients and the answer is easy... if you are working in the real estate business.


I have the privilege of seeing homes come on and off the market every day. Whether they are new listings, expired listings, just sold properties, or active properties, every category gives me a better overall picture of "the market".


Customer: "How's the market right now, Chase?"


Me: "Well, are you a buyer or a seller?"


Customer: "I'm both... First I need to sell my house, then I want to move into something smaller with less maintenance."


Me: "What area are you selling in, and what area are you buying in?"


Customer: "Does that really matter? I want to know what the overall market is like..."


Me: "It matters. It matters how large your house is, whether or not it has a pool, the distance from your house to the beaches, the finish quality of your home, the number of bedrooms, the zip code, the neighborhood, and even the quality and maintenance of your neighbors yards!"


Me: "Let me give you an example: today, February 6th, 2014, if you list your Seminole home with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, in ground pool, fully upgraded (granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, neutral ceramic tile/travertine floors), you have an absolute GEM.
You are able to ask a premium for your home because you have the ultimate property...for right now. Homes in Seminole are FLYING off the market and very rarely expiring. If you want to move from Seminole to Largo, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, or Pinellas Park, you can buy 1.5x the home for your money. I have at least 5 clients who would jump all over a 3/2/2 with a pool in Seminole for $200,000, but they don't exist! I can show them the same exact thing they are looking for just 5 blocks north in Largo and they're not interested for whatever reason (Seminole schools, proximity to the beaches, neighborhood quality, and friends/family).


The lesson here today is, the market is constantly changing, even from day to day, because of supply and demand. RIGHT NOW, the customers that are actively searching for homes with a  realtor determine "the market". That makes demand very volatile because there are significantly less serious, immediate buyers than there are listed homes in Pinellas County (as of 10:00AM, 7,336 properties)


So... "How's the market?"


Answer: "Fantastic........ If you can keep up with it, find the right houses for the right customers, work fast, and work diligently for your clients' best interests."