Jay Agoado’s Homefront

What an amazing tool to help stimulate the economy and spur real estate activity!

 http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=207172895110&h=XOTN1&u=r0N4z&ref=mf

I’ve had many individuals ask me about the specifics of the recently passed $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Credit.  It can be somewhat difficult to explain in layman’s terms so I have included the following link to the National Association of Realtors website, which clearly explains every aspect of the credit.  Bottom line, what an amazing time to be a first-time homebuyer!  Low home prices, historical low interest rates, and up to an $8,000 credit which does NOT need to be paid back to the Government.  WOW!!!

http://www.jayagoado.net/blog/First-Time-Homebuyer-Tax-Credit[1].pdf

I just finished reading a great RSS feed ( http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2008161424_agents07.html?syndication=rss ) on how the number of Realtors nationwide has decreased.  Is it a surprise?  Absolutely not!  I have seen so many new agents the past few years that it’s been quite frustrating.  Most of these agents got into this business to make a quick buck and didn’t understand or know how to write contracts.  What I have seen over the past 15 years is that the agents who succeed are the ones who treat their business like a business, constantly stay in touch with their past clients, current clients, and sphere of influence, and who are continually bettering themselves through education.  With these agents now leaving the business, it will be just like the dot-com crash where the last man/woman standing will be poised to grow even further.  Woohoo!!!

I just read an interesting article ( http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg703 )and subsequent postings on selling stigmatized properties, and specifically a property where a murder has taken place. This brings back memories of when I listed and sold a home in Bellevue approximately 10 years ago where father, mother, and sister were killed in their home and the other sister was killed in the neighborhood park.  It was a brutal scene and I was unfortunate to view the day it was released as a crime scene.  The estate and I discussed whether to disclose the situation to potential buyers since the State of Washington does not require disclosure for this issue.  We opted to be upfront with people in hopes of not losing the deal at the 12th hour.

The eventual buyer was an investor who was going to use the property as a rental home, so he wasn’t concerned at all about the stigma.  He was also smart enough to realize that the stigma would pass and this would be a good deal.  Boy was he right!  He tells me to this day that it has been his best real estate investment!  He was able to acquire the home for approximately 10% below market value, acquire tenants at will due to location, and the neighbors were all happy that someone was finally occupying the home.  A win-win for all!