Ann Arbor Open Houses

We saved a home buying couple from being defrauded

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:44 +0000

Just had a closing on a home where the buyers almost fell into a trap where a couple real estate agents tried to get them to pay a $8,000 bribe to cheat a home seller and lender.

Fortunately the buyers stumbled into an ethical home inspector who strongly suggested they talk to a compentent company.

I’ll be writing more on this in the future, but here are some quick learning points:

1. If a real estate agent doesn’t give you copies of your agency disclosure, agency agreement, and purchase contract, they are going to try to cheat you. Run the other way.

2. If one agent from a company says they are your buyer agent and another from the same company says they are the seller’s agent, they lying. If they are in the same office they are either designated buyer & seller agents or dual agents. They are too stupid to know the difference or too unethical to explain the difference to you. In either case you should still run the other way.

3. If a real estate agent wants you to bring cash to pay someone, they trying to do doing something illegal or unethical. Run the other way.

4. If a real estate agent complains about the home inspection taking too long after 90 minutes they are not on your side. One person can’t do a reasonable home inspection in 90 minutes if you are asking questions. And you should be asking questions. If they say they are your buyer agent then they are too stupid to know how long a decent inspection takes or they are tying to cheat you with a “quick and easy” inspection that benefits the seller. Run the other way.

Ann Arbor - The Listing Agent’s Assistant Wants To Be My Buyer’s Agent?

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:29:12 +0000

I heard this from a confused Ann Arbor home buyer recently:

They found a conflict between common sense and what they heard when they visited an open house.

The woman hosting the open house said she could be their buyer agent if they were interested in that home. The buyers asked a few questions and found out the hostess was an assistant to the agent that had the listing.

So, the buyers are thinking… “How in the world could this woman negotiate against her own boss for us???”

Well obviously they are right. That is a nonesensical idea.

The hostess can’t be a buyer’s agent on an office listing. That would be illegal as it would be undisclosed dual agency.

What she can be is a designated buyer’s agent.

Designated agency is a concept created to help large real estate companies sell their own listings and sweet-talk buyers into using their services. It is not the same thing as buyer agency, where a company represents a buyer’s best interests. In fact is is a variation of dual agency, it was created to hide the dual agency in this exact situation.

So if the hostess had wanted to tell the buyer the truth they would have said “I can be your designated buyer’s agent because my boss is the designated listing agent” but that would have probably scared off any buyer with an IQ over 40.

Thus, it is a common scam and it starts with the host saying buyer agent when she should be saying designated buyer agent.

Study finds few look for open houses in newspapers

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:35:04 +0000

Harris Interactive and Trulia just published a study that found 62% of home buyers search for open houses online, compared to less than 1/3 who search via the newspapers.

This is interesting considering ten years ago virtually all open house activity was from print sources and an occasional sign.

Here is the complete article: Trulia Harris Interactive Study

It is also interesting to note that they don’t cover many Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti area open houses. It looks like maybe out local agents don’t participate.

More real estate agent lies at an Ann Arbor open house

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:24:56 +0000

It happened again.

A buyer walks into an open house and the listing agent’s assistant who is there says “I can be your buyer’s agent if you are interested in this home”.

This is a lie. It is simply not true. A listing agent’s assistant can’t be your buyer agent. They might be able to be a designated buyer agent. But it is more likely they would be a dual agent or a seller’s agent.

Think about it for a second. If her boss is trying to get the highest price for the seller how likely is she to be able to negotiate hard for you and keep your interests confidential? She can’t. That is why the state requires her to tell you in writing that she is a designated buyer agent, not a real buyer’s agent. But while you are there talking to her she isn’t your agent at all.

Designated agency is so confusing that the law requires a written contract before she can even be a designated agent. Till then she is on the seller’s side. So, watch out!

FHA Buyers Can NOT Use Tax Credit For Down Payment!

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:32:11 +0000

UPDATE! I just heard through the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents that the downpayment monetization idea has been rescinded. No details yet. But for now it is dead.

It looks like first-time homebuyers will soon be able to access their $8,000 federal tax credit when closing on a home t on FHA-backed loans. The method will be hrough a short-term bridge loan that will cover their down payment

The Federal Housing Administration will soon publish a policy that will allow FHA-approved lenders, HUD-approved nonprofits, and state and local housing finance agencies to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans, Secretary of Housing Shaun Donovan said on 20090512 in Washington D,C.

“We all want to enable FHA consumers to access the tax credit funds when they close on their home loans so that the cash can be used as a down payment,” Donovan told members of the National Association of Realtors. “We think the policy is a real win for everyone, ensuring that borrowers can tap into the numerous organizations that are already part of the FHA network to receive this additional benefit.”

The best rates on loans eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require 20 percent down payments, and private mortgage insurers typically require minimum down payments of 5 percent to 10 percent. But FHA’s minimum down-payment requirements remains relatively modest — 3.5 percent.

Donovan said the first-time homebuyer tax credit will benefit communities struggling to deal with an oversupply of housing. He cited estimates by the National Association of Home Builders that the tax credit would spur 160,000 home sales — 101,000 purchases by first-time buyers, and 59,000 purchases by existing homeowners who will be able to trade up because a first-time buyer purchased their home.

The Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable initiative — which is aimed at helping 7 to 9 million homeowners modify or refinance their loans — will also help take pressure off of inventories, Donovan said. Fourteen of the largest mortgage loan servicers have already begun modifying loans under the initiative, he said, and have committed not to foreclose on borrowers unless they have been given an opportunity to qualify for a modification.

Over the next month or so, the administration expects to see a “substantial increase in loan modifications, which we anticipate will happen quickly and will help decrease the foreclosure sales numbers over the next few months,” Donovan said.

This is very good news for first time home buyers!

To see the whole speech, click here.

Our Exclusive Buyer Agent Laura Wins a Savings Award

admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:30:47 +0000

This isn’t exactly on the topic of open houses, but, our agent Laura Degiovanni just won an award for helping one of our clients save about 24% on the purchase of a home.

Laura has lived in Ann Arbor, but this transaction involved Livingston and Oakland county work.

Here is the News Release if you are interested: Buyer Agent receives Savings Award

If you are choosing a buyer’s agent it would be smart to ask them for examples of how they’ve saved buyers money like this.

Welcome to Ann Arbor open houses!

admin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:31:12 +0000

With the demise of the Ann Arbor News we were thinking that more and more home buyers were going to be going online for openhouse information.

And, since the other companies all are focused on selling you their listings or trying to capture you as a buyer at their own open houses, there hasn’t been a single site that has the different open houses sites linked. Until now.

I hope you find the open house links useful and I know you will find the other information worthwhile.