HUD Homes Offer Some Homeowners Once-In-A-Lifetime Deals

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As we move further and further away from the buyers’ market that so many buyers have come to know and love over the past several years, there is still some promise to finding great deals out there. The answer lies in HUD homes. Believe it or not, you can find a fantastic home that, with just a little bit of TLC, can be almost instantly converted into your dream home.

Now, I’m sure most homebuyers probably shy away from the sound of needing to do any work on a new home, but that “little bit of TLC” is simply cosmetic things like changing the floors or installing new carpet and putting on a fresh coat of paint. With the distressed property market still prevalent in some areas and with some (unfortunate, sadly) situations, we are still seeing some really nice, quality homes where the homeowners simply couldn’t keep up.

What are some of the benefits of getting a HUD home?

For starters, it will cost you a LOT less to buy a HUD home than it would, had it been listed at fair market value.

Second, you can expect to increase the value of your new HUD home very quickly once you make the updates needed.

Finally, as our market continues to change and the economy gets stronger – the chance of finding great homes at such discounted prices may not be as widely available as it is right now. Combined with today’s still very low interest rates, it’s a win-win situation.

A Few Tips to Keep In Mind When Considering a HUD Home

Be sure to have the home properly inspected. Look for structural issues, major plumbing problems or anything else that might take away from being a solid investment.

Request your Realtor® to study the neighborhood and provide reasonable comparable properties to gauge what you might expect in terms of value after you’ve fixed up the place.

Read all rules, restrictions and requirements before placing a bid online and if you need, run it by a real estate professional to be sure you’re not missing anything.
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If you’d like to sit down to discuss HUD homes, how you can find a great one and what next steps to take once you have found a great home – call, text or email me and I’d be glad to sit down to discuss it with you! Get started today at www.HudHomeStore.com.

Now’s the Time to Sell

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A shift has happened and it actually took place in January. The market has turned into a sellers’ market. In particular, there’s extreme demand for a 4-bedroom home with 2½ baths, a master bedroom suite and a walk-in closet. It’s the hottest commodity on the market.

Here’s an example of what’s going in this sellers’ market. I was working with a buyer in January who quickly sold their home. We had a challenging time finding a 4-bedroom home, which the buyer wanted, so we ended up in multiple bid situations on two houses, which we did not get, even though we had offered to pay full price! Keep in mind it’s a sellers’ market. We won the contract on the third house because we obtained a heads up on the home. We were able to bring in our buyers before the seller even put the house on the market. Ultimately, the buyers got what they wanted, and the sellers didn’t have to worry about people tracking dirt in the house because of multiple showings. A win-win!

This example is just one of many. It illustrates the importance of using an agent who can bring buyers and sellers together. As real estate agents, we’re in the know of buyers and sellers and that’s why you hire us. To get started in this new market, speak with a local expert who understands the market, knows home values from street to street and neighborhood to neighborhood. Your agent will be your best advocate. After all, investing in a home is the biggest purchase you’ll make so it’s important to have a professional by your side.  
What does this market mean for sellers?  If you’ve thought of selling your home, the time is now. Since there are fewer homes on the market, there are lots of buyers for available homes. Low inventory often translates into multiple bids, high list-to-sale price ratios and being able to negotiate better terms. It’s a great time for sellers.

If you want to get top dollar for your property, take advantage of the low inventory. Here’s the thing: supply and demand affect what you’ll get for your home. When everyone who has been thinking about selling their home puts their home on the market is not the time to dive in—if you want to get the most out of your home. At the end of the day, you have a better chance at success if you decide to sell now, instead of waiting until all the Joneses get into the market.

To learn how to be positioned in this sellers’ market, please call us at (203) 980-6886 or jonathan@carbutti.com.

The Spring Market is Here – But There’s No Reason to Rush

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You probably didn’t think you’d see this advice coming from a real estate professional but the truth is no matter how crazy it may seem out there, and trust me – it IS crazy out there – that does not mean you need to rush.

In fact, when I sat down to record this message for you today, I hadn’t really planned what I was going to say. I just knew that I had to share with you that within all the craziness that is our marketplace today, it’s important that you step back and carefully go through the process. Sure there will be homes jumping off the market. Sure you might fall in love with one, only to find that someone else snatched it up. But the important thing is to go into the process with your eyes wide open.

Realtors® Don’t Find Your Dream Home For You – They Make Sure You GET It
For most  homebuyers, this is the single largest financial transaction of their lives. So it’s critical that you are working with a Realtor® that knows and understands the industry. As I mentioned in my video, it’s not about finding you the right home – we all know that only you will truly know when you set foot inside your perfect home. But when it does become time to make an offer, you need someone that is there for you to provide all the relevant information needed to make a solid, strong decision.

So Much Information – Too Much Sometimes – Is Available Online
With the Internet as vast as it is, it’s no wonder to me how sometimes buyers walk in and they are armed with what they think is “all they need to know” about buying a home. There is so much more to it than just what you might read online. In fact, I caution you to be careful with what you absorb on the Internet.

Find a Broker With YOUR Best Interests In Mind
What you’ll find when you do a search for new homes in our area – is that Carbutti & Co. Realtors is the first name to pop up on Google (or whatever other search engine you choose). There’s a reason for that. Time and again, we have been voted “Best Realtor®” or “Best in the Industry” or numerous other accolades.

Here’s why: we take our clients’ goal of finding the perfect home, very seriously. We go to great lengths to make sure our buyers are fully informed about all that is at stake in the buying process. In fact, we’ve developed comprehensive guides, in multiple media formats to help you gain the maximum amount of information possible.
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As you’ll see in this video message I recorded for you, there are some things to be wary of. I caution you to be careful of being approached by real estate agents that represent the seller’s interest in an open house, for instance. Or when you obtain your financing offer from mortgage lenders, are you fully aware of what you’re really paying?

As your trusted  real estate professionals that are right here with the common goal to represent your best interests, Carbutti & Co. Realtors takes great pride in that special relationship we have with our clients.

Come see us today – we’d love to meet you in our office, at Starbucks down the road or anywhere else where you’d be comfortable. We look forward to making your dreams of owing the perfect home – come true!

Introducing the Carbutti & Co. Realtors Love It or Leave It® Guarantee!

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I’ve always said that if a company can’t stand by its product or service, there is no use working with them. So naturally when it comes to providing the invaluable services that we pride ourselves in giving our clients, we stand by what we offer to each person.

That’s why we developed the Carbutti & Company Realtors Love It or Leave It® Guarantee. It sounds like it’s designed to protect our buyers’ best interests and that is exactly what this program does. In fact, with the inception of this new guarantee, we are further attesting our pledge of finding you the perfect home for you.

The Love It or Leave It® Guarantee applies to each and every one of our buyers that purchases a home through Carbutti & Company Realtors and it provides buyers the peace of mind that if they are unhappy with their home – for whatever reason – in the first 12 months of their purchase, we will sell it for free. We will not charge a single cent for selling your home if you are not happy with the purchase.

Now, that’s a pretty hefty guarantee – and the reason we are able to provide this added reassurance to all of our buyers is because of our sheer confidence in our abilities. We know that our team will do what it takes and take as much time as needed to find you the home that you will love for years to come.

Worried about fine print? Trust us – there isn’t any. To see just how sure we are of ourselves, visit our website www.Carbutti.com, click on the “Buyers” tab and along with a host of useful resources you will see our Love It or Leave It® Guarantee.

Of course, if it’s easier to just pick up the phone or shoot over a quick email, we’re right here to explain our services and this fantastic guarantee – in a way that is convenient for you.

Call us today so you can comfortably enjoy your new home tomorrow!

Wallingford’s Real Estate Outlook in the New Year

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One of the most active areas in our real estate market these days is the single-family marketplace and today, there are fewer homes available than buyers are willing to buy. This poses a significant challenge, of course, for the myriad buyers looking to lock in the still historically low interest rates and great prices, while sellers continue to enjoy an edge.

Wallingford Real Estate Market Needs More Single-Family Homes

Right now, we have approximately 156 single-family homes available for sale whereas just a few weeks go that number was significantly higher at 190. This clearly indicates the constant activity going on in our area despite some of the recent setbacks that Mother Nature caused us to endure collectively as a region.

List Price and List-to-Sale Ratios Are Strengthening

Our average list price is right around $289,000 in the Wallingford real estate environment with the average number of Days on Market hovering at about 278 days. Interesting to note is that in terms of price decrease from the time a home was listed to the time it was sold, has gone down for the most part – to the tune of 24% as opposed to 34% in 2012.

Wallingford Continues to Trend Upward Toward a Seller’s Market

With this New Year, other changes also seem to continue appearing on the horizon; our Market Action Index is trending upward, indicating movement toward a stronger seller-centric marketplace. With 30 being the mean, anything above that level points to a seller’s market and anything below begins to indicate a buyer-controlled environment. Right now we are at 15.4 with the MAI trending upward.

The Time to Sell Is Now

For homeowners and homebuyers, this means that the market is ripe for activity – particularly for new listings. If you have been waiting and watching before deciding to put your home up for sale, now is the time to do it. With a significant advantage over buyers since there are fewer and fewer desirable homes available to them, there is a lot of room for negotiation. In fact, well-priced homes in great locations that are in good condition are typically selling in fewer than 30 days. That’s well below the average DOM for our area.
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For an honest estimate of what buyers in today’s real estate environment can be expected to offer on your home – we invite you to contact us. Our strong team will share expert opinions, based on years of experience, extensive research and of course our straightforward and no-nonsense approach to doing business.

We look forward to helping make your goals become a reality today!

One Local Real Estate Web Resource for All Your Buying and Selling Needs

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We know that when you’re buying or selling a home there is a lot to think about. And these days, time is money so before you decide to proceed with your real estate goals it’s only natural you want to be armed with as much information as possible. Before you get in touch with a real estate broker.

That’s why we focused on developing a simple, easy to use and high-impact website packed with valuable information, tools and market insight that you would expect to receive from your local real estate expert.

Visit the site to see how easy it is to use. From videos of past clients to market snapshot reports that evaluate home values and more, we have shared what we know from past clients to be the most benefit information to you in your endeavors. You will find links to mobile apps and our fantastic town tour series, giving you an inside look at each of our coveted areas of service. And if you want to do some in-depth research into your own property, just click on the homepage link “What is my home worth?” for a customizable view of properties sold in the area.

If you need to know it, chances are it’s on our website.

Now, it goes without saying that the moment you want to speak to a live person, we’ll be right there waiting to help you in any way you need. But in the interim, if you just want to “lurk” the market for a while and get a feel for things, we’re confident you’ll feel right at home on www.Carbutti.com.

And as always, the moment you’re ready – feel free to shoot us a quick email or call us for the one-on-one attention that you deserve.

A Toast to a Fantastic 2013 and a Great Beginning in Your New Home!

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Here it is, the year 2-0-1-3. And it is such a fantastic time for all of us! If you have been waiting and watching the market to find the perfect home, trust me this is the best time ever to get into it.

Sellers Eager to Close After the Holiday Season
Now that the Christmas lights are down, schools are about to re-open and business is back to usual – sellers are eager more than ever before to get their homes sold. When you have an eager seller, you have much more room to negotiate. If you have been sitting back while the holidays came and went by – now is definitely the time to jump back on the bandwagon and start up your home search again.

Interest Rates Holding Strong at Below 4%
With all this talk about the Fiscal Cliff, no one really knew where we were headed in the coming months or years. But now that we know a deal has been reached and consensus found, we can focus on enjoying the super low interest rates the Fed has elected to hold still for now. These are still historic low rates that one day, we’ll likely never see again. So it’s just smart to buy now, lock in these amazing rates and enjoy more house for the same monthly payment.

Pre-Spring Season Prices Still Low
One phenomenon we tend to see as more and more buyers appear on the market is the artificial inflation of prices.  What happens is that as multiple buyers express interest in one home, multiple offers and price wars become an issue. This artificial inflation of prices will temporarily impact the marketplace, so much so that you may not be able to get as good a deal as you would if buying now. As we move into the spring season, more buyers will be out wanting to lock in these rates.
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We invite you to get in touch with us; send a quick email, or call us to get started. One of our expert real estate advisors will be happy to help you find the perfect home of your dreams! And in the interim, here’s to another great year!