Answers by Keith Jean Pierre

Depends on what you are looking to use it for to be fair and how much risk you want to inherit so to speak.

Escalation clauses, if done properly, are a true asset. When I have a client win an offer while using an escalation clause, I require proof of the second highest offer.

This is unfortunately the downside of fluctuating rates. Also keep in mind, this can happen during the qualifying process as well if the period before purchasing and finding a home is a long period. Those expiration dates on those pre-approval letters are being held more stringently more and more these days.

If your market is heavy on Airbnbs, there is the option to market to those individuals looking for investment property.

Two weeks is WAYYYY too long. You will loose the momentum. As a person that does this with about 25% of his listings in 4 states; this is a bad idea. Never longer than a week.

Little reductions will kill you. If you discount a $500,000 home, say $3,000, yes it shows as a discount on the major sites to capture the eye, but when the consumer actually reviews it, and sees that it’s not significant, they tend to dismiss it. Consumers operate in brackets, meaning they shop up to their next price point. If your home is say, $495,000, they will shop up to $500,000. If you price at $505,000 but are willing to accept $495,000, they most likely won't see you. In this specific price range, a reduction of a minimum of $10,000 would be recommended and ideally $25,000.

Zillow is the number one website for these, and they used to be very highly rated, but as time has progressed, the consumer has realized that these values are terribly inaccurate. The only time I ever have someone site an internet estimate these days are people that have lived in their home for 20+ years and are not very in tune with the market

You can search sites like this, Zillow and Realtor.com for agents in your market that can assist.

Conventionally speaking, investments that people cannot "see" don't tend to carry the same financial return as "visual" enhancements. Doing this 20+ years, the new kitchen or bathroom has always brought more consumers in than the brand-new hot water heater or furnace.

Each market is different. 3 out of the 4 markets we operate in wouldn't even get 25% of that back. Florida is the exception but even then, $70,000 is steep unless the property is of major significance.

There are forms online that can show you estimates of breakdowns.

HOAs are how condo communities tend to function as well as some single-family communities. They handle anything from general maintenance to exterior property insurance, and everything between. Unfortunately, you are not able to opt-out and if there is a fear of increased HOA fees in the future, I would highly consider looking at properties that are not in an HOA. It is not uncommon for budget deficiencies or unexpected repairs to raise your monthly HOA fees significantly.

Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com & Craigslist should be good starts. That will give you a massive overview of the market and what is available.

The most common issue will be a buy out if this goes south, where one of you has to buy the other out, find a replacement person to take over, or sell the property.

We have had this arise many times in deals across the country. Most of our clients end up purchasing the property assuming it passes a home inspection and then only worrying about it when they go to resell the home. Many townships are rather understanding and if things need to be truly rectified, living in a home for 10 or 20 years with the feature tends to outweigh the remediation costs the township would require.

Yes assuming that you have enough equity in your current home to do so.

The best place to start would be to have a financial review and then determine where the best place is for the recently inherited funds.

Simply knock on their door on a nice day, I have found this to be the easiest way to do it. Very rarely do I have a negative reaction.

A co-op will run your financials so there is a chance this will be an issue.

Unfortunately, outside of reviewing the current HOA financials, there is no sure-fire way to determine if the HOA fees will ever increase. I always tell our clients that have this fear to plan for them to go up 50% over the next 5 years as a worst-case scenario.

More details would be necessary as "creepy" could be anything from weird noises to someone passing away. There are different disclosure laws in different states.

Rose Bushes are like a fixture inside of your home, an exclusion notation would be required to do so.

Usually there is a "Clear" feature which allows you to transfer or delete your information. If not, you can always replace the system with a new one.

Depends on the condition of the repairs and condition of the home currently.

More details would be required to properly answer this question; such as your current financial situation, comfort level, etc.

You do not "need" to replace the carpet, but the newer carpet will definitely draw the eye as opposed to "bad" carpeting. The happy medium, if it is still very usable would be to get a good steam cleaning done.

The key detail missing from this story is whether or not you signed a buyers agency representation agreement with this agent. That is going to determine your next move.

Dual agency seems to be accepted in your state so this is possible. This is absolutely normal. The major question is, has your agent given you any indication that she is not trustworthy? If not, I would say you should go for it, especially given it is the only offer currently on the table.

Definitely a little odd given on the context in this statement. I assume this is on the purchase side. I learned early on in this business, some things are better to not be further discussed. Me personally, I would not mention it again unless she does and then ask for further clarification at that point. People are people and as a result, things like this sometimes happen that are really not explainable.

Having a very specific timeframe for departure when selling a house is a difficult challenge as it rarely lines up perfectly. Your two best options are to wait until it is closer to your timeframe, but then you run the risk of not selling in time or selling now and then asking for a rent back until your desired timeframe. Best of luck with the move!

Typically buyers are present, especially if it is their first home. Not required, but typical.

Dustin, typically buyers are present to learn more about systems in questions and experience issues first hand as their are discovered. Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Ask your inspector to be upfront with you. Typically, during the home inspection, he is going to show you things to be aware of. It will be very obvious if the home is in severe disrepair.

Go around with the inspector, good inspectors tend to point things out to you that they think you should be aware of.

Pay attention to your inspector during the home inspection.

This is really personal choice. The benefits are that homes on main roads tend to be cheaper and have easy access, but the cons are lower resale and possibly alienating certain types of buyers, for example, ones with kids. Best of luck!

You can always do a hard money loan but the rate will usually be twice the market rate and that is a temporary solution you will need to refinance out of shortly after.

To you no, but to resale it might be an issue as homes in better school districts tend to sell higher than properties that aren't.

Seems like the police intervention was the proper move. Outside of speaking to the broker of the real estate firm, you have conducted the proper moves.

A GOOD home warranty tends to be worth it for older homes.

HOAs are the major difference between the two, followed by "stacked" living which can sometimes result in hearing your neighbors. The benefits of condos are that you typically don't have to worry about the exterior (unless fee-simple) and they are cheaper in terms of cost. The cons tend to be the HOAs fees if they raise exponentially and the sound of neighbors / lack of private space. I personally do not like the risk of HOAs so I tend to avoid condos if I can. I also like having a front and backyard, along with some private space.

Turkey vs fixer upper is a personal choice. A turkey home always comes at a premium price vs a fixer upper, but a fixer upper has the ability to customize to your desire but does require you to have the funds to do the repairs as you can't write it directly into your mortgage in most cases.

There is always the option of refinancing after purchase if you are waiting for rates to drop.

You can ask your agent to run the comps for you, which they already should be doing if you are drafting an offer

Zestimates do not see the interior of a home, and only uses exterior data and tax record data such as square footage and number of bedrooms/bathrooms. It can give you a ballpark, but it cannot hone in on exact value. I have regular occasions of their data being off by 10% or more. It's also ironic that when you list a home, the Zestimate changes almost immediately to a number relatively close to the list price of the home.

This is just the new normal in my opinion. Inventory isn't getting better any time soon sadly.

Not knowing how the process works will definitely put you at a significant disadvantage.

Cost effective renovations always produce a return if done properly and also allow the home to sell faster. You must also keep in mind, homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers, do not have the capital for renovations typically so they like the fact that they can write everything into a mortgage if the home is already done.

You can sell yourself but not knowing how the process works can put you at a significant disadvantage.

Making an offer on a foreclosure is not an easy task if it is not publicly listed. Banks have a process that they rarely deviate from and use REO agents. In 99% of these cases you would have to wait until the home is listed.

I always tell my clients that seller financing should always be a last resort due to the monumental risk if things go wrong. I would highly suggest a traditional sale with an aggressive launch campaign to get the momentum going.