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Showing Homes Amid COVID-19

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The Tampa real estate market has been waiting to understand the effects, if any, from the current COVID-19 pandemic. Some media outlets claim homes are being pulled from the market as homebuyers hesitate to make any big purchases among a see of layoffs. However, some real estate professionals are claiming they are busier than ever. If you are planning on listing your home, here are some important steps you can and should take to keep your home safe during this environment.

Post instructions for tours

Some sellers have posted specific instructions on their front door for any home tours. Sellers are requiring scheduled tours only and staying away from open houses. In addition, the posted instructions include wearing face masks and gloves. Some include taking off their shoes or wearing booties. Most will include using hand sanitizer throughout the tour our Lysol wipes to wipe down door knobs and counters. At the end of the day, you should require whatever is going to make you feel most comfortable and what will be safe for everyone.

Limiting home tours by using virtual tours

Staying away open houses is one thing, limiting scheduled tours is another. Some sellers are limiting tours to specific days of the week or specific time windows. This might seem counter-intuitive but with virtual tours available online, you don’t have to make your home as available. In fact, by using virtual tours you can filter out the more serious buyers from those who are just looking.

Keeping your house safe for everyone involved

As with any scheduled home tour, you will leave your home. In a normal environment you might go to the mall or a neighbor’s house to kill time until you can return home. Visiting others is not encouraged so you will need another plan. Where can you go if you need to be out of the house for thirty minutes or an hour? You should have a few places you know you can go at different time of the days when needed.

Staying safe should be the priority for everyone. You want your house to sell but you also want to stay healthy during the covid-19 pandemic. Take whatever precautions you need for your family’s safety and the safety of others. Your real estate agent will be happy to help you with these specifications and we will also take the same precautions.

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Do You Need A New Home Inspection Report If The Seller Already Has One?

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As you search to purchase a home you may come across a seller who has already had a home inspection completed. Possibly this was done as a pre-listing inspection or a previous buyer had an inspection completed and then the deal fell through. Either way, this could possibly be a big benefit for you and might mean you don’t have to shell out for a home inspection. However, before you get too excited, here’s what you need to know before deciding you don’t need to get your own home inspection.

Do you have access to the inspection report?

Access to the home inspection report is only given to the one who paid for it. This means if an inspection was completed by a previous purchaser, the seller won’t have access to the report and therefore can’t give you access. Unless somehow the buyer gave the seller a copy of the report, possibly in an effort to make negotiations. Even if they do, your lender is going to require a home inspection. You will need to find out if a second-hand home inspection report would be acceptable to your lender and home insurer.

When was the home inspection completed?

For a house that has been sitting on the market for a while, a seller may use a pre-listing home inspection as motivation for buyers. It’s one less thing a buyer has to pay for! Which sounds great, but you want to make sure the home inspection was done recently. Any home inspection report older than 90 days would not be as reliable. In fact, the most ideal report would have completed within 30 to 60 days. You also want to read the report thoroughly. Just because it was done doesn’t mean the inspector didn’t find any major issues. Some sellers believe just by knowing the issues a buyer would feel comfortable purchasing the house. But major issues should always be a major concern, no matter what the situation.

Who was the home inspection completed by?

You will want to research who completed the inspection report and decide for yourself if you feel they are a reliable company. If you are not familiar with a home inspection report then you may not know what to look for or how to read it. There are two things you need to do if you would like to depend on the home inspection report offered by the seller. First, find out who the home inspector or company was and give them a call. Do your due diligence to make sure they are a credible resource and a dependable, insured company. Second, ask the home inspector if they would review the home inspection report with you. They should be able to talk you through their findings and educate you about the house, including any concerns.

What is the home inspector’s policy?

Some home inspectors are not willing to honor the report if you did not order and pay for it yourself. You may also want to ask them if there are any warranties offered by the company that would be valid or invalid based on the transaction of the report. In this case, any findings or claims can be made by the homeowner only (the seller) and not the buyers. This does you absolutely no good if you run into an issue with the house, especially if it’s an issue with something expensive. Plumbing, electrical, or the roof is just examples of very important areas that need to be inspected thoroughly. If the report claims everything is fine and you find out something is wrong you may have a hard time holding the inspector or the seller responsible.

Ask your agent for their opinion

Your agent is seasoned and familiar. Ask them for their opinion! They can advise you on whether they think it’s a good idea to use the inspection report provided or order your own. Your agent will consider factors such as the seller’s history, age of the house, and other things you may not know to consider. Always use the resources you have around you when you can.

Divinity Inspection Services offers pre-listing home inspections. These inspections are specifically for a seller that wants to know more about their home before they sell it and also want to use the report as an incentive for buyers. A pre-listing inspection can also give the seller a heads up on anything that needs to be fix that might hinder a sale before they put their house on the market. Learn more schedule your home inspection now!

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The Continuing Struggle of Renting vs. Buying

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Tampa’s real estate has been on the rise, and 2020 will be no exception. Housing is not only projected to increase, but because the baby boomer segment is transitioning into assisted living, smaller homes are expected to rise in the market. At a time when real estate is an excellent investment opportunity, is it time to be renting or buying? If Tampa is such a hot market, why are so many people still renting homes instead of buying a home?

Renting is Currently More Expensive

In Tampa, renting an apartment will cost you an average of $1,300 per month. Many students report paying $700 for a room (with bathroom) in a 4×4 apartment, which means the total rent is $2,800. With low interest rates on mortgages holding steady, purchasing a home can cost as little as $1,000 per month (with insurance). In a simple comparison, if you qualify for a mortgage loan and you already know which neighborhood you would like to plant your roots, then buying a home is definitely your best option. However, not everyone wants to plant their roots. Welcome to the new generation of home buyers who are trying trying to pay off their student loans and find a job. They are not evening thinking about buying a home.

The Millennials are moving, a lot

Trending within the Millennial generation is the ability to move around. Freedom they call it. Paying more money for apartments all over the Tampa Area just so they don’t “settle down” too quickly. In fact, home ownership is the lowest it has been in over 50 years in the Tampa Bay Area! That is a pretty significant number. In addition, some of these newly-graduated Millennials are still struggling to find decent jobs and as such have not moved out of their parent’s spare room to their own home. Home-ownership is no doubt a tell-tale sign up our economy.

We won’t forget 2008

And neither will the younger generation who witnessed what their parents endured through the massive home foreclosures and job losses. The stench of a down-trodden economy still lingers in the air, making young adults more cautious of such a big decision. CNBC sums it up perfectly:

“People’s monthly student loan payments can eat up a large slice of their income, threaten to push down their credit scores and make saving nearly impossible — all huge impediments, of course, to landing in a house.”

Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/19/student-loan-debt-can-make-buying-a-home-almost-impossible.html

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Are You Ready To Buy A House? Home Buying Tips

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Going through the home buying process as a first time home buyer can be intimidating. Do you think you’re ready to buy a house? Here are some really helpful tips, collaborated by a variety of professionals, to help you take the right first steps.

Take a first-time home buying class

Did you know there are many resources which you can use to learn about the home buying process in detail? In fact, many mortgage officers will encourage you to attend one of these classes before you even apply for a mortgage. Here are a few things you will learn:

  • How to get prequalified and preapproved
  • How to find the right real estate agent
  • How to shop for your home and make an offer
  • How to obtain insurance and what kind of insurance you will need
  • When to have the home inspection and appraisal
  • Details of the process from beginning to closing

As you go through a class or seminar, some lasting as long as 8 hours, you will learn about each topic in detail. Don’t let the amount of information intimidate you, just take it one step at a time. Also, don’t forget that a good real estate agent will help you with each step as you take them.

The Paperwork for your financing

One task that many first-time home buyers are not prepared for is the amount of paperwork they will need to gather and provide for the financing. Not only will you need proof of income, but you will need proof of everything as it pertains to your finances. A good loan officer will tell you that the key to getting through this phase is organization.

In many cases, this phase is when many home buyers lose track of the little important things. For example, someone forgot to tell the home inspector that the water in the home runs on a well. Now you also need a water inspection and that takes longer – but you were supposed to close in a few days! So now closing could be delayed because a little detail got left out and had a big impact. Effective communication between your loan officer, your real estate agent, and your home inspector will make all the difference.

How to look for a home

You’ve been preapproved! Congratulations, it’s time to start looking for that dream home. Each individual approaches the actual home buying process differently. For example, you might look at homes that are outside your preapproved amount with the intention to negotiate on the price. Others might want to look under their preapproved amount. Some will wait until their real estate agent sends them listings, other will look for them on their own. There is no right or wrong way, just your way.

An important feature of your real estate agent will be assisting you in deciding on whether to make an offer on a home or not. They will provide pros and cons that you may not identify and also provide insight from a unique point of view. Your real estate agent will help you negotiate, if that is an option, and even help you understand resale value. Don’t take this for granted, it will make the process significantly easier. Lastly, your real estate agent will walk you through each step of the process until your closing day.

Every agent’s goal is to assist you in getting the best property at the best price with the least amount of inconvenience based on current market conditions.

The Best Time To Get A Home Inspection

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This may come as a surprise, but there are times that are better to get a home inspection. And it may not be what you think. In most cases, when you schedule a home inspection you are at the mercy of available days and times. Especially if you are:

1. Aiming for a specific closing date
2. Trying to close very quickly
3. Have a small window of time to conduct the home inspection

However, it is those homebuyers who have the patience and time that will truly benefit.

Summer rains are the best

In Tampa summer is for raining because it rains almost every single day. But, believe it or not, during the rain can be the most beneficial. There are things that happen only when it rains, and as a result, you can’t see it otherwise. For example, flooding. Maybe the driveway floods, or water gets into the garage, or puddles in the backyard. Identifying these, and other potential flooding issue, are only possible when water is around.

Granted, we cannot conduct a thorough inspection during a hefty storm. If lightening is present that prevents us from getting on the roof, which is certainly dangerous during a lightning storm. So keep in mind, if its possible for you to schedule your inspection on a day that is called to rain (which is almost every day) then you could really benefit.

Do a drive by at night

Before you close on any house you should always do a drive by in the evening. This gives you the opportunity to check lights, see the area in another “light”, and get a different perspective on the home. If you can also drive by during the rain that could be great for you too. Sometimes its not the house that floods, but the roads around the house. The last thing you want to worry about is a road that keeps a lot of water and you have to drive through it every time.

Don’t forget to call us for your home inspection needs. You want a reliable and thorough home inspector on your side.