SarahGray Lamm ~ Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham Real Estate Blog ~ Agent Outlier

"I have over 60K hours of real life, real estate experience in NC and I'm not afraid to use it to help my clients successfully sell, buy or invest in a home in the Chapel Hill / Carrboro, Durham and Raleigh real estate markets!" SarahGray is associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolina's #1 realty company!

I'm a Buyer's Agent, Not a Set of Keys

 

Lori Liveston, a colleague in Massachussetts, has said it well...like Lori, I will always take the opportunity up front to make sure you completely understand the way a full service buyer's representative works to your benefit. We also need a chance to determine if we are a good match to accomplish your goals. Buying a home is fun but should also be informative, educational and leave you knowing you made a great decision. Just ask my clients!

 

Via Lori Liveston (Virtual Homes, Real Estate):

I'm a buyer's agent not a set of keys, and yup, there's a difference. 

Let me start off by saying, I'm not a high pressure sales person.  It is not my intention to talk you in to purchasing a home you don't want so I can pick up my check.  It IS my intention to make sure that we don't waste each other's time.

Requesting a meeting prior to showing you properties isn't just because "I'm a people person." 

This meeting is to explain the home buying process to you: Even if you have done your homework (and it's great if you have!), there is information that comes with my experience and you might just find it valuable.  This meeting is also to do what we call a "need assessment": This is where we talk about your needs and wants in a home, your timeline for purchasing, your price range and anything else that's important to you in the purchase of your new home.  This meeting is to go over important disclosures that I am legally obligated to provide you with:  At this meeting I will present you with the Agency Disclosure that I am obligated by law to provide you with.  This is a two page document that explains the different types of agency that can be provided to individuals in a real estate transaction.  I will also present you with a disclosure that explains the home inspection process (which can be daunting, particularly for first time home buyers) and the different types of inspections offered.  

While the internet is an invaluable tool in finding the homes you want to see, I can help!

As a local real estate professional, I have probably been inside some of these houses already.  Which means, that I can tell you why there are no pictures of the third bedroom (because it's an 8x8 cell with no light and a pet stained carpet that you are only going to be able to use for storage).  Because I understand the type of financing you will be using, I knowthis foreclosure property isn't worth looking at (because it will never qualify for FHA financing.... and since we sat down together to go over your financing needs, I already know you are going FHA). 

Presenting you with a buyer agency agreement doesn't mean that I want to trap you into working with me and then stop working hard to keep you as a client.

The buyer agency form is a committment from BOTH OF US.  It commits me to represent you and find you a property, and it commits you to not use another agent in purchasing a property.  We can make this commitment for as long or short a period of time as you like.  Does it help me out to know that you are serious about purchasing a home and that my time isn't wasted? Sure.  Exclusive agreements have been used by on the seller's side for a long time, because we recognize that in order to sell a house in the quickest amount of time and with the best terms possible, that requires a commitment from both the seller and their agent.  The same principals apply to the buying side of the transaction.  

Bottom line, I don't want to work with you if you don't want to work with me. 

Let's face it, you are going to be spending your free time with me looking at homes, that's a pretty big deal and I don't want to be a part of it if I am not going to improve that process for you.

If you'd like to know more about how I can help you as a buyer's agent in buying a home in Waltham, MA or the surrounding area, call me (781-799-9267) or email me lori.liveston@virtualhomes.com.

 

 

About the author: This blog is provided by Lori Liveston, a Realtor with Virtual Homes Real Estate. Lori can be reached via email at lori.liveston@virtualhomes.com or by phone at 781-799-9267. Follow me on Twitter @loriliveston

If you are thinking of buying or selling your home, contact me today!  I would love to put my enthusiasm, marketing expertise and dedication to customer service to work for you.

For a FREE no obligation home search tool sign up at my home search site.

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I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Waltham, Lexington, Watertown, Billerica, Burlington, Woburn, Newton, Needham, Dedham, Framingham, Ashland, Natick, Hopkinton, Upton, Arlington, Weston, Wayland, Belmont, Concord, Lincoln, Bedford and Winchester.

 

 

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It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate professional in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina with over 60,000 hours of experience. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers, home buyers and investors in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County and is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company.

Use of content from the AgentOutlier blog without the express permission of the owner is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Disclaimer: Comments and contributions via ActiveRain.com (or other electronic or print media) do not establish an agency relationship with any third party. Blog posts are intended to be informational only. Please be advised that real estate practices vary by region, from state to state and from market to market. The information contained herein does not constitute legal advice. All parties in need of legal, accounting, tax, or real estate guidance are directed to consult with the licensed professional of their choice. Please seek specific guidance from a retained professional in the specific field(s) required to service your interests.

August - Time For My Newest Home Owners To Panic!

I love August! I get to hear from almost every one of my newest home owners! This is the month that North Carolina tax bills arrive. I should be getting mine soon judging from the emails in my inbox and the text messages on my blackberry.

There are many reasons why first-timers are some of my favorite clients, not the least of which is that you are so excited about your newest venture in life – being a home owner. But I’m sure you know that enthusiasm sometimes overshadows the not so exciting information we ask you to absorb during the closing process. 'How to pay a tax bill' seems to be at the bottom of any list of to-dos for a newbie. I get that. But by August, tax bills are at the top of that list. Nothing better than a bill from the state for thousands of dollars to get your attention.

New Home owner  and property tax bill

Here’s a little rewind for those of you who may have missed this little tidbit at the closing table.

“Sometime in August you will receive a bill for your property taxes from your county in North Carolina. Hang on to it until you make your mortgage payment for September. Slip that bill into the envelope with your monthly payment and send it right on over to your lender. They will pay the bill.

When we went to closing the lender escrowed the portion of the taxes paid by the seller for the time they lived in the house. You still have September thru December to make your mortgage payments and a portion of that is being escrowed to make up the portion of the taxes you owe for the time you have lived there. The lender will send a check to your county in December – they just don’t know exactly how much or where to send it until you give them the bill!”

I know, I know, I could call you all in July and remind you but how much fun would that be? Today I got a great email from a young client who told me that when the bill for thousands of $$ arrived yesterday her husband remembered something I’d told them about it. (points) He checked his iPhone and there it was “Don’t Pay The Property Tax Bill.” She figured there was more to the story. She also invited me over to celebrate their little ones birthday on Saturday. (score!)

Many of you could be my kids and sometimes there is a perverse pleasure in the moment you get a panic call from a kid and you get to solve the problem with a simple solution and your kid is forever grateful. Don’t know what I mean? Ask your mom.

 

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AgentOutlier RSS Feed AgentOutlier Facebook Page Icon AgentOutlier Twitter Icon SarahGray Lamm LinkedIn Profile icon

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate professional in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina with over 60,000 hours of experience. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers, home buyers and investors in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County and is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company.

Use of content from the AgentOutlier blog without the express permission of the owner is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Disclaimer: Comments and contributions via ActiveRain.com (or other electronic or print media) do not establish an agency relationship with any third party. Blog posts are intended to be informational only. Please be advised that real estate practices vary by region, from state to state and from market to market. The information contained herein does not constitute legal advice. All parties in need of legal, accounting, tax, or real estate guidance are directed to consult with the licensed professional of their choice. Please seek specific guidance from a retained professional in the specific field(s) required to service your interests.

It's ONLY A Buyers Market If You ACTUALLY Buy!!!

My little sister called me the other day and in an excited voice declared, “I think I might need to look at houses…It’s a GREAT time to buy a house right now, you know!”Little Sis

After the pregnant pause ensued (the one where my condescending big sister brain struggled with my professional Realtor brain) I finally said, “No? Really? What makes you think that?” (You can tell which brain won out.)

“Well. I have a friend who just got a fantastic deal on a house and I think it might be time for me to think about looking!”

Ok, so which part of what I have been saying for months now did she miss? Apparently, the same part that ALOT of buyers are missing…that would be the part that sounds just like Charlie Brown’s teacher talking whenever somebody you aren’t listening to tells you something: Wah, wah, wah, wah…

It’s been on TV; it’s been on the radio; it’s been in print and on the web…where hasn’t it been if you’re a professional Realtor and tuned in to everything real estate ever since they first uttered the words U.S. HOUSING CRISIS!

But here’s the thing… if you are just another economic-shell shocked human being wondering what happened while you were busy enjoying the last twenty years of your life, it may well BE the first time you are realizing it! After all, we all know sellers who still don’t seem to understand that a buyer’s market means that they, too, will not be seeing the profit from the sale of their home that their neighbors saw last year. What in the world makes us think those same folks are out there telling their friends and relatives that they just heard it’s a great time to buy a house!

Its human nature to think that, as long as your world doesn’t seem to be terribly different, then all those problems THE MEDIA is describing must be happening to other people! After all, if you hadn’t really saved that much for retirement, you might not notice that 401Ks everywhere have become 201Ks. If you’re just getting started thinking about long term career goals, job loss statistics are probably lost on you. And if your friends and family don’t have to sell their houses any time soon, you may not have heard that the prices sellers are getting for their homes are easily 10 to 20 to (gulp) 50% less (depending on where you are) than last year’s sellers got for their homes. Just as this past presidential election cycle was the longest in recorded history, so too, it seems to many of us, is the recovery from the housing crisis. But if you don’t vote…or don’t want to buy a house…who cares? It’s only a Buyer’s market if you actually BUY!

Let’s face it, those of us in the business are fully aware that we are in the army now…if we, as professional Realtors, can get some of this housing inventory sold, we will have begun to win the battle that will lead to winning the war! And if we can win the war to get the housing market back on track, we will win the war to get the whole U.S. economy back on track! We are the key! (How’s that for a pep talk?!)

So what do Realtors have to do to get buyers to see that this is serious business? The government is anteing up $8000 in tax credit to get some of you moving. In fact FHA is getting ready to let you use that $8000 as part of your down payment…without having to wait until after closing! Combine that with unbelievable, never before seen, never again to be seen in this lifetime, interest rates (which, by the way, are just as fantastic for those of you who don’t qualify for the tax credit) and you guys should be fighting to get on my schedule to look at homes! I mean full on, no holds barred, hair pulling,fighting!

Oh, I know you’ve called me and we’re trying to get together...but, what with your vacation and all…how ‘bout next month? I even know a lot of you are working with other agents because you’re looking at my listings and you’re even having your agents call me to see if anybody else is looking at the house you like. But what’s up with having your agent write up a preliminary offer, spend days verbally sparring with me and my seller before reaching a tentative agreement, and then I don’t see another thing in writing from you for two weeks?

Spectator SportBuying a home is not a spectator sport! It is a major and serious step toward achieving the American Dream. You’ve heard of that haven’t you? That’s when you get a pretty little piece of dirt with a cozy little roof over your head to come home to after a hard day at work! A place to call your very own and nobody (well except for the HOA, and, of course, your Realtor when it's time to sell) can tell you what to do there! It's a place where you can paint the walls any color you want, invite friends over whenever you feel like it or get a puppy!

Give us poor Realtors a break… we've done all the work already, helping our sellers see that they need to provide you with a home in really great condition and at a really great price (no they aren't happy about that last one but THEY trust us.) How can you go wrong?

So, little brothers and sisters, I'm here for you! I promise to show you opportunities you won't believe are available! I promise to walk you through the process every step of the way and answer ALL your questions and teach you really COOL stuff about home ownership! I'm telling you there is a SALE, a REALLY BIG SALE on real estate right now and you shouldn't miss it!

I mean seriously, when it’s all said and done, when did your big sister ever really steer you wrong? Don’t answer that…. 

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AgentOutlier RSS Feed AgentOutlier Facebook Page Icon AgentOutlier Twitter Icon SarahGray Lamm LinkedIn Profile icon

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate professional in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina with over 60,000 hours of experience. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers, home buyers and investors in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County and is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company.

Use of content from the AgentOutlier blog without the express permission of the owner is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Disclaimer: Comments and contributions via ActiveRain.com (or other electronic or print media) do not establish an agency relationship with any third party. Blog posts are intended to be informational only. Please be advised that real estate practices vary by region, from state to state and from market to market. The information contained herein does not constitute legal advice. All parties in need of legal, accounting, tax, or real estate guidance are directed to consult with the licensed professional of their choice. Please seek specific guidance from a retained professional in the specific field(s) required to service your interests.