How to Avoid Losing a Multiple Offer Situation

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Recently, we talked to some frustrated buyers in the Wexford area. They were able to find homes that interested them, but when they made an offer, they found themselves beat out by a competing one. To help you avoid the same fate, we want to share some tips to help you make the most of these situations.

As soon as you find out that there are other buyers interested in the same property as you, your negotiating power shrinks substantially. The way you present an offer changes in this situation, and as your expert advisors, we would suggest taking a look at that list price and figuring out what is the best and highest offer you would be willing to make on the house.

But it's not only about price when buying. When you go to make an offer, you need to take a look at the terms and conditions, and decide what you can change and tweak to make the offer really stand out. If you can afford to put more money down, we suggest going in as a conventional buyer; if you can cut your 60-day closing timeframe down to 30 days, do it. These are things that are huge in the buyer's eyes and will make your offer stand out from your competitors.

The biggest thing we recommend to buyers is that they change their commitment date. If the commitment date is a week or two before the closing date, we suggest decreasing it to show the seller that you're serious!

If you have any questions about making the most of multiple offer situations, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to give you a hand!

Real Estate Advice from Ellen DeGeneres

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Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

I love The Ellen Show, and watch whenever I’m able to. The other day, I was watching the show and Ellen was talking about how much she loves real estate and how much she enjoys buying and selling homes. She said she knows that people often don’t know what they are getting into when they go to buy a home, so she is here to help.

I encourage you to watch the full video above, as I can’t quite capture Ellen’s unique wit and humor in my writing, but I will try. Some agents will do whatever they can to get people to see a home, including providing misinformation about the home. Here are some buzzwords and phrases that Ellen says you should watch out for if you’re looking for a home:

• Potential: As Ellen puts it, this could mean that the home “has the potential to turn its yellow mold into black mold.”

• One-of-a-Kind: This is another word to look out for. The reason the home is one-of-a-kind is maybe because the builder is now in jail and can’t build any more homes.

• Cozy: When an agent uses the word cozy, cozy means tiny, small, and cramped.

• Seller is Motivated: A nice way of saying: “This home has been on the market a long time, and we’ve lost all hope of selling it.”

• Classic, Retro, Original: All of these words mean “old.”

If you have any questions for us about what you should be looking for in a home search, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to help out any way we can.

Finding a Wexford Home Is Easy If You Know Where to Look

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Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

The Internet has dramatically simplified the process of searching and finding homes. Websites like Realtor.com, Trulia, and Zillow have all been instrumental in allowing the average consumer to look at properties and learn more about their local real estate market.

While these websites are great resources for beginners, I wouldn't recommend them to everyone. The information presented is often inaccurate and outdated. Zillow is notorious for their inaccurate home valuations, which can be up to 10% off depending on the home and the neighborhood.

So, what are better places to look for homes online?

One of them is the MLS (multiple listing service), but you need access from your local Realtor and it is not so easily navigated. This is the most accurate source of homes on the market, but it may not be the easiest for you.

The best option you have is to subscribe to expert advisory emails. These give you all the brand new listings, and the best homes are displayed right to you. To get started, you simply fill out a questionnaire about what type of properties you're looking for, and when similar homes pop up on the market, you're notified about it. It's very simple and accurate.

If you need help looking for homes in Wexford, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always here to help you with your real estate needs!

Why Can't You Always Trust a CMA When Selling Your Wexford Home?

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Today, I want to warn you about a mistake many sellers have made recently. If you're not careful, the CMA can cause you to lose money when selling your home!

The evolution of the internet has caused the way we price homes to change. If an agent is coming in and doing a CMA, you have to wonder whether you're leaving money on the table. It used to be that an agent would go to the MLS, pull up comparables, and come back and give an estimate of how much the home might be worth. This way of doing things is no more!

Today, a good agent is an expert advisor, and someone you want to work closely with to find the value of your home. Your expert advisor will do the counseling interview to make sure that they have all the information about your home, your time frame, and other important aspects so that they know how to price the home. We will then make sure you get the top ten selling tips to help you make the most money.

An expert advisor is priceless because they will also go over the steps to selling your home. They will break the process down piece by piece so you know exactly what to expect when selling. The marketing analysis we do goes back 3-4 years, instead of just 6-12 months, so we can determine what current trends mean for the pricing of your home! It's an in-depth process that we have mastered over the years.

If you have any questions about how we can make the selling process go as smoothly and successfully as possible, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to show you what we can do!

Why Should You Work with an Expert Advisor When Buying?

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Buyer agency has evolved greatly in our market over the last 20 years. In the past, you would call an agent that is listed on a for sale sign or an open house sign, and talk to them. They would get your contact information, and they would keep in touch if they found anything that matched what you were looking for. This process has evolved greatly. 

Buyer agency in 2015 is all about working with expert advisors. I have a team of expert advisors who can offer you the best possible service on your home purchase. One of the services we offer is a buyer consultation, where we go through every single aspect of what you are looking for in a home. It's a great way to figure out what you want, and improve the way you find homes that are a good fit. 

Another document we share with our buyers is the "buying process" flowchart that takes you from step to step in the transaction process, detailing everything along the way. 

Finally, we also like to provide all our buyers with the top 10 buying tips for saving money, getting the best interest rate, and more. These tips are so important for a successful transaction, we want you to know about them all. After we provide you with these documents, we are going to get you set up with an advanced home search that takes into account all of the criteria you want in your home. When a home matching that criteria comes on the market, we can let you know right away with an email or call!

If you're thinking of buying and are interested in working with a team of expert advisors, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to help out!

What Will Rising Interest Rates Do To Your Affordability?

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Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Interest rates are at historic lows right now, and if you wait to buy, you will end up paying for that decision down the road!

I was recently reading an article in Keeping Current Matters and it was speaking about interest rates. This article pointed out that if interest rates keep rising in the next twelve months, buyers may face a steep penalty in the form of worsening affordability. 

For example, in just a year you will end up paying an average of $18,672 more over the lifetime of a loan. 

It's been estimated that if you wait a few years, you'll be throwing away nearly $55,000!

This is why it's so important to buy right now if you've been thinking about it. 

If you're ready to buy, I suggest that you sit down with a lender and figure out what exactly you can afford to purchase. I have preferred lenders that I could refer to you, so please don't be hesitant about beginning the buying process.

Now is the time to buy a home in Wexford!

Five Home Seller Mistakes You Need to Avoid

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Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

This is a good time to be on the market selling your home, so I thought I'd give you some tips and guidance on how to sell your home without too many headaches. I'll be going over some common mistakes that are made in the selling process and why they need to be avoided. 

1. Getting too emotional: You need to remember that this is a business transaction and that the goal is to sell your home for the most amount of money to the most qualified buyer. Take a few steps back and think about what you're doing before you act.
2. Not negotiating: Negotiation is crucial in real estate. You have to play the game if you want to win.
3. Putting too many restrictions on your home: You need to let buyers view your home, so you need to be available and willing to let them in if you're serious about selling.
4. Pricing your home on what you need to net: You need to price your home according to the market value. Otherwise you're just pricing yourself out of the market.
5. Not keeping your home current: Your home needs to be priced to sell, and with changing market conditions this can sometimes take a little bit of work. You'll have to adjust your price if you're serious about selling quickly and for top dollar.

Hopefully this information can be useful to you if you're planning on buying or selling this year.

If you have questions about anything that I've covered, please be sure to contact me. I am always here to help you with your Wexford real estate needs!

Five Buyer Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Buying a Pittsburgh home? Click here to search Homes for Sale
Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

 As we head into the busy spring market, I thought it would be appropriate to speak about five common mistakes that buyers tend to make when purchasing a home.

1. Not being pre-approved: This is extremely important if you're looking to buy a home. You will look more serious in the eyes of the seller, and you will know what type of home you can afford to buy.
2. You can find a home by yourself: A lot of buyers are simply turning towards the Internet to find homes, and while that is a very useful tool, it simply can't replace the experience of a professional real estate agent.
3. Calling every agent you can: Using multiple real estate agents is not recommended. As soon as you call one, the home that you want will probably be under contract and you'll find yourself a day late and a dollar short.
4. Not sitting down with an expert: If you don't communicate with a professional about the process of home buying, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities to find good homes. Also, your process will not be as smooth and streamlined as it would be otherwise.
5. Thinking you know everything: Accepting help from a professional is in your best interest. The process of buying and selling homes is complex, and that is why there are professional real estate agents. Plus, purchasing a home is a huge investment, so you need to utilize the experience of a professional.

Hopefully this advice will be helpful to you if you plan on buying a home this year. It's an excellent time to purchase, as affordability is currently sky-high.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns!

How Can You Generate Demand for Your Wexford Home?

Buying a Pittsburgh home? Click here to search Homes for Sale
Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

Today, I want to discuss an important program for anyone who is looking to buy or sell in the busy spring market. The program is called Coming Soon Listings. 

As a seller, it benefits you by pre-marketing your home before it's even on the MLS. We will sit down with you and go through the pricing, staging, and photography processes before your home is available. Then, we'll go back to our database and send out an email blast to thousands of buyers who are waiting for the perfect home. In addition, we'll send an email blast to all the buyer's agents we work with, so they can inform their buyers of your home if it matches their specific needs. The idea is to create pent-up demand before your home ever goes live. If all goes according to plan, we will create an environment where you receive multiple offers.

As a buyer, the Coming Soon Listings program helps you because you get to see listings before any other buyers. We'll send you an email as soon as we are working with a new seller, and give you all the details about the home so you can drive past and get a feel for it long before it goes live. You will have an opportunity to ask for any additional information and get a sneak peak of upcoming properties!

As you can see, there are many advantages to the Coming Soon Listings program. If you would like to benefit from this wonderful program, give me a call or shoot me a quick email. I would love to help you get a leg up on the competition this spring!

How to Simplify Your Wexford Home Search

Buying a Pittsburgh home? Click here to search Homes for Sale
Selling your Pittsburgh home? Get a free Home Price Evaluation

 Email me for the complete Home Buyer Checklist

With the return of spring, we're expecting a lot of new home buyers to come onto the market. If you've never purchased a home, then the process can seem complex and intimidating.

However, we offer a free Home Buyer Checklist to simplify the process. We understand that buying a home can be tedious and overwhelming, but with the help of this small booklet, we can offer our expertise. With this booklet you can do a comparison of neighborhoods to determine which home would be the best fit for you. This booklet also compares zoning issues and utility costs in different neighborhoods, among many other things. It will allow you to pick the perfect home out of many other good properties.

This is just one way that we provide you with a better real estate experience at the SAYHAY Team. If we could be of assistance to you when you're buying homes in Wexford, please don't hesitate to contact us!

How Can You Find a Team You Can Trust?

There are many great Pittsburgh area homes for sale. Click here to search Homes for Sale, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (412) 303-3600 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

 
Today, I want to take the time to introduce you to the SAYHAY Team and briefly explain what we do!

First, I want to tell you a little about what I do. My responsibility is the overall operation of the SAYHAY Team. My job is to make sure buyers and sellers are receiving the highest level of customer service. I work with buyers and sellers directly to ensure all their needs are met.

Susan Formhals is our Customer Care Coordinator. She handles all the new leads that come into our system. She's responsible for interviewing them, finding out what their needs are, and helping them with other vital steps early in the process. 

Heather and John are our buyer's agents. They sit down with the buyers and walk them through the process. Additionally, they will go over all the closing costs and ensure buyers are pre-approved before they start looking at homes. They check the criteria that Susan gives them and check the VIP Home Search System to ensure everything is done properly. Communication is key when it comes to our buyer's agents, so you can expect a call from Heather or John AT LEAST once a week, if not once a day. 

Cindy Bodnar Winslow is our listing and closing coordinator. She is the behind-the-scenes person who makes sure the deadlines and time frames are met, the paperwork is processed, all the listings are on the proper websites, the showing system is set up, and much, much more. 

Colleen McIntyre is our operations manager. She makes sure all the systems the SAYHAY Team uses are functioning properly and up to date. She coordinates our advertising, SEO, and taglines for our listings, so that she can match interested buyers and sellers.

If you would like to meet our team personally, or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. We would love to get to know you!

How we helped Dan buy a home by always being there

"I got very positive results. Judi answered all of my questions, and she was always there for my needs. I had done a lot of research on the mortgage, and she took that information and got me a better deal!"