An experienced agent is going to be able to tell exactly how serious a buyer is by asking just one question: Are you preapproved? I often hear this response from buyers, “I’ll get preapproved if I like the house.”

My team & I just did a Facebook live on this very subject. If you’re on Facebook – check out Real Estate – Here & Happy to Help to hear about my team talking on the subject of preapprovals on February 22, 2023 or you can go to: https://fb.watch/jyIXE2DpJo/

Of all the calls we get to see a home, 80% of these prospective buyers either can’t get preapproved at all or can’t get preapproved for enough, to get the home they’re asking about. 80%, 8 out of 10 calls are buyers who can’t afford to buy.

This piece of paper protects us, too. Think about it – Realtors are meeting perfect strangers in vacant properties all the time! Our job is dangerous, & this piece of paper – this preapproval – weeds out those with less honorable intentions.

So buyers…I’m going to give you the skinny with the What, so what, now what for preapprovals:

What is a preapproval?
As my teammate Karen has labeled it best – your preapproval is your shopping pass. It is proof that you’ve had a very brief conversation with a lender, & they have deemed you a viable buyer. With this preapproval, my team & I know not only what your buying power is but the type of loan that you’re qualified for – equally important.

When you get preapproved – Any good lender will take a peek at your credit, your income & your assets those 3 things – credit, income & assets – to determine not only your buying power but which loan program would be best. A lender’s responsiveness NOW – during this preapproval process – is an indication as to how responsive they’ll be throughout the entire home-buying process. If you’re working with a lender & are waiting days or weeks for a preapproval letter – you need to find a different lender.

A good lender will be able to think outside of the box & really come up with a great scenario to help you move forward.

That’s the “What” of a preapproval – SO What does that mean?

So What
As I mentioned, the preapproval tells me 2 things:

1. First off & most obviously, we need to know the AMOUNT of the loan
2. It also tells us the TYPE of loan that works for you.

There are certain loans that are location specific.
There are certain loans in which the condition of the home is going to be more important.

If I know that you’re a buyer preapproved with a USDA loan, & you’d like to see a $36,000 property in New Castle. That’s not going to work. I need to educate you on the areas & price range that we need to focus on for your loan type.

I do not want to tempt you by showing you $400,000 homes when you can only buy up to $150,000. Once you see a modern kitchen with stainless appliances & granite countertops and a refrigerator that orders your groceries & paints your toenails, you’re going to terribly disappointed when you find out you can’t afford it, & we walk into a house you CAN afford with avocado-colored appliances & four generations of wallpaper.

It’s not fair to you or the seller opening their home to you. Many times sellers spend hours cleaning up their home for a showing, relocating the pets, postponing the baby’s bedtime, they’re hanging out in the car with screaming kids to give you your privacy.

– What is a preapproval letter: it’s your shopping pass

– So what does it do:
1. It shows us you’re actually interested in buying a house & not a criminal looking for an easy target
2. It validates your price range
3. It tells us what homes will work for your loan type

Now What
You’re ready to house-hunt which means that you need to be preapproved. Not all lenders are created equal.

You’re going to get a mortgage maybe a handful of times in your life. Realtors work with lenders on a daily basis. We know which ones are good & responsive. We know which ones are MIA when crunch time hits. Your realtor will be able to guide you.

A good lender is local. A good lender is accessible. A good lender will give you their cell phone number. A good lender is available at 11 pm on a Saturday when you’re competing with another buyer to get your dream home & you need to run numbers.

Steve Janoski at GRA (cell: 724-612-0561) is my personal go-to for when I purchased my most recent home & when I refinanced. We have a lot of mutual clients, & his preapproval letters are as good as gold.

Lenders to avoid would be online lenders & out of state lenders. Online lenders & out of state lenders.  Online lenders aren’t giving you their cell numbers. Online lenders cannot be reached at crunch time. Out-of-state lenders often aren’t familiar with the specific & local taxes & practices in our area. In my experience, if you’re working with an out of state lender – that’s when you’re going to get those last-minute closing cost surprises. That’s when the numbers that you are working with at the beginning of your transaction become drastically different than the numbers we end up with when you’re at the closing table. I hate real estate surprises just as much as my buyers do. We can help to avoid that by working with local lenders.

Those 2 things should be a red flag for your realtor but ALSO a red flag for the sellers who are considering your offer.

SUPPLEMENTAL VIDEO CONTENT ON THIS TOPIC:
Why Get Preapproved

2 Types of Lenders to Stay Away From! – YouTube

Your Lender’s Reputation – YouTube

The difference between a BANK & a LENDER – YouTube

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com

This is the term that you’re looking for when you want a value on your home. The appraisal report comes from an impartial 3^rd party.

I just took an appraisal course for my broker’s license, & I do not envy the job of an appraiser nor do I pretend to fully understand all that goes into a complete appraisal. Please know that it goes well beyond looking up other recently-sold homes.

When a Realtor provides you with a pricing analysis of your home – this is NOT an appraisal. If you called me & say, “Hey, Katina… can you pop over to my house & give me an appraisal or an idea of what it’s worth?”  If you ask for an “appraisal” – that’s my trigger to explain some key differences:

• Realtors & appraisers are 2 different people with 2 different jobs.
• I provide a pricing analysis for free for my potential sellers. Appraisals are not free.

There are 3 basic reasons an appraisal would be ordered for a property:

1. The seller needs an official valuation of their property. They just may be curious, they may be settling a divorce or an estate, they may be using their home as some sort of collateral, they may be trying to figure out how much equity they have in the home to borrow against. A seller can order & pay for an appraisal whenever they would like, & it’s likely a few to several hundred dollars for an appraisal report.

2. The buyer is getting a mortgage, & the lender wants to make sure that the home is worth at least what they are loaning on it. In this instance, the words “impartial 3^rd party” are key. The buyer, even though they are paying for it, doesn’t have control over who the appraiser is. The seller doesn’t have control over picking the appraiser. Neither of the Realtors can weigh in on this decision. The bank or lender can’t pick them either. The lender orders the appraisal by some magical system that procures anonymity & random selection. The appraiser goes to the property & provides a report about 10 business days later with the valuation. If the appraised value meets or exceeds the agreed-upon sales price of that home – you’re good to go!
3. A buyer can get an appraisal on a property even if they’re paying cash. They can include an appraisal contingency into their offer saying “Hey, I’m willing to pay $X cash for this home SO LONG AS an appraiser validates this value. The buyer then hires an appraiser to provide the report. Even though the buyer selects the appraiser, the appraiser is still acting as a neutral party to come up with an objective value.Sellers:
   Sometimes, sellers want to get an appraisal on their home before listing it to confirm their asking price. Please know that this appraisal is only good for your information at that very moment. The appraisal that the seller pays for will not be counted as the one the bank/lender takes into consideration when confirming the loan value.

   Even if you pay for an appraisal & the value comes in at $300,000, for example. Once you have a buyer, their lender is going to require their own separate appraisal that is geared for that buyer’s loan type. If that appraisal comes in at a value of $290,000… then there’s a $10,000 discrepancy on the value that needs to be ironed out. This is where an experienced Realtor can help explain your options & the best way forward.

   Buyers:
   Just like many people confuse the words assessment & appraisal, just as many buyers confuse the goal of an appraisal with the goal of an inspection. Those are very different as well. There’s been more than one occasion when I’m writing up an offer for my buyers.

   I start to explain their inspection options, “You can get a home inspection which is about $400…” & the buyer interrupts me: “Oh, Katina – we don’t need an inspection… the bank will send out an appraiser.”

Big red flag! I halt everything & go into a deep dive of the difference. An appraiser may (Key word: MAY) flag some concerning structural items if these conditions affect the value of the home, but the goal of an appraiser is to come up with a VALUE, not CONDITION.

SUPPLEMENTAL VIDEO CONTENT ON THIS TOPIC:
Assessment vs. Appraisal

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com

As a Realtor, I could write a book about all of the craziness I’ve seen in this business. Let me tell you about a little house that that still has me scratching my head.

A few years ago, on an usually warm spring day, I pull up to a quaint ranch home in a perfectly tucked neighborhood just outside of Monaca. I arrived a few minutes before my appointment, & admired the adorable English-garden feel of the front flowerbeds as I worked my way up to the door. The lockbox in which the door was hung lead into a sunroom adorned with wicker furniture & floral-printed cushions. A floppy, overbrimmed sunhat had been precariously hung on the back of a thatched chair.

Before my client arrived, I zipped through the home getting my bearings & flicking on the lights. As I pulled open the curtains, streams of late-afternoon sun highlighted the brightly colored walls of each room.

The kitchen- a bright sunflower yellow. Fiesta wear & a collection of tea kettles – never meant for an open flame.

The living room – lavender – overwhelming yet pale at the same time. White distressed miniature tables tucked in the corners. Floral prints framed & perfectly placed in line with white door trim.

The master bedroom – periwinkle on each wall as well as the ceiling. A matching blue bedspread peppered with petite white flowers.

My client arrived, & even she, too, commented that it was as if each corner of each room was staged by a team of English-accented, tea-drinking grannies.

We work our way down to the basement where we see a throng of floral wreathes – rows upon rows – so many that each exterior door could have been decorated with a different one each month without repetition.

They were, however, hanging on a pegboard wall, & on that wall was a little tiny knob. Upon closer inspection, that tiny knob seemed to open a not-so-tiny door. My client was reading the label on the hot water tank, I called her over, “Laura, there must be extra storage space behind here!” Being ever so careful not to disturb the collection of floral garland, I turned the knob & tugged the door open a bit. There wasn’t enough light in the basement to spare for this secretive space. I tugged the door a big more, reached for my phone & shone the light inside.

What I expected was a collection of teddy bears or plastic totes of quilting scraps or anything else that matched the grandma-esque cottagey vibe. But what I saw was not any of those things. What I saw through the crack of light was a large tree stump – one from a tree that could have been 100 years old. It was flat, stable & came up about knee high. & there right in the middle of this stump, pitched at a 45 degree angle was the handle of a full-sized ax that was driven right into the center.

What the heck?! Why did this granny cottage have a hidden room in the basement?! Why did this hidden room look like it was made for beheading chickens or dismembering bodies?

Needless to say… the death room wasn’t mentioned in the property description.

If you ever need help selling an English cottage with a beheading room – I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com

I monitor 5 different counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence & Mercer to give you some broad strokes of insight. There’s a lot of different numbers to take into account when painting a statistical picture of our current real estate market.

I’m seeing that the average sales price in Beaver & Mercer counties are relatively the same as week prior – up just a touch at 2%. The biggest jump I’m seeing is in Allegheny County. The average sales price took a 25% jump from last week.

There’s a lot of trends that I’m seeing all along Western PA. In each county I’m evaluating, the median listing prices are increasing over last week. I find that the median price (rather than the average sales price) tends to be a better number to keep an eye on.

The actual number of total homes that sold is down in each of these counties varying from a 30 – 53% decrease. The sales price vs listing price ratio has dipped in each county as well – except in Lawrence County which is holding steady at 98%. That means if you’re looking in Lawrence County for an average $150,000 home, a reasonable offer is going to be around $147,000.

Available inventory in each of the counties is very quickly increasing, meaning that there’s more options for our buyers to look at & consider. However, Butler county – although still growing in inventory over all – isn’t seeing as big of a jump as the other counties. This is very likely due to the highly competitive Cranberry Township market. The properties in the Seneca Valley school district tug on this number a bit & is keeping it below the 120% + growth we are seeing elsewhere.

In short, there’s more & more options every day for buyers. Sellers have to put a little more effort getting the condition of their property up to par before listing, & they have to temper their listing prices to be more in line with the shifting market. However, those that do & those who hire a professional Realtor who can properly market their homes can expect a hefty dose of interest. Those are the sellers that are still sitting pretty with multiple interest.

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com

Let’s be honest – there’s a lot of BAD information out there. Real estate is HIGHLY local. What we experience in Pennsylvania is going to be vastly different than what my California counterparts are going through on the west coast. Advice that I give to my sellers in one area will not match my recommendations for a seller who lives 3 miles away.

If you are comparing your home with your neighbor’s house that listed & sold in September, you’re going to easily outprice your home in today’s market. We’re waiting for the data to catch up to what today’s trends are. So, when looking at comparable homes, a Realtor should be looking at the last 30 days, if possible. It’s sometimes hard to get a good sample size with that limited date range. The best way to get multiple interest is to price conservatively & have a Realtor that wow’s you with their marketing.

When I’m viewing a home, sellers ask all the time what they can do to make their home more appealing to buyers. My advice varies depending on the property. Sometimes, it doesn’t make sense for them to do anything at all. Sometimes it’s unlikely that they would reap any financial benefits if they were to update the bathroom, for example.

There is one thing, however, that doesn’t cost you a dime that you absolutely should do. Remove any Political Signs.

I’m not trying to squelch your freedom of speech, but I have buyers that can look past brightly-painted walls. Typically, buyers can ignore the abundant number of personal pictures that pepper your hallway.

We’ve had, though, 3 buyers who specifically mentioned that they wouldn’t put an offer on a house because of the heavy political affiliation of that & the neighboring homes. You want your home to appeal to anyone who is able to afford it, & removing politics from the equation helps you to do that.

VIDEOS RELATED TO THIS TOPIC:
Politics and selling your home – YouTube

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com

If you have a choice to listen to your drunk uncle Bernard’s advice about buying a home because he purchased a house 20 years ago & knows how it should go… or… listening to me – I would hope that you take a smidgen of this information into account.

The bad news is that even though the market is shifting, it’s still not the time to go in with low-ball offers. And how do we determine if your offer is reasonable? By pinning it against the Listing Price vs Selling Price for that area.

There’s a big difference between negotiating well for yourself & putting yourself completely out of the running by making unrealistic demands for a seller to consider. My advice: Go in fast, go in fair & get things cinched up before another buyer has a chance to show interest. As soon as there are multiple offers – you no longer, my dear buyer, have the upper hand. As soon as there is multiple offers, the negotiating ball is in the seller’s court.

We just recently experienced a very small tick down in interest rates, but they are still higher than what we’ve gotten spoiled with the last 2 years. There is a way, however, get a rate that’s 2 % LOWER than what everyone else is being quoted. The best news about a rate buy-down, you can build it into your offer so that the seller pays for it.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say that you were quoted an interest rate of 6%. When negotiating on a property, you can ask the seller to give back about 2.2% of the sales price & dedicate that amount to your rate buy-down.

With a full-price offer, & taking the buy-down into consideration, the seller is still selling their home for almost 98% (again, we’re currently at 96.5% in Lawrence County) So the seller still makes out. & When you close on the house, your rate – for the first year is 4%, not 6%. The second year – instead of 6%, you’re at 5%.

This gives buyers 2 years to stabilize their income & slowly grow into the 6% interest rate. If your Realtor isn’t familiar with this program, ask them to reach out to me, & I can put them in touch with a lender who can explain it to you & break down your numbers.

SUPPLEMENTAL VIDEO CONTENT ON THIS TOPIC:
Advice for Multiple Offers – what buyers & sellers need to know! – YouTube

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter

Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com
www.HereAndHappyToHelp.com