Stepping Through the Buying Process

So you're thinking about purchasing a home, but you're not quite certain where to begin. Throughout the next several entries, I will outline -step by step- the best method for finding just the right home!

Step One- Find Yourself a Buyer's Agent

APPOINTING AN AGENT:

Once you have decided that you’re ready to buy a home, it’s time to find a real estate agent. It’s true that the Internet has come a long way in allowing home buyers to search the web for homes that meet their criteria. Additionally, I can’t argue that spending a Sunday going around looking at open houses isn’t a lot of fun (because it can be!). However, I can say for certain that having your very own agent is the most efficient method of finding YOUR home.

SHOULD YOU HIRE A BUYERS AGENT?

The benefits of having your very own buyer’s agent are numerous! See below for a list of the full range of services provided!

FINDING THE RIGHT AGENT FOR YOU

It’s essential that you have a good rapport with the real estate agent that you decide to work with, as you will likely be spending a lot of time together. Your real estate agent should be thrilled to work with you and also be well acquainted with the areas of town you’re interested in.

HOW ARE BUYER'S AGENTS COMPENSATED?

You may be amazed to learn that buyer's agent services are (in most cases) free to the buyer! In most instances, the listing broker of the home you purchase pays the buyer’s agent.

HOW DOES BUYER AGENCY WORK IN WISCONSIN?

Understanding Buyer Agency:

Buyer Agency is an agreement between agent and buyer in which the agent represents the buyer throughout the entire buying process. Buyer Agency was created in response to buyers’ desires to have agents work in their best interest as opposed to the sellers’ best interest.

Services Provided by Buyer's Agents:

• Express a professional opinion of the seller’s asking price, based on a home valuation

• Recommend & assist you with negotiation strategies for best price/terms

• Negotiate exclusively on your behalf throughout the transaction

• Analyze a seller’s property beyond disclosing defects

• Advise on, write the offer, and draft provisions in your best interests

• Protect your confidentiality

• Treat you honestly and fairly

• Respond honestly and accurately to questions concerning the property

• Provide community data and current market conditions

• Present contract proposals in an objective and unbiased manner

• Accompany you to the closing and assist you throughout the process

• Disclose “adverse facts” about the property

In short, buyer agency representations allow the agent to bypass the Wisconsin state law that states that the agents' duties are singularly to the sellers (of the homes the buyer is viewing). The Buyer's Agency Representation therefore switches the agents' fiduciary duties over to the buyer.

How you can be a Foxy Madison Home Buyer

In the current local real estate market, buying a home in Madison can be simultaneously more accessible and more challenging than in earlier years. There are presently several fantastic advantages to buying a home in Madison. To start with, we are currently in a buyer’s market: prices are lower, but it also means there is a large supply of homes for sale that you have to wade through to find your “perfect” home. 

Purchasing a home can seem almost effortless when you know how to be a Foxy Madison homebuyer.
Follow these home buyer guidelines to purchase the home of your dreams with less stress and at a great value:

Consult with a lender first. 

Sellers feel more comfortable negotiating with buyers who are pre-qualified (better yet, pre-approved) for financing adequate to purchase their home. The pre-qualification or pre-approval may also save you time by allowing you to consider homes that fall specifically within your price range.

List your current home before searching for another home. 

Contracts contingent upon the sale of your current home tend to obscure the buying process, which in turn, significantly reduces your negotiating power. Under these conditions, sellers tend to be reluctant to compromise on other aspects of the agreement (i.e. price, dates, closing costs, etc.)

Don’t skip out on having the home inspected- by a licensed professional. 

Buying a home is no doubt one of the most substantial purchases you will ever make, so give yourself peace of mind by having a professional determine that the structure and other important aspects of the home are in decent condition. During the home inspection, a licensed inspector will take a methodical, unbiased look at the home to determine that there aren’t any structural or mechanical defects that may have a negative impact on the structural integrity, the safety of occupants, or the value of the home.

Don’t get caught up in the small, insignificant details.

Always keep your mind focused on why you are buying a home. Your “why” is the bigger picture, the lifestyle that you are seeking. Don't nitpick minute details that ultimately won’t matter in the end.

If you’re ready to buy a home in the greater Madison area, contact me and I'll help you get it at the best value and with as little stress as possible.

Can You Swing a Hammer?

-Me & Jodie-

Measuring, cutting, and installing the foam insulation!

The trusses we put up and a beautiful blue sky.

Stark Company Realtors Annual Habitat for Humanity day was a blast! There's nothing like sweating it out for a good cause! For information on ways you can help, visit: http://habitatdane.org/

The Awareness Chasm

In this entry, I’d like to address the current portrayal of the housing market in daily media. The abundance of inconsistent information in the headlines is cause for great confusion among prospective homebuyers and homeowners alike. These reports are at times not especially enlightening and often lack depth and completeness. This is not to say that there is not more mindful media available on the current status of the housing market. Relevant, insightful articles do exist, but they’re often featured in business-focused journals, news sections, and blogs, which may require greater effort and curiosity by reader to seek out. Therefore, the all too often occurrence of the catchy, attention-grabbing negative headlines cloud the consumers’ perception and create a prevailing negative view of the housing market. I urge you to take the following into consideration: despite the doom and gloom portrayed by the media, much of the refined analysis about housing is vastly positive. An article recently published in The Wall Street Journal (linked below) is very optimistic in detailing how the housing market is poised to make significant gains. Overall housing affordability has dropped beneath pre-housing bubble levels in more than two-thirds of the country, raising affordability to an all-time high. Additionally, interest rates are low, demographics are encouraging, and household formations are on the uptick. This isn’t to say that conditions in the housing market are perfect, because they have much room to improve, but things are most certainly looking up. 

Wall Street Journal - Why It's Time To Buy
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576361522020024248.html

Favorite Cities

There is so much to adore about Madison.

Each day I am surrounded by picturesque visions of nature's elegance. 

I captured these photographs on the Uw-Madison campus 

just before an impromptu lunch date at Dotty Dumpling's Dowry 

with the hubby.

If you ever find yourself with a craving for a scrumptious gourmet burger, Dotty Dumpling's is the place!

http://www.dottydumplingsdowry.com/old/

I could go on and on about all of the things that make Madison my favorite city,

but I'd rather hear from you! 

What's your favorite city?

Out with the gloom, in with the BLOOM!

With Earth Day fast approaching, it’s time to tidy up that landscaping and get those gardens a’ blooming! So clean up all of that winter debris and embrace these simple tips to make the cultivation of your grounds a satisfying and blunder-free experience!

Gardening Mistakes to Avoid:

Too much togetherness

Trees and shrubs that look properly spaced when you plant them will crowd each other and compete for water, sun, and nutrients in a few years. If you’re lucky, you can transplant some bushes; if you’re not, you’ll have to throw away starved shrubs.

Try this instead: Before digging, read spacing instructions. Give trees plenty of space—you can always fill in later. Stagger bushes and plants and create two rows, which will create more breathing room. The results will look absurdly sparse at first. But live with it. In a few years, your shrubs will fill empty spaces without suffocating each other.

Planting without a plan

Planting new garden beds without a long-term landscape plan is like pouring a house foundation without blueprints. Your haste results in a waste of time, money, and muscles.

Try this instead: Draw a simple sketch of your yard—what’s there now and what you might add later, such as patios, outbuildings, and pools. Bone up on the trees and shrubs that grow best in your soil and climate. Go online and click around landscaping sites that help you pick plants and design beds.

Visit your local nursery or home improvement center where design staff can answer questions and make suggestions. Or hire a professional landscape designer to create a starter plan for as little as $250 to $500. Find a professional at the Association of Professional Landscape Designers or the American Society of Landscape Architects. 

(Or any local landscapers that come by recommendation from a trusted friend.)

Neglecting the root of it all

Even the hardiest plants need a little help putting down roots in new locations. Sprinkling the foliage doesn’t nourish the roots, the plant’s nerve center. You must deliver water to the root ball below the ground, or your plants will be stunted and short-lived.

Try this instead: Place the hose at the base of new bushes, trees, and plants and let the water trickle out for 20 to 30 minutes, twice a week (more during hot spells), for 4 to 12 weeks. Or snake a soaker hose ($20 for 50 feet) through your beds, which will deliver slow and steady water to roots. 

Forgetting the sun

Too many gardeners pick plants based only on looks, not the growing conditions plants require and the conditions that exist. Rookies will plant sun-loving perennials under an old oak tree or sun-shy hostas in the open. They look great for about a week, and then die.

Try this instead: Observing the spot where you’re going to put the plant and estimating the amount of sun it gets over the course of a day during the growing season. To translate that into the language on plant labels, use this key:

Full Sun - 6 hours a day or more

Part Sun/Part Shade - 3 to 5 hours

Full Shade - Less than 3 hours

Over-watering

An automatic irrigation system is a luxury that keeps your landscape hydrated throughout the growing season with almost no effort. Unfortunately, auto-watering can bring disease, root rot, and a premature death to plants; it also wastes water.

Many gardeners set watering timers for 15 to 20 minutes each morning, which wets the surface but doesn’t soak deeply to nourish roots of large trees and shrubs.

Try this instead: Water for 40 to 60 minutes only two to three times a week. Check with the company that maintains your irrigation system for local recommendations. A deeper soak also helps lawns develop deeper root systems.

Tips brought to you by HouseLogic:

7 Gardening Mistakes to Avoid

By: Oliver Marks

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/articles/7-gardening-mistakes-to-avoid/#ixzz1Jtv0uaey

Coming up: Earth Day on April 22nd!

We're No April Fool's

Hi folks!

April is finally here! We had a bit of snow on the first, but I think it’s safe to say that winter is behind us now. I took a walk yesterday without a jacket and it was just lovely! It’s been an exciting start to April already, with lots going on everywhere!

In the real estate world, activity is dramatically picking up. The real estate market is very cyclical in our area, with fewer showings and transactions in the fall/winter than in the spring/summer (which makes a lot of sense considering the climate and snowfall during our winter months). With all of the snow now melted and the temperatures rising, home buyers and sellers are on the move- open house attendance has increased, more homes are coming up on the market, and agents are busy helping to facilitate transactions.

In my personal world, April has been bustling as well (hooray)! I assisted a client in writing his first offer to purchase a home, got some spring-cleaning accomplished, saw a concert in Milwaukee, viewed some stunning homes on the broker’s open tour, and attended my very first Zumba dance class (which was incredibly exhilarating!). 

Oh hi, Milwaukee!

It's exceptionally nice to live in a uniquely central location such as Madison,

 because it allows for day-trips to numerous big cities (Milwaukee, for example)!

Enthusiastic Concert-Goers:

The Hubby & Myself

Photograph locations: 

Wisconsin Ave, Downtown Milwaukee &

Riverside Theater, Downtown Milwaukee

Cheers, everyone!!