Blog - Chrysti Tovani

How To Get the Best Deal With a New Home Builder

September 5, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

Looking at new model homes can be fun and exciting. There is so much possibility; unlike purchasing a home that someone has already lived in, you get to buy a fresh new home that can be customized for you. There are some differences between buying from a homeowner and a builder that are important to note.

When buying an existing home from a homeowner, you might be able to negotiate on price. However, a builder’s top priority is to build homes that sell for a set price and move on to the next project. For them to finance the development, they have to sell for a specific amount, so it is unlikely that you’ll get them to lower the sales price. They’ll often tell you that if you use their Lender, you can get some fabulous upgrades. It’s not always in your best interest to do that. I have put together a list of tips to help get the best deal you when buying a home in a new development.

Hire an agent at the beginning and bring your agent with you when you visit the new development. Do NOT register in the office without your agent present!
Don’t think you have to use the builder’s Lender.
Check the builder’s reputation
Find out plans for the community
Negotiate for upgrades
Verify options and upgrades
Hire a home inspector
Know the home warranty. Consider having a third-party home warranty in addition to the builder’s warranty.

Check out the neighborhood and research what the plans are. What are your priorities? You need to decide if the community is a good fit for you.

The most crucial part of buying a home is finding the right team to work with, and that is your Realtor and Lender.

Shop for your money – Team up with a lender

You will want a Realtor when buying new construction.

You’ll want a Realtor who knows how to negotiate with a builder. Someone you feel comfortable with who isn’t afraid to tell you the truth whether it’s good or bad. The Realtor who isn’t afraid to tell you what you don’t want to hear is golden. Keep that Realtor around. They are the ones who won’t get intimidated easily and will fight to get you the most out of the home buying process.

You may think that by cutting out the Realtor the builder might give you a better price, but that is unlikely. Builders rarely budge on price.

You want a Realtor who knows how to secure you the best deal possible. You might not get a lower price, but your Realtor can negotiate with the builder to get you upgrades that are worth thousands of dollars. Working with a builder without a Realtor could cost you thousands of dollars because the Realtor knows how to negotiate and without someone working for you, the builder isn’t going to offer those things if they don’t have to.

Your Realtor will get everything in writing and secure a completion date. You wouldn’t go to court without a lawyer, and buying new construction is no different.

You might think that buying a new construction home means you won’t need a home inspection, right? Well, that’s not true. Sometimes a home inspector will find things that the builder forgot to do. There could even be something that could be a potential problem down the road.

The builder may offer a home warranty, and you’ll want to know the specifics of what is covered and find out about securing a home warranty from a third party to be on the safe side. It may include more things than the builder if offering.

Your Realtor will guide you, protect you, and make sure that all parties are following through and completing all of the items agreed to in the contract within the time frames specified. And of course, your Realtor will do a final inspection of the property with you right before closing to make sure you received everything negotiated.

I asked Josh Tapp, from Sierra Pacific Mortgage, to weigh in on why you need your Lender when buying new construction and here’s what he had to say:

It is very easy for a new buyer to get caught up in the excitement of working with the Lender affiliated to a new builder. The builder can offer a slew of options like cash back at closing, better landscaping, maybe even upgraded appliances or new carpet if you work with their Lender.
It is important to step back and examine who benefits from all of this, and if their Lender will actually be acting on your behalf or the builder. If the builder and Lender are financially tied together then they essentially are the same entity. They both profit from this so adding concession may sound nice, but no one is looking out for the buyers best interest.
The buyer may not be aware of any fees associated with those “concessions” or if they are aware of those fees are equal to the cost if the buyer were to make those improvements on their own.
It’s essential to do your research before going and seeing the builder’s Lender. Take time to find out how much new carpet installation costs, how much those new appliances will be etc. Shop around for your Lender to make sure you are getting the best deal. Another critical key is to include your Real Estate Agent in all of these negotiations with new builders so that you have someone who can fight for you. The last thing you want to feel is pressured into signing on the dotted line before you’ve had a moment to think which happens all too often in these scenarios.

I hope you found this helpful. If you or someone you know could use my services please get in touch. @sellwithchrysti

Is it Time for Upsizing Your Home?

February 28, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

Unfortunately, our homes don’t always grow with us. What may have initially worked fine for a single person, a young couple’s starter home, or a family with a newborn can quickly become too small as families expand and multiple generations live under one roof.

Remodeling and adding to your home is one option for creating more space, but it can be costly, and the size of your property may be prohibitive. That’s when moving to a bigger home becomes the best solution.

WHERE DO YOU NEED MORE SPACE?

The first thought when upsizing your home is to simply consider square footage, bedrooms, and bathrooms. But it’s important to take a more critical approach to how your space will actually be used. If you have younger children (or possibly more on the way), then focusing on bedrooms and bathrooms makes sense. But if your children are closer to heading off to college or starting their own families, it may be better to prioritize group spaces like the kitchen, dining room, living room, and outdoor space—it’ll pay off during the holidays or summer vacations, when everyone is coming to visit for big gatherings.

MOVING OUTWARD

If you need more space, but don’t necessarily want a more expensive home, you can probably get a lot more house for your money if you move a little further from a city center. While the walkability and short commutes of a dense neighborhood or condo are hard to leave beyond, your lifestyle—and preferences for hosting Thanksgiving, barbecues, and birthdays—might mean that a spacious home in the suburbs makes the most sense. It’s your best option for upsizing while avoiding a heftier price tag.

5 Things to Consider When Pricing a Home

February 28, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

When you put your home up for sale, one of the best ways to determine the asking price is to look at comparable sales. There’s rarely a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, so a pricing decision often relies on comparisons to several recent sales in the area. Here are five criteria to look for in a sales comparison.

Location: Homes in the same neighborhood typically follow the same market trends. Comparing your home to another in the same neighborhood is a good start, but comparing it to homes on the same street or block is even better.
Date of sale: It varies by location, but housing markets can see a ton of fluctuation in a short time period. It‘s best to use the most recent sales data available.
Home build: Look for homes with similar architectural styles, numbers of bathrooms and bedrooms, square footage, and other basics.
Features and upgrades: Remodeled bathrooms and kitchens can raise a home’s price, and so can less flashy upgrades like a new roof or HVAC system. Be sure to look for similar bells and whistles.
Sale types: Homes that are sold as short sales or foreclosures are often in distress or sold at a lower price than they’d receive from a more typical sale. These homes are not as useful for comparisons.

Dealing with Scratched Hardwood Floors

February 23, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

Hardwood floors are highly desirable for most homeowners, but they come with their share of challenges when it comes to cleaning, maintenance, and repairs. After a few months or years of heavy use from kids playing with toys and chairs being shuffled around, it may be time for some DIY fixes.

Hiding scratches: If you’ve got a good eye for matching colors, you can actually use crayons or markers or purchase wax sticks from the hardware store to fill-in scratches. Try to match the stain color on your floors, but don’t worry if it’s a little off. If the color is close, once the scratch is filled, it’ll look like a variation in the wood grain.

Polishing floors: You can make a polish solution for your floors from household ingredients. Mix olive oil and vinegar in equal parts, pour it directly into scratches, and then wipe it off after 24 hours. It may take several applications, but this homemade polish will fill and cover most scratches.

Clever decor: It’s not a long-term solution, but sometimes the most painless way to fix scratches in your floors is to cover them with a rug or furniture arrangement.

Spot sanding: For deeper scratches, you’ll need to spot sand with fine steel wool or sandpaper, use wood filler, and stain and seal the repaired area.

Why A Normal Market is Just What We Need

February 20, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

The housing market has been hot for a while now. Homes have been flying off the shelves as fast as they have been listed. Buyers have been competing in bidding wars just to find a home to buy, let alone find their dream home.

This ‘seller’s market’ has driven home prices to new heights. Home price appreciation averaged over 6% across the country.

However, home price growth has recently started to cool down. The latest report from CoreLogic shows that home prices have only risen by 4.7% over the last 12 months.

Many buyers and sellers planning to enter the housing market this year have started to wonder if we are headed towards another housing crash. Ralph McLaughlin, Deputy Chief Economist at CoreLogic, recently stated in an interview,

“There’s no reason to panic right now, even if we may be headed for a recession. We’re seeing a cooling of the housing market, but nothing that indicates a crash.

The real elephant in the room here is housing supply.”

The simple answer is we are returning to a ‘normal’ market. The inventory of homes for sale more closely matches the demand in the market. The added supply means fewer buyers are outbidding each other. Therefore, prices are experiencing less upward pressure. McLaughlin went on to explain,

“If there are a lot of homes on the market and suddenly no one wants to buy them, you’ll get into a downward spiral of price competition. Right now, however, we’re in the opposite situation, there isn’t an over-abundance of homes on the market.”

As more renters looking for their piece of the American Dream enter the housing market, demand for housing will continue to grow. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University estimates over 30 million new households will enter the market from now through 2040.

“There’s the natural life cycle of young people getting older and starting to do adult life things which include … buying a house and that’s a lot of potential inertia that could last indefinitely.”

Bottom Line

Home prices will start to appreciate by historical norms as we continue to head towards a more ‘normal’ market, rather than the over 6% seen over the course of the last couple of years. This is great news! Homeowners looking to sell their home will have buyers, as more buyers will be able to afford them!

Create an Evacuation Plan for Your Pets

February 15, 2019 By Chrysti Tovani Leave a Comment

An evacuation plan is a necessity for every home, especially if you live in an area where fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other disasters are a possibility. Many homeowners create evacuation plans for their homes and practice them with their kids, but far fewer have considered one for their pets. Take these steps to add your pets to your evacuation plan.

Assign pet evacuation to an adult. Everyone should know how to act during an evacuation, and that includes assigning one parent or adult to the pets. This allows the other parent and the children to focus on their part of the evacuation plan, so there’s no confusion during a high-stress moment when time is of the essence.

Keep evacuation maps and pet carriers readily accessible. If you need to evacuate, you should know exactly where every important item is. If you pets require carriers, keep them in a place that you can access easily.

Practice your plan. Include your pets in your home evacuation drills. It’ll help you see how they will respond and make changes to your plan if necessary. Getting your dog out of a window may not be as simple as you think!

Be prepared in case you get separated from your pets. No matter how much you drill your evacuation plan, it’s possible that a dog or cat will run off while you’re focusing on keeping your family safe. A microchip or a GPS-compatible tag can help you find your pets once it’s safe to return to the area.