Terms is a catch word for the things you do, or do not, ask for from the seller in a Purchase and Sale contract. They can also be the things you offer the seller to prove your willingness to strike a win/win agreement.

Typically, being ready to close fast, say in 30 days instead of 45 or more, is a great term. Money costs money, and the longer a seller has to wait to close, the more interest he is paying on his present mortgage, so less time is usually better. However, if your agent is aware the seller needs time to find a new home, perhaps in another city, your being willing to wait a month or more might make your offer the most attractive, regardless of a price difference with another offer.

Cash is a term of a contract that definitely catches the eye of the seller and their Realtor. Cash sales are less complicated, less fee ridden for both parties, and tend to close faster. They do not require surveys, inspections, and many other mortgage related costs, although it is always wise for the buyer to pay for and get these inspections to protect their interests in the soundness of their investment. A cash offer is often lower than a financed offer, but still attractive for other reasons.

The type of mortgage a buyer uses is also a term for the seller. If a buyer is using a VA mortgage, for instance, the roof will have to have at least five years of good use left . If it doesn’t the seller may have to put a new roof on to make that deal work. This can be a very costly and/or impossible situation if it arises at the end of the contract period. A seller with a suspect roof will not want to accept a VA contract, even if the price is higher, unless it is enough to cover the price of a new roof.

Asking for the brand new refrigerator, which the sellers purposely left off the MLS listing, or the garden furniture, or anything else that is exempted may also be a ‘term’ to the sellers and could affect their willingness to accept your contract.

A term can also be as simple as you love their home for the same reasons they do, your child goes to the private school down the street, your mother lives in the neighborhood, or you put down a huge binder: all things that show the seller you have skin or heart in the game and are likely to see it to closing.

Finally, terms are usually negotiable items, and the fewer you have of them the better, in most cases.If there are no other prospects you may well get everything you ask for but don’t expect them to like it, or you, for that matter. Just purchase the house and let your Realtor do your talking.

One of the things that greatly affects your monthly mortgage payment is the cost of your insurance. When you bought the house, you probably shopped around for the lowest premium available. However, as the years passed, it might have gone up slightly every year, but you never really noticed.

When money gets tight, we all look for ways we could save. Although you cannot change your taxes, often you can change your insurance premium. You may even be able to do it with the same carrier. But you have to ask! And it would be good to know what others may charge you for the same thing.

Do some homework, make a few calls or go online, then call your carrier. If they can’t meet or come close to other estimates, consider changing. It is very real money that comes out of every single mortgage payment, and if you can cut that by $30-50/ month you may be able to pay down your mortgage sooner , by continuing to make the payment but now applying it to reducing the principle. Yea for you!

Just a word to the wise concerning pricing because it it THE key ingredient in a home sale in this market. When you put the price on it the first time, try to keep from thinking there is someone out there who will be so completely gaga over your house they will pay a little more for it.

Even if they do want to, unless they are paying cash, their mortgage lender will not let them go above its appraised value. With all the scams that were going on in the appraisal arena in the recent past, appraisers are being very tight with handing out extra value. That means you need to stay within recent comparables within a mile’s radius. If those are only foreclosures and short sales, you may need to contact an appraiser for his input. But trust me, when you sell your home in this market you need to disconnect from it emotionally for a minute and see yourself as the buyer in this same market.

Most sellers still want to try and get a little more, but that initial greed costs them more in the long run as they continually reduce their home and finally get less than they would have if they had picked the right  price at the outset. Later they will wish they had, because someone would have grabbed it right up, giving it less of a shopworn feeling inviting buyers (and often investors) to offer a bargain basement price. Trust your Realtor to know the market and weigh their input carefully before you put the For Sale sign out.

As you drive by that sign near your driveway for the fifth month in a row, you will definitely wish you had taken their professional advice at the beginning! The cost of your monthly mortgage, the wear and tear on your family’s nerves, and the cost of “not knowing when” have a dollar value to you as well. Count the cost up front and be happy you did.

Glad you asked! Well priced homes are still selling…..at this year’s prices. If a home is put on the market and the seller has enough equity in it  not to need an exact amount to make it all work, there is still room to negotiate terms,  price and timing. These are all important factors of a sale.

It is still most important for a buyer to fall in love with your home! If they are only looking for the cheap deal, they are probably seeing it as an investment. The people who are looking for a good deal, but also their future and forever home, are the ones you want to see it. Most of them will be looking with a Realtor. They will see everything that comes online in their price range with the features they want (four bedrooms, pool, etc.) and the first picture they see is the one that gets their attention….or not. It will be difficult to get them back if that first listing goes online with no picture. Make sure your Realtor is on board with the importance of that timing!

Keeping your home attractive, for possibly a longer period of time, is the key issue here. Many homes are vacant now. It puts a higher demand on those that are still occupied to look neat and inviting and uncluttered. Get a storage space and put extra furniture and “stuff” there temporarily or have the garage sale and get rid of it before your move! The first 45 days are the most important, so price your home to be a good deal the first moment out of the gate. It sure beats reducing, reducing, reducing over many months to get to the price you knew it should have been at the beginning.

Buying a home is still an emotional decision for most people. They have to make that connection, that your home is where they can visualize their lives happening the way they want. So give them room to see where their furniture might go, where they might put a swing set outside, clear counter tops where they might prepare Thanksgiving Dinner for friends and family. Then they will be hooked and see it through contract to closing!

My home sold this week in a finally closed short sale.

I expected to feel relieved. I expected to feel like one more thing was off my plate. I expected to feel…..something.

At first all I felt was nothing. A big emptiness, a void where a house had been. In fact for a whole day after the final paperwork I kept looking for feelings and couldn’t find any.

The morning after it sold I woke up, sat down with my coffee, and burst into uncontrollable sobs. For about forty-five minutes I cried like I had lost my best friend. Grief hits you like that sometimes. You get through the hard part stoically, then when it’s all over it sideswipes you when you aren’t looking.

Losing a home involves grief and mourning, if only for the good times you shared there and for the times you thought were ahead. My youngest reminded me there were also the middle of the night “I’m losing the farm” nightmares, when reality started to creep through my denial. So after all, in the end you just let it go. Like a divorce, you remember the good times, but you also know it wasn’t going to end the way you had hoped in the beginning, and “all the King’s horses and all the King’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again!”