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Homes sold by owners are advantageous for both the seller and buyer. If the house that is put up for sale sells for $200,000, for example, and the common commission rate ranges up to six percent of the selling price, then both the buyer and seller can save $12,000 – money that would have been used for an agent’s commission. And if the property owner dedicates a lot of time in finding the prospective buyer of his home instead of spending weeks or months finding an agent, then he will most likely dispose of his property in a shorter span of time.

There are various reasons why a person may sell his home. The homeowner may want to gain financing for a new home, obtain an ample amount to finance the mortgage of the property that is up for sale, or just want to move to another place.

Homeowners who adopt the “For Sale by Owner” method of selling assume the role that is conventionally played by the bank or the mortgage firm. Such a process, when adhered to, is advantageous both to the seller and the buyer. Naturally, homeowners contact real estate agents who will handle the transaction for them. But when the homeowners administer the selling by themselves, they are able to save on commission costs and also provide a good package for buyers needing to purchase new homes but facing difficulties getting bank loans.

For innumerable reasons, many individuals find it hard to obtain bank loans due to the strict requirements imposed by these money-making lenders. They may have the funds ready in their pockets and have stable jobs to sustain the monthly payments, but they just find it hard to settle for a bank loan. With the sale of a home by the owner, the process gets much easier.

It is, therefore, not surprising why homes for sale by owners are highly coveted. If you are a seller, you save yourself a great deal of money because you never have to pay commission costs. If you are a buyer, you can buy a house and lot without the terrible burdens of tremendous bank interests.

Rent is a waste of money, or is it? That’s what we’ve been conditioned to believe for the last few generations. Even when the real estate market is more stable and prices are steadily increasing, buying a vacation home may not be the best decision for your wallet.

Should you buy a vacation home that you’ll only use a few months a year? Let’s take a look at a simplified example to highlight what it costs to own a vacation home. You purchase a vacation home, and the monthly costs including mortgage payment, real estate taxes, insurance, HOA, or other maintenance and utilities are $3,000 a month. You use the home for three months a year, although you’re paying for 12. So, you’re paying $3,000 a month for 12 months or $36,000 a year and using the home for three months at an effective cost of $12,000 per month ($36,000/3). You could seasonally rent a similar home in the same area for $4,000 per month or $12,000 for the season. You’d be paying $24,000 extra a year owning the home versus renting it ($36,000-$12,000). Over five years, you would have spent $120,000 more to own the home ($24,000 x 5 years). Yes, the home might appreciate, but you would have to subtract buying and selling closing costs and a potential real estate commission from any appreciation.

Let’s say you purchased a home for $400,000 plus $8,000 in closing costs for a total initial investment of $408,000. Let’s assume it increased in value 5% a year (higher than normal market conditions). It would be worth about $510,500 at the end of the fifth year. If you sold the home and subtracted a 6% commission and $8,000 in selling closing costs you would net about $471,900. Your approximate profit would be $63,900, but remember you would have spent an extra $120,000 to own instead of to rent the home for those five years which would actually mean you spent $56,100 more overall (-$120,000+$63,900).

Keep in mind that the home might have needed repairs and renovation work, which would have added to your cost as a vacation homeowner. You would, however, pay off some of your mortgage balance which would be a benefit of owning versus renting. But, know that during the first several years of a 30-year mortgage, typically 75% – 80% of each mortgage payment is interest and not principal repayment. You may also be able to deduct the mortgage interest on this second home, but the bottom line is for this vacation home, the overall financial costs would be greater than the benefits.

Every situation is different, but now you have the tools to conduct your own financial analysis. Sometimes it makes financial sense for you to buy versus rent a vacation home, and sometimes there are non-financial reasons to influence your decision. It is, however, better to make a big financial decision with your “eyes wide open” rather than with blinders on. You may avoid financial disappointment or hardship later.

Please note that all information contained within this article is educational and should not be interpreted as financial advice. For advice that is specific to your needs and circumstances, you should consult a financial or tax adviser.

When it comes to finding an assisted living facility or senior housing for an older adult, the decision maker is normally one of two people; the older person themselves, or a close family member, such as a son or daughter. The selection of a nursing home is one of the biggest decisions you can make, as it will probably serve as the last place an older family member will live. The adjustment is a big one; going from a normal home with all of the freedoms, privacy, and features to an assisted living center can be tough. The way to best sell your nursing home, though, is to try and make it as much like home as possible, by providing all of the amenities and entertainment features that an older adult might have had previously. One way many centers have elected to do this is by ordering a bulk DirecTV service for nursing homes.

First, what is bulk DirecTV? Such a service makes use of the programming offered by satellite television company DirecTV, but at a price that is more cost-effective for a facility with dozens of rooms to purchase. When a nursing home orders from a company that offers these bulk TV services, they’re able to pick out the specific channels they’d like to offer their residents, and can get each channel at a wholesale price per unit, as opposed to paying a traditional cable bill for each room to have access to the programming. Bulk DirecTV can also provide special features to organizations like nursing homes; for instance, special community information channels, music channels, and more. Depending on the company you work with, you could also gain some additional perks, like a DirecTV Upgrade system, which gives you the ability to add new channels for residents who request them, as well as an in-facility move theater setup.

This is just one step of a few you should take to make your nursing home feel as welcome and hospitable as possible to potential residents. Those who are considering their options for an assisted living facility will have many to choose from, and being the one that provides the most home-like experience and makes the transition as stress-free as possible for an older resident can benefit from doing so. If you provide the same television experience as a senior might have had in their original home, that could go a long way in having your facility be the one they choose.

With Michigan’s economy seemingly forever flagging the rest of the Nation, how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan has been gaining interest among real estate investors.

There are several methods real estate investors can employ when deciding how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland Country Michigan.

We will discuss these here.

First, you can bid on a home when it is being auctioned off at the sheriff’s sale.

Here’s how this works.

When a homeowner misses 3 consecutive mortgage payments they will be in preforeclosure. At this point, their mortgage lender (bank) will pass their info to an attorney who will file the mortgage default information once a week for 4 weeks as public information in a paper called the Legal News.

28 days later, the home will be auctioned off at the local county courthouse steps to the highest bidder. So if you go to bid, you will be competing against other investors and also an agent for the bank, who will also bid on the home to make sure it doesn’t sell for a ridiculously low amount.

If the agent bidding on behalf of the bank wins, the property will be called an REO (Real Estate Owned). This is just a term used to denote a property that has gone through foreclosure and that was taken back by the bank.

Before you decide to learn how to purchase forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan, you may also want to consider learning the short sale investment strategy.

This is a strategy in which you try to buy the defaulted mortgage note before the foreclosure auction.

Here’s how it works.

You contact the homeowner facing foreclosure and present yourself as an investor who may be able to help their situation. You’ll need the homeowner’s approval.

You will then contact the loss mitigation department of the homeowner’s lender and try to negotiate a discount on the defaulted mortgage. You will make the case for the homeowner’s hardship and why the homeowner will not be able to make payments on the mortgage. You will try to show how the property has flaws or other problems that will make the bank think about taking it back as an REO after the foreclosure auction.

If the bank accepts your short sale offer, you will basically create instant equity. For example, say the distressed homeowner owes $200k on the mortgage and that the home is worth only $195k. If you could negotiate a short sale for $150k, you’ve just created 45k in equity.

You will also be helping the distressed homeowner because they will get to avoid the foreclosure and the damage to their credit that this event would case. Of course, they’ll have to move out of the home since you will be the new owner, but they would have had to move out anyway if it went through foreclosure and the redemption period ended.

How to Purchase Forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan

Another example of how to purchase foreclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan is to try to buy the property from the bank when it’s become an REO.

After the bank takes the home back after the foreclosure (assuming it is the highest bidder at the auction) they will now have a “non-performing asset” on their books. Banks don’t like non-performing assets for several reasons.

One reason is because the bank is in the business of lending money and making money on interest, not from holding real estate. Second, Federal Law requires that the bank have a certain amount of cash reserves on hand for every dollar of “non-performing asset.” This means that for every dollar of bad debt the bank has on its books, it has an opportunity cost in the form of “good money” that can’t be loaned out until that bad debt is eliminated.

In short, this costs the bank money.

Lastly, banks, being publicly traded entities, suffer when they have too much bad debt on their books. Their stock price suffers as a result. The faster banks unload their bad debt from the books, the better their stock prices will be.

So, if you can get a hold of REO lists, either through a mortgage broker, or through networking with other real estate investors, you can make offers on REO’s that banks hold. Some investors can pick up REO properties from banks for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar.

In summary, being an educated real estate investor on how to purchase forclosed homes in Oakland County Michigan can lead to big profits.

In the past decade home sales have gradually become a buyer’s market. Although this is good news for the buyer, it is becoming somewhat of a nightmare for those who are trying to sell their home. Because of this, sellers often have to dramatically drop the price of their homes in order to make the sale, resulting in huge losses. However, there are ways of increasing the chances of making the sale without the seller having to take a big loss. The following will be a list of seven tips for successfully selling a home in a slow market.

1) Appearance is key- When looking to buy a home a buyer will naturally gravitate to houses that have a nice appearance. Fixer-uppers are not as popular as they once were. The first thing that a seller should do is to fix anything that may catch the eye of a potential buyer. For instance, the yard should look immaculate at all times. If the gutters on the house are drooping, that will be the first thing people will notice. If there is chipped paint on the house, paint it. It is worth the money to stage your property for curb appeal.

2) Be flexible- Be prepared to make yourself scarce on weekends if needed for the realtor to show the house. Keep things tidy at all times for any last minute appointments made by perspective buyers. Try not to limit the times that you are willing to provide access to the home.

3) Keep the home at market price- If you are stuck in the mind-frame of making big dollars from the sale of your home, chances are your house will be on the market for years. The best way to drive away potential buyers is to put the house up for sale above market value. Keeping the house for sale at a reasonable market price means that there will be more interest in coming to an open house, therefore bettering your chances of making the sale. It is a well-known fact by realtors that if the price is right, there is a buyer out there for every house.

4) Find an agent with an extensive sales track record in your town- A good realtor will know exactly how to determine fair market price for your home. He should also have a record of being able to sell a home within three or four months. A realtor that is experienced in selling property in your particular neighborhood will be able to take you through the process efficiently and in a timely manner. If you have a realtor who doesn’t have many years of experience, this will waste valuable time and money while he is still working on perfecting his craft.

5) Give the home have a warm and welcoming feel- If the walls in your home are painted in vibrant colors tone them down with neutral shades of tan and beige. This will allow perspective buyers to picture their own furniture in the home without distraction. Set the mood with lightly scented candles in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Soft calming music in the background will give the buyer a relaxed comfortable feeling. Buy new linens for the beds and throw pillows for the sofas. Give your home that “homey” feeling that everyone is looking for.

6) Do your research- Go to open houses and check out the other houses that are on the market in your area. See what they have to offer a potential buyer. If they have a cozy seating area in the master bedroom, create your own cozy seating area to entice those potential buyers. You would be surprised at the things you can do with just a few over-sized throw pillows and a window with a view. Gather ideas from other houses and use your imagination for the rest.

7) Offer incentives to potential buyers- When a buyer is interested in purchasing your home but wants you to come down on the price, try using other incentives instead. For instance, you may want to offer to pay the buyer closing costs. This is always tempting to buyers since it will save them money, allowing them to have more money for a down payment. Some sellers choose to throw in appliances such as the refrigerator, dishwasher or washer/dryer.

In a buyer’s market, the seller has the task of being inventive in finding a way of moving his property. Making the sale is not always a piece of cake, but with a bit of effort, it can still be done quite successfully.