Why a Good Inspector Is Key for Homebuyers

The home inspection industry is one of the most effective scams in the real estate industry. Of course, I always recommend inspections—as long as you can get a good, honest inspector.

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One of the biggest scams in the real estate industry that costs consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year is the home inspection industry. 

Whenever someone buys a home, they always ask me, “Should I spend $500 or $600 on the home inspection?” My answer is yes—if you can get a good home inspector. 

Here’s what happens in our industry: The typical agent sells seven or eight homes a year. When you have a commission on the line that is worth $5,000, $10,000, or $15,000, there is a huge amount of pressure on that agent to make the transaction move forward. What I’ve noticed in my 25 years as a real estate agent is that many agents will recommend the home inspector that goes the easiest on the home. 

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Many agents recommend inspectors that will go easy on the home & ignore certain issues.

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When I first started as an agent, I was blacklisted in the industry because I used one of the toughest home inspectors in the industry. Now, this inspector never made up problems—he always pointed out real issues that would have impacted the buyer. 

Weak agents always say, “The house failed inspection.” I have sold homes with mold, bad roofs, radon, and bad wells; some of these homes had all of those problems at once. However, as long as both the buyer and the seller know about those issues and the buyer is compensated for them, then the home can be sold. That is the whole point of full disclosure and great home inspectors. 

When an agent only sells a few homes a year and their commission is on the line, they are really, really worried about that commission. Each one of the agents on my team sells 30 homes a year. We want you to have a great home inspection because we don’t want you to have any issues down the road when you go to list that home. 

About two weeks ago, I had a client who bought with another agent and wanted to sell her home. Unfortunately, the home inspector the other agent recommended actually missed $60,000 of damage in wood rot. She can’t go back to the home inspector because, according to the contract, the home inspector is only responsible for that $500 inspection fee. She also can’t go back to that other real estate agent because technically, the agent didn’t do anything wrong, so she was really stuck. 

As you can see, you really want a great home inspector when you buy a home. I could tell you story after story of home inspectors who have done horrific jobs and should not be in the business, so give us a call. We are happy to recommend some truly great home inspectors for you. Make sure you check their referrals so that you hire someone who will give you an honest home inspection.

If you have any other questions about inspections or the home buying process, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

What You Need to Know About Seller Concessions and Lease Options

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to both seller concessions and lease options, but here is what you need to know about them.

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 

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Today I want to answer some questions about two topics I get asked about frequently: seller concessions and lease options. 

Let’s start with seller concessions. What is a seller concession? Is it legal? How is it used?

A seller concession is something that’s used by a purchaser so they have to come up with less cash at closing. Remember—New York state has the highest closing costs in the country. A seller concession also means the seller gets a credit back at the closing. 

Suppose a purchaser was going to buy a house at $200,000 and we grossed the price up to $210,000. At the closing, the purchaser would get a credit for $10,000 and the seller would still get the $200,000 they agreed on. For the purchaser, they’re rolling closing costs into a 30-year mortgage, so in the long term it ends up costing them more. In the short term, however, it’s $10,000 less in cash they need to bring to closing and can use instead for repairs to the home. 

As a seller, it often feels like you’re giving the buyer money to buy the home, but you’re not. It’s completely legal as long as it’s indicated to all parties involved and it’s noted on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement at closing. 

What’s a lease option? How is a lease option used? Can I buy a house with a lease option?

A lease option means putting down option money and leasing the home where a portion of the rent is applied toward the purchase price with an option to buy the home generally within one or two years. 

In my experience, buyers and sellers need to beware of leasing options. Whenever a seller is willing to do a leasing option, they’re usually either upside down on the house or the house has substantial defects. One the flipside, any buyer who wants to do a lease option instead of purchase typically doesn’t have the greatest credit, which is why they’re doing it in the first place. 

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Both buyers and seller need to beware of lease options.

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In my experience, it’s very rare that a leasing option works out perfectly. They do work out occasionally, but many things can go wrong for both the buyer and the seller. 

If you have any more questions about lease options or seller concessions or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, please give me a call anytime. I’d love to help you.

When Is Renting Smarter than Buying?

We constantly get the question of whether renting or buying is better in New York. It's actually better to rent if you plan on moving within the next two years.

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call me at (518) 861-7016 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

We're constantly asked whether people are better off buying or renting a home. I've probably read 100 articles on this topic, so I wanted to give you my insight.

New York state has some of the highest closing costs in the country, but buying a home is a great option because it has great tax benefits, it provides a great quality of life, and it's the American Dream to own a piece of the United States. However, if you're planning on moving within the next two years, renting is generally a better option for you.

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If you're planning on moving in the next two years, renting is generally the better option.

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That's why on my team, we'll sit down and ask you how long you plan on being in a house. If it's less than two years, generally we're going to tell you that renting is a better option for you. 

I've also seen people plan on staying in a home for 10 years but then something suddenly changes with their marriage, job, or neighborhood. So here's what I'm offering to you.

If you buy a house from us and your situation changes (marital situation, you don't like the neighbors, you get a new job, etc.) and you have to sell within a year, I will sell your house for free. I'll help you get out of that house for no charge at all.

If you have any questions about your own situation and you're not sure if you're better off renting or buying, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to help you out!

Buyer’s Agents vs. Listing Agents

Home buyers often make the mistake of thinking that they will save money by working with the listing agent directly or skipping an agent altogether.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation 
Call me at (518) 861-7016 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation

Today I wanted to talk about some misconceptions people have about buyer’s agents and listing agents.

The main thing people don’t understand about buyer’s agents is that you don’t have to pay them a commission. Buyers' agent's are paid a 2.5% commission by the seller. Buyers also don’t realize that as a licensed real estate broker, our buyer’s agents can show any home listed on the market. Even if the property is listed as For Sale By Owner or is listed by a different real estate agent, our buyer’s agent can still show you the property.

Buyers often make the mistake of thinking that they will save money by working with the listing agent directly. Listing agents represent the seller; the last thing you want to do as a buyer is go to the seller’s agent to represent you. The seller’s agent is generally going to charge the same commission as the buyer’s agent. Not only will working with the seller’s agent not save you money, you also won’t have anyone working for you whose fiduciary responsibility is to represent your best interests.

Another thing to keep in mind is that buyer’s agents are generally not good listing agents and listing agents are generally not good buyer’s agents. On my team, we specialize; you are either a buyer’s agent or a listing agent. For the most part, I work with sellers. I will occasionally work with a buyer if one is referred to me, but my goal is to list homes and market them. A buyer’s agent’s goal is to get you the perfect home at the cheapest price as quickly as possible.

Why do you want to work with a buyer’s agent? You want someone with great negotiating skills. I recently worked with a buyer who was trying to purchase an estate. The owner had $1.8 million in the property and the appraisal came back at $1.3 million. It took a long time to negotiate, but I was able to get that property for our buyer for about $600,000—a fraction of the appraised value. Not only did they get a great deal, but they should also net a lot of money down the road when the time comes to sell.

The bottom line that you need to remember is that generally, a listing agent is not a good buyer’s agent and vice versa. If you are buying a home, you need an agent who specializes in working with buyers. If you are selling a home, you need an agent who specializes in selling homes. That is what our team does.

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A listing agent does not make a good buyer’s agent and vice versa.

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If you have any questions about purchasing a home in today’s market or about real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!

The Difference Between an Inspector and an Appraiser

Today I wanted to talk about the difference between an appraiser and a home inspector. The role of a real estate appraiser is to value the property for the bank before you get a loan. As a former appraiser, I can tell you that a state-certified appraisal is completely different from a broker market analysis.

The home inspector works for you. The inspection costs around $500 and lasts for about two hours. The inspector goes through the house top to bottom, looking for defects like structural damage, carbon monoxide leaks, electrical problems, or foundation issues, to name a few.

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The home inspector works for you, so find a great one.

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If you're buying a home, you don't want to cut corners and hire anything but the best home inspector that you can. Ask friends, family members, and, most importantly, your Realtor for recommendations. You don't want to buy a money pit!

If you need a recommendation for a great inspector or you have any questions at all about real estate, please don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!