Most standard Realtor contracts provide you the ability to have an inspection performed. If there are unsatisfactory issues arising from the inspection basically you can ask the Seller to repair certain items. The Seller can then agree to fix or make a counter proposal and agree to only repair a limited number of items, credit a certain amount of money to the buyer or can refuse to do either.

I would never recommend agreeing to purchasing a home without first having an inspection done. If the Seller wants to sell “as is” and your agreeable to purchase under those terms, at least make sure the contract allows for you to perform an inspection and be able to back out if you find something you can’t live with. I am always suspicious when a Seller want to sell “as is” and doesn’t want to allow you to perform an inspection. If something is there that you were unaware of then you need to have the option  to “go on down the road”.

CHECK THE CONTRACT!

Two offers on a listing — even on anoverpriced listing that’s been on the market for a very long time — is a common occurance. It’s not unusual for a seller to receive more than one offer, known as multiple offers, but as a buyer, it’s a tough spot to find yourself in.

I’m also sorry that somebody else wants to take your house away from you, and I can understand how frustrated you must be feeling.

It’s an odd phenomenon that a home can sit on the market for months and months without any offers, but the minute an interested buyer comes along, so do a handful of others.

Here are a few ways two offers on a listing can happen:

Agent Incentive for Multiple Offers

First, realize that while the agent has a legal and very important fiduciary responsibility to the seller to obtain a higher price, that higher price won’t put a lot more money into the agent’s pocket. Many agents just want the listing sold at an acceptable price to the seller.

Real estate commissions are typically divided between the listing broker and selling broker. The listing agent then receives a portion of the commission from the broker.

Here’s an example:

• The list price is $200,000.
• The listing broker’s commission is 3% or $6,000.
• The listing broker gives half of that, $3,000, to the listing agent.
• If another buyer offers to pay $205,000, the listing agent would earn only an additional $75.

Two Offers on Dated Listings

Inventory, that is, active listings for sale, changes constantly. When inventory falls, that drives up the competition for the remaining homes on the market. Homes that buyers passed up last month could turn into hot commodities this month because the selection is low.

Your parameters for a property search most likely will easily match those of more than buyer. In other words, you’re all looking at homes at the same time with the same set of criteria, so you’re touring the same homes.

If you really want a home, odds are several other buyers will want it as well. That’s a good reason to act swiftly and not “sleep on it” overnight, because when you do, another buyer can step in and snatch it away from you.

Two Offers on New Listings

New listings attract a lot of attention within the first several weeks of coming on the market. Interest tends to wane after that period and showings will decline.

Most multiple offers happen on newer listings with fewer than 14 days on market. If the home has curb appeal, is priced right, in good condition and located in a desirable neighborhood, many buyers will want it. Remember, location, location, location. Here are tips for making an offer on new listings:

• Submit an offer quickly.
• Don’t give the seller more than 24 hours to respond.
• Allow your agent to accept delivery of the offer for you.
•  Do not give the seller a reason to make a counter offer.

Two Offers Between Listing and Selling Agents

Sometimes the listing agent has a “pocket” buyer, that is a buyer who has instructed the agent to call when another offer arrives. In this instance, the listing agent might share details of the first offer with this buyer so the buyer can write a better offer than yours. Your agent should ask the listing agent if the other offer is from that agent’s buyer because it could make a difference.

If the listing agent is representing the buyer of the second offer in dual agency, three things can happen that would put your offer at a disadvantage.

• Your offer could be less than the second offer. You might want to consider increasing your offer.
• If your offer is not less, the listing agent can increase the seller’s net proceeds by reducing the listing agent’s portion of the commission. Some MLS note if the commission is variable in the listing. Ask your agent to check and take that into consideration when determining your offering price.
• The listing agent might make the second buyer appear stronger because the listing agent knows more about that buyer than you. Write a letter telling the seller about yourself, and include it with the offer.

Types of Sale Contingent Offers

 Although there are many variations of a contingent offer, most adhere to one of two formats:

•  Seller will keep the property on the market but accept a contingent offer, providing buyers with a 72-hour first-right-of-refusal notice to perform in the event seller receives a better offer.
• Seller will take the property off the market and wait for the buyer to sell the buyer’s existing home.

The likelihood is the seller will choose option one. The reason a seller would accept option two is if there are not likely to be any other buyers making an offer to purchase. Most sellers will not wait forever and will stipulate a date for the transaction to close. If the buyer’s home has not sold by that date, the transaction can cancel.

What is a 72-Hour Notice to Perform?

The notice to perform can be of any agreeable duration, 24 hours, 48 hours or any number of days. The time period is negotiable. First the seller sends the 72-hour notice to perform to the buyer, informing the buyer that another offer has been received and the buyer now has 72 hours to remove the contingency to sell the buyer’s existing home. If the buyer does not remove the contingency to sell, the seller has the right to demand a cancellation of contract and refund the earnest money deposit to the buyer.

Options for Removing Sale Contingency

• Obtain a bridge loan. It is best to get preapproved for a bridge loan before receiving the 72-hour notice to perform. This way, you won’t be scrambling around trying to line up financing over an impossible 3-day period. Bridge loans are an expensive option because you will pay loan fees.
• Tap a home equity line of credit. Most lenders will not give you a home equity loan once your home is on the market, and a seller is not likely to accept a contingent offer unless your home is on the market. But it’s not a Catch-22. If you set up a home equity line of credit before you put your home on the market, you can simply transfer funds or write a check.
• Change your mortgage to a higher loan-to-value. If you were planning on putting down, say, 20% to buy your new home, put down less and get a higher mortgage amount. Then, when your home eventually sells, you can use the proceeds to pay down the mortgage. Be aware that many higher loan-to-value ratios carry higher interest rates.
• Borrow the down payment from a relative. Some home buyers tap the bank of Mom and Dad when an emergency arises. I don’t know if buying a new home constitutes an emergency in your family, but in some families, it does. Perhaps Uncle Joe will give you that inheritance early? Might not hurt to inquire.
• Remove your sale contingency and hope for the best. I know what you might be thinking right now: “Is she smoking crack?” But if you are confident your home will eventually sell, some buyers choose this option.

Bottom-line Risk for Removing Sale Contingency

Before you remove a sale contingency, review your purchase contract with a lawyer and obtain legal advice to determine your rights under the contract. Missouri purchase contracts, for example, clearly state your earnest money deposit is at stake if you default on the contract. How much did you put up? $1,000? $5,000? $10,000? If you can live with losing that amount by taking a gamble that your home will sell, it might be worth it to you.

Evidence of Funds to Close

When a contingency is removed, sellers often ask for evidence of funds to close. This prevents buyers from arbitrarily removing a contingency without an actual intention to close. If a relative has the funds, typically a gift letter from the relative and copy of bank statements or stock accounts is enough to satisfy your lender and the seller.

• Use “light staging” such as placing shower curtain and towels in the bathrooms and kitchen; placing a bowl of fake fruit or a wine bottle with glasses on the kitchen counter; and setting a small table or plant on the balcony.
• Put  a place setting or a cake pan with a box of mix on a breakfast bar to warm up a kitchen.
• Leave a few books or toys in a small bedroom so that the kids can play while the parents look around.
• Put a wicker chair with a throw and a book in the family room or sitting room, or movies and a chair in the media room.
• Area rugs works great to define rooms, especially in a home with an open floor plan.

It’s inspection day! The last last thing you want to do is leave the buyer or their inspector with questions about how the home has been maintained and cared for over the years. It’s time to put your home’s best ‘brick’ forward, so here are 10 things you’ll definitely want to avoid!

The Top 10 Ways to Make a Bad First Impression on Inspection Day

1. The front door is in need of repair; weather stripping is loose, exposed, or dragging on the floor.

2. The doorbell is not intact and/or does not work.

3. What’s that smell?! The house smells musty, moldy, or tired. (Dirty carpet plays a big part in this impression).

4. The home is cluttered! You want the buyers and the inspector to be able to access every area of the home. An obstacle course will not be welcomed with too many smiles.

5. There are water stains at the ceiling, around the windows, within the sink cabinets, or beneath the shower/bath floor areas.

6. Windows are inoperable or do not open and close easily. (You’ll want to address any cracked glass or missing hardware as well).

7. Kitchen appliances not functioning or surface lights and/or fans are inoperable.

8. There are loose, uncovered, or painted electrical outlets and non-working switches and junction boxes.

9. There are no visible smoke and CO detectors. Or, they’re not working.

10. There is damaged drywall from door knobs, picture frames, etc.

Maintaining and repairing the above items (and anything else on your to-do list) before the inspection will always be to a seller’s advantage. And who doesn’t want to make a great first impression on buyers during the selling process anyway? But do remember, please call in a professional when necessary. A repair done improperly could end up being more of a headache than the original condition!

Back in 2007, homebuyers would beg to purchase your house. They would even bid more than the asking price for the privilege to do so.

Today … well, not so much. Once the real estate bubble burst and foreclosures poisoned the housing pool, buyers suddenly regained the upper hand. But instead of buying, they’re waiting, convinced that housing prices will continue to drop.

What’s a smart seller to do in this environment?

We assembled a coast-to-coast SWAT team to address the crisis: Chad Goldwasser of Goldwasser Real Estate in Austin, Texas; Terry Cannon, a buyer’s agent and broker with Oregon Exclusive Buyers Realty in Salem, Ore.; and Julie Dana, the New York-based “home stylist” and co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell.”

They suggest 10 buyer turnoffs that sellers should avoid at all costs.

“If you do all the staging correctly and have a good agent, the house will hopefully only be on the market a few weeks,” Dana says. “Then you can go back to living your life.”

1. Dirt

Hands down, our panel agrees: Nothing turns off a buyer quicker than a dirty house.

“The No. 1 biggest mistake is not getting the home in the best possible condition. That’s huge,” says Goldwasser. “I won’t even represent sellers at this point unless they are fully aware of how important it is to get their home in the absolute best condition that they’ve ever had it in.”

Goldwasser recommends that sellers go the extra mile, from steam-cleaning tile and grout to replacing carpets.

“If the carpets are old and smelly, you should put in new,” he says. “If they’re relatively new, you should at least have them shampooed.”

Cannon agrees that grime can derail any showing.

“The home should be neat and clean and free of all debris,” Cannon says. “If it reeks of cats or the kitchen sinks and counters are so filthy that it almost looks like the food is moving, I won’t even want to come in.”

2. Odors

Buyers, it’s said, buy with their noses. Make sure your home smells fresh and inviting.

“Odors are a big one, especially kitchen odors,” says Dana. “I advise my clients not to cook fried food, fish or greasy food while the house is on the market.”

Some pet owners mistakenly believe pet smells to which they’ve become accustomed help make their abode homey. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“If you’re a dog person, you tend to think everyone else is a dog person,” says Goldwasser. “But the truth is, 50 percent of the population hates dogs and doesn’t want to be near them. “Pets in the home? You have to deal with that.”

Dana advises her clients to eliminate all traces of pets, not just pet odors. It’s important to get rid of pet paraphernalia and have a “pet plan” to make sure the animals are not around when the house is shown.

“A lot of times, people will leave pet items out — dog dishes, cat litter boxes, etc.,” Dana says. “That immediately turns off a buyer because they wonder, ‘What has that animal done in the house?’ Also, some people really don’t like dogs. The minute they walk in and see this big, old dog bowl, they immediately won’t like the house.”

The same rules hold true for smokers: Remove all ashtrays, clean all curtains and upholstery, and consider smoking outdoors while your home is on the market.

“Interestingly, next to the kitchen, the smelliest room in the house is actually the living room,” Dana says. “That’s typically the room that has the most fabric, so that is where odors get absorbed.”

3. Old fixtures

Want buyers to roll their eyes? Leave old fixtures on your doors and cabinets.

“You need to change out old fixtures in your house,” Goldwasser says. “New cabinet hardware and doorknobs will probably cost all of $400 or $500, but it makes a huge difference.”

The same holds true for dated ceiling fans, light fixtures and kitchen appliances.

“Homes that have old fans, lights, ovens, microwaves, ranges and dishwashers can really turn a buyer off,” says Goldwasser. “Sellers will say, ‘Oh, the buyers can take care of that.’ Well, yes they can, but it’s going to impede you from getting the highest price possible for your home.”

4. Wallpaper

Your grandmother may have had it in every bedroom. Your mom may have loved it as a room accent. But today’s buyer wants no part of wallpaper.

“Wallpaper is a definite no-no,” Dana says.

Wallpaper is a pain to remove and simply adds another chore to a buyer’s to-do list, Dana says.

“Wallpaper is extremely personalized. You’ve spent hours looking over books to pick out the wallpaper you want,” she says. “What are the odds that the person walking in the door will also like that wallpaper that you picked out?”

5. Popcorn acoustic ceilings

Times change, and with them home decor styles. Acoustic popcorn ceilings, once the must-have for fashionable homes in the ’60s and ’70s, now badly date your space.

If you can’t stomach the cost or the mess to remove the overhead popcorn, be prepared to credit a buyer in certain markets in order to close a sale.

“The popcorn acoustic ceiling is a major, major turnoff to buyers these days,” says Goldwasser.

6. Too many personal items

Psychologically, when buyers tour a home, they’re trying it on to see how it fits, just as they would a skirt or a pair of pants. If your house is cluttered with too many personal items, it’s like the buyer is trying on those clothes with you still in them. A fit is unlikely.

“Anything that makes your house scream ‘you’ is what you don’t want,” Dana says. “I tell all my clients that how we decorate to live and how we decorate to sell are different, and right now, we’re decorating to sell.”

Sellers should try to eliminate personal items, including family photos, personal effects and even unique colors, she says.

“As soon as you have family photos, buyers get very distracted. ‘Oh, did I go to school with him? What do their children look like?’” she says. “Suddenly, you’re selling your family, and you’re not selling the home.”

If you really want to hook a buyer, Dana offers a tip: “I try to place a mirror strategically so that people can actually see themselves in the home, so they can actually picture themselves living there.”

7. Snoopy sellers

Realtors and buyers alike generally bristle when the seller greets them at the door for a showing.

“It’s so annoying,” Goldwasser says. “They will want to walk around with the potential buyer and put in their two cents’ worth. It’s not good. Normally, there are one out of 10 sellers where it’s OK to have them there, and that’s because they know what is up with the property and how everything works.”

Goldwasser makes a point to shoo his sellers away from showings when he’s the listing agent.

“They like to think they know what they’re doing, and that’s fine,” he says. “But when you’ve sold thousands of homes and you have a system, you know how to get people the maximum value for their home. That’s why they hire you, right?”

8. Misrepresenting your home

Misrepresenting your house online in the multiple listing service is a sure way to really upset buyers and their Realtors.

One of Cannon’s buyers loved a home she saw online. When he drove by to take a look, he was surprised to find acres of ramshackle mobile homes across the street.

“Sellers are going to paint the best picture they can,” he says. “Some listings I’ve looked at and wondered how in the world they got that gorgeous photo without showing all the junk that’s around it. When you get there, you wonder why didn’t they just be upfront?”

9. Poor curb appeal

Much is made of curb appeal, and for good reason: It’s your home’s handshake, the critical first impression that lasts with most buyers.

“You have to totally trim and edge your yard to get it into the most immaculate condition you can,” Goldwasser says. “It’s a big mistake to not freshly mulch the beds and trim the trees. Every little detail counts.

“To not power-wash the exterior or leave mud dauber and wasp and bird’s nests in your eaves and above your doors? You’ve got to be a fool to do that.”

10. Clutter

Whether inside or out, less is more when it comes to clutter.

“I usually start in the closets,” Dana says. “Your closets should be half-full with nothing on the floor. Why? Because most people looking for a house have outgrown their previous house. Showing them that you’ve still got room to grow gives them a reason to buy.”

Kitchens and built-in bookshelves should showcase spaciousness by following the rule of three. For kitchens, there should be no more than three countertop appliances. Meanwhile, bookshelves should be divided into thirds: one-third books, one-third vases and pictures, and one-third empty.

The home office should be very generic so any type of professional can imagine living there, Dana says.

“Otherwise, it can be a distraction: ‘What does he do for a living? How much money does he make?’” she says.

Dana’s tip for toddler parents is to pack away extraneous “kiddie litter” and keep a laundry basket handy.

“When you get that phone call one hour before a showing, toss everything in that basket and take it to the car with you and your kids, and you’re all set,” she says.

Source BankRate.Com via Black & Associates LLC

1. Clean. Those nice angled vacuum lines, gleaming windows, and perfectly manicured lawns in model homes speak to a potential buyer: You don’t have to do a thing. Translate that into: A little elbow grease goes a long way.

A super clean home says “turnkey” to the potential buyer. Have every inch of the home, blind slats to porch light glass, super clean and perfectly coiffed. According to a national 2011 survey done by Home Gain, a $290 cleaning investment gives a $1,990 price increase, or a 586 percent return!

2. Fresh and smells good. People buy homes on emotion, and your five senses are a direct path to your brain. If a home smells and looks “funky,” “doggy,” “smoky,” or if the stove is coated with cooking gone bad: The home is off their list.

Just like you would detail your car to sell it, invest in clean and spotless carpets, patched, repaired and freshly painted walls, and new appliances if the old have seen better days. Be wary to skip this step and take the low road with room refreshers, candles, and stove burner covers. Potential buyers are not fooled.

3. Color. Any advertising executive will tell you color is a key to properly packaging a product, and a listed home is just that, a product. Throw away the off-white manta of old school home staging rules. Welcome to the era of HGTV. Using color is a powerful and inexpensive way of making that home stand out from the rest, and with so many decorating TV shows boasting the benefits of color, you better get hip to hues.

From the first Web impressions to curb appeal, color is a strong emotional tug for the potential buyer. Update yourself on the latest color trends in wall color, appliance, fixtures, etc., and apply it to your target buyer. For home staging, use earthy, calm tones for the bigger areas, such as wall color, and add pops of saturated colors in the details; such as front doors, accessories, or annuals.

4. Make space. The joy of a model home is the acres and acres of unused storage space and beautifully organized closets. Reduce, organize, upscale, and edit all of the home’s spaces when it comes to closets and storage areas. If the home’s price point dictates, upscale the closets with custom organizing options.

5. Clear a path. Consider that many people with be walking through the home. Make sure traffic patterns, entrances, and exits are well established. Too much furniture, undefined entrances, and awkward walkways confuse and discourage buyers from moving about the property. Follow a model home’s lead and create a concise walking pattern for potential buyers starting at curbside to back fence.

6. Lovely layouts. From the landscape to furniture placement, take a clue from models homes that continuity and flow make for a good mix. Create curb appeal with nicely maintained landscaping, added annuals and perennials, an inviting stoop and well-groomed walkways and driveways. Inside, make sure each room depicts what its function is, enhances the highlights of the room (i.e. fireplaces or upgrades), and allows the buyer to envision themselves in the space.

7. Set the mood. Create ambiance and character in the home with well-thought out placement of sensory and lifestyle components. Soft music, lighting on dimmers, candles lit, and fresh floral are all great ideas for broker or open houses. If you have a concern about candles, battery operated candles that even have timers built in are now readily available. Stage the dining room table tastefully, or set the stage in a back yard with a detailed patio retreat. Offering helpful lifestyle hints has always been a tool in the model home arsenal and always is a huge hit.

8. K.I.S.S. On the opposite note, don’t over accessorize, go over-board with the lifestyle tips, or create “store bought theme” rooms (i.e. Chef-with-a-Hat Kitchen or Anniversary Bathtub vignette complete with Champagne bottle and fake ivy).

9. Appeal to a target buyer. Model home builders hire tony marketing companies that create campaigns to market that home. Consider “WHO” the ideal buyer that will be interested in the property is, and market the property accordingly. From advertising photos to furniture, consider who will find this appealing and desirable.

10. Market, market, market. Model homes have great marketing incentives inside and out. From clear address markers, great signs, to small exit giveaways, to an exit survey. Market that listing to the fullest.