Recently in Beginner's Information Category

The new consumer article for today is Low Asking Price on Unfinanceable Properties. Almost always, the reason for an asking price well below other equivalent properties is the presence of some factor that means you cannot obtain a regular real estate loan on the property. If you have the cash, however, you can do what you like with it and such properties are a potential business opportunity.

The new consumer article for today is Two Things Sellers Need To Understand About Buyers, a discussion of two things both important and basic that sellers do not seem to understand about buyers, and judging by the available evidence, most agents aren't telling them.

The new consumer article for today is How To Keep Listing Agents From Filtering Out Offers. This is a real, major, and once again increasing problem within the real estate industry. You need to take steps to prevent it from happening to you before you sign the listing contract.

And if you're wondering, I'm perfectly happy to agree to everything outlined in the article. I pretty much do it anyway.

The new consumer article for today is Why Sellers Should Counter All Reasonable Offers. It really isn't rocket science. If your agent advises you otherwise, something is wrong.

The new consumer article for today is There Is No Fairy Godmother for Loans. To avoid becoming a government statistic, ask prospective loan providers the hard questions before you sign on the bottom line - or better yet, before you sign up. "What happens later on?" is a very good question to ask.

The new consumer article for today is "I'm Working With Someone Else, But Could You Just Help Me With..." talking about requests for free work from real estate agents. I'm perfectly happy to give general information to non-clients and even talk about general options, but when it comes down to specific information applicable to specific situations, that's how I make a living, and when you really examine the issue, what a good agent (c'est moi) makes is both reasonable and incredibly cost effective. Not to mention that if I don't make a living, I'm not going to be an agent any longer, and therefore no longer in a position to give advice.

The new consumer article for today is The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents. The real estate industry is built around the listing of property. Okay, it's actually built around the care and feeding of real estate brokerages, but the activities of real estate brokerages center around the listing of property, as that's how they mostly pick up additional clients. Representing buyers is pretty much an afterthought, and something that many listing firms do not do well.

Pick at least one buyer's agent before looking at property, and vet them during the looking process. Stop working with them if they don't measure up. That buyer's agent and the job they do (or don't do) is going to make more difference to your future happiness than anything else about the real estate process.

The new consumer article for today is The Measurement Unit For Desirability Is Dollars. It really is that simple. A good agent can make a difference, but a property that has more will cost more. It isn't rocket science, but it is easy to lose sight of.

The new consumer article for today is Buying Real Estate Isn't Simple. You can pretend it's simple, and hope you get outrageously lucky. Or you can prepare and do the work, and come out reliably enough better to more than compensate you. My clients pretty much come from the latter group.

The new consumer article for today is You Want an Agency That Can Pay ENOUGH Attention to YOU. It really doesn't benefit you to list with an agency that is too busy to pay proper attention to your property, nor does it do any good to use such as a buyer's agency.

There is a major difference between the questions "Who sells the most real estate?" and "Who gets the best price for the quickest sale with the fewest problems?" and an even larger difference between the answers.