At Home Spokane

This is a "dig deeper" definition post. For more definitions, click here . This post takes a deeper look at what a Buyer (in terms of Real Estate) is and what their role is in the transaction. First, a dictionary definition:  a person who makes a purchase.   This is actually an important definition to consider when looking at a potential Real Estate deal. This is also one of those situations where a "Real Estate Word" can mean a lot of different things depending on context! I'll try to go in order here: The first time that the word "Buyer" is used is when a Realtor or Lender first meet with someone that is interested in buying a house. At this stage, that Buyer may be referred to as a "Potential Buyer" a "Possible Buyer" or just "Buyer". For instance, a Realtor might call a Lender and say, "I've got a potential Buyer that wants to know how much money he/she would be able to spend, can you help them get pr...

If, at first glance, you thought this post was a sign suggesting that you should sell your house in Spokane, WA... maybe it was! I imagine that every Realtor in Spokane that saw this said, "Yes please" - and I was tempted to make the title "Sell Your Home In Spokane (please)!" because some days that is how we all feel! Our inventory is very low right now here in Spokane, so almost every conversation I have with other Realtors seems to involve a comment about wishing for more inventory! We have plenty of buyers that are looking, but the options are limited and the good ones are gone the first day they are listed! If you've been on the fence about listing your house and needed a little push, consider yourself pushed! (*The above commentary about our Spokane Seller's market was made late June of 2016 - if for some reason I have not updated it, please check with your favorite, local, Spokane Realtor for current market conditions!) Having said that, this is act...

So, you've decided to buy a house!  That's great! If this is your first time, that process can seem a little daunting! One of the things that I love the most about being a Realtor is walking people through that process. Along the way, we all learn something, but for a first time buyer, it is easy to feel like, "I don't even know what I don't know, so how can I ask the right questions?" There is no way for me to tell you all of the things that you are likely to face in your transaction because every transaction is different and something new will always come up. I try to spend a lot of time with veteran Realtors and the one thing that I hear consistently from all of them is that even after 30, 40, 50 - or more years, they are still coming across things they have never seen before. So, number 1 in this Buying Process guide is "At some point, you will be surprised by something"! And that is okay. If you have a good Realtor and a good lender and yo...

Greetings! I am 'cranking up' the old blog and getting things started because I have waited way to long to start and in order to start, you have to start somewhere. So I thought it would be appropriate to start where I tell all my clients to start - with a lender! Why? - Good question, thank you in the back for asking! Let's paint a scenario. You come to me and your all excited about buying your first house! You have been surfing Zillow for about a year, you know how much you want your monthly payment to be and you have found the perfect house! What could possibly go wrong. (By the way, all the realtors in the room are cringing right now because everything in this scenario screams at them what will most likely go wrong, but we're going to get to a lot of that later, for now we are just dealing with the lender part of things) So you send me your listing (listing is a fancy Realtor word for "House that is listed in the local MLS [MLS is "Multiple Listi...