All Forum Posts by: Christi Hawkins

Congratulations!!! It look beautiful!!!

@Vincent Townsend thank you for these pictures, the difference is amazing

Congratulations!!!! I want to hear more about this kit to paint counter tops!!!

It's a beautiful home, you did an amazing job on the rehab and that kitchen is fantastic! I saw a carport but I can't tell if the house has a garage, that may be an issue for some buyers. It also might be part of the "lack of storage" comments you are receiving. I agree with it being overpriced, with 22 showing and no offers that's usually the issue, but it's only been on the market for a very short time and we are just heading into the peak buying season. Buyers in this price range want what they want and they can take their time to get it. I don't know your market at all but do you know if you are competing with new construction in this price range. Sometimes buyers think if I'm paying this much why wouldn't I build to get exactly what I want. Even if you don't make the kind of money on this one that you'd hoped to make, don't give up. You clearly have a knack for this so learn from any mistakes you made and move on to the next one. The one thing I did notice in the listing photos was the front yard, was the sod just recently put down? Your Realtor can always spin it and make it a positive that it's a brand new yard but if someone is driving by they may not know that. I would do everything you can to get it settled in as fast as you can so it doesn't look like a bunch of uneven squares of grass just thrown down. I don't mean that as a criticism I'm just trying to think of anything I can to help increase its curb appeal. The one other thing I can think of is to get some pops of color in front as well. I'm in Ohio so unfortunately, we can't do anything yet except watch our seeds grow in anticipation of planting but in Georgia, you may have some options. Check out a greenhouse or even Lowes or Home Depot's gardening center and ask if there is anything safe to either plant around the front of the house or a couple pots on the front porch. With Easter so close I bet you could easily find some daffodils or tulips in bloom already planted in a pot. I'm sorry this was so long and I wish you a lot of luck!!!

It's fantastic!!! Good Luck with the sale, you did a great job

This story is unbelievable, having been a Mortgage Loan Originator at both a small community bank and a large national lender I can say with great confidence that lenders take these Fair Housing laws quite seriously and the only color anyone sees is GREEN! You can NOT base a study and make assumptions like this without knowing the credit score and DTI. In this women's case a brand new collection will kill your score. The fix is you pay it off and wait. Mortgages are credit score driven now and Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac aren't making many exceptions, which is why she was able to get a loan with her partner who had the good score NOT because she was white. I like Senator Scott and I would agree with him about having the utility companies report to the credit bureaus but be careful what you wish for. I would disagree that the whole world needs to have access to everyone's credit score. In some cases FHA or USDA will accept non traditional trade lines but those better be perfect. Working in a small rural community that is 99% white, you run into the same issue. They don't borrow money in the traditional way, they don't have credit cards, they either pay cash or they don't buy it and unfortunately they do utilize all the Rent-to-Own places in town . In most cases you have to work with them awhile to get them to a point where they can borrow money for a house. It has absolutely nothing to do with the color of someone's skin, it has everything to do with following the guidelines. The HMDA reports set up by the genius's in DC don't give a clear picture as to why the loan was denied. The letter that goes out to the borrower and is usually kept at the lending institution will tell you why. This story was started with a conclusion and he did his best to find very weak data to support his beliefs. People don't Redline anymore, there's no money in it and the penalty for doing is too high and you will also lose your job if you get caught. Realtor's aren't even allowed to tell buyers what a good or bad neighborhood is, that's considered Redlining as well. If someone was from out of town and didn't know the area the best advice I could them was to find a neighborhood they liked and spend a couple hours sitting in their car and listen (it really only works in nice weather) but you can learn a lot about an area by listening to it. This kind of story is exactly what we don't need right now because it pits people against each other and it certainly doesn't help anyone. Are there prejudices out there, of course, but it's not only the color of someone's skin. My small community bank thought we were still living in the 1950's and they only wanted to do business with "important members of the community". They weren't even doing FHA or USDA loans until I got there and the arrogance of these people was shocking. My boss had been there 45 years and one day I had a couple come to see me about an FHA loan for the duplex they had been renting for 6 years. His comment to me after they left was he wondered if they were looking for the food stamp office instead. People are judged all the time by everyone and it's terrible that any of us would think we're better or somehow more sophisticated. But in this story they have it all wrong and we certainly don't need anymore hate. Sorry for the rant but this kind of thing really hacks me off

@Ray Agosto it does NOT include property taxes, you will be responsible for paying those as well. We bought our home at a Sheriff's sale and the whole process can be mind-numbing. I live in a small town and at the time was working for our local community bank as a Mortgage Loan Originator and we were still terrified. My boss went with us because he had been through these sales thousands of times. When we arrived he immediately found the attorney representing the lender, just asked him how much the bank was looking for and he gave us the number, I would think this might not happen in big cities. We ended up paying $4000 over what they needed and the appraisal,  before we started any repairs came back at $150,000 over what we just paid for it. Keep this in mind as well, the last thing the lender wants is to take the property back. They don't want to list it for sale with a Realtor and would much rather sell it at auction, if they get close to what they want they'll take it because taking less now saves much more money later. Good Luck!!!

I have mixed thoughts on this one. I think the fact they want to make it their own is a good sign, They aren't asking to paint is black or put wallpaper up. Are they good tenants, have they paid the rent on time and are they currently taking good care of your property? Before you say no, have a conversation with them about it and express your concerns. The fact they want to do it tells me they want to stay for a while. Maybe you require they check in with you all along the way, certainly I would want to approve the color and I would really want to see how the prep the room, which is the most important part. If they are good tenants it seems to me there has to a way you both end up happy instead of you just saying no. I completely agree there are several concerns here but just because they rent doesn't mean they can't paint a room properly. 

You can use the listing agents comps as a  place to start but please don't trust them to be accurate. The listing agents job is to sell his listing, he has no fiduciary duty to you. It also sounds like they are acting as a dual agent (getting both sides of the listing commission) , which is fine but you need someone looking out for your best interest as well. You don't pay anything for the use of a good buyers agent, the seller pays all the commission. If you have the knowledge to verify the comps you can certainly do it on your own but I would highly recommend having an agent. Your Auditor's site can help you as well. I never trust them on correct valuation but the sales price of the home is usually accurate and you can get the Beds/Baths and square footage there. The only thing you won't know is if the sale was an arms length transaction but good Realtors know their markets and some follow FSBO'S so they may know if the house was sold to a family member which would suggest a lower sales price. Bottom line, protect yourself from paying more for a property, Good Luck!! Question, did the listing agent show you the house and have you filled out any of their disclosures?

@Andy Milby  Welcome to BP and GO BUCKS!!