Internet Home Buying #2

Let's cover another pitfall of internet home buying and searching. When you search for the perfect home online you may be missing out. The internet is black and white, cut and dried... if you search for 3 bedroom, 2 bath between $200,000-250,000 then you might miss out on the perfect 3 bedroom 1 and 3/4 bathroom that's priced to sell at $199,000. Also some search engines take 2-3 days to pull new listing information. You may miss out on the perfect house that was a steal just because another buyer's Realtor called them the second the house was listed and offered for sale, you didn't even know it was for sale yet. Many Realtors also know of homes that will be coming up for sale soon too. Maybe the sellers are still cleaning and decluttering, or they are waiting until the weather gets better... these homes you won't find on any website until they're ready.

Brandi Nelson, Realtor

Century 21 Signature Real Estate

306 S. 16th Street, Ames, Iowa

515-291-0914

www.hill-nelson.com

Each office independently owned & operated.

Licensend salesperson in the state of Iowa.

Internet Home Buying

Internet home buying and research is more and more common everyday. Although I do recommend using the internet to supplement your search and help narrow down the possibilities, I still feel that Realtors are a beneficial part of the process.

Pitfall #1 of Internet home buying... thinking you can do it all yourself. The internet makes all of us feel extremely capable! We can take on the world, afterall Google told us we could! Buying a home or property is a very big decision in your life and can have huge financial consequences. There are also a lot of legalalities involved. Both buyers and sellers should seek the help and opinions of a good Realtor that knows the current, local market and a legal attorney who works with the real estate sector and laws as their main business.

Brandi Nelson, Realtor

Century 21 Signature Real Estate

306 S. 16th Street, Ames, Iowa

515-291-0914

www.hill-nelson.com

Each office independently owned & operated.

Licensed salesperson in the state of Iowa.

Activity on the Ames Multiple Listing Service

On the Ames Multiple Listing Service... In November there were 54 homes sold and in December 50 homes sold. The average days on market is currently 136 days.



Brandi Nelson - The Hill-Nelson Real Estate Team
Century 21 Signature Real Estate, Ames, Iowa
Each office independently owned & operated.
515-291-0914 (cell phone)
www.hill-nelson.com

Home buyer tax credit

This is a great source for an explanation on the new 1st Time Homebuyer Tax Credit that the government recently enacted.

http://www.bankrate.com/baw/news/mtg/20080918-homebuyer-tax-credit-a1.asp

Brandi Nelson, Realtor

The Hill-Nelson Real Estate Team

Century 21 Signature Real Estate

www.hill-nelson.com

515-291-0914

Each office independently owned & operated.

Licensed sales agent in the state of Iowa.

Bad Blogger

Ok, Ok... I know I've been a bad blogger. But I'm creating this new blog spot and am committing to blogging at least twice a week. It will help tremendously if I get some feedback on blog topics... hint, hint!!

First lets start with some market information. The Ames area is still alive and well and my team has had a pretty good spring. According to the Ames Multiple Listing Service as of today, May 28th...101 residential listings have sold since 4/28/2008 and 324 since Jan. 1st. $157,162 is the average sales price for residences sold since 4/28/2008 and they averaged $147,361 since Jan. 1st. There are currently 711 active residential listings which average 133 days on market. There are currently 150 pending sales which average 105 days on market.

So really, its not as bad as they say on TV!!

Brandi Nelson - The Hill-Nelson Real Estate Team
Century 21 Signature Real Estate, Ames, Iowa
Each office independently owned & operated.
515-291-0914 (cell phone) www.hill-nelson.com