Should you get a Survey for Your New Property?

Should you survey your property? Is it the seller’s responsibility or the buyer’s?

Every state is different and it is best to ask your Real Estate representative prior to signing a purchase contract. In Utah, it is a “buyer beware” thought process. This essentially means that the buyer takes on the responsibility of paying for all of the inspections, surveys, etc., as part of the buying process. If you want to request the seller provide you with a survey, then it’s good to make that part of your requests in your purchase contract. It is the buyer’s prerogative to ask.

I suggest you ask for references on local surveyors and get quotes from three different ones. I’ve seen pricing on the same parcel go from $700 to $3,000 depending on the surveyor. You also need to make sure your surveyor is giving you the type of survey you need. A metes and bounds only? Add survey caps in? Topographical lines added? What kinds of features do you want listed? Fences, improvements, flood zone lines? Make a list and ask your surveyor what things he/she might suggest you add as part of your survey.

I highly recommend surveys, especially for raw land parcels or lots outside of subdivisions. Homes and lots inside newer subdivisions should have recent surveys done. In these cases, it may be good to get a surveyor to highlight or place points if they are missing.

I’ve seen land parcels where a neighbor built half their cabin on the adjacent parcel. I’ve seen surveys where the neighbor built their rock wall fence and driveway partially onto the neighbors yard. I’ve had properties surveyed where the surveyor found major mistakes from the previous surveyor and we had to spend an extra couple of weeks correcting the line discrepancies. If there is any question at all where your lot lines are PLEASE GET A SURVEY! It could save you thousands of dollars, court time, headaches and grief. 

If you are concerned about your surveyor, I'd recommend getting references, checking to make sure their license is in good standing, etc. The best thing to do is ask your Realtor. They, no doubt, will have various referrals to suggest.  If you are using an engineering firm to build your home, they will also have a survey crew as part of their team.

Next post:  Home Warranty

 

Tips and How-to's on Buying a Property or Home in Southern Utah

The home buying saga continues……

You have found a Realtor you are comfortable to work with and have figured out your financial abilities and how you hope to purchase your property. The next step is to start reviewing the properties for sale out there. I usually start by reviewing all the properties listed on the Multiple Listing Service. The local MLS will have the majority of the properties for sale. You can also get out there and drive around and see if there are for sale signs on parcels that are not listed.

Not all Real Estate agents belong to the Association of Realtors. Those that do not belong are not called Realtors, (that is a trademarked name) and they do not have access to the MLS. As you go through the active listings you can start to filter through the properties you are very interested in, possibly interested in, or do not want to consider at all. It is extremely helpful to go through the list ahead and delete those that are not to be considered.

I’ve been out on tours before with folks who have not done this process and it is challenging for a few different reasons. We end up either seeing a lot of properties and you soon cannot remember one from the other and you get the “deer in headlights” look and/or you waste the sellers time and their agents by viewing a parcel you have no desire to buy. I’ve pulled up in front of homes before and had the buyers tell me from the road they have no desire to see the home. I have to then go up and knock on the door if the seller is expecting us and cancel the showing. That is very hard on everyone involved.

It is better to take the time to preview properties first, if at all possible, so that you can screen out the listings. We all realize that sometimes this is not possible, but if it can be avoided, then it is best to avoid that type of situation. With all the technology at our fingertips today it is far easier then ever to preview a home online and know almost everything about it before you get there.

After we spend a day or two looking I find it is often fairly easy for me to tell if the buyer is ready to commit or not. I’ve spent a lot of time with some buyers who spend our whole time finding fault with every property we see. I have found that when this happens the buyers are simply either not ready to buy or have something going on in their life that they are not being realistic about. (ha ha…another way to say they are not ready!)

If you find you are doing this while home shopping you may want to stop yourself and ask yourself if you are “truly” ready to buy a property.

When buyers are ready, they usually spend a lot of time at all the parcels and try to envision themselves living there. Sometimes they find “the one” and spend all their time there or they make arrangements to come back to “the one” every day or few days to re-visit it over and over.

Sometimes buyers surprise you, so you never know. I’ve been with a few buyers who I would have swore were not going to buy and the next day they call me to write an offer.

After you get done looking at the homes and find the one you want to buy it is a good thing to discuss the offer process with your Realtor. I’ve had some buyers want to take the night to think about it and discuss it before we write the offer and others want to get the offer written right away. I, myself, prefer to take the time to think about it overnight, so I understand the need to take that time.

As a Realtor I try to find out from the listing agent if there are other offers potentially coming in or if we seem to have a few hours to sleep on it. If other offers are coming in, I then counsel my client to consider getting an offer in quickly or just letting the other agent know we are coming in with an offer. Most seller’s agents welcome a multiple offer situation so they are often willing to try to counsel their sellers to hold out to see your offer. Most are also willing to keep me informed of any updates while we are waiting for my buyers to make a decision. There is always the risk of losing it however.

I’ve been in some situations where my buyers and myself feel we are being manipulated into thinking another offer is coming in when in fact it is not. This is done just to get us to write an offer and a good one at that. It is not always easy to tell if there is truth to it or not.

I counsel my client to act as though it is true and write an offer accordingly. Meaning, write an offer you will be happy with. I don’t want them to feel they have overpaid and then later regret it nor do I want them to try to be a hard bargainer and lose it and then later kick themselves because they lost it. I have them make the decision that they can live with one way or the other. I’ve seen both sides of the coin and it is not pretty to witness. It is far nicer to see a buyer get a home they really, really want, even if they have to pay a bit more then they had hoped for but not so much that they feel “stuck”. I really hate to see a buyer refuse to budge on their bargain price and then lose it to another buyer who felt there was value there and then the buyer spends many years wishing about what they could have had and lost.


Part of your buying process should be asking your Realtor for a list of all the most recent sales in your area. It is often amazing to find that there is a large discrepancy between asking prices and ultimate sales prices. Also, if you go to different states or areas you will find that buying practices in one area may be different then another area.

When I bought a parcel in New York I asked for all the sales comps and could see that the sales prices were within about 5% to 2% from the asking price. In Southern Utah, at the time, the difference was about 20%. So I knew if I wanted to be successful I needed to conform to the general buying practices of the area.

Your Realtor should have the ability to access all the sales comps in the area you are shopping in. I am not sure about the rules and laws of all the states but in Southern Utah at least this is true. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Visit my website for more information: www.zioncanyonrealestate.com

Financing Issues in Buying a Property

1.    Buyer qualifications

2.    Buyer needs

3.    Property classification

4.    Location of Property

5.    Type of lender used

6.    Type of loan required/desired

7.    Appraisal issues

As you begin to think about placing an offer on a potential property, the fact of financing comes up. How will you ultimately pay for your purchase? Do you have the available cash for the down payment, closing costs and the inspections and appraisals? Do you want to use all cash for your purchase? Can you re-finance an existing property to pay for your new purchase? Do you need to get a loan? What kinds of loans are out there? Which loan will fit your needs best? Where do I start and which option is best for me?

Choosing a Lender

These are just a few of the questions you may ask during the lending process. There are just as many when it comes to choosing who your lender will be and many things to consider while making your choice. To start with, it is often a great idea to get some referrals from your Realtor and then discuss your needs with at least three lenders to get an idea of which one may have the best deal for you.

I often recommend my clients look at a variety of lenders and banks depending upon their situation and the property they are looking at. Some banks are simply a better fit for one property over another. Banks lend differently on a standard “stick built” home versus a modular or manufactured home. Improved lots are a bit harder to lend on and many banks will not lend on them unless a construction loan is being sought after. Raw land (meaning no utilities stubbed to it) is very difficult, if not impossible to lend on. In the cases where the property is going to have a difficult time with a conventional loan, I often recommend to the seller, as well as the buyer, to consider seller financing. Seller financing can be a very streamlined loan and can be very beneficial to both parties if the terms are good.

Why Location Matters for Lending

In addition to the  “type” of property you are looking at, we need to look at location as well. Some locations are simply easier to lend on over others. The lending process requires an appraisal. An appraisal is an opinion of value for the day written by a trained professional appraiser. The appraiser has very rigid guidelines he/she has to follow while putting the appraisal together. We will go into a little more depth on the appraisal process in a separate section. For now we will just concentrate on how the location can affect the appraisal process.

Niche Markets

One of my areas of expertise is the Springdale, Utah, market. Springdale is a very unique market. It is highly desire-able and only has a handful of properties available. As we know from economics, demand and supply drive pricing. High demand, low supply drives pricing up. The appraisers goal is to find at least three similar sales in the past 6 months to a year. In a small niche market like Springdale, that is often very difficult. The appraiser is left with possibly three sales in the past year but the sales are not similar. The appraiser then has to do a lot of justifying dialog in his/her appraisal. I have seen banks outright reject the appraisal and deny the loan because they don’t want to base their loan off of an appraisal that is too far from “standard”. In these cases I often recommend talking with a local bank instead of a large national chain bank or a loan broker. Local banks and credit unions will know the niche market and understand the difficulties of the appraisal process there.

So far we know we have to consider:

a.    Buyers qualifications, abilities and personal needs in choosing a lender and a loan.

b.    Type or classification of property we are trying to purchase.

c.    Location of the property in terms of available comparisons.

We also need to consider the lender we use. Does our lender work for a national or statewide bank? A local bank or credit union? Or is our lender a loan broker? Is our lender licensed to do business in the area of the property? Is our lender qualified? Can we work well with our lender?

Interview your Lender

All good questions to consider. Beyond these questions we should interview our lender to see if he/she can work well with us throughout the buying process. You want to have a lender who can help guide you with the dates in your contract and actually help you meet those dates. Can your lender help you get the right loan for your needs? Good interest rates? Discount points? Closing costs for the loan? All of these questions should be considered when shopping for a loan.

If you have a CPA or a tax accountant it would also be wise to discuss your lending options with this person as well. They are getting paid to help you use your money wisely and they can be an invaluable part of your purchasing process.

Next week… we will ponder a bit more on differences in lending institutions and types of loans to look at.

How to Buy Real Estate in Zion Canyon Area Utah

Marcia Pierce-Rasmussen Associate Broker:  My Story 

ERA Brokers - Hurricane

435-635-4636

Buying Real Estate...any Real Estate...can be an overwhelming and daunting task. Especially if you are a first time buyer.

Real Estate agents are there to help guide you through the process. They are required to take 120 hours of classes to understand the whole process from beginning to end. I remember graduating from the courses, passing my exams and getting my license in the mail and thinking “Now what do I do?”  My first client was a seller finance deal with very little down. I was such a “newbie”. I had no idea where to even begin. The classes were great for learning and understanding the concepts of Real Estate but did not teach the practical applications of working with all the emotions involved in any transaction and how to actually go through the process from beginning to end. 

I have been in the Real Estate business since 2000. I worked hard for and received my associate brokers license in 2007. I feel like I’ve been through the trenches and seen more things in Real Estate then I would have ever thought possible. Every time I think I’ve seen it all a new transaction occurs with something that I’ve never seen before and did not expect. At this point in my life, Real Estate has kind of become second nature. Someone very close to me suggested I start a blog that begins to explain the challenging prospect of buying (or selling, for that matter) Real Estate in the Southern Utah area, more specifically, Zion Canyon. Thus, our story begins...

How to buy Real Estate in Zion Canyon area

Step 1: Research the area

The first step in any purchase is to explore the area(s) where you want to buy a home and/or property.  Look around. Get out and talk to the neighbors, the town officials, folks that work at the neighborhood cafes. See what amenities are available in the area of your choice.

Make sure that you and your lifestyle “fit” in your chosen area. I’ve seen many buyers come to the Zion Canyon area because they "LOVE the mountains and Zion Canyon as well as all the recreational activities the area has to offer”. After a few years they put up a for sale sign on their home and move because they didn’t research the neighborhood to see if they “fit” with the people who live in the area. It could be almost anything. The neighbors, the wildlife, the wind, or the sun. It is a great idea to look at all the aspects of the area and try to picture yourself living there with EVERYTHING it has to offer.

Step 2: Hire a Real Estate professional 

Once you have made your decision on the location the next step is to hire a Real Estate professional. It is a good idea to research the area to find the agents who specialize in that area. I do not recommend using any Realtor such as your cousin up in Salt Lake to help you purchase a property in Springdale, Utah. I’ve seen this happen and it leads to many problems and potentially threatens your familial relationship with that person, all because you want them to get the commission check. 

Find the Realtors who specialize in your area and talk to each of them. Interview them. I wouldn't recommend quizzing them on the number of transactions closed and length of time in the business, but ask them questions about who they are. What are their likes and dislikes. What are their hobbies. Ask them how they would solve certain dilemmas. You want to make sure your agent understands your needs and has the ability to work for you. 

I have met many great agents out there. It is a pleasure to work with them in a transaction because they really work hard for their clients and go the extra mile to do everything they can to make sure each client is taken care of. I have met other agents who seem to disappear once the papers are signed and do very little else to earn the pay they receive. These agents, thankfully, are few and far between but they are out there.

If you want to ask for references from past clients just ask. Most agents will be happy to give you a list of clients they have serviced. You can also ask these folks how well they were taken care of throughout the transaction.

Next week:  "Financing"

For more information:

Marcia Pierce-Rasmussen 
Associate Broker
435-619-3069
ERA Brokers - Hurricane, UT
10 North 100 West
Hurricane, UT 84737
435-635-4636

Visit her on the web at www.zioncanyonrealestate.com

http://zioncanyonrealestate.com/property-details/1640_acre_kolob_road_virgin_ut/0_13-147173/