Michelle Millikin

Archive for the ‘Buyers’ Category

The main crisis facing our housing market is the fact that more than 20 percent of homeowners are upside down on their mortgage.  This causes foreclosures, prevents home owners from selling and stifles overall consumer spending.  According to CoreLogic, as of June 2011, underwater home owners owed $709 billion more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. Now add two more facts:  Banks have a massive shadow inventory of homes not yet released to the market and the push for buyer-assistance programs has fallen drastically short.

Principal reduction would essentially require the banks to reduce the amount owed on a property to be reflective of the property’s current value and adjust the interest charged to a current rate.  This would create a positive effect:  Mortgage payments would go down, families would stay within their homes, neighborhoods/communities would remain vibtrant, consumer spending would increase.  As consumer demand grew, so would construction, job creation and economic growth.

Banks should be incentivized by this idea.  They have an estimated 5-10 million in shadow inventory to protect.  If another wave of defaults comes through, this inventory will lose even more value.

This program would need to be limited to only households facing imminent foreclosure or other serious financial hardship.

I am in support of investigating this proposal further.  Many of these lending institutions contributed to this problem with their securitization schemes and yet were rescued with trillions of taxpayer-funded bailout money.  According to St. Louis Fed, the banks currently have 1.64 trillion in the Federal Reserve accounts that could be allocated to such a program.

Home decor is like fashion:  ever-changing and fun!  There are some easy and inexpensive ways to update your home to keep it within the trends of the times – whether remaining within your home or preparing for a sale.

Mother Earth Inspired:  Popular color palettes are reminiscent of natural elements – reds found in the earth and soil, blues of the ocean, greens of the forest and neutrals in a textured look of eggs, sea shells and sand.  These natural tones are being paired with color accents (my favorite!) such as tangerine.  Pantone Color Institute named Tangerine Tango as their color of the year.

Accessories found to incorporate natural elements may be a thick woven blanket, woven baskets, leather stools and use of cotton textiles.

1. Animal print:  Still but use sparingly.  I recommend only one use in a room at a time.
2. Digital Fabrics:  Have become a new work of art.  Frame a digital fabric with a natural theme such as leaves or branches.
3. Don’t throw out old peices:  Vintage is Vogue.  Use old asian rugs or art peices as a focal point of your room – drawing off of its color palette for paint colors and other accessories.
4. Mix your textures:  Matchy-Matchy chromatics is a thing of the past.  Mix wood species and upholstery fabrics.  Silk with suede, furniture with large studs, shiny/modern with vintage.
5. Reflection and Light:  Very key element within a living space, especially in our climate which is filled with cold and overcast days.  Reflective white, blue and silver objects help lift a room.  Mirrors have a magical way of making a room look much larger and refract light to areas that may need some help.

Have fun and make your home your own.  The typical rule in staging a home for sale id to strip it to neutral.  If it is gawdy, I tentd to agree but I also watch Buyer’s eyes light up when introduced to a home with class, taste and imagination appropriately displayed.  It can be inspiring to see what can be done within a space.

Give me call to set an appointment for some updating and easy ideas!

With the abundance of Wausau area foreclosures, estate sales and bank-owned properties within our Wausau area housing market, there is a common tendency for Seller’s to sell a property “as is.” Yet both Buyers and Sellers do not seem to have a firm grasp on what that really means and how it can affect a transaction.

A Seller may choose to use this clause (which can be used on any type of property) because they cannot afford to put any more money into repairing a property, because there may be a potential of environmental concerns they do not wish to confront or because they are incapable of dealing with such remedies due to physical or mental constraints.

The “as is” clause can mean one or both of the following: The Seller wishes to make no representations to the condition of the property and is holding the Buyer responsible for its determination and/or the Seller is unwilling to cure any defects if found.
Sellers need to realize that even if they have this clause disclosed they are not free and clear from some liability and duties in relationship to their property. For instance they cannot put a Buyer in a condition of “foreseeable” or “unreasonable risk or harm. They cannot conceal a defect or make it difficult for the Buyer to discover the defect or make false statements.

As a licensed agent, we still have to inspect the property, consisting of a visual walk thru of the property and ask the Seller questions of suspect conditions they may discover.

Lead-based paint disclosure requirements are not waived in an “as is” sale.

My recommendation is for a Buyer to write an offer contingent upon an Inspection. The Seller has already made it clear that they are making no representations and will more than likely not cure any defects or offer a financial allowance to the Buyers for what they find, however, it will give the Buyer the justifiable right to determine the property’s condition before full blown commitment. An inspection contingency gives the Buyer a right to back out if the defects are beyond acceptable and the Buyer no longer wants the property. If there is no inspection contingency, the Buyer is REALLY accepting the property “as is.” If the Buyer closes on the property and discovers a defect afterward, they cannot go after the Seller for compensation – they agreed to purchase the property based upon the condition THEY determined.