http://gjhomesbyrhonda.com/blog/categoryname_agents/sort_entrydatetime-desc/ Buying or selling a home is not a decision to be made lightly. There are myriad factors to consider, including all of the various hoops to jump through and fees that will need to be paid along the way. With so much potential hassle, it can seem like a good idea to simply forego the hassle of a real estate agent and sell your property on your own. But is the for sale by owner process as easy and fee-free as many expect? Not necessarily. Though selling your home on your own may sound like a good way to reduce the extra fees associated with buying and selling, or a good way to streamline the process as a whole, that’s not actually how it ends up working out. Here are a few big reasons why trying to sell your property on your own is a bad idea. You won’t have anyone in your cornerWhen you have property for sale, it may seem like a pretty simple process. Name a price for your home and advertise it in your local paper or on online sites. Then just sit back and wait for a buyer, right? Not so much. When interested parties come knocking, the potential buyer is almost guaranteed to come with a real estate agent as well as a home inspection agent and possibly an appraiser. This team of people is going to go over your home with a fine-toothed comb and determine a value for your home Then the negotiations will begin. That potential buyer is going to have professionals in their corner to help them through the legalities and the negotiation process—and that real estate agent is going to be contracted to represent the buyer, not balance both of your best interests. If you try to sell your home on your own, you’ll need to know the ins and outs of real estate negotiation or you could end up steamrolled by a savvy realtor and the rest of the buyer’s team. And, here’s the thing. While selling your property yourself will save you agent fees on your end, you’ll still be responsible for a portion of those fees for your buyer’s agent, so you won’t escape the fees altogether. Often, buyers will use this as a bargaining chip and try to negotiate the home down to a lower cost since you aren’t going to be paying agent fees. Getting exposure for your property is harderIn our modern, constantly connected society, more and more people are turning to the internet for their home search. If you’re selling your home on your own, you’ll be missing out on one of the biggest opportunities to attract sellers because you simply won’t have access. Sure, you can post information about your home on sites like Craigslist or Zillow, but realtors have access to another site, the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). The MLS is the primary site that realtors use, as it provides a detailed property history as well as current information on a given house, the neighborhood, and so on. The MLS provides the best set of information possible so real estate agents can better help their clients wade through all the property for sale. If you don’t work with a realtor to sell your home, it’s not going to get listed on the MLS, and you’ll miss out on the majority of buyers. Ultimately, this means that even if your home is priced well, you may not get the full value of it in a sale. Working with a realtor and getting your home listed on the MLS means a broader audience of potential buyers will see it, which means that enough interested parties could start a bidding war and you could end up with more than the value of your home. Without the widespread exposure you get from working with a real estate agent, your home may take longer to sell and you may get less than its value. The legalities have gotten increasingly difficultEven if you manage to find a buyer on your own and negotiate a deal you’re happy with, you aren’t getting out of the paperwork. In order to make sure everything is legally compliant and the bank handling the mortgage, the buyer’s real estate agent, and everyone else involved in the transaction agree to the various terms, there will be stacks of legal documents to sign. And, because you’re selling the home yourself, most states come with even more documentation that will be required for the sale to be legal. And, well, without a realtor, you won’t have anyone to help you through that process.You’ll make less on the saleThis goes hand-in-hand with the fact that you won’t have anyone in your corner to help with negotiations, but the fact is that across the board, homes sold by owners typically sell for less than homes sold with the help of an agent. Part of this is that buyers working with a realtor will have that experienced negotiator on their side, and will often be able to talk a seller to a lower price by dint of the experience they bring to the table as well as the information from the home inspection and other sales in the area. The other part of that is that the buyer knows you won’t be paying commission for your side of the transaction, and they will use that to try to barter the price down. Combine that with the difficulty in getting exposure for your home, and odds are pretty good that if you sell your home on your own, you could be walking away from the sale with a good chunk less than if you’d worked with an agent. If you have property for sale in Grand Junction, working with an experienced professional can make all the difference in your home’s sale. Contact our team to learn more about what we can do to help you through the selling and buying process! http://gjhomesbyrhonda.com/blog/5796/which-is-better?-for-sale-by-owner-versus-a-real-estate-agent/ Wed, 09 May 2018 12:00:00 -0700 With hundreds of real estate agents and dozens of offices in Grand Junction, how does one possibly decide which real estate office to work with? And then when you decide on an office, how do you come to the decision of which agent to use? Deciding to purchase or sell a home is a big decision and it is so important to make sure you are working with the right person. Finding a real estate agent who is knowledgeable and knows the market well is often easier said than done. You will often find that many real estate offices operate with an “every man for himself” mentality where agents work individually without benefiting from the information and expertise of their team members. That’s not how we roll. At The Rhonda Bever Group and Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties, we work as a team. This means you get the experience and knowledge of our entire office working behind you in your real estate transactions.“RHONDA DID A SHORT SALE FOR ME! I WAS GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE AND WAS IN QUITE AN EMOTIONAL STATE!! SHE WAS AMAZING!! DEALING WITH THE MORTGAGE COMPANY AND MY SOON TO BE EX AND ME HAD TO BE ANYTHING BUT EXHAUSTING!! BUT SHE SAW THE DEAL THROUGH WITH HUMOR & GRACE! SHE'S THE ONLY ONE FOR ME!!!  NOT TO MENTION SHE HAS HELPED MY DAUGHTERS FIND HOMES AS WELL!!!” –L.L“RHONDA AND GROUP ARE EXCELLENT PEOPLE AND AN AWESOME TEAM.” –M.B At the Rhonda Bever Group, we are proud to have a team of Grand Junction real estate agents with a wide variety of talents and areas of experience. Throughout our office, we have some agents who have lived in Grand Junction their entire lives while others have recently moved to the area, bringing a fresh perspective and a new level of understanding to those who may also be relocating to Grand Junction. We prefer to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to our team. If you are looking for the best real estate company in Grand Junction, we think you’ve found it. "RHONDA IS THE GREATEST! I FIRST MET RHONDA IN OCTOBER 2011 WHEN I WAS IN THE MARKET TO BUY A HOME NEAR MY BROTHER IN CLIFTON, CO. SHE DID A GREAT JOB AND ALL WENT SMOOTHLY DUE TO HER EXPERT KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. WHEN I CONTACTED HER FROM AZ TO HELP ME MANAGE THE SALE OF THIS HOUSE IN FEBRUARY 2016, RHONDA WAS READILY AVAILABLE TO MANAGE IT ALL DESPITE BEING BEDRIDDEN DUE TO HER FOOT FOR AWHILE! I HAVE BOUGHT AND SOLD MANY HOUSES IN THE PAST BUT NO AGENT AS TERRIFIC AS RHONDA! SHE SHOULD BE AWARDED NATIONAL REALTOR OF THE YEAR!” –S.C“RHONDA HAS BEEN OUR GO TO REALTOR SINCE WE MOVED TO GRAND JUNCTION. SHE KNOWS THE CURRENT HOUSING MARKET IN THE AREA AND WAS ALWAYS IN CONTACT WITH US DURING THE SALE PROCESS. I WILL RECOMMEND RHONDA TO ANYONE WHO IS IN THE MARKET TO BUY OR SELL PROPERTY. SHE IS AN ASSET TO COLDWELL BANKER DISTINCTIVE PROPERTIES.” –B. L http://gjhomesbyrhonda.com/blog/5430/how-to-pick-your-real-estate-agent/ Fri, 02 Feb 2018 12:00:00 -0700 We just wrote a blog about what a realtor REALLY does (you may be surprised!)  Knowing all of this, may make you more weary when choosing the agent.  I mean if they are going to be a financial advisor of YOUR money and a negotiator on YOUR behalf, you don’t just want to pick anyone!  In a rising market like Grand Junction's real estate market, the competition for a well-priced home can be high. For buyers who are serious about making a move, it is important to have a qualified real estate agent by your side. Finding the right real estate agent for you is a  important key to having a painless home buying experience. While some home buyers initially think they will be better off going it alone,  they quickly learn that there are many moving parts to the home buying process, and going it alone can quickly turn into a home-buying nightmare."I watch House Hunters all the time so totally understand the buying process. Why do I need an agent?" Real estate agents have access to information that is unavailable to the general public. "Zesimates", property details and home prices on third party public sites such as Trulia and Zillow are infamous for their inaccuracy. If you are a buyer basing your research on seemingly reliably but surprisingly unreliable information online, you will likely hit a brick-wall early on in your home search.Real estate agents are not emotionally attached.  A qualified real estate agent has viewed so many properties they can offer a realistic opinion of the homes value and condition. So, when your wife is convinced that you've found the perfect home and you have a suspicion it has something to do with the steam shower and nothing to do with the terrible floor plan, your agent will be the emotionally detached voice-of-reason to keep you, and your wife from making an emotionally charged mistake.Real estate agents have connections. According to David Bediz, an agent with at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Washington: “Realtors have the knowledge and connections to push an offer or to make sure it’s written strongly enough to compete with other offers when there’s competition. When there isn't competition for a property, an experienced Realtor can make recommendations about how much to offer formulated on evidence of the actual home value.”Real estate agents have perspective. While you, as buyers, may have your heart set on the white-picket fence dream house, your agent may have other ideas. When buyers are looking at homes online it is very easy to disregard a home based on one photo or a bad description. Agents will show buyers properties that they overlooked that could very well be their dream home.Real estate agents love paperwork.  Ok, maybe that is a broad generalization, but paperwork is a big part of the job description. The list of contracts and forms that go into the sale of a home is a long one. Most home buyers not only don't have time to fill out form after form & contract after contract, but they also get lost in the technicalities and make mistakes. Agents on the other hand do paperwork in their sleep.Finding an agent: You want to find a real estate agent who understands the market and that you can trust. Recommendations from family, friends, and coworkers are a great way to narrow down the pool of prospects. You can also check-out agents profiles, websites and bio pages online. Finding a reputable real estate company with knowledge and experience of the community and a diverse team of agents, is a great place to start. As one of Grand Junctions largest real estate companies, our team at Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties offers a level of experience and expertise that can only come from serving this real estate market for many years as well as having a cohesive, large group. With the Rhonda Bever Group, you are getting multiple agents working on YOUR behalf. This means more people looking for what you want, more people providing marketing, and more people with more knowledge.  If you would like to learn more, please call us at 970.201.2108. Happy House Hunting! http://gjhomesbyrhonda.com/blog/5380/hunting-for-a-real-estate-agent-in-grand-junction/ Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:00:00 -0700 1. CATS & DOGSTo many agents, pets are a big pet peeves when showing a home.  Whether it’s a cat that follows your steps for the entire walkthrough, an escape artist dog that simply sees you as a window of opportunity, a distinct pet smell or droppings throughout the backyard, pets are a nuisance during a home showing and there is no two ways about it.2. HIDDEN LOCKBOXESWhile we’re sure the home owners appreciate your extra “security precautions” there is nothing more frustrating than showing up for a showing and finding no lockbox in sight. No matter how “intuitive” the showing agent may be, there is a good chance they will not know that the most logical place for the home’s lockbox was inside a planter.3. RENTERSIt comes as no surprise that renters are not nearly as motivated for a home to sell as the owners may be. Renters are notorious for leaving the house a mess, not leaving the home during showings or failing to communicate the showing schedule to roommates – creating some very awkward situations! Since our rental market here in Bozeman is dominated by college students, more than a few of our agents have shown a home only to find someone in the bedroom sleeping off the previous night's shenanigans. Talk about awkward!4. TAG ALONG OWNERSThe one thing worse than renters being present at the time of the showing? The owners are home! When homeowners are present for a showing, many times they try to direct the tour and point out everything they love about the home. Not only does this make potential buyers uncomfortable, it also keeps them from voicing their opinions and concerns.5. UNFLUSHED TOILETSLet’s paint a picture for you. You are a home owner trying to sell your home; you spend the entire weekend cleaning your house top to bottom to make the best impression. You make your kids eat outside and don’t let anyone sit on the couch for fear of messing up your perfectly arranged accent pillows. You leave the home feeling confident that your home will make THE BEST impression. Little do you know, one of your little ones decided to relieve themselves right before you left. Not only that but they forgot to put the seat down (again).  It may seem small but this little detail actually makes potential buyers and their agents very uncomfortable. Is it a deal breaker? Probably not. But it certainly takes away from the experience that you worked so hard to create.6. WHAT'S THAT SMELL?As a homeowner, you can do all the cleaning in the world to prepare for a showing but if (for whatever reason) you decide to make fish tacos for lunch before you leave, you can be sure the buyer’s agent and their clients will be wrinkling up their noses the minute they walk in your front door. It can be anything really, the remnants of a fish taco lunch, that distinct smell your dog always has or sometimes even scented candles or sprays that overpower the home. Your best bet? Leave all the doors & windows open for an hour before the showing. That will leave your home smelling fresh & potential buyers will be able to focus on the great things about your home, not the smell.7. IS YOUR LISTING AGENT DOING THEIR JOB?Many sellers aren’t even aware of this issue but it is a big one for many agents! When the listing agent does not provide all of the documents for a home on the MLS listing, many offers fall through because the buyer’s agent does not have the answers to simple questions like: What are the property taxes? What are the neighborhood covenants? Energy bills?  HOA fees? Are there any problems with the home in the disclosed "Owners Disclosure"? Has the home been tested for radon? What are the dimensions of the lot the home sits on? The list goes on! Without this information, buyers may like the home, but walk away from the showing without a strong desire to make an offer due to lack of information. In the time that it takes for a buyer's agent to track down all that information, the buyers may easily find a different property (one with all the associated documents!).Side note: here at the Rhonda Bever Group, we provide all of these documents on each and every listing. We know how important it is for buyers to make an informed decision about their home purchase and we want to make it as easy as possible! http://gjhomesbyrhonda.com/blog/5314/7-things-that-drive-real-estate-agents-crazy-when-showing-a-home/ Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:00:00 -0700