Can You Negotiate Closing Costs?

Buying a new home can be quite an expensive process, and it is important for most people to save money where they can. One question that many people consider is whether or not they can negotiate closing costs during the transaction. In many cases, third parties generate the closing costs and typically don’t change; additionally there are some costs that can’t be negotiated. Here are three things to remember about negotiating closing costs.

What Are Closing Costs

Closing costs are fees, which are charged by lenders and third parties, and related to the purchase of the home. When the title of the home is conveyed to the new buyer, this is typically referred to as the closing. The closing costs for a home don’t necessarily always go to the buyer or the seller, that is determined by negotiations at the end of the transaction. The closing costs likely incurred include loan origination fees, discount points, appraisal fees, title searches, title insurance, survey, taxes, deed-recording fees and credit report charges.

Negotiate with the Seller

You can always negotiate who pays the closing costs with the seller. In some cases, the seller will be willing to “pay” a buyer to finalize the sale and purchase the home. When the seller pays the buyer’s closing costs, it give the buyer more incentive to close the deal on the home right away. Additionally, another thing to consider is that you can get a no-closing cost mortgage, which means you won’t pay any of the closing costs when you close on the mortgage.

What Are Negotiable Closing Costs

There are a number of closing costs in any given transaction that are negotiable. Those costs include: origination fees, appraisal fees, administrative fees, attorney fees and title insurance fees, among others. Even if you think you are getting a good deal at the time, it is always important to remember that these things are negotiable and can save you money in the long run.

Buying a home is a huge expense and a milestone in your life. To save yourself time and money, know what costs are negotiable and who you can negotiate with to make sure you get the best deal for you. For more information about negotiating your closing costs, visit here.

What Goes With You When You Sell A Home?

When you are selling a home, you will want to establish what items you will be taking with you in the move and which ones you’ll be leaving behind.

Generally things that are not attached to the property go with the seller. If there are things you are absolutely certain you want to take with you that are attached, make sure you tell your Realtor and so that they are included in the listing and you don’t end up breaking any potential buyer’s heart.

There are several areas which generally feature in this type of discussion:

Lighting: Lighting fixtures are often something that people are attached to because they often reflect personal style. In general things that are attached to the home such as lighting fixtures are generally considered to be part of the home. For example, when I bought my condo, the owners wanted to take their crystal chandelier in the dining room with them. For me this wasn’t an issue, the chandelier wasn’t my style and I was happy with having the chance to replace it with something else. However if I hadn’t known this in advance and I had my heart set on the way the dining room looked with the chandelier it  could have been an issue. Fixtures are to remain in the home unless the seller explicitly stated the item is not to be included in the sale. The seller also needs ensure that the item be removed without damage to the home. Lamps are moveable items and are considered personal items that can be claimed by the seller when they vacate the home.

Appliances:  Appliances are often an area where the buyer and seller can negotiate.  In some cases, the buyer may actually prefer that the seller remove appliances because they have their own. Other times, the seller may be ready to take the appliances but could use them as an incentive to get the buyer to pay the list price because the buyer won’t have to pay for new appliances. If you are absolutely certain that you want to take the appliances with you make sure your agent notes that. If you are willing to negotiate let your agent know that too. Most appliances are moveable items that the seller would normally be allowed to remove from the home. Moveable items are considered personal items or possessions of the seller.

Landscaping: Plants, shrubs and trees are items that are affixed to the property and will remain with the home however if you have container gardens or perhaps flower-filled urns on the front porch those can be negotiable. Backyard equipment, such as lawn chairs, tables, swings and grills, are all considered personal items. The swing set may get a bit tricky because it can be claimed that it is attached to the ground in some cases. The seller may often be very willing to sell all of the backyard items for a price.

Window Treatments: Window treatments are another area that can be negotiated. Often window treatments were bought to fit the specific size and shape of the windows and so the seller may not be interested in taking them to a new home. If you are planning to leave the window treatments behind be sure to let your agent know so that it can be added to the listing. This is often a great selling point to use because it means the person can move in and not have to worry about privacy.

To learn more about what is generally taken with the home seller and what is left behind in a sale, go here. 

How To Use Video To Sell Your Home

Most sellers, buyers, and real estate agents know the value of including pictures of a home in a for sale listing, but a new trend is emerging that is making it easier to sell a home. Many real estate agents are now encouraging their clients to create short videos that show off the best features of their home, yard, neighborhood, and city to include in their marketing strategy. Such videos have been shown to help certain homes stand out to potential buyers and even help to generate more people that might be interested in your home. So, if you’re serious about selling, you should consider making a short film that highlights all of the great things about your home and area to include with your for sale listing.

Social media has been of great help to many home buyers and sellers, since information can spread so quickly through sites like Facebook, YouTube, Trulia, and more. It doesn’t take much effort for people to click ‘play’ on your video, so broadcasting your sale through social media is a great, low-effort way to get your home to sell quicker. In 2012 only about 3% of real estate agents were using videos to help sell their clients’ homes, and fewer than that used videos that included the seller talking about their home on camera. This is why video tours of homes and neighborhoods have been so successful-they’re rare!

Recently, many agents and other companies in the world of real estate have started to notice the benefits of using video to sell homes; for example, Zillow has partnered with StudioNow, a suite of services to help agents – many of whom lack video-editing skills – make these short productions.

What do these videos look like though? How are they made?

Here are a few tips…

Homeowner Interview – homeowner answering interview questions about what they love most about their home and neighborhood. This is a great way to bring your property to life and to inform potential buyers of all the wonderful things they’re getting when they purchase your home.

Length – Once the video has been filmed and edited (they should only be 2 or 3 minutes long)

Where to post – Everywhere! First, upload it to YouTube then ask your agent to upload it to popular social media sites like Facebook, or include a link on Twitter, and to sites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, RealBird, and other search sites. You also want to ‘tag’ your video appropriately so that it generates a lot of traffic. You can experiment with different tags on different sites to see what generates the most traffic, but this step is usually one that is easier when working with an experienced real estate agent or knowledgeable third party.

Keep it simple – Remember to keep it simple-no special effects or loud music.

Watch for motion sickness – If you plan on walking through your home with a camera, make sure to be aware that some will not be able to watch the entire video. The camera will shake and the video can be blurry. Try standing still while taking the video and mixing still pictures in between the videos to break up the movement.

Finally, brag! You’re trying to sell your home, so really sell it; talk about the great neighbors, the summer festivals, the conveniences of having a walk-in closet-anything you can think of!

To read more on using video to sell your home, check out the original article from MSN.