By Danny Margagliano
Today, it seems as if the fake news has hit all sectors not just the political and nightly news channels. I believe that the real estate industry has been plagued with fake news since the first caveman sold his cave thousands of years ago. I am going to discuss with you a few of the top fake real estate news topics that have been going around. Some of these topics are new, and others started back with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
Open houses are needed to sell homes.
If anyone tells you that you need to hold an open house to sell your home, they are only selling you the fake news. This is not to say that open houses don’t occasionally lead to a home selling but the vast majority of them do not. Open houses take up a lot of time, usually the greater portion of a day. Most realtors time could be spent better doing something more productive to get your home sold. I am not opposed to having one or two open houses. However, some buyers hear that there should be many open houses to sell their homes. A valuable alternative to an open house is a broker’s open house. A broker open house is for real estate agents to attend not the general public. This gets qualified eyes on your home. These agents will leave feedback on the condition, the price, and anything that needs improvement to help it sell.
Zillow is the best website for searching
Zillow, Trulia, and other national sites are great for general searches and regional information. The significant benefits dwindle away with sites like Zillow when you get down to wanting specific local information. They are not always up-to-date. I often get calls from people asking about properties that have been off the market more than a year, but Zillow says it’s active. A local website like www.DestinPropertyExpert.com will provide you with information that is not only relevant to our local real estate market but is also current. The search function has been created specifically for this area and the website is updated every 15 minutes.
You need 20% down to avoid PMI
Very often people that we are working with are concerned about paying PMI (Personal Mortgage Insurance). Most people know that if they save for a big enough down payment (20%), they will not have to pay the PMI when they get their loan. In reality, there are often many creative loans and ways to avoid PMI. One of the best is getting a USDA loan. With this particular loan, you can get 100% financing with no PMI. Of course, there are restrictions like income, which is earning less than $99,850 per year or less depending on children in the home. There are other options like lender paid mortgage insurance which some local banks offer. The bottom line is there are ways to avoid PMI without putting 20% down.
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