State of Real(i)ty

Episode 24: The Rationale For Downsizing And Does It Make Sense?

This episode covers a very specific topic. What happens when you consider downsizing? There are lots of reasons why people consider downsizing, but when you get right down to it, it doesn't always make sense. First, there's the financial side of it. Most people downsize, thinking their monthly mortgage payments will be less. Second, a smaller home should be less of a burden on you. Although many people think downsizing is relegated to empty nesters, a lot of other people also downsize for a variety of reasons. In this episode, I'll use my own personal example to describe the conundrum you can find yourself in when you do the deep analysis and perhaps realize that maybe downsizing just doesn't make sense after all. At least not right now. Everyone mistakenly makes it look so easy. Just sell all your junk and move into a smaller home. It's not as easy as it looks. If you like this podcast, please tell your friends and provide a rating on whatever platform you're listening on. If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Linktree https://linktr.ee/djstavropoulos.homes [https://linktr.ee/djstavropoulos.homes]

Episode 23: Buy First, Then Sell

This episode covers a relatively new set of products in the real estate industry that allow buyers to literally buy before they sell. In other words, buying their new home before they sell their old one. But that's backwards, yes, I know. It's the age-old problem of having to sell your current home first because you need that cash in order to buy your new home. For most people, the equity in their old home becomes the down payment on their new home. But having to sell first usually means putting a home sale contingency into your offer, which, as I've mentioned is extremely unattractive to Sellers and likely to get your offer not accepted. Every Seller is focused on selling their home as quickly as possible for the highest price. They don't want the added risk associated with you having to sell your home in order to buy theirs because they have absolutely no control over this. There are tons of innovative startups in the real estate industry solving problems such as this, and one subset is focused on helping you with this specific issue. Three examples are Homeward, Ribbon, and Knock. Homeward and Ribbon essentially turn your offer into an all-cash offer, making it very attractive to Sellers. Both also buy your new home for you, if needed, allowing you to then sell your old home before buying your home back from them. Knock takes a very different approach. Instead of buying your new home for you or making your offer an all-cash offer, they instead loan you the equity in your home for up to 6 months with no interest so you can achieve the same results. In essence, you get your equity out of your home before you sell it, buy your new home, and then sell your old home. If you like this podcast, please tell your friends and provide a rating on whatever platform you're listening on, whether that's Anchor, Apple, Breaker, Google, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, or Spotify. If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Linktree https://linktr.ee/djstavropoulos.homes

Episode 22: Going Under Contract & Closing on Your Sale

This episode covers the topic of going under contract on your home. Also know as going binding because when both sides agree to the contract, it's now considered a legal and binding agreement. This is a great milestone in the sale of your home because it means you not only found a buyer, but you reached an agreement with that buyer on the terms of selling your home to them. But don't pop the champagne just yet. You typically have three hurdles to overcome before you get to closing. Most of the work happens on the buyer side, and you may feel somehwat powerless to control the outcome, but rest assured there are things you can do to influence the final outcome and reduce the chances of your buyer terminating. Remember. It's not a done deal until you get to closing, and there are several ways the deal can fall apart on the way there. Your agent's job is to reduce this risk, but you have a key role in this as well. Thanks for listening. RateThisPodcast.com/stateofreality If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos

Episode 21: Fielding Offers on Your Home

This episode covers the topic of fielding offers on your home. This can be either the most exciting time in the selling process or one of the worst. So, the more you know up front about what to expect, the better prepared you'll be for what happens and how you respond to it. Understanding the Purchase & Sale Agreement is important, as it lists all the terms of the offer. Fielding multiple offers can be complicated depending on when they come in. You can consider asking for Best & Highest to simplify your comparison and analysis of offers if they uncontrollably flood in. Having a backup offer is a great way to reduce risk in the even your primary offer terminates at any point. That can happen during Due Diligence, the Financing Contingency, or the Appraisal Contingency. Finally, negotiating offers is actually a negotiation with your agent since it's their job to simply communicate your wishes to the other agent, not make decisions for you. In the end, you want what's best for you while keeping in mind what's fair for the buyer. No one wants to feel like they're not getting at least most of what they want. Thanks for listening. RateThisPodcast.com/stateofreality If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos

Episode 20: Holding Your Home Open

This episode covers the topic of holding your home open to help ensure a quick and successful sale. There are plusses and minuses to having an open house. You should explore both the traditional approach as well as virtual open houses. Discuss holding a Caravan for other agents to see the home. Your agent should plan these well in advance and discuss all aspects of them with you. Review the outcome of each open house, including metrics and guest feedback, so you can work together to gauge what to do next. An open house doesn't always result in an offer, but the foot traffic, buzz, and feedback can be invaluable in spreading the word and allowing you to course-correcting until you find the right buyer. Thanks for listening. RateThisPodcast.com/stateofreality If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos If you like what you heard and want to see more, here are my social media links: Facebook: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes facebook.com/d.j.stavropoulos.homes Instagram: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes instagram.com/djstavropoulos.homes/ Pinterest: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes Pinterest.com/djstavropoulos2270 YouTube: D. J. Stavropoulos Homes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCki6Zx9R6oBNUovPhVDdRvg?view_as=subscriber Twitter: D. J. Stavropoulos Twitter.com/djstavropoulos LinkedIn: D. J. Stavropoulos Linkedin.com/in/djstavropoulos