Northwest Ohio Real Estate - Flex Realty Group - Homes for sale

This is not to say that you shouldn't do your market research, but if the listing agent has done his job properly, then the home should be close to market value. By first doing your due diligence, and consulting with your buyer's agent, you should be able to place a bid that is in line with what a seller would be willing to accept.

Keep in mind that most listing agents aren't pricing homes that are 5 to 10 thousand dollars above market value and you shouldn't have the attitude that just because the property may need to be sold that the seller is going to be willing to accept such a low offer.

Our jobs go beyond helping people buy and sell homes. It doesn't make sense to help a person purchase a home that will eventually end in foreclosure. Which is why it's also our job to help homeowners and future home buyers avoid facing foreclosure, or a mortgage payment they just can't afford. By educating yourself and your clients about the risks and benefits of different loan programs, you will be able to help guide them in their financial decisions. Granted, by know means should you present yourself as a mortgage professional. However, with more and more mortgage professionals struggling to make a living in today's market, you may find that your clients aren't being made aware of all the risks involved, and all the different loans available.

Many of the factors that have created the declining market we are currently experiencing is due to many subprime loans. However, this doesn't mean that every subprime loan is bad. I personally believe that every loan is a good loan, for the right person. For those who can't qualify under conventional standards, subprime products are a great alternative for people trying to own a home. However, when buyers aren't made aware or don't fully understand all the terms of their agreement, they may find themselves in a devastating foreclosure down the road.

In order to thwart future foreclosures, we as Realtors can help future buyers avoid finding themselves in the same predicament. This can be accomplished by:

- Working with buyers to ensure they understand the terms of their mortgage

- Keeping up with what the government and non profits are doing to help borrowers facing foreclosure

- Understanding how your different lenders handle delinquent mortgages

Letting people in your community know about the different resources that are available to them

The NAR and some of it's partners have put together a series of brochures as a valuable resource to help consumers avoid having to ever experience foreclosure.

There seems to be more conflicting foreclosure numbers hitting the media this week. With numbers out from all the leading foreclosure reporting companies, it is inevitable that there is a disparity between them, and a misrepresentation of those numbers within the media and journalistic outlets.

Let's take a look at the latest examples of faulty foreclosure reporting and its respective media coverage. An article published by the Lansing State Journal, or LSJ.com, on August 14, 2008, offered the following headline: "Foreclosures continue to rise across mid-Michigan." Yet according to the headline of an article published in the Toledo Blade on the very same day, "Michigan's foreclosure drop, Ohio's increase."

While foreclosures seem to have decreased in only Mid-Michigan, yet another article adds to the confusion.