Whether it’s your first time buying or selling a home or even if you’ve done it many times before, the process can be both exciting and challenging. That’s because it signifies change, but with change also comes uncertainty. Buying or selling a home can be a tricky process, especially if you don’t have all the right answers and resources at your disposal. This is why we’ve assembled a list of commonly asked real estate questions to assist you in your real estate journey.

Commonly Asked Real Estate Questions from Buyers

What Kind of Home Can I Afford?

This is the first question that should come to mind when you decide you want to buy a house. Without figuring out the answer to this, you won’t know where to start looking. In order to determine what kind of home you can afford, you’ll need to take into account your annual household income as well as additional financial obligations. The best way to do this is by meeting with a lender to get pre-approved for a home loan. Learn more about pre-approvals and why they’re so important in our blog Want to Buy a House? Here’s Why Pre-Approval is Important. A general rule of thumb that financial advisors agree upon is that you should spend no more than 28 percent of your gross monthly income on housing.

Can I Buy a Home and Sell My Current One at the Same Time?

Another of our commonly asked real estate questions, the short answer is yes, but it can be difficult to go about doing so. Buying a new home before you’re ready or able to sell your current home can make you stretch yourself thin financially as you’re paying for two mortgages at the same time. Additionally, selling your home before you’re in a position to buy another one might result in you needing to rent for a little while before you find a new home. A potential solution to this problem is to put a sale contingency in your contract, meaning that you agree to buy a home but only if you’re able to sell your current one. The downside to this is that the seller may not agree to it, leaving you in the tough spot of deciding whether you want to buy the house and pay two mortgages until you’re able to sell your old home or pass on the house.

How Many Homes Should I See Before Making an Offer?

This is entirely up to you and your preferences and confidence level in the properties you do visit. Today, it’s easier than ever to see hundreds of different homes in your area — and outside your area — you can start by searching properties here. Rather than seeing 15–20 homes in person and determining that none of them are what you’re looking for, you can take the time to view different homes online and then easily narrow down your search to a select few options that you want to see in person.

Working with a licensed real estate agent can make this process significantly easier for you, as they’ll find the right home for you based on your interests. Want to cut right to the chase and get to work with a licensed agent? Contact us today.

Should I Get a Home Inspection?

Simply put, yes. Paying for a home inspection may save you thousands of dollars down the line. A home inspector will provide you with a report explaining all of the issues they’ve found as well as a summary of the age of key systems such as plumbing, electrical, roofing, HVAC, and more. And while you may have the idea that a home inspection comes down to a pass or fail, that is in fact incorrect. Learn about that and more real estate misperceptions in our blog Don’t Believe These Common Real Estate Myths.

Commonly Asked Real Estate Questions from Sellers

What Should I Do to My House Prior to Putting It on the Market?

Before you potentially spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars making improvements and upgrades to your home, take the time to meet with a licensed real estate agent and have them examine it. You might not need to do too much before you’re ready to sell. Your agent will know how you can best increase your home’s value and what should be done prior to putting it on the market.

How Long Will It Take for My Home to Sell?

This will vary from home to home and depend on key factors that impact home sale timelines such as the time of year, local housing market conditions, buyer demand, and the job market, and the type or condition of the home being sold. The average time a home spent on the market in 2018 was 68 days. There’s an average of 30 days that are built into this time frame to account for the period between the seller accepting an offer and the closing of the sale, so sellers typically found a buyer within five weeks of listing their home.

How Important is Staging in the Home Selling Process?

Very important. On average, a staged home sells 88% faster than one that is not, and more importantly, it sells for 20% more money. A staged home allows potential buyers to envision what the home could potentially look like for their family. The reason staging is so successful is because it makes your home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, which results in a faster sale for more money. Working with a licensed agent to stage your home is your best bet. They’ll know what potential buyers are looking for and what will catch their eye, saving you time and money.

How Are Real Estate Agents Paid and How Much Do They Make?

Real estate agents can spend hours on top of hours working on your behalf, whether it’s by networking, finding potential buyers or homes of interest, and filling out paperwork — and still not get paid. This is because agents aren’t paid until the actual sale of the home is completed, which is when they’re paid a commission of the sale of the home. The commission is typically 6% of the sale of the home, but that 6% is split up and paid out to the brokerage who represented the seller and the brokerage who represented the buyer. The agent on both sides then gets a predetermined share of the 3% that each brokerage received in the deal. Take your learning beyond these commonly asked real estate questions with our blog, How Real Estate Agents Get Paid.

How CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate Can Help

We hope our answers to these commonly asked real estate questions have been helpful to you. Whether you’re buying or selling a home, there’s no one better to assist you than the talented team at CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate. Since 1936, we’ve helped thousands of homeowners prepare their homes for sale, market them across numerous channels, and negotiate with buyers confidently — and successfully. Whether you’re looking to buy or sell a home, we’d enjoy learning about you, your home, and how we may be able to help.

If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch with us today!

November 11, 2019 — Port Clinton, OH — CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate, a fourth-generation, independently owned real estate brokerage based in Port Clinton, Ohio, is pleased to announce that it has relocated its headquarters to a new office in Port Clinton.

The continued growth and expansion of the company necessitated a new office space in order to meet the demands associated with that growth. The new office provides CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate and its team of more than 40 real estate agents with a better environment to engage and meet with clients as well as community partners. 

Founded by Ann Bolte in 1936, CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate has maintained its commitment to excellence by taking a personal approach with its customers. With this new office in Port Clinton as well as existing offices in Clyde, Tiffin, and Catawba, the company is the largest independent brokerage in North Central Ohio.

Phillip Bolte and Renee Bolte-Stine, Ann’s great-grandchildren and the current owners of the firm, bought the company in 2014 and have built a state-of-the-art real estate brokerage while maintaining the family heritage while growing through strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

The new Port Clinton office location allows for CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate to continue to expand and strengthen its presence as a real estate leader in North Central Ohio.

“We’re extremely excited to be moving into our new office space in Port Clinton. We believe it’ll allow us to better help our clients and address their needs in a more efficient manner,” Phillip Bolte said. “And as always, we look forward to giving back to the communities we represent here in the North Central Ohio area.”

The new Port Clinton office is located in the downtown area of the historic community at 124 East 2nd Street.

Those interested in learning more about CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate and its new Port Clinton office may call 419-341-1275 or email phillip@phillipbolte.com.

About CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate

CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate is the largest independent realty firm in North Central Ohio with more than 40 agents serving communities in five counties. For more than 80 years, we’ve been helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals quickly and efficiently. Learn more about our heritage of excellence at bolterealestate.com.

In every industry, there are a number of preconceived ideas when it comes to how things work. This readily applies to the real estate industry as well with common real estate myths. While things may seem to operate one way for someone on the outside looking in, they may in fact function very differently.

Since almost everyone will at some point deal with real estate — whether it’s because you’re selling your home or buying one — it’s important to understand what’s accurate and what’s simply a myth, since there are plenty of those to go around. To help make your life a little easier, we’ve listed some of the most common real estate myths below. 

1. You’ll Get More Money If You Do a FSBO

Many homeowners have tried and ultimately failed when it comes to selling their own homes. Sure, it’s appealing on the surface level. Who wouldn’t want to get more money for their home by not having to pay an agent? But we’re here to bust that myth. In reality, it’s actually very rare to successfully sell a home FSBO, let alone make more of a profit than you would by working with a licensed agent.

Research from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) showed that the average 2016 FSBO sale price was $185,000. The average for an agent-listed home was $245,000. Even with commission, those who sold via agents walked away with $45,000 more in proceeds than FSBO sellers. This is the case for a variety of reasons. One of which is simply because they’re able to provide your home with more exposure through access to various resources. Some of these include access to the MLS, connections and relationships with fellow real estate agents and brokerages, and much more.

Real estate agents are also experts when it comes to negotiation. They’re able to negotiate the best deal for you, whereas you may not be as experienced in this aspect and could potentially lose out on thousands of dollars because of it. If you’d still like to try selling your house FSBO, read our blog How to Sell a House By Owner in Ohio: Pros and Cons for additional tips or take a look at our white paper for a more in-depth overview. 

2. Home Improvements Increase Value and Justify Higher Sale Prices

People who think that home improvements will drastically increase their home’s value are unfortunately mistaken. Home improvements are a great way to increase the value of your home and also improve your day-to-day life, but it’s important to know which home improvement projects will do so while also providing you with a good return on investment. Not every home improvement project will. 

The last thing you want is to be spending thousands of dollars on specific home improvements, only to find out when it comes time to sell your house that it hasn’t increased in value as much as you thought and you’re unable to recoup your investment.

If you’re looking to make home improvements, whether it’s to sell your house or simply to make your home more enjoyable for you and your family, consider making improvements that will pay off in the long run. Here are six of the best home improvements to increase value. 

3. Home Inspections — The Reality of Pass/Fail

You’ve probably heard a friend or family member say something along the lines of, “We’ve made an offer. We’re just waiting for the home to pass the inspection and then everything will be finalized.” Well, that sounds great, but it doesn’t actually make any sense because homes don’t “pass” or “fail” an inspection. 

A home inspection is meant to assess the condition of a home. An inspector will typically provide you with a report explaining all of the issues that they’ve found, as well as a summary of the age of key systems such as plumbing, electrical, roofing, HVAC, and more. Now, if you have an inspection done and don’t like what the inspector has found, you can decide to withdraw your offer or request that the seller repairs certain things prior to sale.

4. Overpricing and Lowballing Are Worthwhile Strategies

Home sellers are interested in making sure they get at least asking price for their home, which is why they believe that overpricing is a smart strategy. They go into the process thinking that they can always come down on their price and ultimately get what they actually want for it. This is incorrect because overpriced homes just end up sitting on the market for long periods of time without garnering much interest.

A competitively priced home from the very start increases your chances of attracting legitimate traffic which could result in a bidding war. At the end of the day, you might get even more for your house than you asked for. 

The problem with an overpriced home is that buyers may not even consider it, let alone put down an offer. An overpriced home can turn off a buyer immediately. On the other hand, making a low offer is just as bad as overpricing. The negotiation process is normal when buying a house, but if a home is priced reasonably, a low offer will only turn off a seller and make them not take you seriously. 

5. Real Estate Agents Are Paid a Salary

This is one of those real estate myths that is extremely common in the general public. Real estate agents receive no base salary or reimbursement for the time and money they spend in an attempt to sell a home. The hours of research, the dozen houses your agent has shown you, and much more are all done on their dollar and during their time. So next time you work with your real estate agent, keep this in mind. If you’re interested in learning more about how real estate agents get paid, read our blog covering the topic. 

How CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate Can Help

Whether you’re buying or selling a home, there’s no one better to assist you than the talented team at CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate. Since 1936, we’ve helped thousands of homeowners dispel real estate myths, prepare their homes for sale, market them across numerous channels, and negotiate with buyers confidently — and successfully. We can do the same for those looking to purchase a home.

Whether you’re looking to buy or sell a home, we’d enjoy learning about you, your home, and how we may be able to help. If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch with us today!

Wondering How to Sell a House by Owner in Ohio? You’ve Come to the Right Place

Learning how to sell a house by owner in Ohio may seem easy, but you might not be very familiar with the real estate landscape — leaving you without knowing where or how to begin. During your search for more information, you might’ve stumbled upon the term “For Sale By Owner” or “FSBO” for short, but what exactly does this mean? Well, a FSBO is the process of selling real estate without the representation of a real estate broker or real estate agent. The home is being sold directly by the seller.

Typically, homeowners will take this hands-on approach if they’re looking to avoid having to pay a commission on the sale of their home, ultimately saving them anywhere from 3 to 6 percent on the final agreed-upon selling price. However, this means that the seller is fully responsible for all of the work involved in the sale of their home, which includes extensive paperwork, marketing, managing the showing of the home, and much more.

Overview of How to Sell a House by Owner in Ohio

The FSBO process can be a lengthy one, especially because the entire sale of your home is on you and you only from beginning to end. The first step of the process is ensuring that your home is ready for viewing. There’s no reason to worry about anything else until this has been completed.

This may include any renovations or upgrades that need to be made. It’s unwise to list your home unless you know that all updates and repairs have been made. It’s important to have your home looking its very best when you list it for sale. Staging your home is another critical aspect of this. The goal of staging is to make your home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, allowing you to sell your property quickly and for more money.

What to Do Before Listing Your Home

Once you’ve updated and staged your home, you’ll need to put together a game plan. This starts with coming up with an educated estimate of your home’s value so as to set a listing price. It’s important to set an appealing home listing price in order to attract buyers.

Per Zillow research, 57 percent of homes were sold at or above their listing price when an offer was accepted in the first week. A second week on the market sees that number drop to 50 percent, and it continues to trend downward from there. The longer your home stays on the market, the less likely you are to receive the offer you’re looking for.

Next up is determining how you’ll show your home and when. If you have a day job, you may only be able to have showings on the weekends or during the evenings, which can severely limit your prospective buyer pool. Availability is key during these few weeks that your home is on the market.

The final thing you’ll have to do before listing your home is research marketing tools and platforms. Since you’re doing this on your own, be prepared to pay a fee and wait for some items, such as yard signs and other marketing and advertising collateral to be sent to you. Make sure you know how you’re going to get the word out about your home.

This is a time when working with a real estate agent comes in handy, as their firm already has immediate access to a variety of marketing platforms and tools as well as established relationships with lenders, other local agents, and firms.

Listing Your House

It’s time to list your house. After doing your research, you’re ready. Be prepared for a longer listing time as homes that are listed with agents typically sell faster because they’re exposed to more buyers. Also, make sure you’re ready to speak to buyer agents. Just because you’re not working with an agent doesn’t mean a buyer won’t be.

Use sites like Zillow or Trulia to list your home online for free, or even sites like Craigslist and Facebook. Because you’re doing a FSBO, you might have to get creative to reach a larger audience. This might entail telling your friends, neighbors, and co-workers and asking them to share your listing.

As you begin to speak to prospective buyers, ensure that they are pre-approved. A pre-approved buyer is multiple steps ahead of a non-pre-approved buyer. Don’t waste your time with a buyer who hasn’t even gone through the pre-approval process yet, as it can take quite some time. Read more about why working with pre-approved buyers is important to the successful sale of your home.

Once you’ve found an interested party, you may have to navigate through negotiations and any concessions that a buyer may have. This could include certain repairs being completed prior to closing, negotiating for certain conveyances such as appliances, or other special requests. Be sure to get everything in writing and obtain the buyer’s signature.

Final Steps

Once you’ve found a buyer and have both agreed upon a purchase price, you’ll have to work with the buyer and possibly their agent to execute a purchase contract. This will lead to a likely home inspection to ensure that everything with your home is working correctly and there are no potential safety issues, and then an assessment of your home’s value.

The most important part of the FSBO process comes after this — properly executing all required documentation. If you’re not interested in dealing with a real estate agent due to the commission payment, you may want to at least consult with a real estate attorney on an ad-hoc hourly basis when it comes to legal documentation to ensure everything is being handled properly and that the transaction is closed with no issues.

To close the transaction, you’ll need to meet with the settlement agent which is likely the buyer’s title company, review all final documentation to make sure everything looks accurate, and complete any final obligations on your end, such as making payments to the country, paying various taxes, and so on. If there were any agreed-upon terms between yourself and the buyer, be sure to fulfill those as well.

The Challenges of How to Sell a House by Owner in Ohio

No Agent Support

There are certainly benefits to doing a FSBO, with the main one being the ability to save the 3 to 6 percent commission payment that you’d normally be paying a real estate agent, but there is also a fair share of challenges that accompany this route as well. The first of which is simply having an experienced agent’s support throughout the process. There are times in which you may encounter complications or could use some expert guidance, and without an agent, you have nobody to lean on for support. Some of these challenges are highlighted below.

Potential for Errors

Unless you’re familiar with the real estate transaction process, there’s a likelihood that you may encounter some errors — whether it’s in the process of filling out or filing paperwork, forgetting a step in the process, or pricing it incorrectly. Over the course of a home-selling journey, these can all add up quickly, possibly leaving you with a significant loss.

Lack of Marketing Reach

The lack of a marketing reach is probably the biggest challenge to overcome when doing a FSBO. This is where real estate agents give you an upper hand. Their resources and connections heavily outweigh those that an average home seller might have. You might have to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars just to properly market your home, whereas an agent has all of these tools at their disposal for free.

Negotiation

As a big part of the home buying and selling process, negotiations are almost inevitable. Now, this might be something you’re fine with, or maybe not as comfortable with, but without an agent’s support, it’s a part of the process that you’ll have to handle. Being able to spot serious, motivated buyers is an agent’s strength. Not having this experience can leave you dealing with people who aren’t worth your time, causing you to lose money.

According to the Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2018, just 10 percent of sellers that sold their home in the last 12 months completed the sale of their home without ever engaging an agent. Another 10 percent try to sell on their own but eventually turn to an agent for help.

How Bolte Real Estate Can Help

When it’s time to sell your home, there’s no one better to assist you than the talented team at Bolte Real Estate. Since 1936, we’ve helped thousands of homeowners prepare their homes for sale, market them across numerous channels, and negotiate with buyers confidently — and successfully. We can do the same for you and your home.

You deserve to get top dollar for the home that you’ve worked hard to call your own. Whether you’ve already listed your home or have been considering doing a FSBO, we’d enjoy learning about you, your home, and how we may be able to help.

If you’re interested in learning more, or want to better understand how to sell a house by owner in Ohio (and why you shouldn’t), get in touch with us today!

Worried About Real Estate Market Conditions?

Buying or selling a home can be stressful, but navigating competitive real estate market conditions can make it even more difficult. If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in North Central Ohio (i.e., Erie, Huron, Ottawa, Sandusky, or Seneca Counties), this blog will provide a glimpse into the market for you as you prepare.

For a full assessment of the market, make sure to download our in-depth market guide. In the guide, we researched North Central Ohio real estate market conditions over the first half of 2019 to give you the confidence you need in your home buying or selling journey.

Over the first half of this year, the total amount of home listings, as well as the total volume of homes sold, is down significantly when compared to the beginning of 2018. However, the average sold price is up from the first half of 2018. This is due to a nationwide home inventory shortage. As we make our way into the back-end of 2019 and early into 2020, we expect the market to remain competitive.

Let’s take a look at how the market has fared so far this year.

2019 Q1 and Q2 Real Estate Market Conditions

Q1 saw total home listings down 18 percent and the total volume of homes sold down 13 percent from the previous year. With fewer homes on the market, home prices increased across the board. The average price of a sold house was up 6 percent compared to 2018, while the average days on the market dropped 7 percent. Homes sold quicker but for more money.

In Q2, things began to trend upward for the year but still down in comparison to 2018. Total home listings were down 13 percent and the total volume of homes sold was down 9 percent from the previous year. Time on the market increased in Q2, meaning that even though there was a shortage in inventory, buyers were taking their time when making a purchasing decision.

If you’d like more in-depth figures and reports on real estate market conditions over the first half of 2019, download the report now.

What All This Means for Buyers and Sellers

Buyers

Be prepared to move quickly and take action. Do your research ahead of time, which includes knowing what you want in a home, how much you can afford, what repairs might need to be made on a home you’re interested in, and so on. To help make things easier, connect with a licensed real estate agent that will help guide you through the process.

In a competitive market, buyers that are pre-approved for a mortgage have a step up on those who are not. Buyers with a pre-approval are much more attractive to sellers because they know that the interested buyer can make an immediate offer, whereas someone without a pre-approval cannot. It is vital to get a pre-approval in hand before beginning your home search.

It’s important to keep an eye on areas you’re interested in. You can do so with your real estate agent, who can let you know once a home comes up for sale in your area of interest so that you can go visit it immediately. You can also sign up for email alerts for the communities and property types you’re interested in — ensuring that you’re the first to know about new opportunities.

Competitive markets result in stiff competition for homes. It’s wise to establish a budget for yourself. This way, you know where you stand when it comes to a potential bidding war. During these times, you’ll want to rely on your agent for advice on what moves to make.

Sellers

The biggest concern for sellers in a competitive market is making sure your home is ready to be sold. Homes that are ready for sale — requiring little to no updating before sale — typically sell much faster and for more money than those that need updates made prior to the sale.

Before putting your home on the market, make sure everything that needs to be updated gets updated. This will put you in a good position to sell your home in a timely manner once it does hit the market. Be sure to prioritize your repairs and upgrades — some will result in a better return than others.

If you’re looking to sell your home quickly, it’s important to list it with an experienced agent who knows what they’re doing and has proven experience working in your area. Make sure to vet them so you know their strategy for selling your home.

If you have multiple interested parties once your home is on the market, feel free to be picky with buyers. Ensure you’re working with someone who has been pre-approved for financing, so as to not waste any of your time on an offer that might not work out.

Interested in Learning More? We’re Here to Help

Work with a company that has been buying and selling homes across North Central Ohio for more than 80 years and is the largest independent brokerage in the region. Our team lives and works here, and we’ll be by your side every step of the way to ensure that you’re totally satisfied with your buying or selling process.

If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch with us today! Don’t forget to download our whitepaper to get a full rundown on the real estate market conditions for the North Central Ohio Market.

A Quick Overview of Land Conservation

Land conservation can be defined as the process in which natural land is protected and already developed land is returned to its natural state. There are a variety of techniques that are used in which land conservation is carried out. These include preservation, restoration, remediation, and mitigation.

Land conservation has become an effective way in which to restore natural land that humans have either developed or damaged. Over the course of time, our surrounding environment undergoes a number of natural and human-caused changed.

Examples of this include cutting down forests for residential housing and the transformation of farmland into shopping malls. While these environmental changes happen over time, we are losing natural land at an increasing rate — leading to the recent push for land conservation. Across the country, more and more states are pushing for land conservation.

Joining the Land Conservation Movement

Along with our work and expertise in the residential spectrum, CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate also works directly with different government agencies and regional groups on real estate purchases that are specifically for and in support of land conservation.

As of 2016, the amount of nationwide acreage protected by land-trust assistance reached a total of 56 million acres — and it’s only increased since then. We’re happy to continue our efforts in increasing this number with each conservation-focused transaction.

CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate aims to help these non-profit organizations and regional groups in achieving their goals, some of which include maintaining and improving water quality, perpetuating and fostering the growth of healthy forests, maintaining and improving wildlife habitat, protecting scenic vistas visible from roads and other public areas, and ensuring that lands are managed so that they’re always available for sustainable agriculture and forestry.

We’ve sold land in the North Central Ohio area for land conservation in the past, as we were involved in the sale of a waterfront property on Catawba Island that was previously used for farming and campgrounds.

Real estate agent Nancy Dunlap of CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate’s Catawba office was instrumental in this transaction and worked with all parties involved to ensure a seamless process.

This land is now called the Dr. Robert L. Nehls Memorial Nature Preserve, and the local conservancy envisions it as an area with public access for bird and wildlife observation, fishing, and boating once it’s returned to its natural state.

Work with the North Central Ohio Experts

There are plenty of benefits in working with CENTURY 21 Bolte Real Estate when it comes to this kind of transaction, especially in the North Central Ohio area. Our brokerage was founded here, so we know the area and its rich history well. We enjoy partnering with local non-profits and government agencies in support of this type of transaction.

If your organization is looking to obtain property for land conservation efforts, whether that’s a park, preserve, or some other natural use, our talented team is here to assist. Contact us today to learn more about our services in this area.