Which do you value more Time or Money?

There is often an interesting paradigm when I ask this question to my friends and family members.  On one hand it may seem more practical to do something yourself as it would save you money but on the other hand, it could end up costing you more time than expected.  Perhaps this would have been time you could have spent at work or vacationing.  If you factor in the amount you are paid per hour, perhaps this is lost income and it would have been more effective to hire someone to do the job.  This can be a common dilemma when it comes to smaller household projects and it may come down to the pleasure factor, if in fact, you enjoy cleaning your home, mowing your lawn or assembling a piece of IKEA furniture.  

When you get to projects on a larger scale usually it is more cost effective to hire a professional to get the job done.  For example,  a tax accountant may be able to put together your return in a few hours and save you money by locating tax deductions you were unaware of.  You could alternatively spend a full weekend doing a return and end up missing some key deductions.

The old saying that "A penny saved is a penny earned" is not relevent when one is making a large monetary or life changing decision.  I have learned the hard way that in the long run it is always best to hire the person who will do the best job to get something I need done.   Even with IKEA furniture,  we have had to deal with the long lines at the store in the midst of putting a dresser together only to realize a critical piece was missing.  For a small amount more we could have paid someone to assemble and deliver a comparable piece of furniture and be done in an hour vs spending a good Sunday afternoon to get to the same point.  

In the real estate business it is always best to work with someone who knows the local area and market conditions.  A realtor will interview the buyer or seller to gain an understanding of their specific needs.  Their sole job is to work for the interest of the client to help them buy or sell a house.  They do not get paid until this job is complete.  It is recommended to do your research upfront but to work with an expert to guide you through the search or sell process.   

Too many times have I seen first time buyers spend months trying to search for a property, only to be unprepared or well positioned when ready to make an offer.  They often lose out to the buyer working with a realtor negotiating on their behalf to seal the deal.  The buyer needs to be in a competitive position with financing and readiness to understand the best terms when making an offer.  A buyers agent works on their behalf to help them be positioned and find the best property.  The cost for this service is most often paid through the sellers commission to the buyer and seller agents.  For the buyer,  there is no real logic for doing this on their own.  

Sellers often think they may save money by going about their property sale by themselves.  How many times do you drive by a house that says  FSBO "For Sale by Owner" one day and then see it hasn't sold a month later.    In the longer run,  the house hasn't had full market exposure, may not be well staged or may be overpriced.  

A seller agent would have guided the seller to best prepare this property for the optimal market exposure.  The commission fee they tried to avoid will be covered if they can sell their home quickly and for a competitive market price vs having the price driven down by keeping it on the market too long.   For the seller side to answer the true question of "Why"  one must also look at sales statistics.  Typically the home sold through a professional sells for 10-15% more therefore offsetting the commission cost.  On the time side, the seller who sells on his own will need to be available whenever a showing is requested.  In addition, once the home is sold often the buyer needs access to the property for inspections and follow up items.  A sellers agent will be there to help with these appointments and follow up on some time consuming things that may need to be handled along the way.

A well trained agent will advocate and help a buyer search for a property.  They will be able to walk a buyer or seller through any issues that may arise and refer the client to appropriate professional services as needed. In addition,  it is a real estate agents job to provide relevant  buyer information to a prospective buyer that may influence the buying decision.  The agent has a wealth of knowledge about the area and can refer the buyer to well known vendors or service professionals already well vetted.  

Beyond mandatory disclosures a seller is not obligated to disclose every issue about a property unless asked.  An experienced agent will lead the buyer to ask the right questions or prompt the buyer to have the appropriate professional inspect the property if he or she senses some concern.    Someone who tries to purchase a property without a professional runs the risk of being mislead.  On the seller side, an agent will advise the seller on which information must be shared with prospective buyers.  Someone who misinforms a buyer may be subject to liability.  Laws are constantly changing and both the buyer and seller have an increased risk of errors and liability if they are not properly guided through the transaction process.  I encourage both buyers and sellers to seek out professional services to help them save money and time in the long run.  This is when the saying "Time is Money" can be true.

Wendy recently joined Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She has also recently earned the SRES  designation and looks forward to helping other baby boomers as they approach their next transitions.  Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.  

Due diligence in a home purchase and health insurance coverage

If you were buying a property and found that it had a pre-existing condition during an inspection, would you go forward with the purchase prior to getting cost repair estimates?    In today's blog I am going to discuss the importance of due diligence in real estate transactions as well as in making legislative decisions.  I try not to be political in my writing but when an issue will impact each of our lives, as does the proposed new health care bill,  I feel it is my responsibility to comment.

As a real estate professional when I work with buyer clients, I always recommend they do their due diligence before committing to the Purchase and Sale "P&S" for a home or condo.  Know the rules and regulations of the home owners association if the property is a condo.  Get all the documentation and review it.  Once an offer is accepted call a home inspector, as well as any other specialists who can independently teach you about the property and evaluate its condition.

If anything of concern arises during the inspection process,  bring in professional contractors to further evaluate the situation and get cost estimates of needed repairs where applicable.   Once cost estimates are obtained the buyer can then intelligently negotiate with the seller to repair, replace or in a worst case scenario "repeal the offer".  Most often a reduction of their purchase price is negotiated.   

How can a health care bill be passed without full review by all members of the house and without cost details?  Did anyone look at the impact on the budget numbers?  This vote was rushed through yesterday without a CBO score.   Do we know the number of people who will lose their insurance or become part of a high risk pool.  Will the $8B  Upton Bill even go near the implicated cost?  

The bill allows states to exclude pre-existing conditions from their health insurance coverage offerings and removes the federal mandate of employer coverage.  Many employers will now be able to opt out of offering health care as an employee benefit to save money.   If you are reading this chances are, you or someone you love has at least one pre-existing condition ( do you wear glasses?).  Click here for a partial list .

As I have been reading the newspaper and listening to various interviews today with elected officials it is obvious that many voted just to appease their political party politics.  Click here to see who voted to pass the bill by a slight margin of 217-213.  vote    This is a short sighted win and hopefully will go under better scrutiny when it reaches the Senate floor.  There are items in the bill that will impact all of our lives.  Many who voted to support the bill today admit they did not read it in full.  This is irresponsible leadership.  

If I did not disclose something to my client or if I advised them to do something detrimental to their real estate transaction I would be held accountable and could possibly be sued.  It is my fiduciary duty to protect the interests of my buyers and sellers.  

Shouldn't our elected officials bear a greater responsibility to their constituents?  I ask all of my readers to become aware of how they are being represented by elected local representatives and officials.   If you learn they are making decisions that hurt your interests speak up and let them know they risk re-election.  I was in Washington DC this week and actually stopped by my State Representative Joe Kennedy III's office on Capital Hill to put a face to a name as I often call his office when I see a proposed bill I disagree with.  Advocacy starts at the local level.  

If you don't do your due diligence no one else will advocate for your health care rights.  Before the ACA was introduced many Americans were uninsured.  Many at risk patients were not getting the essential medical care needed and now may lose their coverage once again.  Many may become ineligible for coverage due to pre-existing conditions exclusion clauses.  See #IAmAPreexistingCondition.  

Please do your homework if you are considering a job change, interstate move or a new insurer before changing your existing healthcare coverage.   Check the new health care policy options that will be offered and make a change quickly to prevent any lapse in coverage as this can cause an increase in premiums.  Under the new bill proposal things you have coverage for may no longer exist.  A mistake in a real estate transaction can cause monetary damages.  A mistake in health care coverage can have much graver circumstances.  

  
Wendy recently joined Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She has also recently earned the SRES  designation and looks forward to helping other baby boomers as they approach their next transitions.  Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.