Berger Points Broadcast

You know, I wanted to speak to you a little bit about the timing of a sale, and why is that important?

Well, traditionally April, May and June has been the listing time for sellers to put the home on the market. Why is that?


Well, both buyers and sellers — they’re looking to place their children in school by September.



So that has always been the critical time here in the New York area, in the Hudson Valley region.

So with this particular time frame between April and let’s say July 1st, the incentive is on both sides.

So that’s why the buyers and the sellers are more on the aggressive side because they want to consummate the sale.

So that everybody can get on with their lives and keep it as normal as possible.

Now again, what happens during the winter?

Well, you very well know that things slow down. Houses don’t sell as much and that’s the quiet time

So, my advice to you is that put your best foot forward during this April to July period and talk to your agent.

Put out the best price that you feel comfortable with and make the deal so you can move on…

Because looking back, you will be glad that you sold the house and you didn’t have to get that extra $3,000 or $4,000.  That’s my point.





Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

You know, recently we decided on this flip house to put a border of gravel around the whole foundation because that does more than a couple of things.

Aesthetically it looks much better, of course .Second it’s reasonable in price and third it provides outstanding drainage.

So when the water from rain or your gutters you know overhang it and they’re leaking a little bit well the water hits the gravel it dissipates into the ground a hundred percent better rather than if it was just dirt. It would just pool itself.

The water builds up and then finds the cracks in your foundation which generally is on the ground and seeps into your basement and causes all kinds of problems.

Generally , people like gravel.

However they also choose mulch which might might be in color black or red and the reason that they choose mulch is that it’s aesthetically very pleasing and the companies do treat the mulch with different types of chemicals to repel the bugs.

So you’re safe there.
However, never use wood chips.


Wood chips attract mice. It attracts all kinds of vermin. The groundhogs love it and it just doesn’t work.I invite you to take a look and see the gravel.

LISTEN FOR ALL THE GREAT POINTS! 

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

You know recently I was driving by and I saw a for sale by owner sign and I’m looking at the property and I’m trying to figure out why that owner decided to go and sell the property on his own.
Well he has a number of obstacles that he has to overcome and the primary obstacle is pricing the home correctly.How do you do that?


Well, one thing that a realtor does provide, it’s called a CMA, or a Comparative Market Analysis.And that will show the homes in the area that have sold over the last six months.

For example, you have a three bedroom, two bath house, acre property, roughly selling for about $400,000.

Well, if that homeowner in the FSBO is pricing his home at $450,000, people are going to wonder.If they’re selling at $350,000, people are going to wonder because what’s wrong with the house?
So he’s quite in between.


So that’s why an agent can provide a CMA, extremely important.Now, the second obstacle for a FSBO is, of course, marketing.

Well, just putting a sign up is not going to do it.

So, what the homeowner has to do — they have to advertise and go through the jumps and putting it on all the platforms on the internet so that hundreds of thousands of people see it.

Not just a thousand or five hundred you have to draw a bigger audience and perhaps the third and most damaging objection is actually negotiating the property — Because I know myself —

I sold my house and I was the listing agent for the house and it came time for negotiations — it’s sort of you know, spurred my anger a bit because what the agent was telling me was certainly justified, but I didn’t like it.

However, you have to overcome that and sell the house! And that’s my point.

Get yourself an agent because the bottom line is they will sell it for you quicker, get you a better price and in the long run you’ll be a lot better off.

That’s my point!     

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

You know, recently I was discussing with my client who was selling their house the disclosure document that they have to fill out.

Basically, on this disclosure document they have to put material facts that are wrong with the house and everybody is pretty much open with it.

But sometimes things can get hidden and sometimes the seller is not even aware of it until the inspection is actually made.

And let’s give an example of a material fact….

Well, a buried oil tank is a material fact, something you can’t hide.

It has to be remedied. Most buyers will demand before you sell your house.

And there’s a number of ways of doing that. It can be filled in with sand. It also, for the most part, is removed.

But getting back to the material fact, that has to be placed in the disclosure form.

Now, it was pointed out to me and you really should set the tone as a seller right from the beginning — to set up an appointment with your attorney — because you already have a real estate attorney and a real estate attorney is familiar with these forms.

You sit down with him and you tell him what you need to disclose by doing this.

You protect yourself so…

That’s my point.

https://bergerpoints.com


Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

Well, good evening, everybody. My name’s Chris Berger and it’s time for a Berger Point.

You know, I attended a meeting today of real estate agents and it really came to my attention how important the real estate attorneys are to the sale of both the buyer and the seller.

And what do I mean by that?

Well, I learned a long time ago, 25 years now, that an attorney can be a deal maker or a deal breaker.

Going through the process of buying and selling a home is emotional enough.

And then when you have an outside attorney monitoring everything, you really need their help.
You need their guidance.

But sometimes attorneys, if they’re not really experienced in real estate transactions, they’re not the best to go to.

So what I suggest is that your listing agent and or buying agent will have generally five or six attorneys that you can choose from.

So choose one of them because they’re familiar with the real estate process.
And that’s so important.

They speed things up to save you money.

They make things easier when there’s problems because they have experience doing that.

Again, a quick story — maybe ten years ago — I had a buyer very interested in buying this house and it was already sold or in contract.

Well, the deal fell apart and we sort of stayed with it and then I found out why the deal fell apart.
The owner — this is a true story — the owner was actually an attorney, and he messed up the whole deal because he was so emotionally involved, and it just didn’t work out.

So he got his best friend to do the job for him, and we went in, consummated the deal, and all parties were extremely happy.

That’s my point.

https://bergerpoints.com




Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

Good evening, everybody. My name is Chris Berger and it’s time for a Berger point.

You know, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about an all cash offer and what exactly that means and how the process takes place.Well, you know, you have a seller, they list the house, you have a buyer wants to buy your house.

Well, now, of course, the process is close to being the same as a mortgage.

However, there is a distinct difference.That being is that the closing generally will take less than 30 days.

So what’s the process and what does that mean?Well, after the offer and acceptance, the buyer has traditionally about seven days to do an inspection and they will do that even if it’s a cash offer.

So expect that, Mr. Seller.Now, in addition to that, once the inspection has been done, all right, what you both need to do as a buyer and as a seller is have a real estate attorney because they are experienced in closing these type of deals.

Now, at this point, after the seven days, the buyer will start a title search.

So they will contact a title search company.

The title search will research the background of the home because they will maintain and guarantee a clear title to the buyer.

So they make sure when they do the title search there’s no liens against it no previous mortgages things like that whole process will take about three weeks.

For the title search as well as doing the inspection now at this point the attorneys for the seller will set a closing date and the seller meets with the buyer, and they have their closing.

The check will be made out to the seller’s attorney.

The seller’s attorney will deposit the check and then distribute those monies to the seller, as well as any other people who are to receive checks during that transaction.

So that’s the advantage of an all-cash deal.I’ve been involved in several, and it’s great for the buyer and the seller.

That’s my point…

https://bergerpoints.com







Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

Good afternoon everybody my name is Chris Berger and it’s time for a Berger Point!

You know, a lot of people aren’t even aware of the damage that gutters — or better said clogged gutters — can do to your house and how easy it is to remedy the situation.
So, when you’re going to look at a house or sellers, when you are selling a house, make sure your gutters are clean and working.

That’s easy to see because when it rains, if it doesn’t have a lot of debris where the downspout is, and that’s part of the gutter, where it comes down and meets the ground, that’s where the damage is caused by clogged gutters.

Because it’s clogged at the top, overfills, and then actually will seep into your basement.So I’m going to show you the remnants of that….

That’s exactly what happened to this house.

I’m going to show you a picture of the front gutter, but downstairs where it had been leaking and you can see the stain coming down.

However, after the gutter was cleaned it took about three or four days before the floor dried up.
However, if we stroll down to the back corner — what you’re gonna see is that the water is still there and it’s still wet so we took it yesterday because it was a good day to clean.

Actually it’s starting to dry up, but when you go and look for a house— look in the corners see if it’s dry see if it’s wet — it tells the difference tells your story.

This is the front of the house and it shows you it’s clean and as it comes down the water comes down and it’s still somewhat wet there and dripping.

However, the gutters are working and that’s why the basement has dried up down in the front corner.
So, let’s take a look at the back corner.

You have to keep those gutters clean and efficient.

And as the water comes down the downspout, it has to be pitched away from the house.

So we have some work to do on this because that’s why the water is seeping downstairs.

And the plan is to put some gravel around it so it’s drawn away from the house.

So that’s my point.

https://bergerpoints.com

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

Well, good evening, everybody. My name is Chris Berger and it’s time for a Berger Point.

You know, down through the years, probably one of the toughest decisions for a homeowner and buyer to make is when to move.

When is the best time to move and how do they coordinate it?

Well, I want to speak to the coordination of it and your alternatives.So if you are a seller, try to find a place to live that’s month to month.

So, if your house has been on the market for three months, two months, four months, it really doesn’t matter.

But if you have a place lined up that you can rent month to month until you buy your new home, that’s generally the place to go.


Conversely, see this works for the buyer as well.

So, if you’re sitting there and you want to buy a house and you’re looking around and your lease is up May 1st, we’ll talk to your landlord, get a month to month continuation of your lease.
This way the pressure is taken off of you so that if you have to wait another three or four months to close on your new house, then you wait, but you’re renting month to month.And by doing this again, all the pressure’s off.

So you’re not making those snap decisions.

And oddly enough, not enough people think about that where you’re pressured into making that decision and buying a house when you really don’t want to buy a house just yet.

And that’s my point.

https://bergerpoints.com

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

You know, I often talk about reducing taxes.

So, people who owe taxes on the property are always looking to save money.Many times the answer is really not too far away.One of my favorite programs is really a farm program.

And what I mean by that is that if you have chickens on your property or if you have a couple of sheep or let’s say you have a beehive.
Well, a lot of people aren’t going to want sheep and a lot of people won’t want chickens, but they may want a beehive.

So, if you have a couple of acres available, I’ll show you what a beehive looks like.

And keep in mind that this particular client of mine has the beehive and claims it on his taxes, but the beehive is completely taken care of by an outsider.
They come in and do all the work and they take 50% of the honey.So, the homeowner gets 50%, my client, and they get 50% and they’re thrilled.

So, I’ll show you what the beehive actually looks like.Well, this is a beehive and the bees are busy.

They’re going in and out and well, they’re starting to get ready to do their work.And of course, the honey is made after the flowers bloom and it takes a few months.

As you can see, it’s really not obtrusive and you could be really placed at anywhere in your property where it’s out of the way and you’re not affected.But the honeybees are very happy.

So enjoy and get the tax deduction too.

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com

Well, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Chris Berger, and it’s time for a Berger Point.

You know, a lot of people wonder about the value of a good inspection of the home and when it should be performed.

Typically, the buyer always hires the inspector, so that inspection report is for the buyer’s eyes only.Now, it’s up to the buyer whether or not to share that and they usually do when they want to negotiate the price.

Now, when does the inspection come into place?Well, once an offer has been made to the seller and it’s been accepted, normally it takes about seven days to perform an inspection.

Why?

Because this allows the seller to know that the buyer is serious, and wants to move forward.What is the purpose of the inspection?

What is the inspector really looking for?

Well, typically in a 2,000 square foot home, you’re going to wind up paying $450 to $600 for the inspection.

The inspector will find many, many things wrong with the property.Sometimes it’s almost nitpicking because if the house is pristine, he’s got to offer something that you’re being charged with.

However, the red flags, what are the red flags that a buyer should look for?Well, probably one of the most common red flags is mold that might be behind a wall, but you might see little etchings of it through a vent or through the sheet-rock.

So important that’s when an inspector really may earns his money because he’ll see the mold and it makes a difference also to galvanized pipe downstairs would indicate that the plumbing is probably pretty old.

So that’s the value of an inspection. And that’s why it’s so important.

So buyers, make sure to hire an inspector.And if it comes to the point where you have to negotiate some of the things in that inspection report, your agent will gladly do it.

And that’s my point.

https://bergerpoints.com

Join me on Substack for the latest Berger Points ---> https://bergerpoints.substack.com

Download my 1st Time Home Buyers Guide for FREE --> https://bergerpoints.com