Tyler Real Estate Podcast with Danny and Rebecca Burks

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today, I’m in Tyler on my patio - right by my grill, where my sons recently cooked the world’s greatest gourmet hamburgers on my birthday a few days ago! We enjoy living outside, and we see more people wanting to bring their living space outside, too. We see more and more beautiful outdoor areas like decks, pool areas and gazebos. With spring coming, it’s the best time of the entire year to be outside. You can enhance your home’s value by fixing up the outdoor area. This could be landscaping, patios, pools, or barbecue areas. If you’re thinking about selling your home, a pristine outdoor area makes your home that much more appealing to the increasing number of buyers wanting outdoor areas. This is highly desirable to prospective buyers! I hope this information helps you as a homeowner. Don’t forget to listen to us every week on Tyler House Hunters Radio every Saturday morning on 92.5 FM. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call. As your local real estate resource, we look forward to helping you even more!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Right now, Tyler is in a seller’s market. Many sellers are asking, “Why can’t I just put a sign in my yard and take care of it myself? Why bother hiring an agent?” Here are five reasons why you should consider hiring an agent in 2016. 1. Paperwork. The real estate industry is heavily regulated, so it’s important to know the proper forms you need to sell your house. There are state laws regarding the seller disclosure, and federal laws regarding lead paint for homes built before 1978. Those forms will be part of the contract, as well as all the fees in the contract for both the buyer and seller. Let a real estate agent take care of everything so you don’t have any surprises at the closing table. An agent can even tell you what you will net, or how much money you will walk away with, based on the amount offered. 2. Experience. There are many challenges and problems that can arise during the real estate transaction. You need an agent who is well-educated and can coordinate with home inspectors, appraisers, lenders, and more. Are you able to deal with all of them? Do you know what deadlines you have to hit? Experience is very important when it comes to navigating the selling process.  3. Negotiations. Realtors act as a buffer between the buyer and seller. If you’re selling your own house, you will find that many East Texas buyers are polite. They will say that your home is nice, you will get excited, but then they will go and make an offer on the home down the street. Buyers aren’t comfortable giving honest feedback to the homeowner. An agent will act as a buffer between you and the buyer, and we’ll also make sure you get an offer that works in your best interest. 4. Pricing. If you price your home too low, you will lose a lot of money. If you price too high, buyers will avoid your property and it will sit on the market for a long time. You may wind up having to pay two mortgages, so aiming for a higher price can actually cost you money. A Realtor will help you price your home based on the current market. 5. Understanding market conditions. Our market changes very rapidly. In the last year, we have gone from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market. The market could change while you’re trying to sell it on your own and you would have no idea. An agent keeps an eye on the market and will know the best way to sell your home. At the Burks Team, we can take care of all of these things for you. If you have any questions, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Cash buyers are often seen as the best type of home buyer in Texas. They don’t have to go through financing, and they often don’t cause much fuss in a sale. However, there are some things that you need to look out for when you get a cash offer. When someone offers to buy your home for cash, you need to have them show you proof of funds. Don’t take someone’s word for it before you sign the contract.  It’s easy to get excited about cash buyers, but you have to vet them. You should always look for buyers that are motivated and qualified. Just because someone is paying in cash does not mean that they are also motivated to purchase your home. When you list your home with us, we only work with buyers that have been approved to buy a home. We don’t waste our time with bad home buyers. That’s why last year we averaged 45 days on market and 98% of the asking price. If you’re interested in buying or selling in Tyler, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We look forward to hearing from you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale It's unfortunate, but it's that time of year again - time to pay your taxes. Have you prepared? Do you know what you need to do? If you have an Escrow account with your mortgage company, then you need to find a 1098 Form that can tell you about the taxes and interest you've paid on your residence this year. Your tax professional will need this information for your schedule A. You can usually access this information online in January. If you have a mortgage you'll be getting interest only on your 1098, so those are things that you can count off of your primary residence. However, what if you purchased a home this year? Then you'll have a lovely package of all the papers you signed at the title company. You'll need to give your closing sheet to your tax professional. Depending on whether or not your home was an investment property, you'll have the ability to take deductions on certain expenses like property inspections and title fees. If you sold a home this year, there are exemptions if you sold a $250,000 home by yourself or if you sold a $500,000 home between you and a partner. There are all sorts of exemptions to be thinking about, so talk to your tax professional if you'd like to pay the very least amount possible. My biggest piece of advice is to keep your paperwork organized. That often makes the whole process a bit less complicated. If you need any assistance finding a good CPA in the area, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today we're going to talk about how to enter the property with a real estate agent. We use an electronic key device. Agents get in using a code. If you are wondering whether or not an agent has come to the house, The Burks team sends an email through this device letting you know that someone is coming to your house.   Keep in mind that it takes 30 seconds to a minute for the electronic key device to work. That means the potential buyer will be standing in your doorway and looking around, so make sure your entryway is clean and your door looks nice and fresh. Consider painting the front door, or even replacing it. You never get a second chance at a first impression. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale It's that time of year. We are at the end of 2015! Can you believe it? The year has just flown by, and it's been an incredible year in real estate. Our team has sold over 470 homes, but more importantly, sales in the Tyler area are up 8% to 10% from 2014. By the end of the year, we will have 4,500 homes sold in our area. Home prices are up about $7,000. This is all very positive. It shows how well our market has recovered over the last 24 months. We have experienced a shortage in inventory, especially for homes below $250,000. If your home is in that price range, you are definitely in a seller's market. That means there are more buyers in the market than sellers, which helps to drive home prices up. When you're in a seller's market, it's not uncommon to wind up in a multiple offer situation. Now, what can you expect from the real estate market in 2016? We don't anticipate any major changes in the market. The market is going at a brisk rate, and we have 35 to 40 homes closing this December. We already have 30 closings scheduled for January. We're extremely busy, even in the winter months. If you're a buyer, you do need to pay attention to interest rates. The Fed recently increased rates for the first time in several years. We do expect rates to continue creeping up over 2016. Now may be the best time to look at homes and take advantage of those historically low rates. A few months down the road, you may wind up paying a higher interest rate on your 30-year fixed mortgage. If you have any questions about today's video, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value report Want to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale   Today we are going to talk about selling your home as it relates to your pets. Who doesn’t love pets? They are our greatest companions and friends; just look at the face of our Chloe in the video above. She is adorable. However, if we had our house on the market, Chloe might not be as adorable to some of the buyers considering our home. We recently sold our home and made sure that our pets did not disturb or distract potential buyers during showings. We have seen it all, from cats and dogs, to goats, cows, and even snakes. If you have 50 snakes inside your home, like one client of ours, we suggest you move them.  Another reason your pets should be out of your home during showings is because a lot of buyers get turned off by pet odors or stains. Even if you have an outdoor pet, you will want to clean up any waste they have left behind. If a buyer steps in it, it won’t be good for you, your buyer, or your floors. If you want some more information or have any questions about how to deal with pets when you are showing your home, just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today, Derrek Jones of Legacy Mortgage Group is here to discuss some changes in the lending world that might affect you!  In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to cleanup the mortgage crisis and with it came a lot of regulations that will go into effect soon. There are two main things you'll see: TRID: Here you'll see the loan estimate, which is much like the good-faith estimate. Closing disclosure: When the documents go to the title company, there is a mandatory 3-day waiting period before the loan can close. So, if you get your papers to the title company on a Monday, the title company cannot close the loan until the following Thursday.  The good news about the 3-day waiting period is you know exactly when you are going to close, so you can get everything ready while you wait. During that time, little corrections can be made to the closing statement. However, if your APR changed by more than 1/8, if a prepayment penalty is added, or if you change a significant part of your loan program, you trigger another 3-day waiting period.  If you have any questions about this new 3-day waiting period, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to us. If you would like expert lending advice from Derek, you can reach him at (903) 312-7036 or out more at www.TXHomeLoans.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale Today we are talking to all the buyers out there. We want to show you how we can help you decide on a home to purchase for you and your family.  Here at The Burks Team, before even going out to look at homes, we like buyers to come to our office for a FREE buyer consultation. Here we will go through with you what your goals are in a home, what you want to have included in the house, and much more. We will also go through financing information, and get the ball rolling on a pre-approval for you.  There are always going to be homes for sale, the important thing is figuring out what you want, and going from there. Like we said before, there is no charge for the consultation. We can also set you up with an email alert system that will send you an email every time a home that matches your specific criteria comes on the market.  If you have any questions for us, or would like to set up a free consultation, give us a call. We would love to speak with you!

Want to sell your Tyler Home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a Tyler Home? Search all homes for sale The market in Tyler is doing extremely well right now. Our team has already sold over 250 homes this year! We're going to be focusing on common repairs you can make on your home to add value right before a sale. Some of the best areas to focus on would be your kitchen and your bathrooms in particular. Those investments usually bring back the most value when you go to sell your home. One thing that I would recommend is to remove any wallpaper because it's not very popular right now. At the moment, buyers prefer walls painted with lighter earth tones. I also suggest that you update your flooring, whether it's cleaning it or getting entirely new carpet. Buyers also don't like carpet in bathrooms anymore; they think it's unsightly and unsanitary. Outdoor spaces are also big with buyers right now, but I wouldn't suggest installing a pool because it will not increase your sale price. However, adding patios, fire pits, and similar features should help to up the value of your home.  If there is anything else we can do to help you, please don't hesitate to contact me! We would be more than happy to help you!