Bob Bendat

There always remains an opportunity to make a new start.

Bob Bendat, PSC, CPS — Tue, 08 May 2012 18:34:50 +0000

Though it may not seem so when you first encounter a serious blow, you can never lose two of the most important assets you have. These are the power of your mind and your freedom to use it. Once you have turned them to understanding what laid you low, you can begin forming new plans. You may not have the money you once had; you may lack the allies you had cultivated. But you still have the benefit of a universe that eventually rewards honest effort, as well as gaining the experience of mistakes you will never make again. Remember, no matter where you are now, whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve.

You can always see in others whatever traits of character you are looking for.

Bob Bendat, PSC, CPS — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:36:09 +0000

Margaret Wolfe Hungerford said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” It was her way of saying that we see what we wish to see in others. Every living human being is a complex combination of feelings, emotions, and thoughts — some good, some bad. Your impression of another depends far more upon you and your expectations of that person. If you believe someone is good, you will find good qualities. If you don’t, you won’t. When you are yourself a positive person, you tend to find positive qualities in others. As you work to develop good, constructive habits to improve yourself continually, make it a practice to look for those same qualities in others. It’s easy to spot another’s shortcomings, but when you identify the good in others and congratulate them upon their positive achievements, you will make friends on whom you can always depend — both in good times and bad.

Everything you create or acquire begins in the form of desire.

Bob Bendat, PSC, CPS — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:38:12 +0000

In order to act, you must have a purpose. If you want to act successfully in all but the most mundane affairs, you must embrace that purpose with a burning desire. Many people think they want to be successful, but since they do not back that thought with an intense drive, they never achieve success. Cultivate your desire. Feed it with thoughts of yourself enjoying whatever it is you seek. It’s like stoking the furnace of a steam engine. You need to build up enough pressure to carry yourself over hills; if your desire doesn’t burn hotly enough, you’ll find yourself stalled and rolling backwards. The secret to action is a red-hot desire.

Remember When Buying That Price Is Not All That Counts

Bob Bendat, PSC, CPS — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:28:15 +0000

Negotiation strategies differ depending on how well the home is priced and who’s
on the other side. If you’re trying to buy a short-sale listing where the lender
has to agree to accept less than the amount owed, the seller doesn’t have much
say in the negotiations about price unless he can contribute money to pay down
the loan amount.

Regardless of who you’re dealing with, you’re more
likely to grab a seller’s or lender’s attention if you are preapproved for the
mortgage you’ll need and can provide verification of cash for the down payment
and closing costs.

Many buyers feel that cash is king. If buyers are
willing and able to pay all cash with no mortgage, no hassling with the lender
and no appraisal contingency, they feel they’re owed a price
concession.

Not all sellers agree. Some, who are confident in the value
of their home, would rather work with an offer from a well-qualified buyer who
needs to obtain a mortgage but who will pay a higher price.

Before you
start negotiating, you should understand as much as you can about the other
party. For instance, if the sellers are moving to a retirement home, they might
go for the highest-priced offer in a multiple-offer situation, even though it
might not be ideal in other regards. If they are liquidating their last asset,
every penny will count.

An all-cash or large-cash-down buyer might not be
able to negotiate a “deal” based on the fact that no lender will be involved.
But if the home is a good value and suits your long-term needs, you might
increase your offer price and include a mortgage. This way, you conserve cash
for other uses.

“Remember That Price is Not All That Matters In Buying a Home”
HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Many buyers don’t want to negotiate.
They want their first offer to be their best offer. Usually, the only time this
is effective is if yours is the only offer, the house is priced right for the
market, and you offer full price. In this market, you’re better off planning for
some negotiation, and not putting all your cards on the table at once.

In
most areas, the home-sale market still favors buyers. A lot of sellers are
selling for less than they paid. Some have to bring money to the closing.
Sellers who have owned for years are selling for less than they would have years
ago. It’s natural that they would want to try for the highest price
possible.

Negotiations are about more than price. Generally, the fewer
the contingencies or the cleaner the contract, the more attractive it will be to
the seller. Closing and possession dates can become issues at the bargaining
table. What’s included and excluded, time periods to satisfy contingencies, and
virtually everything in the contract is negotiable.

Since everything is
up for grabs, be clear about what’s not negotiable — for instance, you can’t go
over a certain price. Show flexibility in areas that will hopefully be valuable
to the sellers, such as buying “as is” regarding some needed
repairs.

Don’t waste your time with sellers who are firm at a price that
is considerably over market value. Wait until they become realistic while you
continue looking. Some sellers eventually get tired of having their home listed
and reduce the price to market value. Others don’t.

Sellers need to
understand that buyers in today’s market will walk away from a negotiation if
they feel they’re not getting anywhere or are being treated unfairly. Buyers
could become suspicious or disappear if they’re told by the sellers or their
agent that other buyers are lining up to make an offer when they
aren’t.

THE CLOSING: A smart strategy is to defend your position while
being honest and fair with the other party.

What Are 4 Necessary Areas To Work On When Buying a Home?

Bob Bendat, PSC, CPS — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:05:30 +0000

Q: I am on a mission to buy a home. I’ve wanted to own a home my entire life,
and thought I would miss the opportunity to buy while the market was down,
because I had no real savings when the market crashed. I think I’m ready,
though, and prices still seem low. What should I be doing now to make this
happen in 2012?

A: The recession has done lots of favors for
buyers-to-be, including dropping prices and interest rates to bargain levels.
But it has also created a lending and housing market climate in which loans are
tough to get, tensions about buying into a down market run high, and
transactions are harder and longer to close than they have ever
been.

Here are the things to do now, to buy a home this year:

1.
Fix credit problems. More deals than ever are dying on the vine, and credit
problems are a top reason home-sale transactions fall out of escrow. Detect and
correct errors on your credit report now by reviewing the federally mandated
free reports you can get at AnnualCreditReport.com.

2. Study up. Do
some research, both online and offline, into things like:

Areas: Start
your online research into decision points like tax rates, school districts,
neighborhood character and even prices in various areas. Check out NabeWise.com
for some local insight into neighborhood flavor and personality.

When you
start connecting with local agents, ask them to brief you on neighborhood market
dynamics. They can give you a deeper view into need-to-knows like how long homes
typically stay on the market and whether they generally go for more or less than
the asking price, so you can be smart about how you search vis-à-vis what you
have to spend.

Agents: This is the perfect time to ask your family and
friends for a referral to an agent they know, have used and love. Then, follow
up by doing an online search for the agent’s name and seeing what sort of online
reviews and activities you find. When you’ve narrowed the field down to a few,
call them up and set up a meeting to find out if you’re a good
fit.

Distressed properties: In some areas, more than 40 percent of the
homes on the market are short sales and foreclosures, and they involve a very
different timeline and set of facts than traditional home sales. Read up and
talk with the agent candidates you interview about what you should expect from
these types of listings, to minimize surprise and manage your expectations way
in advance.

3. Save even more. Sounds like you’ve worked hard for a
number of years to save enough cash that you think you’re in the clear when it
comes to funding your down payment and closing costs. Studies show that after
months of saving, people often let up and relax into a spending season. Even at
your early stage in the process, it’s easy to start noticing and buying the
furnishings and touches you want to install in your new home.

Although
you shouldn’t feel deprived or forgo amazing and affordable deals on things you
know you’re going to need, rest assured that no matter what amount of cash you
have on hand, when you start house hunting, making offers, closing your
transaction or moving in, the time will definitely come when you’ll wish you had
more.

You might want to ratchet up your offer a bit to best another
buyer, or you might just end up with a place that needs a little sprucing up. It
might be months before you know exactly what you’ll need extra cash for, but now
is not the time to press the gas pedal when it comes to your monthly
spending.

4. Purge. Now’s the time to sell, donate or give away as much
of your personal possessions as you can. Use the proceeds to pad your cash
cushion, or tuck the donation receipts away for your tax records next
year.

Start here, and chances are good that your house hunt — and
purchase — will be in full swing by spring, if not sooner.