Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Sloan Sales Homes open House with Michelle Sloan,
Remax time agent and proprietor of Sloan Saleshomes dot Com.
You have questions, she has the answers. This is your
opportunity to learn from one of the best and most
trusted agents in the business. This is the Sloan Sales
Homes open House with Michelle Sloan on fifty five KRC
(00:26):
the Talk station.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right, welcome back. We're talking today about should you
buy a real estate investment in your child's college town.
So basically it's like buying any other property. But the
thought process is if you're a parent and you see
the cost of going to college, just tuition alone has
(00:50):
gone up dramatically over the years. I think it's like
fifty percent since two thousand. The cost of room and
board has also gone up dramatically forty four percent since
two thousand for room and board out of college. So
cost is a very very important factor when you're thinking
(01:12):
about a sending your child to college, and then where
are they going to live the first couple of years.
At most colleges, you have to live on campus, so
there's really no choice you're going to have to do
the room and board that comes with the whole college experience.
In Cincinnati. It's interesting because a lot of kids will
go to UC, but they will live at home, so
(01:35):
the room and board part of it is less. But
if you're sending your kids off to college and you
have to pay for room and board as an adult,
as a mom and dad, as a grandma and grandpa,
you may think it's a good idea. Well, let's just
buy a house, let the child live in that house,
maybe take on a few friends or roommates to join them,
(01:59):
and the roommates can help pay the mortgage on that property.
So that makes sense in the big scheme of things.
But buying real estate and holding it just for a
couple of years is never really the best option. So
let's go through this the pros and cons of buying
(02:20):
a home in a college town. Is it a good
idea if you're thinking about doing this or you've ever
thought about doing this again, there's a lot of pros
and cons. So the cost of higher education is going
higher and higher. We know this. The price tag so
(02:43):
a room and board at a four year institution, on
average is about thirteen thousand dollars a year. Thirteen thousand
dollars a year just for room and board. That is
pretty expensive. But if you look at how much it
is if you buy a property off campus or you
(03:05):
rent a property off campus, room and board on average
nationally is only one thousand dollars less. So does it
make sense to buy real estate knowing that the price
of that investment can go up or down at any
given moment. So a lot of things to think about.
(03:28):
It's crazy. When I went to school, and it was
a long time ago, I lived on campus actually for
three of my four years, and it was the most
economical for me. And I don't you know, as you
try to put kids through school, you think about the
pros and cons of all of that. What is the
(03:50):
most cost effective housing option. Certainly having a roommate is
going to be really it's going to be key. We
know that tuition is expensive. The tuition has gone up,
like I said, so dramatically, and it varies so much
from school to school. So thinking about that, But for
the price of room and board, is it a good
(04:11):
idea to actually buy a home. I'm going to lean
towards no, it's really not a great investment for you,
And that's the honest truth. It's probably not a good
investment unless you plan to hold it. Or maybe you
have generations of children who you know that are going
to live in that home and potentially take care of it.
(04:34):
That's another key that you have to think about, because
if you know that kids the age of let's say
eighteen to twenty four are going to be living in
this home, they've never lived on their own before, are
they really going to take care of it? No, I'm
(04:56):
just going to tell you the answers of that question. No.
Remember when I was in college so and I was
living off campus, I thought it would be fun to
have a bunny rabbit, cute little black bunny. I forget
what its name was, but I thought it would be cute,
and I didn't really want to keep it in a cage.
I just let this bunny run free, just roam free
(05:19):
most of the time. Well, that bunny ate up all
of the cords, like the light cords and the extension cords.
It chewed on all of it, and so I had
frayed cords all over my apartment that I was renting.
In addition, it had this really thick orange shag carpet
(05:42):
that was probably never clean in its life. It was
pretty gross and very deep within this little shag carpet
were bunny pellets. Yuck yuk yuk yuk yu kuk. I
can't even think about it today. And if I thought
that I purchased to home and the tenant was going
(06:03):
to go in and get a bunny because you know,
it's gonna be cute, it's gonna be sweet whatever, it's
really not so sweet. And if I own that property
and I did maintain it and I have to clean
up bunny poop inside the shag carpet, that would make
(06:24):
me think twice right from the get go. So you know,
you think about buying a home and you're going to
save money, but are you really So let's look at this.
We're gonna look at We're gonna look at the pros
and cons, okay, of buying a home in a college
town for your child or maybe your grandchild, just to
(06:46):
help save money on housing. Okay, all right, so let's
see it. Pros and cons. It's a little bit less
restrictive than it would be living on campus. You're living
in your own home. Your kids can come and go
as they please. They could probably have whoever over that
(07:06):
they want. Again, I'm talking about this out loud and
thinking this is really not a great idea. Certainly, maintaining
a home or an apartment is a great learning experience.
It's also a great learning experience trying to live with
other people, because most college students early twenties, they've never
(07:31):
lived with anyone except their own family. And maybe mom
is really good at doing your laundry, maybe mom is
really good at picking up after you. Are you going
to then just turn around and automatically know how to
do that? Are they going to know how to do
that themselves? Probably not. And that's where as parents, I
(07:56):
don't know that we're always doing a great job of
teaching our kids. All right, you need to know how
to clean a toilet. Honestly, I go in some people's
homes that I am going to sell, and I look
in the bathroom and I realize the tub, the shower
has not been cleaned for a really long time. I
(08:21):
look at homes where there is a ring or a
stain on the toilet inside the bowl that has not
been cleaned in a very long time. So you have
to understand if you're buying a home that college students
are going to be living in. Chances are there's not
(08:44):
going to be a whole lot of cleaning that's going
to be done. You may think that it's going to
be a pro is going to be rent free housing
for your child, because other kids are going to live
in that home and they're going to pay the rent
or pay the price for the mortgage. That free housing
(09:08):
is really not going to be free. Can you tell that?
My pro list is also part of my cons list?
And so today on the Sloan Sales Homes open house,
we're talking about should you buy a home for your
college student in a college town? It also depends on
the college town if you're even going to be able
(09:30):
to find anything that is a close enough that your
student can walk to classes. B Is it in a
safe area? See? Is there anything even on the market
that you can even find to buy that would be
economical and be worth all of the trouble? Again, it's
(09:52):
going to be So I'm going to run through real
quick some of these cons maintenance and upkeep. I talked
about that probably not the best situation part time tenants.
The tenants are going to be college students. They're going
to be part time. They're not going to take care
of your place. That's a con and overall, your investment
(10:18):
may not pay off. If you buy a home, even
if it's any kind of investment, even if it's a
home you're planning to live in and you try to
sell it within the first two years, you can likely
expect to lose money on that deal. And that's the
one thing that you need to think about when you
(10:40):
want to buy a home for your child. Let's say
they're not even in college and you want to help
a young adult buy a home. Because they don't have
the credit, they don't have the income, they don't have
whatever it takes to buy a home. Right now, you
always want to think about how long are you going
to hold that property and to get a return on investment,
(11:03):
it is very important that you hold a property for
at least five years. That's going to be my money
advice to you today. If you're going to buy a home,
you want to live in it for at least five
to seven years in order to make money on that investment.
My name's Michelle Sloane. You're listening to the Sloan Sales
Homes open house right here on fifty five KR see
(11:25):
the talk station. Welcome back to the Sloan Sales Homes
open house. I am Michelle Sloan. I'm your local residential
realtor and broker at Remax time. Okay, So you're interested
in buying a home, maybe you have a house to sell,
and you're wondering what the best time is for you
(11:46):
to take a jump and dip into the waters of
home buying, home selling. You have it. There's a lot
to consider and the very first thing that you should
do is talk to a real estate agent. You want
to talk to somebody who's going to be open and
honest with you. You want to talk to somebody who's
going to tell you what your home is worth in
(12:08):
today's market and what the buy side of the market
looks like. Right now. The buy side is extremely interesting.
It is it's homes are staying on the market a
little bit longer than they were in the last couple
of years. Many properties are on the market for two, three,
(12:33):
four weeks because the price frankly just started off too high.
And if you're looking for a mortgage, and you understand
mortgage rates are in the six percent range and I
say range because it's on every day. It's going to
fluctuate just a little bit. So mortgage rates right now
(12:56):
around six percent, they may go up to six and
a quarter. They may go down a little bit below
six percent. The Feds look like they are going to
lower the rates again later this year or in the
next month or so, so that could cause the mortgage
interest rates to go down as well. But understand what
(13:18):
the Fed does and what the mortgage rates do. They
don't go hand in hand. If you hear the Fed
is lowering the rate by a certain percentage, it doesn't
automatically mean that the rates are going to go down
by that same percentage when it comes to mortgages. So
you want to also, in addition to talking to a
(13:41):
really good experienced real estate agent, you also want to
talk to a really good experienced lender. And I will say,
look at and talk to a very experienced local lender.
That's very, very important. And your real estate agent will
be able to to share with you a number of
(14:02):
local lenders who can totally help you. Plus, when you're
thinking about getting a mortgage, maybe you've been in your
same home for ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. You
still have a mortgage on the property. I talked to somebody.
I was out for a walk this week and I
(14:22):
was talking to one of my neighbors and she's like,
oh my gosh, Michelle, I've been meaning to call you.
My husband and I are ready to downsize, right size.
I'm tired of doing the steps and I wanted to
call you and talk to you about selling and then buying.
But we have no idea where we want to go.
(14:45):
We just know that we need to get out of
the home that we're currently in, that we've been in
for twenty years, but we don't know what to do next.
I said, well, to be very honest, the best thing
that you could do is give me a call and
let's sit down and talk. Just talk. I'm not going
to pressure you. I'm not going to say you have
to sign this document to sell your house right this minute.
(15:08):
I'm not doing that. We're just gonna talk, and I
want to be your real estate advisor. That's what you
should get with your real estate agent. You should get
somebody who is truly on your side, thinking about your
best interest. Guess what, I may not sell their home
(15:29):
for a year or two, but we're building a relationship,
because when the right house comes along and you are
ready to buy it, you know where you stand with
your house and your property and what needs to be
done to get ready to sell it quickly. Because here's
the thing. Most often, life comes at us hard, right.
(15:55):
Life comes at us in a way that we can
never anticipate. And things will happen in your life that
you did not plan for. I know this from personal experience.
Things just happen. You may have someone that will need
a place to live and you open your door up
(16:16):
and you say, come live with me. Is that what
you're expecting to happen in the next six months or
a year. No, we don't expect things like that to happen.
Maybe someone passes away and you need somebody. Somebody needs
a place to live, and you say come live with me,
(16:38):
or the other way around. Maybe you lose unfortunately, you
lose a spouse and you can't live in a big
house by yourself anymore, and you choose and you are
offered to live with your children or other family members.
It's not something that we can plan for, it's not
(17:00):
something that we can expect. But the one thing that
we can do and I'm really passionate about this is
make sure that you know your plan A, your Plan B,
your Plan C. And the best thing that you can
do if you own real estate, even if you know
in the back of my mind I want to move
in the next five years, if you want to move
(17:22):
in the next five years, guess what. Well, it may
be a little early to call me, But if you
just want to know what your house is worth in
today's market, call me. Call me and we can have
a conversation about what your home is worth in today's market.
Because even if it's in the back of your mind
(17:43):
that you're thinking about moving, you may that just may
spur something. You may see something online and go, oh
my gosh, that's perfect. Or you may have one of
your kids move or have grandkids or whatever, and you're like,
I'm gonna go be with them, because family means so
(18:04):
much and being ready and knowing the value of your
property is so very important. And like I said, if
you have a trusted real estate advisor, I hope that
you would consider that I am that person for you.
Michelle Sloan at Sloan saleshomes dot com. I can come
(18:29):
visit you, We can start a conversation. I am not
going to pressure you. If you ever feel pressure from
a real estate agent or anybody for that matter, I
need you to step back, take a deep breath, and say,
you know what I need some time. That's just not
(18:49):
how I roll. I'm not a high pressure person, a
high pressure salesperson. I guess as a realtor, I am
a salesperson. But at the same time, it's not in
If it's not in your best interest, I don't want
to do it. And I believe that, and I hope
that you can see that and hear that in my voice.
(19:10):
Is your best interest is my best interest. And if
you don't sell your home this year, maybe you'll sell
it next year and we'll already have that conversation started.
We can stay in touch, we can be ready when
Heaven knows what happens in your life. And again, that
(19:32):
is the key, that's the key to really your peace
of mind. And that sounds probably a little philosophical on
this great day, but at the same time, don't we
all look for a little bit of peace of mind?
And with that, let's talk. How about you give me
(19:56):
a call and you can call me on my cell phone.
Is fin I've one three six hundred five two seven seven.
You can find me online at Sloan saleshomes dot com.
And we start a conversation, we have a meeting. You
tell me the truth. I'm gonna tell you the truth.
(20:16):
You're gonna say, Hey, Michelle, I'd like you to come
see what my home is worth. I think we're gonna
be moving soon, in the next year or so, but
it may take a while for me to get ready,
and I want your advice. I want that personal advice
that only you can give. And I hope that that's
(20:37):
how you will consider me your real estate agent. Now
and in the future. I may not always be on
the radio. I may not always be doing this podcast.
I may not always, but you know, I do plan
to be working, and I always want you to remember
my name. The funny thing is, and in the there's
(20:59):
so many surveys out there, and there's so much research
out there. Most people cannot remember the name of their
real estate agent, right, So I want you to remember
my name, Michelle Sloane Sloane sells homes dot com. I
think it's funny because when I see people, they may
(21:19):
come up to me and say Oh, you're that real
estate lady. Yes, do you remember my name? Though? That's
the key. I mean all real estate agents the same way,
and that's probably why we say our name. We're on
social media, we're doing all of those things, because when
(21:40):
it comes down to it, it's like, oh, what was
that woman's name who was on the radio? Oh, she
seemed pretty smart, and I'm sure she's just cute as
a button. Sorry, I just had to but yes, yes,
and yes remember me Else Loansloan saleshomes dot Com. I
(22:03):
can help you. I can give you evaluation of your
home today. I can give you advice, personal advice. Our
first meeting will probably take about an hour. Again, no pressure.
If you're ready to sell tomorrow, I can turn that
stuff around in lickety split, no time at all. But
if you're really not ready right this very second, it's okay.
(22:26):
It's okay because now is the time of the year
where it's a little bit slower. So I have appointments
available where we can spend time together and we can
go through your home room by room. And if you're
thinking about updating your kitchen, what's the best way to
go about it? If you're not selling for a couple
of years. Why don't you update your kitchen now and
(22:48):
enjoy it. What about updating your bathroom now so you
can enjoy it. If you have a primary bathroom with
a big tub that you have to step over and
you're having a really hard time getting into the tub
to get to the shower, or whatever your situation is,
and you say, Michelle, I really need to get rid
of this tub, So get rid of it. Go ahead
(23:11):
and do that update. Make your life easier. That's that's again.
I'm feeling like I'm getting a little philosophical on you today.
But it's okay, it's really really okay. You do those
updates so that you can enjoy your home. Maybe that
means you're going to live in your home a little
(23:32):
bit longer. Again, no pressure here. You need to live
your best life. And so if you're wondering what your
home is worth today, if you are thinking about buying
another home, you're thinking about just moving down the street
looking at new construction. Maybe you're looking to move out
of state. Maybe you want to go someplace warmer. I
(23:55):
get it, I get it. I get all of those things.
And I talk to people every day and in the end,
it's what's best for you. My fiduciary duty is to
you and what's best for you. It's not what's best
for me. And again, when it comes to real estate,
I feel pretty passionately about that. So think about if
(24:21):
you're ready. When you're ready, don't forget my name, Michelle
Sloansloan Saleshomes dot Com. Okay, how much time do we
have left, Danny, We're done. Okay, we're gonna take a break.
We're gonna take a break for news, and when we
come back, we're going to talk about something interesting. Have
you ever thought about buying a garage condo? My name
(24:42):
is Michelle Sloane and you're listening to the Sloan Sales
Homes open House right here on fifty five KR see
the talk station.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
When it comes to real estate, you can have a
thousand questions. Luckily, there's one agent you can turn to
for honest answers time agent Michelle Sloan from Sloan Saleshomes
dot Com. This is your opportunity to learn from one
of the best and most trusted agents in the business.
This is the Sloan Sales Homes open House with Michelle
(25:13):
Sloan on fifty five KRC, the talk station.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Welcome back. Okay, so we're going to start off this segment.
We're going to talk about something just a little bit different.
I am representing a client who is selling garage condos.
Have you heard of this concept before. It's really interesting
and it is something that is taking off really in
the Cincinnati area. So the garage condos at Mason Point.
(25:43):
Like I said, I am the real estate agent. I'm
representing the owner of these garage condos. We had nine
units now we're down to I think six or seven
units available. There are condos built a lot mostly for
people who have like luxury cars, vehicles. Maybe you need
(26:04):
a workshop, an art studio. It's not a place where
you can carry out a business. So it's not a
business store front, but it is a garage. It's a
very very large garage fourteen by fourteen overhead garage door,
so a huge garage door. This type of time of
(26:27):
year in the fall, a lot of people are thinking about, Okay,
where am I going to store my boat, Where am
I going to store my luxury vehicles? Where am I
going to store my RV? And do I want to
leave it out all winter long. Okay, do you do
you have a place to store it? Would you like
to buy a place rather than rent? In the grand
(26:50):
scheme of things, renting is always making money for the
owner of the property. If you would like to buy
a garage condo, and this garage condo is thirteen hundred
square feet, they are fully insulated, they have a bathroom,
it has heat, it has a water heater. You can
(27:12):
add an air conditioner even so you can have some
climate total climate controlled luxury for your vehicles. Or if
you just need a small office and you'd want to
be out of the house, as long as you're not
conducting business out of the garage condo, you can have
a small office and then you can store stuff if
(27:33):
you're paying money for storage. I would recommend that you
stop and give me a call Michelle Sloane, your residential
realtor and broker at Remax time. But at the same time,
you know what I do, dabble. I dabble in a
little bit of commercial and these garage condos at Mason
Point are considered commercial all right. So they have they're
(27:58):
all fully studded, fire raided, they have gas service, Like
I said, water and sewer drains, a utility sink. The
half bathroom you can turn into a full bath if
you really need it. If you're like a little grease monkey,
I don't know if I can say that, but if
you like to work on cars, then yeah, garage kind
(28:21):
of might be a good place. Then you can go ahead,
take a shower, then go home. You don't have to
take that grease home with you. You can work on
your car inside the garage condo. Again, you just can't
carry out a business in there. Internet service is available,
it's landscaped, it has it's it's a really it's a
nice building. It's located in Mason right off of Bethany Road.
(28:46):
You can see information at Garage Condos Maasonpoint dot com
and it's Garage Condos Mason Point POI NTE. You can
you can check it out on my website and if
you're watching me on YouTube, you can see that right there. Okay,
(29:07):
so he't included unique opportunity to own your own storage unit.
The prices start around to eighty two hundred and eighty
thousand dollars and you may think, oh, that's a lot
of money for a garage condo, but guess what. You
could probably put anywhere between five and seven cars in
(29:29):
here if you put on lifts. The ceilings are very
very tall, and so you have plenty of room in
these garage condos to do what you want to do
because you own it. Once you own it, you can
put in a mezzanine. You can add like a loft.
It can be a man cave, a woman cave, a
(29:49):
cave of any kind that you would like storage that
you own. Starting around two hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
This is being done other parts of Cincinnati, but the
prices are even higher. So I'm going to say that
this is this is this is the best price that
you're going to find for this type of a unit.
(30:11):
Garage condos at Mason Point. If you have any questions
about it or you're interested in taking a look at them,
they can be available. They're all built out for the
most part. You just can put your personal touches on it.
We can finish the build out. You can be in
it before the end of the year, so in just
forty five days. So give me a call Michelle Sloan
(30:34):
and we can talk about the garage condos at Mason Point.
It is at forty two oh to Mason Point Drive
off Bethany Road in Mason. Okay, okay, perfect, let's talk
about let's switch gears just a little bit and talk
about inspections. When we go through the inspection process, it
(30:57):
is important that you have and that you hire a
licensed inspector in the state of Ohio. Now all inspectors
home inspectors are required to be licensed through the state,
and this had been done for a long time in Kentucky.
So it's an important part of purchasing a property is
(31:19):
getting a home inspection. So when you're buying a home,
you want to have someone who, again is working in
your best interest. Now I have a love hate relationship
with most home inspectors. Home inspectors are often called deal
killers in my world because they are there to look
(31:41):
for problems in your home and they're going to find them.
If you have issues, nine times out of ten, they're
going to find them. So it's important that when you
are hiring a home inspector to help you with your
home is to get a good one. You know, it's
also important if it's your first home home or if
it's your fifth home and you're getting a home inspection.
(32:03):
You want somebody who's not going to scare you. In
most situations, pretty much everything is fixable in a home.
It just matters how much it's actually going to cost
to fix. So the home inspectors in the state of Ohio,
the home inspectors that I recommend locally, our top notch.
(32:24):
They will give you a full report, let you know
you know what's wrong with the house, what can be fixed.
If it's a serious issue, a serious defect that's going
to cost a lot of money, that five or six
hundred dollars that you're going to spend on a home
inspection could save you thousands of dollars. So it's really
(32:44):
well worth it. And I always recommend even when the
market was absolutely crazy, I always recommend that you get
a home inspection, even if it's just for your information only.
And a lot of sellers would love for you to
waive the home inspection. I don't recommend it. If I'm
(33:05):
representing you as a buyer, it's a really good idea
for you to have a home inspection. Again, and this
is some of the language you want to talk to
your real estate agent about. If I'm not your real
estate agent, and you're planning to buy a home, think
about or talk to your agent about adding language to
the contract that says, listen, I'm going to do a
(33:25):
home inspection for my information. Only. If the inspector finds
any hidden defects that are costly, like five six thousand dollars,
then I want the opportunity to negotiate. I want the
opportunity to get out of that contract if you, mister
and missus seller are not willing to negotiate with me. Okay,
(33:47):
So does that make sense? So home inspections are an
important part of the buying process. And if you are
hiring a home inspector, like I said, it's going to
cost five or six hundred dollars, it could cost more
because with that home inspection, most likely you're going to
get a termined inspection. You're also going to get a
(34:08):
raid on inspection to see if your radon levels are high.
You're going to get the whole house inspection. If your
home inspector actually gets through the home inspection in an
hour or less, they did not do their job. A
home inspection should take two to three hours. And like
(34:31):
I said, it's you really want to get some good recommendations.
Talk to your real estate agent, make sure that the
home inspector that you do hire is one hundred percent
licensed in the state that you live in, and make
sure that you get some good recommendations and referrals as well.
(34:53):
All right, I'm going to take a quick break. Be
right back. My name's Michelle Sloan and you're listening to
the Sloan Sales Homes Open House right on fifty five
krs the talk station. Hi, Welcome back to the Sloan
Sales Homes Open House. I am Michelle Sloane. I'm so
glad that you join me today. If you're listening on
the radio, how you doing? And if you are watching
(35:16):
me on YouTube Sloan Sales Homes open House on YouTube,
you can see me, you can hear me, and hopefully
if you missed any of this program today, you can
check it out there or iHeartRadio. I'm everywhere, I'm everywhere. Okay,
we're going to talk about what are we going to
(35:38):
talk about? Heather? We're gonna say I had my Heather's
my helper and gosh, lover, I couldn't live without her.
And Danny's back at the studio and I couldn't live
without him either. See, you know it's not just me.
There's a whole team of people that make it happen
(36:02):
each and every week. So thank goodness for Heather and
Danny helping me out today on the show. You know,
the other thing that's going on is it's daylight savings,
and you know, I don't know what time it is.
You probably won't know what time it is for the
next few days either. So we did the fall back thing,
(36:22):
which means it's going to be or it already is.
It's dark. It's dark outside sooner, and even though our
brains and my brain is getting older, our brains have
a hard time adjusting to daylight savings. So that is happening,
(36:42):
and you're gonna feel it for the next few days.
I understand you're thinking, Michelle, this is a this is
a real estate show. What are you talking about? What
are you babbling about? I'm babbling about the fact that
I don't know what time is is, but I can
tell you because it gets darker earlier, it'll be dark
(37:08):
by five o'clock at some point, very very soon. If
you are selling your home and it's dark outside, you
better have every light on in the house outside every
light possible. I personally hate showing properties after it gets
(37:29):
dark outside, showing properties in the winter months, it's very
difficult to get a really good look at a home.
So if you're in the market to buy a home
in the next few months, think about that. Think about
making sure that you're talking to your real estate agent.
(37:50):
Maybe you're going to be looking on weekends during the day.
Think about looking at the property from the exterior while
it's still light outside. Making an appointment at four point
thirty or four o'clock in the afternoon at the absolute latest.
Therefore you can see the outside. Because once it's dark
(38:10):
out and you don't have some exterior illumination, you don't
have Christmas lights or whatever lights, flood lights outside, you're
not going to really get a good sense of what
that home is like throughout the year. So showing a
home after dark is not the best way to buy
a home. If you are selling a home, please understand
(38:35):
that showings after dark are difficult, and you may leave
the house and say, I don't want to turn every
light on in the house. It's costing me money and
all the lights outside and all. It's so important if
you are showing. If you are selling your home this
time of year, you have to understand that lights. Your
(39:00):
light is better. Just like when you are selling your
home any time of year, making sure that you have
enough natural light coming into the home is so very
important so that people have that sense light and bright
is always best. So in the evenings you're selling your home,
(39:21):
make sure you have a lot of lights on in
the front as people are walking up. Understand that your
real estate agent, the real estate agent that is representing
the buyer is going to be coming to your front door.
If there's no light on outside, how am I going
to be able to see you to put the key
in the door. I will turn my phone on. I'll
have the light on my phone. It's very very awkward,
(39:44):
and it doesn't show your home in the best light either,
So you want to make it easy on yourself. If
you're selling a home this time of year, make sure
that all the lights are on inside and out. Make
sure that your home is welcoming, smells clean and fresh.
You know, those kinds of things absolutely matter. And then
(40:09):
if you're a buyer this time of year, you may
have to adjust your schedule to be looking at properties
during the daylight hours, because otherwise you might have to
go back and look at the home again, because you
can't really get a good sense of a property after dark.
So you're going to come back and do another showing
(40:29):
in the meantime, chances are maybe you'll lose out on
that property even if you loved it, but you didn't
get a sense of it, So you need to look
at it in the daylight. Things change in the daylight.
You know, homes look different day and night. It's fine
to see homes in the dark, but at the same time,
(40:52):
you're not really going to be able to get a
really good sense of a property until you see it
in the daylight. So understand this time of year, our
brains are only working on partial power, and so we
need to make sure that it You just have to
take it. People don't take that into consideration a lot
(41:16):
of times. And if you're leaving your home, and let's
say your home is vacant, and or you're going to
plan to leave your home for a weekend and you
don't want to leave the lights on all weekend long,
I get it, and I totally understand it. At that point,
either you're going to ask your real estate agent if
they are able to come over and turn the lights
(41:36):
on and then turn the lights off, because we cannot
always rely on the agent to be doing their job
of selling your home and taking care of your lights. See,
that's one thing that a lot of sellers get a
little frustrated about, is because those darn real estate agents
didn't turn the lights off. Well, is that my job
(41:58):
as a buyer's agent, or is my job to take
the buyer through, give them the best experience possible in
your house, and then, oh, shoot, we have another house
we need to get to in five minutes. Let me
go run around, turn off all the lights, make sure
the doors are locked. That, unfortunately, is one of the
(42:20):
frustrations of selling your home. So if you're not going
to be around, especially with nighttime showings, maybe you need
to make friends with your neighbor and have your neighbor
come over, check to make sure all the doors are locked,
check to make sure all of the lights are off,
if they know when the last showing is. Because this
(42:41):
is the other thing. Most often, showings can occur anytime
up till about nine o'clock at night. You want to
talk to your agent if you're selling your home. How
late will you accept showings if you have children in
the home, Oftentimes you might have to set a little
bit of a You might have to set a little
(43:02):
time limit because if kids need to go home, get baths,
get to bed before school the next day, you may
not want showings after seven thirty even And if that's
the case, you need to make everybody aware. Also, if
you're selling your home and you don't want showings after
seven thirty, guess what you may miss out on some opportunities.
(43:25):
So so much to consider when it comes to timing
and the time of day, the time of year, all
of these things you want to consider. That's probably why
more homes sell in the spring. Actually no, that's not
why more homes probably sell in the spring, because that's
(43:45):
that time of year when people are thinking about it.
We're coming out of our winter hibernation, and more people
will look at making that move when kids are not
in school. But again, home sell every single month of
the year. I have sold homes personally every single month
(44:06):
of the year, every single day of the year except
for I don't think Christmas Day, although I have had
people call me on Christmas Day asking for a showing.
Those people were just had some time on their hands.
I guess I've had people call me on New Year's
(44:27):
Day and want to show a property and see a property.
So you never know when ready, willing and able buyer
is going to want to see your home. So if
you are a buyer, make sure that you make friends
(44:48):
with your real estate agent, make sure that you signed
a buyer's broker agreement, and make sure that you are
ready as well, so the whole everybody has to be ready.
It takes a village, It takes a team, just like
my team today is Heather and Danny. Thank you very
much for helping me today get through this and we'll
(45:09):
see you next week. My name is Michelle Sloane and
you're listening to the Sloan Sales Homes open House on
fifty five KRC, the talk station
This is the Sloan Sales Homes open House with Michelle Sloan,
Remax time agent and proprietor of Sloan Saleshomes dot Com.
You have questions, she has the answers. This is your
opportunity to learn from one of the best and most
trusted agents in the business. This is the Sloan Sales
Homes open House with Michelle Sloan on fifty five KRC
(00:26):
the Talk station.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
All right, welcome back. We're talking today about should you
buy a real estate investment in your child's college town.
So basically it's like buying any other property. But the
thought process is if you're a parent and you see
the cost of going to college, just tuition alone has
(00:50):
gone up dramatically over the years. I think it's like
fifty percent since two thousand. The cost of room and
board has also gone up dramatically forty four percent since
two thousand for room and board out of college. So
cost is a very very important factor when you're thinking
(01:12):
about a sending your child to college, and then where
are they going to live the first couple of years.
At most colleges, you have to live on campus, so
there's really no choice you're going to have to do
the room and board that comes with the whole college experience.
In Cincinnati. It's interesting because a lot of kids will
go to UC, but they will live at home, so
(01:35):
the room and board part of it is less. But
if you're sending your kids off to college and you
have to pay for room and board as an adult,
as a mom and dad, as a grandma and grandpa,
you may think it's a good idea. Well, let's just
buy a house, let the child live in that house,
maybe take on a few friends or roommates to join them,
(01:59):
and the roommates can help pay the mortgage on that property.
So that makes sense in the big scheme of things.
But buying real estate and holding it just for a
couple of years is never really the best option. So
let's go through this the pros and cons of buying
(02:20):
a home in a college town. Is it a good
idea if you're thinking about doing this or you've ever
thought about doing this again, there's a lot of pros
and cons. So the cost of higher education is going
higher and higher. We know this. The price tag so
(02:43):
a room and board at a four year institution, on
average is about thirteen thousand dollars a year. Thirteen thousand
dollars a year just for room and board. That is
pretty expensive. But if you look at how much it
is if you buy a property off campus or you
(03:05):
rent a property off campus, room and board on average
nationally is only one thousand dollars less. So does it
make sense to buy real estate knowing that the price
of that investment can go up or down at any
given moment. So a lot of things to think about.
(03:28):
It's crazy. When I went to school, and it was
a long time ago, I lived on campus actually for
three of my four years, and it was the most
economical for me. And I don't you know, as you
try to put kids through school, you think about the
pros and cons of all of that. What is the
(03:50):
most cost effective housing option. Certainly having a roommate is
going to be really it's going to be key. We
know that tuition is expensive. The tuition has gone up,
like I said, so dramatically, and it varies so much
from school to school. So thinking about that, But for
the price of room and board, is it a good
(04:11):
idea to actually buy a home. I'm going to lean
towards no, it's really not a great investment for you,
And that's the honest truth. It's probably not a good
investment unless you plan to hold it. Or maybe you
have generations of children who you know that are going
to live in that home and potentially take care of it.
(04:34):
That's another key that you have to think about, because
if you know that kids the age of let's say
eighteen to twenty four are going to be living in
this home, they've never lived on their own before, are
they really going to take care of it? No, I'm
(04:56):
just going to tell you the answers of that question. No.
Remember when I was in college so and I was
living off campus, I thought it would be fun to
have a bunny rabbit, cute little black bunny. I forget
what its name was, but I thought it would be cute,
and I didn't really want to keep it in a cage.
I just let this bunny run free, just roam free
(05:19):
most of the time. Well, that bunny ate up all
of the cords, like the light cords and the extension cords.
It chewed on all of it, and so I had
frayed cords all over my apartment that I was renting.
In addition, it had this really thick orange shag carpet
(05:42):
that was probably never clean in its life. It was
pretty gross and very deep within this little shag carpet
were bunny pellets. Yuck yuk yuk yuk yu kuk. I
can't even think about it today. And if I thought
that I purchased to home and the tenant was going
(06:03):
to go in and get a bunny because you know,
it's gonna be cute, it's gonna be sweet whatever, it's
really not so sweet. And if I own that property
and I did maintain it and I have to clean
up bunny poop inside the shag carpet, that would make
(06:24):
me think twice right from the get go. So you know,
you think about buying a home and you're going to
save money, but are you really So let's look at this.
We're gonna look at We're gonna look at the pros
and cons, okay, of buying a home in a college
town for your child or maybe your grandchild, just to
(06:46):
help save money on housing. Okay, all right, so let's
see it. Pros and cons. It's a little bit less
restrictive than it would be living on campus. You're living
in your own home. Your kids can come and go
as they please. They could probably have whoever over that
(07:06):
they want. Again, I'm talking about this out loud and
thinking this is really not a great idea. Certainly, maintaining
a home or an apartment is a great learning experience.
It's also a great learning experience trying to live with
other people, because most college students early twenties, they've never
(07:31):
lived with anyone except their own family. And maybe mom
is really good at doing your laundry, maybe mom is
really good at picking up after you. Are you going
to then just turn around and automatically know how to
do that? Are they going to know how to do
that themselves? Probably not. And that's where as parents, I
(07:56):
don't know that we're always doing a great job of
teaching our kids. All right, you need to know how
to clean a toilet. Honestly, I go in some people's
homes that I am going to sell, and I look
in the bathroom and I realize the tub, the shower
has not been cleaned for a really long time. I
(08:21):
look at homes where there is a ring or a
stain on the toilet inside the bowl that has not
been cleaned in a very long time. So you have
to understand if you're buying a home that college students
are going to be living in. Chances are there's not
(08:44):
going to be a whole lot of cleaning that's going
to be done. You may think that it's going to
be a pro is going to be rent free housing
for your child, because other kids are going to live
in that home and they're going to pay the rent
or pay the price for the mortgage. That free housing
(09:08):
is really not going to be free. Can you tell that?
My pro list is also part of my cons list?
And so today on the Sloan Sales Homes open house,
we're talking about should you buy a home for your
college student in a college town? It also depends on
the college town if you're even going to be able
(09:30):
to find anything that is a close enough that your
student can walk to classes. B Is it in a
safe area? See? Is there anything even on the market
that you can even find to buy that would be
economical and be worth all of the trouble? Again, it's
(09:52):
going to be So I'm going to run through real
quick some of these cons maintenance and upkeep. I talked
about that probably not the best situation part time tenants.
The tenants are going to be college students. They're going
to be part time. They're not going to take care
of your place. That's a con and overall, your investment
(10:18):
may not pay off. If you buy a home, even
if it's any kind of investment, even if it's a
home you're planning to live in and you try to
sell it within the first two years, you can likely
expect to lose money on that deal. And that's the
one thing that you need to think about when you
(10:40):
want to buy a home for your child. Let's say
they're not even in college and you want to help
a young adult buy a home. Because they don't have
the credit, they don't have the income, they don't have
whatever it takes to buy a home. Right now, you
always want to think about how long are you going
to hold that property and to get a return on investment,
(11:03):
it is very important that you hold a property for
at least five years. That's going to be my money
advice to you today. If you're going to buy a home,
you want to live in it for at least five
to seven years in order to make money on that investment.
My name's Michelle Sloane. You're listening to the Sloan Sales
Homes open house right here on fifty five KR see
(11:25):
the talk station. Welcome back to the Sloan Sales Homes
open house. I am Michelle Sloan. I'm your local residential
realtor and broker at Remax time. Okay, So you're interested
in buying a home, maybe you have a house to sell,
and you're wondering what the best time is for you
(11:46):
to take a jump and dip into the waters of
home buying, home selling. You have it. There's a lot
to consider and the very first thing that you should
do is talk to a real estate agent. You want
to talk to somebody who's going to be open and
honest with you. You want to talk to somebody who's
going to tell you what your home is worth in
(12:08):
today's market and what the buy side of the market
looks like. Right now. The buy side is extremely interesting.
It is it's homes are staying on the market a
little bit longer than they were in the last couple
of years. Many properties are on the market for two, three,
(12:33):
four weeks because the price frankly just started off too high.
And if you're looking for a mortgage, and you understand
mortgage rates are in the six percent range and I
say range because it's on every day. It's going to
fluctuate just a little bit. So mortgage rates right now
(12:56):
around six percent, they may go up to six and
a quarter. They may go down a little bit below
six percent. The Feds look like they are going to
lower the rates again later this year or in the
next month or so, so that could cause the mortgage
interest rates to go down as well. But understand what
(13:18):
the Fed does and what the mortgage rates do. They
don't go hand in hand. If you hear the Fed
is lowering the rate by a certain percentage, it doesn't
automatically mean that the rates are going to go down
by that same percentage when it comes to mortgages. So
you want to also, in addition to talking to a
(13:41):
really good experienced real estate agent, you also want to
talk to a really good experienced lender. And I will say,
look at and talk to a very experienced local lender.
That's very, very important. And your real estate agent will
be able to to share with you a number of
(14:02):
local lenders who can totally help you. Plus, when you're
thinking about getting a mortgage, maybe you've been in your
same home for ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. You
still have a mortgage on the property. I talked to somebody.
I was out for a walk this week and I
(14:22):
was talking to one of my neighbors and she's like,
oh my gosh, Michelle, I've been meaning to call you.
My husband and I are ready to downsize, right size.
I'm tired of doing the steps and I wanted to
call you and talk to you about selling and then buying.
But we have no idea where we want to go.
(14:45):
We just know that we need to get out of
the home that we're currently in, that we've been in
for twenty years, but we don't know what to do next.
I said, well, to be very honest, the best thing
that you could do is give me a call and
let's sit down and talk. Just talk. I'm not going
to pressure you. I'm not going to say you have
to sign this document to sell your house right this minute.
(15:08):
I'm not doing that. We're just gonna talk, and I
want to be your real estate advisor. That's what you
should get with your real estate agent. You should get
somebody who is truly on your side, thinking about your
best interest. Guess what, I may not sell their home
(15:29):
for a year or two, but we're building a relationship,
because when the right house comes along and you are
ready to buy it, you know where you stand with
your house and your property and what needs to be
done to get ready to sell it quickly. Because here's
the thing. Most often, life comes at us hard, right.
(15:55):
Life comes at us in a way that we can
never anticipate. And things will happen in your life that
you did not plan for. I know this from personal experience.
Things just happen. You may have someone that will need
a place to live and you open your door up
(16:16):
and you say, come live with me. Is that what
you're expecting to happen in the next six months or
a year. No, we don't expect things like that to happen.
Maybe someone passes away and you need somebody. Somebody needs
a place to live, and you say come live with me,
(16:38):
or the other way around. Maybe you lose unfortunately, you
lose a spouse and you can't live in a big
house by yourself anymore, and you choose and you are
offered to live with your children or other family members.
It's not something that we can plan for, it's not
(17:00):
something that we can expect. But the one thing that
we can do and I'm really passionate about this is
make sure that you know your plan A, your Plan B,
your Plan C. And the best thing that you can
do if you own real estate, even if you know
in the back of my mind I want to move
in the next five years, if you want to move
(17:22):
in the next five years, guess what. Well, it may
be a little early to call me, But if you
just want to know what your house is worth in
today's market, call me. Call me and we can have
a conversation about what your home is worth in today's market.
Because even if it's in the back of your mind
(17:43):
that you're thinking about moving, you may that just may
spur something. You may see something online and go, oh
my gosh, that's perfect. Or you may have one of
your kids move or have grandkids or whatever, and you're like,
I'm gonna go be with them, because family means so
(18:04):
much and being ready and knowing the value of your
property is so very important. And like I said, if
you have a trusted real estate advisor, I hope that
you would consider that I am that person for you.
Michelle Sloan at Sloan saleshomes dot com. I can come
(18:29):
visit you, We can start a conversation. I am not
going to pressure you. If you ever feel pressure from
a real estate agent or anybody for that matter, I
need you to step back, take a deep breath, and say,
you know what I need some time. That's just not
(18:49):
how I roll. I'm not a high pressure person, a
high pressure salesperson. I guess as a realtor, I am
a salesperson. But at the same time, it's not in
If it's not in your best interest, I don't want
to do it. And I believe that, and I hope
that you can see that and hear that in my voice.
(19:10):
Is your best interest is my best interest. And if
you don't sell your home this year, maybe you'll sell
it next year and we'll already have that conversation started.
We can stay in touch, we can be ready when
Heaven knows what happens in your life. And again, that
(19:32):
is the key, that's the key to really your peace
of mind. And that sounds probably a little philosophical on
this great day, but at the same time, don't we
all look for a little bit of peace of mind?
And with that, let's talk. How about you give me
(19:56):
a call and you can call me on my cell phone.
Is fin I've one three six hundred five two seven seven.
You can find me online at Sloan saleshomes dot com.
And we start a conversation, we have a meeting. You
tell me the truth. I'm gonna tell you the truth.
(20:16):
You're gonna say, Hey, Michelle, I'd like you to come
see what my home is worth. I think we're gonna
be moving soon, in the next year or so, but
it may take a while for me to get ready,
and I want your advice. I want that personal advice
that only you can give. And I hope that that's
(20:37):
how you will consider me your real estate agent. Now
and in the future. I may not always be on
the radio. I may not always be doing this podcast.
I may not always, but you know, I do plan
to be working, and I always want you to remember
my name. The funny thing is, and in the there's
(20:59):
so many surveys out there, and there's so much research
out there. Most people cannot remember the name of their
real estate agent, right, So I want you to remember
my name, Michelle Sloane Sloane sells homes dot com. I
think it's funny because when I see people, they may
(21:19):
come up to me and say Oh, you're that real
estate lady. Yes, do you remember my name? Though? That's
the key. I mean all real estate agents the same way,
and that's probably why we say our name. We're on
social media, we're doing all of those things, because when
(21:40):
it comes down to it, it's like, oh, what was
that woman's name who was on the radio? Oh, she
seemed pretty smart, and I'm sure she's just cute as
a button. Sorry, I just had to but yes, yes,
and yes remember me Else Loansloan saleshomes dot Com. I
(22:03):
can help you. I can give you evaluation of your
home today. I can give you advice, personal advice. Our
first meeting will probably take about an hour. Again, no pressure.
If you're ready to sell tomorrow, I can turn that
stuff around in lickety split, no time at all. But
if you're really not ready right this very second, it's okay.
(22:26):
It's okay because now is the time of the year
where it's a little bit slower. So I have appointments
available where we can spend time together and we can
go through your home room by room. And if you're
thinking about updating your kitchen, what's the best way to
go about it? If you're not selling for a couple
of years. Why don't you update your kitchen now and
(22:48):
enjoy it. What about updating your bathroom now so you
can enjoy it. If you have a primary bathroom with
a big tub that you have to step over and
you're having a really hard time getting into the tub
to get to the shower, or whatever your situation is,
and you say, Michelle, I really need to get rid
of this tub, So get rid of it. Go ahead
(23:11):
and do that update. Make your life easier. That's that's again.
I'm feeling like I'm getting a little philosophical on you today.
But it's okay, it's really really okay. You do those
updates so that you can enjoy your home. Maybe that
means you're going to live in your home a little
(23:32):
bit longer. Again, no pressure here. You need to live
your best life. And so if you're wondering what your
home is worth today, if you are thinking about buying
another home, you're thinking about just moving down the street
looking at new construction. Maybe you're looking to move out
of state. Maybe you want to go someplace warmer. I
(23:55):
get it, I get it. I get all of those things.
And I talk to people every day and in the end,
it's what's best for you. My fiduciary duty is to
you and what's best for you. It's not what's best
for me. And again, when it comes to real estate,
I feel pretty passionately about that. So think about if
(24:21):
you're ready. When you're ready, don't forget my name, Michelle
Sloansloan Saleshomes dot Com. Okay, how much time do we
have left, Danny, We're done. Okay, we're gonna take a break.
We're gonna take a break for news, and when we
come back, we're going to talk about something interesting. Have
you ever thought about buying a garage condo? My name
(24:42):
is Michelle Sloane and you're listening to the Sloan Sales
Homes open House right here on fifty five KR see
the talk station.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
When it comes to real estate, you can have a
thousand questions. Luckily, there's one agent you can turn to
for honest answers time agent Michelle Sloan from Sloan Saleshomes
dot Com. This is your opportunity to learn from one
of the best and most trusted agents in the business.
This is the Sloan Sales Homes open House with Michelle
(25:13):
Sloan on fifty five KRC, the talk station.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
Welcome back. Okay, so we're going to start off this segment.
We're going to talk about something just a little bit different.
I am representing a client who is selling garage condos.
Have you heard of this concept before. It's really interesting
and it is something that is taking off really in
the Cincinnati area. So the garage condos at Mason Point.
(25:43):
Like I said, I am the real estate agent. I'm
representing the owner of these garage condos. We had nine
units now we're down to I think six or seven
units available. There are condos built a lot mostly for
people who have like luxury cars, vehicles. Maybe you need
(26:04):
a workshop, an art studio. It's not a place where
you can carry out a business. So it's not a
business store front, but it is a garage. It's a
very very large garage fourteen by fourteen overhead garage door,
so a huge garage door. This type of time of
(26:27):
year in the fall, a lot of people are thinking about, Okay,
where am I going to store my boat, Where am
I going to store my luxury vehicles? Where am I
going to store my RV? And do I want to
leave it out all winter long. Okay, do you do
you have a place to store it? Would you like
to buy a place rather than rent? In the grand
(26:50):
scheme of things, renting is always making money for the
owner of the property. If you would like to buy
a garage condo, and this garage condo is thirteen hundred
square feet, they are fully insulated, they have a bathroom,
it has heat, it has a water heater. You can
(27:12):
add an air conditioner even so you can have some
climate total climate controlled luxury for your vehicles. Or if
you just need a small office and you'd want to
be out of the house, as long as you're not
conducting business out of the garage condo, you can have
a small office and then you can store stuff if
(27:33):
you're paying money for storage. I would recommend that you
stop and give me a call Michelle Sloane, your residential
realtor and broker at Remax time. But at the same time,
you know what I do, dabble. I dabble in a
little bit of commercial and these garage condos at Mason
Point are considered commercial all right. So they have they're
(27:58):
all fully studded, fire raided, they have gas service, Like
I said, water and sewer drains, a utility sink. The
half bathroom you can turn into a full bath if
you really need it. If you're like a little grease monkey,
I don't know if I can say that, but if
you like to work on cars, then yeah, garage kind
(28:21):
of might be a good place. Then you can go ahead,
take a shower, then go home. You don't have to
take that grease home with you. You can work on
your car inside the garage condo. Again, you just can't
carry out a business in there. Internet service is available,
it's landscaped, it has it's it's a really it's a
nice building. It's located in Mason right off of Bethany Road.
(28:46):
You can see information at Garage Condos Maasonpoint dot com
and it's Garage Condos Mason Point POI NTE. You can
you can check it out on my website and if
you're watching me on YouTube, you can see that right there. Okay,
(29:07):
so he't included unique opportunity to own your own storage unit.
The prices start around to eighty two hundred and eighty
thousand dollars and you may think, oh, that's a lot
of money for a garage condo, but guess what. You
could probably put anywhere between five and seven cars in
(29:29):
here if you put on lifts. The ceilings are very
very tall, and so you have plenty of room in
these garage condos to do what you want to do
because you own it. Once you own it, you can
put in a mezzanine. You can add like a loft.
It can be a man cave, a woman cave, a
(29:49):
cave of any kind that you would like storage that
you own. Starting around two hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
This is being done other parts of Cincinnati, but the
prices are even higher. So I'm going to say that
this is this is this is the best price that
you're going to find for this type of a unit.
(30:11):
Garage condos at Mason Point. If you have any questions
about it or you're interested in taking a look at them,
they can be available. They're all built out for the
most part. You just can put your personal touches on it.
We can finish the build out. You can be in
it before the end of the year, so in just
forty five days. So give me a call Michelle Sloan
(30:34):
and we can talk about the garage condos at Mason Point.
It is at forty two oh to Mason Point Drive
off Bethany Road in Mason. Okay, okay, perfect, let's talk
about let's switch gears just a little bit and talk
about inspections. When we go through the inspection process, it
(30:57):
is important that you have and that you hire a
licensed inspector in the state of Ohio. Now all inspectors
home inspectors are required to be licensed through the state,
and this had been done for a long time in Kentucky.
So it's an important part of purchasing a property is
(31:19):
getting a home inspection. So when you're buying a home,
you want to have someone who, again is working in
your best interest. Now I have a love hate relationship
with most home inspectors. Home inspectors are often called deal
killers in my world because they are there to look
(31:41):
for problems in your home and they're going to find them.
If you have issues, nine times out of ten, they're
going to find them. So it's important that when you
are hiring a home inspector to help you with your
home is to get a good one. You know, it's
also important if it's your first home home or if
it's your fifth home and you're getting a home inspection.
(32:03):
You want somebody who's not going to scare you. In
most situations, pretty much everything is fixable in a home.
It just matters how much it's actually going to cost
to fix. So the home inspectors in the state of Ohio,
the home inspectors that I recommend locally, our top notch.
(32:24):
They will give you a full report, let you know
you know what's wrong with the house, what can be fixed.
If it's a serious issue, a serious defect that's going
to cost a lot of money, that five or six
hundred dollars that you're going to spend on a home
inspection could save you thousands of dollars. So it's really
(32:44):
well worth it. And I always recommend even when the
market was absolutely crazy, I always recommend that you get
a home inspection, even if it's just for your information only.
And a lot of sellers would love for you to
waive the home inspection. I don't recommend it. If I'm
(33:05):
representing you as a buyer, it's a really good idea
for you to have a home inspection. Again, and this
is some of the language you want to talk to
your real estate agent about. If I'm not your real
estate agent, and you're planning to buy a home, think
about or talk to your agent about adding language to
the contract that says, listen, I'm going to do a
(33:25):
home inspection for my information. Only. If the inspector finds
any hidden defects that are costly, like five six thousand dollars,
then I want the opportunity to negotiate. I want the
opportunity to get out of that contract if you, mister
and missus seller are not willing to negotiate with me. Okay,
(33:47):
So does that make sense? So home inspections are an
important part of the buying process. And if you are
hiring a home inspector, like I said, it's going to
cost five or six hundred dollars, it could cost more
because with that home inspection, most likely you're going to
get a termined inspection. You're also going to get a
(34:08):
raid on inspection to see if your radon levels are high.
You're going to get the whole house inspection. If your
home inspector actually gets through the home inspection in an
hour or less, they did not do their job. A
home inspection should take two to three hours. And like
(34:31):
I said, it's you really want to get some good recommendations.
Talk to your real estate agent, make sure that the
home inspector that you do hire is one hundred percent
licensed in the state that you live in, and make
sure that you get some good recommendations and referrals as well.
(34:53):
All right, I'm going to take a quick break. Be
right back. My name's Michelle Sloan and you're listening to
the Sloan Sales Homes Open House right on fifty five
krs the talk station. Hi, Welcome back to the Sloan
Sales Homes Open House. I am Michelle Sloane. I'm so
glad that you join me today. If you're listening on
the radio, how you doing? And if you are watching
(35:16):
me on YouTube Sloan Sales Homes open House on YouTube,
you can see me, you can hear me, and hopefully
if you missed any of this program today, you can
check it out there or iHeartRadio. I'm everywhere, I'm everywhere. Okay,
we're going to talk about what are we going to
(35:38):
talk about? Heather? We're gonna say I had my Heather's
my helper and gosh, lover, I couldn't live without her.
And Danny's back at the studio and I couldn't live
without him either. See, you know it's not just me.
There's a whole team of people that make it happen
(36:02):
each and every week. So thank goodness for Heather and
Danny helping me out today on the show. You know,
the other thing that's going on is it's daylight savings,
and you know, I don't know what time it is.
You probably won't know what time it is for the
next few days either. So we did the fall back thing,
(36:22):
which means it's going to be or it already is.
It's dark. It's dark outside sooner, and even though our
brains and my brain is getting older, our brains have
a hard time adjusting to daylight savings. So that is happening,
(36:42):
and you're gonna feel it for the next few days.
I understand you're thinking, Michelle, this is a this is
a real estate show. What are you talking about? What
are you babbling about? I'm babbling about the fact that
I don't know what time is is, but I can
tell you because it gets darker earlier, it'll be dark
(37:08):
by five o'clock at some point, very very soon. If
you are selling your home and it's dark outside, you
better have every light on in the house outside every
light possible. I personally hate showing properties after it gets
(37:29):
dark outside, showing properties in the winter months, it's very
difficult to get a really good look at a home.
So if you're in the market to buy a home
in the next few months, think about that. Think about
making sure that you're talking to your real estate agent.
(37:50):
Maybe you're going to be looking on weekends during the day.
Think about looking at the property from the exterior while
it's still light outside. Making an appointment at four point
thirty or four o'clock in the afternoon at the absolute latest.
Therefore you can see the outside. Because once it's dark
(38:10):
out and you don't have some exterior illumination, you don't
have Christmas lights or whatever lights, flood lights outside, you're
not going to really get a good sense of what
that home is like throughout the year. So showing a
home after dark is not the best way to buy
a home. If you are selling a home, please understand
(38:35):
that showings after dark are difficult, and you may leave
the house and say, I don't want to turn every
light on in the house. It's costing me money and
all the lights outside and all. It's so important if
you are showing. If you are selling your home this
time of year, you have to understand that lights. Your
(39:00):
light is better. Just like when you are selling your
home any time of year, making sure that you have
enough natural light coming into the home is so very
important so that people have that sense light and bright
is always best. So in the evenings you're selling your home,
(39:21):
make sure you have a lot of lights on in
the front as people are walking up. Understand that your
real estate agent, the real estate agent that is representing
the buyer is going to be coming to your front door.
If there's no light on outside, how am I going
to be able to see you to put the key
in the door. I will turn my phone on. I'll
have the light on my phone. It's very very awkward,
(39:44):
and it doesn't show your home in the best light either,
So you want to make it easy on yourself. If
you're selling a home this time of year, make sure
that all the lights are on inside and out. Make
sure that your home is welcoming, smells clean and fresh.
You know, those kinds of things absolutely matter. And then
(40:09):
if you're a buyer this time of year, you may
have to adjust your schedule to be looking at properties
during the daylight hours, because otherwise you might have to
go back and look at the home again, because you
can't really get a good sense of a property after dark.
So you're going to come back and do another showing
(40:29):
in the meantime, chances are maybe you'll lose out on
that property even if you loved it, but you didn't
get a sense of it, So you need to look
at it in the daylight. Things change in the daylight.
You know, homes look different day and night. It's fine
to see homes in the dark, but at the same time,
(40:52):
you're not really going to be able to get a
really good sense of a property until you see it
in the daylight. So understand this time of year, our
brains are only working on partial power, and so we
need to make sure that it You just have to
take it. People don't take that into consideration a lot
(41:16):
of times. And if you're leaving your home, and let's
say your home is vacant, and or you're going to
plan to leave your home for a weekend and you
don't want to leave the lights on all weekend long,
I get it, and I totally understand it. At that point,
either you're going to ask your real estate agent if
they are able to come over and turn the lights
(41:36):
on and then turn the lights off, because we cannot
always rely on the agent to be doing their job
of selling your home and taking care of your lights. See,
that's one thing that a lot of sellers get a
little frustrated about, is because those darn real estate agents
didn't turn the lights off. Well, is that my job
(41:58):
as a buyer's agent, or is my job to take
the buyer through, give them the best experience possible in
your house, and then, oh, shoot, we have another house
we need to get to in five minutes. Let me
go run around, turn off all the lights, make sure
the doors are locked. That, unfortunately, is one of the
(42:20):
frustrations of selling your home. So if you're not going
to be around, especially with nighttime showings, maybe you need
to make friends with your neighbor and have your neighbor
come over, check to make sure all the doors are locked,
check to make sure all of the lights are off,
if they know when the last showing is. Because this
(42:41):
is the other thing. Most often, showings can occur anytime
up till about nine o'clock at night. You want to
talk to your agent if you're selling your home. How
late will you accept showings if you have children in
the home, Oftentimes you might have to set a little
bit of a You might have to set a little
(43:02):
time limit because if kids need to go home, get baths,
get to bed before school the next day, you may
not want showings after seven thirty even And if that's
the case, you need to make everybody aware. Also, if
you're selling your home and you don't want showings after
seven thirty, guess what you may miss out on some opportunities.
(43:25):
So so much to consider when it comes to timing
and the time of day, the time of year, all
of these things you want to consider. That's probably why
more homes sell in the spring. Actually no, that's not
why more homes probably sell in the spring, because that's
(43:45):
that time of year when people are thinking about it.
We're coming out of our winter hibernation, and more people
will look at making that move when kids are not
in school. But again, home sell every single month of
the year. I have sold homes personally every single month
(44:06):
of the year, every single day of the year except
for I don't think Christmas Day, although I have had
people call me on Christmas Day asking for a showing.
Those people were just had some time on their hands.
I guess I've had people call me on New Year's
(44:27):
Day and want to show a property and see a property.
So you never know when ready, willing and able buyer
is going to want to see your home. So if
you are a buyer, make sure that you make friends
(44:48):
with your real estate agent, make sure that you signed
a buyer's broker agreement, and make sure that you are
ready as well, so the whole everybody has to be ready.
It takes a village, It takes a team, just like
my team today is Heather and Danny. Thank you very
much for helping me today get through this and we'll
(45:09):
see you next week. My name is Michelle Sloane and
you're listening to the Sloan Sales Homes open House on
fifty five KRC, the talk station
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