Q. What is the first step I need to take in order to buy a house?

A. Home buying isn't just falling in love with a home in a specific neighborhood. It starts with a visit or talk to a mortgage lender who will ask for some basic information about your income. You'll need to talk about your job history, your credit card payments, and your daily expenses. You'll also need to tell the lender about any savings you have. With the basic information, a good lender, like Legacy Mortgage, will give you a "Pre-qualification" letter that will start you on the road towards homeownership, or move-up ownership. The letter will state the maximum price you can afford to spend on a house. You may choose not to buy up to your maximum qualification. When you find that dream home, you won't be disappointed, and be able to make it your own.

Q. Why do I need to work with a real estate agent?

A. Real estate agents are licensed by the state after extensive education. We are also required to have continuing education and renewal of our licenses every 3 years. When you try to sell your own house, you can put up a sign in the front, and put an ad in the newspaper, or even Craigslist, but the exposure to just the right person to buy your house will be very limited. When you hire a real estate agent, that person can list your home in the multiple listing service. I will not only list it, but I'll market it in Welcome Home Magazine, place it on more than 5 internet sites, contact your neighbors to see if they know anyone who wants to live in the same neighborhood, tour other agents through your house, hold open houses, do mailings to my sphere of influence, and above all, price it right for it's value, and to attract the buyers. A free comparative market analysis is what I provide to you. Free is good, right? Remember, my services are free until your home closes. I don't get paid until we have a "Sold" sign in your lawn.

Q. What do you mean by "pricing my house right for it's value"?

A. Most homes within a specific neighborhood will be priced according to the price paid by the buyers of the last few prior homes sold within a 3-6 month period. If a home is very unique to a neighborhood, or has been extensively updated and upgraded, an appraiser and real estate agent might look homes within a mile or two outside of that particular neighborhood. That's where the comment is made, the home was "priced out of the neighborhood". When you are remodeling, be careful not to outprice your home. It might become very difficult to sell, and you might have to actually lose money on it's sale.

Q. What is a homebuyer looking for when they "fall in love with a house"?

A. Homes that have remodeled kitchens and baths will sell easily. The home buyer is few a far between right now. That's called a "buyer's market". There are many choices of homes for sale, and few buyers. You want your home to win the beauty contest AND the price war. The most bang for the buck will be updating the kitchen with new hardware, faucets, counters and flooring. More extensively, you could choose to replace the cabinet doors, or refinish them. Paint and de-cluttering is a must. Remember, "Less is More". If a home hasn't been changed for 15 years, it is going to look dated. Look around and ask yourself, "Why did I like this house? Why did I buy it?" Are those still the reasons that a buyer will be attracted to your home now? If you bought it just because it was a bargain, and you still don't like the house, then you need to price it way below the market for your neighborhood to attract a bargain buyer, too.

Q. What is your rule of thumb about "de-cluttering"?

A. Everyone makes their house a home with personal collections, and mementoes. You want to pack those away when you are ready to sell. After all, you are going to move them out when the house sells, why not pack them up now? Make the house a clean canvas, so a buyer can picture their own collections and mementoes in your space. Look at model homes. They look great because very little is on horizontal surfaces. Groupings of interesting items are made for accent and color. Madeline can help you move those things around. I'll come to your house and help you step by step. It might feel like you are living in a museum, with everything in place, but when it sells to the first person that looks at it, won't you feel good? That's what you want. Then you can really start packing!

Q. What if my job transfers me, or I fall in love with Prince or Princess Charming, and I move my belongings out before I even put my house on the market?

A. Vacant houses need to be "staged". Picture a film set. There are professional people in Albuquerque who help us put staging and décor items in a home to warm up the vacant rooms. We sometimes even put furniture groupings into a home, temporarily, to show how various rooms will look their best. Madeline can recommend the right people, and will help stage those rooms if they need it. Pricing, staging, and sprucing up, and Voila, you have the winner of the price war and the beauty contest.

Q. What's this I hear about the 3 most important issues in real estate are "Location, location, location"?

A. Location is definitely a selling point. The same home in a desirable sought-after neighborhood, and placed in a less desirable location are not going to be priced the same. We always begin with the location, and what the value of the other houses sold in the neighborhood. We can't move a house, but we can certainly do the staging, and sprucing up to get to an acceptable price.

Q. Can I ask a real estate agent to come to my house to help me get started, or do I have to pay for that advice?

A. Call me. You are under no obligation to contract with me to sell your house. But once you meet me, and learn that you can trust me with your home, I'll be happy to put it on the market. My customers become my friends. Isn't that what you want? I'm your realtor for life.

Q. What about representing me as a buyer? Who does that?

A. Call me. Again, you are under no obligation to contract with me to represent you and show you the homes that will work the best for you. But once you meet me and learn that you can trust me with understanding your needs and preferences, I'll become your realtor for life.

Q. What is Zillow and why doesn't it work in New Mexico?

A. Zillow is a computerized formula for real estate that is based on generalized numbers to price homes for sale. The problem with Zillow in New Mexico is that we are one of 14 "non-disclosure" states. Our prices of closed sales on homes are not available to the public but are only reported to the County Assessor for tax purposes. So when Zillow generalizes for New Mexico, they are starting with false numbers not factual numbers. When you want to know the price of a home sold in NM, contact a licensed Real Estate agent who is has access to the Multiple Listing Service. That agent will give you a comparative market analysis and determine the pricing value of a home using real facts that are recorded in the multiple listing service. Zillow is another example of well known statement, "Whatever works somewhere else, never works in New Mexico!"

Madeline Dunn has access MLS and can help you find pricing on all homes in New Mexico.

These FAQ's are just the beginning. Call me or email me. I'm Madeline Dunn. You can ask the questions and I'll try to give you the best answers. If you have a question that is new to me, I'll research it and together we'll get to the best answer. Ask about homeowner associations, taxes, inspectors, and repairs. Ask and you might even see your question and my answer right here in these FAQ's.