A Time to Give Thanks

The holiday season is upon us and I would like to take a little time to give thanks to all of you. In my daily sometimes hectic life, I don't always get a chance to thank everyone that has made my life so much better. To all my family, friends, and people I do business with, thank you so much for everything. I really do appreciate everything you guys do. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Always wishing you the best,
Amit

Amit Bhuta
Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 439-3031
www.DadeCountyMLS.com

Why Choose Amit Bhuta to Sell Your Home

Why should you choose Amit Bhuta of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate to sell your home? There are many reasons to do so. In our market, properties that are for sale are normally on the market for approximately 60 days before a contract is accepted. When clients list their property with Mr Bhuta, the approximate time it is on the market before the sellers accept a contract is about 31 days (nearly half the average time). Besides selling the property in half the time, Mr Bhuta is able to get more money. In our area, the percentage of the selling price to the list price that a seller receives is about 96%. Amit Bhuta normally gets 98% or more. He fights to get you as much money as possible. He never will act like many other Realtors that act as if they are working for the buyer and not the seller.

Knowledge of the real estate process is important to understand in determining how qualified your Realtor is. Marketing and getting the home ready for sale, negotiating offers, and managing the transaction until closing are the 3 steps when selling a home. Some homeowners, while trying to cut costs, can potentially lose thousands of dollars or even worse increase the chances of being suited if they choose the wrong person.

When you list your property with Amit, he will make you comfortable throughout the whole process. The first thing he will do is help you get your home ready for sale. Besides giving you his ideas, he will also give you a DVD with ideas from top experts in the field.

The next thing is the marketing of your home. He does many unique things as well as the traditional things to market your property. For example, every buyer that comes to your open house will receive a DVD slideshow of your home with music. The potential buyer will also be able to print or email high quality pictures of your home (from the DVD) to other decision makers, family, or friends. Amit knows that when buyers are comparing homes, they tend to forget what they saw. Having the pictures and DVD will make your home stand out in the eyes of the buyer. Just a few of the other things he does for you are putting your home on approximately 25 websites with up to 50 photos, have a virtual tour (see an example at www.ColdwellBankerVirtualTour.com), floor plan of your home, high quality property flyers, open houses, aggressive marketing to buyers and approximately 6000 realtors, and many other things.

Negotiating is the next step in the real estate process. Here is where many sellers will lose thousands of dollars because they tried to save money and didn’t hire a real estate professional. Many people have the misconception that the price is pretty much the only important thing that is negotiated in a real estate contract. This is definitely not the case. Amit has gone through extensive training with everything involved with real estate contracts as well as all the other processes until closing takes place. Because of this insight, he is able to get more for your home by negotiating everything, not just price. Also, prior to his real estate career, he was paid to close deals for over six years.

Managing the transaction from when it is first accepted until the closing is the last step in the real estate process. Just like the negotiating step, a seller can loose thousands and thousands of dollars or not even close if he or she tries to save money and doesn’t hire a real estate professional. There are many different things that need to be done once the offer is accepted. They have to be done in a very timely manner and there is no margin for error. Amit Bhuta will attend all important events and will create a calendar of the events for you so that both of you are on the same page. He will keep you as informed as often as you like and can be reached twenty-four hours a day. He will pick up his phone or will respond to your email.

These are just a few reasons why you should select Amit Bhuta as your Realtor. He will always look at what he can do for you and what’s in it for you rather than brag about what he has done. If you ever need to contact past clients, he will be happy to provide you their names and phone numbers. His performance based compensation is negotiable and you can choose from many plans he offers.

Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 439-3031
www.DadeCountyMLS.com

Should I Sell My Home Without a Realtor?

Why should people choose a Realtor to sell their property in today's hot real estate market? Many people feel that all they have to do is to put a FOR SALE sign in front of their house and within a few days they will get what they are asking for it. Although in some cases this may happen, it is definitely not the best thing to do.

In a very comprehensive study done in 2004 by NAR, it was determined that on average a home that was sold without the assistance of a Realtor was sold for 13% less than a property that was sold in the same neighborhood with the use of a Realtor. There are many reasons for this. The first reason is that the average home sellers aren't as familiar with their real estate market as a top quality Realtor. Therefore, many times properties will be priced incorrectly - either way too high or too low. If a property is priced too low it is obvious what will happen. It will sell very fast and the seller will lose thousands of dollars. If a property is priced too high, it will soon become stale. The wrong buyers will be looking at it and the right buyers will be looking at something else. When most people look at homes, they are comparing each home to the other. If something is overpriced, the value won't be there making the other house seem like a very good deal.

Another reason is that when buyers sees that a house is FOR SALE BY OWNER, they know that no commission is being paid. The buyers will expect to save that much and more and deduct that amount from their offer for the home. So there really are no savings.

Negotiation is another reason a Realtor should be involved. Most sellers aren't familiar with negotiating a real estate contract. Not having knowledge with this could cause the seller to lose thousands of dollars. Also, whenever a seller shows a property, there is the possibility that he or she could accidentally divulge the level of motivation. This would definitley decrease the seller's leverage he has when negotiating.

Probably the most important reason homeowners should use a Realtor to sell their property, besides getting more money, is because of liability. Because the majority of sellers do not know what they have to disclose and what they cannot disclose to buyers, there is a big chance of a law suit, especially in litigious South Florida.

Amit Bhuta
Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 794-9034
www.DadeCountyMLS.com

How to Stop Getting Credit Card Offers in the Mail

Do you constantly get pre-approved credit card offers in the mail? With today's epidemic of identity theft, receiving these offers in the mail can be very risky. If someone was to steal your mail and apply for one of these offers, there is a strong chance you would become a victim of identity theft. So what do you do? How do you protect yourself? Luckily there is a very simple solution that will definitely decrease your chances of becoming another victim.

The web site www.OptOutPrescreen.com is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry web site to accept and process requests from consumers to Opt-In or Opt-Out of firm offers of credit or insurance. The web site was the web site of the day for The Kim Komando Show (a top ten rated radio talk show with over 8 million viewers a week, www.komando.com). Komando states that you can opt-out at all the major credit reporting agencies. A word of warning: To opt-out, you must submit your social security number. So don't use a shared computer to submit the form. If you are still leery, use the toll-free number.

Amit Bhuta
Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 439-3031
www.DadeCountyMLS.com

Top 10 States with Million Dollar Homes

The following is a list of the states with the most homes worth a million dollars or more according to the US Census.

1. California -128,619 Million Dollar Homes
2. New York - 22,327 Million Dollar Homes
3. Florida - 18,094 Million Dollar Homes
4. Connecticut - 13,906 Million Dollar Homes
5. Illinois - 12,386 Million Dollar Homes
6. New Jersey - 11,869 Million Dollar Homes
7. Texas - 10,137 Million Dollar Homes
8. Massachusetts - 10,090 Million Dollar Homes
9. Washington - 7,384 Million Dollar Homes
10. Michigan - 5,989 Million Dollar Homes

The bottom two states with the least amount of homes worth a million dollars or more are South Dakota and North Dakota with 129 and 51 homes respectively.

Amit Bhuta
Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 439-3031
www.DadeCountyMLS.com