Welcome to Chapin Real Estate Blog

There is a story of a real estate agent's prayer: "Dear Lord, if I can't be someone's first love, or second wife, at least, please let me be their third REALTOR®."  In a normal market with a balanced supply of sellers and buyers, this describes the preference that it might be better to be the third listing agent to help the seller after they became more realistic about their list price. In today's market, it might have more to do with buyers because of the increased competition, their chance of having an accepted offer is greatly reduced and it is only after they have lost several that they become more aggressive in the negotiations. Competition for homes being sold has greatly increased over the previous two years, according to a recent REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey from NAR.   In April of 2021, there were nearly five offers for every home sold which increased from two offers in 2019 and 2020. Utah reported the highest number of offers per home sold...

Looking for a simple way to determine if a rental property will give you the rate of return you want?   This modified annual property operating data may be just what you've been looking for. There are many different rates of return that investor's consider to determine whether a property will generate the yield that they expect.   Sometimes the simplest of calculations can tell you whether you want it or not and if you get the other things like tax advantages and appreciation, it just makes it that much better. The first yield we will look at is commonly called the Cash-on-Cash rate of return.   It is calculated by dividing the initial investment, usually down payment and closing costs, into the Cash Flow Before Tax. To arrive at Net Operating Income, it is simply taking the gross scheduled income, less vacancy allowance and all operating expenses.   From that is deducted the annual debt service which is the principal and interest payment times twelve.   T...

Most homeowners have insurance on their home that additionally, gives them coverage on their personal property.   That is the first level of peace of mind to know that it is available to you if there is an unfortunate need for it from a burglary, fire, or some other insured circumstance. Personal property is handled slightly different than real property.   The claims adjustor could start by asking you for a list of the things lost.   You are allowed to reconstruct it but there is a distinct possibility that you'll forget things, sometimes for months or years after the claim was settled. An interesting exercise would be for you to visualize two rooms, possibly, the kitchen and main living area.   Without being in the room, create a list of all the personal items in plain sight and those in the closets and cabinets.   When you're through with the list, go into each room to check to see what kind of things were not on your list and what the value of those items...

Some homeowners feel like they may as well throw a dart against the wall to decide whether to move or not.   Other people might invoke a process attributed to Benjamin Franklin.   Supposedly, to evaluate the options and bring clarity to the choice, this American founding father would list all the reasons for and against the decision on a sheet of paper.   After reducing it to writing, the choice would appear either by obvious majority or practicality. Buying a home is an emotional decision but selling a home can be also.   Separating the rationale from the emotion can make decisions seem obvious but they may still not be crystal clear. There is an inventory shortage that caused prices to rise and market time to shorten.   In many active markets there is less than 30-days' supply of homes for sale which is half of what was available a year ago.   This will make it easier to sell and maximize the proceeds from your current home. 69% of economists who pa...

In cooking, "mise en place" describes having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, as well as bowls, utensils and pans ready to use before you begin cooking.   The advantage is to inventory the ingredients and recognize if you have everything you need.   You are less likely to leave out an ingredient or step because it is "set up" and ready to use. The same technique works well in the homebuying process, especially in today's highly competitive environment where multiple offers are normal and bidding wars are commonplace. Check your credit ... not only does credit determine if you will get a mortgage, but it will also determine the interest rate you'll pay.   The best rates are for the borrowers with the best credit; lower credit scores mean higher rates because of additional risk to the lender.   Free copies are available from all three major credit bureaus at www.AnnualCreditReport.com . Determine your budget ... knowing your ...

With mortgage rates below 4% since May 2019, you would think that most people would have already refinanced but according to a recent Lending Tree survey, 49% of homeowners say they are considering a mortgage refinance in the next year.  The report estimated that over a third of homeowners are have mortgages above 4% and 11% didn't know what their rate was. Slightly more than a third of the people surveyed regretted missing the opportunity to refinance in 2020 when rates did hit their historical low.   Homeowners should not beat themselves up on this issue because the only way to know to tell that it hit bottom is after it has started going up again.   The current rates are very favorable to borrowers and some economists believe that when inflation is factored in, the rates are close to zero effectively. While there are nine specific reasons people choose to refinance their homes, two are among the most prevalent: to lower the payment or take cash out of the equit...

With at least 40% less homes on the market currently than there were a year ago, serious buyers have probably experienced the disappointment of losing a home they wanted to buy from increased competition.   Today's buyers are looking for ways to improve their odds of being the best contract without having to use the purchase price as their only tool. Buyers should reconsider, rethink, and re-evaluate their "must have" features and amenities.   It is probably unrealistic in a normal market to think you can have the perfect home at the price you want but in today's market it is less possible.   List the things you must have and the things you would like to have and prioritize them.   Try to identify the critical from the convenient. The next step is to put together your "home" team.   You are the captain of this process, but it is essential to have a strong first officer and that is your real estate agent.   This professional will oversee the process, adv...