When Will Things Turn Around?

The real answer to that question is, of course, that no one knows. There are some positive signs out there, but it's too soon to say if they're a trend or a blip.

But based on a current client situation, I'd have to say it hasn't happened yet.

I'm working with a buyer client who's also a licensed agent in a neighboring jurisdiction. This client is buying a home with other family members and there's a lot of nervousness about the future of property values in this area.

Here's the thing. This is a licensed agent. Agents get that this is cyclical. They get that if you're planning on staying in your home for many years (which is the case here) you're highly unlikely to lose any money. And, yet... there's a tremendous amount of concern.

We'll know the market has turned around when the agents aren't worried about buying!

This proves it's easier to be dispassionate about any market when it's not your money involved!

Agent Dust Up

If you've been reading this blog lately you know that I've been writing reviews of homes and adding photographs at FranklyMLS.com.

It's been a great experience and it's been educational. I've never noticed exactly how much differently I look at a house when I put on my buyer's agent hat. But I'm very aware of that now.

Earlier this week, however, an issue came up and I think it's worth talking about. I reviewed a house that's been listed for sale. It had no interior photos and so I took those, as well as additional exterior photos.

These photos got me in trouble:

In my comments I said there appears to be a mold issue here.

The agent strenuously (VERY STRENUOUSLY) objected to both my mention of the world mold and my taking photographs and posting them.

One of her arguments was that I am not an expert on mold. That is entirely true. I'm also not a doctor, but if I see a bone sticking through your skin I'm going to tell you it's broken, even if I'm not allowed to diagnose!

She had someone interested in the house and they saw the photos and the comments and changed their mind. (Again, what are they doing calling the listing agent?!)

What I'd tell a potential buyer is that there appears there may be a mold issue here. We'll need to get the home inspector to take a closer look at this. From what we see here we can't tell what kind of mold, whether it's dead or alive, active or inactive. There are many, many kinds of mold, many of them not harmful to humans. If you truly love a house, this shouldn't be enough of a reason to make you automatically walk away.

As with pretty much any problem in a house, there's a fix. The question in each instance is: is the fix worth the time and/or money involved.

By the way, the offensive photos and comments have been removed. I have mixed feelings about that and I'll take that up in a future post.

Meanwhile, I'm off on vacation! This space will be quiet for the next week and a half. I hope you'll have having as much fun as I am!

The Buyer's MLS

Let's face it, the MLS is not always the buyers' friend. On short sales and foreclosures especially, but even on a substantial number of other listings, there are often no photos. Sometimes there will be one or you'll get the property with photos of only the exterior and the land.

That's a shame in many ways. Buyers want to see photos. With gas prices what they are, it's very helpful to be able to screen properties without having to drive to every one.

It's also a shame for the sellers, in all honesty. Buyers in most cases will simply bypass listings without photos. Photos of a place that doesn't look all that great are still almost always better than none. That's because buyers will usually assume even worse things in their imaginations if there are no photos. And, if what they'll see when they get there is likely to cause them not to buy it, why not eliminate them up front. Do you really want people tromping through your home who won't be interested in buying it?

So, a local real estate broker, Frank Borges Llosa, has taken matters into his own hands. There's a new MLS, that looks at the world from the buyer's point of view. The idea is to ask agents to photograph and comment on vacant homes. These comments and photos will be added to the MLS data that's already available.

It's a terrific idea and I've already begun contributing. I'll be selecting homes to work on based on several criteria. First, I'm interested in the property! Secondly, input from clients, customers and blog readers that they'd like me to check out a specific property. And, third, I'll start closer to home and work my way outwards. That means I'll start with listings in Culpeper, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties.

Let me know if you've got a property you'd like me to take a look at! And, continue to watch http://www.FranklyMLS.com for more updates.

It's a Great Time to Buy

I know! You think I drank the kool-aid, finally! Or, you're worried that my brain has finally shorted out! (Or, maybe THEY got to me!)

I assure you none of the above is true!

Ignore all the hype from the real estate industry about now being a great time to buy. That's not what this is about. It may or may not be a great time for any specific individual or family to buy any specific house!

But, historically, a buyer has never had more power than they do today! And, I believe that's news. That's a good news story that we should all be able to get behind.

With the internet-based tools available to buyers today, they've never had the opportunity to be more well-informed. They have access to tax records and GIS from localities. They have access to maps from Google that make map fanatics like me drool! There are places like Zillow where you can get a "Zestimate" which, although flawed, is still a pretty amazing development. There are new sites such as FranklyMLS.com that are marrying Wiki functionality with MLS capabilities.

There's even more information available to help you choose an agent, whether that's reading their blog or checking out their ratings on sites such as QSC.

In fact, the buyer has so many tools these days that I suspect a lot of them are suffering from data overload. Data without thoughtful analysis can be more of a burden than a help!

Still, the tools are amazing! Regardless what prices do in the local market, a real estate buyer anywhere in Virginia has never before had the opportunity to negotiate from a stronger position!

The End of Cathedral Ceilings

I've never wanted a house with those enormous ceilings. I love looking at them, but living in them and paying the utility bills to heat and cool them never made any sense to me.

According to the Wall Street Journal, I'm not alone. According to a recent article, between the added utility costs, wasted space and noise, these will soon be a remnant of the past.

If you're in the market to buy, this is one factor I'd keep in mind! What you buy now may determine whether you sell in the future! It will definitely determine how much you'll sell for and how quickly you'll sell.

Bad or No Info

OK, I'm annoyed.

Here's my problem. The data on the listings for short sales and bank foreclosures is so often wrong or just missing!

I understand completely that agents are generally making less money on these listings. And, it makes sense that you're not going to spend a lot of money advertising them. But surely some sense of professional pride should demand that you do a complete job of putting the basic listing information in the MLS.

I showed a condo in Culpeper that was listed as "Fee Simple" for form of ownership.

For those of you who don't know, basically condo ownership means that you own from the interior paint, inwards. So, you don't own the walls, roof, yard, etc. That's a big difference from a property where you have maintenance responsibilities for all of the above. It's a pretty big listing mistake.

Now, I'm annoyed because I looked stupid. I searched for condos in that community that were for sale and missed this one because it wasn't listed as a condo. I'm partially mad at myself for not thinking to broaden the search criteria under the assumption it had been listed incorrectly.

And, I hate, hate, hate looking stupid. I really hate being wrong!

There! I feel better now!

They Have Theirs; I Have Mine!

Congress is working on its plan to stimulate the real estate market. But no one ever said the wheels of government turn with alacrity! And, I've never been any good at all at waiting!

So, here's my own little real estate stimulus plan!

If you're looking to buy a home, I'm offering a buyer's rebate program that's good for any ratified contracts between now and May 31st.

If contract price is:	Rebate amount is:
Under $300,000-$400,000	$500
$401,000-$700,000	$750
$700,000 and above	$1,000

In addition, all buyers will receive a free home warranty.

If you're planning on selling your home, and you list with me between now and May 31st, I will pay for a home staging consultation and a home warranty.

If you'd like more information on either of these programs, give me a call at 800-851-1563 or e-mail me at Julie@JulieEmery.com

Cash Leverage

In the comments on a recent blog someone asked why someone who pays cash has more negotiating leverage. I answered briefly in response, but thought it made sense to cover it in more detail in a blog post.

There are several reasons you're in a stronger negotiating position if you're buying with cash.

First of all, many deals never make it to closing. Even when there's a ratified contract, that's no guarantee that the deal settles. And, over 95% of the time, deals that fall apart do so because of issues related to the buyer's financing.

If you can remove that concern for the sellers, they are likely to take a lower offer, trading price for the certainty of a closed sale.

Another factor is time. Typically right now it's about 30 days in most cases from ratified contract to settlement. The majority of that time is spent on items required by the lender. Some of those things include getting a survey, having the property appraised, verifying credit and employment for the buyers and sending the deal through underwriting. It's possible, these days, for most lenders to close much faster, say in two weeks. But in most cases if they buyers are getting a mortgage the settlement date is probably about 30 days out.

With cash, on the other hand, settlement can happen as quickly as the buyer wants. I've seen cash settlements in less than 48 hours. Mind you, I wouldn't recommend that. I think the buyer should still do a title search and a home inspection at the very least. But it does happen.

Most sellers prefer money in their pocket sooner rather than later!

And, lastly, along with buyers getting a mortgage come several related contingencies. Contracts that involve a lender typically include a contingency to make sure that the buyer can actually qualify for a mortgage. (Certainly not a sure thing these days!) There's an appraisal contingency. If the property doesn't appraise for at least the sales price, the deal may be dead. And, depending on the type of financing, there may be other contingencies and/or conditions that make a timely settlement more uncertain.

All in all, if I'm selling, I'll give a little on the price to get a cash buyer!

Auctions Come to Our Area

Up until now we really haven't seen the large auction house auctions of many foreclosed homes all at once. They've been happening pretty regularly in places like Florida and California. But in this area we'd see a home here or there that was auctioned, but not much in the way of large groups of homes. That appears about to change.

Tranzon is a Richmond, Virginia company that operates real estate auctions in a large number of states. And on March 6th local homes and land start to show up in a bigger way. There's an auction in Fairfax that includes homes and land in both Fauquier and Culpeper counties. If the inventory situation gets a lot worse, expect to see more of these. If, on the other hand, there's a significant market improvement this spring and summer, this could be a relatively rare event.

Auctions can bring good bargains. But if you go in unprepared you can also find yourself carried away by the bidding frenzy. You'll need to come prepared to pay $10K cash on the spot if you are the winning bid on a property. You'll need to plan on closing within 30 days with no opportunity for home inspections and no contingencies.

You also need to know that there is normally a buyer's premium that's added to the winning bid price, probably around 10% to pay the auction house. Make sure you've budgeted for that.

Most auctions companies do pay commissions to agents. And, it makes sense to have an agent help you do the homework to determine what comparables have sold for and what the property's potential is. Also note that in many cases, there are dates ahead of the auction when you can look at the property and get an better idea of what you'd be buying.

It's a different way to buy a house, but there can be advantages. Personally, I have to say I hope we're not going to see a lot of these events in 2008!

We Wrote An Offer. Now What?

Since buyers seem to be coming out of the woodwork these last few weeks, it seems like a good time to talk about that important moment when you've found the right house, wrote a great offer and now wait in suspended animation for something to happen!

So, what, exactly happens after you wave your good-byes to the real estate agent and walk out of their office? Here's how things typically proceed in our area.

First of all, in addition to the offer, you'll have written a check made out to the broker who is representing you. That check is called an earnest money deposit. That check stays with your agent until you have a ratified contract. At that point it will get deposited in an escrow account where it will remain at settlement.

Now the agent will fax or e-mail the offer to the listing agent. Your agent will then follow up by phone to make sure tha that the offer arrived and to find out when the offer will be presented to the sellers.

Since the offer states that "time is of the essence" the offer should be presented as soon as reasonably possible. Within 24 hours is usually workable. There may be special circumstances, especially now, with so many sellers having already vacated their homes. And, in some instances the presenting of the offer will take place via phone, fax and/or e-mail.

The sellers will decide to either accept your offer, counter your offer, or reject your offer. Let's assume they may want to sleep on it, but typically, you should have an answer within 24 to 48 hours.

If they accept your offer, then you're going to begin the process of executing that contract, proceeding to loan application, inspections, etc.

If they counter your offer the ball is back in your court again and you need to decide how to respond. Again, remember that "time is of the essence". It makes sense to have thought through likely counter offers when you write the original offer so that you can be prepared to make some quick decisions.

If they reject your offer, in my opinion, in this market, they don't really want to sell their home and shouldn't have it on the market. No matter how bad an offer is right now, sensible sellers will counter it. It's hard to negotiate without an offer on the table! And, no offer means no sale!

If they reject your offer with absolutely no negotiation you should keep looking!

Ultimately, hopefully, you end up with a ratified contract. A contract is ratified when every party to the contract has agreed to every provision, including all changes. At that point all the "i's" are dotted and the "t's" are crossed.  It's now a legally binding document! Congratulations!

January Numbers

The January numbers are out and there's more good news to report. This is starting to feel and look like more than an anomaly. (Knock on wood!) But there are still danger signs as well. Let's talk about all of it.

Culpeper county continues to see inventories decline. Actually across the board we're seeing declines, but perhaps most significantly in Culpeper. This is the lowest we've seen inventory in a year. And, while closed sales were down in January, the number of contracts written more than doubled. A good sign going forward. Given how busy I am with both buyers and sellers the past couple of weeks, I believe we'll see an increase in contracts again in January.

Here's the bad news; new listing jumped back up. New listings in December were 91. New listings last month were 161. Year over year, we're holding steady. In January of '07 we saw 165 new listings. Expect that number to increase again in February. Again, my personal experience with new listings coming up would seem to confirm that.

In Fauquier we saw many of the same trends, but dialed down. Inventory decreased very slightly, from 703 to 699. Inventory still remains above where we were a year ago. As in Culpeper, sales were down, contracts were up. New listings jumped significantly. By the way, this is not unusual. Especially in a tough market, it makes a lot of sense to beat your competition to market. And the spring will likely see a flood of new inventory.

In Prince William all the above trends hold with no significant differences.

Warren County is clearly still struggling. Inventory is down only slightly. New listings increased almost threefold and while new contracts increased, it was not by much. 

Rappahannock County seems to be looking a little more anemic right now. But the volumes are so tiny in Rappahannock that you'd be in sane to try and determine trends from such scanty data. There were no new contracts written and only one sale last month. Inventory decreased very slightly and the number of new listings doubled from the month before.  It'll be interesting to see how the spring market unfolds here.

So, let's see what the increased activity I'm seeing now does to these numbers next month!

Settlement Dates

I've been asked several questions lately about what the normal length of time for a settlement is. It seemed like a good premise for a blog post.

The average time in this area between a ratified contract and a settlement is 30 days. In reality, banks and settlement companies rarely need this much time any more to get everything done. The shortest time I've seen for a settlement where there's a mortgage is 8 days. I've seen a cash deal done within 24 hours.

The lender is generally the one who needs that long to get everything pulled together. In most cases there's an appraisal that needs to get done and everything has to go through underwriting.

From a negotiations stand point, most sellers want the earliest possible settlement date. Even if you need to stay in the house a little longer, it's a good idea to get the deal done and get the money in your pocket. Every day settlement hasn't yet happened is a day that the buyer could change their mind. If you're a seller and you want to stay longer, my advice is almost always to rent from the new owners for a few days.

From the buyer's perspective there's no easy answer to what they're looking for in terms of settlement date. Some have already sold a house and need a place to live ASAP. Some are trying to schedule around things like the arrival of a new baby. Once and awhile you'll have first time home buyers who need to wait until their lease is up.

The settlement date is one part of the larger negotiation of the contract. Since the seller usually wants an early settlement date, the buyer may need to be prepared to compromise on something else in order to move it back.

With the settlement date or any other element in the contract, generally both sides can find a way to make it work if they want to. It helps to keep your eye on the big picture!

HOA Blogs

I had lunch with a friend this week and she was telling me about the blog about her community. There are some issues that have come up in the association including major repairs needed that will result in large assessments to homeowners.

The blog has this information as well as much speculation and much complaining. The HOA management is very upset about the negative publicity for the community. Their feeling is that potential buyers are reading these blogs and that it's discouraging sales in the community. I suspect they're right on that front.

This raises several points. First of all, I doubt the HOA has any recourse or any way to shut down the blog or all the people posting to it. Their concerns are valid but, as we said at home, that horse is out of the barn. What they should consider is their own official blog with actual information to help discourage speculation. They should also do their best to resolve issues quickly as that will be the best way to prevent this kind of uproar.

If you're a buyer it makes a lot of sense for you to Googe any community that you're considering. There may be a blog, official or otherwise. There may be a web page, official or otherwise. Either way you're likely to learn things you might not have known otherwise. But, also understand that anything unofficial may also be unreliable. If anything you see there raises concerns work with your real estate agent to get the real story.

And, lastly, everyone should have figured out by now that it's tough to keep a secret these days. If there are problems with your community they are likely to show up sooner or later on the internet. And, savvy buyers are going to be looking. Disclose known problems up front. What you really don't want is a deal that blows up at the settlement table!

Does your community have an official blog or web site? How about unofficial? If you're a buyer is this a tool you're using in your search for a home?

A Primer on Wells

Don't Try This At Home

I ran across an ad for rental property in a Front Royal paper this past week.

The ad states:

"Rent to Own - Problem Credit OK - Earn Rent Credits"

Then it asks "Why should you rent to own?"

And it answers:

• It's fast and easy (move in days)
• You don't need a 20% down payment
• No bank qualifying
• You don't need good credit
• No fees, commissions or closing costs
• Earn Equity faster than purchasing

Some of these points are clearly true. Renting is faster than buying, generally. A bank is generally not involved is another true statement. And, no one asks for 20% of the purchase price up front for a rental. (But how many people put 20% down on a home these days?!)

The "don't need good credit" is disturbing. If you're a seller and can't sell so decide to go the rent to own route, you're setting yourself up for serious problems down the road if you don't care about the renters credit. And, if there is a credit check and people with low credit scores are turned away this is very misleading.

"No fees, commissions or closing costs" is another misleading item. There may not be the closing costs associated with purchasing a home, but there is almost certainly a deposit. And some of the rental deposits can be very large, up to three months' rent.

The last one is laughable. "Earn Equity faster than purchasing" the ad says. With a rent to own situation typically some of your rent each month is going towards an eventual down payment. The ad says up to $400 in this instance. But depending on the house and the situation there's no automatic guarantee that you're earning equity faster. There are people getting great deals on short sales and foreclosures where they are getting thousands of dollars in immediate equity. And, each month when they make their mortgage payment their equity is increasing as well.

Of course, there are also plenty of people in this market whose equity is decreasing right now.

But the point is that whoever wrote the ad can't possibly guarantee anything with regards to equity.

If you're looking for a rent to own situation, be careful of ads like this. The actual property for rent may be a great one. The deal may be terrific. But you should be on full alert given the lack of honesty in the ad!

Good News Recession?

For some odd reason there seems to be a class of real estate pundits out there who believe that a potential recession is a good thing for the real estate market.

It's an odd line of thought. But I understand their logic. The belief is that if the economy continues to look like it's headed for recession the Fed will have no choice but to lower interest rates. Lower interest rates will get all those buyers who are currently sitting on the sidelines to jump in and buy a home. And, voila! the market improves.

There are some serious logical flaws in this argument. First of all, even with some data suggesting the possibility of recession, the Fed's in a tough spot. While they'd no doubt like to lower interest rates to bolster the economy, there are also plenty of worries about inflation. Oil hit $100/barrel this week. Rising oil prices impact the prices of almost everything in our economy. It's hard to see how continued high oil prices aren't inflationary. And, food prices are rising fairly rapidly. While this is not included in most official measurements of inflation, it is certainly something that will be watched by the Fed. So, maybe they cut interest rates. Maybe they hold steady. There's not enough data to provide an answer right now. And, the truth is you never know for sure until the Fed meets.

Secondly, as I've mentioned here before, a lowering of rates by the Fed is no guarantee of lower mortgage rates. Again, inflationary worries often have more of an impact on those rates.

Next, recessions are not good for real estate! People insecure about their financial prospects do not go buy new homes! If you're worried about losing your job you don't look to move up. You look to hold on to what you've got. Time to batten down the hatches!

And, lastly, there is no quick turn around for real estate. And, that's certainly true here locally. There are not enough buyers waiting on the sidelines to completely turn around this market in the short term. It took time for us to dig the hole we're in. It will take time to fill it back up! I'm hopeful we'll see a bottom in 2008. Anyone expecting much more than that has got some serious rose colored glasses!

Foreclosure Tax Consequences

We've talked about the tax consequences of the lender forgiving debt owed when a foreclosure is sold. That can have tax consequences for the homeowner. (Although Congress is at work on fixing that!)

But here's a new wrinkle for the buyer of foreclosure properties. If the owner of the foreclosed property had purchased it as an investment, and if he'd taken depreciation on the property, the new owner may be liable for repaying the IRS for that depreciation.

There are all kinds of problems with this but the first and most obvious one is, how is a buyer supposed to know what the original intention of the previous owner was and whether or not he viewed this as an investment and whether or not he claimed depreciation on his tax return? Who is responsible for making this information available to the purchaser? This is not information that is readily available to the general public. And, why should the purchaser be penalized for what the original owner did?

This all seems highly unreasonable to me. In most cases I can only assume that the first the purchaser would know about this would be when the letter from the IRS shows up in his mailbox. Recourse would seem to be pretty limited at that point.

What I can tell you is that if you're considering purchasing a foreclosure you ought to discuss this with a tax professional prior to putting a contract on the property. Remember that you are unlikely to have contingencies that will allow you to back out of a contract on a foreclosure. Do your due dilligence in advance or suffer the consequences!

Buyer beware clearly applies here!

House Styles

Cape Cod A symmetrical peaked roof often with dormer windows which creates a one-and-a-half story design with living space upstairs in an "expansion attic".
Colonial A two-story design with center hall or side entry, often with basement. Variations often feature double or single wings with garage. Numerous styles include New England, Federal, Plantation, Dutch colonial, Georgian, French Colonial.
Contemporary Modern and non-traditional creation of living spaces using a spectrum of shapes, materials, and designs. An "open" use of space is characteristic. May be single or multiple stories.
Rambler A single-story house with all living areas on same level. Variations include L-shape or U-shape plan, perhaps with basement. Sometime called "ranch"; if it is small, a "bungalow" or "cottage".
Split Foyer Entry is between floors. Makes use of slope by placing basement partially above ground level on uphill side, thus basement becomes livable space. Also called "split entry".
Split Level Side wing has two levels off main ground floor; designed for maximum living space while occupying the least land. Garage and sub-basement are frequent options.
Townhouse A row of two-or-three-story dwellings sharing common walls, also called "row-houses". Wide range of styles from contemporary to colonial. The term "semi-detached" describes a pair of townhouse end units; similar in function to a duplex.

Purpose of a Home Inspection

Every buyer should have a home inspection. I don't care whether you're buying a 200 year old house or new construction. And, I've never once heard a buyer say they thought they'd wasted the money.

But a home inspection is sometimes misused. There are two reasons for doing a home inspection.

The first one is to uncover any serious problems with the home before you own it. So, you want to know if the roof leaks or might soon. You want to know if there are cracks in the foundation. It would be a good idea to know if the heating and air conditioning systems are in good working order. And, as long as he's looking, your home inspector should definitely take time to point out where there are smaller issues. You need to know about them because this is the time to start making that list of all the things you will eventually want to work on.

The second purpose of a home inspection is so you know what you're buying and how it works. A good home inspector will not only look for problems. They will show you how everything works. They'll show you how to maintain your home. They'll even tell you where to watch for problems in the future and how to avoid them.

I occasionally see a home inspection used as an excuse to try and resolve every issue, big and small, in a house. I once saw someone ask for a lightbulb to be replaced! Go after the big things, big safety issues or items that compromise the integrity of the home. Go easy on the small stuff. If it's not a brand new house, don't expect a home inspection to help you make it new! Nitpicking can have a negative impact on the overall progress of a deal. Don't poison the atmosphere with minor issues. It could come back to haunt you when you need cooperation on something later on!

This is also not an excuse to renegotiate the price! I've seen buyers ask for huge credits to upgrade items that worked perfectly well and it was clearly an indication they weren't feeling comfortable with the purchase price.

The first house I ever bought the sellers left us a bottle of champagne and some goodies on the kitchen counter. That's a pretty good sign that it was a reasonable transaction for all parties!

Husband v Wife

Real estate transactions of all kinds can be stressful on a marriage. Whether you're buying, selling or building a house, it's an emotional time, often filled with all kinds of stress.

Let's talk a little bit about the stress of the home buying experience on a couple and ways of minimizing that stress.

One of the sources of stress is deciding how much you're willing to spend when you buy a house. It's not unusual to see one spouse dragging the other one kicking and screaming into a more expensive house than they feel comfortable with.

Sit down with a mortgage lender BEFORE you start looking at homes. It's much easier to make rational decisions about this before you fall in love with that house that definitely costs more than you meant to spend! How much you spend should have a lot more to do with what you earn and what your debts are than with which house you like! If you have that discussion (or argument!) before you start looking at homes that's one less bone of contention during the search process. And, if you make the decision for all the right reasons you'll both feel a lot better about it, even when temptation crosses your path later!

When you are ready to go house hunting, each of you should make a list, separately, of what you want in a house. Divide the lists into "must have" and "nice to have". Once your individual lists are made you can start comparing and, if necessary, negotiating. You may think you are on the same page and that your spouse wants exactly what you do. And, then you come across that house with the real movie theatre in the basement and the really ugly kitchen and the fight is on! There are always surprises when couples do these lists. Better to have the surprises in advance and have time to work out reasonable compromises without the pressure of that house that you want to buy staring you in the face.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any magic bullet that makes home buying stress disappear. But these tips might save you an argument or two and make the process more exciting and less stressful!