Sometimes, as real estate agents, we throw out acronyms expecting our clients to know what they mean. I am going to give you a quick go-to acronym-guide to real estate jargon. Laminate it, stick it in your wallet, so you have easy access to pull it out in case of emergency. Above all, get your mind out of the gutter. WTF does NOT mean what you think it means.
FSBO – Flub Shaped By Obtuseness…or as some call it, For Sale By Owner. Nothing good can come of this unless you have taken all the classes and passed all the tests that teach you all the rules and regulations when it comes to buying and selling a house. With the money you think you are saving by not using a realtor, you are losing on the selling price. "Consumers rely heavily on real estate agents, with 87 percent of home buyers using real estate agents last year, according to NAR's report. Sellers—90 percent of whom listed their homes in the MLS—placed high priority on the following five benefits of using a real estate professional: market the home to potential buyers (20 percent), price the home competitively (20 percent), sell the home within a specific time frame (19 percent), find a buyer for the home (14 percent), and help fix the home to sell better (14 percent). Sellers by far say the agent's reputation is the most important factor selecting an agent, at 31 percent. Sellers also placed a high value on the agent's trustworthiness and honesty (19 percent) and whether the agent was a friend or family member (15 percent)." (https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2018/11/12/fsbo-transactions-hit-new-record-low). Research has also shown that a real estate agent can sell the house for 20-35% more than an FSBO. You do the math. Then give me a call.
WTF - Want The Fridge? You naughty people! Where is your mind right now? WTF is a very important real estate acronym. A refrigerator is a great negotiating tool, and sometimes you might get a random WTF text. No worries, I want to know if you want the fridge.
BRB - Bonus Room, Baby! A bonus is always a bonus. When you are looking at houses and come across one with a bonus room, the possibilities are endless. Everyone wants a bonus room. You can make an extra living room, a large bedroom, a media room, or a room to stash the kids. Win-win for everyone!
HOA – Haughty Overbearing Aggregation…or as some would say: Homeowners Association. This is a group of people in a neighborhood community that has the sole purpose of parenting those who need parenting. Keep your area beautiful, and you will probably never know they even exist. Some people hate the HOA. These are the same people that are usually oblivious to others around them. The HOA truly keeps your house value up. Be happy people are nitpicking irresponsible homeowners.
ARV – After Repair Value. ARV is an estimated value of the house AFTER all the repairs have been made (typically on an investment property). This number is generally determined by an appraiser that looks at the list of repairs that are being done and then finds other properties in the neighborhood comparable, before deciding your ARV.
MAO – Maximum Allowable Offer. MAO is the amount you can pay for a property. Here we are talking about investment properties again. Remember the ARV? You need that number to figure out your MAO. You will take your ARV (after repair value), subtract fixed costs, subtract rehabilitation costs, subtract the profit you plan to make, and THAT equals your MOA.
RTO – Rent To Own. Sometimes, doing a rent-to-own is the best thing for your situation. It isn't the end of the world. It is an opportunity to get what you want when all other options might be too far out of your reach. You sign a rental agreement (lease) that gives an option to buy out at the end (usually three years). You will typically be paying rent, but then also a little extra that goes towards the down payment later.
BTW - Bring The Wife. We all know they make the decisions in the end anyway. "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. If Daddy ain't happy, who cares?" Bring the wife. When all else fails, she knows. She can sometimes see things you can't see. So when I text you to BTW, I mean bring the wife with you for the next showing. In the end, your goal is to make her happy. You can thank me later.
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Your Top DFW Realtor - Brenda Debus