Although real estate agents often give their clients gifts at closing, it's also popular to give REALTORS® closing gifts.

Many readers have written to me asking for gift suggestions. They don't want to come across as ungrateful, especially if their agents have worked their tails off or sprinted that extra yard. But clients also want to appear thoughtful and give a gift that will be appreciated. So, what do you do?

Because it's not as though the agent hasn't earned a tidy little sum known as a commission for bringing the transaction to a successful close, which means the agent can buy herself or himself almost anything he or she desires. Moreover, some buyers and sellers might wonder if the REALTOR® even deserves a closing gift. Some don't. Realize that closing gifts from a client are never expected, and you're under no obligation to deliver a gift . . . read more about REALTOR® closing gifts.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub, click below:

• REALTORS® vs. Real Estate Agents
  
• Firing Your Agent
  
• What is Procuring Cause

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Buying a short sale is complicated enough, but it's even more tough when you're trying to buy a for sale by owner short sale.

A FSBO is an acronym for "For Sale by Owner," and it means the seller is unrepresented by an agent. If you, too, are unrepresented by an agent, winging this process on your own, the best advice anybody can give you is to hire a real estate lawyer. In fact, even if you are working with a real estate agent, you should obtain legal advice from a person licensed to give it to you, which is to say don't ask or rely on your agent for legal advice.

Moreover, bear in mind that the seller is probably not your friend. Your objectives likely oppose those of the seller's. A seller who is in foreclosure, for example, may be desperate for a sale, but that doesn't mean that a seller won't try to take advantage of you or later come back to sue you. Plus, there is absolutely no guarantee that the seller's lender will agree to accept less than the amount owed on the home . . . read more about For Sale By Owner Short Sale.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:

• Before You Buy a Short Sale
  
• Short Sale Basics
  
• Buying Distressed Homes in Default

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An agent in my office said he heard another brokerage on the radio in Sacramento advertising that its agents would write up to 10 offers a day for a buyer and swearing that multiple purchase offers were the only way a buyer had half a chance in our market.

It's a tough market in our area. We were one of the first areas in the country to get hit with declining prices, and we're one of the first on the rebound. Buyers are getting beat up pretty badly because it's a seller's market. We have limited inventory and more buyers than sellers for many entry-level homes. Compound that problem with the fact that short sales can take 3 months or longer before many banks will respond, and the agents who represent REO lenders may never respond, it's no wonder that buyers are feeling desperate.

Some buyers feel the only option available to them is to write multiple purchase offers and then jump on the first offer that gets accepted. But multiple purchase offers carry their own complex set of problems . . . read more about Multiple Purchase Offers.

More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:

• Competing With Other Multiple Offer Buyers
  
• Multiple Offers on the Same Listing
  
• Attracting Multiple Short Sale Offers

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Eureka. President Obama signed today the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit legislation approved yesterday by Congress.

The key provisions are:

• The $8,000 home buyer tax credit is extended to April 30th, 2010, with another 60-day extension for those home buyers who have entered into a purchase contract by April 30th, providing it closes by June 30, 2010.

• Buyers who are not first-time home buyers can apply to receive a tax credit of $6,500, providing these buyers have owned and occupied a principal residence for 5 out of the last 8 years.

• Income levels for those who buy a home on or after November 6, 2009 is raised to $125,000 for a single person and $225,000 for a couple, with phase-outs above those levels.

I wonder if some buyers will now cancel existing escrows because they felt pressured to buy before November 30th? Some buyers might have settled for a home they did not truly want or avoided trying to buy a short sale home based on the expected expiration date of November 30th . . . read more about the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit.

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