Mechanic's Liens - Avoiding the seller nightmare!

Have you ever heardof a Mechanic's Lien?...If you haven't, let me enlighten you-  a Mechanic's Lien (sometimes called a Construction Lien) is a security interest taken in a property by contractors or other workers who have not been paid for their work. This type of lien can apply to anyone who has provided work, improvements, construction, materials  or goods to real property. To be technical, the minimum amount is $10.00, however paltry that may sound to you. A Mechanic's Lien against your property will preclude you from selling your home until the amount is satisfied, and it will have to be recorded in Town Hall as public notice, just as the lien was.

To reiterate, a Mechanics Lien  can be placed upon your property by ANYONE that performs work on your property and has a claim against you for non-payment . If you have sold your home before, you might recall that your attorney always asks you if anyone has performed work on the property in the last 90 days.  It may seem like an odd question, but your attorney asks you that for a reason. If you have had work done within the past 90 days, and have not paid for the work performed, there is a chance that a Mechanics Lien can be filed against your property. The reason for this seemingly innocent question is that any lien statement must be filed no later than 90 days after the supplies are delivered or the last day that work has been performed.

The work must be agreed to by the owner of the property and can occur on the building, in the structure itself,  or within the confines of the property owned. Besides the fact that the buyer will be unable to obtain Title Insurance for the bank, they may not be able to obtain the loan for your property because Title Insurance is required by the bank for a mortgage. This will cause an absolute mess at the closing table if that happens- if it doesn't ruin the sale altogether.

A few things that are VERY IMPORTANT to know:

• Check your contractor out thoroughly before hiring him/her. If your contractor has a history of non-payment, I would be wary. You can always ask if he has ever been involved in any type of Lawsuit. It's a basic question and the only people that would be offended by that are people that have. So do yourself a big favor, and ask. There are ways to find this out as well without asking, and you can always contact me to look up records if you wish- it only takes a few minutes, and is well worth the effort. 
• Also important to know: If your contractor does not pay the supplier for goods used in the work at your home, and the supplier is aware of your address for those materials, the supplier can even file against you. If there are sub-contractors involved, they can also file against you, if the contractor has not paid them.
• Make sure you have a contract for work to be performed with a stated cost, and get a receipt for your payment. 
• The contractor filing the lien has up to one year to file a foreclosure notice on your property to get paid. Contact an attorney and handle this NOW.
• If a Mechanics Lien is filed against your property, contact an attorney NOW. Even if you are not selling your property at this very minute, contact an attorney now.

If you have any legal questions about Mechanics Liens, contact your attorney. This article is not intended to give legal advice.

Should a home seller even respond a verbal offer?

In our part of southwestern Connecticut, verbal offers are not considered bona-fide  offers, but that isn't necessarily true  in all parts of the state, or the country for that matter. Generally speaking, if a buyers agent presents a verbal offer to your agent for your home, and the buyer couldn't even take 15 minutes to write up an offer, I wouldn't hold too much stock in that offer. BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS....

I do want to stress that if your agent receives an offer on your home, whether it's verbal or written, it must be presented to you. As for buyers reading this article, you should know that all offers are to be presented to the seller  up until the time of closing, and the fact that you have a fully executed contract on a property does not diminish the listing agent's responsibility to present those offers, unless the seller has specifically requested in writing that they do not wish to see any other bids.

When to respond to a verbal offer: If and when your agent calls you with a verbal offer on your home, it is always your decision as to whether you will respond. Sometimes, the buyer's offer has an odd contingency and the buyers agent might feel that if you won't even consider that offer, that it is not worth anyone's  time to put anything formal in writing.  It could be that the buyer is out of town and want to move forward and that buyer just can't get together with his/her agent to put an offer in writing. Let your agent be your guide- I can assure you that most listing agents will request that the offer be in writing before presenting anything to you- bu there are extenuating circumstances.


When NOT to respond to a verbal offer: Again, let your agent be your guide. I would tell you to consider  not responding to a  verbal lowball offer . That buyer has nothing to lose, not even 15 minutes worth of his time to write up an offer. If they are truly interested, the psychological benefits of making a bona-fide offer, along with a deposit check can only help to make that buyer come up to a a reasonable price. If the buyer has not even seen your home, and is purchasing your home for speculation purposes, let him put something in writing.

In some areas, verbal offers are not so frowned upon- ask your agent at the time you authorize your listing contract how verbal offers will be handled.

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You are the seller, YOU are the boss! Your Realtor should listen to you!

I recently spoke with a homeowner who had experienced some difficulty in getting his agent to listen to his concerns, and having that agent do something about it. I truly feel badly for that homeseller, who in his case, was a very well educated man, had great business acumen, and had some very appropiate ideas that his agent did not seem to want to listen to, or implement.

Now honestly, that's not always the case. Some homeowners have some ideas that quite frankly, would not be in their own best interests, and it's up to the agent to explain to them that while they appreciate their ideas in order to effect a sale, that those suggestions would not be of benefit, and in some cases those ideas, if implemented could or would be detrimental to a sale.

What are some appropriate suggestions to give your agent?

Take new photos. After a certain period of time, or a season change, the main picture  for the house can look dated. This is not something that you hsould have to tell your agent, but if you need to, DO IT!

Look at your listing as it appears in the MLS and suggest changes if needed- I am convinced that most homesellers have never seen their listing, because if they had, they would change it immediately. An agent not inputting all of the information fields is sheer laziness on their part. (I'm sorry- I'm passionate about it) I would think that a few minutes to put room measurements in  the listing is no big deal. I always do it. That's only one example- schools are important too, especially if it's a sought after educational system.

Some buyers need certain rooms to be of a certain size, and if it's not  readily listed on th MLS data sheet, or available in any way, are not  inclined to see a house and waste their time for something that could only be a maybe. Sure, maybe a room size that is presented is going to turn off a buyer, but that would only be a showing that went nowhere anyway. My standard operating procedure is  that the seller signs off on the MLS sheet, and OK's it, as well as the brochure.

Open houses- well, that's a mixed bag. A few open houses in the right location can be a good thing. Be careful about overexposure to buyers who look every week to see what new listings there are. Agents have homeowners thinking that open houses sell a house. Agents get leads from open houses, and it is a well known statistic that less than 3% of all homes sell at public open houses. You don't want a buyer thinking, "Oh, that house is STILL available!"

If you have had any offers in the recent past, go back to those buyers and see why they didn't follow through on the transaction, if you don't already know the answer and have done everything you could to effect a sale. Could it have been that their highest number was not what you countered at? If you knew what their highest number was, would you have accepted it, or would you accept it now? 

Is it because the floors need refinishing in one spot, or a carpet needs replacing and they couldn't be bothered? What if you addressed their objection after contingencies were all met, and prior to closing? Could that make a difference? You bet, so why not give it a shot? The worst that can happen is that the buyer says no. So go back to that buyer and find out! The answer could be quite simple, and you can have a sale because your agent was pro-active.  **Think outside the box**

A few years ago, brokers didn't have to try so hard to put a deal together. They came pretty easily.  That's not true nowadays. If you have a buyer, do what you can to hold on to them, and put a deal together- if your agent is not willing to go the extra mile for you, you shouldn't feel stuck. If you are unhappy, you can always request a change. Most agencies will abide by a clients request.

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Why is it important to review real estate market statistics?

Market statistics are a snapshot in time as to how the real estate market is performing. A stock broker diligently watches the market to spot trends, so he/she can advise you as to when the best time to buy a particular stock, and the best time to sell some of your existing stock. You should be able to consider your real estate agent as your trusted real estate advisor, much like how you trust your stockbroker to advise you when the time is right to buy or sell.  The single most important asset that your agent has, or should have, is continued knowledge of the overall market.

You may notice from my town blogs  that I research and publish weekly and monthly analyses and trends of the real estate market in Easton, Fairfield, Norwalk, Trumbull and Westport, besides giving useful tips and advice on the CT Home Blog. I research statistics on neighboring towns, and offer a quarterly report on each town biography page as well.

Unless you pay close attention to market trends,  the best time to buy or sell may not be very clear, and again, watching the real estate market is similar in more than a few ways to reviewing your investments on NASDAQ or the NYSE.  Remember, we only start at the town level, and different parts of town will have their own different real estate markets, and your home, or the home that you want to buy,  has its own individual "market", which can and will be different than even the exact same house next door, so your market is very specific.

Pricing your home to sell in any market, and purchasing a home at the right price comes right down to the details on the state of market, and how those details  positively or adversely affect the home's price. Getting the most out of the sale of your home, and getting the best price on your purchase is something I've got years of experience doing. Feel free to check out some client testimonials, and when you need  a real estate advisor that you can rely on for the most accurate and up to date information, plus the tip top negotiating skills you deserve, just contact me :)

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What determines a buyers market or a sellers market?

The average market time to sell a home dictates what type of market we are experiencing at any given time. Contrary to what you may think, the real estate market doesn't change dramatically overnight, and each town has its own specific historical market averages. Even subsets of inventory ranges, or areas within towns have their own specific historical averages. What may seem like slow sales in one town on a percentage of housing stock units, may actually be that particular town's average. It all depends on what you compare the statistics to, so it's important to have all of the proper information to get a true feel on the state of the market.

In my general service area of Southwestern Connecticut, average  market time as measured in days indicating a steady market is approximately  75-100 days, which favors neither buyers nor sellers. Anything less than that range moves increasingly over to a seller's market, and anything above that range  begins the shift into what we would consider a buyers market. So the rule of thumb is that the more average market time for a given town or city, the more likely that town or city is experiencing a buyers market. The less market time as measured in days it takes to sell a home constitutes a sellers market.

Bear in mind that each town has specfiic areas that seem to be immune to widely varying fluctuations in the market. Take a look at any of my weekly town reports published every Tuesday to get a general idea as to what type of market we are experiencing right now- You might be surprised!  ( Easton, Fairfield, Norwalk, Trumbull and Westport ) Other towns that I service have quarterly reports on their respective information pages on the left hand side bar of my site.