Frequently Asked Questions

Seller’s Agent

 A seller’s agent (or listing agent) works solely on behalf of the seller to promote the interests of the seller with good faith, loyalty and fidelity. The agent negotiates and acts as an advocate for the seller. The seller’s agent must disclose to potential buyers all adverse material facts actually known by the seller’s agent about the property. A separate written listing agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the seller. 

Buyer’s Agent

A buyer’s agent works solely on behalf of the buyer to promote the interests of the buyer with good faith, loyalty and fidelity. The agent negotiates and acts as an advocate for the buyer. The buyer’s agent must disclose to potential sellers all adverse material facts actually known by the buyer’s agent. A separate written buyer agency agreement is required which sets forth the duties and obligations of the broker and the buyer.

Transaction-broker

A transaction-broker assists the buyer or seller or both throughout a real estate transaction by performing terms of any written or oral agreement, fully informing the parties, presenting all offers and assisting the parties with any contracts, including the closing of the transaction without being an agent or advocate for any of the parties. A transaction-broker must use reasonable skill and care in the performance of any oral or written agreement, and must make the same disclosures as agents about all adverse material facts actually known by the transaction-broker concerning. No written agreement is required.

PLEASE CONTACT JO REESE FOR MORE INFORMATION

In most cases, Sellers pay for all of the Realtor’s commission fees to have their properties listed & sold. This commission amount can be discussed & agreed upon between Sellers & real estate agents. Commission rates are negotiable. Since Sellers pay for all commissions, I WORK FOR BUYERS FOR FREE. I will guide you from our first initial contact, through property research assistance, home inspections, appraisals, working with lenders & finally getting to the closing table to conclude a sales transaction. I am also available for all of my clients that I have worked with long after a sale has been concluded, for any questions or assistance, day or night. 

Please click these links to check out these detailed guides for Buyers & Sellers. If you have more questions, please call Jo Reese. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.

Please click to view our buyers guide!

Please click this link to view our sellers guide!

 You may ask for a FREE market analysis for any property anytime.  I would be more than happy to do this for you. I actually do take the time to really study the current markets & comparable properties so that you have the most amount of information for your decision making processes before you decide to sell your property. I can also help you find ways to get the most amount of money from your endeavor. 

Knowing these factors is critical whether you’re buying or selling. Most importantly, working with a LOCAL real estate agent is vital to getting the most up-to-date and accurate market information. Here’s just a few factors that may or may not affect pricing: interest rates, time of year, local sales trends, locations & conditions of properties. With so much to consider, this can be overwhelming. it’s important to consider everything together, not just something read on Zillow or how other real estate markets in other areas are doing. Mountain communities tend to establish their own real estate markets based upon consumer demands, independently of other outside influences.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but we can assist you by isolating data that applies specifically to you, your personal needs & objectives. We can help you weigh pros & cons in great details & show you the most recent sales information for your neighborhood or type of property. Should you wait until spring to sell? Should you sit on your investment a bit longer? How many buyers are looking for what you want to sell? We can have all these conversations. 

Of course, we all want to save money. Ask your local real estate agent to do a detailed market analysis for the property you want to buy, to make sure the asking price is justified. This is where it’s extremely important for your real estate agent to have first-hand knowledge of this area, so you may embark of contract negotiations to buy a property with knowledge AND confidence. Your agent should know the weakest features of most properties & play that to your advantage. There may be “cards” to play during home inspection periods, depending on the findings. There may be advantages to locking in an interest rate before submitting an offer on a property. Sometimes it’s helpful if there more than one way to finance a property & asking a local lender to explore this with you. Some lenders are offering Buy Back points to save you money on your monthly mortgage payment. 

This is a serious question & not answers apply to all buyers. This is something to discuss with your attorney, money manger, banker or lender. You may also discuss this with your local real estate agent & perhaps they can point you in the right directions to help you make this important decision. Can you spare the cash or would you like for it to be accessible & liquid? Do you have funds for emergencies? Are you buying a property that would be hard to resell in a hurry? 

This answer changes depending on interest rates & market trends. Get a quote from a local builder. Get a quote for a construction loan. Find out how long this project could take to complete. We do tend to have long construction periods due to high demands for our construction related professionals & workers. Ask around. Are you prepared to be on board throughout this project to oversee or be involved in onsite decisions that need to be made? In other words, do you have the patience to see this through? Do you understand what utilities are needed at specific locations & how they are obtained? Are there tap fees? Do you have city water or a well? Will you need a septic system or city sewer? Is there electricity available at that location? You may want to check HOA requirements & building department codes. As for move-in ready, does this house need work in the immediate or distant future? This may add up, depending on your desires or needs; worn flooring or worn roof, big difference. 

Whether you’re buying land or a house or a business, we have numerous local lender options available for all of your needs. Ask a lot of questions to be sure you understand your options or how much your monthly payments would be. 

Is there something you could do or fix to make more money on your property? Knowing your competition: how many properties are for sale that are similar to yours? Are they selling for more or less than what you’re hoping to get? Will you make enough to cover your loan balance? What are my out-of-pocket expenses to sell your property? Are there any open permits or liens on your property? If so, is it possible to “clean these up”? 

This is probably one of the most important reasons to work with a local real estate agent. Certain neighborhoods CAN bring in more money per square foot. Some neighborhoods might have better pricing but are still really nice places to live.  Some HOAs might be a little more relaxed or condusive to your needs. Can you do short-term rentals there? What about flood zones? Can you access this property all year? Are there any unadvertised “red flags” that you need to know about? Do school buses go there? Is there room to build on that vacant land? Can contractors get to it? 

The best way to determine property boundaries is having a survey in hand or having a survey done. You may or may not see boundary markers on properties whether they are for houses or vacant parcels. Deciding if these markers are accurate without a survey in hand can be speculatory at best. Seeing silver pins, aka monuments, could likely be more reliable than wooden stakes or piles of rocks but it is recommended that if you are in doubt to have a survey done.  However, living in rural mountain communities, we do encounter countless properties, (especially in Park County), with no surveys or pins, with undeveloped vacant land. We do, however, have various ways to find or mark these properties using county maps & other mapping tools. Most of these parcels are sold without surveys unless a previous owner was about to develop this land. I can teach you how to use these GIS maps is you’re a land buyer. 

I probably get asked this question the most. All counties & townships have their own criteria. Many counties will let you camp on public or private land for up to 14 days. Some require shorter time periods, some neighborhoods allow you to camp on your land much longer. Check with each jurisdiction on this or ask your real estate agent. They might actually know the answer. These camping rules usually apply to RVs, tiny homes or tents. Ranch of the Rockies in Hartsel, allows camping on your own land from April to November, which is probably the most relaxed neighborhood to camp in while you build your house. Yes, you may see campers all over the place in various counties but this does not mean that they are in compliance. When you purchase your own land it will be your responsibility to check the requirements for the appropriate jurisdiction.  

This question kind of tied into the camping question. While you may see properties online or first-hand that have yurts, sheds or other “dwelling type” structures, this does not mean that they are recognized as dwellings by the county. Some of these structures may have outhouses, cisterns or wood stoves & beds but they are not dwellings & may never become dwellings in most cases, no matter what you do or add to it. What does difference does this make? For starters, these do not qualify as houses for mortgages. Whether you’re paying cash or not, this could affect your ability to resell this property if you can only sell to cash buyers. Sometimes, “improved” vacant land can be financed but it might be harder to get a loan than if this was true “vacant” land. You may wish to consider if it’s cheaper to add your own structure versus the increased cost of the improved land loan. Each county has different building codes but what they do have in common is requiring appropriate foundations, approved water source & sanitation systems, minimum insulation & snow load requirements. While there may be exceptions to all of this, ask the source, the county offices that govern that property. 

I love living off the grid. What does this mean? Does this simply mean having no HOA? Does this mean remote properties? Does this mean having alternative sources of power? Does this mean you can do whatever you want, with no governmental oversight? While this term can mean different things in different contexts, around here, off grid living is supplying your own water, septic system & power source. In order to build, many of our land parcels need wells or septics but some of them will need either generator, wind or solar power or a combination of these. At my ranch, I got my final inspection & Certificate of Occupancy with generator power but have added solar since then. Now I have 2 power sources in case one was to fail. I love living off the grid but it may not be for everyone. I do enjoy living in a remote location & the peacefulness & privacy this lifestyle offers me. 

If you’re in a more populated area, you may be able to pay a tap fee to obtain water, sewer or electricity more easily. There ARE fees to get this brought to your properties, including taps fees. Depending on the location, I can tell you how much these fees would be. When properties are more remote, we have a few neighborhoods that have community water or sewer systems. Outside of that, you have the rest of the mountain county properties that have no water or sewer options but may or may not be near electricity. When I first moved here 39 years ago, this seemed so surprising but now I realize how normal this way of life is. I’ve learned to appreciate having delicious spring water right out of my tap.