Dear Ask George: "I sold my house in November 2004. I sold it on a seller financed note with a 30-month time limit. I am getting lots of mail from finance companies wanting me to sell my note to them. I am paying my mortgage and the buyer is paying monthly payments to me. Does the finance company pay the full amount of the note that I did with the buyer? What could happen to the buyer? Can I sell my note to one of those finance companies? If I do what could happen?" -- Cautious

Answer: Unless the note you took back from the purchaser was an interest-only, 30 month note, you won't get the face amount of the note from the finance company. Most likely, the finance company will calculate the present value of the remaining monthly payments at a higher interest rate than the stated rate on the note you took from your purchaser.

The finance company will then tender an offer that will be less than the total amount you would have received had you held the note for the entire 30 months. The best way to find out how much the finance companies will pay you to buy the note from you is to communicate with a few of them and ask.

As for whether or not you can sell the note, it depends upon whether or not the note contains any prohibitions against selling it. You must read the note to determine what it states. I would be very cautious about selling the note without consulting an attorney.

Let's assume you can sell the note. What happens to you and to the buyer depends upon the terms and conditions upon which you sell the note. The note "appears" to me that it might be a wrap-around mortgage. That is, the buyer acquires the property from you and makes monthly payments to you, but you have sold the property to the buyer "subject to" the existing first lien debt (hopefully with lender approval).

Therefore, you are continuing to make monthly payments to the lender. In order for this to work out for all parties you, the first lien holder, the buyer, and the finance company have to approve the amended financing arrangement. Consult an attorney who is familiar with this type of transaction.

Dear Ask George: "We just listed our home in Maryland three days ago. We cannot believe that our Realtor has not received one call yet to come and see it. We are just stunned by this. We thought we would have the phone ringing off the hook with people wanting to come and look at it.

The home is located between a cul-de-sac on one side and a golf course on the other and has very nice features. People keep telling me that potential buyers would love to move to this community. Is it possible we are priced too high? Is there something the Realtor should be doing such as placing signs along the road or highway because we are kind of not seen from the main road?" -- Stunned

Answer: My experience is that 3 days is not a long enough period of time, even in active seller markets, to begin second guessing your Realtor. Talk to your Realtor and ask him or her what he or she thinks might be the cause?

For example, are all the "PEA" factors in place (Price, Exposure, and Accessibility)? They include, but are not limited to, the following:

Price: For a home to sell in a timely manner ("timely" is defined as "approximately within the same number of days as comparable properties in comparable neighborhoods") you must set an asking price in line with other similar, comparable properties. That is called "pricing the home at market."

Now, here is a very important consideration about the price at which a home is placed on the market: It must be priced within a certain price-range agreed to by an objective expert at marketing residential properties in the market area from which your most probable buyers will come.

People who legally assist other people in buying and selling residential real estate, for a fee, are called real estate licensees. Realtors are all real estate licensees because that is one of the requirements for becoming a Realtor. However, all real estate licensees are not Realtors.

In addition, there is a vast difference between a Realtor who has just become licensed and one who has been assisting buyers and sellers for 5 years or even 10 or more years. The difference is experience.

So, if your Realtor is experienced -- or has guidance from a Broker or other licensee who has a successful track record (you should always ask for references when hiring a Realtor), you must then determine if he or she is objective.

It is a given fact that at least one of a pair of owners (the owner if a sole owner) thinks their home is "better," "much more attractive," and "much more desirable" than any of their neighbors' homes. That is because the current owner(s), out of the universe of homes that they had the financial wherewithal to purchase, chose that particular home!

The current owners are not objective nor do they qualify as experts at buying and selling homes even if they hold a real estate license. That is why brain surgeon's usually do not perform -- at least "not successfully," brain surgery on themselves and why a lawyer who represents himself is thought to have a fool for a client.

Here is a quiz relative to Price:

• Is your Realtor experienced (or have guidance from an experienced Broker or other licensee)?

• Is your Realtor objective?

• Did your Realtor perform a CMA (Competitive or Comparative Market Analysis) in which the Realtor recommended a Price that would most likely result in a timely sale given current market conditions? and,

• Did you Price your home at the price recommended by your Realtor?

Note: To pass this quiz you must be able to truthfully answer "yes" to all four questions.

Exposure: Exposure means you must let the entire market universe know about the availability of your home. The Multiple Listing Service ("MLS") is an excellent place from which to initiate the notice of your home's availability but only if it is priced at market.

The vast majority of the additional things Realtors do to obtain a reasonable offer from a potential buyer are the result of not pricing the home at market. But, the MLS is simply one tool in the arsenal.

Attractive, four-color Listing Sheets in the property, many digital photos in the listing, and a mail out campaign involving neighbors in the same neighborhood (20 on each side of the listed property and 40 across the street is usually the minimum in my market area in Houston, Texas) may be effective. Newspaper advertising is still a popular thing with sellers, but truth be known, newspaper ads are now considered to be over-rated by many experienced agents.

An experienced agent never stops thinking about how to advertise and promote the availability of the home to reach as close to 100 percent of the home's market universe as possible.

Accessibility: Can a prospective buyer through his or her Realtors, see your property at any reasonable time (7 days a week between 9:00 AM and 8:00 PM) without having to obtain an owner-verified appointment? The Listing firm should definitely be aware of and approve each viewing, and informing the owners and/or tenants that their property is scheduled for a viewing is definitely recommended when the property is occupied.

Lockboxes and/or combination boxes are used very successfully in marketing homes. However, I am constantly amazed at how many owners throw hurdles in the face of Realtors wanting to show the property so that in the event the client or customer wants to make an offer he or she can do so.

Dear Ask George: "One of our renters just informed us that after two months into a one year lease with us, they are breaking their lease to buy their own home. Is there any form of penalty that can be written into a lease to discourage this type of breach? We are in Colorado."

Answer: I would be doing you a disservice if I did not recommend that you hire a Colorado Realtor active in leasing in your area. The Realtor is experienced in many more aspects involved in leasing than just how to discourage a tenant from breaching the lease agreement. At the very least, you should contact several Realtor firms who handle leasing to find out what they charge. Also, ask these firms qualifying questions such as how long they've been offering property management services, to which property managers associations do they belong, and whether they can provide you with contact information from clients whom they have represented successfully.

However, if you are intent upon obtaining an answer to your question without using a Realtor, I suggest you obtain a downloadable lease or rental agreement form for use in Colorado from some outfit like NUPP Legal. There is an entire kit of lease forms that may or may not be required for $14.95, or the Lease only form for $8.95. There are also other forms suppliers such as Nolo.com, Lawguru.com, US Legal Forms, and others.

Dear Ask George: "I have my home listed on forsalebyowner.com (I am a former Texas real estate broker). I received an offer last week for $35,000 over my asking price of $235,000, from a real estate company (about a month ago I received a similar offer from an investor, but was uncomfortable about what he was trying to do). The highest price any home in my section (Windrose) has sold for is approx. $180,000. My home is the largest square footage of any home in my section.

My house will only appraise for between $195,000 and $210,000 (and $210k is pushing it!). The agent claims the buyer will be putting in a pool and wants me to write him back a check for the difference at closing. There is nothing in the contract that states anything about a pool. He is also asking that I pay all closing costs.

As a seller, I am thrilled to get an offer like this. I am very uncomfortable with the offer, though. It seems fraudulent to me. There is no way an honest, ethical appraiser would appraise my home at $235,000. Your thoughts on this please."

Answer: I agree with you. That sure sounds like fraud to me. Access the FBI's Financial Crimes Report to the Public, released May 2005. The Section on Mortgage Fraud, Pages D1-D12, lists typical fraud schemes and what to look out for. If you still believe fraud may be involved, "better safe than sorry!" Report it to the FBI, HUD, and/or the mortgage regulatory agency in your state.

To send us a question visit www.Ask-George.com and select the "Ask A Question" button. The answers to questions in this column do not contain legal advice. If you wish to obtain legal advice, you should consult your own attorney. George and Chuck are co-authors of Texas Real Estate Brokerage and Law of Agency, published by Thomson Publishing.

George Stephens, CRB is the Broker of ERA Stephens Properties. He is licensed as a mortgage broker in Texas, and a real estate broker in Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Charles J. Jacobus, JD is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Residential and Commercial Real Estate Law, and the author of Texas Real Estate Law, and Texas Real Estate, both published by Thomson Publishing. He also teaches at Champions School of Real Estate, Houston Community College, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

Published: June 28, 2005

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

George Stephens, CRB is the Broker of ERA Stephens Properties. He is licensed as a mortgage broker in Texas, and a real estate broker in Texas, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Charles J. Jacobus, JD is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Residential and Commercial Real Estate Law, and the author of Texas Real Estate Law, and Texas Real Estate, both published by Thomson Publishing. He also teaches at Champions School of Real Estate, Houston Community College, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. To send us a question visit AskGeorge.net and click the "Ask A Question" button. The answers to questions in this column do not contain legal advice. George and Chuck are co-authors of Texas Real Estate Brokerage and Law of Agency, published by Thomson Publishing. If you wish to obtain legal advice, you should consult your own attorney.