It’s official. It’s hot out there. We high desert dwellers look forward to the evening when it cools off, and plan our days around avoiding the hottest hours. During the summer I get up at 5 AM and then observe the Mexican tradition of siesta. This is a good plan, unless some non-siesta-er makes the phone ring.
We who live here know about the heat and how to stay safe when it’s an oven outside, but what about our clients and guests?
I got a call this morning from some people wanting to go walk property. “Can we meet you at noon on the Hillside Drive parcels so that you can point out the corners?”
“Yeahhhh……No. Temperatures are getting to over 100 degrees by 10 AM, so I’m sorry, but until September I will only walk properties before 8 AM or after 7:00 PM. I will point at the corners from the road, but if you want to walk it will have to be either early or late.”
They had never thought about the heat. They don’t come from here, so what was second nature to me is something that never occurred to them.
What about the foreclosures and other vacant houses? Many of them are buttoned up tight with no cooling going, so walking into them is like opening your oven door when the biscuits are done.
We want to make a living, so we do end up showing property to people who don’t have a history with heat and dehydration. They don’t get that these human bodies of ours can start to shut down after just a few minutes in intense heat.
Since some of us don’t really understand, we need to watch out for each other. How do we do that?
We start by being aware, and by being smart.
The warning signs of possible trouble are: nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, headache, muscle cramps, and dizziness. Signs of BIG TROUBLE are: skin hot to the touch, flushing and redness, absence of sweating, rapid pulse, difficulty breathing, strange behavior, hallucinations, confusion, agitation, disorientation, seizure, and coma. (Well, great. Three quarters of the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion are behaviors that I see my clients exhibit every day when they’re considering buying or selling real estate. I guess we’ll have to rely on absence of sweating, right?)
If you see any of these signs in yourself or others, this is not the time to dither around making a judgment call. Dial 911 immediately. My son the paramedic explained to me something that I did not know. There is often no charge for an ambulance call. If you are taken care of by one of the municipalities’ or the County ambulances, the charge is paid by your tax dollars at work. (No, I’m not sure about Sedona.) It’s only if you get one of the private companies that the patient is responsible for paying. No matter - if there’s a possibility of a problem, get help and don’t haggle about which ambulance shows up. These things can go from “maybe I should be worried” to life-threatening very quickly, and for somebody to die or be damaged over an ambulance charge is ludicrous.
So how do we avoid this nice day in Arizona suddenly turning into one of the worst days of your life?
Always have a cooler in your vehicle filled with ice packs and lots of water. (I met a REALTOR® in Ehrenberg who handed out frozen washcloths – that was Heaven.) If somebody is in trouble you will need to cool them down while you wait for the medics. Get them into the A/C or shade immediately, and then slap some ice packs on the groin and armpits. (Snort. Every guy that read this just flinched. Maybe I should say “Gently place some ice packs………?”) Get their shirt wet and have somebody fan them. DO NOT dump a cooler of ice water over their heads – that could put them into shock. The key is tepid to cool water, not freezing cold water.
Dehydration is also big trouble, just as big as heat problems. The two often go hand in hand because if we don’t drink enough water then we don’t sweat and then we get too hot. ALWAYS bring plenty of water and make people drink it – they might not know to do so. (There’s that cooler again.) If you’re drinking beer or coffee or tea or some of the energy monster drinks, know that these do not qualify as liquids. Alcohol and caffeine are diuretics, which eliminate moisture from the body – these drinks add to the problem rather than alleviate it.
Since I’ve lived in this country all of my life, I have gotten overheated and I have been dehydrated. I knew when I was too hot because I felt, well, too hot. The mistake that I made was in thinking that if I ignored it it would go away. No, I should have dealt with it the second I realized, but I was stubborn (Mike had told me that it was stupid to take that hike.) and pretty soon I was in trouble. If you want to read the story it’s at
http://realestateaccordingtocarolanne.blogspot.com/2009/08/yesterday-was-mikes-and-my-6-th.html
I don’t know if it’s true or if it’s an old wive’s tale that if you get heatstroke once you’re more susceptible to it in the future. I am certainly more aware and reactive, but I don’t know if I’m more susceptible.
A doctor once told me that if you’re feeling even slightly thirsty you’re already in the first stage of dehydration. The day that I got dehydrated, at first I didn’t really know what was going on. I was taking my Broker classes in Phoenix during the summer, operating on the thinnest of shoestrings. I forgot my water bottle and didn’t want to pay a buck for water out of the vending machines, so I just sat there in class thirsty and thirstier. I felt suddenly very crappy, and it just kept getting worse. Now that I know what being dehydrated feels like I slam lots of water immediately. I always improve amazingly quickly.
Please, my friends. Be aware, be the voice of reason, be the bearer of water, and be the dialer to 911 if necessary. Let’s take care of each other and let’s be careful out there.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
What are some housing hot-buttons that can get your home sold, stat? Did you know that it helps to have a Trader Joe’s market nearby? There’s so much information on the web these days about how to stage a home and create compelling curb appea, that you might think you know all you need to on the subject. Just when you thought you’d mastered the matter, we thought we’d brief you on 5 more things that can get your home sold, some or all of which might never have occurred to you.
1. Your neighbors. Most homeowners contemplating selling their homes understand the importance of well-kept neighboring homes. Many a buyer has pulled up to an amazing house, viewed it, and left shaking their head with woe because they just can’t cotton to buying the place on account of the shoulder-high weeds, car in the yard or crumbling ruins of the house next door.
On the flip side, your neighbors themselves - not just the homes, but the people - can actually help sell your home. Many homeowners know people who want to live in their neck of the woods; this is one reason many seasoned real estate professionals hold their listings open to neighbors and send out postcards to neighbors announcing the listing - the neighbors might know people who are interested in your home! Also, neighbors who are out and about chatting with each other, laughing and playing with their kids, mowing their lawns or painting their fences, or even who just offer a smile and helpful area knowledge to the buyer-to-be they pass on the street can make a very favorable impression on prospective buyers.
It’s a good idea, if and when you decide to list your home for sale, to touch base with neighbors you know and let them know; it’s in their best interests to get good new neighbors, so they might be able to go the extra mile in showing the neighborhood’s biggest asset - themselves - off to its best advantage.
2. The right sights, smells and sounds. It’s no news flash that the view of a used car lot; stinky foods or animal smells; and the siren song of a fire station next door could be deal-killers. What might surprise is some of the right sights, smells and sounds that can help seal the sale of your home. My experience has been - agents, chime in here! - that the more natural beautiful sights, smells and sounds are, the more favorably they’ll be received by the largest population of prospective buyers.
For example, playing a soundtrack of classical musical is fine, but will cause some skeptical buyers to wonder what noises you might be trying to cover up - especially if you’re in a condo or other potentially thin-walled property where neighbor noise might be an issue. On the other hand, birdsong can be attractive to some buyers. Artificial air fresheners? Not so much. The scent of the jasmine or lavender that grows in your yard? Even allergy victims can appreciate that.
You might be desensitized to the amazing views of trees, mountains or even water outside your window, but pulling back the curtains so prospective buyers can see for themselves is an absolute must.
Home buying is a multi-sensory experience - visual staging of the property itself is no longer just a plus, it’s a must. Homes which create pleasant impressions that fire on all of a buyer’s sensory cylinders definitely have the edge on their competition.
3. Your dog. The New York Times ran a piece a few months ago about sweet, well-behaved dogs (and cats!) who reportedly helped sell their owners’ Manhattan apartments. In a departure from the conventional wisdom that dogs should be removed and every trace of their presence erased from the home during showings, the article featured several buyers and brokers attesting to their belief that the presence of a particular cat or dog “help[ed] sell a property by making the place seem warmer or more appealing.” And I’m sure you’ve all heard me tell the story of the San Diego buyer who fell in love with a tract home listed at a price higher than all the nearly identical comparables he’d seen and wanted to make a full-price offer immediately - so long as the deal included the dog!
Definitely consult with your agent before you decide to implement leaving your dog at home for showings as part of your plan. I’m a dog lover, and would be concerned that someone might inadvertently let one of “my girls” out, if I left them there while my house was being shown; as well, would-be buyers or their agents may have allergies your pet could set off. Lately, it seems like I’ve seen many brokers attempting to capture the best of both worlds by making sure that the family pet or even the broker’s own pet is captured in a charming tableau in 1 or 2 of the listing pictures, even if they’re not present at the home during showings.
4. Your happiness. Video and even written love letters that extoll all the virtues for which you love your neighbors, your neighborhood and your property are contagious to buyers. I’ve seen sellers help buyers see their homes through their own loving eyes by posting videos on YouTube and including the link on the listing flyer or even by putting a binder containing a letter plus menus and flyers from their favorite neighborhood restaurants, dry cleaners and other local merchants out on the counter during showings.
Wide-open curtains that let light stream in, light and bright paint and decor colors and other home features that science has proven make residents more happy and functional also create this thought process in a buyer’s mind: “Hmm, these people seem happy here. I could be, too.”
Similarly, indicators that you invested a lot of love in your home by keeping it in immaculate order and pristine condition, by tending a well-cared for kitchen garden, lovingly furnishing and making comfortable (if not overly customizing) your kids’ rooms, all create the feel that a home was happily lived in - it’s like staging your home with a life well-lived, not just paint and tile.
5. The freeway or subway you thought was too close. There is such a thing as a freeway or elevated train tracks being too close to your home; if your place rattles or roars, for example, every time the train passes, chances any buyer will view that as a selling point are pretty slim. However, homebuyer attitudes toward being located near freeways and subways or bus lines are a-changing. Every upward click of gas prices renders buyers a tiny bit more interested in a location that is more commutable.
Where yesteryear’s buyers were all about the posh exclusivity of far-out suburbia, today’s buyers are more interested in financial and ecological efficiency and convenience. I’ve never heard so many homebuyers looking to own homes that will allow them to ditch their cars entirely as I have in recent years!
What might once have been seen as too close to the freeway has gotten a new spin lately, as a highly convenient, commuter-friendly location.
1. Your neighbors. Most homeowners contemplating selling their homes understand the importance of well-kept neighboring homes. Many a buyer has pulled up to an amazing house, viewed it, and left shaking their head with woe because they just can’t cotton to buying the place on account of the shoulder-high weeds, car in the yard or crumbling ruins of the house next door.
On the flip side, your neighbors themselves - not just the homes, but the people - can actually help sell your home. Many homeowners know people who want to live in their neck of the woods; this is one reason many seasoned real estate professionals hold their listings open to neighbors and send out postcards to neighbors announcing the listing - the neighbors might know people who are interested in your home! Also, neighbors who are out and about chatting with each other, laughing and playing with their kids, mowing their lawns or painting their fences, or even who just offer a smile and helpful area knowledge to the buyer-to-be they pass on the street can make a very favorable impression on prospective buyers.
It’s a good idea, if and when you decide to list your home for sale, to touch base with neighbors you know and let them know; it’s in their best interests to get good new neighbors, so they might be able to go the extra mile in showing the neighborhood’s biggest asset - themselves - off to its best advantage.
2. The right sights, smells and sounds. It’s no news flash that the view of a used car lot; stinky foods or animal smells; and the siren song of a fire station next door could be deal-killers. What might surprise is some of the right sights, smells and sounds that can help seal the sale of your home. My experience has been - agents, chime in here! - that the more natural beautiful sights, smells and sounds are, the more favorably they’ll be received by the largest population of prospective buyers.
For example, playing a soundtrack of classical musical is fine, but will cause some skeptical buyers to wonder what noises you might be trying to cover up - especially if you’re in a condo or other potentially thin-walled property where neighbor noise might be an issue. On the other hand, birdsong can be attractive to some buyers. Artificial air fresheners? Not so much. The scent of the jasmine or lavender that grows in your yard? Even allergy victims can appreciate that.
You might be desensitized to the amazing views of trees, mountains or even water outside your window, but pulling back the curtains so prospective buyers can see for themselves is an absolute must.
Home buying is a multi-sensory experience - visual staging of the property itself is no longer just a plus, it’s a must. Homes which create pleasant impressions that fire on all of a buyer’s sensory cylinders definitely have the edge on their competition.
3. Your dog. The New York Times ran a piece a few months ago about sweet, well-behaved dogs (and cats!) who reportedly helped sell their owners’ Manhattan apartments. In a departure from the conventional wisdom that dogs should be removed and every trace of their presence erased from the home during showings, the article featured several buyers and brokers attesting to their belief that the presence of a particular cat or dog “help[ed] sell a property by making the place seem warmer or more appealing.” And I’m sure you’ve all heard me tell the story of the San Diego buyer who fell in love with a tract home listed at a price higher than all the nearly identical comparables he’d seen and wanted to make a full-price offer immediately - so long as the deal included the dog!
Definitely consult with your agent before you decide to implement leaving your dog at home for showings as part of your plan. I’m a dog lover, and would be concerned that someone might inadvertently let one of “my girls” out, if I left them there while my house was being shown; as well, would-be buyers or their agents may have allergies your pet could set off. Lately, it seems like I’ve seen many brokers attempting to capture the best of both worlds by making sure that the family pet or even the broker’s own pet is captured in a charming tableau in 1 or 2 of the listing pictures, even if they’re not present at the home during showings.
4. Your happiness. Video and even written love letters that extoll all the virtues for which you love your neighbors, your neighborhood and your property are contagious to buyers. I’ve seen sellers help buyers see their homes through their own loving eyes by posting videos on YouTube and including the link on the listing flyer or even by putting a binder containing a letter plus menus and flyers from their favorite neighborhood restaurants, dry cleaners and other local merchants out on the counter during showings.
Wide-open curtains that let light stream in, light and bright paint and decor colors and other home features that science has proven make residents more happy and functional also create this thought process in a buyer’s mind: “Hmm, these people seem happy here. I could be, too.”
Similarly, indicators that you invested a lot of love in your home by keeping it in immaculate order and pristine condition, by tending a well-cared for kitchen garden, lovingly furnishing and making comfortable (if not overly customizing) your kids’ rooms, all create the feel that a home was happily lived in - it’s like staging your home with a life well-lived, not just paint and tile.
5. The freeway or subway you thought was too close. There is such a thing as a freeway or elevated train tracks being too close to your home; if your place rattles or roars, for example, every time the train passes, chances any buyer will view that as a selling point are pretty slim. However, homebuyer attitudes toward being located near freeways and subways or bus lines are a-changing. Every upward click of gas prices renders buyers a tiny bit more interested in a location that is more commutable.
Where yesteryear’s buyers were all about the posh exclusivity of far-out suburbia, today’s buyers are more interested in financial and ecological efficiency and convenience. I’ve never heard so many homebuyers looking to own homes that will allow them to ditch their cars entirely as I have in recent years!
What might once have been seen as too close to the freeway has gotten a new spin lately, as a highly convenient, commuter-friendly location.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Have you heard the one about a homeowner foreclosing on a bank?
It happened in Florida, involving a North Carolina based bank.
Instead of Bank of America foreclosing on some poor Florida homeowner, the homeowners had sheriff's deputies foreclose on the bank.
It started five months ago when Bank of America filed foreclosure papers on the home of a couple.
The couple said they paid cash for the house.
The case went to court and the homeowners were able to prove they didn't owe Bank of America anything on the house. In fact, it was proven that the couple had never had a mortgage bill to pay to anyone.
After the hearing, Bank of America was ordered by the court to pay the homeowners' legal fees.
How did it end with bank being foreclosed on? More than 5 months after the judge's ruling, the bank still hadn't paid the legal fees. The homeowner's attorney did exactly what the bank tried to do to the homeowners. He seized the bank's assets.
"They've ignored our calls, ignored our letters, legally this is the next step to get my clients compensated, " attorney Todd Allen told CBS.
Sheriff's deputies, movers, and the Nyergers' attorney went to the bank and foreclosed on it. The attorney gave instructions to to remove desks, computers, copiers, filing cabinets and any cash in the teller's drawers.
After about an hour of being locked out of the bank, the bank manager handed the attorney a check for the legal fees.
"As a foreclosure defense attorney this is sweet justice" says Allen.
Allen says this is something that he sees often in court, banks making errors because they didn't investigate the foreclosure, and it becomes a lengthy and expensive battle for the homeowner.
It happened in Florida, involving a North Carolina based bank.
Instead of Bank of America foreclosing on some poor Florida homeowner, the homeowners had sheriff's deputies foreclose on the bank.
It started five months ago when Bank of America filed foreclosure papers on the home of a couple.
The couple said they paid cash for the house.
The case went to court and the homeowners were able to prove they didn't owe Bank of America anything on the house. In fact, it was proven that the couple had never had a mortgage bill to pay to anyone.
After the hearing, Bank of America was ordered by the court to pay the homeowners' legal fees.
How did it end with bank being foreclosed on? More than 5 months after the judge's ruling, the bank still hadn't paid the legal fees. The homeowner's attorney did exactly what the bank tried to do to the homeowners. He seized the bank's assets.
"They've ignored our calls, ignored our letters, legally this is the next step to get my clients compensated, " attorney Todd Allen told CBS.
Sheriff's deputies, movers, and the Nyergers' attorney went to the bank and foreclosed on it. The attorney gave instructions to to remove desks, computers, copiers, filing cabinets and any cash in the teller's drawers.
After about an hour of being locked out of the bank, the bank manager handed the attorney a check for the legal fees.
"As a foreclosure defense attorney this is sweet justice" says Allen.
Allen says this is something that he sees often in court, banks making errors because they didn't investigate the foreclosure, and it becomes a lengthy and expensive battle for the homeowner.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Things that REALTORS® wish that Sellers knew.
THINGS THAT REALTORS® WISH THAT SELLERS WERE ARE AWARE OF, COMING OUT OF THE GATE.
#1: If you want to sell your property the only way to do it is to price it correctly. Curb appeal is important, interior pleasantness is important, extras are important, the right REALTOR® is important, but none of these things matter if the price is inappropriately high.
Unless your property is income producing in some way, the only way to price it correctly is by looking at the current actives and the recent pending and sold listings in your market. The actives are your competition – you have to put your price in line with the lowest of that competition. The pendings and solds are what an appraiser will look at when they determine property value for your buyer’s loan. Depending where these come in, even if we get a buyer to offer an unrealistically high price the appraiser may have to shoot it down.
I’m sorry, but it does not seem to matter whether or not those comps are short sales or foreclosures – I wish that it did. They are still the comps and we can’t ignore them. You might get a tiny bit of leeway for the fact that you’re not selling a distressed house, but not much.
We can no longer price a property by adding up what you owe plus what you want to walk away with. We also can no longer add up how much money you have invested in the property over the years and assume that THIS is what it’s worth, either. It’s sad, but I think that the days when we could set prices based on what you have in the property or what you want to get out of the property are long gone
(I have a Jeep. I’ve had this Jeep for years – it’s a good Jeep and I like it. Today, though, maybe it’s time to get a smaller Jeep, or a Jeep that’s closer to my children, or just a Jeep that’s cheaper or involves less maintenance and overhead.
I paid market value for my Jeep in 2006 – it cost me $25,000. Even with depreciation I figure it must be worth $20,000. The catch is that somebody who is in the market for a Jeep like mine can go and buy a brand new one for $17,500. So why would they give ME $20,000? Well, they won’t.
If I’ve listed my Jeep with a Jeep broker, maybe I’ll get mad and blame the Jeep broker when nobody wants to pay me what I want, even though he has told me that my Jeep Blue Books out at $12,000. (But that can’t be! My Jeep has some really trick stuff! It’s lifted, and Brain the Mechanic who built her installed a blue button that he says is nitro and I am NEVER EVER to push the blue button. My Jeep is so special!
I know what I’ll do - I’ll get a new Jeep broker that will tell me what I want to hear and I’ll list it with him and my Jeep still won’t sell some more. I’ll keep switching brokers and I’ll stay frustrated and my Jeep will lose value every year and sooner or later I’ll finally sell it for less than I would have gotten if I’d been realistic in the first place.)
Are you thinking that this behavior of mine makes no sense? You’re right – it doesn’t. No matter whether we’re talking about Jeeps or houses, it’s all about supply and demand. Right now supply is greater than demand. You have to be competitive with your price.
#2: The extras that you have to offer (like a pool or landscaping or top of the line appliances) will help us to sell your property more quickly, but extra features do not automatically equal extra money in your pocket. Enjoy your extras greatly - they are for you, not for resale value. (Remember my tricked-out Jeep and the blue button, above.)
#3: Listen to your REALTOR®. We know this market, we know the neighborhoods, we know marketing. We know what the buyers are looking for right now, so the things that are important to you might not be what we talk about when we describe your property.
“The REALTOR® in Far Away says that you should blah blah blah………..to get it sold.” The next time I hear that one I’m going to scream.
Your Aunt May in Vermont might have some good ideas (or she might not), or those ideas might be applicable in Vermont, or 30 years ago. Trulia or HomeSmart might have some good ideas, too, but those ideas might not work in this market or with your particular property.
PLEASE don’t insist that I buy print ads. PLEASE don’t try to require that I hold an open house. I might do both of those things, but I probably won’t because I have not observed that those things have much of a return anymore.
Keep in mind that I don’t get paid until your property sells, which gives me great motivation to market it competently and correctly. I will listen to your ideas – 2 or 3 heads are always better than one, after all. Understand that I may not agree to implement all of your ideas. I will have good reasons why I’m not and will be happy to explain them.
#4: Commission is not one of the negotiable items in a sale. If you want a discount then hire a discount broker and accept the discount service. I’ll be happy to talk to you if and when you’re ready to get serious about selling.
#5: You must disclose. If you know something that could conceivably affect the price that a buyer will be willing to pay you must disclose it. (There are exceptions for murder, suicide, sex offenders in the neighborhood and HIV/AIDS, but you MUST sing out about everything else.) If you don’t disclose the buyer could sue you when they find the problem and the neighbors or the plumber says, “Oh, yeah. That thing was always bad.”
#6: Smell is important. Buyers might not realize it, but they form an instant and immediate opinion of a property based on that first whiff as we open the door. It’s primal and it’s powerful.
You know about smoking inside, you know about pet odors, you know about cleanliness. BUT did you know that foofoo spray (or plug-ins, or incense, or candles) can be just as bad, and sometimes even more off-putting than a musty smell? If you use perfumes or chemicals, environmentally sensitive buyers might not be able to go into your house. Bleach, Pine-Sol, Fantastico, Febreze, Glade, …………. Seriously - please don’t. Vinegar and baking soda work wonders, they smell good, and they won’t make anybody sick.
#7: Stuff. Different REALTORS® have different opinions about how you can best present the interior of your house. Some of us say “Make it look like a model home! Make it sterile! I want no more than 2 motel pictures on each wall!” Others say, “It’s OK if it looks a little interesting – maybe people will stay a little longer and look a little harder.” We do all agree that too much stuff is detrimental.
Stuff that a buyer may find offensive is detrimental. (Nudes, Dia de Los Muertos art, paraphernalia, overtly religious imagery, Nazi or Confederate memorabilia, contraband, intimate machinery…… You get the point.)
We need some spaces that can seem like a blank canvas to a buyer. We need rooms that look as big as possible - too much stuff can make a room or a house seem small and claustrophobic. We need light and we need clean.
We need a buyer to be able to look at the property and imagine themselves living there.
#8: Please don’t leave valuables out in plain sight, especially pocketable valuables like jewelry and money and prescription drugs.
After a showing, please check your stuff and your locks and the garage door pull. Make sure that your home is still secure. Let your agent know if anything is awry.
#9: We need for you to leave while the house is being shown. The REALTOR® present knows these buyers and you don’t. We know what this person’s hot buttons are, and we know what to emphasize and what to downplay.
What happened one time was that the buyers were suspicious of the fact that a home was close to the river. They did not see this as an advantage at all – they had several small grandchildren, and they were very worried that the children might get away and get drowned. The seller showed up and started selling how close the river is, how unobstructed the access, what wonderful swimming holes, how he had made an easily traversable path to the deepest hole………. He went on and on and talked himself right out of a sale.
#10: After we put out the sign you may suddenly have scads of people driving by, and sooner or later one of these members of the public will knock on your door and ask to see the house. Gently hand them your agent’s business card and ask them to call and make an appointment. Please do not let unvetted strangers into your home.
I could continue all day, but it’s not necessary. Your REALTOR® is a professional. We’re highly trained, we know what we’re doing, we care, and we do a good job. Use your common sense when you hire your REALTOR® and then listen to us.
#1: If you want to sell your property the only way to do it is to price it correctly. Curb appeal is important, interior pleasantness is important, extras are important, the right REALTOR® is important, but none of these things matter if the price is inappropriately high.
Unless your property is income producing in some way, the only way to price it correctly is by looking at the current actives and the recent pending and sold listings in your market. The actives are your competition – you have to put your price in line with the lowest of that competition. The pendings and solds are what an appraiser will look at when they determine property value for your buyer’s loan. Depending where these come in, even if we get a buyer to offer an unrealistically high price the appraiser may have to shoot it down.
I’m sorry, but it does not seem to matter whether or not those comps are short sales or foreclosures – I wish that it did. They are still the comps and we can’t ignore them. You might get a tiny bit of leeway for the fact that you’re not selling a distressed house, but not much.
We can no longer price a property by adding up what you owe plus what you want to walk away with. We also can no longer add up how much money you have invested in the property over the years and assume that THIS is what it’s worth, either. It’s sad, but I think that the days when we could set prices based on what you have in the property or what you want to get out of the property are long gone
(I have a Jeep. I’ve had this Jeep for years – it’s a good Jeep and I like it. Today, though, maybe it’s time to get a smaller Jeep, or a Jeep that’s closer to my children, or just a Jeep that’s cheaper or involves less maintenance and overhead.
I paid market value for my Jeep in 2006 – it cost me $25,000. Even with depreciation I figure it must be worth $20,000. The catch is that somebody who is in the market for a Jeep like mine can go and buy a brand new one for $17,500. So why would they give ME $20,000? Well, they won’t.
If I’ve listed my Jeep with a Jeep broker, maybe I’ll get mad and blame the Jeep broker when nobody wants to pay me what I want, even though he has told me that my Jeep Blue Books out at $12,000. (But that can’t be! My Jeep has some really trick stuff! It’s lifted, and Brain the Mechanic who built her installed a blue button that he says is nitro and I am NEVER EVER to push the blue button. My Jeep is so special!
I know what I’ll do - I’ll get a new Jeep broker that will tell me what I want to hear and I’ll list it with him and my Jeep still won’t sell some more. I’ll keep switching brokers and I’ll stay frustrated and my Jeep will lose value every year and sooner or later I’ll finally sell it for less than I would have gotten if I’d been realistic in the first place.)
Are you thinking that this behavior of mine makes no sense? You’re right – it doesn’t. No matter whether we’re talking about Jeeps or houses, it’s all about supply and demand. Right now supply is greater than demand. You have to be competitive with your price.
#2: The extras that you have to offer (like a pool or landscaping or top of the line appliances) will help us to sell your property more quickly, but extra features do not automatically equal extra money in your pocket. Enjoy your extras greatly - they are for you, not for resale value. (Remember my tricked-out Jeep and the blue button, above.)
#3: Listen to your REALTOR®. We know this market, we know the neighborhoods, we know marketing. We know what the buyers are looking for right now, so the things that are important to you might not be what we talk about when we describe your property.
“The REALTOR® in Far Away says that you should blah blah blah………..to get it sold.” The next time I hear that one I’m going to scream.
Your Aunt May in Vermont might have some good ideas (or she might not), or those ideas might be applicable in Vermont, or 30 years ago. Trulia or HomeSmart might have some good ideas, too, but those ideas might not work in this market or with your particular property.
PLEASE don’t insist that I buy print ads. PLEASE don’t try to require that I hold an open house. I might do both of those things, but I probably won’t because I have not observed that those things have much of a return anymore.
Keep in mind that I don’t get paid until your property sells, which gives me great motivation to market it competently and correctly. I will listen to your ideas – 2 or 3 heads are always better than one, after all. Understand that I may not agree to implement all of your ideas. I will have good reasons why I’m not and will be happy to explain them.
#4: Commission is not one of the negotiable items in a sale. If you want a discount then hire a discount broker and accept the discount service. I’ll be happy to talk to you if and when you’re ready to get serious about selling.
#5: You must disclose. If you know something that could conceivably affect the price that a buyer will be willing to pay you must disclose it. (There are exceptions for murder, suicide, sex offenders in the neighborhood and HIV/AIDS, but you MUST sing out about everything else.) If you don’t disclose the buyer could sue you when they find the problem and the neighbors or the plumber says, “Oh, yeah. That thing was always bad.”
#6: Smell is important. Buyers might not realize it, but they form an instant and immediate opinion of a property based on that first whiff as we open the door. It’s primal and it’s powerful.
You know about smoking inside, you know about pet odors, you know about cleanliness. BUT did you know that foofoo spray (or plug-ins, or incense, or candles) can be just as bad, and sometimes even more off-putting than a musty smell? If you use perfumes or chemicals, environmentally sensitive buyers might not be able to go into your house. Bleach, Pine-Sol, Fantastico, Febreze, Glade, …………. Seriously - please don’t. Vinegar and baking soda work wonders, they smell good, and they won’t make anybody sick.
#7: Stuff. Different REALTORS® have different opinions about how you can best present the interior of your house. Some of us say “Make it look like a model home! Make it sterile! I want no more than 2 motel pictures on each wall!” Others say, “It’s OK if it looks a little interesting – maybe people will stay a little longer and look a little harder.” We do all agree that too much stuff is detrimental.
Stuff that a buyer may find offensive is detrimental. (Nudes, Dia de Los Muertos art, paraphernalia, overtly religious imagery, Nazi or Confederate memorabilia, contraband, intimate machinery…… You get the point.)
We need some spaces that can seem like a blank canvas to a buyer. We need rooms that look as big as possible - too much stuff can make a room or a house seem small and claustrophobic. We need light and we need clean.
We need a buyer to be able to look at the property and imagine themselves living there.
#8: Please don’t leave valuables out in plain sight, especially pocketable valuables like jewelry and money and prescription drugs.
After a showing, please check your stuff and your locks and the garage door pull. Make sure that your home is still secure. Let your agent know if anything is awry.
#9: We need for you to leave while the house is being shown. The REALTOR® present knows these buyers and you don’t. We know what this person’s hot buttons are, and we know what to emphasize and what to downplay.
What happened one time was that the buyers were suspicious of the fact that a home was close to the river. They did not see this as an advantage at all – they had several small grandchildren, and they were very worried that the children might get away and get drowned. The seller showed up and started selling how close the river is, how unobstructed the access, what wonderful swimming holes, how he had made an easily traversable path to the deepest hole………. He went on and on and talked himself right out of a sale.
#10: After we put out the sign you may suddenly have scads of people driving by, and sooner or later one of these members of the public will knock on your door and ask to see the house. Gently hand them your agent’s business card and ask them to call and make an appointment. Please do not let unvetted strangers into your home.
I could continue all day, but it’s not necessary. Your REALTOR® is a professional. We’re highly trained, we know what we’re doing, we care, and we do a good job. Use your common sense when you hire your REALTOR® and then listen to us.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Abraham Lincoln quote
"The problem with gathering your information from the internet is that there's no accountability. Take quotes, for instance; you can never be sure that the person who actually said it is who it's attributed to."
~Abraham Lincoln~
~Abraham Lincoln~
Monday, April 18, 2011
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To play your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave
He has forfeited freedom
Only a person who risks is free
Author Unknown
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental
To reach out for another is to risk involvement
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To play your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss
To love is to risk not being loved in return
To live is to risk dying
To hope is to risk despair
To try is to risk failure
But risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave
He has forfeited freedom
Only a person who risks is free
Author Unknown
Friday, April 15, 2011
THINGS THAT REALTORS® WISH THAT BUYERS KNEW UP FRONT 1: Buying real estate today is not like the last time you bought real estate, and not like when your parents bought real estate. The rules have changed. A majority of the reasonably priced inventory on the market today is either bank owned (a foreclosure) or a short sale (a property that we are trying to sell for less than the owner owes on it. We have to get the bank/lender’s permission to do this. This bank/lender does not often have a reliable system in place to deal with our request, which means that short sales can be frustrating, bizarre, and unpredictable.) Understand that the bank/seller or bank/current lender in these situations does not care whether or not you buy this property. If you step away they know that somebody else will step up. The old back-and-forth negotiation rules that we all know and love will probably lose you a deal or two. Listen to your REALTOR®’s advice – this is not their first rodeo. 2: All real estate agents are not the same. About half of the real estate agents out there are just that – people licensed by the State of Arizona to sell real estate. The other half are REALTORS®. REALTORS® are also licensed to sell real estate. The difference is that REALTORS® have joined the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the Arizona Association of REALTORS® (AAR), and a local REALTOR® Association. If you are reading this, it was given to you by a member of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® (SVVAR). A REALTOR® has sworn to abide by the NAR Code of Ethics. If they have not sworn to adhere to the Code of Ethics they will not be allowed to be a member of any of these organizations. You can read the NAR Code of Ethics at http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code Look for that big ®. It means that you are dealing with an ethical professional. It means that your REALTOR® is highly trained and regulated, and that you now have the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the REALTOR’S® Property Resource (RPR) at your disposal. 3: Zillow’s Zestimates (and their ilk) are not gospel. They’re usually not even very accurate. Zillow, Trulia, County Assessor’s property valuations – none of these tools are a reliable way to figure out what a particular property is worth. When you come to your REALTOR® and say “I want to offer the Zestimate price” you may or may not hear the gasp, but I’ll bet it was there. Zillow and the like are advertising sites, in the clever disguise of property valuation sites. Do you see those “Featured Partners” ads? Zillow makes money by selling those ad blocks, and they sell the ad blocks by getting people to come to Zillow hoping to get an insider’s scoop on property values. Your REALTOR® has something better. We can pull current, accurate, targeted valuations through MLS and RPR®, using the RPR REALTOR® Valuation Model. We know the neighborhoods and we know the properties. We can tell you what a property is worth and then we can prove it. 4: Your REALTOR® works on a commission basis. REALTORS® do not usually get a salary. We get paid when your deal closes. We spend thousands of dollars to get licensed and thousands more in dues and continuing education every year. Gas, vehicle maintenance, clothes, cards, paper, ink, computers, office, MLS fees, and SVVAR, AAR & NAR dues, all of this overhead is given to you on faith that you are real and are going to try to buy one of the properties that we show you. People who think “It’s fun to look, and a cheap way to spend a Sunday” with no intention of buying might as well just come into our homes and lift money from our wallets and take the food off of our tables. Also, expecting real estate agents to give up a piece of our commissions during the deal is not cool. Do you expect the barber to renegotiate the price of the haircut with you as he makes his last snip? 5: Buying real estate does not have to be a fight. Even though on paper this is an inherently adversarial process, in reality it doesn’t have to be. Some people say “Yeah, but they want to get the highest amount while I want to pay the least. Of course it’s adversarial!” I would counter with “You want to buy the property. They want you to buy the property. Your REALTOR® wants to help that to happen. Where’s the adversarial part?” Deals can get blown and relationships ruined by the attitude that we must squeeze the last drop of blood out of the “other side.” We must not leave even one smidgen of crumb on the table! Well, maybe you should leave that last crumb. Wouldn’t it be so much better after close of escrow if you felt comfortable calling up the seller and asking if they know why the trees are making that funny noise? 6. Your REALTOR® has the same fiduciary requirements to their clients that your attorney, priest, or doctor has. That’s right – a REALTOR®’s client can expect the same level of confidentiality from their REALTOR® as you expect from your priest. Our agency relationship with a client mandates: Confidentiality Accountability Reasonable Care and Due Diligence Loyalty Obedience to lawful requests Advocating and Good Advice Disclosure 7: How do I become a client instead of just a customer? Ask for, read and then sign the Buyer’s Broker employment form with your REALTOR®. If you don’t, all that you can legally expect is disclosure. 8: Yes, consensual dual agency is legal in Arizona. Your REALTOR® is legally allowed to be both yours and “the other side’s” REALTOR®, as long as everybody involved is aware of what it means and agrees and gives written permission for them to do so by signing the Consent to Limited Dual Agency form. What does signing this form mean to you? It means that the REALTOR® sort of sits on the fence in between both parties, refereeing. The reality is that sooner or later you will ask a question (How much will they really take for this property?) that your REALTOR® will answer with, “I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to answer that.” Rest assured that the other guy will get the same answer when he asks that same question (How much will they really pay?). 9. A REALTOR® in Arizona is allowed to write contracts. We’re very highly trained in contract writing, and this is part of the service. If you want to run anything by your attorney, feel free. You don’t have to, but you certainly can. If you have any question, ask your REALTOR®. They’ll be happy to explain until you’re satisfied.
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