Boca Raton Florida, Annette Failla-Phelps a Palm Beach County Florida Realtor has been awarded the prestigious Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation by the Council of Residential Specialists, the largest not-for-profit affiliate of the National Association of Realtors. Certified Residential Specialists are the top 4% of realtors nationwide.
Realtors who receive the CRS Designation have completed advanced courses and have demonstrated professional expertise in the field of residential real estate. Fewer than 38,000 Realtors nationwide have earned the credential.
Home buyers and sellers can be assured that CRS Designees subscribe to the strict Realtor code of ethics, have access to the latest technology and are specialists in helping clients maximize profits and minimize costs when buying or selling a home.
Annette Failla-Phelps is a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida She is a member of the Realtor Association of the Palm Beaches and actively participates in local charitable and civic organizations.
For further information and referrals from past clients please contact Annette at
You have valued clients who are moving to a city in another state. But you do not know a REALTOR® there.
How can you find another REALTOR® who cares for their best interests as much as you do? And who'll send you a referral fee promptly when the clients closes on a home?
It's easy when you look up CRS Designees, who live all across the country and in virtually every town in the United States. They number more than 39,000.
More important, they are pre-qualified for your clients. Because you know they have completed unparalleled training in both education and production to earn the CRS Designation.
Like you, they are consummate professionals. And you know your client is being cared for as if you were their REALTOR® in the new city and state.
You have valued clients who are moving to a city in another state. But you do not know a REALTOR® there.
How can you find another REALTOR® who cares for their best interests as much as you do? And who'll send you a referral fee promptly when the clients closes on a home?
It's easy when you look up CRS Designees, who live all across the country and in virtually every town in the United States. They number more than 39,000.
More important, they are pre-qualified for your clients. Because you know they have completed unparalleled training in both education and production to earn the CRS Designation.
Like you, they are consummate professionals. And you know your client is being cared for as if you were their REALTOR® in the new city and state.
Many sellers found themselves in a precarius position last year as they were unable to sell their homes as inventory levels increased and home sales continued to decline. As market behavior changed, sellers began to acquiese to necessary price decreases, but often not before weeks turned to months and market prices declined further. There's something about a market decline-everybody is affected. Real estate agents spend thousands of dollars on marketing and advertising and often lost their listings to other agents, home inspectors, insurance companies, title companies, and still others faced declining transaction volumes. What a mess! While the mortgage industry began to see an increase in refinance transactions, the companies faced an increasing number of consumers defaulting on their mortgage notes resulting in foreclosures. There is an increasing number of REO (bank-owned) property on the market.
Here are several reasons why homes don't sell...
The house is overpriced. Buyers ultimately determine the market value of a home. Overpricing is the primary reasons that homes don't sell. When the price is too high, buyers and their agents will put the house on the backburner especially if the price appears to be unreasonable. The evidence of this will be be few or no showings. The result-weeks maybe months on the market with no offers.
Poor showing condition. The next most common reason why a house may not move is when it doesn't show well. Quick tips: Eliminate or reduce clutter, clean everything and everywhere including floors and carpes-demonstrate pride of ownership, paint (professional vs amateur finishes), and make sure that everything is in working order. Your real estate agent or for more challenging jobs, a professional stager, can give you the best tips for preparing your home to show well.
Curb appeal. If the house looks ugly on the outside, they're going to keep going! Keep the grass cut and the hedges trimmed. Power wash the front stoop and the house if needed. Paint the trim work and repair any dry rot repairs. If it looks good outside, they'll definitely come inside!
Location. The price of the house may need to be adjusted up or down based on whether its location is desirable-a cul-de-sac is more desirable than a main street. A house that backs to trees is more desirable than one that backs to another house. What are the options in that community?
Market conditions. In a hot market with low inventory, everything will say. Buyers will make it work-they'll clean it, they'll repair it, they'll make it work. In a "cold" or buyer's market, everyone is offering incentives to entice buyers and builders may be "giving" away fully loaded spec homes to get their unit sold. Sellers are competing against new construction, vacant homes, and other homes on the market.
What now?
The good news is that sales activity is picking up as prices stabilize and sellers start to make some changes. The buyers are out there but they have been very skeptical about buying now vs waiting until the market "bottoms out."
Utilize the support of a good Realtor to get your home seen and sold. Real estate professionals know how best to operate in different market conditions. We also maintain an extensive network to other real estate agents and can market and communicate with them directly to get our properties in front of their buyers. We will show you how to best position your home for the best price and fastest sale despite the market conditions.
"Hi Melina. My wife and I looked at a house that was perfect for us, but the family room didn't have a city permit. What's the risk of not having a permit?"
***ANSWER: Four factors determine how concerned you should be about un-permitted work:
1. Significance 2. Workmanship & Code Compliance 3. Effect on resale 4. Possible future requirement to permit or remove
1. Significance If we're talking about an un-permitted patio cover or professionally done kitchen remodel, I wouldn't sweat it. Few people pull permits for them. But a family room addition or extensive electrical work is more significant and cause for concern.
2. Workmanship & Code Compliance Like any home you buy, hire a professional home inspector. Ask him or her to look extra hard at un-permitted additions. Many are built fine, but others are weekend projects by unskilled homeowners. If well-built but not code-compliant, you could still face problems in #4 below.
3. Effect on Resale If you know about it, you must disclose un-permitted work when you sell. There's no guideline, but my rough rule of thumb is: if it's well-built, an un-permitted room is worth 50% of a permitted room. Obviously, that means it should have a likewise impact on what you'll pay right now.
4. Possible Future Requirement to Permit or Remove The city rarely hears about un-permitted additions unless a neighbor complains or a city inspector notices it (typically that happens when checking other work you ARE permitting). Once aware, they'll make you remove or permit the work. Permitting means you'll pay penalties (I know YOU didn't build it, but the city doesn't care) and bring it up to current code, which could be easy or costly.
...After reading what I just wrote, you could accuse me of being a bit (?) wordy, so let me simplify:
When buying...
1. Don't sweat minor un-permitted items (provided #2 is OK)
2. Decrease your offer by appx 50% of the added value of an un-permitted room
3. Have it inspected. If poorly built, ask the seller to credit you the cost of bringing it up to standard
You've got a high speed Internet connection, your own car, and a brain right? So why bother with real estate agents? Nobody's really interested in a "hard sell" these days...
...Including me, the Realtor.
Still, you should know what you're in for when you casually stroll into an open house or sales center without your own agent. You're utterly unrepresented, and here's what that can mean:
1) You're vulnerable to the upper hand of an agent who's representing the seller. If you start talking about how much you love the place and your need to move in the next 30 days, the seller's agent will definitely "have your number." These are not inherently bad or unethical people, but they are professionals who know their mission - to sell the seller's or developer's units for the highest price possible.
2) You may make it impossible for another agent (who'd be working on your behalf) to negotiate for you if you decide on making an offer later. Many open houses and sales centers have strict policies about any buyer's agent being disclosed and registered in writing on the buyer's FIRST visit. This is to prevent a scenario where the seller's agent does all the work, only to have another agent come in at the last minute and collect 1/2 the commission. So if you fail to let the seller's agent know that you're represented, you may be locked into working with him or her exclusively on that property since they often will not pay your agent's commission.
3) You may end up paying more for the place you love. This can be particularly true if you're interested in a new development. Pricing, incentives, and upgrades are often negotiable, but the sales center staff isn't likely to point this out to you. Even if you try to negotiate some extras for yourself, you likely won't have the benefit of perspective. Active real estate agents know what's going on in the market. Your agent may know, for example, that a certain developer will offer certain perks if you ask. Without that representation, you'll never know what kind of deal you may have gotten.
4) You could blindly buy into the "newer is better" mentality. New construction sales centers are intoxicating places with great lighting and pieces of expensive stone and imported wood hanging around. They're like new car showrooms as far as the "ooh and ahh factor" is concerned. But shiny appliances and immaculate floors aside, buying new construction is not without its share of risks...like being unable to compete with "Phase II" when you get ready to sell in a couple of years. You'd be wise to consider all this before signing on the dotted line. Get a pro who's on your side to help you think it through.
You may want to check in with your own buyer's agent before you start even an "informal" search in earnest. He or she can give you tips that'll help you protect yourself.
This week, 60 Minutes aired a piece about an online Real Estate company called Redfin, whose extreme "do it yourself" Real Estate transaction services got some valuable airtime to slam the traditional Real Estate business model. Should Realtors at traditional brokers worry? I don't think so.
Do-It-Yourself Can Be Penny-Wise and Pound Foolish. Now that we have computers, we don't really need anyone else at all. Robots performing surgery and vending machines spitting out everything from sandwiches to ipods at the airport are real-life examples of technology replacing human interaction. Why, soon, we won't even need to go for a consultation when we're ill. We'll just call the hospital and lie down on the table, place our surgical order, and hope that we've selected the right cure for what ails us.
The problem with these types of scenarios is not the delivery of the final product, it's the evaluation that happens in order to get the final prognosis.
Do you know what you want in a home? Do you know what you need in a home? Can you find it yourself online? Maybe.
Do you know what pitfalls to look out for during the transaction? Do you understand all 200 pages of the disclosures you just signed? Do you know whether the listing agent has a good track record? Can you tell if the Seller will take less than full asking? Do you know if you should bid more in order not to lose your dream home to another buyer? Maybe not. And a mistake here could have serious consequences financially, emotionally, physically, and legally for you.
If you overlook a grave problem during the purchase of your home, how much will it cost you? If you're selling your house and taking advice from someone who hasn't been in your home-or the last 10 homes that have sold in your neighborhood, how do you know you're marketing it to its full potential? How do you know if the offer's too low? How do you know that this is the best home to be offering on?
If the deal's being negotiated by someone who's doing 8 deals a week (like the Redfin employee, per the 60 Minutes piece), how much attention will *your* sale or purchase get? Problem is, you will never know unless you've had the privilege of working with a full-service agent.
Leslie Stahl and her pals at Redfin have done the average Realtor a great disservice by failing to understand what buyers and sellers give up when they go to an online broker instead of forming a relationship with a Realtor.
What A Dedicated, Full-Service Realtor Can Offer. I'm working with a few buyers right now. One of the couples I'm working with on the buy side came to me in November, with a dream of owning a home. During the course of the last 6 months, we've met over 20 times, written 3 offers on homes, and have together navigated the minefields of credit improvement, variable vs. fixed home loans, Tenancy-in-Common ownership issues, Condominium Conversion issues, San Francisco eviction issues which may affect ownership of TICs, and many physical issues we've discussed during visits to dozens of homes. I'd like to take a certain pride in knowing that my experience and specialization in San Francisco properties has helped these clients to better understand what they'll be undertaking as homeowners, and that I've offered knowledge, enthusiasm, caution, ambition, and a good healthy dose of protection and objectivity during this huge decision-making process. I've discouraged them from offering on more than one home that I felt would not be a good investment for them, based on current legislation and our local market. So far, I haven't made a dime from these particular clients, though we've made a solid commitment to work together until they find a home and own it. This commitment is not in writing-it's based on mutual trust. It Costs Money to Make Money: A Real Realtor's Overhead NAR, CAR, SFAR Membership Fees: $900 per year ($75 per month) Local Chamber of Commerce $15 per month Errors & Omissions Insurance + tech fees: $2450 per year ($200 per month-I pay this, not my company) Advertising or mailings $1500 (so you can find me) Cell Phone/PDA: $175 (so you can reach me 24/7 by phone, email, text, page) Home DSL $60 (so you can receive and send documents via email 24/7) Web Hosting + HTML email newsservice $25 (so you can search properties on my site and read this blog) Supplies + Equipment $150 (paper, computers, CDs, routers, ink cartridges for printing hundreds of pages of disclosures) Shipping + Postage $40 (FedEx, regular postage + courier) Gas + Car Expenses $450 (Gas, parking, maintenance-and I drive a Mini, not some gas-guzzling SUV or Mercedes!) Entertainment (client lunches, coffees, meetings + dinners) $300 per month Expenses per month: approx $3000
When 6% is Closer to 1.75%... Before Expenses Most homes sell in San Francisco with a commission of 5-6%. Of this 5-6%, usually 2.5% goes to each side. On a $600K sale, 5% is$30,000. Sounds like a lot! This gets split between 2 agents, then again between the agents and their companies. Buyers' side (or Listing agent) commission: $15,000 minus broker admin fee: $750 (5% of the gross commission) minus company's 25% cut: $3562 (as agents, we give as much as 50% of our commission to the company we work for. This is our "split") minus transaction coordination/assistant fees $1200 (to manage paperwork and to allow me to be in 2 places at one time) subtotal: $9488 minus 15% self employment tax: $1423 = $8065 commission before expenses.
The harsh reality is that many Realtors in San Francisco do just 4-8 transactions per year.
Much of the work we do for clients is not paid, since we are not compensated for showings, unaccepted offers, or the hours of emails and phone calls we spend on clients who may not end up purchasing from us. Subtract expenses, and suddenly you realize that it's an expensive small business to be running-and unless you're highly effective and do many transactions per year, it may be hard to make ends meet in a city where home prices are far above average. Considering that there are 5,000 licensed Realtors in San Francisco and we're selling 17% fewer homes than last year, we're working as hard as we possibly can to capture the loyalty and attention of a few great clients.
Do-It-Yourself Only Works for Some. Now Home Depot has proven that there's a market for DIY home improvement. But if it was that easy, contractors would be out of business. If you've ever tried to do a project yourself, you may be one of us who's realized that in the long run, experts can save us time, hassle, headache and yes, money. Redfin may just be the Home Depot equivalent of the traditional Realtor "contractor" model.
I'll keep my eye on Redfin-but I don't think it's a business model that will effectively put Realtors out of business. If anything, it may just serve to keep our standards of client care as high as possible. When undertaking one of the largest decisions and expenses of your life, it still pays to have a committed expert by your side to advise, encourage, negotiate and advocate for you at every turn.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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