Sellability

Robert Smith (Weichert, Realtors ) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:49:03 -0800

Sellability

There are Four major components that determine whether and how quickly a house will sell:

•1) Location

•2) Quality of house in comparison to its direct competition

•3) Price

•4) Number of buyers that know about the house (via Internet and Professional Marketing)

The first three comprise a factor that I am calling "Sellability". In any given market, if there were a hundred homes available for sale, you can pretty accurately rank them from one to a hundred, indicating the likelihood of the house selling and how fast.

In the best of markets (seller's market), the following chart is an approximation of how long a house would remain on the market - Note: these percentages are to illustrate a point - the exact numbers vary significantly depending upon area and how "hot" the market is in that area.

Top 10 % - likely to sell within 1 week, many with multiple offers

Top 11-25% - likely to sell within 1 month, several with multiple offers

Top 26-50% - likely to sell within 3 months, multiple offers can happen but not likely

Top 51-75% - will take more than 3 months, some will not sell at all

Bottom 25% - will not sell

In a poor market (buyer's market), we can see how different the picture becomes:

Top 10% - majority will sell within 1 month - a few will have multiple offers

Top 11-25% - likely to sell within 6 months, multiple offers unlikely

Top 26-50% - many will sell but may take 12 months or more - the sellability factor becomes somewhat random (i.e. 50% house may sell before the 30% house) because of time on market and agent showing preferences

Bottom 50% - a few will sell, most will not

Some key points:

•1) Even in a great market, there are houses that do not sell

•2) In the great market, houses that are lower in ranking will automatically improve their ranking over time because the average price of homes is increasing by double digit percentages - a big factor in why agents will take a listing that is overpriced. Conversely, houses in a poor market may drop in ranking if there are no price adjustments.

•3) Sellibility can be improved.

•a) Location cannot be changed, But

•b) Quality of the house can be improved - takes time and money

•c) Price is the quickest and most reliable solution

Now we must consider the Agent/Broker role in this process:

1) Professionalism - It is the agent's duty to determine a price that will get your house sold in your preferred timeframe. A price that is too low will place the house well within the top 10% of the ranking. At that point it will sell irregardless what else the agent does. But you may be losing some money in the process. The agent's commission is supposed to be recovered in the sale price of the home - via their ability to get a price for your home that is well above what you could get by doing a For-Sale-By-Owner. In short, in this scenario, the agent is not doing a professional job.

A price recommendation that is too high either means the agent is not competent in pricing or is misleading the client in order to get the listing (a professional ethics issue in that we all are sworn to not intentionally mislead a client.). As you can see, the best agents are the ones that can price you low enough to sell, yet high enough to pay for their services and then some.

2) Internet Exposure and Marketing. This gets us to the fourth factor that determines how quickly your house will sell. Most agents are comparable in how they will use the MLS services and the Internet.

What separates some from the crowd?

•a) Their ability to have your home stand out on the internet.

•b) Their ability to gain a wider audience via both the Internet and MLS services.

•c) Their ability to reach more people and get more people to your home via marketing campaigns and open houses.

•d) Their ability to get a buyer to present an offer.

•e) Their ability to be a strong negotiator in your best interest when an offer is presented.

Give me an hour of your time and I will show you all the reasons why I am the agent described above.

www.RobertSmithRealtor.com

Adult Communities: 10 Reasons to choose Resale

Robert Smith (Weichert, Realtors ) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:37:34 -0800

This perspective is provided by a Realtor who has been living in one of the new adult communities in Jackson, N.J. for the past year. This article is drawn from my own personal experiences in addition to those of my neighbors.

1) Price. Although builders are offering unheard of incentives to purchase new, private sellers are now responding even more aggressively. Relatively new homes (under 2 years old) can be purchased at prices significantly under what builders are offering for the same models.

2) Inventory. This goes hand-in-hand with price. There is a great variety of quality homes available.

3) Timing. As the market fluctuated last year, many home buyers got caught between selling and buying, resulting in the ownership of 2 homes. As a result, many of the homes currently on the market have either never been lived in and/or are available for immediate occupancy. A new home from a builder can still take months.

4) On time Closing. This goes hand-in-hand with timing. Many of my neighbors had furniture in storage and spent months in motels or with relatives when the builder failed to deliver their house on their estimated deliver date.

5) No Builder Walkthroughs. Typically, you are provided three walkthrough periods (at months 1, 4, and 11) to provide the builder with your list of things that need to be fixed. Although my builder was very responsive, every little detail in the house has been subcontracted. Resolving a typical "punch list" can mean days of waiting for a "specialist" to arrive (between the hours of x and y). One example: I had a cracked tile, grout issues, and a split in linoleum that required 3 different repairers, all from the same flooring contractor.

6) Minimize Major "Surprises". My examples are somewhat rare and are not the norm, but I have seen at least one of each of the following: Lawn & Sprinkler issues (very common), Poor Grading, Poor house placement on the lot, Sewer lines from house to main line blocked, Plumbing (failure to remove plugs from dishwashers and showers a common mistake), and Hardwood floor issues resulting from improperly cured/sealed concrete slabs.

7) No "Design Center". This will not been seen as a positive by many people who like the idea of making their own choices from a myriad of options. But, with a resale, what you see is what you get. There is much angst when coordinating many details within a house from a bunch of small samples. What you envision from samples is not always the reality of full size.

8) Added Personal Upgrades. Costly and time consuming personal upgrades may already be completed. If your taste matches the taste of the homeowner, you are done and at a fraction of the cost, since the cost of the home will not fully reflect the cost of these upgrades. Some key examples: Stone patios, landscaping, professional painting, and window treatments (if you have never moved into a new home, you can't fully appreciate this item).

9) Meet Your Neighbors. By ringing a few doorbells you can meet your potential new neighbors and learn more about the community.

10) Did I already mention no waiting for subcontractors?

Jackson NJ Realtor Views

Sellability

Adult Communities: 10 Reasons to choose Resale