Ken's Blog

Look For The Moss Haedrich Team In December’s What’s Up? Annapolis Magazine’s “Real Time Real Estate” Feature

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:10:31 -0600

The Story Showcases a $1.2 Million Crownsville Waterfront Home We Found a Buyer For in 18 Days

The Annapolis area is fortunate to have a great magazine - What's Up? Annapolis - to keep residents apprised of nearly everything that's going on around here.

And we're fortunate to be featured in the December issue's "Real Time Real Estate" editorial section, highlighting a lovely property we sold in Crownsville a few months ago.

You can read about it in the magazine - or simply click here to see the online version.

I think the key takeaway from the story - at least for sellers - is this quote from my wife/partner, Bev Moss Haedrich: "Instead of chasing the market down with price reduction after price reduction, we strategically positioned this home out front at a fair and reasonable price," thus avoiding a protracted time on market. (Keeping true to what we always tell our sellers right up front: we want our relationship with you to be short and sweet.)

The other takeaway is this: if you're selling a home and you'd like to know how we can get the job done, call me at 410-507-7222. And if you're purchasing a home in the area, and want to take full advantage of this unprecedented buyer's market, we'd love to show you how. Just call Bev at 410-353-2469.

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Deal vs Steal: Why Shopping For Only The Lowest Priced Homes In The Annapolis Real Estate Market Will Drive You Crazy

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:21:26 -0500

Talk to Annapolis area homebuyers these days and you'll often hear this: I don't want just a deal. I want a steal! Realtors expect this sort of brash talk from seasoned investors, but more and more we're hearing it from young couples, first time homebuyers, grandmothers and other nice people who often trip over the words, like they're reciting a script that's at odds with their deeper desires.

This inner conflict is understandable: after all, isn't the nightly news a regular smorgasbord of home sale nightmare stories? Aren't there steals now in every town in America?

Maybe - but that's not the point. Shopping only for steals - and overlooking the otherwise good deals - tends to create inner conflict, distort priorties and become a single-minded exercise in the absurd. I know agents who have shown 40, 50 or more homes to steal shoppers who simply can't pull the trigger on a home purchase because there might be a better deal hiding around the next bend. Buyers are now getting buyers' remorse just thinking about buying. It's driving both the buyers and their agents bonkers.

Better Judgement is Often The First Casualty of Steal Home Shopping

It reminds me of a young man I knew who used to be too frugal for his own good. He bought only the lowest priced shirts off the clearance rack - not because they were stylish, comfortable, fit well or otherwise served his needs, but because they were cheap. Consequently he ended up with a closet full of shirts that were so hideous they embarrased even my young children when I wore one to the dinner table, let alone in public. (The last of them went to Goodwill about 20 years ago - the shirts, not my kids.)

Homebuyers Risk Much When They Leave Better Judgement at the Front Door. A Home Should Be Many Things, and Well-Priced is Just One of Them

A home should be comfortable, pleasing to the eye, and well lit. It should have reliable mechanical systems, be convenient to work and play, if possible, and in an area where the new owner can easily imagine the next chapter of her life. It should have trees and bushes you love, enough lawn for that puppy you've wanted, a place to work on your ATVs and other toys, a picket fence or winding flagstone path, a great elevator, coffee shops within striking distance. In short, it should be what you want it to be.

Know what you want in a home and go find it. A good agent will make sure you get a great deal. Be willing to make some tradeoffs; most homebuyers will. But don't sell your homebuyer's soul for the sake of a steal: those few bucks you save on your monthly mortgage will be little recompense for your unrealized home dreams.

Trust me: if you're looking for a great deal in the Annapolis real estate market, we have plenty. Just email me at kenhaedrich@kw.com and tell me what you're looking for. I'll send you a list of everything that meets your needs, and we'll go from there.

Home Shopping Reality Check: What The Numbers Tell Us About The Annapolis Real Estate Market

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:39:13 -0500

Anne Arundel County Saw 388 Homes Sold Last Month. That's Down 14% From Last September. But The Sky Isn't Really Falling Around Us...

I've been talking to a lot of you lately. Our entire team has. Each and every day, The Moss Haedrich Team calls 20, 30, 40 or more of you to see how you're feeling about the real estate market, calm your jittery nerves, and ask how we can help. Here's what we're hearing from you...

...nobody is buying anything....nobody can get a mortgage now...homes aren't selling...sellers are giving homes away...homes are taking forever to sell...and, in short, the sky is falling and we're all doomed.

Well, we understand the sentiments. The uncertain economy does have everyone on edge and listening to the evening news only amplifies our concerns. But if you look at the statistics you'll see that the current market - while sluggish - is anything but dead. It's not all gloom and doom.

Those 388 homes that sold in Anne Arundel County last month? True, that's less than last September's figure of 453 - but it's far from nothing. On average, those sold homes took 22 days longer to sell than they did last September - but 3 weeks is not the eternity you might suspect if you draw your conclusions from the national media reporting.

October sales for Anne Arundel County are looking okay: in the first 21 days of the month, 211 homes have sold.

Who's Buying Those Homes?

Note that 130 of those 211 homes sold for $350,000 or less. There's no way to prove this, but those numbers suggest that first time homebuyers and investors are busy shopping, as they should be: the smart money is out there right now finding great deals, bargaining, and doing very well, thank you. They know those great deals won't be around forever.

Which brings us to the subject of mortgages. Every lender we talk to says the same thing: despite what you're hearing, there are plenty of loan programs available for anyone with respectable credit. Expect to put some money down. Expect you'll be required to provide documentation for income and assets - the freewheelin' days of "no documentation loans" are a thing of the past.

Just don't expect the sky to fall anytime soon on the Annapolis real estate market.

If you're wondering if this is a good time to buy, or sell, just email me at kenhaedrich@kw.com and tell me about your circumstances. I'll call, or email back, and help you sort out your situation. Please: there's no reason to step into this market on your own when you can have the benefit of an experienced real estate team on your side.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 am and is filed under Buyers, Neighborhood Sales & Stats, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Uniqueness Sells: A Fundamental Truth About Home Prices in the Annapolis Real Estate Market

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:28:04 -0500

Buyers Are Still Willing to Pay More, and Faster, for Something They Perceive to be Special. A Story...

This past summer we listed a home that was very nice indeed. Price: $1,200,000. It went under contract in 19 days, and sold a few weeks later for a price that the owners found quite acceptable.

Aside from our usual aggressive marketing, how can we account for such a good offer and fast sale? After all, the home did have a few quirks...some dated features...and wallpaper I wasn't crazy about.

But sell it did, and here's why: the home's uniqueness - its overriding special features. In addition to a very private and nicely landscaped yard, the property had its own tennis court, large in-ground pool, and deep water dock just 5 minutes by boat to the Severn River.

There were other highlights, but the point is this: because the home was a unique package, it could compete in the market on its unique features - features that the buyers knew, or rightly assumed, they'd have difficulty finding in another property. Whether you're selling real estate, art, or antique cast iron mechanical banks, uniqueness motivates buyers to act more quickly for fear of potential loss.

Contrast That With a Home Located in an Annapolis Subdivision...

...say 50 or 100 homes, perhaps 4 or 5 models to choose from, your usual upgrades. Ten or 12 percent of the subdivision is for sale. How will those homes compete with one another? On price. Absent starkly contrasting features or amenities, similar homes - in a market like the one we're in - will almost always compete on price. Fear of potential loss diminishes when buyers perceive that supply is more predictable.

Buyers for such homes are being very patient in this market, watching competing homes leapfrog one another into the best price position before snapping them up. (Word of caution to buyers: if you do fall in love, don't wait to make your play. There's a good chance someone else has fallen in love with it too.)

And if you're a subdivision seller? Your best hedge is to do everything you can to make your property stand out as unique among equals: be the cleanest, most freshly painted, best landscaped, least cluttered, and most inviting. And If you want to hear how we make all of our listings stand out as unique, email me at kenhaedrich@hotmail.com and I'll email back.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Buyers, One Minute Realtor, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Homebuyers: Confused About What Move to Make in the Annapolis Real Estate Market? Then Put Together a Team

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:10:20 -0500

Here's The Street Sign Annapolis Area Homebuyers Are Seeing Most Frequently Nowadays. Here's How to Deal With It

I read a blog post today that said Internet searches for the phrase "houses for sale" were at their highest point in 2 years. The author thought this an encouraging sign: investors, he speculated, are poised to step in at what looks like the bottom of the market, soon to be followed by everyone else who has been waiting for a signal that it's the right time to buy.

Is he right? Are we bottomed out and about to experience a pent up homebuying rush?

I'm not sure, and I'm not sure anyone else is sure. But since we are out here in the trenches with actual homebuyers, we ARE sure of this: homebuyers are confused, overwhelmed by the negative news of the housing market and Wall Street bailouts. More than anything, buyers need to turn off the TV and seek the counsel of local, experienced professionals who can move them from fear and confusion to a sound, fact-based strategy for purchasing a home.

Putting Together a Team is a Homebuyer's First Order of Business

If you're considering purchasing - or selling - a home, do not wing it. To fully understand the ramifications of a real estate transaction, and to afford yourself all due protections, you need a team. First, seek the advice of a financial planner, preferably one with a strong real estate background. (We can arrange for a free consultation if you don't have one.)

Second, establish a relationship with an experienced Realtor who will work his or her tail off for you and give you 5-star representation. (That would be us, or another Realtor who has earned your loyalty.) Your Realtor can be a key person in helping you put together your team.

Lastly, only work with an experienced, professional lender who comes highly recommended from a trusted source. Realtors know better than anyone which lenders are the real pros.

That's the core of your team: Realtor, financial planner, lender. If putting together a team sounds like work, well, it is. But especially in this market, you can't afford not to. We have a saying at Keller Williams: Nobody succeeds alone. Those cowboy days are long gone, pardner.

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Me and My Big Why

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:23:55 -0500

At Keller Williams, We Are Encouraged to Think About Our Mission and Purpose in Life. It's Called Our Big Why, and Here's Why I Think It Matters

Several years back, on my first day in real estate, I sat down with the team leader of the Keller Williams office here in Annapolis. I signed some papers, had a stack of books and a training schedule handed to me, and then this:

So Ken - tell me about your Big Why.

Sorry? It sounded like she thought I owned a ranch in Montana, The Big Y.

Your Big Why. Why are you here? What's the one thing that gives meaning and purpose to your life more than any other?

Well, I hadn't really considered it. And truth be told, I thought the question was a bit lofty for someone who hadn't even learned to use the office copier yet, let alone sell a single house. But I was new, eager to make my mark, and vaguely recall mumbling something about the opportunity to help people and make a decent living in the process.

Read pages 72 and 73 in there, she said, pointing at one of the books she had just handed me. That will help you figure it out.

Gary Keller, on The Focusing Power of a Big Why

The book in question is one we at Keller Williams refer to as "the red book" - The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, written by our company's co-founder, Gary Keller.

Sure enough, right there on page 72 was this: "...we've discovered that the one thing that all high achievers have in common is they are working for a Big Why. The Big Why is about having a purpose, a mission, or a need, that in turn gives you focus. High achievers always have a Big Why powering their actions."

I was intrigued, and followed the exercise Gary outlined, writing down everything that motivated me. I was underwhelmed: to my eye, what I had written looked like a ragtag group of Little and Medium Whys. There wasn't a Big Why in sight. A life of insignificance loomed before me. I had better get digging for a Big Why, and fast, if I wanted to be a high achiever too.

The Power Behind Being the Best You Can Be

I didn't realize it at the time, but - as Gary went on to explain - there is nothing wrong with a collection of lesser whys: we all have to pay our mortgage or rent, fund retirement accounts, help put our kids through college.

But those - and all of our smaller whys, says Gary - will fall into place naturally if we simply put this one Big Why at the forefront of all others: to be the best we can possibly be. A powerful Big Why like this, he points out, gives foundational support to all of your other whys. It's like geese flying in formation: the lead goose expends all the energy, while the others draft behind with much less effort.

"Being your best" he goes on to say, "is actually a goal-less pursuit. You can never really reach a point where you can truthfully say, ‘I just can't grow anymore.' And what is so exciting about that is this kind of Big Why can create a life that literally explodes with limitless possibility and unlimited growth."

All Those Big Whys Help Build Stronger Communities

One of the things I love about Keller Williams is the large number of individuals we attract who have a Be the Best You Can Be mentality. That's not really surprising, given the fact that KW agents have - at their disposal - all of the tools and training necessary for achieving greatness.

All around us in this company we see agents harnessing the power of their Big Whys to strengthen their communities and do good.

Gary Keller himself recently donated $5,000,000 to Baylor University to fund a research center to study the agent/client relationship.

We have agents who have organized drives to provide shoes for needy children in poor countries; agents who've purchased and planted trees to re-green urban areas; others who've paid surgery bills to help families in their community; and some who have given thousands of dollars to support low-income housing projects. We - The Moss Haedrich Team - support the Fisher House with a $100 donation after every settlement.

How a Big Why Creates Value for Our Clients

We believe that on a daily basis, being the best we can be is the only way to run a successful and competitive real estate business.

It's the fuel that drives you to deliver the best possible customer service for your clients; to constantly improve your internal systems and marketing skills; to maintain regular and effective communication with your clients and constituency; and to build strong relationships with fellow agents and colleagues in the industry.

When you do these things, we believe you create real value for your clients. And they in turn create value for you, by telling others.

As for myself, I'm still tweaking my Whys, and like those geese, lining them up in proper formation. Unless and until I can come up with something that makes more sense, my Big Why - like Gary's - will be about being the best I can be: it's a good fit, even if the downside is that there are always days when you feel as if you might have done better.

But like Gary says, that's the whole idea.

April Real Estate Market Sales and Statistics for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:40:49 -0500

Do the Numbers Reveal an Upturn in the Annapolis Real Estate Market? Plus...Here's What the NAR (National Assn of Realtors) is Forecasting for the Second Half of 2008

Around the 10th of every month, the local MLS - ours is known as the Metropolitan Regional Information System - publishes real estate market sales statistics for the previous month. Here are some notable statistics for April 2008 for Anne Arundel County:

Average Sold Price: $398,231 - a slight decrease from the April 2007 figure of $398,754.

Median Sold Price: $320,000 - a 7.25% decrease from the April 2007 figure of $345,000.

Total Units Sold: 420 homes, a 30% decrease over the April 2007 figure of 600.

Average Days on Market: 137, an increase of 28.04% over the April 2007 figure of 107 days.

Those numbers may not seem too encouraging, the total units sold does represent an increase over the 331 sold in February 2008 and the 418 sold in March 2008.

Annapolis Real Estate, By The Numbers

Let's take a closer look at what's happening in the Annapolis market, and break it down by price range, active listings, under contract, and sold in the last 30 days.

$250,000-$350,000 - Active: 184 - Contract: 35 - Sold last 30: 21

$350,000-$500,000 -Active: 227 - Contract: 48 - Sold last 30: 15

$500,000-$750,000 - Active: 209 - Contract: 33 - Sold last 30: 16

$750,000 - $1,000,000 - Active: 133 - Contract: 9 - Sold last 30: 5

$1,000,000 and up - Active: 167 - Contract: 16 - Sold last 30: 6

What Does it all Mean?

It depends on who you ask. Some would argue that the modest increase in total units sold in our county in April represents a typical seasonal uptick - nothing more. On the other hand, it could be part of what Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, sees this as the start of an improving housing market in the second half of 2008.

Yun says that the more evenly performing markets of the past few years - like Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Kansas City, MO - are likely to experience home price gains in the 20% to 30% range over the next five years. While Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix could see prices go up as much as 50% in that period.

Truth be told, the NAR's glass is frequently at least half full, but word on the street - what we're seeing and hearing from our colleagues - is that the Annapolis area market is coming to life. Yes, lenders are being very cautious - and we're seeing more and more second appraisals being ordered.

But homes ARE selling - we've sold 4 in the last 8 weeks - and buyer interest is higher than it has been in quite some time. Part of this is pent up demand - buyers are getting tired of waiting and they're feeling that the bulk of any actual or anticipated price correction may have already occured. And sellers are getting real about list price and not acting like it's 2005 anymore. This combination of factors seems to be stirring the market.

(Shameless plug: Finally, remember this: it's not the luck of the draw that makes a home sell in this market. It takes preparation, market knowledge, a well-executed plan, and powerful marketing tools. That's where we can help, so do give us a call if you're thinking about selling your home. No pressure, no slick sales talk - just straight talk.)

Sometimes, Being in Real Estate in Annapolis is a Real Drain. A Clogged Drain

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:58:09 -0500

When It Rains in Annapolis, It Pours. And When It Pours, The Moss Haedrich Team of Keller Williams Puts on our Slickers

The rains came to Annapolis this week, biblical rains. Like oil and water, any experienced Realtor will tell you that biblical rains and pending settlements don't mix well. The combination puts us on high alert.

Which is how I find myself standing barefoot in 4″ of water on a client's patio, coaxing a sluggish drain. It is 6:00AM and the client - soaking up the sun at her new Arizona condo - is blissfully unaware of my unscheduled visit, long since gone from here in both body and spirit.

They say that a lot of people think agents just drive around in fancy cars and collect big settlement checks. I wish those people could see me now, standing here in drenched jeans, my cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee tasting more and more diluted with every passing minute.

Doing What's Required? Or Doing What Needs to be Done?

We - The Moss Haedrich Team - look great on paper. We have a sheet that describes our Platinum Listing Services in detail, several more that list the 186 transactional items we will take care of for you. But nowhere on any of it will you see "Stand barefoot on patio in rain and clean clogged drain."

That's because Realtors, if they're truly serving-based - and we like to think we are - do a lot of stuff we can't anticipate needing done. We've learned to take these things in stride. Frankly, going above and beyond is good for business. People don't forget the fact that you've gone the extra mile for them. They reward you with a lifetime of referral business for rolling up your sleeves and doing whatever it takes.

Some Clips from our Above and Beyond Files

-We once spent hours cleaning out an attic with a client just prior to settlement. The client would likely have done it herself, but she never knew she had an attic until the pre-settlement walk-through.

-3:00AM and we get a call from a client. Water is cascading onto the bed of his rented condo from parts unknown. We drive over, discover bathtub in neighbor's condo upstairs is running over. Wake up neighbors in first floor condo and tell them to expect a flood. (Good ending: first floor owners become regular clients.)

-We've presented a contract at midnight, because that's the only time the seller could meet us.

-We've taken phone calls during weddings from frantic clients, mowed lawns, shoveled walks, and babysat one home after a hurricane.

Heck, we've even donned bunny ears to help sell a home. I can't recall exactly why I thought wearing bunny ears would help. But I can tell you that now, several weeks later, the home is under contract.

The rains have subsided and the weather is beautiful. This afternoon we'll go to settlement on the condo with the once-clogged drain. We can't imagine being in any other business. Life is good.

The Whole World is Waiting for Ourselves

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:36:30 -0500

In Annapolis, as Elsewhere, the Real Estate Market Has Scared Some of Us Into a Holding Pattern. Maybe It's Time to Land the Plane

Is it just me, or does it seem like the entire world is on hold lately, waiting. Yesterday I showed a home to a young woman who needs to move soon. Nice house, meets her needs, beautiful neighborhood. Would she be interested in making an offer?

No thanks, I think I'll wait.

Wait for...?

Prices to drop some more.

How can you be sure they will?

Someone on TV said so.

Perhaps you should consider offering less than asking price. Just think of it as accelerated waiting.

No thanks. I'll just wait wait.

And so it goes. Buyers are waiting for sellers to lower their prices. Sellers are waiting for buyers to make offers. And agents are waiting for their phones to ring.

Even My Barber is Waiting

Apparently he's in line somewhere behind the housing waiters. I ask him about business. Not good, he tells me. People are waiting much longer between haircuts.

Really?

Yes, he tells me, especially families. Mom is buying electric clippers and doing it herself. Who'd have imagined that one sign of weak consumer confidence was a nation of kids running around with bad haircuts?

My brother - who manufactures model trains - reports that waiting is alive and well in his industry, too. Track is selling. But people are waiting to buy the expensive stuff like locomotives.

Waiting for what?

Waiting for their disposable income to re-materialize. Right now they're disposing it on things that aren't so disposable, like gas.

I did meet one couple this week who weren't waiting, pulling their new RV into the Shell Station on Riva Road. He hooked his RV up to the pump and the gallons started ticking off. As the counter soared passed the hundred dollar mark without so much as a hiccup, he told me that he and the wife were on their inaugural run down to Virginia Beach. Sold the boat, which got 1 mile to the gallon. The RV gets eight. "We've actually reduced our carbon imprint!" he said with a smile.

The Up Side of Waiting

I'm not one of those agents who wait very well. My anti-waiting strategy is making other people's phones ring. So I'm calling everyone. I may even call you.

Most agents I know would rather have a root canal than pick up the phone and make calls. Call reluctance is rampant in this business, especially now, because deep down agents think the world blames us for the housing slowdown. Nobody wants to risk an earful.

But I've found that's not the case. Nobody is chewing me out. They're glad I called - almost as if they've been waiting for me. More than anything they're curious. How's the market really doing? Is it as bad as we're hearing? They're tired of waiting, anxious for the truth, and wary of the pundit on TV who doesn't live here or know the facts about our local market.

People pour their hearts out to me. It feels like I'm becoming the Dr. Phil of local real estate. I kind of like this job.

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April Real Estate Market Sales Statistics for Anne Arundel County Will Be Released in 10 Days and We Will Publish the Numbers Here. Until Then, Here’s Our Almost Totally Unscientific Market Story and We’re Stickin’ To It

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:31:15 -0500

April Real Estate Market Sales Statistics for Anne Arundel County Will Be Released in 10 Days and We Will Publish the Numbers Here. Until Then, Here's Our Almost Totally Unscientific Market Story and We're Stickin' To It

If the local dining scene is a somewhat reliable barometer of consumer optimism, then our dinner at the Chart House in Annapolis this past Friday would lead one to believe that all the talk of a sagging economy and a housing/mortgage meltdown is falling upon deaf ears.

Indeed, judging by the throngs of diners ordering up $35 steaks, succulent shrimp, good bottles of wine, and $9.00 chocolate lava cakes - our personal favorite - you'd have to say the mood was downright festive, that nobody's much worrying about their wallets, and things are looking decidedly up.

Who knows? Maybe people are just getting a head-start on spending their tax rebate checks, and exercising their civic duty to stimulate the economy according to our President's hopes.

Our Boots-on-the-Ground Perspective of the Annapolis Real Estate Market

Then again, maybe - just maybe - things really are starting to turn around. Word on the street - what we're seeing and our industry colleagues are reporting - is that the local market "feels" like things are beginning to turn around.

I say "feels" because we can't really quantify it yet. But phones are starting to ring and showings are up. Gun-shy buyers are starting to pull the trigger and make solid offers. And sellers are getting real about listing price. Together, these factors are breathing life and hope into the local housing market.

But Could This be a Momentary Seasonal Upswing in the Annapolis Area Market?

Sure it could be. But it could also - as I heard one analyst put it on NPR the other day - be the inevitable beginning of the end of a down-turning real estate market.

It takes a while for people to accept new market conditions. When they do, and when they adjust to the new realities, participation in the market increases. Pent up demand kicks in. Buyers hop off the fence and homes sell.

Whether or not the April market numbers will give an indication of an upswing remains to be seen. There are bound to be bright and not-so-bright spots. Some segments of the market will likely remain soft.

For example: the $800,000 to $975,000 price range is still sluggish. In Annapolis right now there are 67 homes on the market in this price range, and only 4 under contract. Down the scale a bit, with condos and townhomes priced between $250,000 and $450,000, we see 180 listings currently on the market in Annapolis with 24 of them - a far greater and healthy percentage - under contract.

And while it's not surprising to see more activity at the lower end of the housing scale, the numbers indicate that there will continue to be downward pressure on prices at the higher end.

Just What Does All This Mean to Annapolis Area Homebuyers and Sellers?

For buyers, it means that you should start paying very close attention to the selection of homes you've been watching. The better ones are likely to start getting snatched up one by one.

For sellers, it means more showings if your home is in good condition and presents well. And if you're not priced right, be concerned: the spring market is about to kick into high gear. New, better priced homes are coming onto the market daily and this fresh competition is going to leave you lingering on the vine while the ripe fruit is picked off.

Do what you must, then stop worrying about it. Celebrate your future success in advance. Go have dinner at the Chart House.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Buyers, Neighborhood Sales & Stats, Sellers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Confessions of an Un-Geeky Annapolis Real Estate Blogger

Ken Haedrich (Keller Williams) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:46:55 -0500

Confessions of an Un-Geeky Annapolis Real Estate Blogger

April 25th, 2008 Categories: Fun Fridays

If you're a regular reader of this blog - and finally, I think there are a couple of you - then you know that Fridays are for fun. I didn't invent the idea of fun blog Fridays; I stole it from fellow blogger Teresa Boardman. She hasn't sent her lawyers after me yet, so for now I guess I'm okay.

People like confessions so I thought it would be fun today to tell you one of mine: I'm not a geek. That may come as a surprise to some of you, since I do have a blog, but my computer literacy is probably on par with that of your average Golden Retriever.

What knowledge I do have of blogging can be attributed directly to a neat group of actual geeks called The Real Estate Tomato. See that tomato icon in the upper left margin over there? It has the word "graduate" it in, but I can assure you that in my case the designation is applied ever so loosely. I was one of those students they graduated just to prevent a mutiny. I think I was the reason some of the staff left and opened bagel shops in Vermont.

The "tomato guys" have a specialty: taking non-geek Realtors like myself and teaching us how to become bloggers. The training consisted of many once-weekly sessions where I would put on my headset and listen to someone half my age and twice as smart explain why Google would like me if I created something called back links, posted profiles of myself on social networking sites, and didn't stuff by blog articles with too many key words, in which case Google would smite me and banish my blog to the equivalent of blog purgatory. Much remedial training ensued.

The most amazing thing about blogs and all this internet stuff is the way it all talks to one another - or is supposed to, if you're doing it right. What you see here on the finished page, so to speak, is only a gazillioneth of what's really going on. You may think you're just reading an article about buying or selling a home, but the cyber world is positively abuzz about it. It's like one of those ads you see on TV where they show you your kitchen counter-top, then zoom in and you see billions of germs crawling around just under the surface.

Zoom in, and you'd see Google is somehow calculating how much you like this blog, where you came from, what you're reading, and what you ate for breakfast. They do this by means of a mathematical formula called an algorithm, invented by guys with brains the size of cantaloupes who haven't seen the light of day for years. It's one big online popularity contest, the results of which somehow infiltrate the entire cyber universe.

Frankly, if I had to worry about all this and how it works, I wouldn't have a blog. I wouldn't have the time: we're in the business of helping people buy and sell homes, and that keeps us nice and busy, thank you. Writing a blog is fun, for someone who likes to write. But it's primarily a tool, a way to deliver useful information to our constituency, get feedback from you, and build an online community that's accessible to almost everyone.

Just don't ask me how it all works. I haven't a clue.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 10:00 am and is filed under Fun Fridays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.