Many time you will see ads that say something like "Own for the same amount you're paying for rent".

In the case of this beautiful, single family home in the Marlton section of Upper Marlboro, MD that would be completely true!

Assuming that you have good credit and qualify for a 5.125% interest rate and an FHA mortgage, your monthly payments would be approximately $1500.00. Compare that against many 3 bedroom, 2 full bath apartment homes (or any other home, for that matter) and you can see that owning can be just as inexpensive as renting. If you factor in the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit and the mortgage interest tax deduction you really come out way ahead.

Check it out! You will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is to say "good-bye" to the landlord.

When I first came into real estate as a full timer, I was trained to think that real estate was a 24/7/365 type of job.  This was my business and if I wanted to develop it and make some money, I had to make myself available to people who normally work 9-5, M-F.

As time went by, I started going to workshops and seminars that talked about balance and boundaries and setting expectations.  After all, the teaching went, doctors and lawyers and accountants are not available 24/7/365 (well, maybe some lawyers).  I was told that I need time for my family and for "recovery" or "relaxation" -- a time to "recharge".  Heck, I thought this was a fine idea until I tried to reach a couple of agents that didn't work on Sundays or, nowadays, REO listing agents that work M-F, 9-5.

Recently, though, I've made the mistake of leaving my iPhone on and I started getting calls from other agents at 8:30pm or 9:30pm with questions that, quite frankly, could have waited until the morning.  Yeah, I know.  I didn't have to answer the call.  I'm just one of those people who get real edgy when the phone rings and I have to answer it. Just have to.

Anyway, answering the phone late in the evening for things that could have easily waited until the next day has really gotten me thinking about the whole boundaries and "time off" thing.  It's one thing to be able to sit down with my client and let them know that I will be available for them a lot of the time but after 7:00pm is not a good time or Tuesdays may be off limits.  It's another thing to be "on call' for other agents who get the notion to call any old time.  Heck, their up and thinking about me. I should be thinking about them, too.

The thing, for me personally, is that I'm more of a morning person.  There have been many a time I wish I could have called someone at 6:00am or 7:00am to get a status update, ask a question or whatever.  Unfortunately, I realize I have to wait.

So.  What do you think about boundaries and what might be reasonable working hours and working days?

Inquiring Minds Want To Know!

There was a time I would spend hours (it seems) on Active Rain blogging, reading, commenting. Then I went to a couple of REBAR camps.  First one in Fredericksburg, VA and  then one in Philly.  I got introduced to Twitter, which I didn't like at first. Facebook took up some time.  I have my "Outside Blog" and now I have a Photo Blog.

Of course, I still have a real estate business to tend to.  Buyers still need attention and Sellers still need killer marketing.  I guess I just need to figure out a time to get all this stuff done.  More importantly, I need to remember not to get sucked into the computer the way some people get sucked into TV.  I'll need an intervention and 12 step group.

I'm OK.  I can stop anytime I want....really.

No...really.

Every now and then I get a client who tells me they don't want a yard sign.  It seems they don't want the neighbors to know they are selling their home.  Maybe breaking up with the neighbors is too hard.  Maybe they just don't want to answer a lot of questions about why they're moving or where they're going and, oh by the way, how much are you asking? 

Who knows?  I've never really figured it out. 

What I do know is that homes without yard signs seem to sell equally as fast as home with yard signs, all else being equal - price, condition, location. I also have come to experience that most people who call me from my phone number on the yard sign fall into one of two categories:

1. neighbors being curious (how much is it? where are they going? can we see it [because we just want to look]?)
2. people riding around aimlessly in their cars day dreaming about a home and being clueless about what it means to be able to buy a home

Usually, I can get rid of the neighbor curiosity factor by having an Open House the first or second weekend the house is on the market.  Just mail out a 100 postcards to the 100 nearest addresses and bring some cookies.

It's the second group of people who perplex me.  They're out riding around and happen to see your yard sign.  They call the number of the sign and ask the same questions:

• how much?
  
• How many bedrooms and baths?
  
• Is there a finished basement?
  
• Is the price negotiable?
  
• Can I see it...right now!?... or tomorrow morning, at the latest.
  

These folks have usually done zero preparation and have zero understanding of what it takes to buy a home.  It is these folks I'm supposed to have the patience to "convert" into my buyer clients.  In reality, these folks are typically unqualified, financially, to buy a Big Mac on credit and even if they could get a mortgage it's for an amount way under the price of the neighborhood they're cruising.

Now, I may be doing it wrong because I haven't memorized all the scripts and have long since tired of making appointments that yard sign shoppers never keep but I would just as soon have these yard sign shoppers call another Realtor to act as their buyer agent.  You see, I have no problem splitting my commission with a competent buyer's agent who has a motivated client who is well prepared to make the purchase.

In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that yard signs make good location markers for agents that don't know the area and happen to be working the nieghborhood because their license says they can, I wouldn't use yard signs at all.

Yeah, I know.  If I have enough of them scattered around the neighborhood, I become the "neighborhood expert".  People will  think I'm the Big Kahuna of the 10 block subdivision. Well, maybe.  The fact is that my farming efforts (i.e., monthly direct mail into a subdivision) and the Internet have done far more for my business than a bunch of yard signs in the neighborhood.

So, I've become a little ambivalent about yard signs.  Do they work....or are they just one more holdover from a real estate past that we are holding onto...just because?

 

 

OK.  I'm not selling anything here.  No virtual tour companies. No DIY virtual tour companies. 

I've been noticing this trend, fed by the SEO industry, of Realtors becoming videographer wannabes.  Now, this isn't so bad, if you're standing in front of a camera talking about the neighborhood or subdivision and there's a nice park or a subdivision sign behind you.  It's not so bad when you're at your desk and talking about this or that.  I'm good with that.  What I'm starting to see and getting disturbed about are th DIY listing shows.

That's right.  Shaky, blurry, terrrible videos with terrible audio of people's homes Realtors want to sell.  Worse are the still photos that Realtors take. I mean, I understand the Internet Empowered Consumer wants to see photos but ---

• toilets with the lid up (and hard water stains)
• half made beds with a white sheet tossed over them to "neaten them up"
• kitchens with sinks full of dishes
  
• decks with tons of clutter
• closets with all the stuff you tried to hide
• more, more, more

Hey, I understand. We're all trying to cut costs in this awful housing market. But, really.  Are you really doing your Seller client a favor by showing all the (literally) dirty laundry?

In my view, it's time for Realtors to:

1. Tell there Seller clients to clean up the mess or you can't take any photos which means fewer people will visit the house
2. Get a professional who can take a good photo with a good camera and then take it back to the office to make it look pretty with nice captioning and maybe some pleasant music.

I don't care what the SEO gurus say.  Do you really care about SEO if your client's home looks like a war zone on steroids?

I've always thought it was the Realtor's job to market the house to create the most excitement possible so that a potential buyer will actually walk through the front door to fall in love with the real, live, three dimensional house. A lot of what I'm seeing now shouts, "I don't care if you like this house or not!".

If I was a Seller and saw some of these videos and still photos I'd ask for a release.  Hey, but that's just me.

Just sayin'

Thanks to a heads up from my clients (an Army pediatrician and DOD contractor) I realized that the Army Corps of Engineers has a program designed to help military families feeling the pinch of having to sell their homes in order to move from one station to another through no fault of their own.  They need to go where the military sends them and, in this housing market, that's not always a good thing for selling a home they may have purchased not too long ago.

Enter: the Military Maven of all Realtors (at least in this area) - Cindy Jones of Woodbridge, VA.  Cindy's input and insight have been invaluable.  Her experience working with military clients over the years and he selfless assistance led me to the HAP website and then to a phone call to a HAP counselor in Savannah, GA.

Here's the bottom line: There is some assistance coming for military families on the move.  It is a finite amount of money (about $55,000,000).   It'll help a lot of folks avoid both the headache and stigma of short sales (not to mention the hurt it would put on someone's security clearance). 

The not-so-good news is that final regulations for administering the program have not be written and handed down yet and they aren't expected anytime soon unless you consider August soon.  Once final regulations are in  place, the Army Corps of Engineers will start the processing. Add another 90-120 days. 

All said though, it could be a shorter process than a lot of short sales and have a happier outcome for the military seller, the buyer and the Realtor.

Bottom line: don't hold your breath and don't hold out false hope.  This ain't gonna be quick and when the final regulations come down, it'll be important to read all the fine print and follow the regs to the letter.

I recently started working with a couple who have been long time clients and great referrers of other clients.  In fact, of my entire list of clients I have helped over the past 10 years these folks get the #1 spot for number of times they have used me personally combined with the number of people they have referred to me that actually bought a home and gotten to settlement.

These are the types of clients I live for!

They're in the military.  At least, the wife is. Now they need to move, again, because she's being deployed to another duty station on her way to a post in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the home they bought about 3 years ago has lost some value and they can't really sell it without bringing more money that they have to the closing table.

Fortunately, Uncle Sam is actually trying to do something right by our vets.  They have a program called the Homeowner Assistance Program  (HAP) that will subsidize the difference in what the house was bought for and what it can be sold for.  A good deal. The not so HAPpy part is that the program has not been fully approved yet and the applications are piling up.  So that when the program does get the final green light it'll take some time (6-8 months) for applications to work through the process.

So it is very much like a "short sale".  Hurry up and wait...and wait...and wait.

However, for vets, this may be a good way to sell your home if you're being moved somewhere and it isn't exactly your choice!  Check out.

If you ever wanted to live in a great community at the end of a private cul-de-sac (think: no traffic!) than this might be the perfect home for you.

The spacious deck, above ground pool and huge back yard make this house stand out...and that's just the outside! Inside this lovingly cared for home is a roomy kitchen with new, stainless steel appliances and a family room with a warm and romantic wood burning fireplace. The basement is fully decked out as an entertainment center for friends and family. The master bedroom goes on forever with plenty of closet space for all your clothes and shoes.

It's a great home in a great community!

It seems that in February of 2007 I was asked to come over to present a CMA and talk about how wonderful I am to a potential Seller.  This particular Seller was in a subdivision I market to all the time and I've actually sold quite a few homes.  I may not be "The King" yet but I do pretty well.  I went full out.  I took lots of pre-listing appointment photos and prepared a nice pre-listing package. I was ready...or so I thought.

The guy in this house had been living in it for decades and it looked like he never got rid of a single piece of paper. There were literally paths to walk through to get from one room to the next. It was quite and experience.  There were a ton of other challenges as well but, hey, you get the idea. Back in those days, though, homes were still selling pretty quickly in this part of town and for a pretty penny, too.  I thought, if we priced it right, someone would come along and snatch it up because they were afraid to miss the gravy train (looking back at this time period is an education in itself.  Who knew I was living at the very end of a huge Seller's market?)

The guy didn't do anything, though, an time passed.  Fast forward to today.  The wife he had been recently separated from in 2007 was making his life miserable in a divorce that was really forcing his hand about selling the house.  However, not much has changed about the physical condition of the house. Still wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling stuff.

After smacking him in the face with the fact that values have plummeted close to 50% in this particular subdivion (all real estate is local and as crazy high as prices went they are now going crazy low) I suggested he might really have a "Come to Jesus" talk with his divorce lawyer and a good reverse mortgage specialist.  I  showed him prices combined with Days on Market and suggested that if there was anyway that he could manage to work out some type of arrangement with the soon to be ex that he'd be better off.

It's kind of a sad story.  Who knows if the wife is justified in trying to force a sale? Maybe.  Maybe not.  All I know, it that sometimes it's better to tell people to hold on and try to ride it out.

 

I keep Active Brad's blog on my subscibe list so I can keep in touch with Active Rain.  I came across this blog with the request to re-blog....so here it is.  Cast your vote, matey!