Anna's Blog

Lynden Condo

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:14:59 -0600

https://accounts.craigslist.org/post/shwpst?pii=1464493203&db=lv

Lynden WA Home for sale

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 01:39:50 -0500

Anna Biondolillo | Keller Williams Western Realty | (360) 920-2164

602 Woodcreek Dr, Lynden, WA

Pride of ownership in every detail! Quiet, established neighborhood. Hardwood floors, skylights, private backyard, etc

3 Bdrm Single Family House

offered at $288,000

Year Built	Unspecified
Sq Footage	1,654
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1 full, 1 partial
Floors	1
Parking	2 Car garage
Lot Size	11,048 sqft
HOA/Maint	$0 per month

DESCRIPTION

Pride of ownership in every detail! Immaculately maintained home located in one of Lynden's quietest and most desirable neighborhoods. Spacious front porch, hardwoo floors, large master bedroom, skylights, and more. Private backyard boasts mature cedars and low maintenance landscaping as well as a partially covered deck perfect for outdoor entertaining!!

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

Walk-in closet	Hardwood floor	Family room
Living room	Dining room	Dishwasher
Refrigerator	Stove/Oven	Microwave
Washer	Dryer	Laundry area - inside
Balcony, Deck, or Patio	Yard

COMMUNITY FEATURES

Garage parking

Guest parking

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Map of property

Website

Mortgage calculator

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Seller contact info:

Anna Biondolillo

Keller Williams Western Realty

(360) 920-2164

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Jun 13, 2007, 4:59pm PDT

Where's the second best place to live??

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 18:18:13 -0500

BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON! According to Bert Sperling in an article posted in the New York Times.

The number 3 spot went to Portland, Oregon, and the coveted number 1 spot went to: Gainesville, Florida.

Anyone remember what happened to the town of Dante's Peak right after it was ranked number 2? :)

Young Age: friend or foe?

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:04:24 -0500

Being young and in real estate brings with it its challenges. Establishing your validity right out of the starting becomes routine as it virtually always expected. I am often asked, "How old are you?" from skeptical prospective clients, and that's my cue to convince them that I may be young, but I'm not stupid. Of course, I don't try to convince people of my competency by spouting off my resume, but by telling them what they want to know about real estate. Staying continually informed on things like market stats has become invaluable, because people don't argue with numbers. Dressing professionally has also become a necessity. Even on "casual Friday" because you never know who you're going to be meeting. And when you're young, there often really isn't such thing as a second impression.

Being on the defensive is never very fun, but there are ways to make people think that being young is actually to their benefit. First off-you're hungry, meaning you'll do whatever it takes to satisfy their needs because you don't have the luxury (yet) of sitting back and cherry picking from a referral box. Perhaps our biggest advantage, however, is being of the "technology generation." The fact that we are capable of navigating the Internet to take advantage of programs that make everyone's life easier, puts us a cut above the "old-timers" who haven't yet mastered the double-click maneuver (there's nothing like making your point with a gross exaggeration.)

"We think we'd like to try to sell our home by ourselves," and other objections...

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:06:49 -0500

When it comes to listing someone's property, we encounter a lot of objections as to why the seller feels it's not in their best interest to do so. One of the most common objections I hear, especially in our buyer's market, is the owner wanting to FSBO their property. Here's a sample script that I've used and have had success with:

I can appreciate the idea of selling a home by owner. Your biggest objection is probably paying the commission. I like to save money too, so let me impress on you some facts from the National Association of Realtors. Just a little background on the NAR first. They poll hundreds of thousands of people every year and are known for having very accurate and non-biased polls. They found that 84% of all FSBO's eventually list with a Realtor. That's a success rate of a mere 16%. Also, on average, FSBO's get between 8 and 12% less than they would if they listed with a realtor, so even though we charge a 6% commission, according to these stats you would still earn more from your sale by around 4%. And, I'm not trying to scare you, but it is a fact that 80% of all real estate related court battles include a FSBO party. So, even if you are part of the rare 16% who successfully sell your home by yourself, you will likely make less money and have a dramatically higher chance of being involved in a law suit. If you do decide to sell on your own, it would be wise to obtain errors and omissions insurance and better yet if you were to hire a real estate attorney to handle the paperwork for you. I also want you to consider the fact that most buyers work with an agent, and buyer's agents aren't going to work for free. So unless you're willing to pay a selling commission to a buyer ‘s agent, you're basically excluding 85% of your buyers. So, for all the risks and stats do you still think it's worth it to sell on your own?

Pricing property properly, is also often an issue of contention. Sellers often want to list their home above fair market value. It's easy enough to agree to their price with the understanding that if there isn't any action within the first few weeks, a price reduction will be introduced, but then you lose a lot of the activity that is prevelent within the first couple weeks after a home hits the market. I like to say something along the following:

By listing at the price you suggest, we are not listing merely at a higher price, but at an overpriced priced. Believe me, I want to sell your home for as much as possible, but to do that, we must price it accurately. Buyers are going to be comparing your home constantly to others they've seen. We can't fool them. If we overprice your home they are going to use it as justification for putting in an offer on your neighbor's home. When we first list a property is when we see the most activity and then it will drop off and plateau after a couple weeks. When there is a high level of activity we are more likely to recieve an offer. We want to capitalize on the first couple weeks of activity by pricing it right and sticking firm to our price. Also, this can cause multiple offers, and create a bidding-war environment. I'm not guaranteeing that this will happen, but your chances of having it so are much more likely with an aggressively priced property.

It's empowering to be prepared with with scripts like these. Once you internalize them it keeps you from floundering for answers when faced with tough questions and observations. Any more ideas?

Overstepping his bounds as a lender...?

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:40:55 -0500

Situation: With my buyer's closing date a scant 9 days away, they suddenly inform me that their lender was unable to get their loan approved through the bank he had them pre-approved through. He thought he would try a different program through another bank to see if he could salvage the deal. I tried to contact him to get more details, but he must have been too busy to answer or return any of my phone calls. Instead, I received a call from the LISTING agent, who was completely frantic because my buyer's lender had called him and told him that my buyers were looking shaky! For him to taint the seller's opinion of my buyers was completely unnecessary. It is not the job of the lender to inform the listing agent the current status of the loan. Is this clearly outlined in a code of ethics anywhere?

Lynden's Current Market Trends

Anna Biondolillo (Keller Williams Western Realty) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:21:53 -0500

RESIDENTIAL (Homes only)

MONTH ACTIVE LISTINGS AVG DOM Min Price Max Price Avg Price Med Price

May 50 27 199,000 1,989,000 463,102 369,900

April 31 55 159,900 699,900 394,179 389,000

March 23 84 182,450 889,000 398,630 369,900

Please visit our Bellingham Real Estate site for more stats!