Dear Princess Janie Doe,

I found your picture today, and I cried. Strawberry blonde, with angel dusted freckles across your little nose; you looked up at me from the flat, lifeless paper that captured your tender smile.  It was your first grade school picture wasn't it?  Or perhaps it was from your kindergarten year. 

Others had seen you, or at least they should have.  Their crisp business cards with perfectly crafted messages and various phone numbers lay nearby, dutifully announcing their presence in your home. With nothing else left, they had to have seen you. I did, and I cried.

Your bedroom was painted the tenderest shade of pink. Not just any pink. This pink was carefully chosen just for the princess who once lived there.  Princess Janie's bedroom, or it once was, where fairy tales and first day of school jitters played out. 

I found your picture today, and I put it in my pocket, before my customers arrived.  It seemed wrong to leave you there, exposed to prying eyes, to bargain hunters, to those looking for a deal.  Like birds of prey picking through the remains they come, ready to swoop down and carry away the rewards of their hunt. You were far too precious to be exposed to that.

The husband didn't like your bedroom.  He thought the color ghastly.  I clutched your picture in my pocket as if to shield you from his words, from his invasion of your room.  I wanted him to leave it; he didn't deserve to be in the presence of Disney princess dreams, Barbie playtime, and places where tooth fairies visit during slumber.

I found your picture today, and I hope you heard me tell you that I was sorry.  I am sorry that I didn't find you sooner and in a very different way.  I am sorry that you were let down, that we all somehow failed you.

If only your mommy and daddy had known how to find me, or someone like me, to ask about what we know that could have possibly kept you in your world of pretty pinks and little girl dreams.

I found your picture today, and I kept it.  I hope you don't mind.  You remind me to keep searching, to keep trying to get the word out to other little girl's parents who I may be able to help, who I may offer some guidance to, or some words of comfort, and of hope that they haven't heard.  Words that may keep them from walking away from princess dreams and the land of fairytales.  Or at least, get you back into your land of pink far sooner than just walking away, as your parents felt they could only do.

I found your picture today, and I cried.

I ran across this cute video today and keep going back to look at it over and over!  It reminds me that no matter what the economy is doing, and how stressed we have become in the current market, that life goes on and there ARE more important 'things' in life to give our attention to.

If you need to put a smile on your face or need to downright belly laugh, take a quick look at this precious baby girl's attempts to tell her daddy her "story".

http://richards-creations.net/Videos/Are-women-born-like-this.html

Straight Talk to Sellers Needing to Sell Their Homes

One of the last things sellers want to do when getting ready to list their home is to spend money on the home unnecessarily.  After all, their main goal is to net all the money they can on the sale of the home. Why pay for something for a home they are trying to 'get rid of'? 

Most sellers think a home inspection is something a buyer will order once they have an accepted offer to purchase the home. Yes, most buyers will order and pay for a home inspection, but they will also walk away from your home if the inspection uncovers health and safety issues that could have been prevented or repaired before the buyer saw it at its worst. 

What?  I thought the buyer wanted MY home!

We are seeing this more and more in the Baldwin County Alabama real estate market. Homes for sale are receiving offers that sellers are accepting, home inspections are conducted, and a few buyers are walking away.

Why not just ask the seller to repair the problems? 

With so many properties on the market similar to yours, a buyer may not want to deal with problems and damage caused by a leaking roof, mold in the attic, and other such concerns.  They may feel you have had ample time to make any needed repairs, and yet you haven't.  Of course, you've noticed how your roof has looked pretty rough and has aged since Hurricane Katrina howled through and loosened the shingles.  Sure, the patch job held for a while, but come on, that was almost four years ago.  And secretly, you've been hoping no one would notice.

There are other homes available in Baldwin County without these concerns and appear to be better maintained which translates to a buyer as a better overall value. 

If a buyer can spend $350 to inspect your home and then just walk away, wouldn't it be better in this market for you to spend the $350, make needed repairs, and present a more hassle-free home to compete against the others? 

A home inspector typically returns a list of two or three dozen items that need attention in most homes. It would be in a seller's best interest to be the first and sometimes ONLY person to see that initial report, repair the small picky items, and head off health and safety nightmares that cause buyers to walk away with the check for your house still in their hands.

If you would like to view all homes on the market in Daphne, Fairhope, Spanish Fort, Foley, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and the surrounding communities, visit www.ByTheBay.info and for a list of foreclosed homes, and condos visit www.BaldwinForeclosedHomes.com 

Or, worse yet, from the next door neighbor welcoming the new couple," It was such a shame when they found Mr. Smith in the basement last fall. He was such a quiet man."

While death is a natural end to the cycle of life, how does the news of a prior death within a now listed property affect the resale today?  I pose this question because upon listing a home, my office has a question on our property disclosure that addresses this issue.

I have asked the question to many buyers if they would find a death on the property bothersome to the point of choosing not to pursue a purchase of that home.  My informal findings were basically related to age of the buyer answering the question.  Older buyers are less bothered, but only if the death was natural.  Younger buyers range from, "Don't tell me, I don't want to know" to "No, I would not purchase a home where I know there was any type of death."  Most buyers answered they would not consider a purchase where there had been a suicide or other violent death.

With the onset of more and more of our sick and elderly choosing to die at home in peace and with dignity, how has this trend affected real estate price and resale? Do other areas disclose death in the home, both natural and tragic?

Personally, I have experienced an at home death in my immediate family, and was grateful hospitalization was not involved.  And, I have purchased a home where I was told that a natural death of the elderly owner occurred.  On the other hand, a few years ago, I backed away from the purchase of a home where the seller informed me while standing in the basement that her son had committed suicide in the very spot where we stood.

With the multitude of foreclosed homes without owners to inquire of onsite deaths, are agents exposed to issues of buyer agency neglect? If buyers find the issue of death within a property uncomfortable, should they make this fact known to their agent?  Most buyers truly haven't considered the possibilty, but their preference may make a difference if asked.

Oops, Uh-Oh, Oh Geez, I made a boo boo with our local MLS information.  Clearly stated as a no no in the MLS Rules and Regulations, I've been entering sales data on my Active Rain blog for given local communities.  My error, I should have read more carefully, but what I gathered from the rule had to do with market share of an office, not with my purpose and intention of informing the public with local sales trends in order to make wise buying or selling decisions.  Clearly, no office information was ever posted.

My apologies to the countless customers and clients who will no longer be able to find local sales data for Baldwin County posted here. Those areas included Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Foley, Daphne, Fairhope, Spanish Fort and the surrounding communities.

Home Buyers and Sellers: Your agent holds the data of local, publicly recorded real estate sales information.  We are unfortunately not allowed to post the needed information by address and sales price.  I tried......

Just wanted to update followers who have counted on this information in the past, but now I am off to finalize two closings this week on my listings.  Call me if you need to list your home to get it sold, and of course, I CAN discuss those neighboring sold prices with you in person, I just can't post it here to make it easier for you.

Two Separate Boards of Realtors?

If you've ever searched for homes and real estate in the Mobile and Baldwin County areas of Alabama, you probably did not realize that we have two separate Multiple Listing Services (MLS) that are NOT connected.  We have the Mobile MLS System and the Baldwin County MLS System, and each has its own Board of Realtor Association.  Most agents are not members of both, because of the additional cost to the agents. I believe that to best serve clients, a membership in both Associations is needed, so I choose to be a member of both boards.

Why is it Important for Your Realtor to Belong to Both Boards and MLS's? 

Both MLS Systems have listings for both counties by cities. The MLS listings are also uploaded to numerous participating websites that broadcast the listings worldwide for maximum exposure. When a buyer is searching for properties from either MLS, many homes and listings are not represented and cannot be found even though they are for sale.  A seller's best interest is not being served, if a buyer cannot easily locate the property for sale when a local agent subscribes to only one MLS. 

Both MLS Listings Combined

MLS Access to Both Mobile and Baldwin Counties

To simplify the search process, I have set up the above website that finally does what our two MLS systems do not. This link combines BOTH MLS systems into one easy to navigate website for a customer's ease of use. Feel free to email this link to friends and family who happen to be in the market to either buy or sell property in Mobile or Baldwin Counties.

Whether you are looking for homes in Fairhope or Foley, Daphne or Dauphin Island, Summerdale or Satsuma, Silverhill or Saraland, Mobile or Magnolia Springs, Bayou la Batre or Bay Minette and all towns in between, you'll find them represented.

For additional information on buying or selling property in coastal Alabama, visit www.ByTheBay.info

I was recently asked to provide information to a potential seller about what today’s buyer is willing to pay for homes in the Lake Forest area of Daphne, Alabama. I thought after my research that I would post this timely information as others may benefit from it, and it does apply to all areas and subdivisions in Baldwin County as well.

As you have probably noticed in your neighborhood, many nice homes are sitting on the market and are not selling. Why is that? Because buyers are not willing to pay top dollar in this market we are now in. You may be wondering what is selling, what buyers are looking for today, and what prices homes will bring.

Today, there are 139 homes for sale in the MLS in Lake Forest alone, with 9 of these pending. In addition, there are a few dozen for sale by owner homes in the subdivision. Many other homes have expired from the MLS without selling.

From these numbers, you can see that competition is very tough for sellers to attract the few buyers that are out there. What this translates to is that PRICE is what will sell a home in this market. The lowest priced homes for the size are selling, and buyers can afford to be choosey with so many to look at.

Pretty much the lowest price house, in the best shape is getting offers, while other very nice homes just sit on the market and aren’t getting any offers.

These statistics are sobering: In just over three months, only 16 homes out of over 180 homes up for sale have sold in Lake Forest in Daphne. If no other homes entered the market for sale, it would take THREE YEARS to reduce the inventory of available homes at this rate.

From this you can see that PRICE is indeed what it will take to sell a home today. So, if you are taking the approach of , "Let's price it high because we can always come down", you may just have three years to see if your idea will work to attract your buyer.

Similar to Speed Dating where a single person spends about 5 minutes talking to a prospective date and then moves to the next person when a timer sounds, a few sellers seem to be employing this basic idea in today’s more challenged market. Case in point: I had a seller phone me a few months ago to list a home that was due to expire within days with Agent #1. The home had been on the market for a six month period without an offer, so we reduced the price somewhat and I began an intense marketing campaign. On day 88, I withdrew the listing at my seller’s request so the home could be, according to them, “Refinanced and can’t be active in the MLS”. One week later, the home popped up on the MLS with a third agent. “So, the way some listings go,” I thought, and silently wished them well. Now, after 90 days with Agent #3, the seller has moved back to agent #1. From what I can see, each agent has done as much as could be done with marketing this home, but the market is what it is. I believe this is a case where sellers are having a difficult time listening to the reality that we as Realtors are trying to tell them about the local market and what they need to do to sell their homes today. No, the market isn’t pretty for sellers right now, but agent hopping shows up in the MLS and points to desperation on the part of the seller. Any good buyer’s agent will pick up on this and inform an interested buyer client with these facts, resulting in the lowest possible offer price on this property. Was this what the seller had in mind? Probably not.