Pricing Historic Homes in Urban Neighborhoods, Step Four - Analyzing the SOLDs - Dealing with the Outliers
Maryland, and Baltimore in particular has been voted the most visibly historic town in America. There are lots of historic neighborhoods, historic homes not just in Baltimore but across the state. Pricing homes that are visibly historic, on the National Register of Hisoric Places or within historic districs can be both a challenge and time consuming. The most important thing you can do to help your client is to preview other homes in your marketplace, so you know how the homes compare and therefore how the prices compare.
If you are in the market to purchase an historic home or are in the market to sell an historic home then you want to work with an agent that is familiar with historic properties, historic neighborhoods, the local enforcement requirements for maintaining and improving historic homes.
If you are thinking of buying or selling a home give me a call today and we'll talk about the market conditions and what your home could possibly be worth in today's market place if you are thinking of selling. You can save thousands by listing your home with Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc.. If you are considering buying a home, there is no better time than now to buy. The tax savings and wealth building a lone is worth the plunge into todays market.
In keeping with saluting our heroes, during 2009 Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc is waving administrative fees active duty military, retired military and the families of fallen military, as well as policemen, firemen and emt's. If you enter into a contract by the New Year's eve Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc. will waive the admin fee at settlement. This is a $350 savings. If you are thinking about buying or selling a home give Advance Realty Anne Arundel a call and receive full service real estate assistance from an experienced agent. Our office is open 7 days a week and we can be reached at 410-761-1550.
June Piper-Brandon, Broker - Advance Realty Anne Arundel Inc.
Thanks to those who are sticking thru this series with me! While I think that the process of properly pricing homes is fascinating stuff, I know it's not nearly as sexy as other topics! (Although SELLING your properly priced listing is very sexy, indeed.)
In the previous installments...
Introduction
Step One - Before you price, prepare!
Step Two - Preview, preview, preview
Step Three - Play detective...we talked about how to effectively preview the competition to figure out where your potential listing falls into the scheme of things. So, what about the SOLDs?
The problem with using SOLDs in your market analysis is, unless you've been a previewing mad(wo)man over the last eight months, you probably haven't seen the inside of the properties, and now it's too late. So you have to go off the MLS description - a very risky proposition!
But we'll do our best.
Print off all the SOLDs that seem to be comparable, even if they're much higher or lower than your assumption of the market value of "your" listing. Drive by all of them! Pay special attention to the outliers - the ones that seem to have sold way out of whack to the rest of the market, or whose Days on Market statistic is unusually low or high.
There's a good chance your drive-by will reveal the reason for the out-of-line price or DOM. Perhaps there's a commercial building next door, behind or across the street. Or, common in Denver, a corner lot that doesn't have a private back yard, or any back yard at all. Maybe it's a pop-top done wrong and doesn't fit in with the neighborhood. Busy street with a bus stop in the front yard?
Or conversely, you might see that it has a stellar location with an extra-large lot, a mountain view, or around the corner (at a suitable distance) from a popular coffee shop.
If the reason for the outlying price and/or DOM isn't obvious from your drive-by, go line-by line through the MLS listing. Is it missing a garage in a market that expects garages? No basement? One bathroom? Obviously, if the interior photos show that it needs work, that's relevant. Check the showing instructions to see if there are any obvious limitations on access.
If all else fails, and you really feel a particular house is a good comparable, call the listing agent. Hopefully they'll be helpful in helping you understand why the house sold at the price it did. Or, maybe not. But give it a try.
It really is the outliers that give you the most grief when looking at the SOLDs. There probably are some sold listings that fall right in line with what you're thinking the price of your listing ought to be, but the ones that don't give you fits. The more research you do on these outliers will not only make your CMA stronger, but will give you an air of confidence when going through your CMA with a seller.
Next Time - Putting it All Together
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