value: The wrong way to establish property value - 11/11/09 01:53 PM
The idea that because you have X number of dollars, that your favorite home is worth X number of dollars just does not work.
I have been on both sides of this wrong headed approach to deciding the value of a home. That is I have had buyers insisting on making an offer that I know will go nowhere because it ignores the value of the home, and I have represented sellers who are receiving offers that are not even worth putting on paper.
Most of us try very hard to show clients property in their price range.  I work at … (3 comments)

value: A good customer even without a computer - 07/24/09 01:59 AM
I came to the real estate world long after computers had infested society.  In fact with my twenty years at Apple, I could rightly be accused of helping spread those computers.
So almost all of my real estate clients have been computer users to some degree.  I had a buyer last summer who did not use a computer.  I ended up printing pictures and sending them to him.
The convenience of email is really hard to argue.  It is immediate and more often than not you can accomplish a lot of business using email.
Recently I had another computerless buyer come … (3 comments)

value: A contratrian view on home prices - 08/03/08 02:46 PM
There has been some discussion on a forum that I frequest about house prices needing to come down on the Crystal Coast.
It is an easy argument, prices need to come down so sales will come up.  Unfortunately the logic is probably wrong.
To start with if lower prices were the answer, then why does the data show the most houses being sold in 2005 when the average price was the highest.
Unfortunately pricing is only part of our problem and then only in relation to value.  I have seen builders struggle trying to awaken buyers with lower prices.  We now … (0 comments)