buying a home: Buyers Who Wait Until January Will Have MORE Competition--Don't Be a Sheep!
- 10/23/10 04:51 AM
Fall...that time of the year when the leaves turn brilliant red before dying, the air becomes crisp before freezing and real estate sales slow before going into hibernation until after New Years. I've got an open house today and I'm sure I will hear the fall chorus sung by buyers over and over again today..."We are waiting until January to buy." "We are waiting until January to buy." That is the reason many real estate agents take off on vacation in the fall and why all agents LOVE January. January is HOT and has been for me during every type of economic … (1 comments)
buying a home: All the Agents Like the List Price...but There are Still NO Offers
- 09/29/10 01:28 PM
More than ever I am noticing that I am getting a lot of very positive feedback from the agents who show my listings and from agents on broker caravan tours BUT no offers. Hummmm.... The agents tell me, 'The house is awesome!' and 'The price is on-target.' and 'You'll have no trouble selling pretty quickly.' Then there is always that BUT...it's their buyer's second choice or their buyer isn't in a hurry to buy yet, or the master closet is too small, etc. Quite often I have agents write down what they think the home value is on the back of their business cards during … (2 comments)
buying a home: Downsizing & Rightsizing are the Fastest Ways to Improve Your Financial Situation
- 08/19/10 08:51 AM
Downsizing and Rightsizing are the fastest ways to improve your financial situation, if that is what you truly want or need to do. Downsizing is usually buying a smaller home after the kids are gone and is often done to reduce housing costs and maintenance hassles. It's a no-brainer for many retirees and empty-nesters. But what is "rightsizing?" Rightsizing is to make a move purely to reduce your housing costs and improve your financial picture quickly. Rightsizing includes... --The same size house in a less-expensive area. --A smaller home in the same area. --A home that doesn't have all the luxury features of … (0 comments)
buying a home: Is the future of the Move Up Buyer Dead??
- 08/02/10 10:28 AM
Twice this week past clients express their frustration wondering if they will ever be able to "move up" to a bigger house in a better area. Both clients are in their late 20s/early 30s and want to emulate the way their parents moved up the property ladder during the 1970s through mid-2000. These clients bought their current homes a little after the start of the skyrocketing climb about 5 to 6 years ago and now have growing families...and growing expectations that now is the time for the next step in their lives to a bigger, better home. I think the past decade warped our … (2 comments)
buying a home: Which investment is better--real estate or stocks?
- 05/21/08 04:39 AM
Which investment is better...real estate or stocks? If you ask a Realtor, you know which answer you will get and the same goes for a stock broker. Of course, common sense says you should have a little of both but if I had to choose only one, I would pick real estate. In early April, it was time to fund my IRA account. I hate to admit this but I really only look at my brokerage account once a year compared to my daily contact with the real estate market. However, I subscribe to Money and Forbes, so I try to … (0 comments)
buying a home: Ways Prices Drop
- 04/10/08 08:23 AM
It seems common sense that the reason real estate prices drop is because there is too much supply and limited demand. BUT WAIT!! There are other factors at work behind the scenes. The housing market is not like your average retail store that puts products on the shelf and offers advertised specials. One way prices drop is when property is sold privately off the market. Believe it or not, some sellers would rather have either a private party buy it under market. This private party could be a family member or a friend, or maybe they have a friend in real estate who has a buyer … (0 comments)
buying a home: Will Roger Must Have Been a Landlord--He Sure Wasn't a Flipper!
- 01/15/08 02:39 PM
I love this quote from Will Rogers... "You don't wait and buy real estate. You buy real estate and wait." Every day I get calls from investors ready to get back into the market to flip and grow rich. Ironically most of the homes that are currently bank owned are flips that flopped. My philosophy in general is to buy real estate to hold unless the market has increased to make at least 10% profit after rehab, holding and real estate fees. Our current market is a perfect market to get into a home that needs some cosmetic repair and live in the … (2 comments)
buying a home: Buyer Tests the Market with Multiple Offers to See Who Really Wants to Sell
- 01/15/08 02:57 AM
One of my buyer clients found several properties he liked equally and made offers on multiple properties at the same time. All the sellers knew they were in a multiple offer situation. Yes, the offers were low but not what I would consider offending. Out of 5 offers, 3 sellers came back with full-price or nearly full-price counter offers. One of those full-price counter offers was also loaded with so many special terms they would strangle a buyer. Two sellers came back with fairly generous price reductions and the buyer chose to continue to negotiate with one of those offers. A week … (0 comments)
buying a home: Some Sellers Won't Negotiate a Penny!
- 11/30/07 05:35 AM
It is interesting to see how the sellers of newer listings, meaning those on the market less than 30 days, haven't quite caught on to the fact that it's not a seller's market anymore. I have presented several offers to "newbie" sellers and the counters came back at full price. These are not multiple counter situations. However, sellers who have been waiting for an offer or who passed up earlier offers and have now been on the market 60 days or longer are eagar to negotiate and are working for win-win outcomes. ATTENTION SELLERS! This is not a seller's market anymore. … (0 comments)
buying a home: Take Media Forecasts with a Grain of Salt
- 11/22/07 03:38 AM
My first job out of college many years ago was as a fact checker so I'm always on guard for discrepancies. But, as a Realtor I was actually delighted to discover in the most recent issue of Money Magazine there are two completely opposite statistics and forecasts regarding the housing market--I'm going to use these examples in my open houses to show buyers that deciding when to buy should be based on personal need not on media forecasts... Page 34--Housing prices increased only 3.2% nationally in the year ended June 2007; and Grand Junction, Colorado experienced a 14.3% 1-year price increase and "still sizzles." Page … (0 comments)
buying a home: Zillow.com is a BIG FAT Zero.com
- 11/11/07 06:10 AM
Zero accuracy that is. Let me explain... Three times this week I got calls from clients or prospective clients asking me why Zillow.com gave a particular home value and that it seems out of line. That's because it represents almost nothing! Zillow.com does base their "Zestimates" on data but it's like going to the doctor and you get a full diagnosis of your health based on only your blood pressure. You can't base a home's value on limited data because very few homes are exactly alike and very few homes have been sold over and over without modifications. For example, Zillow.com doesn't know that … (1 comments)
buying a home: Does the Sales Price Seem too Low?? It's Probably a Short Sale and that Means "NO" Sale!
- 11/11/07 04:58 AM
A client emailed two MLS numbers of properties she would like to see. They were priced way under market and she thought it would be an opportunity to get a great buy. Again I am reminded of the old saying, if something looks too good to be true it usually is. In this case the listings were both short sales. That means that the homes are listed at a price that is less than what is owed on the property. In these cases, the properties were listed $100,000 less what was owed. In a short sale the bank must agree to accept less than what … (1 comments)
buying a home: Deja Vu?? 5-Year Anniversary of the Bear Market for U.S. Stocks
- 10/09/07 11:56 AM
Tomorrow is the 5-year anniversary of the low point of the U.S. stock market when the S&P 500 bottomed out at 777 before it began a 5-year bull market run that reached 1558 last Friday and appears to still be climbing. What's interesting abou this is the Buiness Section of the USA Today on 10/10/05 read, "Where's the Bottom, No End in Sight." Gloom and doom splashed across the top of the business section of the newspaper and probably the lead story of every TV news show and talk radio station. But everyone was WRONG! That day actually marked the turning … (4 comments)
buying a home: "Time is money and I don't want to waste time showing my buyer properties."
- 09/24/07 03:25 AM
A local agent called me yesterday afternoon about one of my listings he was thinking of showing his buyer client. He wanted to know if the seller would be interested in a lease option. I told him the seller would be very interested. He went on to ask me how much the seller would sell the house for. Hello?!? If I knew the seller's bottomline, I wouldn't tell him. I suggested he make an offer and we would see what happens. He also said he wasn't happy with the amount of commission offered (2.5%). I told him it is possible that could be … (6 comments)
buying a home: The Housing Market is Very Localized...Some Neighorhoods are DOWN and Some are UP!
- 09/17/07 05:43 AM
Listening to the media can be very confusing when you are trying to decide whether to buy or sell now. Not only are reports conflicting but they are usually based nationwide, statewide or regional statistics. In fact, the housing market is very localized, meaning that you can have a down market less than a mile from a stable market. In addition, neighorhoods that have fewer homes on the market, sell at a higher price. Basically, it's still a market economy driven by how much money a buyer is willing to pay. This is why it is important to work with an … (1 comments)
Fall...that time of the year when the leaves turn brilliant red before dying, the air becomes crisp before freezing and real estate sales slow before going into hibernation until after New Years. I've got an open house today and I'm sure I will hear the fall chorus sung by buyers over and over again today..."We are waiting until January to buy."
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