The Havelock Opinion

Presentation, Presentation

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 01:20:59 -0800

Almost as bad as the current political situation, the housing industry seems to be up in the air. The influencer Realtor class will tell you that prices are up and sales are up.. true but oddly spotty. In some markets the inventory is high but people are getting prices for their homes well over appraised values. Other quality homes that are priced right go sitting. Presentation of a given property and its appeal to the buying public seems to have surpassed the issue of price point. Updating but not necessarily upgrading a new listing is ultimately the deciding factor.

Price and Presentation Top Priority

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 04:23:22 -0800

The real estate marketplace is becoming more competitive. While updated quality properties are being snapped up within days or even hours of being listed, the typical pre-owned home is listed for weeks, and even months before an offer is made. The entire process is now based on only two material influencers: Price and Presentation. Online "zestimated" values are not anchored in the reality of the neighborhood in which the homes are located. Online values, available to the general public, are generally based on average per square foot values of sold properties within up to a mile radius of the subject home. The size, quality and demographic personality of any given collection of neighborhoods and the homes within are probably not consistent or homogeneous within any given radius search area. Million dollar homes may be averaged in with $200,000 homes. Older neighborhoods are comingled with shinny new up to date new developments. Professional appraisals or Broker Price Opinions will take into the variables and will put the home in a position to be value competitive. Selling a home is like applying for a job, presentation in photos and in actuality is key. For example a dirty home will not garner the same response as one that is clean and freshly painted. If most homes in an area have the original lighting fixtures, one with some updated fixtures will stand out like a sore thumb. (in a good way). A new decorator front door will set a positive tone for the potential buyers visit. A home that is in a well-used “dog eared” condition will come back to bite the seller in their proverbial rear-end in time and ultimate sale price. The longer a home is on the market the odds increase for potential buyers to offer a low ball price. Follow the advice of a qualified agent, broker or staging professional. Most costs associated with make ready updating will be recaptured in the sale price. Clean, organized with updated fixtures a big plus!

Teens Now Realtors..Literally

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 03:03:04 -0800

As if the real estate industry was not getting more complex with all the new regulatory requirements and oversight, some of us will have to start really watching out for not only what we do but what some co-operating agents may do or not do. A recent newspaper article just proclaimed that the local school district is providing a pre-licensing program for high schoolers so that they could get their real estate license after graduation or I assume their 18th birthday. I guess it won’t be much different than dealing with some “adult” agents I have run into.

Online Value Estimates Problematic!

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 04:01:00 -0800

While technology has become an important part of our lives, some aspects of the new information access age is problematic. We were just asked to list a property that was involved a trust type situation. To eliminate any possible family issues downline, we suggested that a professional appraisal be accomplished before formally putting the home on the market.A state licensed appraiser was hired. In a professional and timely fashion, he came back with an appraisal of $215,000. The seller was horrified because she just saw an estimated value on Zillow of $244,000.She was immediately skeptical of the qualifications of the appraiser. Keep in mind when accessing these online "value" estimates they are extremely generalized. Algorythms used to calculate online estimates only consider averages. Averages which are influenced dramatically by the size and sold prices of homes in a genertic area range regardless of the personality of nearby neighbors or neighborhoods When deciding on a desired selling price make certain to give weight to the agent and others, like appraisers, who know the subelties associated with your particular neighborhood and the competing homes. Online estimates may but generally don't reflect the true values in any given situation.

A Disregarded Secret - Price & Presentation Sell!

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 09:38:52 -0800

Sellers tend to go to some consumer listing site such as Zillow and pull up all active and recently sold homes in the immediate area of their home for pricing comparisons. For undetermined reasons now days, an updated clean property is often priced nearly the same as the one that is dog eared and maybe not as clean as it could be. “Curb Appeal”, remember that old realtor term? Well allowing the front scrubs to become overgrown and a blank dirt yard in the back can kill any interest in purchasing your home. Remember when your Dad told you to wash and clean up your car before you take it to the dealer as a trade in? Well, presenting your home is the same. Prospective buyers know they will make changes to the house after closing but to present them with an ugly presentation to begin with, they will never get to the “what it can be” stage. The timing for the sale is also a major secret. If a quick sale is important then you have to have the nicest presentation at a price the same or less than the beat up dog down the street. Buyers are fickle. If a dog is a few thousand less than a nicely presented home, they will conclude that they can “fix up” the dog. That is within reason. Twenty thousand in the "guesstimated" cost to upgrade a home will not be off set by a couple thousand dollars in lower asking price. One of the biggest mistakes sellers make, when time is not so much an issue, is pricing the home too high thinking they can wait for “the right buyer”. If a home sits at a price for more than 90 days it becomes stale and prospective buyers (and agents) begin to wonder what is wrong with the property. Agents want listings and will often list a home for a price determined by you the seller or the convenient “comp” figures if they don’t know better. If you really want to sell your home in a timely fashion at a good price look at the presentation of the competition, be realistic in your timing and when necessary spend just a little to shine up the house so the curb appeal, in and out, makes the prospective buyer feel better about your house compared to the one down the street. Spending a couple of hundred dollars in cleaning and fixing things can result in many hundreds of additional dollars at the closing table.

Homeowners Become Renters And What A Difference

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:44:37 -0800

The real estate market is no longer impacted just by those who bit off more than they could chew when they bought their home a couple of years ago. Now almost everyone who purchased a home between 2004 and 2008 probably owes more on the house than it is worth. Many have lost their jobs and can't carry their mortgage and need to downsize. An increasing number are being forced to sell short or in the worst case, walk away and the net result is that bad credit leads them to the rental market. The new market renter has not lived in an apartment or rental home since their young days when they first started out. Landlords and property managers have to understand that these people are different than the "fill a box" tenants of years past.

Don't Hold Your Breath On A Short Sale

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:25:28 -0800

As agents the only way we make money is how well we utilize our time. We are now learning that Short Sales require additional time to consummate often a lot of additional time. As a seller the documentation and decision time line will seem endless. You will be frustrated that you can't move forward with your life. As a buyer, don't wait until the last minute and don't fall in love with one house. I had a listing that I "sold" three times over a 12 month period. The first problem was a bank in second position wouldn't release the lien unless the seller came up with twenty thousand dollars. It fell through the second time because the buyer got tired of the delays and bailed. By the third offer the market had fallen even more and the value had decreased but the lender wouldn't come off their original number. The seller after more than two years is still in the home and is now going through the foreclosure process. We have a buyer situation in which a short sale offer was made in July. We were just now informed by Wells Fargo that they are assigning it to a new negotiator, the third one. We have encouraged the buyer to explore other options but he really wants this home and is willing to wait them out. This represents only two out of a multitude of short sales in which we have been involved both on the listing side and the buyer side. The point is that there are two rules when dealing with short sales. Rule number one is that there are no rules and rule number two is that sometimes rule number one doesn't apply. The only hard and fast requirement is patience, patience with your agent (believe me they are not having fun), patience with the process (it seems ridiculous and wasteful at times) and unfortunately, patience with the lender (they are so overwhelmed generally, they don't have a clue). Even those of you who are not in trouble with your mortgage may have to face the reality of short selling if you have to move or relocate because the value of your home is may be less than what is owed. So it's 2011, hit the restart button and if you have to sell for what ever reason, check with an accountant and a knowledgable realtor or attorney. If you are a buyer, just fasten your seat belt and be prepared for an emotional roller coaster.

Real Estate, Hydra The Five Headed Dragon

Ward Adams (Havelock-Adams, LLc) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:49:04 -0800

Today's real estate market has become a battle with Hydra the five headed dragon of ancient mythology. Government regulators, mortgage brokers, lender underwriters, asset managers and even listing agents present a snarling mass of potentially lethal decision makers. Any one of which can crush a sale or purchase of a home on a whim or stroke of a pen. As service providers, it is no longer their mission to expedite an activity with the target being a positive outcome. It is the beasts only mission to protect itself from any potential risks it may face. The sale and purchase of a home has become a nightmarish exercise with many traps and pitfalls. The consumer and sometimes a well intentioned real estate broker face an ever increasingly difficult gauntlet of ifs, ands, and buts. To be successful in a market that is dominated by egos, and power bullies, a buyer or seller has to find experienced professionals who can anticipate and out maneuver the hurdles. Professionals who are willing to invest their own time and effort and not pass their clients off to a "team" of clericals. The buyer has to come to the table with "cash" in hand and the seller must have a property priced and presented in a manner to standout from the clutter of foreclosures and short sale trashed properties. The market has put many sellers financially upside down with their homes. Short selling has proven to be more of a pain than a benefit to the seller and "walk away" foreclosures will soon become the norm. Even when a seller is in a positive value position they have to compete with wholesale price points. Buyers have to be prepared to wait for undetermined amounts of time and answer more and more invasive questions in order to qualify for the purchase a physical asset that no longer is adequate collateral to consummate a normal sale. The author is a licensed real estate broker and has personally faced the dragon, some of his clients have suffered mortal wounds from the encounter.