I hope everyone has a safe and fun Thanksgiving Weekend.

Nice busy real estate weekend; inspections for a property that has been a bear from the beginning and an early listing appointment followed by an (lonely) open house.

We asked for a 21 day inspection period because the homeowner had storm damage that was supposed to be repaired almost 3 weeks ago.  First it was an issue with the power and now the inspection is on hold because the water that was promised never materialized.  And on we go.  The upside, and there always an upside, is that the house is cute, cute, cute.  Very nicely laid out and renovated pseudo-shotgun/bungalow in Clifton; the perfect location for my urban-oriented buyer.  My hope is that the water is on today, the inspections get finished and the small list of repairs are accomplished with out incident.  When it comes to DRAMA, I’m a HATA!

Sunday was busy also.  I arrived at the office about 9:30 to finish preparing for a listing presentation and an open house. I thought the listing presentation went well.  Great couple referred to me by another referral client.   I couldn’t figure out why the house hadn’t sold considering the pictures and the price, but a brief tour made it clear.  There was nothing huge, just little things that you could live with for years before you did anything about.  We all have little projects around the house that seem really small, but when you decide to market your home all those little things can seem huge to buyers.  When buyers put a price tag on those little projects, they are usually high.  The trick is not having them make that call in the first place.  Most buyers don’t want to work on a house after they move in.  Some are just too broke because they have been saving and now all their money is in their new purchase. We went room by room and made a substation list of little things; more that I typically do before getting signatures.  It is so important to be prepared when you list. 

The open house was not like you see on HGTV.  I am glad I could find some unsecured Wi-Fi from a neighbor to help pass the time. The house was a cute little brick ranch off Browns Lane. Well cared for with a full basement; call me if you’re interested.

And now for the numbers:

Statistics

LISTINGS                                 Residential

November 17 -23, 2008               546     

Last Year                                  352     

SOLDS  

November 9-15, 2008                 166      

Last Year                                  204      

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Thanksgiving Weekend.