Okay, so this has nothing to do with real estate, but I must vent. I have started keeping a list of all retailers I'm boycotting that have started advertising Christmas before Thanksgiving. It's gotten so out of control.
So as not to find myself in a lawsuit, I will not mention the companies, but you know who you are. Of course, at this rate, I will be left shopping at gas stations for Christmas presents, as the list of these retailers is getting quite long.
In a couple years, we will start seeing Christmas stuff in the stores at the Fourth of July. Then ultimately, Christmas stuff will be around all year long just so we don't forget the biggest shopping season and keep the retailers in their profit margins.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Mercury Retrograde's Effect on Real Estate
What the heck is Mercury retrograde and what could it possibly have to do with real estate? A lot!
Mercury Retrograde is when the planet Mercury starts to go in a backward motion. This happens approximately three times a year for a 3 to 4 week period. We are currently in one of these periods and the havoc wreaked is real -- even if you don't believe in astrology. This retrograde started on October 12 and ends November 1. The planet Mercury rules communication and transportation. Therefore, it is not a good time to start anything new, such as a contract, job, etc. It is also a bad time for travel and buying anything expensive, especially electronics.
During this time, real estate transactions will fall out of escrow, communications will break down, and people will have disagreements. If you happen to have homes in contract, be especially diligent about communication with all parties and expect delays.
Despite Mercury Retrograde's negative aspects, there are some positive ones too. This period is a great time to "re" do anything. Reconnect with old friends, redo your closet, restart your workout routine, etc.
For more information on this subject, visit Susan Miller's Astrology Zone website:
http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/mercury.html
Mercury Retrograde is when the planet Mercury starts to go in a backward motion. This happens approximately three times a year for a 3 to 4 week period. We are currently in one of these periods and the havoc wreaked is real -- even if you don't believe in astrology. This retrograde started on October 12 and ends November 1. The planet Mercury rules communication and transportation. Therefore, it is not a good time to start anything new, such as a contract, job, etc. It is also a bad time for travel and buying anything expensive, especially electronics.
During this time, real estate transactions will fall out of escrow, communications will break down, and people will have disagreements. If you happen to have homes in contract, be especially diligent about communication with all parties and expect delays.
Despite Mercury Retrograde's negative aspects, there are some positive ones too. This period is a great time to "re" do anything. Reconnect with old friends, redo your closet, restart your workout routine, etc.
For more information on this subject, visit Susan Miller's Astrology Zone website:
http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/mercury.html
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Pricing a Home to Sell
In this current market of craziness, the proper pricing of a home has become an insurmountable challenge with Sellers. Our boom market gave home owners a mentality of what their home was worth at the height of the market in 2005 and Sellers just can't get whatever that price was out of their heads. The price of what a home would sell for is easy when looking at the facts, but convincing a Seller of that price is quite difficult.
An article in Inman news by Bernice Ross, which is directed at agents, but is also great advice for home Sellers outlines pricing strategies. See http://www.inman.com/content/story.aspx?ID=64177. The four points the article makes include the following:
1) Price a home below what recent comparable homes sold for to be competitive; no buyer wants to pay more for a home than is necessary
2) Don't try to test the market; test the market and you're just looking at wasted time and a price reduction in the near future
3) When reducing your home price, make a serious price reduction that will make a difference in the potential pool of buyers looking for a home; buyers search for homes based on price ranges, so if your home is listed for $475K and you reduce it to $470K, you haven't added a single new buyer to see your home -- however, if you lower your price to $450K, you just increased your pool of buyers for all those whose price maximum is $450K
4) What's your motivation to sell your home; do you "need" to sell or do you "want" to sell -- the longer your home sits on the market when priced improperly the more money you lose as homes values decline
An article in Inman news by Bernice Ross, which is directed at agents, but is also great advice for home Sellers outlines pricing strategies. See http://www.inman.com/content/story.aspx?ID=64177. The four points the article makes include the following:
1) Price a home below what recent comparable homes sold for to be competitive; no buyer wants to pay more for a home than is necessary
2) Don't try to test the market; test the market and you're just looking at wasted time and a price reduction in the near future
3) When reducing your home price, make a serious price reduction that will make a difference in the potential pool of buyers looking for a home; buyers search for homes based on price ranges, so if your home is listed for $475K and you reduce it to $470K, you haven't added a single new buyer to see your home -- however, if you lower your price to $450K, you just increased your pool of buyers for all those whose price maximum is $450K
4) What's your motivation to sell your home; do you "need" to sell or do you "want" to sell -- the longer your home sits on the market when priced improperly the more money you lose as homes values decline
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Overpricing a Home for Negotiating
There is a thought among home sellers that if they price their home a little high, it will leave room to negotiate down. Now while this strategy makes sense on paper, it completely backfires in our current buyer's market. Right now, if a home is priced too high, it's impossible to even get buyers in your home to negotiate.
A properly priced home will get buyers in the door and potential offers coming in. Homes are still selling in this market, obviously. However, what is selling is priced at market or below, in excellent condition or has some other outstanding feature such as location, school district, etc.
If you look at the statistics of homes selling, once a home is properly priced and sells, they majority are selling between 95% and 100%* or more of their asking price. So a seller doesn't necessarily have to come down much from a proper list price.
*A sale price of a home may include seller concessions for closing costs, which brings the actual purchase price down, usually at 3% of the purchase price.
A properly priced home will get buyers in the door and potential offers coming in. Homes are still selling in this market, obviously. However, what is selling is priced at market or below, in excellent condition or has some other outstanding feature such as location, school district, etc.
If you look at the statistics of homes selling, once a home is properly priced and sells, they majority are selling between 95% and 100%* or more of their asking price. So a seller doesn't necessarily have to come down much from a proper list price.
*A sale price of a home may include seller concessions for closing costs, which brings the actual purchase price down, usually at 3% of the purchase price.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Take a Picture, Sell a Home
With the invention of the Internet, the process of buying a home went from the hands of the Realtor to the hands of the consumer. According the the National Association of Realtors, nearly 80% of homebuyers start their home search on the Internet. The Internet search is where pictures of a home for sale are so important. It's the photos -- and good photos -- that gets a potential buyer in your home.
When I'm researching homes for a buyer, if I come across a listing without pictures or just a single photo of the front of the home, I typically bypass that home for others with multiple pictures that give me a good sense of what that home has to offer. However, sometimes a home's photos do not do the home justice, and sometimes the opposite also occurs.
In our multiple listing service here in Sacramento, we are allowed to post 12 photos of a home. We always post 12 photos. Posting any less than 12 photos is not giving a Seller the full potential of marketing their home to other Realtors as well as the consumer.
So, if we list your home, get ready for your house to say "cheese" and pose for our camera!
For info on taking good property photos visit, http://realestate.msn.com/Selling/Article_wsj.aspx?cp-documentid=5414351
When I'm researching homes for a buyer, if I come across a listing without pictures or just a single photo of the front of the home, I typically bypass that home for others with multiple pictures that give me a good sense of what that home has to offer. However, sometimes a home's photos do not do the home justice, and sometimes the opposite also occurs.
In our multiple listing service here in Sacramento, we are allowed to post 12 photos of a home. We always post 12 photos. Posting any less than 12 photos is not giving a Seller the full potential of marketing their home to other Realtors as well as the consumer.
So, if we list your home, get ready for your house to say "cheese" and pose for our camera!
For info on taking good property photos visit, http://realestate.msn.com/Selling/Article_wsj.aspx?cp-documentid=5414351
Monday, August 27, 2007
Using Feng Shui to Sell Your Home
In addition to being a Realtor I am also a feng shui consultant. I no longer do consultations, but I do use the practice when applicable in my real estate business.
About three years ago when I was still working in commercial real estate, I did a "Feng Shui for Real Estate" presentation to a group of top producers for a local real estate company. At the time, the market was beyond good and homes were selling in days with multiple offers. Perhaps my presentation wasn't timely, in that my focus was using feng shui to sell homes, which didn't need help. One of the points I made was taking down family photos to help a future homebuyer picture themselves in the house. One agent commented that it wasn't necessary to do this. And yes, at the time it wasn't. However, I cautioned her that the market always changes and when it did she would have some knowledge of feng shui to give her an edge above the competition and help sell her listings based on feng shui. Wonder if that agent is using feng shui today?
Feng shui is finally getting a bit of respect. It was the subject of a Bee news article last week. Feng shui is amazing. It's gotten a bad rap as a new age fad based on religion. It is neither of those. Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement. It's about creating harmony in your environment with your personal material items. When you walk into a home and you just want to get comfy and stay awhile, that home probably is using the fundamentals of feng shui and the owner may not even know it. However, when you walk into a home and you can't wait to leave, the opposite is happening.
There are many excellent books on feng shui, but the best starter book in my opinion is Karen Rauch Carter's book, "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life." It's a quick read and the author has the best sense humor.
About three years ago when I was still working in commercial real estate, I did a "Feng Shui for Real Estate" presentation to a group of top producers for a local real estate company. At the time, the market was beyond good and homes were selling in days with multiple offers. Perhaps my presentation wasn't timely, in that my focus was using feng shui to sell homes, which didn't need help. One of the points I made was taking down family photos to help a future homebuyer picture themselves in the house. One agent commented that it wasn't necessary to do this. And yes, at the time it wasn't. However, I cautioned her that the market always changes and when it did she would have some knowledge of feng shui to give her an edge above the competition and help sell her listings based on feng shui. Wonder if that agent is using feng shui today?
Feng shui is finally getting a bit of respect. It was the subject of a Bee news article last week. Feng shui is amazing. It's gotten a bad rap as a new age fad based on religion. It is neither of those. Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement. It's about creating harmony in your environment with your personal material items. When you walk into a home and you just want to get comfy and stay awhile, that home probably is using the fundamentals of feng shui and the owner may not even know it. However, when you walk into a home and you can't wait to leave, the opposite is happening.
There are many excellent books on feng shui, but the best starter book in my opinion is Karen Rauch Carter's book, "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life." It's a quick read and the author has the best sense humor.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Showing Homes in Uncharted Territory
Every real estate agent at one time or another ends up showing homes in an area they know very little about. Most of the time, it takes just a bit of homework to learn an area well and then be able to help a client make an informed decision about a home and its area.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week I became friendly with an area that wasn't just your normal suburban or city neighborhood, I was up in Placer and El Dorado Counties showing properties that even my GPS couldn't find. When I called one agent to ask about the road leading to a property in Placerville off Mosquito Road, she told me it was a "windy a** road" and she was not kidding. If you've never taken Mosquito Road into Swansboro County, the trip is a must. Many parts of the road go down to one lane, with hair pin turns and a one lane, very narrow bridge.
While the trip in was beyond nerve-wracking, by the time I was heading out, I actually had fun driving that crazy road. I'm not sure I'd like to drive it everyday, but the area is so breathtaking and beautiful out there, I can see why people do.
So, I have now added the foothill county communities of Placer and El Dorado to my repertoire of areas I'm familiar with and happy to tour. Seat belts required.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week I became friendly with an area that wasn't just your normal suburban or city neighborhood, I was up in Placer and El Dorado Counties showing properties that even my GPS couldn't find. When I called one agent to ask about the road leading to a property in Placerville off Mosquito Road, she told me it was a "windy a** road" and she was not kidding. If you've never taken Mosquito Road into Swansboro County, the trip is a must. Many parts of the road go down to one lane, with hair pin turns and a one lane, very narrow bridge.
While the trip in was beyond nerve-wracking, by the time I was heading out, I actually had fun driving that crazy road. I'm not sure I'd like to drive it everyday, but the area is so breathtaking and beautiful out there, I can see why people do.
So, I have now added the foothill county communities of Placer and El Dorado to my repertoire of areas I'm familiar with and happy to tour. Seat belts required.
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