Monday, December 16, 2013

4 Pitfalls to Selling Your Home for the Best Price in the Shortest Amount of Time

You've decided to sell your home. Great! Now what? Many folks who make the decision to sell their home fall victim to the following four pitfalls. By educating yourself about some common missteps you can save yourself from making a costly mistake when hiring an agent and listing your home.
1) Overpricing - It's no surprise that every owner wants the highest possible sale price for their property. This desire is one that some agents take advantage of by selling you on an unrealistically high list price. Once they have a signed listing agreement they'll bank on price reductions to sell your home. The problem with this tactic is that it costs homeowners thousands of dollars. A property that is originally listed too high not only squanders its first few weeks on market but also carries a stigma throughout its life on-market due to the unrealistic original list price. All this results in lower demand down the road and a lower sale price. It's important to remember when interviewing agents that the highest suggested price is not always the best. Make sure to ask your agent for specifics on how they arrived at their price suggestion.
Experience shows that the highest price is realized within the first 30 days of being offered for sale on the open market.
2) Not Managing Expectations - Real estate is very much a perception based industry. Buyers want to feel like they are receiving good value. Many times agents try to stretch the truth by counting a glorified hallway as an extra bedroom, only to have potential buyers disheartened when actually viewing the home. One of the jobs of a good agent is to accentuate the home's positives and frame things in a way that adds perceived value to a home. Rather than listing a home with an extra bedroom, listing it with a utility room can turn a disappointed buyer into an excited one as they discover a useful extra space. Many times in our industry perception is reality and buyers who leave a property feeling great about all the "additional" value a home offered will be far more likely to put in an offer than those who left disappointed about the tiny bedroom.

As a Realtor, we have an obligation to relay the information about a house honestly.  Further, we also request the seller fill out a “Seller’s Statement of Condition”.  We follow up by verifying information with the appropriate local authorities to clarify such potential questions such as zoning, side-line setbacks, etc.  This helps to avoid surprises that could impact the transaction.
3) Not Making the Best First Impression - You know the old saying a picture is worth 1,000 words? Well in real estate they are probably worth 100,000. Too many times sellers allow their agents to take photos with a cell phone or take photos themselves. Today's buyers are making snap decisions viewing homes online and are basing these judgements off your photos. Hence they need to be high definition, clear, and purposeful. You are telling a story with your media plan and want to entice buyers to see your home in person. The single best way to turn off potential buyers is with poorly lit, poorly edited, and poorly executed photos. Additionally, video is becoming huge in real estate as even more of the house hunting process is taking place online. Ask your agent about adding HD Video to your listing to further entice interested buyers to your property.
As your Realtor, I will be at all showings early, in order to turn on the lights, de-clutter, put the dog out, etc.  When we list your home, we’ll offer suggestions on how best to present your home to prospective buyers.  Some can overlook your personal “stuff”, and some can’t.  Don’t take the chance!  Put your best look forward!  Studies have shown that landscaping can increase the amount realized by as much as 5%!
4) Not having a Customized Marketing Plan - Our last pitfall is one that many sellers fall into. Many agents you will interview will not have a specific plan to market your home. They will instead rely on scripts and a standard listing presentation to get you to sign on the dotted line. After that they'll simply list your home on MLS and hope buyers find it. Marketing for homes cannot be one-size-fits-all. Every home has a distinct set of buyers that will be interested in it and every set of buyers has a distinct way to be reached. Ask your agent who your home will appeal to and how they plan to proactively market to them. If their plan relies heavily around submitting your listing to hundreds of sites you've never heard of you may want to stay away.


We do have a marketing plan with aspects that some agencies do and some that most agencies do not.  Our agent will go over it with you and tailor it to your needs and concerns.  The best current information indicates that the internet is the number one method of attracting buyers; signs continue to be number 2!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Psst! Harvard Talks Homeownership!




Eric Belsky is Managing Director of the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University. He also currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Housing Research and Housing Policy Debate. This year he released a new paper on homeownership - The Dream Lives On: the Future of Homeownership in America. In his paper, Belsky reveals five financial reasons people should consider buying a home.
Here are the five reasons, each followed by an excerpt from the study:
1.) Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available. 
“Few households are interested in borrowing money to buy stocks and bonds and few lenders are willing to lend them the money. As a result, homeownership allows households to amplify any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. Even a hefty 20 percent down payment results in a leverage factor of five so that every percentage point rise in the value of the home is a 5 percent return on their equity. With many buyers putting 10 percent or less down, their leverage factor is 10 or more.”
2.) You're paying for housing whether you own or rent. 
“Homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord.”
3.) Owning is usually a form of “forced savings”.
“Since many people have trouble saving and have to make a housing payment one way or the other, owning a home can overcome people’s tendency to defer savings to another day.”
4.) There are substantial tax benefits to owning. 
“Homeowners are able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from income...On top of all this, capital gains up to $250,000 are excluded from income for single filers and up to $500,000 for married couples if they sell their homes for a gain.”
5.) Owning is a hedge against inflation.
“Housing costs and rents have tended over most time periods to go up at or higher than the rate of inflation, making owning an attractive proposition.”

Bottom Line

We realize that homeownership makes sense for many Americans for many social and family reasons. It also makes sense financially.

 - courtesy of KCM - Keeping Current Matters