The real estate industry calls it ‘puffing” or the practice of exaggeration.
In today’s market (many homes on the market with few buyers) sellers want to promote their property to their best advantage in hopes to better their “competition.” Some typical statements could include;
- “Taxes are really low.” Don’t forget taxes are a public record available to anyone who wants to search. What is low to you could be quite high to someone else.
- “We had no major repairs.” If you filed a claim on your insurance, a company named Choice Point gathers that information and provides it in a report available to the buyer. So if a storm took off part of your roof, the buyer will know.
Don’t get caught in the “little white lies.”
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General wisdom has been that if you were to sell, the best time to list your home is March/April looking for a sale in June-August. Historically more home sales close in the summer months as it is less disruptive to families with school age children.
Some now suggest that is about to change and the best time to put your home on the market is now. Why?
There are a few reasons.
- The home buyer tax credit, as it now stands, applies to buyers closing on their purchase by April 30, 2010.
- Interest rates are starting to inch upward with forecasts of 6 percent by year end. See our post “Interest Rates Climbing?”
- Other sellers will realize they need to move earlier than normal so listing now can get you ahead of the competition.
Don Grafues
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If you are thinking about selling you need to be serious and listen to the price guidance offered by your agent. One of the worse actions you can take is to put your home on the market at an inflated price to “test the water.” Other real estate professionals know the market and if they see your listing is overpriced they will not show it. After a period of time with no price adjustments or other actions to sell your listing, it will quickly become what we refer to as “shop worn.” Once it has achieved this status in the minds of other real estate professionals the best action is to take it off the market.
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If home price declines are indeed stabilizing that is good news for sellers. And as the foreclosed properties sell and are no longer impacting the market, the sooner we get back to normal (whatever that is).
Stocks of home builders rose Friday after JP Morgan Chase analyst Michael Rehaut said in a note to clients that business is better and home price declines are ending.
Rehaut said that over the long term, “We believe the builders are significantly better positioned to gain share exiting this recession (than they were after the previous recession 20 years ago), given their large cash balances and capital advantage over private builders.”
Source: The Associated Press (09/18/2009)
© Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission.”
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If you’re thinking of selling your home, and you expect that the total amount you owe on your mortgage will be greater than the selling price of your home, you may be facing a short sale. A short sale is one where the net proceeds from the sale won’t cover your total mortgage obligation and closing costs, and you don’t have other sources of money to cover the deficiency. A short sale is different from a foreclosure, which is when your lender takes title of your home through a lengthy legal process and then sells it.
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Congratulations, you are part of a growing online community. And maybe you are one out of a possible 25 million users this month. Using real estate web sites such as this gives you an opportunity to learn about communities, search for properties and become more informed on purchasing and selling real estate. We welcome you and look forward to your comment, email or call.
Traffic to Real Estate Web Sites Increasing
Home sales rose over the last couple of months–and so did visits to real estate Web sites.
Nielsen Online reports that traffic to real estate Web sites rose 11 percent from 20.7 million visitors in June to 23.1 million in July. Year-over-year growth from July 2008 to July 2009 was 18 percent.
The most likely visitors were people living in two-person households. This demographic was 50 percent more likely than the average Web user to visit a real estate site. Potential homebuyers between the ages of 25 and 34 were 29 percent more likely to look at a real estate site, and people with no children were 32 percent more likely.
Source: Nielsen Wire (09/01/2009)
Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission.”
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Whether you are considering a For Sale by Owner (FSBO) or using an agent to help you sell, the value of good photographs cannot be understated. For those sellers using an agent, did you know that MLS search has the capability of excluding all listings without photographs from the search results? So be certain your agent takes photographs and then check how they look on MLS. If you are not happy with the results, let your agent know. Here is an article from The Wall Street Journal about photographs.
Good Pictures Can Make a Sale
These days photographs that accompany online listings are primary part of advertising. Poor quality photos that don’t flatter the property or fail to show most of it discourage potential buyers from taking a look.
Hiring a top-notch photographer can cost as much as $1,000, but a good amateur working slowly and thoughtfully can probably manage to do the job effectively.
Here are some suggestions:
- Take lots of shots. Unlike film, digital pictures have no individual cost, so shoot as many photos as possible from many different angles. The more you shoot, the more you increase the likelihood of getting some good ones.
- Avoid shooting empty rooms. While clutter isn’t good, having some furniture and even a few personal items makes the photos more interesting.
- Put away clutter. Dirty clothes on the floor and dishes in the sink are all turn-offs.
- Get the light right. Shoot an exterior when the sun illuminates it or it will look flat.
- Make sure the inside is well lit, ideally with some sunlight.
- Edit discreetly to get rid of extraneous distractions like wires.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (08/21/2009)
Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (078/21/2009)
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The Federal Reserve estimates that the total market value of U.S. homes fell 18 percent from $21.9 trillion to $17.9 trillion or about $13,000 per person from the end of 2006 through March 31, 2009.
This collapse in equity makes it difficult for potential buyers to sell their homes and trade up, which many experts say will weigh heavily on the housing recovery.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Brett Arends (08/20/2009)
Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission.”
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For the first time in five years, existing-home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June. Sales are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005.
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