How do I set my house apart from the pack?
1) Price your home correctly. Forget the 20% year-over-year price gains. They were based on apples to oranges comparisons anyway and further driven by loose money and lending standards.
a) Look at actual closed sales comparables. Call the parties to those transactions and find out if there were any Seller concessions that further reduced the actual net price to the Seller.
b) Just because your neighbor listed their home at $XXX,000 does not mean you should too. Many homes are currently listed much higher than current market values.
c) Consult sites like Zillow.com, but do not accept it as gospel. Call MULTIPLE Realtors who specialize in your area and ask them for a market analysis. Take what they say with grain of salt, as most will tell you what you want to hear to get the listing...
d) Don't base the asking price on what you want to make. Sellers do not set final price and terms...Buyer's do....and Buyers could care less what you need to net.
d) After you've done your research and consulted local professionals pick an asking price that is truly reflective of recent closed sales and then modified for your homes pluses and minuses.
2) Prepare your home for viewings.
a) Take care of the deferred maintenance.
b) Get rid of pet damage and odor. You may not even realize that your home has pet odor. Have a non-pet owner come over and ask them for an honest answer.
c) Get rid of the clutter. You are moving anyway...get an early start!
d) Stage the house for Buyers, with more modest tastes and color tones. If you are not a design guru, spend the $150 for a consult.
3) Demonstrate to Buyers that you are a "Qualified Seller". During the boom times, Sellers only wanted "Qualified Buyers" to submit offers...now the game has changed and Buyers want to know that you are serious.
a) Hire quality local representation, not your cousin "Lola" who just got her license last week. Hiring a Broker who lives in and knows your community, as well as being known and respected by other local Brokers is the single most important decision in choosing a listing Broker.
b) Make it easy to see your home. Try to put as few limitations on showing times as possible.
c) Have your disclosures complete and available to Buyers to preview when they come view your home.
d) Be quick to respond to inquiries and offers.
While it is going to be a challenging year for Sellers, many homes will change hands this year. Do you want to be one of them? Follow some of the basic guidelines, set realistic expectations and you should be OK!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Happy Valley Real Estate Update
2007 is shaping up to be the year of reality for Happy Valley. After enjoying a long run of strong growth and appreciation, we are settling into a period of market adjustments and value stagnation.
Median value: While RMLS shows year-over-year a 19.8% value gain, we need to look into this number and the definition of median to determine what is really happening. In HV our median has been rising predominately because of the bigger and more elaborate homes being built and sold by Developers, NOT by re-sale of existing homes. When a large segment of homes sold are new, the median can be carried upward without truly reflecting the re-sale appreciation of existing homes. A better measure would be the re-sale price appreciation for an area.
Market Reality: Your home may not have appreciated as fast as you think it has...
Toxic Mortgages: I have been asking clients recently if they could afford to buy their current home at today's valuation. I have been hearing a lot of no's. Many of the financial tricks people used to get into their home to begin with are backfiring. Banks have dramatically tightened their lending requirements, leaving many homeowners who MUST refinance with no product option. These people are electing to sell their homes. We are seeing a rush to market by investors and toxic mortgage holders who are trying to get out from under their homes before they lose them to foreclosure. In the past three years fully 1/3 of all new loans in the greater HV area had an interest only payment option and are adjustable.
Market reality: Many homeowners are going to try to sell this year, flooding the market with inventory.
New Development: The amount of new construction in HV has been incredible the past three years, and continues today. Problem being, Buyer's who can afford the McMansions have dwindled, leaving builders with a large glut of unsold homes. At this point supply is outpacing demand.
Market reality: Builders are offering huge incentives and cutting prices to move inventory. This makes your used home less attractive and less valuable to potential Buyers.
The Good News: While I expect this year to be challenging as we burn through some excess inventory, the toxic mortgage hang-over and general market malaise. HV is still a very attractive market to many looking to buy in the greater Portland area.
Market Reality: If you price your home correctly (Based on recent SALES comps, not listing prices), market your home appropriately and demonstrate to the Buying market that you are reasonable and a "Qualified Seller" you should be OK. As a Seller you need to be clear that it is now a Buyer's Market. When pricing your home understand that it is not your Realtor, an appraiser or even you that sets the value of your home...its the Buyer!
I encourage your responses.
Median value: While RMLS shows year-over-year a 19.8% value gain, we need to look into this number and the definition of median to determine what is really happening. In HV our median has been rising predominately because of the bigger and more elaborate homes being built and sold by Developers, NOT by re-sale of existing homes. When a large segment of homes sold are new, the median can be carried upward without truly reflecting the re-sale appreciation of existing homes. A better measure would be the re-sale price appreciation for an area.
Market Reality: Your home may not have appreciated as fast as you think it has...
Toxic Mortgages: I have been asking clients recently if they could afford to buy their current home at today's valuation. I have been hearing a lot of no's. Many of the financial tricks people used to get into their home to begin with are backfiring. Banks have dramatically tightened their lending requirements, leaving many homeowners who MUST refinance with no product option. These people are electing to sell their homes. We are seeing a rush to market by investors and toxic mortgage holders who are trying to get out from under their homes before they lose them to foreclosure. In the past three years fully 1/3 of all new loans in the greater HV area had an interest only payment option and are adjustable.
Market reality: Many homeowners are going to try to sell this year, flooding the market with inventory.
New Development: The amount of new construction in HV has been incredible the past three years, and continues today. Problem being, Buyer's who can afford the McMansions have dwindled, leaving builders with a large glut of unsold homes. At this point supply is outpacing demand.
Market reality: Builders are offering huge incentives and cutting prices to move inventory. This makes your used home less attractive and less valuable to potential Buyers.
The Good News: While I expect this year to be challenging as we burn through some excess inventory, the toxic mortgage hang-over and general market malaise. HV is still a very attractive market to many looking to buy in the greater Portland area.
Market Reality: If you price your home correctly (Based on recent SALES comps, not listing prices), market your home appropriately and demonstrate to the Buying market that you are reasonable and a "Qualified Seller" you should be OK. As a Seller you need to be clear that it is now a Buyer's Market. When pricing your home understand that it is not your Realtor, an appraiser or even you that sets the value of your home...its the Buyer!
I encourage your responses.
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