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Posts tagged "wayback wednesday"

Wednesday, Mar 7th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Walking in Lilburn

Lilburn City Park has been expanding.  Last year I wrote about the extension of the walking trails from Lilburn City Park going out to Killian Hill Road.  There are actually two spurs, both ending at different points on Killian Hill Road.  The older trail runs from the park to Rockbridge Road.

Both trails are quite nice, with boardwalks in a few spots, paved on the remainder.  Whether you are walking, jogging or biking, there is plenty of room.

Here is the link to last year’s post, as well as a few pictures from the trail.

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Wednesday, Feb 29th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Price ≠ Value

This was actually one of my favorite posts… and oddly, I wrote it around the time of our last Leap Year.  However, it is possibly even MORE true now than it was then, back during the beginning of the crash, as things were unwinding.  At that time, foreclosures hadn’t accelerated, banks weren’t too worried about getting their inventory through the system, and they were still thinking THEY were the ones in control of their market.

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There is a HUGE misconception among real estate consumers.  Many want to connect “price”, like the asking price from the seller, and “value”.  They feel that if they can buy a property for 10%, 30%, 80% (whatever) off of listing price, that they have a “great deal”.  The problem is that there isn’t a magic number that makes a property a “deal”.  As highlighted in the original post, the lower priced property in a subdivision, with the same floorplan and amenities, might not be as good of a deal as a higher priced property.

As I mentioned at the beginning, it may be more true now than it was four years ago.  Then we were seeing some foreclosures, but they weren’t making up half of the market.  They were on the fringe…  Now, they are often the bulk of the sales.  But more importantly, sellers have capitulated…  And because of that, sellers knowing that they have to compete in the price arena with banks and short sales, they have priced for a fight.  The bonus is that they are often homes that AREN’T loaded with the possibility of hidden issues.  They haven’t been sitting vacant for months or years on end.  They often don’t have a myriad of “deferred maintenance” issues (that’s real estate agent speak for “not able to keep up with the maintenance”).

Of course, that isn’t always the case… but the message is just as true now as it was then, pay close attention to the total cost, not just the price tag… or the discount on the price tag.  Look at the value.

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Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Why Hyperlocal Matters in the Real Estate Market

[caption id=”” align=”alignright” width=”300” caption=”Image via Wikipedia”]Downtown Lawrenceville (as of June 2006)[/caption]

Last year I was writing about why the only REAL important market report in real estate is a VERY local market report.  It’s all fine and dandy to hear the talking heads on (insert your favorite national news network), but national averages mean nothing on the state level.  Even state averages mean very little in specific counties.  In fact, looking at county level data might only be marginally relevant to a certain city in the county, and even then, there might be specific school districts or subdivisions that buck the trend… one way or another.

I run market reports for Suwanee, Lilburn, Sugar Hill, Buford, Lawrenceville, Norcross and Duluth, and it is surprising how often two cities that are right next to each other in the county will have wildly different market reports.

There is a lot more in the original post…  Hop on over and take a look.

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Wednesday, Feb 8th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… a 3fer, Cheap Ways to Prep Your Home to Sell

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Normally, each week I pull a post from the past to highlight again.  This week, I’m pulling three of them.  They were all part of a series I did on Cheap Tips…

It has never been more important to make sure your house shows as well as possible.  And for most sellers that I deal with (spelled n-o-t b-a-n-k-s), they don’t have a bottomless pit of cash to spend while getting ready to sell their home.  Finding efficient and inexpensive ways to make their home look WAY better than the foreclosure up the street are priorities. It doesn’t matter if you are hiring an agent selling unrepresented (FSBO or For Sale By Owner), these tips will help out.

Check out the posts from last year and feel free to drop some of your own tips in the comments.

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Wednesday, Feb 1st, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Long Distance Listing (or Selling) Agents

A couple of years ago I was dealing with this situation… actually cleaning up after it.

I had a client that had an offer on their house with an out of town agent (the agent was the buyer’s niece).  She was very nice, but she couldn’t be there for any of the 6 inspections we had, nor could she be there for the closing.  In effect, her clients were largely unrepresented in the sale… they were constantly asking me (the agent that is contractually bound to represent the best interests of the seller) how they should proceed or what would be in their best interest.

It came to a head at the closing…  The closing attorney got a bit testy with them for continually asking me to explain the forms to them.  He asked where their agent was.  They replied that their niece wasn’t able to come up from Valdosta.  He then asked if she was there for inspections or anything else.  One of them stated that she usually was able to help them via phone, but that often they had to rely on me.  The husband made a comment that I had declined answering some of their questions.  The attorney busted out laughing.  After a moment, he said that since I was contractually tied to the seller, there were few questions I could answer for them, and that I should NEVER have ventured an opinion about any issue they faced.  The wife chuckled and gave her husband an “I told you so” look.  The closing attorney held up the check that was going to their agent and asked what she had done to earn it…  She hadn’t answered their questions, she hadn’t shown the property, she didn’t even find it and send them information on it.

There are a lot of agents that tag their listings with language like “If I show this property to your client, commission will be X%” (generally about 1/6th of the offered split in the listing).  I don’t usually employ such language because I want to get the listing sold for my client, not punish other agents for not doing their job.  But, I understand the reason.

The bottom line is that employing an agent (whether on the buyer side OR the seller side) that isn’t in the area doesn’t result in solid representation.

Check out the original post here…

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Wednesday, Jan 25th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… The Bigger Price Myth

This is one of those things that I hear about all of the time.  I face it all too often.  I go on listing appointments and either an agent before me, or one that comes later “buys the listing”.  Of course, not literally, but figuratively.

They tell the seller what the seller wants to hear… regardless of reality.  They tell the seller that they will sell the house for more money.  It is an appeal to the ego… and sometimes even defies logic.  But, it gets the listing.  Obviously, the seller generally wants to hear that their house is worth more.

It usually happens for one of two reasons… the innocent one and the not so innocent one.

The innocent reason is that the agent just doesn’t know any better.  Through inexperience or bad data or poor technique working with the data… or even misreading the market climate… they arrive at a price that isn’t really realistic.  And the window for a price is pretty small.  At 20% over real value, the house likely won’t be seen in the current market.  At 10%, many of the prospective buyers will dismiss the house even if they come look at it (most buyers won’t make a serious offer more than a few percent off of the list price).  Even at 5% over reality, many prospective buyers won’t offer… or they will push it to the back of the line.

The “not so innocent” reason is that the agent KNOWS that the sellers will list with them if they give a higher price estimate.  It is a LOT more common that most sellers would think.  In fact, there is an entire sub-industry in real estate involving strategies and support for these agents.  One of the popular strategies is to build in price reductions at predetermined intervals.  The sellers should ask a simple question… “If you are confident of the price, why would you build in price reductions?”  Of course, the market DOES shift, sometimes unexpectedly.

The idea, as stated in much of the materials supporting this strategy, is that the agent can tell the seller, “OK, we’ll try it at your price, but if nothing happens in 30 days, we’ll cut the price to ____.”  There is always the chance that there will be a buyer that will drop out of the sky, with cash (since the asking price might not clear an appraisal) and no desire to have an appraisal of their own done.  But… not that likely.  And that is where the issue I take with this as a deliberate strategy begins.  We know, from tons of studies, that over-priced houses generally end up selling for less, after spending more time on the market.

It goes like this…

  • The house starts off as over-priced, so it gets fewer, if any showings.
  • After a period of time, the price starts to ratchet down… but it has already missed that magic window (when a house is first listed) when the most buyers look seriously at it.
  • Since it has been on the market longer, the buyers that DO run across is wonder WHY it has been on the market so long.
  • Vicious cycle…
  • Price gets cut more to get showings.
  • When the offer comes in, it is lower than it likely would have been to start with.

Here is the post I wrote about this very issue a couple of years ago.

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Wednesday, Jan 18th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Over-Pricing and Under-Offering

If there were two issues I’d have to put at the very top of my question pile, there would be the ones…  In the original post, I started with the Sellers… so we’ll start with the Buyers this time.

Buyers want a great deal.  We all understand that, and as a real estate agent, I’m supportive.  Even the Sellers get it.  But there are two problems.  The first one I wrote about in a couple of years ago, here.  Buyers, in their zeal to get a great deal, offer too low to start with.  The find a property where the price has been cut to the bone, and then they offer WAY lower.

The problem there is that the seller, whether institutional, or a “regular” seller, doesn’t see the low-ball offer as being serious… then they attach the same feeling to the buyer that made the offer… they aren’t serious.  And the seller, if they send back a counter offer, reply with a counter offer that shows that… like maybe knocking $100 off the price.  Negotiations stall.  That doesn’t help them get the house… and it wastes everyone’s time, including their own.

A few years ago, when I originally wrote the post, there was blood in the water, so to speak, and it was still an issue.  Now, especially at the entry-level end of the market, that is NOT the case.  It is actually a Seller’s Market for homes that are priced well.  I am seeing an increasing number of listings selling for VERY close to list price within days.

Sellers want to get the most from their house.  It doesn’t matter if they are a corporate seller or someone moving to take advantage of a job opportunity… or even a seller doing a short sale.  Of course, just as the sellers aren’t terribly concerned with the needs of the buyers, buyers don’t really care about the needs of the seller to get top-dollar for their property.  And buyers aren’t looking at many over-priced properties. 

They know which properties are over-priced, too.  More and more, I’m seeing buyers that are VERY sophisticated in terms of knowing the value of a particular property, usually before choosing to look at it the first time.  If it isn’t priced within a few percent of where it should be, they probably won’t even look at it.  Not 10%… not even 5%.  More like 2-3%, closer on higher priced homes.

The end result, is that the home sits on the market for a while with few, or even no viewings, much less offers.  After a while, the sellers reduce the price, but by then the home is stigmatized.  The price drops more.  In the end, the home sells for less that it might have sold had the original price been more competitive. 

What about short sales?

They are the new wrinkle.  And I didn’t really address them the first time around.  But some similar rules apply…

Sellers, price realistically for the market.  Don’t worry about what the bank will accept, worry about a price that will get an honest contract.  Realistically…  Not too high OR too low.  Anything else is a waste of everyone’s time.

Buyer, offer realistically.  A rule of thumb I use on short sale offers is that if the offer isn’t going to be within a couple of points of the list price, don’t bother.  If the list price is insanely high or low, don’t bother.  If you can’t afford to sit on the offer, waiting as much as six months for the bank to get their act together, don’t bother.

I know that is harsh, but it is reality.  I actually have a partner that is VERY successful at getting short sales sold.  It isn’t easy or fun for anyone…  But, it might beat the heck out of some of the alternatives for the seller, and offers great opportunity for the buyer.

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Wednesday, Jan 11th, 2012 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Winter Driving

Just last year we had a long and snowy winter break (kids home from school and many people unable to get to work….).  And while for many it meant just bundling up and staying indoors, for many others, that wasn’t an option.

As mentioned in the original post, I grew up in Michigan and Minnesota… and have spent a fair amount of time driving in snow.  That does NOT mean that I don’t take it seriously.  I take it VERY seriously.  In fact, in addition to caution while driving, I keep a cold weather survival kit in my vehicle pretty much all of the time.

Winter driving has its rewards.  The scenery is different and can be quite beautiful.  It is a lot of fun to visit places and shoot pictures of things we hardly ever see covered in snow.  And sometimes, there are other rewards… last year I helped the Piedmont Hospital group by delivering staff and supplies to a couple of their local locations.

Some of the things that you should keep in your vehicle all of the time (regardless of the weather) include:

  • Charged Cell Phone (or at least a phone and a charger).  You never know when you might need to call for help.
  • A few bottles of water, and maybe an energy bar or two… no, not for a quick snack on a road trip, but in case you are stuck someplace waiting for help.
  • A blanket.  There are LOTS of uses for them, in addition to covering up and keeping warm, they can be pillows and slings.

[caption id=”attachment_34587” align=”alignright” width=”300” caption=”I-85… abandoned… spooky”][/caption]

When the weather turns colder, there are a few more things to add to the kit:

  • Mittens… they work better than gloves to keep your hands warm when it is REALLY cold out).
  • A warm coat.  Even if you are just running around town, you never know if you are going to end up having to walk… or having to sit in a cold car waiting for someone to show up.
  • Shoes you can walk in…  Boots are even better.
  • Lighter.
  • A sharp Pocket Knife or Multi-Tool.
  • A bag of sand in the trunk isn’t a bad idea.

If you are going to get really fancy, then you might also carry a few other things:

  • Saw and/or a hatchet.
  • Air Horn.
  • Snow Pants.
  • Compass.

[caption id=”attachment_34588” align=”alignright” width=”300” caption=”Awaiting my load of hospital supplies”][/caption]

A lot of it is overkill when you are driving around Atlanta, but you never know.  And honestly, the chances of facing a brutal survival situation in most metropolitan areas is pretty slim.

Then again, a few years ago I was returning from Michigan and was stuck in a snow storm for hours near Cincinnati, OH.  If I didn’t have 4wd, a full tank of fuel and food, I would have been VERY uncomfortable.  Had I hit the storm a couple of hours further up the road, especially if I wasn’t in a 4wd truck, I could have been in trouble.

Hopefully you’ll never need to use the stuff in your emergency kit.  But if you do, you’ll be glad it was there.

Here is a link to the original post from last year.  It features tips for actually driving in Georgia’s Winter Weather.

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Wednesday, Dec 7th, 2011 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Absorption Rate, What Is It?

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A couple of years ago I wrote a post describing what Absorption Rate meant.  I use it as a primary tool on my monthly market reports, so it is a pretty important term to understand.

The fun part was that I used frozen pizza to illustrate the point…  It seems to have worked pretty well.  And be sure to check out the link, especially if you have a little fog about what Absorption Rates are…

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Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2011 ↓

Wayback Wednesday… Custom v Catalog v Mass Produced

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Last year I wrote a post about various ways to design a home.  Not in the “pen to paper” way, but rather in the conceptual way.  Homes can generally be characterized in one of three ways.

  • Custom - Built one at a time, all on site.  They might not be so custom that there will never be another one like it, but custom in that the builder gets a pile of materials and makes a house… each piece fitted on-site to the project.
  • Catalog - Built from pre-designed and constructed components.  The buyer could go through a catalog and select the different types of rooms to go into their overall plan.  The subsystems could designed to go together onsite.
  • Mass Produced - Factory built from the frame up and transported to the site for installation.  The first thing that comes to mind would be a “mobile home”, but there are some that are so beyond that.

In the post from last year I compared these to cars from the 1920s and 30s.  At that time, those were the distinct paths a car buyer could choose… full-on custom, catalog or mass produced.  Check out the link…  I think there is a revolution coming in home-building.  I think it is still a few years in the future, but it is coming.

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