Those pesky vacant homes that may have tall grass, litter on the lawn or porch, a trash can that needs dumping, accumulated newspapers or flyers everywhere may be in your neighborhood.  What happens when the home is nearby?  Sometimes, the home does not need to be nearby to cause problems for the sale of your home.  Remember, most Realtors and buyers peruse neighborhoods before or after viewing your home.  One eyesore can be a deal breaker when you are competing against hundreds of others homes in your area for sale.

What can you do?  Some sellers have felt the need to take matters into their own hands.  Some sellers have worked with the existing home owners association to make sure there is a vendor(s) to maintain the exterior of the home.  If you have to pay a landscaper a few dollars to maintain a vacant home’s lawn, it may be worth it.  Watch out for suspicious people who may have found an unlocked door and are loitering in the home.  Contact the local police if you suspect suspicious activity.  One other item that may help is the installation of solar powered lights if the home is dark at night.  Check with your homeowner’s association about ways to legally keep the area lit and detract bugulars.  Solar lights can be installed for as little as $50.00.

Selling your home in the Charlotte area can be hard during a changing economy.  If you would like information on innovative and aggressive ways to sell your home, please contact us at (704) 559-5988.

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Mike Simonton, Senior Director at Fitch Ratings believes that advertising has migrated from print publications to online mediums and online classified ads. Inventory of unsold homes in markets across the country are continuing to rise. Print ads have decreased dramatically. Online advertising allows buyers to create detailed searches on geographic locations, price ranges, and features they are looking for in a home. According to Simonton (real estate agents) “Overtime they will need to have a very established online position in order to deal with the fact that most of the consumers in the market are using the Internet to get their information about what’s available in the local market,” So that is one more skill your Realtor needs to have. Not only do they need online presence, but how are they currently positioned in comparison to other Realtors in your market. Just something else to add to your interview list

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So we move on to additional items of concern that may hinder the sale of your home with What Your Home is Not.

Your home is not:

What online websites say the value is- Websites like Zillow or Homegain are not human real estate professionals.  They are national websites that provide estimates of home values based on past sales.  They often return inflated home values causing huge misunderstandings with home sellers.

What the appraiser says it is worth – Remember, appraisers pull information from past sale records also in addition to their inspection of the property.  One appraiser may have an opinion about the overall value and another appraiser may have a different value that may vary.  The variation may be a few hundred dollars or may a couple or more thousand dollars. 

A home seller’s home according to real estate agent and appraiser Michael  P.  Lefebvre is worth what an educated willing and able buyer is willing to pay for it.  That makes it all the more important for your home to receive as much buyer traffic as possible.  It only takes one buyer and their needs and desires can outweigh what the market says your home is worth. 

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I came across an interesting article written by a real estate agent who also happens to be a real estate appraiser.  While many sellers may become a bit disturbed by his findings, it’s definitely a reality check for today’s market.

Michael  P.  Lefebvre mentioned, your house is not:

What the neighbors paid 12 months ago- We don’t have the same real estate market and more importantly the same mortgage market as a year ago.  With lenders tightening their lending requirements, appraisals being reviewed more carefully and foreclosures being up 57%,  sellers will have to realize that your home value is being affected daily.

What you need to get at closing – The method of pricing your home can not reflect what your estimated net proceeds in a check from the attorney would be.  You can’t work backwards, subtract out fees and price your home.  Your home will become market worn from possibly being overpriced and you will lose more equity with longer days on the market.

What the tax records say – The tax value that your home is currently assessed at has no bearings on what your list price should be.  Town assessors can not keep pace with today’s real estate market   Assessments do not mirror current real estate value.

Look for additional eye openers in the next post….

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More and more sellers are opting for their Realtor not to have an open house.  More and more Realtors are realizing how limited an open house really is.   Is the world of high technology, online social networking, and a society running from one meeting to the next, who has time to visit an open house?  Especially when they can view hundreds with virtual tours, YouTube, flip video, slide shows, online real estate shows and hundreds of online communities.  Professional agents are hiring online video producers to host their shows highlighting their listings.  There are many more marketing venues available to today’s real estate agent.

When it’s time to hire a Realtor, look for one with an interest in technology.   Also look for a Realtor familiar with generational buyers.  Gen X and now Gen Y buyers think, behave and react differently.  Technology is playing a large part in being able to successfully bring traffic to your home and bring in an offer.  Think how far we have come from vinyl records to cassette tapes to cds to instant downloads.  Real estate is moving just as swiftly.  An open house has no way to compete. 

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Possibly.  In a plan that passed the house earlier this month, congress’ plan to prevent 500,000 foreclosures by allowing strapped homeowners to refinance into federally guaranteed mortgages can save the equity in your home and prevent more price drops in the housing market.  Other things to note about this plan includes a cost to taxpayers of an estimated 1.7 billion and a requirement for homeowners to split any future home profits with the government.   It also helps homeowners due to the estimated $356 billion in home-equity wealth being loss if you live in areas where foreclosures are rising.

With our quality of life being compromised with the foreclosure-crisis, it becomes increasingly important for homeowners and homesellers stay informed on the market trends and new housing initiatives.  Read more of the article here.

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If you are looking for buyers, they may soon be more apt to purchase a home.   Not only because we are nearing our peak season for real estate (yes, we can still have a peak season in a down market), but due to recent underwriting changes with Fannie Mae.  Because of recent protests by the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders, Fannie Mae will be ridding their policy requiring down payments on home mortgages in areas where house prices are falling.  This should make it easier for some homesellers to sell their home. 

In a letter to the Realtors,  Freddie Mac also said that it is applying the policy flexibly. For instance, if appraisers can demonstrate that home prices in a given neighborhood are stable or rising even though values are falling in the wider metropolitan area, the declining-markets policy doesn’t apply.   By softening the down-payment policies, Fannie and Freddie are taking more risks.

If you have a buyer for your home, work closely with the mortgage company they are pre-approved with.   Talk one on one with the loan officer.  Confidentiality need not be compromised, however you as the seller need to know that your buyers loan is being driven by a competent and experienced loan officer who is aware of the many changes our mortgage industry in encountering.

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What is market worn?  When selling your home, market worn is when your home has stayed on the market too long to be sold.  Most homes become market worn mainly due to an initial incorrect listing price.  The days of pricing the home high because the buyer is going to low ball or ask for concessions anyway are over.  Overpricing your home leads to long days on market, interested agents and buyers and in most cases an even lower offer than if the home was priced realistically.

Make sure your home is up to date, has curb appeal and staged to stand out from other homes.  If your home is currently listed, ask your Realtor to take you to competing listings so that you know who your competition is.  Watch for daily price decreases of competing properties as well.  The days of marketing your home in a traditional listing with the past 3-6 months sold data is no longer a good barometer.  Our real estate market pricing is changing daily and to stay competitive, your Realtor needs to be aggressive with new marketing and price your home according to what the market is going to offer.

If you would like information on current home values in your area, please send us a quick email to sold@homeandauction.com

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Below are five additional selling mistakes to avoid when you are trying to sell your home in a down real estate market.

6. Is commission negotiable?
If you risk losing equity on the sale of your home due to our changing market, how can the realty firm compensate any of the homeowner’s loss with a lower than average commission.  If we are all to go through this cycle of real estate change, more compensation of commission changes and incentives need to be offered by the real estate community.

7. How do they see their role as your real estate agent?
This question will tell you a lot about the agent.  Many are happy to provide services to you without going the extra mile to find out how involved you want to be.  You want to find an angent that works for you.

8. What sets them apart from their competitors?
Listen carefully to their answers and listen carefully for rhetoric.  Look for specific answers not for the mundane things like “we offer value, quality and service…”.  Look for strong, clear ways that your agent stands out from the competition.

9. What are their weaknesses?
Most importantly how does your Realtor handle their weaknesses?  Everyone has weaknesses, things they hate to do or procrastinate to do.  How are weaknesses handle in the workplace, with the sale of your home?  For example, if a Realtor has a weaknesses of deadlines and time management, is their an appropriate “coordinator” in place to handle deadlines. 

10. Is the agent full-time?
These days, there are lesser and lesser full-time real estate agents.  Don’t just take the Realtor’s word.  Spot check for availability various times of the day.  Selling a home hundreds of thousands of dollars is not a job for a part-time professional. 

There are many other questions and concerns a homeowner today should have for Realtors they choose to interview.  Starting of with these ten crucial questions should be a good start as to the right professional needed to sell your home.

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The first mistake a homeowner who needs to sell their home in a down real estate market can make is choosing the wrong real estate agent to represent the sale of their home.   Whether you as a homeowner has had an expired listing or if you are just beginning the research needed to pick the right agent, there are ten crucial questions you need to have answered.

1. How do they plan to market your home?
The saying is “If you fail to plan you are planning to fail”.  Today’s real estate market has to be aggressive, innovative and tested.  The agent should be able to show changes made from a 2006 or 2007 marketing plan in comparison to a 2008 marketing plan.

2. What marketing tools do they use and how many?
A sales team is not a marketing tool.  The home has to have an offer to implement the services of a closing coordinator, inspection coordinator and the many coordinators that some agents use as “the team” or their “marketing tool”.  What are their actual marketing tools they drive buyer traffic, advertising venues, direct mail and marketing strategies?

3. What services do they offer?
Ask the agent to list the services they offer.

4. Do they guarantee results?
In today’s real estate market, listing your home in the MLS, putting a sign in your front yard and hoping the market gets better does not necessarily lead to results.  Will there be concessions made on their commission based on a longer days on market?  Is there a secondary marketing plan carried out after 30 days or 60 days other than price decreases?  What guarantees to their claims will you be offered?

5. How often will you meet and how often will you receive marketing reports?
There needs to be a regular schedule for updates and reviews listing agreement and marketing plans.  You also need to receive a weekly traffic report with buyer feedback.

These are just five crucial questions needing answers when selling your home.  Our next post will include five more important questions to be answered when selecting a Realtor.

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