Posts Tagged ‘selling strategies’
Kansas Home Sales Up but Home Prices Way Down
February 25, 2011
Kansas home sales rose by 5.6% percent in January 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to new figures released by the Kansas Association of REALTORS®. Sales totaled 1,335 units in January, up from 1,264 units in 2010. In comparison, sales on a national level increased 5.3% for the month.
However, please note that the statewide average sale price last month was $146,513, compared to $159,510 in January 2010. This represents a decrease of 8.1%. The statewide median sale price
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If you think a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur!
January 3, 2011
Here I go again reading some writers top 10 ways to select a real estate agent. You can almost always tell when the writer doesn't have a clue what they're talking about; my guess is they have never sold real estate or really even tried researching the subject. This time the subject title is “Interview at least three agents”. I agree you should interview agents and meet with them face-to-face. But keep it real and not full of baloney with things that really don't matter.
The un-researched article went on to say “you are the boss and will typically pay the Realtor® a six percent commission and you have the right to ask a few questions. ” Commissions shouldn't be typical; as with any product or service an expert might cost you more, seven percent, ten percent, or even higher; it really depends on what kind of service you are willing to pay for. Maybe you are only
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7 FSBO Myths Exposed
November 21, 2010Some For Sale By Owner sites, or FSBO (pronounced Fizz-Bo) as it's called in the real estate world, love to show you how "easy" it is for you to sell your home yourself. Hey, it's their job, after all, to convince you to list with them (that's what they're doing, you know) vs. listing with a REALTOR®. That's the only way that they get paid is to get you to advertise with them. However, the reasons that they give for someone to go FSBO vs. listing with a REALTOR® are flawed, at best.
1. Less hassles and frustrations
Somehow, having to maintain all the advertising (not to mention the cost of that advertising), schedule showings, preview buyers, show your property, getting your property ready to show, contacting attorneys, appraisers, contractors, inspectors, etc and a whole host of other "behind the scenes" things that go on when your property is on the market is supposed to be less hassle and frustrating than simply letting a professional, knowledgeable and experienced REALTOR® take care of it for you. Of course, if you believe that you don't have to keep your house clean and "ready to show" and that you can make appointments when it suits you, then they may have a point.
2. You can sell your home better than anyone else
The simple truth here is…it ain't true. The fact is BECAUSE it's your home, you'll have a harder time selling it than a neutral third-party (that includes a REALTOR® or your next door neighbor). Why? Because you have an emotional attachment to the property. It is practically impossible for you to separate you from your home and "sell" it to a potential buyer. Even I, as a REALTOR® prefer to list my personal home with another agent because they will be better at selling it than I will.
3. Sell for a price on your terms; you're in control
Well, you can choose to price your home for whatever you want. However, it's the market that will ultimately decide what that property sales for. So, you can decide to price your home within the current market prices, or you can simply wait for the market to "catch up" to your price. If you're ready to sell, which would you prefer? An agent can help you in setting an accurate price based on current market conditions, not simply guessing.
4. More $ $ $ in your pocket
This is "save the commission" argument. The facts are that, on average, agent-assisted home sell for 32% MORE than FSBO sales. Now, would you lose 32% in order to "save" 5 to 6%? Furthermore, the majority of buyers that do seriously look at FSBO's (truth is, most are just "lookers") are expecting a DISCOUNT on the purchase of a FSBO by the usual commission fee for your market. Both buyer and seller can't get the "savings." Guess who wins if you want to sell?
5. Sell your home fast
Supposedly, because you don't "up" the price to include a commission, your home will sale faster. Truth is, as stated above, buyers looking at your home will deduct the commission from your asking price, so if you've already reduced your price, you're getting hit TWICE, (that's assuming that it's priced right in the first place). Also, almost 90% of all home buyers use an agent to find property. If yours isn't listed, it's not "on the market" to those buyers. Can you really sell your home faster AND for more money by ONLY marketing it to 10% of the active buyers in the market?
6. Less uncertainty
You'll have less uncertainty because you'll get to interview the buyer and will know the "serious" ones. I ask, how exactly? Do you have a lot of experience dealing with home buyers to determine how serious they are? How would you know if they are even qualified for the price of your home? Sure, they'll say they are, but what if they're lying (buyers DO do that sometimes)? Furthermore, for buyers who didn't like the property, you'd like to know why. However, most buyers wouldn't be truthful with this either when dealing with the seller directly, as most don't want to say anything negative about your home to you. They will to an agent, though and you can use that to help you sell. An experienced professional REALTOR® will have a system in place for you, as the seller, to get good feedback on showings.
7. It's easy…as selling a car
Seriously, this is just a complete myth. That is the definition of comparing apples and oranges there. They say that a lender or an attorney will "take over" the process of the sale once you get a contract on the home. That, too, is simply not true. A lender is going to make sure that the buyer gets the loan (assuming that they're qualified). They are not going to do anything about the sale other than that. An attorney is going to make sure that the documents provided to HIM (if you forget something, that's your problem) are legal and valid for your state, that's all. They're not going to make sure everything is moving forward as it should and don't care if it does. Furthermore, in many states (NC for example), the closing attorney works for the BUYER.
Article from articlesbase.com
Related Johnson County Real Estate Articles
Homeowners Associations are Beginning to Interfere with Home Sales
November 19, 2010If you belong to a homeowners association, you may be experiencing unintended problems. I found this article and thought it would be information Kansas City real estate owners should be aware of. When you are working with a real estate professional, their experience will help keep you up-to-date with current real estate trends that could affect the sale of your property. Experience Matters!
Todd Carrison
In accordance to the National survey of Community Managers. The struggle continues in more than half of the over 310,000 homeowner and condominium associations. The economical downturn and the mortgage/foreclosure crisis is the cause.
Forty-five percent of community managers say their associations face "serious" financial issues as a result of the housing and economic downturn, while 9 percent describe the impact as "severe."
More than 60 million Americans live in homeowners associations, condominium communities and residential cooperatives.
More than half of community managers say at least 3 percent of the homes in their communities are vacant, with 25 percent reporting vacancy rates above 5 percent. When homes are vacant, whether due to foreclosure or the inability of non-resident owners to sell or rent their properties, associations are often unable to collect fees, or assessments, that are used to fund services such as utilities, trash pickup, snow removal, road and building maintenance and landscaping.
The survey shows that assessment delinquency rates in associations have more than doubled since 2005. Today, 65 percent of associations have delinquency rates exceeding 5 percent, with more than 30 percent reporting rates of more than 10 percent. For one in 10 associations–or close to 30,000 associations–the delinquency rate is more than 20 percent. A second survey shows that associations are not receiving timely assessment payments on 70 percent of the bank-owned properties in their communities.
"This can put an enormous strain on both associations and the homeowners who are paying their fair share," says Thomas M. Skiba, chief executive officer of Community Associations Institute (CAI).
Associations are responding by borrowing, reducing the money that needs to be set aside for major maintenance and repairs, postponing capital improvement projects and levying special assessments.
Many associations, Skiba says, are also forced to curtail services, which can further depress property values.
Skiba points out that the mortgage foreclosure crisis adds urgency to CAI's efforts to convince the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to nix its recent proposal to ban community association transfer fees–dollars that have been used for years to help many associations fund reserve accounts and community improvement projects. CAI estimates that as many as 11 million homeowners would find it difficult to sell their homes if the government moves forward with plans to ban these fees.
"Association boards strive to maintain the nature and character of their communities and meet the established expectations of all homeowners, but that's a daunting task in this kind of environment," Skiba adds. "They are making difficult choices because they have few alternatives. But they are managing the equivalent of a business and businesses must pay their bills."
More than 1,500 community managers responded to the survey. Complete survey data can be reviewed at www.caionline.org/data.
CAI is a 30,000-member, national association dedicated to fostering successful community associations. Working in partnership with almost 60 state and regional chapters, CAI provides information, education and resources to associations and the professionals who support them. Our mission is to inspire professionalism, effective leadership and responsible citizenship, ideals reflected in communities that are preferred places to call home.
By: Elizabeth Martinez, Editor
Mortgage Lending News, LLC
www.mortgagelendingnews.com
Proof Positive- Figures lie and liar’s figure
November 5, 2010
Take a look at my article Kansas Home sales Fall in September 2010 and compare it to my article Could the National Association of Realtors be skewing the numbers which came out just a few days apart from each other. Knowing how conservative the Midwest is and how Midwesterners spend there money, does any of this make since to you. The fact the Midwest is not the hardest hit area compared to California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and other states leads me to believe this is a case of "Figures lie and liar's figure". The discrepancies just in Kansas alone are huge. When I speak to people, they tell me a different story as well and it doesn't match what NAR is saying either. This is something we all need to be aware of, NAR is involved in politics and we all know what that means.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is a giant organization with more than 1,000,000 members, lobbing power, and millions of dollars. See how they spend their money here.
I'm Todd Carrison. After being a real estate broker for one of the area's largest real estate companies and closing more than 1,000 real estate transactions, I've decided to teach you what other real estate agents simply won't.
If you're motivated to learn how to keep more money in your pocket in ANY real estate transaction and want to learn from my successes (and failures), please get my free real estate tips and join my community.
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