George of the Real Estate Jungle

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FIVE THINGS POTENTIAL BUYERS WILL SEE

Selling your home always involves a lot of paper work.  However, before you even get to that part of the deal, you will want to address more important matters; the thing your potential buyers will see when they look at your property.  Start with a plan and follow it to create real value in the minds of the buyer.  Five key areas of your home that buyers will have on their checklist are listed below.  Approach them seriously and you will be signing a Purchase and Sale Contract soon. 

New England Market Update

The market in New England has changed over the past year.  While still active, the inventory has increased and marketing times have been extended.  If you are looking to buy it's a great time to be in the market.  If you want to sell, be realistic and prepared to have your property on the market for a longer period of time than your friends or neighbors experienced a year or so ago.  For a great article about real estate in the New England go to: http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/regionalnews/20060718-mcmullen.html

Spun Out on Where to Start?

Dreaming of owning your first home? Tired of shoveling out rent for a home or apartment that doesn't feel like yours?  Want to stop building wealth for your landlord while you watch prices escalate from year-to-year?  Take heart, changing from renter to homeowner may be easier than you think. 

Where do you start?  First of all, learn the financing basics.  Get pre-approved and become a smart shopper. When you buy your first home, making monthly payments probably won't be a problem.  After all, you're already paying rent to your landlord each month. It's coming up with the lump sum needed for a downpayment that may seem impossible. Fortunately, there are options to make buying your first home a happy reality.

Programs for first-time buyers.   There are several local or federal government programs that help first-time buyers get into the housing market.  Ask us about these options.

Your lender.   Your bank or credit union may help as well.  Are you debt free and own something free and clear, like a car?  Your lender may lend you the down-payment by securing it against this asset.

A mortgage lender will likely have financing options that require little or no downpayment.  However, before getting into one of these programs you will want to have a well thought out plan for owning a home.  Over the long haul real estate has always appreciated in value.  However, if you think that this is going to be a short-term investment you will want to study the market and economic conditions in the community to be certain that nothing is happening that is going to have a negative impact on real estate.

Need financial solutions?  Many years ago the world of real estate financing was very simple and straight-forward.  You could apply a simple formula and feel confident that the local bank would be able to help you with a loan.  Today, however, the mortgage industry has a myriad of programs to suit the needs of many buyers.  Call a competent and credible mortgage professional to assist you early in the process and you will quickly be on your way to buying a home.

Credit or tax problems.   Do you have problems with your credit rating or owe money in taxes? Buying your first home is still a possibility. Check with your lending institution about options, such as paying a higher down- payment.

If necessary, contact a financial advisor or tax resolution service.

Habits

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

                                                                                  - Aristotle

Knowledge

"Knowledge is like climbing a mountain; the higher you reach, the more you can see and appreciate."

                                                                                                                             Anonymous

Whatever you to achieve, wherever you want to go, take a little time to gain knowledge and insight before embarking on your journey.  Better still, find a mentor to help you along the way.  Experience is a great teacher but mistakes can be costly.

Red Sox - Yankees May Series Continues

Here we go. Games 5, 6 and 7 of the scheduled eight games between the Red Sox and Yankees resumes tonight in Boston. (One game was rained out at the beginning of the month so it was reduced to a seven game showdown.) The Red Sox have taken 3 out of 4 including a 14-3 drubbing on May 1st, and have the edge in pitching rotation and venue this time around as well.

Tonight it’s Chien Ming Wang against Curt Schilling. Both have pitched well this season with Schilling coming into the game with six wins and 2 losses and an earned run average of 4.17. Wang is 4-1 with a 3.79 ERA. Given the state of disarray the Yankees pitching staff is in, Wang will be the “ace” of the staff in this three game series, and he’ll have to pitch like one for New York to win tonight. Look for Schilling to be at his best.

Tomorrow night it will be Jaret Wright versus Tim Wakefield. Both have losing records but at times have pitched better than their records indicate.

Wednesday night the Yankees will go with “Old Reliable”…TBD. Heading into a series against the Red Sox without knowing who will start the third game tells it all. The Yankees are trying to patch together a pitching staff while simultaneously piecing together a line-up that is missing Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, and Bubba Crosby. The Yankees pitcher, “To Be Determined”, will go against Matt Clement. Maybe Joe Torre should try the line-up of Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know's on third.

Commitment to Excellence

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of thrie chosen field of endeavor.          

                                                                                                    Vince Lombardi

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."

Nietzsche

Nietzsche

The 1, 2, and 3 of a Competitive Market Analysis

First, the Competitive Market Analysis is all about you.  What price do you need to price your house at in order to be “Competitive” in the marketplace?

Second, it’s about the “Market” and third it requires thorough and competent “Analysis”.  Proper interpretation and implementation of those two factors in the pricing process are critical if you want to sell your property for the highest dollar feasible in the shortest time possible.

The problem with computer-generated CMA’s is that they fail to consider the entire market and they do no analysis of the properties being used to arrive at a value for your property.

The Market Price for your home is obtained by first identifying recent sales of properties that are closely similar to your property…regardless of whether that sale was within the Realtorsystem (MLS) or a private sale.  It’s up to the person performing the analysis to determine if the sale was “arms-length” or a reflection of the low or high side of the market.  Direct sales (without representation of an agent by one of the parties) are a part of the market and must be considered when estimating the value of a property being analyzed.  The decision to discard the sale should come only after analyzing it to determine whether it is a reliable indicator of value. Under no circumstances should the preparer add a percentage to the sale price to equalize the assumed lack of a commission.

Analysis of the sales means getting reliable information about each of the properties used in the report, breaking the property down into its basic components, and finally coming to logical conclusions about what the seller and buyer agreed to when they established the final sale price.

Preparation of a Sales Grid.  After analyzing several sales, the preparer decides which properties are most comparable (usually 3 to 6) and compares those properties with yours to come up with a market-supported value.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it?   Yes.  But it’s not too much when you consider the fact that we’re probably dealing with your largest single asset.  Before deciding on a listing price for your property, ask the agent how he or she arrived at the value.  If they can’t, or won’t, produce a CMA that features Market Analysis as a significant part of the process, thank them for their time and call someone else who is able to start your business relationship off in a professional manner.

Price is Key

When it comes to the effective marketing and sale of your property, setting the proper price is the most important decision you have to make before getting started.

Price it too low and the buyer takes some of your hard-earned equity.  On the other hand, price it too high and you attract only lookers who will use your house to find value in other properties. 

Worse yet, what would you do it no one came by to see your property?

In either case, you have been successful in the real estate business by helping someone else sell their home.

The tool used by real estate professionals to establish the price is called the Competitive Market Analysis, or CMA.  In recent years some other names have been given to it by people who hope to differentiate themselves in the market.   In addition, the internet has spawned some intriguing products to help you price the property.  The internet sites sound great but fail miserably in the area of analysis.

A real estate professional has access to better data but be weary of those as well.  The computer generated report will produce sales and generally have more accurate property data, but the next step is the key.  Does the person producing the report give you an average or they go the extra step by thoroughly analyzing each sale?  As you know, the definition of average is lousy.  Would you rely on faulty or inadequate information to price the most important asset you may own?

Unless you own an average house, or there is a very recent sale of an exact duplicate of your property, the resulting figure (i.e., recommended listing price) is virtually useless.

Before putting your house on the market using one of these methods, ask plenty of questions about how the preparer compared your property with the ones used in the report.   If you do not get satisfactory answers, or if the responses sound canned or arbitrary, solicit a second opinion from a competent agent.  After all, you wouldn’t consent to a surgical procedure without adequate information.  Think of your real estate in the same manner: a serious financial matter that needs to be handled properly.

Next:  The Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) Process

A Slim Difference

The Yankees and Red Sox are tied for first place, separated by a mere .006.  At the end of the day today, however, one of the two will stand alone at the top of the AL East. 

On May 11th that's a pretty meaningless distinction with so many games remaining.  Nonetheless, this single game in a season of 162 is important because the goal of all teams is to take every series.  It is the uniqueness of baseball.  Each series represents a challenge and an opportunity towards the attainment of the ultimate goal to win the World Series.

By the time the last out is recorded tonight, you can expect the success (or failure) of six players to play key roles.  They  are Shawn Chacon, Johnny Damon, David Ortiz, Jon Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Tim Wakefield.  Overall, Ortiz and his teammates have had the best of Rivera in recent times so it will likely come down to that again.  The Yankees can avoid that situation if they get a great pitching performace from Chacon, and Damon does better than the 1 for 11 he has posted thus far in the series.  Papelbon and Rivera both pitched in the ninth inning because they needed the work.  Tonight they will likely enter the game in meaningful situations with the winner of the three game series on the line.