LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION ~ What does that really mean to a Buyer or Seller?

Most of us have heard the expression, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION dozens of times. But when it comes to buying or selling a house, what does that really mean to you, and what should you be aware of?

Recently I was contacted by a Seller who was excited to put one of his houses on the market. He lives in Texas, and he was tired of being an absentee Landlord. He had purchased at the top of the market and put tens of thousands of dollars of rehab into this property. When I went to do a CMA for him, all I could think of was ~ why had no one advised him against this purchase initially because of its location? He now wanted to sell early, at top dollar, because he was having a hard time getting tenants to rent for a reasonable amount because of the LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION.

I would have strongly advised him AGAINST ever having purchased this particular property to begin with as the home was separated from the Interstate by just a frontage road and a low retaining wall. Whether it was the front of the house or the back of the house that faced the Interstate, that is the very definition of LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. This is a conversation a Buyer should be having with their experienced Realtor BEFORE the purchase if selling for a profit is ever going to be of interest to you. In this particular instance, the LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION of this particular home had a negative impact of $75,000 to $100,000 to similar homes just a half block away.

Some local subdivisions will have many similarities that will keep the home values in a general price range, but of course location in each particular subdivision AND condition will always affect the price. For instance, in Colorado Springs it is often the case that the higher up the side of the hill you go in any given subdivision, the more expensive the price will be. That is a good example of what LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION will mean to you if you are purchasing or selling a home. Whether it is hillside with views, backing onto the Interstate, on the water, next door to a junk yard, or across the street from a school, the location WILL affect the price of the home.

There are other areas, like homes in Downtown Colorado Springs, where each street has it's own uniqueness. The streets in Downtown Colorado Springs are so unique that LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION will mean tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars. I can take one house and, if it was moved over one block, the same house would be worth $50,000 more. Two blocks and the identical house would be worth $75,000 to $100,000 more. Incrementally, each westward street Downtown would add value so that four to six blocks over, the identical houses are worth at least $250,000 more.

While everyone knows the expression, so often Buyers and Sellers fail to understand that it applies to them personally. As Kathy pointed out in the comments below, you can change the condition, you can change the price, but you can't change the location. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION is an adage that really and truly needs to be kept in mind when you are looking for a property.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION was written by Mimi Foster

The Best Buys in Your Niche

Yesterday I had the privilege of taking another marvelous class from Real Estate Trainer/Motivator Bruce Gardner. In a fire-hose of information, I took away dozens of really good ideas from his class, and am excited to implement and share some of them.

Lately I have been getting back into the mindset of 'knowing my market,' and have been doing a lot of previewing of homes in my niche (Downtown Colorado Springs). I have been previewing to see what is available, what is well priced, what isn't, which ones should sell in a hurry, and which ones fall into the "what were they thinking?!?" category.

In taking it one step further, Bruce suggests that we summarize the "Best Buys" of our niche that we have found in our previews. Take three or four of them and create a single-page flyer. These are listings in your niche market that you believe to be the best values, and you are going to put pictures and info about a few of them onto a single sheet, but no addresses.

After each property you will indicate that it is listed by ABC Realty (with NO contact information), but the bottom of the flyer will have your contact information prominently displayed with your web address. You can also make a blog post of it.

One thing that you can do with the "Best Buys" flyer is to hand it out in your niche to local merchants while you're out running errands, tell them that you are a local Realtor and these are some really great buys in the area, and maybe they could share it if they have customers that they know might be looking for a house. The 'bigger picture' here is to establish a relationship with businesses and let them know that you are the local expert.

You can also send out an email once a month to your Sphere with your "Best Buys" and link it back to your blog/website. It not only helps to get your name out there as an expert in the area, it also helps to establish relationships with other Realtors, a very important piece of our networking puzzle. (And as an added bonus to yesterday's class, I also had the wonderful privilege of meeting two ActiveRain Realtor friends, Susanna Haynie and Joan Valverde. That was SUCH a treasure!)

Do you have any different ideas of how you might use a "Best Buys" flyer?

Downtown Colorado Springs Real Estate

“Mimi, you don’t know who I am, but I’ve never forgotten you. You represented a Buyer about 18 years ago for a house that we owned in Downtown Colorado Springs and we were selling it ourselves. My wife and I have never forgotten your sense of fair play and professionalism. I live in Texas and have tracked you down. We own a large number of properties that we have as rentals, and we have one that we want you to list and sell right away.”

So began my phone conversation with a gentleman early last week. To say that I was flattered would be putting it mildly. To know that I was excited about a Seller with multiple properties who was ready to start selling them off because he no longer wanted to be a remote landlord is an understatement.

And I was even more excited that most of the properties were in Downtown Colorado Springs, my niche, my passion. But the fact of the matter is that all areas within an area are not created equal. When he gave me the address my heart sank. When I pulled up in front of the property, I wondered what would prompt a person to purchase a home that faced on to the Interstate.

When I got inside the property, I wondered what would prompt a person to think that sticking a circular stairway in the middle of the living room would be considered an 'improvement.' And when I had to slip sideways to get into the bathroom because of the remodel, and take three steps to climb into the tub, I thought that maybe, just maybe, the owner had 'over improved.'

The fact that the refrigerator was in another room because there wasn't room left in the kitchen was moot by the time I got to the back of the house. Was I surprised when I ran comps and found that the value was about $50,000 less than it had been in 2006 when the owner had refinanced? Was I surprised when the owner thought that I was totally incompetent when I shared the results of that Market Analysis?

Nah ~ all in a day's work in the life of a Realtor in 2012. However, two other Downtown Colorado Springs Sellers thought I was good enough to hire this week. All in a day's work.

Downtown Colorado Springs Real Estate was written by Mimi Foster

Her son had purchased several homes through me. He and a few of his buddies had seen the restorations that my husband and I were doing in Downtown Colorado Springs, and they wanted to try their hand at it. This young man was one of the most charming individuals it had ever been my pleasure to meet, and I was genuinely fond of him.

So when his mother decided to purchase some investment property, we were immediate friends. I was relatively new to the real estate business (about 15 years ago), and while I was competent, I didn't have a lot of life-experience yet with clients. I called her one day and told her of a great opportunity, and she immediately came to town and wrote an offer.

We negotiated, got under contract, sailed through inspection, financing was a breeze. We had established a very friendly relationship and I was looking forward to spending time with her after the closing.

But as we sat down to the closing table, the woman that I thought I knew had not shown up. Her hideous alter-ego was sitting there that morning, and I couldn't have been more shocked. The sweet and conciliatory comrade was replaced by an aggressive, no-nonsense shrew. She demanded things of the Seller at the closing table that were outrageous, uncalled for, and out-of-line.

For a moment I was stunned. As my shock began to wear off, I suggested that maybe she and I could step outside for a moment and have a private word with each other (I was REELING). She turned on me like a she-monster and made it clear that if she walked out of the closing room, she would not return.

It was a substantial purchase, and the Seller was anxious to sell. He, therefore, caved to all of her outrageous demands, and the deal was consummated. I was pushed almost to the point of tears I was so angry. As we left the room, she put her arm around my shoulder and said, "Good job! Lunch is on me." I was incredulous and furious.

When I could formulate a coherent thought, I asked her what in the world THAT display had been about. She looked surprised and explained that she hadn't gotten to be the highly successful business person that she was by rolling over and accepting whatever came along. Needless to say, it generated a heated debate, and I walked away learning many lessons that day.

Not the least of which was the fact that I did not ever want to be in a position again where I NEED a commission. On the other hand, I am not sure that speaking up would have been the best alternative. All of these experiences go in to making us better agents. But I would have liked a few more years (ergo, a lot more confidence) under my belt before I had faced that particular challenge.

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Jekyll and Hyde was written by Mimi Foster