About Nottingham's Perry Hall

Sell That House: The Serious Time of the Year

We are moving into the cold months of the year and into the holiday season.

For many people who would like to sell their homes, they feel like they have missed the prime selling season and so they intend to wait until next year.

There is a common belief that the best time to sell a house is in the spring when the snow has thawed, the holidays are over, the flowers are blooming, the children will soon be ending school, and vacations are still a few months away in the summer.

Indeed, the numbers do show that the winter months have fewer sales than the rest of the year. The drop may be as much as 25%.

Could Sellers be missing out on a very good time to sell their homes?

Here are some reasons why the winter months may be a good time for Sellers to put their homes on the market:

• Note first that there are sales that do take place, even if there are less than during the rest of the year;
• There are fewer homes on the market, meaning that there are fewer options from which a Buyer can choose; there is less competition;
• The Buyers are likely to be more serious if they are looking during the colder months; the window shoppers come out in the nice weather;
• It is easier to have a consistent atmosphere in the house during the cold months; basically the heat will be on and the humidity will be low; compare to the spring when one may use the heat, the air conditioning, or open windows and when the relative humidity will vary from day to day;
• It is easier to maintain the grounds, no trimming the bushes or cutting the lawn; just keep the paths clear of snow;
• For many people, the holiday season brings a built-in reason to decorate the house, hence making it look nice for the potential Buyers as well as for the holidays;
• People are more likely to cook meals during the colder months, which provided those meals are of a pleasant aroma, will also be pleasing to the potential Buyers;
• Agents can give more attention to each listing because they will have less listings overall and more time available overall;
• Any contracts which are received are likely to go to settlement more quickly, since everyone involved is working on fewer transactions.

Keep in mind, that interest rates may be going up as we move into next year, which could make homes less affordable. Another pressure to drive prices down.

So maybe it is not a good idea to hold off until next year; get that house sold now.

Sell That House: First Impression

The all important first impression is a very critical point in selling a home. It is said that some buyers make up their mind, yes or no, within the fist half minute of seeing a home. What is not thought about as often is that there are actually more than one first impressions.

Of course, there may be several people who are looking at the house, but beyond that, the first impression has various stages.

The first of these impressions may be the advertising.

• The truly most beautiful and appropriately priced home may never get anyone's attention if the listing is not done with care. The obvious and perhaps most critical part of the listing are the photos. Does the listing have photos, do they cover the interior and exterior, and are they good photos, which show off the homes best qualities? A camera which can account for brightness and darkness is important; a wide angle lens can be invaluable; the basic toilet shot does very little.
• Also, of importance is having a listing with sufficient information. Does the listing show the rooms, their locations and sizes? Is their a link to the public record or is everthing a secret?
• The listing should be up to date. It is not a good idea to have remarks indicating an open house which occurred last week.

The first contact:

• Is there a number to call and does someone answer who can help?
• Does someone on floor duty answer the phone, put you on hold three times, and then ask again for the address, and finally say that they can't find the listing so they transfer you to someone else?
• Does a receptionist answer who states that only an agent can give you information about the house and they would be glad to transfer you, which they do to a voice mail?
• You must make it easy for them. Do not frustrate them before they even get started.

The directions:

• First the directions should be accurate.
• Also, some thought should go into the best route to approach the house. Do the directions lead in down a tree lined street of well maintained properties or do they lead past the apartments and crowded bus stops.

The exterior:

• The grounds should have well trimmed and manicured lawns, trees, bushes, and flowers. Colorful flowers can be very attractive.
• Walkways and driveways should be in good repair.
• The house should be in good repair. All gutters, downspouts, roof shingles, shutters, and such should be intact. The house should not show signs of significant aging. It should be painted if necessary.

The interior:

• This, of course, applies to the moment that the buyer walks into the house, but they are not going to stop at the front door. They will enter every room.
• The home should be clean and free of smells. It should not be cluttered. The buyer is interested in buying your house, but only if the house can be seen.

Everyone of these stages that the buyer may experience is critical, because if they are turned off by any one of these first impression stops along the way, then they may not proceed to the end. If they do not make it to the end, then they most likely are not going to buy, let alone give the house a second thought.

Freedom of Speech and Fox News

The Fox News Channel calls itself fair and balanced. First let's keep in mind that in its programming, Fox has a combination of news shows and commentary shows.

On the news shows, it does appear that they are indeed, fair and balanced; they report the news and let you decide on the implications of that news.

On the commentary shows, there are, at least, two which are so far to the right, that I almost fall out of my chair when I watch them. These are Beck and Hannity. Of course, when I watch Olbermann or Maddow on MSNBC, their far to the left leanings have me falling out of my chair in the opposite direction.

Recently, there has been a situation between Fox News and the White House, whereby the White House has been excluding Fox News and downplaying their signifcance as a news reporting organization.

In a recent interview of President Barack Obama with Savannah Guthrie of ABC News, she asked the President about the situation with Fox.

His response was: "Understandably since you are in the news business this is something that you are very interested in."

What did he mean? Of course, she was interested. She was asking about an important event in today's world. ABC is a news organization, and Guthrie was doing what any good reporter should do. She was asking an appropriate question. Why was it important? Not because they too are a news reporting organization, but because it addresses an important part of the Constitution of the United States of America. It addresses freedom of speech and freedom of press.

The President continued in his response: "I think that the American people are a lot more interested in what we're doing to create jobs or how we're handling the situation in Afghanistan."

. . . in the words of the most brilliant man and greatest orator of all time: "er . . . uh . . . and . . . look . . . listen".

Okay, I am calmed down now and I have my thoughts together.

Note to President Obama: DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I AM THINKING!

Along with the inalienable right of freedom of speech comes the implied right of freedom of thought.

I care much more about keeping my right to free speech than I do about what the government is doing to create jobs. In fact, I do not want the goverment involved at all in trying to create jobs.

As far as Afghanistan is concerned, what in the world are you doing anyway?

Why don't you get past your stupid game of making ridiculous speeches and start doing your job. "I'm just getting warmed up . . ." Really, where have you been for the last ten months. Mister sports fanatic, didn't anyone tell you that you should warm up before you get into the game.

. . . and that's my rant, like it or not.

Tech Savvy Buyers Might Be Missing Out

It used to be that real estate agents were the holders of the keys, the information, and everything else related to what was on the realty market.

A potential buyer would go to an agent, tell them what they wanted, and then the agent would try to find something that would meet all of the buyer's needs.

But, along came the internet. More and more information was being loaded onto the internet. One could find the tax records, who had liens on the property and for how much, aerial photos, neighborhood information, interior and exterior photos galore, and so on.

A buyer would call an agent to give them a list of houses that they wanted to see. The role of the agent was changing. The buyer could find the house, they just wanted the agent to walk them through the deal.

This sounds like a winning scenario for buyers and agents. So how may these tech savvy buyers be missing out?

Have you ever had a buyer tell you about a property that they would like to see and then you suggested another similar house in the same area to which they responded that they already knew about that one but were not interested? Their disinterest was related to what they saw on the internet about the house and not on personally seeing the house. What if the agent who listed the house was not tech savvy and had few pictures, that were all poorly taken? How often have you seen more than one picture on a bank owned property? It could be that a very nice house is not being displayed very well if at all on the internet.

Have you ever had a buyer tell you that they knew the value of a house and when questioned as to how they came up with the value they mentioned a website like zillow? Do they think that agents use zillow to perform CMAs or BPOs, or that appraisers use such a site? All too frequently, these automated evaluation sites give misleading numbers, sometimes high and sometimes low.

Have you ever had a buyer tell you that they were already preapproved? Oh yes! When asked what type of loan they typically did not know. Did they understand the implications of any particular type of loan? Usually not. They were approved for FHA (were not aware of the 203k) and were planning to purchase a fixer upper or perhaps they were planning to buy a condo in the complex where they rented, but too many rentals would preclude the use of the FHA loan.

Real estate agents have this knowledge in their heads, or those of their brokers, or office managers and most of their knowledge has not been loaded onto the internet.

Indeed, the internet is a valuable tool for finding information, but people are fooling themselves if they believe that they can find sufficient information by using it alone.

Tax Credit Use

There are some people who would like to purchase a home today. Many of these people can afford to buy, but they are waiting. They are concerned that in this economy that they could lose their job and then be left with a mortgage which they could not afford to pay.

They recognize that prices are very low and that interest rates are also very low, but they are still concerned about maintaining employment. They do not want to end up in foreclosure or out on the street.

While many economists are indicating that the recession has ended, they also are suggesting that the total number of job losses may not end until mid 2010. This economic forecast gives credence to the trepidation that many potential homebuyers are experiencing.

Can the tax credit help them?

Depending upon the price of the home that they purchase, the tax credit of $8,000 could be equal to anywhere from two to eight month's payments, assuming that they purchase a home in the average price range of today's homes.

Generally, it is a good idea to have savings equal to 3 to 6 months of one's expenses readily available in case of a temporary setback, such as a job loss.

If one can be wise in the use of this tax credit, then they can put it aside for the potential job loss. With the economy picking up, it is likely that any unemployment would be for a shorter period of time than has been seen over the last few years. Indeed, this $8,000 could be sufficient to cover a 3 to 6 month period.

But is it a good time to buy?

As already stated, home prices and interest rates are very low. What will happen with home prices and interest rates in the short term?

With more foreclosures and short sales on the horizon, it is possible that home values could still be driven lower. However, there are other conditions which may keep the prices stable. One, the economy is pulling out of its recession meaning among other things that homeowners will be more likely to be able to afford their mortgage payments and avoid foreclosure; two, the people who have purchased over the last 2 to 3 years are in a much stronger position because of the tighter lending requirements; and three, the total number of homeowners who are not in mortgage trouble is close to 96% of all homeowners, which is a group which will strive to keep home values up.

With an increased money supply, it is likely that interest rates will start to go higher. Even if home values drop, mortgage payments will be inversely impacted by these higher rates. So waiting for prices to drop further will be of no value.

Even if prices drop by another 5%, notwithstanding the likely upward movement of interest rates, it still will be financially sound to purchase, because of the tax deduction benefits that can be received from itemizing the interest and property tax portions of a mortgage payment. These will easily offset this potential further depreciation of property values.

When all things are considered in today's real estate market, including the wise use of the available tax credit, this may be the best time to purchase a home in the last decade.

The wrong use

Of course, one can buy now and make an unwise decision for the use of the tax credit and end up going to foreclosure if they find themselves unemployed.

For instance, unless you are otherwise financially strong, it is not a good idea to use the tax credit for a trip to Disney World.

Look at the tax credit as a way of safely purchasing a home at a time when the economy is moving towards recovery and when the homebuying conditions are as good as they may ever be in your lifetime.