Mike Crowley

.................are we getting too obsessed with technology and automated systems? I showed a home to a client last week. She called me on Friday to discuss writing an offer. I called the Realtor Friday afternoon. Saturday as she was at my desk writing the offer with me I got an automated e-mail asking for feedback on my showing. If he had returned my call from the previous day, he would know that I was writing an offer. I replied to the e-mail informing him that I had written an offer on the home......what better feedback could you ask for? It is now Monday, he has not yet called me, but lo and behold I just got another e-mail requesting feedback on the same house again!!

This is not the first time, a few months ago I got an automated form requesting feedback on a showing I had for a particular house. This was tow days after I had writeren an offer on the home and had it all signed around! This is ridiculous how lazy we get and what awful programs we feel compelled to use because someone gave us some sort of sales pitch.

I often get asked by new Realtors and non-Realtors about why listing agents take listings that are so obviously overpriced. There are way too many answers for this, but the most common reason is that they take them out of hope. Hope that in time the market will catch up (not happening today) or hope that the seller will come down on the price before the listing expires, or hope that some buyer will make a poor buying decision without good information. In some instances, with the influx of new Realtors over the last few years, they may not know that their listing is so overpriced.

How do they get overpriced in the first place? First we have to remember that the seller sets the price, the Realtor is only there for counsel. With that said I will share an unusual observation I have seen over the past several years. Listings are more likely to be overpriced when you interview several Realtors than when you just select one. Being an exclusive buyers agent, I no longer list properties, so I need to refer those clients out to other Realtors, when I give my client's one Realtor's name, their homes sell quicker, but if they interview three Realtors as often suggested, they seem to get priced a little higher because the Realtors had three different prices and regardless of which Realtor they selected, they always chose the higher price.

How did that price get selected? The most talented and successful listing agents have a knack for knowing what the sellers want to hear. Very seldom are they going to get the listing if the seller indicates that another Realtor told them $225 and their response is that that will never happen. Nor will they be successful if the seller hints that they expect no less than $240 and the agent then proceeds to tell the seller that they will only list it for $225. It is a finely tuned balancing act to tell the seller what they want to hear. Take it at almost any price, and then work on getting that price reduced as soon as possible, I have seen that happen as soon as the next day. If three agents are being interviewed, most often than not they just coincidentally list with the Realtor that either told them the highest price, or at the very least chose the Realtor they were most comfortable with and then convinced the Realtor to throw out everything they had already suggested with regards to price and list it at the higher suggested price. And the Realtor always does!

What about if only one Realtor is being interviewed because of a strong recommendation? This becomes completely different, all the dynamics change. The seller is not shopping prices and trying to hear the highest possible price, they are only going to get one suggestion. If the Realtor knows this, they do not have that pressure of trying to suggest a price that the seller wants to hear because of what they have had suggested from other Realtors. As a matter of fact, in this instance the price may become a little lower than what it should be. The Realtor wants to get a price that will first and foremost get the home sold in the shortest amount of time so they can get paid. If they feel they have all the trust of the seller, they will come in at least a little, if not a lot less than they would if they knew they were competing with other Realtors.

Is this wrong? I am not suggesting so, sellers have created these scenarios by wanting to be told what they want to hear, not what they should hear. Once they hear what they want to hear, that is the Realtor they select; often time overlooking the more experienced or qualified Realtor because they were being more honest with them. As I stated before, the most successful Realtors out there are those that can best gauge what the seller wants to hear, they will focus on what they feel the seller needs to hear once they have the listing in hand.

How do you avoid it? Interview the Realtors first and foremost on their qualifications. Once you have decided whom to list with because of their qualifications let them give you an opinion on price, and then you decide what to list your own home for based on that information. Remember you need to select the ultimate list price, just as you select the ultimate sales price, not too many Realtors will turn down whatever price you set, so keep that in mind. Their taking the home at your requested list price is not necessarily indicative that they feel that it will sell at that price, unfortunately,

If you are buying a home in the Spokane area over the next 90 days between $100,000 and $400,000 and have excellent credit, you need a Realtor on your side. Call Mike Crowley at 509-951-9710 or e-mail to mike@spokanehomebuyers.com.

Spokane Home Buyers, Buyers Only since 1997!

A couple months ago an article was in our local paper, the Spokesman Review, about a slump in our Real Estate Market. They focused around a couple who was trying to sell a home they had just bought less than a year before, new construction. The whole flaw to this article should not have been on how this reflected a slump in the housing market, but what crazy things people do when buying or selling Real Estate and then want to blame something or someone else for their dilemmas.

Before I go on to show the errors of their ways, let me first note that 'yes', we do have a slowdown in our market, and there are several instances out there to show or prove that, but for the most part, survey after survey over the past year has indicated that Spokane, Washington is one of the strongest, stable and most predictable Real Estate markets in the country.

Back to the homeowners who feel they are caught in a slump, let's discuss what they did wrong.

First, they bought a home without selling their previous home. This gets even better.

2nd, the home they needed to sell was originally listed just under $1,000,000, in a market where less than one home in that price range sells each month, with a 6 plus year supply of such homes. A home they had just built in 2001, recently assessed for 2/3 of what they were asking for it.

3rd, to top that off, they list as being 'shown by appointment with agent', they do not allow a lockbox, and to be even more ironic, they say very motivated sellers, bring all offers. A motivated seller does not insist on appointment with listing agent only, and not allow a lockbox, this is the epitome of not being motivated at all.

4th, over the past 14 plus months as they have slowly reduced the sales price down to $675,000 (which is probably about what it is worth) from the original $998,000, they had an epiphany last week, they raised the price. In the slowest real estate market we have had in my lifetime, going into the slowest month of the season, a few days before Thanksgiving as snow has just started to fall on the ground, they raise the price from $675,000 to $750,000! And, still have the same old obstacles:

VERY MOTIVATED SELLERS, BRING ALL OFFERS!! PLS CALL LISTING AGENT TO MAKE APPT - NO LBX. (taken from the listing)

When I see the term "motivated sellers", I usually explain to my clients that more often than not, that means motivated to get the most amount of money possible for the home, not motivated to get the home sold under any reasonable conditions. Sometimes it just reflects a motivated Realtor because he/she is about to lose the listing to another Realtor.

The scenario these folks are in is not a reflection of the market, this is a reflection of a seller either being poorly advised or making poor decisions....or both.

Now you are wondering about the home they were buying? The one they bought last October? Well that story is interesting too. They paid $330 for it in October of 2007, new construction as well. Buying a brand new home is like driving a car off the lot, it is worth less the day you take possession (maybe one or two out of every 10 years you get lucky and this is not the case, but let's not rely on luck). Our market was in it's first decline in almost 20 years as they bought, so they decide to list the new home as well in the coming spring, 2008. Paid $330, so someone might suggest $330 to try and get lucky, or how about $320 to recognize the market decline and competing with empty new homes all around you? Nope, $360.

This is when they went to the newspaper. While they have done everything possible to keep their original home from selling (appointment only, no lockbox, unrealistic price, raising the price as the market declines), they took some pro-active measures to get this home sold. They agree to reduce the price $1000 a day until it sells. This was August of 2008. It has been a little over 100 days since that pledge and they have shown only a little reluctance to keep up the promise, overall they are doing a pretty good job, they have come down $75,000. They are probably priced to sell now, but any buyer might be waiting for just another week or two to save another $5000 to $10,000, especially this time of year in this market and in this economy. I do concede this was a great strategy by them or their Realtor in contrast with the home they originally wanted to sell, but the only drawback was that they started at least $30,000 over any likely sales price so the first month was a waste of time and effort, and then when they finally get to a fair/realistic price, or today maybe even a great price, they are at the slowest time of the year in a slow market in a bad economy.

Bottom line is this real estate market has enough obstacles for home sellers to deal with, let's focus on the real problems that this economy provides, not those brought about by people making poor decisions and more poor decisions to compound their problems. If you have a home to sell in the Spokane market, and have an experienced Realtor to counsel you, and you listen to them, your home will sell, maybe not in 30 days, and maybe not even 90, but we still have homes selling every day and yours may as well be one of them.

If you are buying a home in the Spokane area over the next 90 days between $100,000 and $400,000 and have excellent credit, you need a Realtor on your side. Call Mike Crowley at 509-951-9710 or e-mail to mike@spokanehomebuyers.com.

Spokane Home Buyers, Buyers Only since 1997!

Is it time to fire your Realtor because your home has not sold? As the only exclusive buyers agent (EBA) in Spokane, I often get asked this question from worn out home sellers because I can offer them unbiased insight without the fear that I will try to solicit the listing. Yes, this market is slower, and there may be fewer buyers out there, but homes are still selling every day. There are multitudes of reasons that a home does not sell in any market, but the first three are controlled by the seller, not the Realtor. Once those three items have been clearly identified and addressed, then you can start to wonder if it is time to change Realtors.

All of the following three criteria require proper counseling from the listing agent, it is their professional responsibility to do such, but if you do not listen it is your fault and you are ultimately responsible for all three.

Price. If you are trying to sell a $250,000 home but have it listed at $300,000, that is your choice, not the Realtors. The frequency that I will see a home listed 20-30% over value with one Realtor, then re-listed with a 20-30% price reduction with another Realtor and sells is all too often. The first Realtor should not have taken the listing, but they always do, hoping that they will be there when the seller reduces the price. The 2nd Realtor in this scenario is the better Realtor in that they got the seller to list at a more realistic price, but if the 1st Realtor had the opportunity at the lower price, the sale would most likely have occurred as well. Bottom line, contrary to what some believe, the seller sets the price, the Realtor just counsels such. On another note, all Realtors would appear much more professional if they chose not to take listings when sellers do not listen to their suggestions on price, but they don't.

Condition. If the front door needs painted, the weeds are not pulled, the leaves are not raked, the snow on the walkway is not shoveled, the heat is not on, or the dishes are in the sink, then the seller is not maximizing the condition of which the home can be shown. Once again, your professional Realtor will tell you to address these things, but it is up to the seller to make sure they are all addressed.

Availability to be seen. The home needs to be available to be seen on a moments notice 24 hours a day. This is extreme, but in reality no one is trying to show your home at 10 in the evening or 6:30 in the morning, and in most instances Realtors are trained to give a seller as much notice as possible for the typical showing times. If you have ever said that 'today is not a good day' when someone calls to show the home, or that you prefer it not to be shown after 5 pm, or require 24 hour notice, or appointment only, or 'no lockbox', you are interfering with your Realtors ability to sell your home for the most amount of money.

If your Realtor has failed to adequately counsel you on the three issues above, then it is time to fire them. But if they counseled you well on price, told you how to optimize the condition the home would be shown in, and helped you understand how to keep the home always available to show but you chose not to listen on even one of these points, they deserve the right to try to sell the home if they choose to do so once you start to address the three points of discussion. If they did or did not counsel you well on the points above, and time has passed and you feel that you are priced appropriately, you show the home in optimal condition, and it is easy to show by all accounts, then maybe it is just time to change Realtors for the sake of change, I have never objected to that.

If you are buying a home in the Spokane area over the next 90 days between $100,000 and $400,000 and have excellent credit, you need a Realtor on your side. Call Mike Crowley at 509-951-9710 or e-mail to mike@spokanehomebuyers.com.

Spokane Home Buyers, Buyers Only since 1997!

Home inspections have become an integral part of the home buying process. When I first started practicing Real Estate back in the early nineties, the idea of a home inspection seemed like an obstacle, primarily because we did not know who to call to do one. I suspect there were less than 5 inspectors in Spokane County to do the job for us, and since I did not know any of them except by name, it was scary to bring this person into the transaction. Times have changed.

One of the things that I have always been passionate about, is not just that the Realtor who sells the home attend the home inspection, but that the buyer should as well, and a legitimate home inspector will encourage the same.

The Realtor attending? A must. I have no idea how someone can negotiate effectively and professionally an issue on the home inspection without first hand knowledge of the concern. Some might argue that they can let the home inspection be completed and then the buyer's agent can come in and learn the highlights, but the effectiveness of the negotiation is from understanding the inspection as a whole. not just piece and parcel. This theory has been tested time and time again, and my office has well over a 90% success rate in negotiating home inspections in favor of our clients so that the transaction can close successfully. Attending the home inspection is the central key to that success.

The Home Buyer attending? Also a must. This is not always possible, over the years we have had military clients living in Japan, or serving a tour in the Middle East and physically unable to attend the inspection, or investors as near as Seattle or as far away as London that just can not attend the inspection, we try to keep those as the exceptions. For the buyers benefit of keeping things in perspective, their attendance is crucial to a smooth transaction. Over the years I have learned that on paper the terms, 'open splices and missing junction boxes' appears to be a heck of a lot scarier than in person. On paper it sounds like a week long job for an expensive electrician, in person it looks like a 5 minute job for a homeowner along with a quick trip to the hardware store and a couple dollars.

Along with setting a platform for effective professional negotiations, getting to know your home up close and personal. and keeping all the parties in a reasonable perspective, the home inspection reduces any 'after clsoing' surprises. Bottom line, attend the home inspection, make sure your Realtor attends the home inspection, and enjoy the home for years to come with a little more piece of mind.

If you are buying a home in the Spokane area over the next 90 days between $100,000 and $400,000 and have excellent credit, you need a Realtor on your side. Call Mike Crowley at 509-951-9710 or e-mail to mike@spokanehomebuyers.com.

Spokane Home Buyers, Buyers Only since 1997!