Staging is the best thing I ever offered to my clients. It brings in a third party to keep me from offending the client and the stager is much better at staging a home than I ever want to be. I use the same stager on every home and every home she has staged has sold within 14 days and close to list price, sometimes over list price due to multiple offers. She is really good.
I explain to my clients that the better their home looks, the higher price it will bring and the faster it will sell. I use two pictures to demonstrate the difference between staged and not. I simply ask which photo of a living room looks better? I show them photo one, which is the staged home, then I show them a photo of a home that looks nice but is not staged. The second photo is not bad but people always choose the first photo after comparing the two side by side. Then they are generally sold on the idea, get the staging, and are amazed at how nice the home looks even to them than before it was staged. If they don't want to use a stager, I offer them the use of a staging DVD. Not as effective but a step in the right direction. To me, there is simply no question anymore about whether to stage a home or not.
Dale Ross RE/MAX Fry Road in Katy, Texas
I recently read in AR about a tactic showing up where buyers bid high on homes to secure a contract on them then why the home under appraises, the price is renegotiated. Legal? Absolutely. Ethical? It's is a legal tactic.
When my buyers can't decide which home to buy, out of say 2 or 3 properties, I suggest they put them all under a Termination Option, at any price, while they decide which one they want. The Termination Option Period (TOP), which is usually 10 days but can be negotiated to 14, usually costs $100 per home with no risk of losing the Earnest Money if they terminate within the bounds of the Option Agreement. They can always renegotiate the price, or anything else for that matter, during the TOP and back out if they can't get the deal they want. The state of Texas, maybe other states too, has given this priceless option, or loophole, to buyers to take as many homes off the market with little or no risk while they decided which home is best for them at a very low cost. There is no contractual obligation, whatsoever, by the buyer during this time frame. Is it fair to sellers? I guess the state thinks so. Personally, I think it creates more of a hostage situation for the seller. Wait while we decide whether or not we want to buy your home. Sure we want to close and move in in 21 days and we'll let you know in 14 days whether or not we REALLY want to buy your home.
Then, think about it this way...Sellers can take advantage of this option also by taking their competition off the market for a few days using the same strategy. After all, our Earnest Money Agreement does not ever state that the party putting the home under the TOP has any obligation or even intent to purchase the home, just an option to purchase. So, if you have a listing and there another listing just like it down the street at a lesser price, your seller can put that other home under option and be the only home on the market for up to 14 days for $100. Once again, Texas has created and left this loophole wide open for years.
How can it be fair to the buyer and seller? By doing away with the TOP and not tying the seller into sitting on their hands for 10-14 days waiting for the buyer to decided whether they want the home and how much they will demand in way of repairs, allowances or price deductions. Instead create a written agreement that does not bind either party to anything except to allow an unlimited amount of time for a prospective buyer to perform inspections, and THEN make an offer based on the inspection results. No more renegotiating the offer up to the last minute of the TOP. If another buyer comes in with an "as is" offer before the first buyer comes back with an offer, then let the sellers choose who they want to work with. That's a free market system and no one looses time or money. What do you think?
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Dale Ross, RE/MAX Fry Road, Katy, Texas
First of all I want to say that I love helping families find the home they really like and want to live in. It gives me personal satisfaction knowing I helped someone find a home that makes them happy. I don't mind showing people as many homes as it takes to find the perfect home. In fact, I have worked with people for many months before they found the right home. Then, there are the buyers who hope to steal the perfect home, and in our current market, that is just not going to happen.
Have you had a home buyer that looks at every home on the market as soon as it comes up for sale (no problem there), decides it's the best home out of 20 that they have seen (because it is), they know it's a good deal and then they want to put in a really low offer AFTER you advise them that there are other offers on the home. Our market in Katy Texas is very competitive for the best homes. Many of the best homes get offers at or above list price the same day they come on the market. You inform your buyer that there are offers on their preferred home and they still insist on making a low, low offer. My only guess is that they either do not believe me or do not really want the home. You know that their chances are probably slight of even having a shot at getting a counter offer but you write the offer anyway to satisfy your client.
Did they really want that home? When I have a buyer who insists on making a low, low offer, I write the offer for them and when they ask when we will hear back, which they always do, I ask them if they can wait five minutes for an answer. They usually say yes. Then, I pick up the phone and put it on speaker, call the other agent on their cell phone and if I get an answer, I let them know we are presenting an offer of $XXX, XXX. Then I ask how long will it take for a response from the seller? Most of the time the other agent will let me know there are other offers higher than the offer we are making. I say thank you and good bye and hang up the phone. The buyers have their answer instantly and must decide whether this is the home for them. The reason I do it this way is to show the buyer that I am not trying to get them to pay more than they want to for the home, but to let them know that I am being honest with them about the circumstances. If they give up on the offer, then that tells me that this was really not the home for them to begin with. Some buyers still go through the same motions two or three times until they lose a home they really liked and hated to lose. Then they start making serious offers. So, when a buyer is making a low, low offer on a home, I now ask them...Is this the home you really want?
Dale Ross, RE/MAX Fry Road, Katy, Texas Real Estate
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One day you are out at the pool in the 85 degree afternoon heat having a cold beer and all of the sudden the wind picks up, the temperature starts dropping and keeps on going until the the air is as cold as your beer. Usually cold weather comes into Katy and Houston with a sudden blast sending temperatures plummeting in just a matter of hours. It always seems to catch us off gaurd.
We don't use our gas fired furnaces much of the year but the time is coming when we will start using them. It's always a good idea to have your furnace serviced before you crank it up to make sure everything is in working order and to check for a cracked or damaged heat exchanger. Down here near the gulf coast we constantly have salty sea water air blowing through and that salty moisture can cause rust in, on and around your heat exchanger, especially the older models.
When you first turn your heater on every year you may sense a burning smell. That would be everything that has settled on the heat exchanger since you last used it. It might even set off your smoke detectors.
Be safe. Get it checked out before the season creeps up on you and you end up with a cold night.
The Kelliwood neighborhoods real estate market cooled off somewhat in the heat of the hot August sun. August sales were down from 12 in 2008 to just 7 in 2009 and days on market fell by 4. Overall year to year sales prices increased about 4.68%. We are tracking to wind out the year with about 115 sales which compares to 118 at the end of 2008.
The key to selling your home in this market is to have the perfect market position and a proactive presentation of your home. Your home has have great photos on multiple websites and in magazines in order to bring it to the buyers who are looking for homes instead of hoping for them to stumble upon it. When your home is shown it MUST be emotionally staged and have a detailed sales brochurefor the buyer in order to give your home every possible advantage over the other listings. Lacking any one of these efforts puts your home at a disadvantage and your home may not sell. You have but one chance to impress a buyer. Do you know how to seize that moment? I do! Consider that there were 41 Kelliwood listings and 7 homes sold last month. That means that 34 homes did NOT sell last month. Which category do you want your home to be in next month?
Contact Dale Ross Discover how much your home is worth today. The Dale Ross Team, Katy Texas.
281-599-6575
I have been a Realtor in Katy, Texas since 1981. My team has been named a Top 20 Real Estate Team in Houston and a Top 20 RE/MAX Team in Houston and in Texas.
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