Troy Hershey

While it's too early to know what the future holds, our prediction of a flat line market is shaping up to be a real possibility. Traffic at our Model Homes and other listings has dropped by over 70% since Saturday, May 1st. Did we pull all the 2nd & 3rd Quarter buyers forward? NO WAY. Did we pull quite a few forward? ABSOLUTELY. How many is unimportant, what matters most is what we do today, tomorrow and the next day. Roll up your sleeves, get back to basics and the rest will take care of itself.

Here's what won't get it done - telling buyers that Obama, Congress or whoever is going to renew the tax credit in a couple months. I've heard this from two buyers the past couple of days, one of them actually decided not to buy a home because a Realtor friend told them this very thing.

We all know a few agents that like to play "The Great Carnack" and show how smart they are at predicting the future but please folks think about what you say. None of us has any real reason to believe there will be another tax credit, quite the contrary. That kind of talk will seize the market up faster than telling people rates are going to be 4% in a few months.

If you still struggle with this concept and think it's your duty to advise people what the future may hold, consider the following. What if... You tell a potential client that you think (or heard) they are going to renew the Tax Credit in a few months. They trust you and decide to hold off on buying a home for now. September comes, there is no new tax credit and interest rates are now at 6.25%. Did you do them a service?

Safer to assume there will be no more bailouts, let people take advantage of low prices and great interest rates. Tax Credit or Not, this is a wonderful opportunity for home buyers to get a bargain.

We had a listing sell last week where the buyer was putting 5% down (excellent credit) and doing a loan with B of A. Guess what...B of A dumped thier 5% down financing. While FHA is a bit tougher on the appraisal side, they are still an option. On the surface this seems ludacris but we have to look at things from the banks perspective. With prices dropping 3-5% per month in many markets, does 5% down make sense as an equity position, probably not. The borrower could be upside-down 60 days after closing.

This is important information for sellers, they will likely end up doing more repairs than they would have with a conventional loan but better to spend a little money on repairs than loose a sale.

Troy Herhsey - www.CombsHersheyRealtors.com

360-816-6728

The death of the sellers assistance programs has reudced the number of entry level buyers by more than 25%. Early feedback shows that this loss of would be buyers has put further downward pressure on prices in the 250 and under market. I spoke to two title company managers this morning, open orders are falling fast.

What sellers must do....price aggressively and overpay on the commission.

First - With fewer buyers you must price your home aggressively to be the best buy of the current inventory. Pricing as little as 5-10K over the market will result in fewer showings and no offers.

Second - With so much inventory out there, you need to be creative and make sure that every agent in town wants to sell your home over other listings. How can you do this without dropping your price by 20K? Add 2-3% to the commission. Agents are hungry these days, many are selling fewr than one home every few months, by offering a big fat commission you become the cream of the crop, agents will do everything possible to sell your home. The choice is simple, reduce your price by 10% or pay 2-3% more in commission to create a pack mentality towards selling your home.