Michelle Buckman

Yesterday, Sunday, I held an open house for my listing in the Kenwood section of Chevy Chase, MD. I did not expect many visitors because the property has been on the market for a while. Also, it was quite a cold day for Washington, DC with very little sun. I took the newspaper to read.

I did my usual to prepare for an open house. I put a print ad in the Sunday newspaper, posted the open on Craigslist and in the MLS. The open was also placed in my brokerage website. I had many directional signs out so prospective buyers and people just looking would find their way to my listing. This was not the first time the house was held open.

To my surprise, people were waiting at the property. (I always get to my open houses early). Many of the home viewers were neighbors. Other visitors found the house from directional signs. I had no time to read my newspaper because the flow of people coming to see the house was continuous.

The open hours were from 2-4. I did not close the house until 5pm. Most people were just browsing. Several agents came by to preview the property. There were a few parties who were serious home buyers trying to find a house. One or 2 parties seemed very interested in my listing.

Does all this activity mean I had a successful open house? What makes an open house successful?

A colleague asked my advice on how to educate a seller who wants to list their property at a very high price. The realtor had done a CMA for this seller but the seller still insists their property is worth an over priced amount.

I told my colleague that aside from a CMA, I do the following

• Show potential selling clients what their competion is.
• Print out a list of all the properties currently for sale. Discuss with seller how long properties currently Active have been on the market.
• Print out a list showing properties currently under contract and recently sold in that area. We look at the days on market for properties on that list. Some properties on the list went very quickly. We discuss why they went under contract or sold so quickly.

If the seller still insists that their property is worth an over priced amount, I take the seller to look at other properties currently on the market. The seller then actually sees their competition.

If the seller still does not see the light, I then tell the seller if the property does not go under contract after a certain amount of days and/or there are no showings on the property, then the market is speaking. The property price needs to be reduced.

If none of this works, ask yourself, is it worth spending time and money on taking an over priced listing?

I am curious to know what other agents do to educate sellers.

2 young children, in my neighborhood (a 4 and 8 year old with the help of their father) were participating in community service by collecting nonperishable food for the Capitol Area Food Bank. I thought, what a great idea, collecting food...The 4 and 8 year old explained that after the holidays, food donations go down. More people and families have been relying on the local food banks for daily food for their tables. As a result, th shelves of local food banks have been running very low.

Quickly, I put together a shopping bag of nonperishable items to donate. It took literally 5 minutes of my time. I thought, this is so easy to do and I am helping some one or family from going hungry. Then I thought, if more people spent 5 minutes donating nonperisable items (even 1 or 2 items), the shelves of local food banks would have more food to donate.

Since the children stopped at my door, I decided to find out more about families and hunger. I did not know that approximately 633,000 residents of the metro DC area are at risk for hunger. I also learned that 47% of households receiving emergency food aid include at least one adult family member who works.

ActiveRain members, would you be willing to spend 5 minutes to go through your antry shelves to donate an item so someone less fortunate will not be hungry? Just think if this was done on a weekly or even monthly basis. Now that I have been educated by a 4 and 8 year old, I plan to donate to the local food banks on a regular basis.

This morning, a friend asked me how to go about finding a property that will be a good long term investment. This was my response:

The first thing a potential buyer should do is look for a real estate agent who knows a particular neighborhood or neighborhoods very well. This agent should know the inventory in a particular neighborhood and even know about properties that are not yet on the market but will be for sale soon. In addition, the agent should know how long the properties have been on the market, what kind of condition they are in, if the listing is over priced, at a good price or under valued.

The next most important thing to consider is location. Location is always very important when considering any property's long term investment potential. Properties close to or in a downtown area are always more valuable and expensive then properties in an outlying suburban area. Properties close to public transportation, like the Metro in Washington, DC add valuable. Properties within walking distance or a short drive to restaurants, grocery stores, cleaners, drug stores and other shops also add value to a property.

Another item to consider, especially if a property is in a city, is parking. A garage, garage space, parking lot space or parking pad adds value to a property.

The next question regarding a property's long term investment potential is rental information. What is the rental history like in a particular area? Are there many properties for rent in a particular neighborhood? What kind of rent can a property obtain? How long does it take to rent a property in a particular neighborhood?

Your realtor should be able to answer all of these questions.

For more information regarding property and long term investment potential, please e-mail: michelle@buckmanrealtor.com or visit my website: www.buckmanrealtor.com