Matthew O'Shea - The O'Shea Group at Prudential - 402.310.5977 - Matt O'Shea

Perched atop the window-nook pillow top bench, watching out the window as the snow falls softly over the country hills, I listen to the soft jazz flowing from the Bose sound system as a I clutch my Courvoisier on the rocks from the granite-topped island. You may think I am in the kitchen, but guess again.

Our Culture is dropping stacks of cash into their storage spaces, and I don't mean litlerally. Once a place to hide your personals, closets everywhere are getting a dream make-over. Thats right people, once a grim box with a rod to hang your trousers, with the need for more space closet are becoming larger and more sophisticated.

Not only are closets becoming larger with better storage options, but try an Italian Leather sofa, or how about a wine refrigerator. Welcome to the $4 Billion custom-closet industry. Once only found in luxury homes, it is not unlikely to find a homeowner installing a $4000-$5000 custom-closet in a middle of the market home.

And the choices for some of these custom closets reaches far beyond the choice of whether or not to splurge for that motorized tie rack. Now we are hit with the choice of whether to hire a contractor, or whether we want smart storage closets are a masterpiece to show off to our peers. Should I create more shelving, or hang a 60 inch HD Plasma Screen on that wall?

Its the truth. Closet aren't just closets anymore. Find out for yourself! Type in Custom Closets on Google and they searches are broken down by cities. And the next time you walk into your closet, refer back to the first paragraph of this blog and imagine the possibilities!

I used the word "Flip" very loosely. I prefer "property beautification," as it implies that I am making positive changes to the property. But, I digress.

So, you wanna flip in a down market huh? Well, let me tell you that investing in today's market is not as crazy as it sounds. Let me give you my ideas, as I rehab properties for profit, and speak from experience.

1. Focus on Foreclosure:

The idea of focusing on foreclosures seems a bit tired, but maybe you are just doing it all wrong. So here is a tip. Banks love owning mortgages, but hate owning properties. REO properties are bank owned properties, and can be a very lucrative buy. No, negotiating with the bank isn't the easiet way, but you can trim some of the $$FAT$$ by dealing directly with the asset managers, rather than bothering with Sheriff Sales or Auctions.

2. When choosing a property, dicsount the property using a higher discount points.

What the heck is this guy talking about you say? Listen up. Take and easy number, say $100,000. That is the price you wish to sell your flip when you are done. Now, take into consideration all the Dollars you will be spending in repairs, realtor fees, utilities, staging, etc... Now add to this number the profit you wish to gain from the sale of your flip. Are you catching on? Good. Now subtract that entire number from you hopefull sale price and that is the number you should buy the flip for.

There is any eaier way to do this. My team uses a set number to divide the hopeful sale price of the home by, and gets the number at which to purchase a home. My team uses 1.2 to 1.3 as a guide. For instance. Take $100,000 and divide it by 1.2. You get $83,333. So why use 1.2? Becasue our goal is to make 20% return on investment, and by dividing the hopeful sale price by 1.2 you get an idea of what you should purchase the home for in order to set yourself up to make that 20% return. The rest is up to you to make smart decisions in the flip process.

Now in down market we look at discounting to 1.3 in order to cusion a longer period the home may sit on the market, or other variables that may prove the sale of the flip to be more difficult. One of the major issues for flipping in some down markets are the lower sale prices due to homes selling below fair market value and dropping home values.

3. Be a flipper who buys-and-holds...

Flippers are not known for buying and holding properties, as they wish to make a quick profit. But in a down market, re-create your system to allow for you to buy and hold your flip project. If it is going to take you longer to sell your flip, why not wait out the market slump on OPM (Other People's Money)? Flip and lease your project, and when the market turns sell the property.

Some people are not landlord material, but if your financial situation allows for you to hold a property during a market slump, and on someone else's dime, lease the property and wait. Also, living in you flip will help, as you don't have to pay two mortgages.

These three tips are a great way to maximize your potential for having a sucessful flip in a down market. Some may fail, but let that be someone else. Make smart decisions, have a plan and work it, and make sure you follow a budget. Good Luck!

What three major aspect of a property affect the sale of a home?

1. Location
2. Condition
3. Pricing

There it is. The secret to selling your home in less than 30 days in three simple words. When a home owner sit down with a Realtor to list their home, these three things are the only aspect of the home that are of importance.

Location:

Where is the property located? Is it in a desirable neighborhood, or is it in a less desirable part of town? Is it close to an industrial facility or is the home on the 9th hole of a private golf course. Do you see where I am going with this. If you property is in a more desirable part of town, chances are you are going to have better luck selling!

Condition:

A clean and well kept home will impress any buyer. No matter the age of the home, if you keep the home updated and clean a buyer will be more inclined to offer. A buyer likes to walk into what we call a "Move-In Ready" home. Typical homebuyers are looking at spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase a home, and a home in poor condition means forking out more money to get it back into shape. Homes is good condition are easier to sell.

Pricing: In my eyes the most important aspect of a home.

You here the old phrase "Location, Location, Location." But what about the price. Anything can sell for a price, but the right price determines the whether a home will sell or not. An over priced home in a good location may not sell if the price is entirely to high. So how do you determine the best price for your home. Look at what other home have sold for in the area, determine what percentage of fair market values homes are selling for in your area. Are they selling for less than fair market, or higher than fair market value? These determinants are key in pricing you home.

So you say you can't do anything about the location of your home. No problem! Each of these 3 aspects can be altered to fit the need of the property. if the location is bad, make sure the condition is perfect, and adjust the price of the home to similar sales in the area. You can adjust these aspects in order to make up for the aspect that are lacking.

So what did we learn today. If you don't want your home on the market for months and months make sure you pay close attention to the 3 aspects I talked about: Location, Condition, and Price.

I have to get some feedback on this!

I have been poking around on Facebook and Myspace, and have found a huge presence of Realtors on these sites. It seems like a great idea, but with so much negative publicity that some of these sites get, are we sure it is the best wayt o keep in touch with some of our clients. I mean, sure its a great way to meet up with an old classmate that you really don't want to talk to on the phone, so you send them an absolutely meaningless message to let them know your still alive...But, do we think it actually helps us?

Ya gotta let me know people...I'm waiting on you comments...

Before I go any further, I would like to say that the more letters behind your name the better!

Anyway, what is with the acronyms? GRI, CCIM, ePRO, "LMNOP"...okay maybe not "LMNOP," but I found that humorous. My good friend, who knows very little about real estate, asked me this question. And what I found was that any of my clients who were not seasoned homebuyers had no clue what they meant!

How could this be? All those hours of class time and seminars, and most people have no clue what these acronyms stand for! I found this quite deflating. Though when I asked my personal clients what they meant, I got a big "WHO CARES, IT LOOKS GOOD!"

Here is my question: Do we get these designations to look good?

Here is my answer to my own question: NO!

Agents get designations in order to increase their real estate saavy, and to better serve their clients. The whole looking good part is just an added bonus. Extended education is key for your future success as a realtor, in part because you can service you clients in ways others cannot.

So remember...Get those letter behind your name, and you'll be giving yourself a raise!