Spokane Real Estate - Ross Quintana

Hello Everyone,

The Spokane Real Estate Market isn't just about how many homes are for sale and how many are sold. There is a third number that teaches us a lot about what is happening right now int he market both locally here in Spokane Washington and all of the US. That is the number of expireds.

When homes don't sell the contract expires and this home owner has one of three choices. They can take the home off the market, try and sell the home themselves, or find another Realtor to sell it with.

Let me say that taking the home off the market is bad in this market. The reason is that we have high inventory. This means you will take it off the market when the inventory is going down and put it on in the spring when inventory and competition goes up.

Second is try it For sale by owner. The problem is, if being in the MLS and having a Realtor didn't get sold then doing less For sale by owner is a step backwards. Yes you can lower the price, but you are also lowering the advertising.

Third is hire another Realtor. This is the best thing to do. But this time make a better choice. The key is hire the agent with the best marketing plan and best internet coverage. In the slower months people are not going to drive around looking they are going to go the the internet. In a competitive market the agent with the best marketing is the one who will have the best chance at getting your home sold.

A large amount of expireds teach us one thing, that people aren't educated about how to pick the best agent. Read some of our other articles on tips for hiring a agent and get educated so that your next choice is the right one.

Well it is that time of year. People who didn't get their homes sold over the summer either FSBO (for slae by owner) or with an agent now have some choices to make.

1. Take the home off the market and try again in the spring. This is one of the worst things to do in this market. It is very competitive and by waiting when there are even more homes is a big mistake. Most people shop online so keep it on over winter when you have less competition. This is one of the most common mistakes I see.

2. The listing expired maybe I will try to sell it myself For Sale By Owner. Second biggest mistake. Going for sale by owner in a market with a lot of homes means you actually got less competitive with less marketing. You would put yourself in the worst possible position.

3. Hire another agent. This is the right choice, but this time learn what to look for. An agent is just a tool to help you get your home sold. If it isn't the right tool then don't just grab another one, get educated on why your Realtor didn't get the home sold. In this very competitive market you have to hire the agent with the best marketing plan period. If they can't show you what they do differently than the other agents then don't hire them.

Oh, I forgot the worst thing you can do is stay with the Realtor who didn't sell it the first time. More of the same thing won't get it sold. No matter who you hire, ask for an easy out clause if you are not satisfied so you don't have to stick with someone who isn't working. Call us or visit our website if you want to see Spokane real estate the way it should be and to see what we do differently than our competition to get homes sold in this tough market.

Hello Everyone,

I have been helping Spokane For sale by owners (FSBO's) for about 7 years now and I watch many people try and sell their homes. During the big rise in real estate nationwide many Realtors started FSBO companies and told people they could do it so that later they could list their homes after it didn't work.

Some of them sold in the hot market but many didn't. I know because I listed many of them. The largest portion of my business came from Spokane for sale by owners. But now the market has changed. Our inventory is way higher than it has been in 5 years and there are many more homes to choose from. With prices coming down and expired homes overflowing. The bottom line is Spokane FSBO's are not selling and even many Spokane homes who hired a Realtor are not selling.

It's simple really to understand. When the market is great and their is less inventory as it was for the last 3 years then for sale by owners have a chance at selling about an 18% chance that is. But when the market has a lot of inventory and the market is slow this is the worst market for trying to sell for sale by owner. As a matter of fact just hiring a Realtor is not enough in this market, you have to hire the best marketing Realtors just to get your homes sold.

Result, Spokane for sale by owners need to look at the simple facts and stop wasting time. The days of saving a few bucks on commission are over and if you want to sell your home you need to find an agent that makes your home stand out. Call us if you want us to show you specifiacally what we do to get our homes sold over fair market value in about half the time in a market where homes are not even selling at market value.

Hello Everyone,

Well with everything that is happening there are many fears and worries over the economy, but one thing has been bothering me lately. Every time these big companies get into trouble they get a bunch of money from the government, which is really from us.

This reminds me of the the senators son who goes out and gets in trouble because he knows his father will bail him out. This says to the reckless companies it's OK to skim big profits and get risky because if all else fails we'll pad your profits even more by bailing you out.

The government is spending our money and what are they giving us in return? Nothing. Look at the housing crisis. I hear all the time that the people shouldn't have taken the loans. Well those people and their loans were holding up the sad economy and the stock market where people made tons of money. Then after the banks made big fees, they cry poor.

Before the government helps these banks and corporations, don't they work for the people? shouldn't they be helping the people losing their homes and not big fat corporations with our money. If you are going to bail someone out why not the people who you took tax dollars from. see if they give 3 billion dollars to the banks why not give 10,000 the average behind payments in foreclosure to about 300,000 people the amount of homes in foreclosure and that 3 billion would go to the banks but through the people and allow them to keep their homes.

The people need to cry out and not allow this government to give their money straight to the pockets of big business without helping the actual people. These companies need to go out of business because they made dumb decisions and if you bail them out they will do it again after taking everyones money and profits.

Hello Everyone,

Well I guess after a while I have to say something, because I work with Spokane Home Buyers, Spokane Home Sellers, and Spokane For Sale By Owners (FSBOs). Year after year I have to educate people to the dangers of Buying and Selling Real Estate in Spokane and nationwide. That goes for when you use a Realtor and double if you are not using one.

We have seen it all before. Home Buyers go looking, you give them lists of homes, but they want to drive around and go to other websites, most of which are advertising sold homes and outdated information. Then you get the call, we found a (FSBO) For sale by owner and we put an offer on it.

Why do people do this? They don't understand the mess they can be getting themselves into. There are countless reasons not to buy a For sale by owner for both the Buyer and seller trying FSBO: they are usually overpriced, you may not get the same repairs taken care of as when working with Realtors, You don't know if things are being truthfully disclosed to you, the contracts may be slanted for the seller or you may loose outs you could of had or just plain not know the ones in the contract, missed deadlines, no experience, no defense or negotiation against dishonesty or misuse of the contracts, times, repairs, or anything else, Every thing you need you won't know and the person your dealing with will not tell you because almost every issue would cost them money or the deal. It's not just if they are being dishonest, they also might not know and can make mistakes that cost you time and money. That's just the buyer side, there are many reasons for sellers to reconsider Selling FSBO also. The liability is much larger and the time, marketing, negotiating, and coordinating take a full time professional.

I could write pages of reasons that should cause you to pause when seeing that little red sign. The fact is that even well intentioned sellers can cause you a lot of harm by not knowing what they are doing. Rarely and I mean rarely is a For sale by owner a better deal than what is on the market in the MLS. But just like the people selling For sale by owner, they wander down that road unprepared and undereducated at how it really works and when things go bad, like they do many times, no one tells their story. The neighbors don't talk about Bob who went FSBO and got sued, or Jill who went FSBO and ended up selling for less than a Realtor could have got her, but she saved that commission, too bad she got 9% less for the home. Sorry to burst the bubble but I have worked with FSBOs for seven years and it isn't all it's worked up to be. Buyer beware when looking at For Sale By Owners. There are countless pitfalls in real estate transactions and buying a For Sale By Owner is like running the obstacle couse blindfolded.