I live in a community with a well established Home Owners Association (HOA). I also used to be the President of a Youth Baseball League (YBL). All of the antisocial interplay that I saw in the YBL often rears its head in the HOA. This one single truth is endemic to the process, " The danger belying a HOA, the same as a YBL, is in the by-laws that are adopted along with the general guidelines." The danger presents when members of the group digest the by-laws and then set out to enforce them.
I had more than one occassion when a family would choose to falsify their address so that they could play in our League. Once caught, the player was ineligible. Also the games that were won when the player was on the roster were immediatley declared forfeits. So many others were punished when a violator was detected. Who brought the charges? Usually an unoccupied parent with nothing better to do than to pour over the rosters and the League rules adopted and amended by the same League.
I recently had a pre-marketing sign stolen from a property that I was getting to list in my neighborhood. It merely announced that this property was soon to be on the market, a fairly innoccuous declaration. Someone deemed that either the wording or the placement of the sign was in violation of the HOA, Covenants and Restrictions (C&R). They pulled up the sign and took it to the HOA office and left it. This person risked life and limb in so doing. Suppose I was a less enlightened, knuckle-dragging practitioner and happened upon someone pulling up my sign. That is a rarity in this business in that 90% of all realtors are the less aggressive gender. The sign puller risked injury or threat of the same by putting their hands on my personal property. Is that really worth it?
To some it is. There is obviously some sort of endorphin rush associated with successfully flaunting the park rules of the YBL and/or the C&R of the HOA. The architectural design committee of the HOA must be consulted and stroked before you put that rose garden into play in your own front yard. To challenge them can cause penalty and fines. The HOA is a recognized political subdivision of the state. They can assess penalties and fines and if you do not pony up the dough, they can place an enforceable lien on your property.
The HOA is a friendly face when someone tries to put a helicopter landing pad next door to you, in their back yard. They are antisocial, lunatics when they bring action against you for failing to edge the curb in front of your home, which you do not own in the first place.
The classic chair person of the architectural and design committee is Ms. Agnes Skooch, retired state of Florida museum curator. She has no husband, hence no children nor grand children. Her only legacy is time and lots of it. She forms a little posse as her committee. They meet for coffee once a week and speak on the phone incessantly. A conversation goes like this:
"Agnes, this morning I drove by the Shamrock address. You know that family of West Virginia Pygmies that moved in a month ago? "
" Yes, Matilda, I know just who your speaking of."
" They must have taken a road trip over the week end because their autos are covered with the remains of Love Bugs. They have the vehicles backed into their driveway with windshields facing the street."
" Well, I don't know how they handle things like that back in their tar-paper covered shack community in Huntington, W. Va. but here they are in alarmingly flagrant violation of paragraph 12, subsection 4-a of our C&R."
" How shall we proceed?"
" Let's drive by at 2:00 AM and put a note on thier mailbox, telling them to wash their vehicles immediately."
" You do not want to visit them and engage them personally?"
" Oh my, no! One of my sisters from the DAR might see me and think I am calling on them socially. This way is much better."
"Oh yes, I see what you mean. What was I thinking? We will do it your way. Then if they do not comply we will bring charges against them at our meeting of the Board next Tuesday. Mr. Trotsky can then send them a notice on official HOA stationary and bring them into compliance."
HOA's are here to stay. The conflict is here to stay. They are a curse and a blessing. Make sure you read up on everything there is about them before you buy in a particular neighborhood. An attitude of " they are out to get me" is a safe place to be.
Please visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/
Sing'along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEhe76sPPgE
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Predatory Purchasing
In the mid-seventies I was in Long Island, New York on business. It was a week long stay. While I was there an Eastern airlines jet went down. The death toll was nearly 100. I clearly recall that the news reports covered the fact that before authorities could secure the crash site, other human beings were approaching the scene and stealing jewelry, wallets, purses and other personal items off the corpses. That has always loomed very large in my mind as to just how low humankind can sink.
It hardly parallels in an analogy but I have been thinking about that experience here lately as I represent people as Sellers and Buyers in our current real estate market. The mindset in a large number of people is that many sellers are under extreme duress in selling thier homes. This market represents an opportunity to try and obtain an extraodinary purchase. In other words many buyers turn into predators trying to benefit at the crash site of the current real estate downturn.
There is little compassion displayed in many of the offers that I have had to handle within the last few months. The prime victim is the person who has not been able to make a payment for awhile on thier homes. They are heading into foreclosure or short sale. The Buyer armed with a sufficient line of credit or cash moves in for the kill. Never mind that the seller is down on thier luck, financially. The predatory purchaser wants to obtain that property at an extreme discount, hang the circumstances of the poor property owner.
Now, I know that we live in a free market economy. I am all in favor of getting a good deal on just about anything I go to purchase. However, I feel that common decency should drive us in the direction of offering a fair price for property. Low ball offers have always been a part of our business however the current market we are in seems to bring out the predator in some of the more unscrupulous. You see their signs on every street corner, " Will pay cash for houses, quickly."
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com
It hardly parallels in an analogy but I have been thinking about that experience here lately as I represent people as Sellers and Buyers in our current real estate market. The mindset in a large number of people is that many sellers are under extreme duress in selling thier homes. This market represents an opportunity to try and obtain an extraodinary purchase. In other words many buyers turn into predators trying to benefit at the crash site of the current real estate downturn.
There is little compassion displayed in many of the offers that I have had to handle within the last few months. The prime victim is the person who has not been able to make a payment for awhile on thier homes. They are heading into foreclosure or short sale. The Buyer armed with a sufficient line of credit or cash moves in for the kill. Never mind that the seller is down on thier luck, financially. The predatory purchaser wants to obtain that property at an extreme discount, hang the circumstances of the poor property owner.
Now, I know that we live in a free market economy. I am all in favor of getting a good deal on just about anything I go to purchase. However, I feel that common decency should drive us in the direction of offering a fair price for property. Low ball offers have always been a part of our business however the current market we are in seems to bring out the predator in some of the more unscrupulous. You see their signs on every street corner, " Will pay cash for houses, quickly."
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com
Monday, August 25, 2008
Short Sales, Are you sure?
There is a stanza from an old country ballad that goes like this:
" My Uncle Mort, he's sawed off and short,
He stands about 5 foot 2.
But he thinks he's giant,
When he gets him a pint,
Of that good Old Mountain Dew."
What I know about Short Sales is about as elusive as that euphoria that comes to Uncle Mort when he pops the cork on that jug of Mountain Dew. There are a lot of people who are chasing foreclosures and short sales in our current market. I suppose it is the nature of all of us to look for a good buy. After all our marching cry is ' Buy low and sell high.' not the other way around.
I remember 5-6 years ago when I actually showed my first foreclosed property. I was aghast. It was on the west side of town and looked decent from the outside, yet the inside was a fixer upper nightmare. The walls had been smashed in. Lighting fixtures had been removed. The drop in stove was gone and the wires formerly connecting it were still exposed. No danger involved because the electricity had been cut off many weeks earlier.
Very recently, I read an article concerning financial institutions, holding mortgages on homes heading to foreclosure, paying the motgagees a significant bonus NOT to trash the property. Now the implication here is that in normal cases the mortgagees do just that. Is it out of frustration, necessity or just down right orneriness? I suppose there is some market somewhere for drop-in ranges and light fixtures that will garner money for purchasing that Mountain Dew. I generally prefer the Diet variety, when I am into Dew slamming.
I listed a property some time back that ended up being financially impaired. That is a nice way of saying that the owner had not made a payment for a few months. It is really not according to Hoyle that a Seller should withhold that information. Yet here I was in the midst. The property had a first and second mortgage on it. I recieved an offer on the property that was not capable of paying off both mortgages. In other words one of the mortgage holders was going to have to accept a short sale.
After checking with the primary mortgage holder I was advised that they were not accepting one dime less than what was owed to them. Thier opinion was that the second lender had no business making a loan to their client. This was in the day of getting 20-30 offers for 110% loan to value loans in your mail box. I called the Wiley B. Coyote Company, the secondary lender. They must have known they were in a losing position because the person I ultimately reached agreed to bring our sale before some committee appointed to that task. I had numerous man hours invested in trying to get to the decision makers on this sale. Amidst my efforts the Wiley B. Coyote company sold the paper on this loan to the Alfred E. Neumann company and I had to start over. I finally got it done, however, and successfully closed the deal. I even got paid a little commission. Amounted to .35 per hour for my effort. On top of all that a few months later this client called me and told me the IRS was after her for taxes on the amount the mortgage company had let her slide on.
For my money, short sales, are a disappointing pursuit. More power to the agents in our community who seem to make their living in this arena. You are usually not going to save all that much money at the end of the process. You then have to ask yourself if you have invested in a property that is going to make you proud and will hold its head in the resale market.
The market in general has shifted in the favor of the Buyer. Dealing straight up with a Seller with your Realtor negotiating for you will yield many good buys. Why waste your time trying to chase a little better deal through a bank. They are rarely accessible when you call them, they never return your call and in due time there are a lot of banks that may not even be able to meet their own financial obligations. I am just not convinced that chasing short sales is worth the time and effort.
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com/
Uncle Oswald sings it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFQ-5I6-pM4&feature=related
" My Uncle Mort, he's sawed off and short,
He stands about 5 foot 2.
But he thinks he's giant,
When he gets him a pint,
Of that good Old Mountain Dew."
What I know about Short Sales is about as elusive as that euphoria that comes to Uncle Mort when he pops the cork on that jug of Mountain Dew. There are a lot of people who are chasing foreclosures and short sales in our current market. I suppose it is the nature of all of us to look for a good buy. After all our marching cry is ' Buy low and sell high.' not the other way around.
I remember 5-6 years ago when I actually showed my first foreclosed property. I was aghast. It was on the west side of town and looked decent from the outside, yet the inside was a fixer upper nightmare. The walls had been smashed in. Lighting fixtures had been removed. The drop in stove was gone and the wires formerly connecting it were still exposed. No danger involved because the electricity had been cut off many weeks earlier.
Very recently, I read an article concerning financial institutions, holding mortgages on homes heading to foreclosure, paying the motgagees a significant bonus NOT to trash the property. Now the implication here is that in normal cases the mortgagees do just that. Is it out of frustration, necessity or just down right orneriness? I suppose there is some market somewhere for drop-in ranges and light fixtures that will garner money for purchasing that Mountain Dew. I generally prefer the Diet variety, when I am into Dew slamming.
I listed a property some time back that ended up being financially impaired. That is a nice way of saying that the owner had not made a payment for a few months. It is really not according to Hoyle that a Seller should withhold that information. Yet here I was in the midst. The property had a first and second mortgage on it. I recieved an offer on the property that was not capable of paying off both mortgages. In other words one of the mortgage holders was going to have to accept a short sale.
After checking with the primary mortgage holder I was advised that they were not accepting one dime less than what was owed to them. Thier opinion was that the second lender had no business making a loan to their client. This was in the day of getting 20-30 offers for 110% loan to value loans in your mail box. I called the Wiley B. Coyote Company, the secondary lender. They must have known they were in a losing position because the person I ultimately reached agreed to bring our sale before some committee appointed to that task. I had numerous man hours invested in trying to get to the decision makers on this sale. Amidst my efforts the Wiley B. Coyote company sold the paper on this loan to the Alfred E. Neumann company and I had to start over. I finally got it done, however, and successfully closed the deal. I even got paid a little commission. Amounted to .35 per hour for my effort. On top of all that a few months later this client called me and told me the IRS was after her for taxes on the amount the mortgage company had let her slide on.
For my money, short sales, are a disappointing pursuit. More power to the agents in our community who seem to make their living in this arena. You are usually not going to save all that much money at the end of the process. You then have to ask yourself if you have invested in a property that is going to make you proud and will hold its head in the resale market.
The market in general has shifted in the favor of the Buyer. Dealing straight up with a Seller with your Realtor negotiating for you will yield many good buys. Why waste your time trying to chase a little better deal through a bank. They are rarely accessible when you call them, they never return your call and in due time there are a lot of banks that may not even be able to meet their own financial obligations. I am just not convinced that chasing short sales is worth the time and effort.
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com/
Uncle Oswald sings it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFQ-5I6-pM4&feature=related
Monday, August 18, 2008
Only the Lonely
When I am fortunate enough to list a client's home we always end up discussing the relative merits of Open Houses. Now, please understand that I have sat in more than one open house venue, fogging the windows with my breath, watching and waiting for attendees.
I generally tell my folks that there is a little sub-culture of people who go to open houses as a recreational activity. They get up on Sunday morning and get their cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and pull out the real estate section of the newspaper and start deciding how they will spend their Sunday afternoon. They run in little packs and attend open houses with no more intention of buying a house than they have of floating to the Bahamas on a Kon Tiki style raft.
When I was a green and newly-licensed agent I was encouraged to hold open houses, by my Broker. Why? Because it was a great way to connect with potential Buyers. I never was successful in that effort. The approach went: "Are you working with an agent?" " Are you aware that it costs you nothing to work with one? The Seller pays our commission." The answer would mostly be, something to the effect, that they already had an agent and were just trying to help her out by looking on their own.
I recently recieved a blanket e-mail from a prominent Tallahassee firm that was soliciting agents from other firms to sit at their open houses. Any Buyer who you write a contract for, you keep the commission. Any Buyer you convince to work with you, you have sole rights to. I can see in my mind's eye the load up on that program at the listing appointment. " Mr. and Mrs. Home Owner, our firm holds open houses weekly. We outwork our competition. We will sell your house." Then they farm out this useless expenditure of time in holding the open house.
I have NEVER written a contract on a home sale from an open house. The effort to hold these things is a bygone tactic that may have worked at one time but is useless here in the 21st century. Why? Because anyone with any cyber-savy at all can look at all the houses they want to in any city in America from the comfort of their home. Realtor.com, YahooHomes.com. Mostly anyone licensed to practice real estate has a website. On my website you can get a direct IDX feed from the MLS of any city in Florida. Why would you need to galump around town looking at houses burning your $4.00 per gallon gasoline when you can do it on your laptop?
I recently listed the home of a friend. He is a little older than my 62 yoa and has bought and sold several homes. I asked him about his feelings toward Open Houses. It was pretty positive. I advised them, in my opinion, they were a waste of his time. The only people who will come will be your neighbors who want to see how you decorate your home. I paid the $60 to run the ad, I provided the $100 worth of signs to lead the folks in and............................the only people who came were the neighbors.
I advise folks if they will let me slide on the open houses I will discount my commission. If you let me slide on advertising in our local paper, I will discount my commission. That advertising is expensive as well as useless. That is another post on another day.
Here is hoping that I do not have to spend a lot more of my precious time sitting, all lonely, at an open house while my seller goes out to eat and to a movie to abet the process. There are better ways for me to spend my money and time in your behalf, that will drive far better results.
Visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/
Roy Orbisong : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFxbIYF6cmw
I generally tell my folks that there is a little sub-culture of people who go to open houses as a recreational activity. They get up on Sunday morning and get their cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and pull out the real estate section of the newspaper and start deciding how they will spend their Sunday afternoon. They run in little packs and attend open houses with no more intention of buying a house than they have of floating to the Bahamas on a Kon Tiki style raft.
When I was a green and newly-licensed agent I was encouraged to hold open houses, by my Broker. Why? Because it was a great way to connect with potential Buyers. I never was successful in that effort. The approach went: "Are you working with an agent?" " Are you aware that it costs you nothing to work with one? The Seller pays our commission." The answer would mostly be, something to the effect, that they already had an agent and were just trying to help her out by looking on their own.
I recently recieved a blanket e-mail from a prominent Tallahassee firm that was soliciting agents from other firms to sit at their open houses. Any Buyer who you write a contract for, you keep the commission. Any Buyer you convince to work with you, you have sole rights to. I can see in my mind's eye the load up on that program at the listing appointment. " Mr. and Mrs. Home Owner, our firm holds open houses weekly. We outwork our competition. We will sell your house." Then they farm out this useless expenditure of time in holding the open house.
I have NEVER written a contract on a home sale from an open house. The effort to hold these things is a bygone tactic that may have worked at one time but is useless here in the 21st century. Why? Because anyone with any cyber-savy at all can look at all the houses they want to in any city in America from the comfort of their home. Realtor.com, YahooHomes.com. Mostly anyone licensed to practice real estate has a website. On my website you can get a direct IDX feed from the MLS of any city in Florida. Why would you need to galump around town looking at houses burning your $4.00 per gallon gasoline when you can do it on your laptop?
I recently listed the home of a friend. He is a little older than my 62 yoa and has bought and sold several homes. I asked him about his feelings toward Open Houses. It was pretty positive. I advised them, in my opinion, they were a waste of his time. The only people who will come will be your neighbors who want to see how you decorate your home. I paid the $60 to run the ad, I provided the $100 worth of signs to lead the folks in and............................the only people who came were the neighbors.
I advise folks if they will let me slide on the open houses I will discount my commission. If you let me slide on advertising in our local paper, I will discount my commission. That advertising is expensive as well as useless. That is another post on another day.
Here is hoping that I do not have to spend a lot more of my precious time sitting, all lonely, at an open house while my seller goes out to eat and to a movie to abet the process. There are better ways for me to spend my money and time in your behalf, that will drive far better results.
Visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/
Roy Orbisong : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFxbIYF6cmw
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Doctor, Doctor, Give me the news!
I had an experience that bears remembering from a couple of years ago. I got a call from an acquaintance who wanted me to drop by his office. That is always bad news. I thought Amway? Some other multi-level, get rich quick scheme? Well, I went because I have this lingering fear that something is going to come along that truly is a get rich, quick scheme and I will be chasing the train after it leaves the depot.
There sitting on top of this guy's desk is a little machine that looks like a blood pressure machine that you see in the pharmacy. He started giving me the hot pitch. Seems this machine was the first of its kind and its function was to measure your level of antioxidants. I have never been a big believer in antioxidants but I stayed mute. He invited me to stick my finger in a little orifice in the machine and wait until the red light went out and then the machine spits out a cash register tape and he tears it off and looks at it. Shaking his head he tells me that I am pitifully low on antioxidants. He shows me the number. It is around 10,000.
At that point I ask him what the number means. He says it means that you are way low on your antioxidants. I tell him " No I mean, if you take my blood pressure the number is a manifestation of millimeters of mercury measured at atmospheric pressure against a specific gradient. If my blood pressure is 140/90 then it means that the pressure is 140 during systole and 90 during diastole. What does this number mean?" He stared at me for a moment, thanked me for coming by and told me he had another appointment. I found out later that he was a NuSkin distributor and he was jockeying to sell me vitamins to build up my antioxidants.
On a visit to my physician later on, who is a respected practitioner of internal medicine, I asked him what he thought about antioxidants. He told me that if it could help me take off about 40 pounds of blubber he was all in favor of it. Otherwise, he was in agreement with the folks at American Heart. It is a nostrum without the benefit of clinical trials nor proven efficacy. It was all in the minds of the people who like to sell you health supplements, containing antioxidants.
Here lately, I have been running into a little creature named Zillow. I had a face to face encounter with a client on a listing appointment. He had his laptop, I pulled out mine. We both jumped on some unsuspecting neighbor's wireless network. He said Zillow had his property valued at X. My comparables, out of the local MLS network, had him priced at Y. We argued for the better part of a half hour and struck a compromise at Z. It was exhausting. He had unflailing confidence in his Zillow. I started to ask the same question about the Zillow formulae as I did the NuSkin salesman. I let it go. It is possible to win a battle and lose the war.
I blogged a few weeks ago about the Wal-Marting of real estate commissions. My bottom line was that if you are going to retain a Realtor then get an experienced, smart one, preferably pretty good-looking, and then listen to the advice they give you. We live in the world of real estate daily. We practice in your back yard. We are the doctors of the real estate scenario.
It is easy to get enamoured with an internet entity that is so pretty and has as many little bells and whistles as Zillow. However, would you please explain to me how a software engineer sitting in Zillow headquarters in Pittman, New Jersey can create a formula, from property appraisers databases primarily, that can tell you what a home is worth that they have never walked into? It is mostly Buyers who glom onto Zillow and want to beat you off your price, because it is usually lowball.
This is another tiresome effort to remove the expert from the process. We believe their fees to be too high. They are crooks. They are lazy. They don't spend enough time with us and on our project. "That doctor was in the exam room with me for 45 seconds, looked at my labs and then had his nurse write me a handful of Rx's. His fee was $150. The Rx's cost $200. " My next door neighbor, who graduated from, junior high school, in the summer, sells health supplements that have antioxidants in them. I am going to put my life in her hands." Whoa ! That physician did 8 years of schooling past high school. Then he did another 4 or 5 in a residency program somewhere. He knows his specialized field better than anyone. Realtors do not come close to that level of professionalism, but they are trained and experienced where you are not. Retain one, listen to them and get ready to go to a closing. Remember that Realtor does not make a dime until he or she sells your house.
I have relatives and friends, in whom I place great confidence, who put a lot of stock into health supplements. For that reason I give them some degree of merit. I often consult Web-MD to provide explanations for my numerous bouts of hypochondriasis. I think that Zillow and the other online appraisal engines have some degree of credibility. Just as I would not rely solely on Web-MD to give me conclusive avenues on an illness, I would not rely solely on Zillow for setting a value on my property. The more information we garner the better off we are. In the final analysis you need to consult the expert to come to a well advised path forward. The internet is a wonderful tool for raising the performance of all of us.
Visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/
A little ditty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1iX-vpm3o&feature=related
There sitting on top of this guy's desk is a little machine that looks like a blood pressure machine that you see in the pharmacy. He started giving me the hot pitch. Seems this machine was the first of its kind and its function was to measure your level of antioxidants. I have never been a big believer in antioxidants but I stayed mute. He invited me to stick my finger in a little orifice in the machine and wait until the red light went out and then the machine spits out a cash register tape and he tears it off and looks at it. Shaking his head he tells me that I am pitifully low on antioxidants. He shows me the number. It is around 10,000.
At that point I ask him what the number means. He says it means that you are way low on your antioxidants. I tell him " No I mean, if you take my blood pressure the number is a manifestation of millimeters of mercury measured at atmospheric pressure against a specific gradient. If my blood pressure is 140/90 then it means that the pressure is 140 during systole and 90 during diastole. What does this number mean?" He stared at me for a moment, thanked me for coming by and told me he had another appointment. I found out later that he was a NuSkin distributor and he was jockeying to sell me vitamins to build up my antioxidants.
On a visit to my physician later on, who is a respected practitioner of internal medicine, I asked him what he thought about antioxidants. He told me that if it could help me take off about 40 pounds of blubber he was all in favor of it. Otherwise, he was in agreement with the folks at American Heart. It is a nostrum without the benefit of clinical trials nor proven efficacy. It was all in the minds of the people who like to sell you health supplements, containing antioxidants.
Here lately, I have been running into a little creature named Zillow. I had a face to face encounter with a client on a listing appointment. He had his laptop, I pulled out mine. We both jumped on some unsuspecting neighbor's wireless network. He said Zillow had his property valued at X. My comparables, out of the local MLS network, had him priced at Y. We argued for the better part of a half hour and struck a compromise at Z. It was exhausting. He had unflailing confidence in his Zillow. I started to ask the same question about the Zillow formulae as I did the NuSkin salesman. I let it go. It is possible to win a battle and lose the war.
I blogged a few weeks ago about the Wal-Marting of real estate commissions. My bottom line was that if you are going to retain a Realtor then get an experienced, smart one, preferably pretty good-looking, and then listen to the advice they give you. We live in the world of real estate daily. We practice in your back yard. We are the doctors of the real estate scenario.
It is easy to get enamoured with an internet entity that is so pretty and has as many little bells and whistles as Zillow. However, would you please explain to me how a software engineer sitting in Zillow headquarters in Pittman, New Jersey can create a formula, from property appraisers databases primarily, that can tell you what a home is worth that they have never walked into? It is mostly Buyers who glom onto Zillow and want to beat you off your price, because it is usually lowball.
This is another tiresome effort to remove the expert from the process. We believe their fees to be too high. They are crooks. They are lazy. They don't spend enough time with us and on our project. "That doctor was in the exam room with me for 45 seconds, looked at my labs and then had his nurse write me a handful of Rx's. His fee was $150. The Rx's cost $200. " My next door neighbor, who graduated from, junior high school, in the summer, sells health supplements that have antioxidants in them. I am going to put my life in her hands." Whoa ! That physician did 8 years of schooling past high school. Then he did another 4 or 5 in a residency program somewhere. He knows his specialized field better than anyone. Realtors do not come close to that level of professionalism, but they are trained and experienced where you are not. Retain one, listen to them and get ready to go to a closing. Remember that Realtor does not make a dime until he or she sells your house.
I have relatives and friends, in whom I place great confidence, who put a lot of stock into health supplements. For that reason I give them some degree of merit. I often consult Web-MD to provide explanations for my numerous bouts of hypochondriasis. I think that Zillow and the other online appraisal engines have some degree of credibility. Just as I would not rely solely on Web-MD to give me conclusive avenues on an illness, I would not rely solely on Zillow for setting a value on my property. The more information we garner the better off we are. In the final analysis you need to consult the expert to come to a well advised path forward. The internet is a wonderful tool for raising the performance of all of us.
Visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/
A little ditty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1iX-vpm3o&feature=related
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Just call me Cleopatra because I am the Queen of Denial
Pam Tillis had a top Country Western hit with the title Call me Cleopatra, Because I am the Queen of Denial. This song was about her unfaithful boyfriend who kept stepping out on her but she refused to accept the fact.
I was diagnosed with Diabetes, Type 2 back in 1996, 12 years ago. I never had unquenchable thirst, frequent urination, etc. That is the hallmark of diabetes. It is a very subtle and stealthy disease. I have been in denial ever since thinking the labs and the physician reading the labs are incorrect. I make that statement as my toes are turning numb under the desk upon which this lap top resides, right now.
What has this got to do with Real Estate? I find that a lot of folks who have decided to sell their homes at this juncture are in denial. You see houses coming onto the market that are priced just as if there has been no correction in the market. A Realtor can only suggest the price at which you should go to market. The Seller is the ultimate authority and boss of the pricing process. The Realtor is only a consultant. Most folks don't want to listen to the expert. After all this is my house. Just as I say, "Diabetes ???? This is my body, it is as sound as ever. Your labs are not correct." The seller says, " This is my house. My babies all came home from the hospital here. Why the Mayor lived just two houses down. That is all worth dollars."
Sorry folks. The news reports are true. We are dead in the middle of a housing downturn. We cannot deny the labs that come to us in quarterly statistics. Do you listen to the 6:00 local news? The 6:30 National news? We do not live in Utopia any longer. I suggest to my Sellers, " Take that number you have been carrying in your head, reduce it by 10% and we will sell your property." Stay with the denial number and we merely list your property. Deep down I know that folks want to SELL their property not just LIST it.
Consider this: In June of 2006 we sold 559 homes. In June of 2007 we sold 483 homes, In June of 2008 we sold 383 homes here in Tallahassee. That is a decline of 32%. In June of 2006 we had an inventory of single family residences 2579. In June of 2008 we have inventory reflected at 3331. That is 23% more inventory. Do the math. Fewer sales, Bigger inventory, Equal lower prices. Supply = Bigger, Demand = Lower, Sales Price = Smaller. 9th grade economics.
The numbers tell us that the appreciation rate we were used to has become flat. No longer do we appreciate at 10-16% per year. We are now much lower than that. Yet our median price is now about 228K vs 238k of a year ago. That is really soft compared to other markets in Florida that are down 28% and more. We are down about 5% compared to last year in median price. That is really fairly good news. It is taking an average of 100 days to sell a property that is priced well. It took 50 days a year ago. Properties that are not priced well sit for a year in some cases.
Pam Tillis and I are here to tell you. Her boyfriend is running around on her. I have diabetes. Your $200,000 house is not going to sell for $500,000. As Lillie Tomlin used to say, " And that's the trooooooooooooooth !"
Please visit my website: http://elvass.com/
Pam Tillis sings: pam tillis-cleopatra queen of denial
I was diagnosed with Diabetes, Type 2 back in 1996, 12 years ago. I never had unquenchable thirst, frequent urination, etc. That is the hallmark of diabetes. It is a very subtle and stealthy disease. I have been in denial ever since thinking the labs and the physician reading the labs are incorrect. I make that statement as my toes are turning numb under the desk upon which this lap top resides, right now.
What has this got to do with Real Estate? I find that a lot of folks who have decided to sell their homes at this juncture are in denial. You see houses coming onto the market that are priced just as if there has been no correction in the market. A Realtor can only suggest the price at which you should go to market. The Seller is the ultimate authority and boss of the pricing process. The Realtor is only a consultant. Most folks don't want to listen to the expert. After all this is my house. Just as I say, "Diabetes ???? This is my body, it is as sound as ever. Your labs are not correct." The seller says, " This is my house. My babies all came home from the hospital here. Why the Mayor lived just two houses down. That is all worth dollars."
Sorry folks. The news reports are true. We are dead in the middle of a housing downturn. We cannot deny the labs that come to us in quarterly statistics. Do you listen to the 6:00 local news? The 6:30 National news? We do not live in Utopia any longer. I suggest to my Sellers, " Take that number you have been carrying in your head, reduce it by 10% and we will sell your property." Stay with the denial number and we merely list your property. Deep down I know that folks want to SELL their property not just LIST it.
Consider this: In June of 2006 we sold 559 homes. In June of 2007 we sold 483 homes, In June of 2008 we sold 383 homes here in Tallahassee. That is a decline of 32%. In June of 2006 we had an inventory of single family residences 2579. In June of 2008 we have inventory reflected at 3331. That is 23% more inventory. Do the math. Fewer sales, Bigger inventory, Equal lower prices. Supply = Bigger, Demand = Lower, Sales Price = Smaller. 9th grade economics.
The numbers tell us that the appreciation rate we were used to has become flat. No longer do we appreciate at 10-16% per year. We are now much lower than that. Yet our median price is now about 228K vs 238k of a year ago. That is really soft compared to other markets in Florida that are down 28% and more. We are down about 5% compared to last year in median price. That is really fairly good news. It is taking an average of 100 days to sell a property that is priced well. It took 50 days a year ago. Properties that are not priced well sit for a year in some cases.
Pam Tillis and I are here to tell you. Her boyfriend is running around on her. I have diabetes. Your $200,000 house is not going to sell for $500,000. As Lillie Tomlin used to say, " And that's the trooooooooooooooth !"
Please visit my website: http://elvass.com/
Pam Tillis sings: pam tillis-cleopatra queen of denial
Monday, June 23, 2008
Leon County Update Summary
I am going to take a few minutes on today's blog to give a thumbnail summary of where I see the market right now in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. Sorry I have to inculcate some numbers but they tell the story most effectively. These numbers are made available through May 2008. They are reported by Tallahassee Real Estate Trends N Data Services Numbers are compiled by Mr. Don Pickett, a veteran Realtor, who is oft quoted in our local press. I have respect for Mr. Pickett and his reporting efficacy. He has served as the chairman of our MLS Statistics committee for many years past.
Closings through May 2008: ..............................................364
Closings through May 2007: ..............................................714
Differential ...................................................................-50%
Closings for year ending May 2008: ..............................3630
Closings for year ending May 2007 ................................4740
Differential....................................................................-23%
New listings for Month of May 2008 ............................... 759
New listings for Month of May 2007 ...............................1161
Differential....................................................................-35%
Days on Market YTD May 2008 ....................................... 75
Days on Market YTD May 2007 ....................................... 75
Differential..................................................................................... -0-
Median Price thru May 2008 .................................. $235,000
Median Price thru May 2007 .................................. 239,000
Differential.................................................................... -2%
We can see that fewer sales are transpiring in Tallahassee. I believe our citizens are reacting to the constant harangue of negative news in the media. Buyers are postponing purchases. We also see that there are fewer new listings, comparing May 2008 to May of 2007, suggesting that our Sellers are postponing putting their houses on the market.
Number of days it takes to sell a property, May '07 vs May '08 is almost the same number. That figure relates to those properties that have been closed. It does not give us a feel for those that have languished on the market for a long period of time, not closing. We can tell as we drive neighborhoods and look around in our own neighborhoods that there are some pretty stale "Homes for Sale" signs standing out there. This is largely the cause of Sellers pricing their homes too high. It is a hard reality to understand that homes are not selling for the same dollar as they did two years ago, during the real estate boom.
Looking at the number for median price we see a relatively flat line. The graph reflects a minimal change in value of median price. In other words the runaway appreciation that was going on during the boom of 15-16%, per year, is behind us. We are lucky in Tallahassee to have held our own during the "bursting of the bubble". You move to Miami, Tampa, Orlando you will see a huge drop in median price. The speculation that occurred in those areas was not as intense here in Leon County. Hence we have had a fairly soft landing here in Tallahassee.
If you are a Buyer you have never been in a better position to buy. Inventory is large and demand is low, driving prices downward. If you are a Seller the news is a tad mellow compared to our robust run of the last 4-5 years. However, you can still sell your house. The approach is more measured and you need to adjust your thinking of a year ago. I advise my Sellers, just off the cuff, to take the number they have been nursing for the last year and drop it by 10%. Make your listing shine and be patient and you will sell your property.
I am not objective but I feel that the services of the professional Realtor in selling your home and or buying a home has never been more important. There are a lot of new circumstances in the market place that have newly planted themselves. Your Realtor is the best source of advice on the new market.
Please visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/.
Enjoy the beautiful music of Ms. Ann Murray: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqUUQElQ8kM
Closings through May 2008: ..............................................364
Closings through May 2007: ..............................................714
Differential ...................................................................-50%
Closings for year ending May 2008: ..............................3630
Closings for year ending May 2007 ................................4740
Differential....................................................................-23%
New listings for Month of May 2008 ............................... 759
New listings for Month of May 2007 ...............................1161
Differential....................................................................-35%
Days on Market YTD May 2008 ....................................... 75
Days on Market YTD May 2007 ....................................... 75
Differential..................................................................................... -0-
Median Price thru May 2008 .................................. $235,000
Median Price thru May 2007 .................................. 239,000
Differential.................................................................... -2%
We can see that fewer sales are transpiring in Tallahassee. I believe our citizens are reacting to the constant harangue of negative news in the media. Buyers are postponing purchases. We also see that there are fewer new listings, comparing May 2008 to May of 2007, suggesting that our Sellers are postponing putting their houses on the market.
Number of days it takes to sell a property, May '07 vs May '08 is almost the same number. That figure relates to those properties that have been closed. It does not give us a feel for those that have languished on the market for a long period of time, not closing. We can tell as we drive neighborhoods and look around in our own neighborhoods that there are some pretty stale "Homes for Sale" signs standing out there. This is largely the cause of Sellers pricing their homes too high. It is a hard reality to understand that homes are not selling for the same dollar as they did two years ago, during the real estate boom.
Looking at the number for median price we see a relatively flat line. The graph reflects a minimal change in value of median price. In other words the runaway appreciation that was going on during the boom of 15-16%, per year, is behind us. We are lucky in Tallahassee to have held our own during the "bursting of the bubble". You move to Miami, Tampa, Orlando you will see a huge drop in median price. The speculation that occurred in those areas was not as intense here in Leon County. Hence we have had a fairly soft landing here in Tallahassee.
If you are a Buyer you have never been in a better position to buy. Inventory is large and demand is low, driving prices downward. If you are a Seller the news is a tad mellow compared to our robust run of the last 4-5 years. However, you can still sell your house. The approach is more measured and you need to adjust your thinking of a year ago. I advise my Sellers, just off the cuff, to take the number they have been nursing for the last year and drop it by 10%. Make your listing shine and be patient and you will sell your property.
I am not objective but I feel that the services of the professional Realtor in selling your home and or buying a home has never been more important. There are a lot of new circumstances in the market place that have newly planted themselves. Your Realtor is the best source of advice on the new market.
Please visit me on my website at http://elvass.com/.
Enjoy the beautiful music of Ms. Ann Murray: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqUUQElQ8kM
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