Northern Virginia Basics
How’s the Market?
March 5th, 2010 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Northern Virginia Basics
In the words of real estate coach, Tom Ferry, it depends!
Yes, you might think this is a wishy-washy answer; you might even think that person is dodging the question… OR you might even think they don’t know, so they’re covering…
Actually, “it depends” is the most accurate answer any savvy real estate agent can give you. Why?
Well let’s look at some scenarios:
SCENARIO 1 (person asking question bought home in 2007 and has seen a 15% decrease in value; has a 100% financing)
Q: How’s the market?
A: It’s GREAT – FABULOUS, couldn’t be better! (agent is apparently having a good year)
Q: Really? So it’s a good time to sell?
A: Sure is! Houses are selling like hotcakes!
Can the seller sell his house? Sure! The market is pretty active; but will he have a positive outcome? Only if he has a pile of money in the bank and is willing to pay it to sell his home.
SCENARIO 2 (person asking question wants to buy but has limited cash resources and blemished credit)
Q: How’s the market?
A: It’s GREAT – FABULOUS, couldn’t be better! (agent is apparently having a good year)
Q: Really? So it’s a good time to buy?
A: Sure is! Rates are low, prices are reasonable – inventory is the biggest problem but if we’re tenacious we can be successful!
Can the buyer buy now? Maybe, maybe not…
I think I’ve made my point – by saying “it depends” it allows the agent to better understand the perspective from which the inquirer is coming. This way, they can assimilate all of the market conditions that are applicable to that person’s situation and they can have a more meaningful and relevant conversation. It’s not that the agent would be trying to sugarcoat or “sell” when answering, but knowing why the person is asking is critical to providing a good answer.
So the next time you ask “How’s the Market?” I hope you’ll find yourself engaged in an intelligent conversation about the market! Just ask me and I”ll be happy to fill you in!
Happy Friday
Jennifer
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5 Reasons Why I LOVE Keller Williams Realty
March 3rd, 2010 Categories: Northern Virginia Basics
I LOVE Keller Williams Realty. I’ve been with a few other brokerages (who shall remain nameless) and on a regular basis I come in contact with and have many friends at other brokerages.
To each his own and there will be no negativity about other brands, brokerages or agents. This is just a personal story about why I am so happy with MY choices.
1) It starts at the TOP… Gary Keller has amazing vision and focus… he is PRESENT in the day to day business of the company and he has built a model that works (Of the top dogs in the Real Estate Industry KW was the ONLY company that grew in agent count in 2009, the ONLY company that was profitable and the ONLY company that increased in sides). I am so proud to be a part of an organization with such an amazing, visionary leader with models and systems in place to be successful in this business.
2) In the last 5 years, Keller Williams has profit shared over $200 MILLION dollars to its agents alone. This is essentially my retirement plan and I’m thankful to have it.
3) Keller Williams is really a training company for people that happen to hold real estate licenses… I know, it sounds backwards, but seriously the idea is that if agents are well educated, well trained, well prepared, they will be more successful, with happier clients and make more money. On a personal note, education and training is near and dear to my heart. In fact, within our office I chair the committee that focuses on education and agent productivity growth… nuf said…
4) Keller Williams is a National Brand, in fact, one of the most recognized brand for real estate franchises in the industry according to the Swanepoel TRENDS Report for 2009. Guess what that means? Referral business from a nationwide source!
5) For all of the reasons stated above, it makes ME a better agent with a great company behind me for my clients. This makes my clients happy, my co-op agents happy, and even THEIR clients happy a lot of the time! I like happy – can you tell? 
OK, that’s a little insight into my world behind the scenes! And now back to your regularly scheduled program!
Happy Wednesday
Jennifer
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Multiple Offers, 2010 Style…
March 2nd, 2010 Categories: Home Buying, Home Selling, Northern Virginia Basics
Were you around in the real estate world in 2004 here in Northern Virginia? Whether you were a buyer, a seller, a real estate agent, a lender or even
friend of someone in the market then, you were well familiar with the woes (from a buyer) or thrills (from a seller) of multiple offers! We heard stories back then of properties receiving FIFTY offers – can you believe it? FIFTY!!! That’s a lot – how did one distinguish themselves from another? Well, back then it was price and terms.
The Escalation Addendum was born… it was a lot like proxy bidding on eBay! In it, a buyer would indicate the highest price they were willing to pay in some increment they determined (it was largely a made up number – often catchy… the house address was a clever gimmick – so for 123 Main Street they may offer $123) over the next higher offer. That’s obviously an oversimplification, but that’s how it worked.
The second factor was terms. Buyers would waive home inspection, waive radon inspections, no financing contingencies, waive appraisal and waive even their right to cancel under the Property Owners or Condominium Association acts. It was NUTS… and if you were really lucky (although in retrospect, I’m not sure if luck is the phrase I would use…) you would be the winning bidder at some ridiculous price – but even in that hairy scary world, the market was setting the price in it’s odd way.
Flash forward to 2010 – we find ourselves in a low inventory situation and
once again, and since history does have a way of repeating itself, I’m seeing multiple offers crop up once again. I just had a listing where we had multiple offers after just 3 days on the market. One of the buyer agents asked me about the escalation addendum and how I felt about it. What did I say? ”I LOVE escalation addenda but c’mon – these days they aren’t worth the paper they’re written on” (this is assuming that price is right to begin with AT or as close to market value as you can get and that all bids are already at asking price)
You see, if a property is priced well, and the market responds with multiple offers, the seller and the listing agent are well aware that they still have a MAJOR hurdle to jump over to get to settlement – it’s the bank! It HAS to appraise. Very few people in this day and age are willing to waive ANYTHING much less their appraisal contingency. So we find ourselves with banks artificially suppressing home values. You see – the market determines the price for a house – you know that, right? Not the seller, not even the buyer really – but a negotiated outcome between what the buyer is willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept. If the “market” is increasing the value because of a housing shortage and increased affordability due to low interest rates – guess what – prices CANNOT rise because the banks control the appraisals and thus the pricing.
So the bottom line is this: if you find yourself in a multiple offer situation here in 2010 you will HAVE to get creative to set yourself apart from the competition. It’s likely that offers will be largely identical with a few places for deviance… so get creative, make sure your agent is a go-getter, well schooled in creative offer writing and presentation. If you’re a seller, you may likely have all of your wishes come true (oh, except for a higher price).
If you’re thinking of jumping in, give me a call – I have the experience and creativity to guide buyers through the process. If you’re a seller, I can help position your property in the best way for the best possible outcome!
Happy Tuesday
Jennifer
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The Anatomy of a Short Sale – Part 4
January 19th, 2010 Categories: Home Selling, Northern Virginia Basics
So here we are – exhausted, worn out, scared… the homeowner is now in dire straits. Feeling no way out; feeling defeated, deflated… remember what I said in my last post, “This is where you are, not who you are…” This does not define you – it is what it is – now let’s figure out how to fix it.
If you haven’t read the posts leading up to this, I suggest you do that first. (Short Sale Part 1) (Short Sale Part 2) (Short Sale Part 3)
As as a homeowner, finding yourself in this situation, where do you turn for help and advice? Where do you turn for answers? Where do you turn for a solution?
I have, as I’ve admitted before, stayed away from handling short sales (on both the buyer and the listing sides) because I’ve felt ill-equipped to manage them and that’s generally how I run my business. If it’s an area I’m not comfortable with or a process I’m unfamiliar with, I’d rather refer you to a competent colleague rather than try to muddle through it myself. But I’ve just been introduced to a great group of people here in the Northern Virginia area who have decided that there IS a better way for these sellers – there IS a better solution and there IS a better process. And for this reason, I have decided to affiliate with this group so that I may offer my assistance to those homeowners in need with the utmost in professionalism.
As a seller, if you choose to go down this path with me, there will be some added requirements of you:
- you will be asked to retain counsel and this will cost you some money ($2,000-$3,000); but this attorney will be working for YOU (what a concept); they will take over all of the negotiations with your lender (or lenders); they will field the calls, they will help once a contract has been obtained on your home to put you in the best possible position for your sale to be approved quickly and efficiently
- you will be asked to escrow $1,000-$1,500 with the attorney to give the prospective buyer some assurances that you are working as hard as you can to get their offer through and in return, the buyer will agree (by signing an addendum) to remove all contingencies (most importantly the appraisal and the home inspection contingencies) so that your attorney can present to the bank a contingent free contract that is ready to settle WITH A BUYER APPRAISAL as a true testament to market value and the validity of your contract. I can’t stress enough how important this is to the process. The bank can’t argue with this!!
- you will be asked to establish a pricing strategy to actually obtain a contract on your home. If that means establishing price reductions up front at regular intervals in order to reach the appropriate market value, than so be it. After all, if your lender is willing to accept less than what you owe, what difference is it to you whether it’s $50,000 or $90,000? It’s short – so drop that price until the market tells you it’s right
- you will be asked to provide all of your financial data up front to your attorney, so that they may establish UP FRONT your eligibility to even obtain a short sale; they will get all of this paperwork out of the way so as to remove any possible stumbling blocks that may arise after months of hard work, waiting, worrying, etc…
When the attorneys are finally assigned a negotiator for your case, whether that’s in 2 months, or 5 months or even longer, with the appropriate preparation, documentation, expectations, etc… you will be in the very best of hands and preparation is the best way to deal with all of the strain of the process. I will be here largely to do what I do best: get a contract on your home and to help support you through the process. The attorneys are involved to do what THEY do best; and these guys, this is ALL they do; so they are well versed in the ins/outs of this extremely challenging process.
The bottom line is this:
- Preparation, Education, Preparation
- Surround yourself with the best support you can
- Start EARLY; it doesn’t hurt anything or anyone to discuss the potential, the possibilities
- have realistic expectations
If you think you might be headed in this direction, call me. It’s a phone call and I’m here to help.
I hope you’ve found my series on Short Sales helpful; there’s SO much information and so many more details that I didn’t delve into, but if you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to call. And whatever you do, please don’t wait until it’s too late! Please try to help me help YOU!
Jennifer
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