Real Estate 101
Assessing Value – it’s personal…
May 21st, 2010 Categories: Real Estate 101
One of the most commonly asked questions I get is “what’s the value of my home?” or “What’s the home I’m considering writing an offer on worth?”
VALUE
A few phrases come to mind:
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”
It’s true – I had a showing on one of my listings this week and when I asked for follow up, I was told that it was severely overpriced because it only had 4 bedrooms and 3 baths upstairs and this family had 4 children. Well, to them, maybe it is not the perfect house and to THEM they couldn’t justify the value. This same house I’m referring to has a master suite on the main level, which is hard to find in Arlington – but if you’d rather have that as “living” space, it’s actually a negative. However, if you have an elderly parent living with you or you’d prefer single level living, it’s invaluable – see… it’s in the eye of the beholder.
The same can be said for just about any aspect of real estate…
renovations vs. original condition – one buyer wants move in ready another wants to get the sweat equity and make their own choices
location – one buyer wants idyllic cul-de-sac, one buyer sees parking nightmares
staging – some buyers NEED to see a home with furnishings similar to their own or to those that they enjoy to actually envision themselves living in it, thus raising their perceived value
landscaping – some buyers see this as serene, others as a maintenance nightmare
The list could go on and on and on and on… we do our best to help sellers understand that there is a buyer out there for every home, and we try to show buyers homes that meet their criteria for value – sometimes we miss and sometimes we hit a home run! (I like the home runs!)
Happy Friday
Jennifer
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Vacant House Photos – Yay or Nay?
May 11th, 2010 Categories: Real Estate 101
So they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words, right! Or is it. How important is it to you, the prospective buyer, to see photos of the home listed for sale?
Ordinarily I’d say “you gotta have photos no matter what!” And for the most part, that applies across the board – but I’ve always thought vacant houses are a bit of a different animal – after all, how many photos of the corner of a room does one need to see?
I guess in that one you can tell that the walls are painted 2 different colors…
See what I mean? So is this really helping? If we DON’T put photos, one assumes there’s something really wrong – I assume the same thing. Omission is a terrible thing (in fact, I digress a bit but I was looking through listings today and found a $1.7M listing that didn’t have a single photo of the front of the house – c’mon, what are you thinking mr./ms. listing agent!)
So I think there are some valuable photos to have of a vacant home – kitchen, some bigger sweeping photos that perhaps show the entire living room/dining room combo – maybe bathrooms as long as you can get a shot of something other than just the toilet…
What say YOU? Is it important to see photos of the corners of rooms? Is it helpful? Or just silly? I think I’d default to just a few empty corners with lots of photos showing other aspects of the home – I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Happy Tuesday!
Jennifer
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The Anatomy of a Short Sale – Part 2
January 8th, 2010 Categories: Arlington Dirt, Home Selling, Real Estate 101
In this series, I’m hoping to give some important information for both buyers AND sellers to help shed some light and understanding on the entire process… If you missed Part 1, you can catch it here.
When we last left off, we left our homeowner at the beginning of having 
unsettling feelings of their future. They are still feeling that all will be OK, but they’re not quite sure how. At this point, the typical homewoner is not really open to help from an outsider… at this point, it’s just the beginnings of a feeling – sort of like a pit in their stomach.
But what happens next? Well, perhaps they decide that to get through these tough times, they will reach into their savings to help make ends meet. Perhaps they are beginning to think “who do I call?”
This is also the time that a homeowner might decide to investigate the options of loan modification… The thing is, loan modification is usually not a good deal for ANYONE, except maybe the lending institution. Think about it – so you may be given a reduction on your payments for a set period of time – maybe a year, maybe 3 years; the difference between what you owed and what you were allowed to pay WILL BE TACKED ONTO what you owe long term; your note may even be re-amortized to 40 years and guess what – if you sell in 3 years you could STILL be upside down on your loan (remember on top of the reduced valuation, you also have the differential of loan payments tacked on)… basically it’s a lose lose lose UNLESS you believe your hardship is truly temporary and/or you’re only marginally under water and that you can see a time where you will be right side up again. But let’s be VERY clear on one thing – loan modification is NOT principal reduction – it just isn’t and never will be because of the way mortgages are packaged and are sold to investors.
So, once this option is thoroughly investigated and eventually dismissed, the troubled homeowner is once again seemingly without options. And from there, the scene becomes even more dire than before.
Remember, all of this is happening behind closed doors. It’s generally not cocktail party chatter, it’s not water cooler discussion – most of the time, it’s not discussed outside of the safety of one’s kitchen table. There’s no logical source of help still to someone facing these troubles, so they plod along, waiting for the other shoe to drop. At this point they still are not tuned into the calls to action in the marketplace, “SAVE YOUR HOME” “PREVENT FORECLOSURE” etc… it’ still not going to happen to them.
Next time, we will delve into the part where MOST of us come in; where most of us see the short sale and/or foreclosure process start – with a very important decision on behalf of the homeowner… to pay or not… that is the question…
Have a great weekend!
Jennifer
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The Anatomy of the Short Sale Part 1
January 7th, 2010 Categories: Home Selling, Real Estate 101
I have been writing about short sales (primarily to STAY AWAY, STAY FAR FAR AWAY) for several years now. The honest truth is that according to RealtyTrac, Virginia (as of Q3 2009) was ranked 16th in the nation in foreclosure rate with 1 in every 196 homes being affected - still below the national average of 1 in every 136 homes. It’s time for me to admit that foreclosures are a part of our future.
What’s the difference between a foreclosure and a short sale? The process of a short sale is the homeowner taking action to sell their home prior to the bank foreclosure and negotiating with the bank (or bankS) to accept less than what is owed and hopefully to forgive the remaining debt. The moment the bank auctions that property on the courthouse steps, it has been foreclosed on and the bank is now the owner.
So having recently resigning myself to their existence long term, I decided I’d better get more knowledgeable about the process so that I may skillfully guide sellers and buyers through this process. I went yesterday to a seminar presented by an amazing group who are taking the bull by the horns around here in Northern Virginia and really helping the process along – more on that later. For the purposes of this post, being the first, I’d like to start at the very beginning. I think it’s very very critical to understand how and where this starts.
Most people who are in trouble, headed towards the inevitable outcome of either short sale or foreclosure, come to the realization that they need help WAY too late. It often begins with an event:
- Hours are cut
- A job is lost
- 2nd job is eliminated
- overtime is cut
- pending divorce
- spouse loses their job
- unexpected medical bills
- new baby
the list actually goes on and on and on… There are a myriad of reasons why people all over the country are facing difficult times right now – MANY of which are beyond their control. Our economy is in trouble and yes, while we may be on the cusp of seeing
some recovery, for some people, i’s not immediate enough and they are left with few options. Does this feeling sound familiar? If so, read on.
In the timeline of a troubled homeowner, the very first step is “uh oh, what am I gonna do?” Rarely at this point does a homeowner translate this “bump in the road” into “OH NO, I’M FACING FORECLOSURE” or “I’m gonna lose my house.” The reality is, if this is where you are, or someone you know, this is EXACTLY the right time to seek help. But where? Well, let’s see, most people first turn to their lender – hearing stories of loan modification (which we’ll discuss in a future post) or just to get a few months break… guess what… your lender wants you to pay, pay now, pay pay pay – they are not concerned with your situation, your circumstances. They will threaten you, have you believing all sorts of BAD things and you will end that conversation feeling afraid, vulnerable and without options. Not much help, I say…
I think it’s important to understand how this little seed grows into a full blown short sale or foreclosure, so for now, we’ll end Part 1 right there – the very beginning. Next time, we’ll delve into the self preservation that occurs along the next phase.
Remember, if you feel things are closing in – before you make ONE MORE PAYMENT or begin a process of robbing Peter to pay Paul (my mother’s phrase, thanks Mom), give me a call. I can share what I’ve learned and see if I can help.
Stay tuned….
Jennifer
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