Real Estate and Beyond Blog: Harry F. D'Elia, Investor , Mentor, BD, Radio Coach, REO Expert, Networker (HomeSmart International)

 

This is as about elementary as it can get

supply goes down and prices go up

 

A funny thing happened while I was doing a search for a client tonight. I plugged in their price range, deleted all short sales and hit enter. My first thought was "That can't be right".  I went back and re-checked the criteria. The client was looking for a town home or a single family home in Montgomery County priced somewhere between $300,000 and $325,000. There are only 69 listings that are active. 

Chew on that fact for a minute

It may be that I am getting old and my memory is fuzzy, but I sure think we used to have one hell of a lot more inventory available. I thought hmmmm, maybe I should do a quick check of all price points. I did and the results are rather startling at every point.

     $200,000 - $250,000     64 active listings

     $250,000 - $300,000   109 active listings

     $300,000 - $325,000     69 active listings

     $325,000 - $350,000     99 active listings

     $350,000 - $400,000   145 active listings

 

So, what does this mean?  I am no genius. I do not have a crystal ball. I do know that time is passing and the federal first time buyer credit is just about gone.  I know that the same supply and demand laws that govern property prices eventually control interest rates ( money supply down and interest rate goes up ).

Everyone is aware of the bank owned "shadow inventory".  You can wait for it to come on the market. I can only imagine the condition those homes will be in after sitting locked up for months on end (mold is the first word that springs to my mind). It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that homes sitting vacant for month after month might have some issues.

WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF INVENTORY FASTER THAN THE NEWS MEDIA CARES TO REPORT.

The clock is ticking and I don't think you really want to wait until the midnight hour.

If you are ready to take that step, don't do it alone. Give me a call at 301-509-5111 or email me at macarthurgroup@gmail.com.  My name is John MacArthur and I only ask that you Experience the Difference.

 

Not long ago, I was asked by my friend Mike Price to host the "Carnival of Real Estate", which is essentially a gathering of blog posts each week about our industry.  Sounds like fun to me, so I said a hearty "Yes!".  Since I've held lots of contests during my blogging career, I have a little experience in this arena.  :)

 

First of all, if you took the time to submit something this past week, I thank you all for your submissions.  We all take pride and a great sense of ownership of our writing, and I know firsthand that it can be a personal thing.  With that in mind, I appreciate you all giving me a chance to review your hard work.  This is my first time judging this particular competition, and I consider it an honor.

 

There were just over 20 submissions, and there were six that I felt really stood out:

 

First Place -  Searching for Real Estate Made Easy: Geo-Fences Plus Mobile Phones by Chris Thorman of SoftwareAdvice.com.  This is simply an awesome blog post.  It has many solid elements:  it’s informative, current, and well-written.  It has helpful graphics and good organization.  The anecdote at the beginning makes the post more interesting and draws the reader in.  Everyone loves technology, and the internet is certainly the best place to come up with new ways to use it.  Kudos.

 

In Second Place, I would put this rant (if I may call it that): Can I get proof of a competing offer? The answer may surprise you by Jay Thompson, the Phoenix Real Estate Guy.  For those of you who know Jay already, it should come as no surprise that he wrote a terrific post on a compelling topic.  If you haven't had the situation Jay describes come up yet in your real estate career, you will!  I myself have written/ranted on the same subject, and I think it’s a topic most of us have some opinion on.  That fact, and the opener mentioning “slam my head into a wall” draw the reader into the story.  Jay also expresses some strong opinions in his post, which makes it more interesting and comment-worthy.  His structure and grammar are clear and accurate, and he makes good use of the medium with his tone and subject.

 

Third Place: What are Mortgage Accelerator Programs? by Jim Wang 

This is an article-type post that is truly informative.  It’s conversationally written and Jim doesn't talk down to the reader.  It seems well-researched, and the advice it gives seems wise.  It's also well-structured and well laid out.

 

Fourth place goes to 10 Most Common Mistakes of 1st Time Home Buyers by Robert Buchholz.  This is a very informative post that could actually help some new buyers, if they follow the advice therein.   If I were a rookie Realtor, I might print this out to give to my buyers, and Robert Buchholz’ name would be there, too, which can only help Robert’s business.  That’s part of the “big idea” of blogging!

 

Honorable mentions: Hey You Pessimists (Yes you, homeowners): It’s Not Quite That Bad… by Amy Bohutinsky and Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License? by J. Scott.  Both of these are well-written and informative posts.  “Not Quite That Bad” has some very interesting & encouraging research with a “killer” graphic.  Which of us could not do with a little good news these days?  “Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License?” attempts to give a brief yet through review of the issue, and seems very helpful.

 

All in all, there some terrific posts for the carnival, and it made my decisions difficult.  In fact, I had to call in some help (my wife read them, too).  I applaud you all.  Keep on making the RE.net a more informative, interesting, and helpful place.

 

 

Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelzimmer

 

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me elsewhere?

                 

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  Thanks!

 

Most of us are aware that Facebook is the dominant force when it comes to social platforms. But did you know that Facebook is nipping on the heels of Google in regards to Internet dominance? Here are some Quick Facts (according to Facebook , Alexa.com and Compete.com):

• Facebook is the #2 website globally in total page views behind Google; should pass Google in first half of 2010.
• At 30%, Facebook has the same global reach that Google had 1 year ago.
• Both Google and Facebook should have global reach of ~50% by end of 2010.
• 2 years ago Facebook’s global reach was just 6%.
• Internet users spend 3x as much time on a Facebook page as they spend on a Google page.
• Over 700mm pieces of content are uploaded on Facebook daily (eg. 100mm photos daily).
• Average user spends 55 minutes/day (~23% of total time online) on Facebook.
• 50% of users log on daily.
• 67% of US online users are on Facebook.

So what does this mean to your real estate business? A Lot!

It means that if you have not integrated a Facebook strategy into your overall marketing plan, you could be missing a huge opportunity to connect to a whole new stream of business.

And to help provide support for that Facebook strategy, real estate technology company Roost has recently launched the FREE Social Real Estate℠ Application which is the first app of its kind to offer agents the opportunity to:

 

·         Highlight their local market knowledge from a Facebook Business Page

·         Present important market data from the likes of Roost, Altos Research, Education.com and Walk Score™ for the city they service

   (Note: The application is available for a little more the 10,000 cities in approximately 70 of the largest metro areas in the country)

·         Easily customize and install a local real estate tab on their Facebook Business Page in about 5 minutes

 

Some of the agents that have already integrated the application into their Facebook Business Page include Brad Coy, Heather Elias and Jay Thompson.

So if you want to bring a professional presence to your Facebook Business page, click on over to the Roost Social Real Estate Platform and have your real estate tab up in a few short minutes.

We’ve also created the following set up tutorial that takes you through the entire process.

 

Finally, you can always call of email me if you have any questions or concerns.

Derek Overbey
415-742-8059
derek.overbey@roost.com

 

No words needed here, this video speaks volumes....and to think it happened during our lifetime!

 

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Essentially, this is the question (Can your MLS sell my home?) a Seller would ask subtly when s/he calls to ask for a Flat Fee listing. My short and sweet answer is No. Carol Honkanen of NW Real Estate in Bellevue WA discussed this in her recent post, Flat Rate Fees versus Typical Commission Rates.

She believed in giving her clients a "choice". Hence, she offers a Flat Fee rate AND a "Typical" commission rate. (There is no "right" or "wrong" about this.) Consumers should be given a choice. If they demand, someone should supply. Over the years, I became impartial about this subject.

 

Recently, a potential seller called me to see if a Flat Fee listing is a part of an ala carte service I offer. I politely said No and gave him the reasons why.

So, here's the share (the long answer):

 

In my experience, the MLS does not sell homes. Good Realtors(R) and good homes do. Especially in today's market, there is no secret that this home selling business is a very serious proposition. It is NOT to be taken lightly. It is really a matter of life moving on or not.

Selling a home is just an obstancle, it is not an end result. Not selling a home stops you from being where you want to be. With that in mind, how important is it to get the home sold before you can turn the chapter?

 

Because I have never done business this way, I cannot clearly say what goes on with Flat Rate listings. I just assume that the homeowner would take some photos, prepare the home for sale and sign a "limited" listing agreement where the homeowner will negotiate his/her own contract and see that the transaction goes to closing and funding.

First of all, my local MLS board does not allow for homeowners to "negotiate their own contracts if they have an exclusive listing agreement. So, some flat fee listing agents go around that by disclosing, Call Seller with questions but do not negotiate contract. Copy the owner on the offer.

Negotiation is a honed skill. It takes time and years of practise. When the agent has to negotiate the contract and spend time on it, and decides to work for pennies on the dollar, good for the homeowner, bad for the agent. Hence, more than likely, sellers handle their own negotiation despite the exclusive listing agreement.

It takes expertise, tools and technology to market a home these days. The Seller said that he's willing to do the Open House himself, hence he wanted a reduced fee.

Well, the truth is that Open Houses do not sell homes and many agents opted not to utilize their marketing time that way. It yields no high results.

 

I have a fiduciary duty towards my Seller clients. When I take on the listing, I pledged a duty to my clients and myself that I will do everything possible (and everything I know how) to get the listing SOLD. In my opinion, just getting the property on the MLS system with no proper consult, no proper marketing plan in place is not doing my full duty as the appointed listing agent. When a Seller client hires me, s/he pays for experience, expertise, market knowledge, marketing plans that utilize tools and technology, negotiation and the ability to take the listing from signing the listing agreement, to contract and then to closing and funding. Entering information on the MLS is merely an administrative work. Hence, I do not offer it. (But again, I have no objections to those who offer it. I just have my own opinions about the subject matter).

If the MLS sold homes, then the Real Estate industry would not have such high turn-over rates since most Realtors(R) can get access to the MLS if s/he wants to. Of course, the turn-over rates are not solely dependent on this reason for inadequacies, a partial reason can be contributed to it.

 

Would it be fast money? If you type fast and familiar with inputing alot of information into the MLS system, I would think so. But money should be well-earned (again only from my opinion).

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Loreena Yeo
Frisco TX Realtor® / Broker of 3:16 team REALTY
(214) 783-2210
loreena@loreenayeo.com

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