Just the other day I was pulling comps for a seller in a specific neighborhood. Normally, this shouldn’t be like pulling teeth, but a trend that I have been noticing has been accelerating. Half of the listings in this neighborhood failed to mention the name neighborhood in either agent remarks or pubic description.  This forced me to search by zip code. Since the neighborhood in question straddled two zip codes – I ended up digging through mountains of actives and solds – not to mention contracts/pendings as well as expireds.

Since the neighborhood I was researching straddled two zip codes  – I had to go through a mountain of actives, contracts, pendings and solds, expireds and cancelled listings to fish out the relevant information.

So I have to ask the moronic question – Whatever happened to including the name of the neighborhood on the listing?

I don’t mean to sound snarky – but this is NOT rocket science.  HEY!  LISTING AGENTS!!!! Include the $#%!ing neighborhood in the listing!!  This is quite literally the LEAST you can do.  How hard can that possibly be?

Not local?  It’s your job to find out for God’s sake.  If you don’t have enough knowledge of  the area you are listing in to find this information – then you have no business listing there.  Do yourself and the seller a favor and decline the listing.

Why is this important?

Well – it’s not because yours truly would like to do neighborhood stats without going listing by listing through one or two zip codes….although that would be a nice perk.

But….

1.  Most serious buyers are shopping by neighborhood.  If they want a specific neighborhood, but don’t KNOW the house you are listing is in that neighborhood, they aren’t going to ask to see it.  Your seller’s are missing out on some of the most serious buyers this way.

2. Counting on the buyer’s agent to know?  Are you kidding me?  If agents are listing further from home, buyer’s agents are certainly showing further from home.  You are counting on the blind to lead the blind. Further, you shouldn’t be asking the buyer’s agent to do your work for you.

Look, I realize times are hard.  I have been expanding my range for a while now.  There is no longer enough business for most agents to stay purely local.  But when agents  spread your wings, they need to do it responsibly.

Message to Sellers:

A lot of agents are spreading into new areas.  In most cases this is a good thing.  There are a few villages in Westchester NY where one or two brokerages are still the only game in town.  But that is changing.  Furhter,  as much as the primary players in these towns and villages hem and haw and argue that only they know all the nuances  of the area -  this  “new blood” can be a breath of fresh air.    Agents new to the area know they have to offer something fresh and unique.  They will often offer a new approach and more alternatives than the established brokerages in order to attract buyers and sellers.  This can force those who thought they had the market cornered to step up their game and offer more than the same-old, same-old.

But, sellers have to make sure that the “new blood” knows the area well enough to be effective.  Make sure your listing agent at least knows the neighborhood in which the home you are selling is located.  They also need to be aware of school zoning and issues such as if the area is flood prone. If they don’t know that – find another agent.  Seriously.  I don’t care what they promised.    If they don’t know the area at all then they probably don’t know enough to be effective.

No,  your agent doesn’t have to be local – but your agent does need to have local knowledge.

© 2010 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.

But…. as anyone in the sciences will tell you – statistics are only as valid as the data they are measuring.   I saw more than my share of  deceptive creative  uses of statistical models.  In the science/engineering  disciplines “peer review” holds these “creative types” accountable and by and large it does an excellent job.  In fact this is often where the rubber meets the road for  most of the junk popular pseudo-scientists who whine that they can’t get published.

Sadly – I haven’t run into the real estate watch-dog equivalent of peer review.

Phil Faranda  wrote a  blog about REALTOR stats being open to the public. He sighted a post from Agent Genius about how when the Houston Association of Realtors started disclosing these stats – agent protest caused the program to be discontinued.

Part of me is tempted to like such disclosure.  On a positive note  – it certainly would throw a monkey wrench into people using Trulia and Zillow to become premier area “experts” so long as they are willing pull out the plastic.  Never mind that they may have nary a closing or listing in the zip code for over a year.

The critical question  that every home buyer/seller has to ask themselves when looking at all this number crunching is simple:  What do these stats tell me about this agent or this brokerages ability to sell my home or help my buy a home?

This may sound pretty easy – but its not.

How can the numbers be distorted – oh let me count the ways!

When I was getting my license and looking for brokerages I found to my surprise that they all claimed to be the #1 brokerage in the area.  The question was #1 for what?

• One was #1 for listings…
• One was #1 for the number  sales….
• One was #1 for gross sales volume ($ amount)
• One was #1 for the most  agents….
• One was #1 for the number of branches….
• And finally – One was #1 for finding creative ways to be #1 at SOMETHING…

All could have  earned an  A++ in Statistical BS 101.
They had used some much pretzel logic in their number crunching that I truly had to admire their ability to be deceptive creative use of numbers.

Last year Westchester Magazine published their definition of Westchester’s top agents.  It was based exclusively on gross sales volume.  I wrote a blog based on their stats regarding how we define “success in the real estate market. They ignored expired listings, cancellations, the fact that most of these people had large teams of agents working for them.  Their numbers were in effect – useless for the average seller looking for a listing agent or you typical buyer.

For individual agents – Statistics are your friend – if you massage the data -

“I have over 100 listings!” Friendly translation – I throw anything and everything against the wall to see what sticks.  Please don’t ask me about my sales stats.

“I have $15 million in gross sales!” Friendly Translation – I’ve done this over a 15 year period!  or I slept with someone and sold one property worth $15 million.

“I sold over 100 homes last year!” Friendly translation -  My BROKERAGE with 50 agents under  sold over 100 homes collectively.  Don’t ask how many agents it took to achieve that number.

“I personally sold 22 properties last year!” Friendly Translation – That’s what I sold but I’ve got about 80 listings littering the expired and cancelled list on the MLS.

Statistics are too easily distorted/misrepresented.   Also I note that on that post the people who were “all for it” were those for whom those particular stats would favor…hmmmm.  I bet if you looked “under the hood” at what the stats actually meant on an agent by agent basis – some of them wouldn’t look as good as they do on paper.

Further Reading:

Defining “success” in the real estate – or how not to choose a real estate agent

This Brokerage Has 750 Listings…..So they must be the best! (Part 1)

This Brokerage Has 750 Listings…..So they must be the best! (Part 2)

Mirror, mirror on the wall…who’s the fairest listing agent of all…Part 1:

Mirror, mirror on the wall…who’s the fairest listing agent of all…Part 2

© Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com. All rights reserved.

20 North Broadway #C313 – White Plains, NY 10601

This Listing is Courtesy of Carolyn Schoemer of Keller Williams Realty NY.

Welcome home to a one-of-a-kind unit in a a one-of-a-kind cooperative.

The Broadlawn is truly unique.  Located in the heart of  downtown White Plains – it seems a world away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown.  Once you walk through the entry – you find yourself in a mature English garden with mature plantings.  This is the most unique cooperative complex in the city of White Plains NY and perhaps the most unique of Westchester coops overall.

For more information on the Broadlawn click here.

This elegant 2BR/1BA duplex has unique pine paneling throughout the living area which makes this unit unlike any other.  A working fireplace  and  elegant French doors opening onto  to a balcony that overlooks the gardens completes the effect.  The modern kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances  has been opened up into the formal dining room creating a wonderfully unique and open space.  Upstairs the unique beamed ceilings continue the theme.  A beautiful welcoming environment.

Cost of Living:

Monthly Maintenance $1230.00 – 50%  tax deductible.
Maintenance  with single STAR =  $1103
Additional Fees:
$80 parking
$37.04 for family cable
Number of shares – 670

The Lifestyle:

Living just half a block from White Plains City Center and Trump Tower, you are just a heartbeat away from the center of everything.  The City Center offers movie theaters, fine dining including restaurants such as Legal Seafood.   The Ritz Carlton just around the corner offers an amazing dining experience on the 42nd floor. Level 42  is amazing with its panoramic views of the City, Long Island Sound, the Hudson and upper Westchester.  The famous Westchester Mall with its high-end retail is also within walking distance. For those who want to eat organically at home, Whole Foods is another destination within easy range along with Morton Steak and the Cheesecake Factory.   It’s city living in what traditionally was considered a suburban town – turned mini-Manhattan.

Pet Friendly:

Dogs and cats permitted with board approval.

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com.  All rights reserved.

For example, the entry level buyer that wants a pre-war charmer with 2 full baths and and open floor plan with central AC for under $500k  is looking for a product that does not exist in this market.

Many buyers initially turn their noses up when they see a cookie cutter:

It is true that most first time buyers turn their noses up at the cookie cutter – or they would LIKE to.  However, this disdain finds itself  running up against the reality  that cookie cutters very often offer more bang for the buck and more of the modern features that new home buyers crave than a pre-war charmer.   A buyer can get more bang for the buck with respect to an extra bath, a larger kitchen and more square footage generally.

The inventory of Westchester homes offers new homeowners a choice – an old-world charmer with no master bath and less square footage or a cookie cutter with 2.5 baths, a more open flow floor plan and a bonus room.  Once you have both in the same house, a first time buyer is looking at a serious case of sticker shock.

The cookie-cutter vs the pre-war charmer – pros and cons:

The Pre-War Charmer:

The pre-war charmer offers character and style.  The character of the home is already built-in and no two are a like – particularly with respect to the facades.   The older finishes on the interior are unique.  Even with the most bland Pottery Barn design aesthetic on the interior, these homes have instant character.

These older homes are more likely to be close to town.  In walk-score terms, the pre-war charmers generally win hands down. Walking to train, walking to town for shopping, dining and entertainment – is something you are more likely to find in a pre-war charmer.  Since they are small and solid, they are generally energy efficient.  Taxes are lower – a big issue in Westchester.  This is in part due to the age of these homes and in part due to the fact that these homes are smaller with fewer baths.  So  the new modern – energy -conscious lifestyle can create a preference for these compact,  convenient and charming homes.

Here are a couple of photos from homes in the (mostly) pre-war neighborhood of the Highlands White Plains NY.  The charm and style are obvious.

The Cookie-Cutter:

The cookie-cutter is a different animal built in a different time.  Having been built closer to our present time, the cookie cutter does offer features that man first-time buyers demand, but can not get from a pre-war charmer.   For example, many pre-war homes have only one bath.  Most buyers want at least a powder room and a bath and ideally most want 2.5 baths with a master suite.  This is nearly impossible to find in an entry level pre-war home.  Yes, you can add the bath (depending on layout) but that is an expensive and time-consuming fix.  Central air? Many cookie-cutters already have it – or at least the duct work necessary to install it.

For interior renovations – the cookie-cutter beats the pre-war hands down.  The cookie-cutter lends itself to open floor plans that are so popular today.  To take out a wall you don’t have to deal with layers of plaster and lathe. Drywall is a lot easier to work with.  Raise the roof to create another level?  Not so easy in my 1910-1920 charmer with a clay tile roof – but with a cookie-cutter its relatively easy.

If the pre-war charmer is automatic style in a box – the cookie-cutter is the blank slate.   It is up to the homeowner to create character both inside and out.

The photo at the top of the post is from a rather large home (its very deceptive from the front) located in Prospect Park White Plains NY. It was gut renovated a few years ago.  This time, the owners didn’t expand or build out, but they restored a home that was in dire need of TLC and the results were lovely.

The cookie-cutters above are also located in Prospect Park White Plains NY offer insight into how to make such a home your own.  The first home was a simple bland ranch.  They added a porch  to the front – defining the home and creating style and character where there was none before.  The standard 60s split-level on the right was landscaped with thoughtful attention to details such as window boxes and  a winding walkway surrounding by mature growth and colorful landscaping.

In the final picture you see a complete re-do of the facade of a 1960s split level.  The owners didn’t change the footprint, but the home looks entirely different and although it is obviously a split level – it is difficult to associate it at all with the 1960s aesthetic from which I assure it originates.

So there it is – the pros and cons of the cookie-cutter vs. the pre-war charmer.

© 2010 – Ruthmarie Hicks http://thewestchesterview.com Cookie-cutter redux vs  pre-war charmer – the battle rages on

At first this might seem like real estate heaven for buyers and sellers a like.  However, the number of these sites have been propagating like bunnies and the elation turns to confusion when the consumer picks up the phone to call the agent who listed the home.

Where is the Listing Agent?

You see, these listings are being sponsored by  agents and brokerages that for the most part have nothing to do with the listing.  Some may have no idea about the listing whatsoever.  They engaged a  service that covers several counties, and know nothing about the home in question. In fact their working territory might be 30-50 miles away or more – but they are eager to help the buyer or seller with their real estate needs no matter how little they know about the area.

Now if you look very, very carefully – you can indeed find the listing agent. Just look for the only 8 point gray colored font on the page and you probably have located the listing information.

Public Facing Home Search – Some History:

Confused yet – you should be.  A little history will help consumers to  understand what is going on here: On my site – as well as many other agent websites -  you can sign up to “search for homes.”  These sites are up-to-date and derived from the broker’s version of the MLS – but it is not in fact THE MLS.  The public never truly sees  the broker/agent version of THE MLS;  they see a public facing version of  the same.  It is up-to-date, but has restrictions and is not 100% complete.  These sites are referred to in the industry as “IDX” sites – for “internet data exchange.”

People who land on my site can sign up for IDX access any time they wish.  I am giving them a feed that is derived from the MLS.  So consumers on my site recognize that although I let them view all the listings in the county – they aren’t all MY listings!  If they were I’d be having a coronary  trying to keep track of the thousands of homes I was lucky enough to list county-wide.

Google Now Gets To Pick Up IDX Listings as Individual Web Pages:

Here is where it gets tricky.  The pages indexed to Google are the exact same thing.  They agent has  subscribed to a site that takes each and every listing that most consumers sign up for – and has indexed each listing as a separate web page to Google.  But here is where it gets deceptive.  Since its on Google as its own separate web page and has the agents face, name, number, email and other information – it LOOKS like that agent’s LISTING.  And here is where I feel a line has been crossed that should not be.   This is deliberately deceptive and confusing to the public.

In the interest of full disclosure -  I do have an axe to grind here.  As a listing agent nothing makes me madder than someone  taking my photos, my descriptions, my video links and my marketing and using them to promote themselves. If I just slapped up the listing and put no effort into the process I probably wouldn’t mind…but I spend HOURS on proper presentation, taking hundreds of shots to pick the best ones.  The photos are edited and tweaked and submitted after hours of work.  The same is true for my video feeds.  The fact that another agent  displays it as their own infuriates me.

What Does Do For the Consumer – Seriously?

Objectively, from the consumer’s standpoint – the trend to bypass a buyer’s agent and go directly to the “source” is not a good one.  Representation is a tricky topic – and one for another blog – but  a buyer going directly to a listing agent can be problematic to the buyer.   The notion that a buyer can save significant money going direct to the listing agent is a fallacy.    So having a different face and name for buyer’s to call is not necessarily a bad thing.  However, there are several disturbing issues:

• These sites are often purchased by agents who don’t really work the area in question. In fact such indexable listings are a great way for an agent to push their way into an area they know nothing about.  Bottom line here – the consumer has no idea if the agent has any local knowledge at all.
• There are questions about specific issues where the consumer might want to seek out the listing agent for information.
• If someone is thinking of listing a home and they are looking for a listing agent with experience in the immediate area – this can be very, very deceptive.

The question from the consumer’s standpoint remains – does the mess you see at the right make ANY SENSE for the consumer…seriously.

The popularity of these sites is sowing the seeds of their own destruction:

As these sites propagate like bunnies – their usefulness to the agent is diminished with every single new subscriber. Given that the first two pages of Google now look like nothing but  a string of listings for the same property, the ability of these sites to draw in buyers and sellers is already on its way downhill.  This form of marketing my be a victim of its own success in fairly short order.

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – Why are Google searches for listing addresses so confusing?

First, the inspiration for this post belongs to C.Tann-Starr. She wrote a tremendously refreshing and honest post  - Momentum After The Tax Credit Expires? Seriously? Suffering From Lookie-Lou-Itis?

Second, I don’t have a crystal ball.  I can only use common sense to look ahead.  The only thing I know is this:  What goes up, must come down – and what goes down, eventually goes back up.  We can also look to the past in order to better see the future.

How I stole a house in 1996:

The year was 1996 and willy nilly I found myself thrown into the housing market. There were no incentives out there, no $8000 tax credits, interest rates were hovering between 7-8%.  The country was MIRED in a real estate recession that seemingly had no end.  Few were buying – and those that were – were offering low ball  after low ball.  Homes languished on the market for months if not years.

But I needed to move.  I moved back in with my mother when she became ill and now she had passed on.  It was time to sell the big family home that had housed three generations of my family.

My friends told me I was crazy:

Why buy in this mess?  And a HOUSE no less. Wouldn’t a condo be less risky?  Surely prices would drop still further – in a few years they told me – I would be able to “steal a house.”   But driving the purchase of a house forward were two issues.   I had two dogs – one was mine, one was my mother’s.  Renting can be problematic – particularly since my mother’s dog was a “barker.” Then there was the condo vs. house conundrum.  Market forces pushed me towards a house when I recognized that home prices had fallen further than condo prices.  In fact, at that time I  could buy a house for less than I could purchase a comparable condo.

So I bought a house.  I bought the house for $245,000.  Prices continued to decline for another 18 months.  My initial “investment” went down in value during that time.  Prices didn’t start to climb back up for another 2-3  years.  Then I sat and watched the biggest housing boom in history unfold before me.

The lien on the home now is roughly $160,000.  Even after an over 20% correction in our city’s home market…my home is worth nearly double what I paid for it.  The likelihood that I would ever be underwater on said house is pretty slim.  Prices would have to go back to levels not seen since the mid 1980s for that to happen.

The lesson here was that I bought into weakness.  When everyone was scared and staying away, circumstances forced me to the plate and I pulled the trigger.

I pulled the trigger while others waited and watched:

At the time there were many more buyers that decided to “wait it out” so they could “steal  a home.” Many of those lookie lous that held  would  later  look back wistfully at the period before 1998 saying “Those were the good old days!  Houses were cheap and there were plenty to pick from. I wish I had bought back then!”  They never got their “steal” because they waited until a boom was in full force before pulling the trigger.    I got the steal.  How?  By paying market value for a home when prices were depressed and everyone was running scared.

The fence sitters of today may well look back upon this time the same way  people  looked upon the mid-90s.   For home buyers, these may well be the good old days!

© Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.

Unfortunately, unrealistic expectations can set buyers  up for  unnecessary disappointment and frustration.   There are several flavors of unrealistic buyers out there.

The “I want to steal a house” investor:

This buyer is determined to find  a home for pennies on the dollar. They comb through listing after listing and call agent after agent to show them home after home that looks as though it is the bargain of the century.  The trouble is that once they see the home, they realize that this is beyond the simple fixer-upper.  A new coat of paint is not going to do the trick.   These  homes don’t just need TLC – they need to be gutted.

This type of buyer needs to realize that there is no free ride here.  Many of them have been  watching too many late-night TV shows that claim that banks want to get rid of these properties at “any price.”   After the way the banks have behaved over the past year – does anyone seriously think they are going to get the better end of any deal involving a bank?   Banks have shown  themselves to be more than  capable of looking after their own interests.

The “I’ve got champaign taste and a beer budget -but I’m not settling” buyer:

This buyer can appear in any market. Since affordability has improved, it might seem counterintuitive to observe an increase in this type of buyer right now.  Yet, that’s what I’m seeing.   They want far more than they can ever possibly afford and the buyer’s market media hype is giving them tacit permission to push for the impossible.   The sad thing is that this buyer is not looking at the increased affordability of the past year as the gift that it is – instead they are on a quest for even more.

This type of buyer has two choices: bite the bullet and buy what they can truly afford or roll the dice and hope that affordability increases still further.   The latter has true risks in this market. Although prices may decline further, affordability  is probably not going to increase because interest rates are almost certainly headed northward.   This may well more than offset any further price decreases.  For affordability to increase the buyer has to look to their own finances not the marketplace in order to afford “more.”

The buyer who will only put in offers 10-20% below asking price no matter what the comps say:

This type of buyer is of the mindset that “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”  They want to “test” the seller with a lowball in the hopes that the seller is desperate enough or ignorant enough of the comparable solds  to accept.  As I said in my previous blog about sellers:  asking isn’t getting.

Not only does this rarely work, but it can really offend the seller to the point where the buyer could lose the sale.  Low-balling is not a good way to win friends – or negotiate a sale.  Offers should be based on the comparable sales – NOT the asking price.  Many seller’s have already priced their homes realistically.  A realistically priced home is more likely to be having multiple offers – so low-balling is a bad idea.

At the end of the day, buyers need to take a realistic look at the comparable sales.   Those numbers are not lying and placing realistic offers in that “sweet spot”  where they are consistent with recent sales – leads to success in the long haul.

In the end, the sale and purchase of a home should be a win-win for all concerned. It’s not about “beating the market” or “getting the better end of the deal.”  It’s about negotiating a transaction that works for all parties.

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com. All rights reserved.

White Plains  NY Cooperatives:

Cooperative prices were actually up slightly over the same period in 2008.  However, this slight uptick might be do to an increase in the proportion of 2 BR units in the sales statistics.  The previous quarter showed a grim 17% price reduction and recent sales in specific complexes indicates that this downward trend is continuing.  Since 2 BR units are suddenly far more affordable, buyers are finding that they can afford a larger unit.  Sales volume is down 17% over the previous year and the current inventory of 9 months indicates a buyer’s market undergoing  a price correction bordering on double digits.

White Plains NY Condominiums:

Condo sales remained very soft though pricing showed no further reductions after the near 17% decrease that happened in the third quarter.  However, the inventory is alarming because in spite of increased buyer activity across the board.  Currently there is a 13.1 month inventory sitting on the market which promises to increase as soon as the spring selling season gets under way.  Such an inventory is consistent with double digit price decreases.  Sellers should take care to take advantage of this lull in price reductions and price their units aggressively.

White Plains NY Single Family Homes:

Single family homes showed the greatest year over year price drop in this quarter.  Average home prices are down 24.2% year over year – shedding an average of $186,000 in value. The current inventory is  a bright spot.  The six month inventory indicates a buyer’s market undergoing high single digit declines, but this may be the calm before the storm once the spring market starts and people list their homes. Overall, sales volume is up over the previous year which would be a very positive sign if sales volume hadn’t been so desperately low last year.

Further Reading:

White Plains NY Housing Market Statistics – Third Quarter 2009.

Housing and Market Statistics for White Plains NY – Second Quarter 2009.

White Plains NY – Housing and Market Statistics for Fourth Quarter 2008.

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.

The contrast between old-school hyper-local agents and the newer nomad agnet was driven home to me while I was working with two listing agents who still work exclusively in small niche markets.  I was at a closing with one of them and she implied that since I had the entire city of White Plains to cover, why didn’t I simply refer out the client who finally bought in Scarsdale?

Can a real estate agent be too local?

I knew that the attitude about staying hyper-local is alive and well though it appears to be a staple of old-school real estate.  Still, I was more than a tad surprised.  Scarsdale is not the moon.  It is the town directly adjacent to the west side of White Plains and about a whopping six miles from my front door to the center of the village.  If we followed this line of thinking to its most extreme would mean that a buyer potentially moving from New York City to Westchester NY would have to have as many as five or six agents to explore all the possibilities open to them that were within about 30 minute commute.    For the consumer this seems most unwieldy if not highly impractical.  Could you imagine the mountain of agents all crawling over each other for the buyer’s attention?  What a mess. Not to mention a monster of coordination.

From the agent’s perspective, there could also be a danger to being too local. What if something happens to that small segment of the market you represent?  If your geography/price range are razor thin – you are setting yourself up for trouble.  This was clearly seen this year when agents who specialized in small high-end markets got creamed because jumbo loan issues bit them in the backside.   Another listing agent I encountered was used to selling about 10 major properties a year – but this year had only managed a single sale.

The nomad real estate agent:

On the other hand, we have the opposite trend.  I’m seeing this from the listing side.  There are a cohort of listing agents that are increasing their range to encompass as many as five counties.  These agents list in such a wide ranging area that I refer to them as “Nomads.” (Please don’t yell at me if you are from a rural region.  I am speaking from a local perspective in a densely populated area.)  Densely populated areas tend to have more gyrations in market conditions per square mile than more rural locations.  The number of towns, cities and villages with their local governments and school systems  within Westchester County alone is daunting enough.  Market  nuances that can seriously impact home values would be a black box to an agent that is overextended geographically.   I have to question whether this is in the best interests of the seller.   Let me put it this way:   If going to each listing once a week would entail a gasoline bill that looks like the national debt – I submit that you are probably trying to cover too much ground  and that this could seriously impact the result to the client.

Why do I say this?  Well, I’m a numbers type of person, and I started looking at the raw numbers of agents who cover large territories and found a disturbing trend.  I will give the caveat that this was not totally scientific. I looked at a handful of agents randomly.  Still, the results from my informal survey were pretty compellling.  When comparing solds to expireds and cancelleds, the ratio of closed sales to listings was consistently under 50% .  35-45% success appeared to be the norm for the Nomads  whereas anything from a 55-90% success rate was the norm for those who stuck closer to home.   To be fair, I  chose not to include expired or cancelled listings that the agent re-listed.  Nor did I include sales listings that wound up as rentals.   The further the range, the lower the actual ability to close the sale.

Now, as a business model, being a Nomad might make sense.  It’s probably exhausting to service so many listings that fail, but  many businesses are based on throwing as much up against a wall as they can to see what sticks.  It can be profitable to work that way.

But what about the seller?   For the seller, listings that just won’t sell are like beating your head against a wall – it feels so good when it finally stops.

Personally, I take a line right down the middle of this controversy.  I have too many buyer clients who want one-stop shopping to limit myself to one town or community.   Therefore, with respect to buyers, I cover pretty much the bottom half of the county. With  listings, I have traditionally stayed closer to home.  However, I am gradually extending my listing range to also encompass the lower part of the county.  When listing opportunities arise in areas where I have not taken listings previously, I generally choose to work with a co-listing agent who is experienced with respect to the neighborhood in question.   In that way, I have started to expand my territory while retaining top service for my clients.

© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks, http://thewestchesterview.com All rights reserved.

Cooperatives:

The number of co-ops sold are  down 15% over the previous year.   This is a trend that has been seen in other parts of the county and reflects the difficulties in obtaining financing.   Currently there is a nearly 8 month inventory on the market. However, prices remain slightly higher than the previous year, (5.4%) indicating a market that is stabilizing.   There are some mixed signals here.  the inventory is still high however, the pricing is surprisingly robust.

Single Family  Homes – Scarsdale:

After a “pop” during the 2nd quarter prices have once again fallen and are down 27% over the 3rd quarter of 2008.   Swollen inventories are going down.  Right now inventories are approaching th 6 month mark.

Single Family  Homes Edgemont -

Edgemont shares ad PO with Scarsdale, but it is actually is in the town Greenbburgh.  Sales have picked up in the area leaving inventories low at about 4.4 months.

An Important Note About the Criteria for the Statistics:

I handle each type of housing in Scarsdale differently. I also include a special section for single family homes in “Edgemont” which is really in the town of Greenburgh with a Scarsdale post-office and zip code.
For condominiums and cooperatives, I use the Scarsdale post office and zip code as my criteria. Many of these complexes are actually located in Greenburgh and Eastchester.

This reflects the way most buyer’s shop for housing. Coop and condo buyers work by address whereas those looking for single-family homes are often shopping municipality and school districts.

Additional Reading:

Housing and Market Statistics for Scarsdale NY – Second Quarter 2009

Scarsdale NY – Housing and Market Statistics for First Quarter 2009

Scarsdale NY – Housing and Market Reports for 4th Quarter 2008

© 2009 Ruthmarie G. Hicks http://thewestchesterview.com. All rights reserved.