This is a tough topic for me to address objectively. However, I have seen many blogs recently from agents touting their expertise as “local experts”. Meanwhile, I’m also seeing quite a number of other agents bragging about the number of listings that they have. Most of these agents can not possibly accumulate the raw numbers by being local. Many of these agents have listings that are scattered far and wide – sometimes in more than one state or at least in several counties.
The Furniture Sharehouse is having the last in its fall furniture drive series in White Plains NY on Sunday. For those wanting to know how to help flood victims from the hurricane in New York (Irene) – this event should be on top of your list. This is ideal for anyone who is thinking about moving and decluttering. Its ideal for those who feel t that their gently used furnishings are getting out of control…. and taking over the home. In cases like this you might want to load up the SUV and bring them to a place where they will be used by needy and grateful families.
For those who do not know what the Furniture Sharehouse is all about – it is a not-for-profit furniture bank that coordinates with many social service agencies in Westchester – helping needy families to furnish homes that would be nothing but 4 bare walls without help from the commmunity. According to Marie Graham – they have furnished nearly 1500 families so far.
Now- before you load up the car – there are some guidelines so please click here so you know what is appropriate.
The Time: Sun Nov. 13, from 9AM – 1 PM
The Place: The Woman’s Club in White Plains NY – 305 Ridgeway – White Plains, NY 10605
© 2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
First, I want to apologize to my readers – I have been taking a short break from the break-neck writing that I have been doing in order to catch up on my business model and organize some long-needed expansion. Right now we are in the middle of the fall selling season and I noted that Marie has done it again with a few more tips on staging your home for sale in the fall. I thought this might be a great way to jump-start the holiday season as well since you don’t have to be selling your home to want to make it look its best. So without further introduction – here is Marie with some more tips:
Enjoy,
Ruthmarie
by Marie Graham
When I worked in retail furniture, I absolutely LOVED working on snowy days, or the day after a snow storm.
When everyone else was out buying bread, picking up videos or whatever, people who came into a furniture store were people who were ready to buy furniture, and who wanted to buy furniture.
Inevitably my close ratio was almost 100%, so I have always been a fan of being ready for buyers out of the normal/expected buying cycle.
We will get to inside stuff in another post, but here’s the follow-up to yesterday’s post …. five more things you can do to show- perhaps beat the odds-even SELL your house this fall.
Many homeowners in lower Westchester have been hoping to downsize but stay local. In some cases, the children are gone but these empty nesters have careers that keep them local or perhaps some have grandchildren that live in the area and they wish to stay near family. Particularly after the big storm that we had yesterday – downsizing to something a bit easier to manage feels right for those who have been struggling with Nor’ Easters and hurricanes. We now seem to be having the storm of the century every six months – and tackling all the resulting issues can be a lot of work. I know it is – because I own my own home….
Many home sellers think that selling their home in the fall and winter puts them at a disadvantage. In years past, this may have been true, but I have been noticing fairly strong buyer activity this fall. The seasonality of the real estate market has been less marked in recent years. Further, the confusion with the debt ceiling and the issues plaguing Europe derailed many buyers plans over the summer. Many responded to the uncertainty in the general economy by making the decision NOT to make a decision….which in reality is a decision. But some of these buyers are back in the market again – making for a more active fall market than usual.
Just because it isn’t spring, it doesn’t mean that staging should be neglected and curb appeal is still key. So the following post by Marie Graham – my Ninja Stager -offers up some great tips sellers staging their homes for the fall market.
Enjoy!
Ruthmarie
By Marie Graham – Home Stager.
Many people think the housing market shuts down Thanksgiving til December 31st.
The reality of school schedules, and the pressures of these falls holidays are the most common reasons behind the mindset. While activity levels might have a steep drop off, I do not belive people stop thinking about it, or that buyers stop looking, either. In our market, different cultures abound: not everyone has kids, or observes the Hallmark holidays.
Recently, I’ve had several inquiries from would be home sellers about whether now is the time to consider downsizing their home. Scaling back is never easy and should not be undertaken lightly as it means a significant change in your lifestyle, but from a financial standpoint, I would have to say that the answer would be a very strong “YES!” if you are a Larchmont homeowner.
In the midst of a national housing crisis many would-be sellers are sitting on the fence asking whether now is a good time to scale back into something smaller. This is particularly true of empty nesters or soon-to-be empty nesters. With real estate – as with all large ticket items – it is best to buy low and sell high.
There is a lot of hype circulating in the real estate industry about local experts. A recent post about the topic was posted by an agent on Long Island…Paula Hathaway “Chaff….Schmaff! A bad attitude or just a better way of doing business.” With all due respect to the author – I felt that the emphasis on being a “local expert” implied that agents who were not already established in the area were merely chaff – while the established area agents were actually the “wheat.” We all start out as chaff – and chaff has no opportunity to become wheat if they aren’t given a chance. That appears to be a bit too convenient for the very local agents in any area. Because it implies that they are the only game in town…
There is a saying within our industry that you can’t swing a cat without hitting a real estate agent. It is also paired with “you can’t throw a rock without hitting a real estate agent”….Well you get the idea. There are a lot of agents out there. Many good, many not so good and separating the wheat from the chaff is a tough task for the average consumer. Many think we are all created equal and anyone who can stick a sign in the ground or unlock a door will do.
That is as far from the truth as it gets – but it gets to the heart of this blog – and that is that the real estate industry manufactures agents on a conveyor belt with little regard to quality. Its all about quantity. As a result – the confused public that is supposed to do the wheat vs. chaff determination is totally confused and disappointed in the quality of agent they encounter. Agents, for their part, try to separate themselves from the crowd by indicating that they are “special.”
Westchester Homes have always been expensive. They are expensive to buy and expensive to maintain. Taxes are high here and any home that is less than an hour to midtown Manhattan by Metro-North is going to be expensive. As I say to buyers, who think the housing recession means that they can buy a palace for pennies – there is no free lunch. But for those would-be sellers who have been hunkering down – hoping that the housing recession would pass and the market would roar back to 2006 levels – it may be time to consider downsizing.
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a couple of prospective sellers come to me with the question – should I consider downsizing?
If you are lucky enough to live in one the more affluent areas of our county – you may be very much in luck. Prices have been recouping much of their lost ground. We aren’t back to 2006 levels – but these markets are sturdy and very resistant to recession.
Meanwhile, while prices have recovered the cost of living in these communities is quite high. So for those for whom living on a fixed income or those whose job has been downsized or are unemployed, now might be a good time to consider a move. The condo and cooperative markets have seen a major adjustment over the past year. So, on the buying side you can get a great deal and on the selling side, you will still do well.
For those not fortunate enough to live in a community where prices are recouping lost ground, the issue is more complex. For people who want to downsize from a house to something more modest – you will find that your home is worth a whole lot less than you would like. You may need to make upgrades to your property in order for it to sell. So all of this has to be calculated against the cost of living and the lifestyle changes in order to come up with a solution that makes sense for you. On the bright side, the condo and coop market has gone down significantly over the past year, so if you are downsizing from a house to a condo you will do better this year than in previous years.
This is not a one-size-fits-all situation. The answers will be as different as each client’s lifestyle and tolerance for risk. I will say that if you are waking up in a cold sweat every night wondering how you will pay your bills, that the time has probably come to move on – no matter how painful the decision may be. If you have lost a job and it looks as though you will be unemployed for some time to come, then again, a move is likely to be in order. If you see your overhead soaring with no end in sight – it might be time to downsize before it gets beyond you. If things are going well, but you are worried about a falling knife – unless you are in one of those municipalities that is going up in value, I don’t know that downsizing makes sense. Prices appear to be bouncing a long the bottom in many communities – and prices are more likely to rise than fall over the next five years. But for those who have a high overhead – I’m not expecting the market to boom over that period – so selling and downsizing may well be the better decision.
Look at where you might go after you sell and take a careful look at what the cost of living will be in your new home. Think mortgage, taxes, maintenance fees (if you are buying a condo) energy costs, parking fees, transportation to work. Put all the numbers together and compare it to what you’ve got now. Open your mind to several locations and homes and crunch the numbers for each of them. Different living situations can have dramatically different costs. Some homes may cost more but have a much lower overhead. Your real estate agent can help you think through the different scenarios.
If you want to talk about your options feel free to contact me by phone (914-374-5529) or email – ([email protected]) or you can simply fill out the form below – whichever method you prefer. Don’t worry – I do not sell, spam, or otherwise abuse your information!
© 2011 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
Real estate sales is a very funny thing. Often – when judging the quality of the agent or broker – only one metric is used: Sales volume. And by sales volume most people are specifically referring to how how much money was exchanged in gross sales. For example – If an agent that specializes in homes worth over $1 million has $7 million in gross sales – they may have done as few as 7 transactions while the poor schumck that specializes in cooperatives has done 25 transactions and only $6 million in gross sales. Does that really mean that the agent with the $7 million in sales is somehow “better”?
Granted this is one way to measure success – by how much you made as a agent and it is kind of perverse reflection on our mindset as a society. But is this what really matters to the consumer? SHOULD this be the way the consumer measures an agent? How about overall customer service? What about the listing agent that supervises two renovations holds 10 open houses, markets the home to the hilt, thinks outside the box in getting home “out there” to the public. Then negotiates the best possible terms for their client and closes the transaction with as little drama and turmoil as is possible in this challenging market. Isn’t that worth some brownie points? Why do we just look at raw dollars like they are the crown jewel of legitimacy in real estate?
The Time: Wednesday August 3rd – 6:30-8:30 PMThe Place: Keller Williams NY Realty - 120 Bloomingdale Rd. Suite #101 – White Plains NY
The Topic: Facing Foreclosure? You have options!
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