A few days ago, I wrote a post “Meet the new real estate agent… same as the old agent.” The article was posted on here in The Westchester View and on Active Rain which caters to the real estate industry. Based on the lively comment thread on Active Rain, some agents misunderstood what I was trying to say. The article was not meant to imply that all listing agents were the same and that it didn’t matter at all who the homeowner picked. That is most certainly not true.
What I was emphasizing in that first post was that an agent can not defy market forces. If prices are down and the market is a bear which is the case for most of Westchester homes for sale, then even the most stellar agent will NOT be able to get you a 2006 price in 2011. The notion that the “right agent” will get the seller “their price” is a fallacy which dies a slow hard death for many sellers.
The Expired Listing Gold Rush:
The real estate industry created this urban legend in many ways. Let’s take expired listings as an example. If you are a home owner who had a listing expire – you know what I mean. The minute your listing expired, seemingly thousands of agents came out of the woodwork trying to convince you that they could do a better job. They descend upon sellers like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Sellers don’t like to think about their homes a chum – but sadly, that’s the reality.
Read the rest of this entry »
In the last few months I have heard variations on this statement in various forms and guises. My knee-jerk reaction to comments like this aren’t very PC. Generally it would be something like “Everyone settles to some extent. We all have to “settle” for less than we would ultimately love. That’s life.” Truth be told ever since I’ve been in this business I’ve noticed the same trend. Everyone seems to want about $50-$100k more than they can possibly afford.
Tighter lending standards play a role…
Part of this angst is due to tighter lending standards which means that relatively solvent families have to squeeze into less home than the more relaxed standards of the past would allow. We got used to those loose standards and being allowed to buy a large house seemed like a right, not a privilege.
Read the rest of this entry »
There is a lot of competition with Westchester NY homes for sale. During this major housing recession we’ve learned that aggressively promoting the home from top to bottom is extremely important.
When I list a home I tell the seller a hard truth that permeates this market whether you are listing at the high end in Scarsdale or Larchmont to a small coop in downtown White Plains. That truth is that buyers are demanding and LAZY….Seriously, most buyers just don’t want to lift a finger to do anything. The thought of sweat equity has been left in the dustbin of the bull market along with no-doc, low-doc and stated income loans.
Given this atmosphere – where buyers are skimming the cream and leaving the rest – we think often of bringing in stagers to achieve a depersonalized move-in ready feel to a home. People make upgrades just to sell a home. New kitchens and baths are often installed just to appeal to buyers. But what about that all-important first impression? Before people even enter your Westchester home? Curb appeal is very powerful and if you miss out on plantings during this summer market – you are missing an opportunity – and perhaps leaving money on the table.
Read the rest of this entry »
Right now I’ve got a couple of clients who appear to be wandering aimlessly through Westchester county in search of the “perfect home.” In the past I had a great deal of patience and would take a qualified buyer almost anywhere they wanted. But with Westchester homes for sale inventories still fairly high and buyers finding new and very creative ways for shooting themselves in the foot through by overestimating their power in this buyers market and ignoring comps altogether when they make offers…..I have to find a way get these buyers to narrow the field to something resembling sanity.
After showing almost 30 properties to one couple and over 40 properties to another – these buyers appear to have no urgency and seem to want to meander aimlessly into every town, village and city in Westchester county and quite literally schedule showings for every single home that might – just might – remotely qualify. I just pulled some favorites picked by one such client and the X’s on the map depict where the most recent 15 of the numerous favorites they had filed away.
Read the rest of this entry »
When I first entered this business almost six years ago – the question of whether or not to stage a property would have been met with peals of laughter. Buyers were snapping what they could wherever they could. Granted staging appeared to bring even better offers – but with a market like that some sellers didn’t even bother to clean, let alone stage. But just as I walked through the doors of my first brokerage – the housing bull was turning to a big bad bear and within six months we were starting to see a new phenomena – “the staged home.”
As bear market rumbles on – staging is become the norm and those who don’t do it will often find their home languishing on the market. Buyers have plenty of choices and are only buying the cream of the crop – while leaving the rest behind. If it looks dirty, or in need of painting, if the carpets are dirty or old – rest assured – unless you really slash the price to the bone – your home will sit.
A Tale of Two Condos Units:
To Drive the point home. Last winter I had two condo units in the same complex on the market at the same time. The one I listed first was vacant with no furnishings and had not be repainted. The sellers had already taken a severe hit in the housing market downturn. Understandably, they balked at the idea of painting and renting furnishings. As time marched on and no offers came, I kept driving the conversation back to staging.
Meanwhile, in early February, I listed another unit in the same building. This unit had been beautifully furnished by the sellers and since they were still living there, the unit was able to be shown to best advantage. Sure enough – the first second open house – the unit sold to a buyer who had come through it twice on the same day. They loved everything about the place and could “mentally move in” because the sellers had pared down their belongings.
Read the rest of this entry »
One of the primary problems facing the real estate industry right now is that anyone who needs loan has to have squeaky clean credit in order to qualify. The number of Westchester homes for sale – that overhang of inventory – won’t go away until more buyers have access to credit. During the boom, anyone with a pulse could get a home loan. Today the pendulum has swung too far to the in the other direction. Credit requirements are bordering on the absurd. Lately I’ve been waiting for lenders to demand DNA samples and FBI background checks for prospective borrowers.
It is true that in the past Americans have taken on a ton of debt. With wages stagnant, unemployment high and families up against the wall – credit created the elasticity that kept many families living check to check afloat. But the banks have been very mecurial - loving those who keep revolving credit balances and penalizing them at the same time. The system has been set up with what Elizabeth Warren referred to as “tricks and traps.” The result has been a mess where banks jack up rates almost on a whim, change due dates, include non-usage fees and do anything else you can think of to wring more money out of the consumer.
Some of these new regulations regarding credit are designed to plug some of the holes. Of course the system is still full of holes you could drive a truck through. Jon Stewart had a wonderful take on all of this.
Here is the video – hilarious – particularly the second half.
