Westchester View

The Westchester real estate market is now truly a buyer’s market.  In most communities, the number of westchester ny homes for sale is in excess of six months inventory.  This is not universal throughout the county.  But for the most part, the county is in a buyer’s market. A few days ago, I wrote a blog about seller’s stuck on unrealistic prices (Dear Seller, About that number in your head…)  But this is one of those markets where unrealistic expectations are not limited to one side of the transaction.    Fueled in part by media reports filled with sturm und drang (storm and stress) many buyers have confused a buyer’s market with a fire sale.

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.

Part 1 of “This Brokerage Has 750 Listings…..So they must be the best! ” was prompted by the fact that the Westchester NY real estate market had changed and as a result,  I was getting more and more questions about what a brokerage brought to the table in terms of marketing.   I emphasized the importance of choosing the right agent and that the brokerage itself was of less importance.    I also indicated that there was a lot of smoke and mirrors  regarding  brokerage brands and what that means to the seller in terms of marketing the home.  Also, for those consumers who would like to see broker/agent input on Part 1 of this post…you can go to my blog on ActiveRain where I re-posted the blog.  It got a good deal of attention and much commentary from real estate professionals.

In the end, I  promised a sequel  that got into more specifics.  So here it is – six  major myths about  listing a  property and marketing a property that are often trumpeted by our own industry.  Its been said that if you repeat something often enough it becomes “fact” in the eyes of the consumer.  So let’s put some of these “facts” to rest.

Myth #1 – “We have  12 billion to the 10th power  active listings, so  our reputation speaks for itself!”

Really?  How on earth does anyone come to that conclusion?  You can have all the listings in the world, but if you can’t sell them, what’s the point?   The percentage of sold listings is a bit  more pertinant. However, even that number does not discriminate between individual agent performance.

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Does size really matter?  Do the number of listings or the size of the brokerage have anything to do with the ability of the agent to market and sell a home successfully? Is it the brokerage or the agent that is the determining factor?

What Does the Brokerage Bring to the Table?

With the Westchester NY real estate market in a downward trajectory,  sellers realize that they need more than a sign in the ground to move their property.  In truth, this was always the case, but these days I’m getting more and more questions about marketing the listing. One of the biggest issues  I encounter on listing presentations  are questions regarding the brokerage itself.   Most questions revolve around marketing.  What does the brokerage do in terms of marketing  for the listing?

I think that most sellers assume that since the brokerage is “big” and has capital behind it, that they are the ones spending  big bucks on marketing the home.  But this is rarely the case.   Many big-box national brokerages build on that confusion and perpetuate the myth that their brokerage “brand” makes a significant difference in selling a home for top dollar.  They also tout their “marketing package” in terms of the amount of support they offer.  Some actually stress that the number of agents in the brokerage somehow makes that brokerage better or somehow more able to move the property.   With all the hype and misinformation out there it is small wonder that sellers are confused.

I  would challenge these large brokerages who claim that their numbers speak for themselves  to enumerate exactly WHAT  they do to justify their claims?  And while they are at it, I would like to have some hard numbers to back up their success stories.  I haven’t seen any of them come up with any marketing advantage that holds up under scrutiny.  Most of the time they appear to be blowing smoke.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slamming big brokerages. That would be rather foolish since the brokerage that I am currently associated with is quite large.  What I am trying to do is cut through the hype.
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