Archive for the 'Sellers' Category
Why Our Annapolis Area Home Sellers Are Opting For Pre-Inspections
May 13th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
In This Twitchy, Competitive Real Estate Market, You Need Every Advantage You Can Get. Pre-Inspecting Gives You a Clear Edge
Last night we listed a home in one of the area’s choice subdivisions, the sort of lovely home any agent would be proud to market and sell. The owners have wisely chosen to follow our suggestion and have a pre-inspection done - that is, an inspection prior to getting a contract on the home.
Why now, you may ask. Isn’t that the buyer’s responsibility, once an offer has been accepted?
Indeed, it is. At least that’s the way it’s typically done. But this is no typical market and sellers need to do everything they can, and as early as they can, to pave the way for a smooth settlement. Thus, a pre-inspection.
A Pre-Inspection Identifies Potential Problems Early, Takes Pressure Off the Seller and Reassures a Buyer
A lot of home sales fall apart during the inspection process, especially these days when buyer demands are, well, pretty demanding.
For example: seller accepts what he feels is only a so-so offer - this, after several price reductions already. The buyer orders an inspection and several problems are uncovered. The buyer submits a list of items to the seller that he wants fixed - that, or a $10,000 credit to fix them after the buyer moves in. The buyer needs to settle in 30 days. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Whole World is Waiting for Ourselves
May 6th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
In Annapolis, as Elsewhere, the Real Estate Market Has Scared Some of Us Into a Holding Pattern. Maybe It’s Time to Land the Plane
Is it just me, or does it seem like the entire world is on hold lately, waiting. Yesterday I showed a home to a young woman who needs to move soon. Nice house, meets her needs, beautiful neighborhood. Would she be interested in making an offer?
No thanks, I think I’ll wait.
Wait for…?
Prices to drop some more.
How can you be sure they will?
Someone on TV said so.
Perhaps you should consider offering less than asking price. Just think of it as accelerated waiting.
No thanks. I’ll just wait wait.
And so it goes. Buyers are waiting for sellers to lower their prices. Sellers are waiting for buyers to make offers. And agents are waiting for their phones to ring.
Even My Barber is Waiting
Apparently he’s in line somewhere behind the housing waiters. I ask him about business. Not good, he tells me. People are waiting much longer between haircuts.
Really?
Yes, he tells me, especially families. Mom is buying electric clippers and doing it herself. Who’d have imagined that one sign of weak consumer confidence was a nation of kids running around with bad haircuts?
My brother - who manufactures model trains - reports that waiting is alive and well in his industry, too. Track is selling. But people are waiting to buy the expensive stuff like locomotives. Read the rest of this entry »
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What Dinner at the Chart House Says To Us About the State of the Annapolis Real Estate Market
April 30th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Neighborhood Sales & Stats, Sellers
April Real Estate Market Sales Statistics for Anne Arundel County Will Be Released in 10 Days and We Will Publish the Numbers Here. Until Then, Here’s Our Almost Totally Unscientific Market Story and We’re Stickin’ To It
If the local dining scene is a somewhat reliable barometer of consumer optimism, then our dinner at the Chart House in Annapolis this past Friday would lead one to believe that all the talk of a sagging economy and a housing/mortgage meltdown is falling upon deaf ears.
Indeed, judging by the throngs of diners ordering up $35 steaks, succulent shrimp, good bottles of wine, and $9.00 chocolate lava cakes - our personal favorite - you’d have to say the mood was downright festive, that nobody’s much worrying about their wallets, and things are looking decidedly up.
Who knows? Maybe people are just getting a head-start on spending their tax rebate checks, and exercising their civic duty to stimulate the economy according to our President’s hopes.
Our Boots-on-the-Ground Perspective of the Annapolis Real Estate Market
Then again, maybe - just maybe - things really are starting to turn around. Word on the street - what we’re seeing and our industry colleagues are reporting - is that the local market ”feels” like things are beginning to turn around.
I say “feels” because we can’t really quantify it yet. But phones are starting to ring and showings are up. Gun-shy buyers are starting to pull the trigger and make solid offers. And sellers are getting real about listing price. Together, these factors are breathing life and hope into the local housing market.
But Could This be a Momentary Seasonal Upswing in the Annapolis Area Market?
Sure it could be. But it could also - as I heard one analyst put it on NPR the other day - be the inevitable beginning of the end of a down-turning real estate market. Read the rest of this entry »
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Is Your Real Estate Agent Trustworthy?
April 23rd, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers, The Realtor's Life
In a 2006 Poll Published by Harris Interactive, Real Estate Agents Really Took It On the Chin. Maybe We Can All Learn a Little Something From the Results.
The poll’s intent was to measure the trustworthiness of various professions; real estate agents came in near the bottom, right up there with lawyers, auto mechanics and stockbrokers.
Unfair? To those of us in the industry who put our hearts, heads and soul into this business, and work diligently for our clients - sure, it seems unfair.
But unexpected? Not really. The fact of the matter is, not all agents are created equal. Some set the professional bar extremely low and when they trip over it they make the whole industry look bad.
Marc Davison, a blogger at www.1000wattblog.com had some interesting thoughts on the subject and those things that set trusted and untrustworthy agents apart.
“Are agents untrustworthy? Some are, some aren’t. But most paint themselves with the brush of mistrust by adhering to modes of marketing, branding and verbiage that fail to set them apart and distinguish one from the other.
Untrustworthy agents hear what their clients say. Trustworthy agents listen.
Untrustworthy agents make deals happen. Trusted agents help people buy and sell homes.
Untrustworthy agents work hard and make a case for it. Trusted agents work smart. They perform magic and do it quietly, with grace.
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Bad News for Annapolis Area Home Sellers: 5,000 People Won’t Be at Your Open House on Sunday
April 4th, 2008 Categories: Fun Fridays, Sellers
They’ll Be Hanging Out with Us at the 34th Annual Running of The Marlborough Hunt Races at Roedown, in Davidsonville. Maybe You Should Just Join Us.
It’s one of our favorite rites of spring: put on the boots, pack up the tailgate party, and head out to the rolling meadows of historic Roedown Farm for a spirited afternoon of steeple-chasing. (The name goes back some 300 years, the story goes, to when a couple of Irishmen set up a race between two church steeples.)
The big draw may be the races, but it’s the tailgate parties that set the festive tone for the day. Groups large and small fill the hillside flanking the race field, the aroma of barbecue and beans hanging over the assembled like a cloud. It’s awesome.
We - Bev and I - have the good fortune to belong to a select group of locals who judge the tailgate party food and award ribbons for the best in several categories. It’s a tough assignment, especially when the entrants stoop to bribery with double-strength mint juleps and choice wines when we show up. Rest assured, we are beyond reproach. Usually.
So try to make it if you can. The festivities don’t wind down until late in the afternoon, so tell your Realtor she can do an extra-long open house if she likes.
Meanwhile, here’s a classic clip from the annals of horse racing that I thought you’d enjoy. I look at this from time to time to get in touch with my inner 13-year old.
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This Guy is Way Smart, Eats Lazy Realtors for Breakfast, and Knows Precisely Why Your Home Isn’t Selling. He’s Happy to Tell You. Anybody Wanna’ Argue?
April 1st, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Faces In The Crowd, Sellers
Tony DiCello is the Vince Lombardi of Keller Williams. He’s Taught His Coaching Clients - Other Realtors - How to Sell Literally Billions of Dollars of Real Estate in Markets Just Like This One. Do I Have Your Attention?
You could do worse than to have Tony DiCello as your real estate agent. Not only has he earned the distinction as one of the top agents in the country, and one of the top 3 in the Denver area during the 90’s. He’s also coached some of the top producing agents in the country, one of whom sold just under $1,000,000,000 a year in real estate. Today, he’s the “head coach” for Keller Williams agents across the country.
After listening to him speak to a packed house of Keller Williams agents last week at the University of Maryland, it’s easy to see how he could have achieved legendary status. He’s forceful, articulate, and knows the real estate industry inside out. And he’s a straight shooter, straight as they come. Among other things, he’s fond of saying, “Always tell your clients the truth about price, no matter how uncomfortable.”
If Tony DiCello told you your home was not selling because it was overpriced, you would not argue. If you did, he’d probably thank you for your time and hand you a list of agents who’d be happy to take an overpriced listing. He says there are plenty out there.
The following is a collection of Tony DiCello-isms, culled from his recent talk, writings, and other seminars. Whether you’re a home seller, buyer, or agent, you should listen up:
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If The Annapolis Real Estate Market is Really So Bad, Then Why Are These Realtors So Hoppy?
March 21st, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
8 Things You Won’t Hear About on the Evening News That Annapolis Area Homebuyers and Sellers Can Be Hoppy About
Fridays are for fun. I learned that from a fellow Realtor-blogger, Teresa Boardman, who always devotes her Friday posts to not-so-serious stuff. I think I’ll start doing the same.
For the benefit of those who haven’t met us, (and who, no doubt, will now never want to) this is a photo of myself and my wife/partner Bev, the Haedrich and Moss parts of The Moss Haedrich Team, Keller Williams Select Realtors, Annapolis. The other 4 members of our team - Kathy, Carol, Jeremiah and Nikki - suddenly had other things to do when we posed for this photo.
This was taken yesterday at a Easter Egg Hunt Broker Open House at 1006 Boucher Ave in Eastport, a gorgeous new-construction listing of ours. You wouldn’t be wrong if you suspect we had a little time on our hands. (There are still some un-found eggs there; stop by at our open house this Saturday, between 1-3, and you might find one.)
Contrary to the impression this photo may leave, we are a serious, well-established real estate team, with actual homebuyers and sellers who trust us to help them buy and sell homes. And we’re pretty good at it. Maybe we can help you, too. Call us.
Anyway, Hoppy Easter to you and yours. Here’s our list of 8 things homebuyers and home sellers in the Annapolis area can be hoppy about.
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Diary of an Annapolis Open House: 7 Red Balloons and Other Tricks of the Real Estate Trade
March 14th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers
What’s it like being a real estate agent?
What do you DO at open houses? Say to people?
Do open houses really work?
We get these and so many other questions about open houses from so many people, that I thought a blow-by-blow account of a real one, with actual people photos and not models - like in those Geico ads - might be of interest. This open took place on Sunday, March 2nd, at a listing we have in Eastport, 1006 Boucher Ave - one of the best buys anywhere in Annapolis. We join the action 15 minutes before the scheduled 1PM start time…
12:45PM: - Pick up seven red balloons at office. Seven is my lucky number this week. Fellow agent - his lack of faith in balloons and other marketing props no secret - asks what my strategy will be if the red balloons don’t work. I tell him we’ll try white ones next week.
1:15PM: - First car pulls up, looks like BMW - always a good sign. False alarm: it’s Richard Rainford (left), a lender I know from Countrywide. I like Richard: he’s persistent, not a pest, a thin line some lenders trip over. We talk shop. He casually wonders aloud if any buyers might fall out of my sky and into his lap. I tell him you never know.
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Less You, More Them: Why Removing Buyer Distractions Makes Home-Selling Sense
March 13th, 2008 Categories: One Minute Realtor, Sellers
A Cautionary Tale, In Which We Begin at a Bungalow For Sale on the South River in Annapolis
So there we were, previewing a home for a client who wants to buy somewhere on the water in Annapolis. Walking in the front door, my attention was instantly seized by a Presidential citation on the fireplace mantle - one of many citations.
Clearly, the person who lived there was proud of the fact that his tenure in the Secret Service had been officially recognized by the Oval Office.
I was smitten, too! Had the owner flown with the Prez on Air Force One? What sort of heat did he pack when he was on duty? Did he wear those cool shades and earpieces like they do in the movies? It was fascinating to consider.
And a complete waste of my time, with respect to why we were there: to see if this home was a good match for our Annapolis waterfront buyer.
The point? If You Want to Sell Your Home, Then Depersonalize It
You want buyers looking at your house, not a museum of personal photos, collectibles, family history, stuffed animal trophies and other distracting items.
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Annapolis Area Home Sellers: Are You Chasing the Cheese When You Should Be Catching a Wave?
March 10th, 2008 Categories: One Minute Realtor, Sellers
Two of our listings, in two very different prices ranges, have gone under contract in the last few weeks, one in 29 days, the other in 39. Aside from beating the average days on market handsomely, they had a couple of things in common: they were in great condition and showed beautifully.
And they were priced right on the money, where the market told us they should be.
Finding the perfect price for a home is part science, part intuition based on experience. To be sure, nobody in this business gets it right all the time.
Agents know, however, that even if we miss the bulls-eye, the market will soon tell us: by the number of showings, by feedback from other agents and their clients, by the number of days on market, and by recent sold comparables.
Sometimes The Market Speaks and The Seller Doesn’t Listen
For example: after 3 months on the market, Sally Realtor is convinced that her client’s home should be priced at $495,000 if the client really wants to sell. She tells
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