Sellers: Please LEAVE So That I Can Sell Your House!
July 5th, 2008categories: Busy Girls Guide, Chico Sellers, My Opinion on Things
Despite the fact that most sellers have undoubtedly been counseled by their Realtors to leave during showings, a large number of sellers choose to remain.
After a recent, painful, house-viewing excursion with some home buyers on a search for Chico CA real estate, I feel the need to approach the situation head-on.
You seem, Mr. and Mrs. Home Seller, to not comprehend how detrimental your very presence is to the sale of your property. If you fully understood the repercussions, I am certain that you would work with the Realtors, not against them.
For most home buyers, your being in the house makes for an uncomfortable showing. It’s hard for a buyer to freely explore a property and excitedly converse with family members when you are hanging on their every word and following their every move. Buyers may not feel that they can discuss the negatives of the house, for fear of insulting you. Similarly, they may not want to display too much enthusiasm, because a poker face is an important aspect when negotiating, and they don’t want you to think they LOVE your house. Lastly, they don’t feel they can roam at will to discover all the house has to offer. Many buyers are so conscientious about your overhearing them, they refuse to discuss their thoughts until we have made it safely into the car!
Although you think you’re being helpful by providing us with a running commentary and guided tour, you are shooting yourself in the foot! More often than not, the things you find fascinating and important hold very little interest to the buyer. They don’t want to hear about how your mother’s uncle suggested you put the laundry room near the kitchen, but you, in your infinite wisdom opted to put it near the bedrooms instead. They also don’t want to hear about your special tupperware drawer, your cat’s litter box problem, or your weight issues after switching your thyroid medication. As a seller, you might be saying to yourself, I NEVER get in the way… I only point out the positive factors that will help sell my house! Yeah… ok. I have endured endless “showings” of Chico property performed by well-meaning sellers and it’s a rare situation indeed that a seller doesn’t deter from the task at hand.
Keep in mind that the buyer is trying to picture himself in the house, along with his furniture, his family, and his activities. Professional home stagers will encourage a seller to remove all items such as family photos, excess furniture, and clutter to facilitate the buyer’s bonding with the property. The goal is to remove the distractions so that the buyer can figure out how he can make the space his own. The focus should be the bones of the house, not on YOU! By attending the showing, you defeat the very purpose of “staging” the house for sale, and many buyers will resent the disruption.
Real life examples!
1. I recently accompanied a buyer on a showing in which the seller was the tour guide. The woman was bright, bubbly, and extraordinarily full of personality– a true pleasure to meet. We got to hear all about her children, her cooking abilities, her extended family, the history of the building of the house, and her hobbies. When we finally made it back to the car, both the buyer and myself were at a complete loss as to the details of the house. Did it have granite? Where was the 3rd bathroom? Did we actually see the bonus room?? We had no idea, but we could tell you how many kids she had, and what her husband did for a living.
2. A home was advertised as being a 4 bedroom, 3 bath property. After nearly an hour listening to the seller expound on the virtues of the home, we were finally shown the “4th bedroom” which was actually a room so small that you couldn’t fit a twin size bed in there. Considering the buyer had a very strict need for 4 functional bedrooms, the house wasn’t appropriate. Instead of discovering the flaw within the first 2 minutes, we were forced to endure an hour of meaningless banter. The buyer was so infuriated that she refused to even consider the minor remodel possibilities of the home which would have rendered the house functional for her family.
3. I once showed a house during which time the sellers planted themselves on the porch with cocktails and appetizers. The home was so small they were able to monitor our visit every step of the way. Upon exiting the house, they cleverly (or so they thought) addressed every concern the buyer had mentioned while in the house. The problem was that my buyer was extraordinarily unusual in every sense of the word. He had very eccentric views on relationships, politics, and day to day living. The sellers managed to offend him several times over as they chattered on thinking that they were coming across as charming and informative. Despite the fact that the house was a perfect fit for him, he left the property focused instead on how much he disliked the current owners. Shortsighted, on the buyer’s part, I know. However, having spent an inordinate amount of time with that particular buyer, I had learned to avoid his hot spots and feel strongly that I could have sold him that house had the sellers not unwittingly killed the deal for themselves.
Sellers, please keep in mind that you chose to list your home with a professional Realtor rather than trying to sell the house yourself. You must allow the Realtor to do the job! Try to remember that most of us sell properties full time, to earn a living. We put a great deal of time and effort into learning the art of marketing and negotiating real estate. We want to sell your house!
Most importantly, as the buyer’s agent, we have the advantage of knowing the client’s particular interests, needs, and deficiencies, and can therefore appeal to them more effectively than you can.
If you have important details that the average Realtor or buyer will not recognize upon viewing the property, there are very effective ways to provide the information without being intrusive or distracting.
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Leave photographs of your home taken throughout the seasons. Is your home breathtaking in the fall or spring? Do you have an amazing garden? SHOW US with pictures.
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Leave notecards or flyers on pedastals or attached to doorways to explain special features, materials, warranties, or interesting history about the room or area.
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Work with your listing agent to compile a binder with all sorts of interesting facts, inspections, pictures of floor plans, or anything else that you would like to share. Leave it in a place that invites the visitors to peruse it.
If only, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, you could please LEAVE, we could do a better job of selling your house!
P.S. That doesn’t mean exiting the house as we are trying to enter. I know you’re dying to see what the new buyers look like, and you just want to say “hi”, and you just have a couple of things you want to share with us that are really important, and you just want to offer us iced tea and cookies, and you’re just trying to be welcoming… but please leave BEFORE we get there!!
P.S.S. If you don’t want to give your potential buyers the heebie-jeebies, don’t sit in the car or across the street in your neighbor’s living room watching us with binoculars. You might think you’re being sneaky, but we can see or feel you there, and the overall effect is not a good one!
This particular post sparked quite a reaction from my fellow Real Estate Professionals. SELLERS, if you weren’t already buying my opinion, please peruse the thoughts of over 70 other Realtors by clicking here!
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Chico Home Buyers Get Off The Fence and Into the Real Estate Market
June 27th, 2008categories: Chico Buyers, Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
by Mike Wiegert
On a national level, existing home sales increased in May as buyers are reacting to lower home prices according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). May figures indicate 4.99 million existing home units sold, up two percent from April’s sales of 4.89 million sold units. This number is still a far cry from May 2007 sales at 5.93 million units. The reason for the latest increase in national home sales was summed up by NAR President Richard F. Gaylor, “Home buyers are starting to get off the fence and into the market, drawn by drops in home prices in many areas and armed with greater access to affordable mortgages,” he said. “Today’s buyer plans to stay in a home for 10 years, which is a good strategy for building long-term wealth.”
NAR Chief economist, Lawrence Yun, indicated last week that there is a significant inventory of homes. “The large supply of homes on the market clearly favors buyers, and it should take several months to draw the inventory down,” he said. “Stabilization in home prices can only occur with buyers returning to the market, so we are encouraged by rising home sales, particularly in distressed markets. Foreclosures and short sales appear to be a larger part of the market, particularly in California, and are creating a drag on current home prices.”
So what do the statistics mean to homebuyers in the Butte County area? At 472 active residential listings in the Chico area market, our local inventory is significantly lower than the national average per capita.
With an urban area population of 106,000 residents, the number of available homes compared to the number of residents is substantially less than most cities across the nation. In a nutshell, although the Chico real estate market is a “buyer’s market”, a less than generous selection of listings in our area diminishes the possibility of buyers coercing sellers into accepting cut-rate offers.
Local homeowners have indisputably seen their home prices drop over the past year. With a median sales price of $308,750 in June 2007 compared to $272,000 in June of 2008, year over year statistics appear to indicate almost a 12 percent decrease in median home prices sold for our area. And with the subsequent losses of equities following these price drops, many sellers are not in the position to accept bargain prices on homes that they owe more on than these proposed offers. I can’t really count the numbers of sellers who have expressed an unwillingness to go out of pocket to sell their homes. Instead, they are bunkering down and waiting for the market and prices to stabilize. Is this a good or bad strategy? You’ve heard it before, “real estate is a long term investment.” For many, it might be prudent to wait out bad times. For others that need to sell to relocate, hopefully many redeeming real estate opportunities exist in their new location.
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FHA Announces Changes to Lending Guidelines Effective July 14, 2008!!
June 16th, 2008categories: Chico Buyers, Chico CA Real Estate News, Chico Financing
by Ken Phillips
For the first time in history, FHA will begin using borrowers credit scores to determine risk based pricing and mortgage insurance premiums.
Up until now credit scores were not really a factor used in FHA risked based pricing. With FHA relaxing some of their strict requirements recently it was easier to qualify buyers with credit scores low enough to prevent them from qualifying for “conventional” financing. As a matter of fact, with 100% financing a thing of the past basically, FHA financing has become very popular among lenders looking for high loan-to-value loans as FHA financing, which can cover up to 97.75% of the purchase price if a buyer is paying their own closing costs on a purchase, still carries low interest rates compared to high loan-to value conventional financing. FHA is a great loan for first time Chico home buyers with little money to put down and/or with low credit scores that prevent them from qualifying for a conventional loan. On July 14, 2008 FHA will begin implementing these changes and it will affect qualifying for many of borrowers.
Here’s a look at the ten major changes to the FHA guidelines:
1. Borrowers with either no score or at least a 500 score may get an LTV >90%.
2. Borrowers with a score less than 500 get a maximum LTV of 90%.
3. Borrowers without scores will require manual underwriting. What this means is no automated underwriting is available i.e. DU, LP, or DO and will require more time to give the realtors/agents a TRUE pre-approval letter.
4. Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premiums will range from 1.25% to 2.25%, depending on score. These upfront MI premiums will still be allowed to financed into the loan.
5. The Monthly Mortgage Insurance will range from .50% to .55% depending on the borrower’s credit score.
6. The premium is based on the borrower with the lowest score.
7. If one of the borrowers has no score, then the Non-Traditional credit grade is used. Non traditional credit is having trade or credit lines added to the borrowers credit report and obtaining a credit rating. These non-traditional trade/credit lines can be utility bills such as water, cable, electric, gas, phone, etc., cellular phone service, and rental history to name a few.
8. Credit rescoring is allowed to improve a borrower’s credit score. There are fees associated with credit rescoring and each bureau charges fees for each tradeline disputed.
9. All FHA Secure refinances >95% LTV with delinquencies have a 2.25% UFMIP and .55% MMI.
10. Along with purchases, these changes will apply to cash-out, rate & term, and non-delinquent FHA Secure refinances.
Feel free to call Ken 865-769-6420 if you have any questions regarding FHA financing or any of Countrywide’s many loan programs. Or, fill out an application online so that Ken can suggest a loan program tailored for your needs!
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Chico Fire June 11, 2008.
June 11th, 2008categories: California Park Neighborhood, Chico CA Real Estate News
On a normal day, I will always choose to work at home, rather than at my office. I just get more done that way.
Serene though it may seem, I only use my office when I have to meet clients. There’s just too much going on to get anything done! In addition to my own phone ringing off the hook, there are several other lines jangling along with the fax machine. The front door is constantly beeping from people coming and going, and someone always wants to come in, sit down, and chat. (Love it… I just have work to do!) Alternatively, when no one else is in the office, I find myself gazing out at the lake instead of tackling my to-do list.
Today the distractions were so unbelievable I couldn’t wait to run home. Work was all but abandoned as I sat at my desk with my jaw dropped. My reasons for wanting to get home, however, were not for the petty reason of wanting to get more work done. Phone calls, faxes, files and foreclosures suddenly became the least important thing in the world.
I wanted to get home to hold my family close, and ensure their safety.
Fire season hit the greater Chico area hard today.
The noise from the winds, sirens, and aircraft was unreal in the California Park neighborhood. The helicopters were using the reserves from the lakes to help squelch the rapidly progressing “Humboldt Fire.” Needless to say, I was not battling the normal distractions today. Because my office sits just feet from the lake, I had a front row view of the incredible job the pilots were performing.
The following photos were taken from my desk. To give you an idea of how close the helicopter was… my zoom lens is only 105mm! (Not very good!) The pilots swooped in on the left side of the building, dunked the bucket, and turned around to leave on the right side of the building.
As of this writing, the Humboldt Fire is said to have burned about 3500 acres since 12:00 today, and forced 1000 people to evacuate their homes. The fire began somewhere between Hwy 32 and East 20th, and is now being battled near Neal Road and Skyway in lower Paradise, CA. Click for a map of the fire, burned area, and evacuated areas.
Governor Schwartzenegger has declared a state of emergency for Butte County.
View the most up-to-the-minute news on the Chico Enterprise Record site.
My prayers and thanks go out to the many men and women out fighting the fire for the sake of the Chico and Paradise communities. I have only the highest regard for the unbelievably difficult and treacherous job they face. After watching them in action today, I have a whole new appreciation for the reality of their “work day.”
Likewise, my heart goes out to the families that have been forced from their homes.
At the end of a day like this, we are reminded of the things that are really important.
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Chico CA Real Estate: On the Sunny Side!
May 24th, 2008categories: Chico CA Real Estate News
by Mike Wiegert
Last week at the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Midyear Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, chief economist Lawrence Yun stated that home sales and prices throughout most of the country are poised for improvement in the second half of 2008 and that recovery will vary by market. Yun went on to blame the softening of the housing market last year on the “subprime mess”. Unqualified borrowers with scanty credit were given access to subprime financing with little or no equities. As these adjustable rate loans are being reset, borrowers find themselves unable to make the adjusted payments on the loans and subsequent foreclosures result. “In fact, if you look at where home prices fell the most, it’s the markets where subprime loans were prevalent,” Yun said. Cities with a high percentage of subprime lending are where the markets suffered the biggest downturns, he explained.
With these foreclosure sales thrown into the mix or data used to determine comparable sales in the market, the apparent market value of homes is pushed downward. An interesting twist to that situation is we’re now starting to see Chico homebuyers and investors competing for foreclosed homes. As a result, a sharp decrease in the margin between asking price and actual sales price is becoming evident.
Mmmm… let’s do the math: increased demand for foreclosure sales + increasing sales prices on foreclosure sales + market stabilization in the non-foreclosure market = market prices beginning to rise.
Is this all poppycock? Not at all! Many areas around the country are recently posting modest increases in sales prices. These areas include many portions of New York State, North Carolina, Washington State, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah. In fact, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) from January 2008 and February 2008 (month over month reports) overall U.S. prices were up 0.6 percent and 77 percent of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. reported price increases. Several markets that have seen price declines of 20 percent or so are turning around, Yun said, pointing to San Diego, Detroit and Fort Myers, Fla. Yun continued by forecasting that many mid-America cities such as Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Kansas City, MO are likely to experience home price gains in the 20 to 30 percent range over the next five years. Active markets like Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix could go up as much as 50 percent in that time period.
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