Gold Rush

Yes its that time of year in Fleming Island again. The FIHS Golden Eagles had their "pep rally" last night right after their Home Coming Parade.

Just like last year I took my little Hailey Rose down for some good old fashioned fun. Except this she was just a little older and the perfect age to really enjoy it. She loved the candy, music and dancing. The kids and parents do a great job. It truly is special.

Fleming Island Plantation

I wanted to share all these great pictures of the ammenities in Fleming Island Plantation. Living in NE Florida is such a great place. This community is like living in a resort and with the taxes, HOA and CDD fees all together the cost is still less than our property taxes in upstate NY. Check it out! You can also go to
http://www.flemingislandplantation.com/ to get more information on the community and everything that is included. We moved to Fleming Island Plantation 10 years ago and we love it. Our youngest is now in 11th grade. The schools are A rated! Whats' not to love?

Do I need to Stage my Home?

My agent said I needed to stage my home. I still need to live here. What really is necessary when selling a house?

You used the words house and home. We’ll get back to those. First let me pose a question. When you go to sell or trade a car what’s the 1st thing you do? Detail it, right? You get that car shining from the inside out, all the clutter gone and smelling good. Why? Because you want top dollar.

Now, lets go back to home and house. We are taking your home and turning it into a house that is available to every qualified buyer in the market place. Very different than being a home you live in. I would also bet that it’s worth more than your car. Would you not then give it the same spit shine, de-clutter, smell great treatment you would a car? You decide.

Short Sales, is this true?

Video Marketing and Mortgage News Designed for Mortgage and Real Estate Sales

Check out the link above and you will be amazed! I was

Listing Agent Number 2?

It saddens me as a successful full time real estate professional to go on listing appointment's these days. I sit across from a seller that called for obvious reasons, to list their home and the conversation often goes the same way.

FIRST AGENT APPOINTMENT

Realtor: Mr Seller, based on the comparable sold properties, the active listings, what is currently under contract as it relates to your home including all the wonderful features, lot location and condition here is the range your home will sell in________.

Seller: Well I was hoping to get ________ because we we need _______ to buy our other house. Or we need it to pay off some debt so we can do _______________.

Realtor: I understand your position, however with the amount of inventory that consumers have to choose from along with the amount of information that is available to them buyers are very savvy. It's important to you as a seller to come out strong in every area to get the highest price. That means condition as well as your list price. Consumers will recognize a good opportunity when they see it. You could even have multiple buyers interested.

What you don't want to do is chase the market down. What I mean is, if you start too high you will lose your best market time, your first months. By the time you lower the price to where you should have been in the first place, the market may have moved below that based on newer information. That being said a month after listing the home with no offers, having made another mortgage payment we may need to adjust the price to lower than suggested in the beginning and now you listing is a month old.

Seller: I hear you, but we really aren't talking that much and buyers will want to negotiate. They can always make an offer. Besides I need that room to come down. I can't sell below________.

Realtor: It's your home and your money we can list were you want to, you just need to understand the consequences of this strategy. If we do not get an offer on your home, which is the equivalent of someone being emotionally engaged in purchasing your home, we cannot even begin negotiations. An experienced agent will be a trusted counselor as well as a skilled negotiator. These are must have qualities in the Realtor you decide to hire. Meaning putting your best foot forward in the beginning, then have a skilled experienced agent that can handle the negotiations once an offer comes in equals selling your home. It's about more than, "Do you do open houses?" The only reason I am passionate about this is I have watched several home owners lose money over a strategy that will not work in this market. Unfortunately you will find an agent that will do whatever you tell them.

Seller: Thank you so much we are going to talk about it tonight and let you know tomorrow.

Realtor: (in mind) They have an agent already that gave them a warm fuzzy about a higher price!

DIDN'T SELL, SECOND LISTING AGENT APPOINTMENT

Seller: Thanks for coming over so fast. Our listing just expired yesterday and we really need to get our house sold fast. I don't know why we didn't call you in the first place.

Realtor: Well, tell me what happened? What went wrong?

Seller: Well, when we listed our house we started out just a little higher than maybe we should have. But we needed the money to buy our next house. Now it doesn't matter anymore. Prices have dropped so much on our house that it's not even an option. At this point we just need to get out. The payments too high and we are just going to rent.

Realtor: (in my mind) I'm thinking I just walked in and get the listing, The other agent did all the work and did not even get the chance for the right price. At the same time this was so unnecessary. OUT LOUD: Let me show you how we market a home, go over the comparable's and our service then we can get started.

What's the point?

Is it better to be agent number 2? Well for the agent but never for the consumer or the market. The agent will have a motivated seller which equals a sellable home. At the same time if they would have listened to reason in the beginning they would have made more money and the comps would look better. Everyone has to remember that in most markets we are still declining. If you haven't noticed where are the 5 million foreclosures? They sure aren't "For Sale". It appears that the banks are trickling them into the market. Until all that inventory is liquidated and working Americans own them, the housing market will not be stabilized. That among other factors. It's not all doom and gloom but unrealistic sellers participate in driving down the market. Not sure what the answer is.

I will be listing agent number 2, but I much prefer to be agent number 1. It's better for everyone. market time, sold price and seller net. It's a win win!

Kim Knapp
Team Knapp 904-334-7426
follow me
http://twitter.com/jaxsecretagent

Is this a Team Sport?

Some of you may not know it but Real Estate is a team sport. Let me stop there.

I have to extend love and appreciation to all me friends in the business who are some of the best team mates I have ever know. Thank you!

Begin again. Have you ever had a transaction with an agent that was more interested in being some undefined hero that they lost the house for their buyer or mismanaged the negotiations for their seller? It's exhausting and tiresome. Those of us that pick up the slack like on any team go ahead and take one for the team and do what it takes to make it work. Why? As professionals we know real estate is about the people we serve and never about us.

What's the problem with this. One we enable folks to remain in this business (stay on the team) that are not qualified. Two, it's a disservice to the paying public.

We need each other. When we list a house we are asking the whole real estate population to work with us to get that listing sold. If we prove lazy, unresponsive, difficult, arrogant or otherwise someone they prefer not to deal with your listing may find it's way to the bottom of the pile.

Consumers this means make sure you hire a well respected professional not a smooth talking hot shot. They may both get the job done in the end but it might cost you in ways you never planned.....

ARE THEY CRAZY? Countrywide!!!

This is my last short sale in the pipeline with Countrywide.I use last in the truest sense of the word. It's the only short sale I have left with THEM and it's the LAST one I will take with them.

Their own people tell me their process are ridiculous but hey what are you going to do?
I had an approved short sale, letter in hand. However by the time the got it to me we lost the buyer. Bet you never heard that before? We immediately got a new buyer for the same offer amount less them asking for closing costs. Hmm..... higher net to the investor. I'm feeling a slam dunk here.

What I really got was "go to jail, directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $6000." "no commission for you!"In other words "that's great we will start the file over and send it back to the front lines. Are you joking me? After 8 months of working on this, 500 phone calls, who knows how many showings, and they have the nerve to act like we are overpaid. I'm thinking I'm at .89 cents an hour. Now I'm at .00.

Same offer, bigger net, start over. Are you paid to think? Does the investor audit these people? Our money is bailing them out? In the meantime there are now 2 sales that will bring this one down further and will probably blow this price out of the water by the time "Stella gets her Grove Back".

Why do we stay in this game? For the customers we serve. It sure isn't to help the banks that constantly have their hands in our wallets and their heads in the sand. Well I'm tired of looking at their rear ends. They need to be accountable. In the meantime they are bringing values down with how slow they are.

I had one home go down $70,000 over the course of all the offers before the bank finally approved. They lost $70,000 because the process is not streamlined, and people are not paid to think. Oh did I mention that was Countrywide and it took a Negotiaters Boss to step in to finally get it closed. Hello!

Help

Are you twitterpaited?

This is great info if you are interested in Twitter. Which I am embracing. Like any technology it's knowing how to use it that makes the difference. Thanks for the great pass and I appreciate to be able to pass it along.

Kim

Via Paul Chaney (Social Media Handyman):

There are two schools of thought pertaining to who to follow on Twitter. One is what I refer to as the Guy Kawasaki method which says, "forget the influentials," "defocus your efforts," and "get as many followers as you can." It's more of a mass marketing approach.

Up and until Twitter imposed limits on the number of people that I could follow in a given 24-hour period, that's pretty much the school to which I subscribed and just about anyone and everyone qualified (minus the spammers of course).

Since then, I've had to be more discerning and have actually found that to be a good thing. So, here are fifteen suggested Twitter follow dos and don'ts based on my current Twitter follow modus operandi:

Dos...

1. Focus your efforts - If you're in sales and marketing, hopefully you've outlined specific target markets based on demographic, psychographic and technographic profiles. Maybe you've even created a persona of the ideal client or customer. Find those folks and follow them.

One good way to do that is by using Twellow, which is a Twitter "yellow pages." It categorizes Twitter followers based on geography and industry and covers everything from aerospace to Web development.

For example, a search on my city, Lafayette, LA, brought five pages of returns totaling 100 people. Not a lot, but consider that a) Lafayette is a small city by comparison and b) it's in the deep south which is often the last to catch on to new trends. If you're in a more metro area, chances are your returns will be manifold times this.

What might be more relevant is search by category. For example, Bizzuka, the company I serve as marketing director, is targeting the legal industry. A search for lawyers brought over 930 returns. We are also targeting healthcare. A search returned almost 100 hospitals.

Apply that same methodology to your own situation and see what comes of it.

Twellow defaults to ranking returns based on number of followers, but you can also sort by
recent activity and/or whether the person has verified their Twellow account.

Each person listed has a profile associated with their entry which, depending on whether they've verified their account or not, could contain lots of information, including a bio, latest Twitter updates (good for knowing whether they're an active user or not), and link to their Web site or blog.

2. Follow those with real names - That's one way to know it's a genuine account. (It's always a good practice when setting up a Twitter account to use your real name.)

3. Follow those who follow you - In most cases it's a common courtesy. Chances are they're in the same industry or have some relevance to you.

4. Follow those following the people who are following you - Same rationale as #3, just once removed.

5. Follow those following the people you are following - If you've chosen to follow a particular individual for whatever reason (maybe they fit the profile mentioned in #1), there's a good likelihood at least some of the people following them would be relevant for you as well.

6. Follow those in your industry - Obviously, one of the best uses for Twitter is as a vehicle for networking, gathering feedback and getting advice. It's a great tool for meeting others in your industry or discipline.

7. Follow those you find interesting and/or entertaining - In all the mad rush to turn Twitter into a business communications and marketing tool, leave a little for pure fun. If you find someone's posts interesting, maybe they're worth following as well.

8. Follow those who use the same hashtags (ex. #nms08) to follow a conversation - Again, if they're interested in the same things as you, consider following them.

9. Follow those who @reply you - @replies can be sent into the public timeline addressed to people you're not following. If a user has addressed you in that way, might be fruitful to add them.

10. Follow those interacting with people you follow - If you see a tweet with an @reply addressing someone you're following that comes from someone you're not, they may be worth following. Check em out!

Don'ts...

11. Don't follow those with numbers behind their names - This is
a technique often used by spammers (Twammers) due to the fact that have
multiple accounts. It's a dead give-away. (One word of caution: When
setting up your Twitter handle, don't use numbers. Your real name will
do nicely.)

12. Don't follow those with no avatar - If you can't see their face, company logo or some sort of avatar, don't follow.

13. Don't follow those who only broadcast - Unless you know it's
an account set up strictly for that purpose - a news, shopping or
"tips" type account - don't follow. If they don't participate in
conversations with anyone else, they won't with you either.

14. Don't follow those who aren't active - I don't know the number or percentage, but I bet the number of people who've subscribed to Twitter and aren't actively using it is sizable. If a user is not actively maintaining the account, chances are it's dead.

15. Don't follow users based on their follower count - In social media, it's not necessarily how many eyeballs that count but who those eyeballs belong to. There are some very influential people who may not have huge numbers of followers.

There you have it - 15 tips for know who to follow and who not to. That's my list at least for now, though I'm sure I'll add to it. BTW, you can too! What criteria do you use in determining who to follow. Please share it in a comment. Thanks!

Finally, if you're not following me, please do. My Twitter handle is @pchaney.

Tell Sellers The Truth

It's a New Year time to stand tall and make a decision to tell the cold hard truth. When you walk into that listing appointment remember they asked you to come because you are a real estate professional and they are looking for guidance and solutions.

Now if your end game is merely to get your sign in the yard then you won't be in the game too long. However, if this is your career you get that it's a bigger picture. The bigger picture... your reputation, referrals, delivering on what you say! Remember you are dealing with folks biggest investment don't make it about you. Once you do you lose.

Maybe your excuse is you just can't be that hard on them, it will hurt their feelings. How would you feel if the cancer doctor felt really bad about your terminal diagnosis so he told you everything was fine come back in 6 months? Too bad you won't be showing to the appointment.
That's what many agents are doing out there with seller's finances. They are over pricing homes to get the listing meanwhile the market is passing the seller by till they are in ruin.

I'm not talking about the seller who won't listen. We all have dealt with them. I prefer to be the second listing agent on those because now they are prepared to listen and you don't have to spend my money on a house that won't sell.

If it smells, tell them, if it's cluttered tell them, if they want to overprice it for the market tell them. You don't have to be unkind you just need to be honest. Suggest an appraisal if need be. It will never be in the sellers best interest to tell them what they want to hear if it's not teh truth.

The Truth will not only set you free but take your career much further than a lie could ever take you!

Keep it real! Consistant! Positive!

Well, we are smarter, leaner, and wiser! There are less Realtor's, Mortgage Brokers, and Wanna Be Inspectors in the business. This is GOOD!

Now that you have rid yourself of marketing that doesn't work, team members that were order takers and people on your sphere list that shouldn't be there it's time to Make Things Happen!

Success is a state of mind, if you believe in yourself first, than your confidence will lead others to put their confidence in you.

Stick to the plan. (make sure you have one)
Stay lean even when you get busier. (save for tomorrow)
Focus on your past customers, current customers and your productive sphere. (this is a referral business)
Have processes in place to keep you on task. (people oriented people tend to get distracted easily)
Give back (you reap what you sow, good or bad)
Refresh Yourself regularly (when you're in a better state of mind you're more productive)
Keep learning (as soon as you think you've arrived, you just became a know it all! Who likes a know it all?)
Make a commitment to step up your professionalism ( Realtor, let's represent!!)

I wish each and everyone of you the best! Happy New Year!

Kim Knapp
Realtor Jacksonville Florida

Lessons from "The Wild Party"

The Wild Party, the Hangover, and Rehab….. Where are the success stories?


It was 2003 and people where starting to show up to the party. If you got there early you didn’t really know how many people were going to show up. Once they did the scene was crazy.

Agents, (new franchises by the dozen) buyers, sellers, and lenders everywhere, it was the ultimate pick up event. Buyers outbid other buyers for homes and were never happier, probably because they felt as if they had won. Agents worked with sellers they didn’t like. That’s okay the house will be sold in a week. Agents left the party with buyers they didn’t know. (Ahhh, they were buying right?) Buyers worked with agents and lenders they picked up at the party. They couldn’t remember their names the next day but so what they bought a house.

We were buying advertising like it was a new bauble. “Hey, that’s really cool give me 2 pages will ya?” The advertisers were drunk with love for us and always coming out with another place we would want to see ourselves. How much was all this costing anyway? Does it matter? Naw, we’ll just find us another buyer at the watering hole.

Then someone had the nerve to turn the music off and the lights on.

What was left, too many agents and lenders without reserves, sellers upside down on their homes and buyers without money. Boy that was some party!


Time for a little personal reflection. Some folks got out of the biz, that’s okay they needed too, others though went through rehab.

· Why am I am I in Real Estate?
· Do I work better with Buyer or Sellers?
· What’s my Budget? Budget is that word in the dictionary?
· What’s my business plan?
· Have I created relationships with other agents in my market? Or do I have some making up to do for my bad behavior during the party?
· Do I even have my database together? Ughh
· Sphere – Is that a circle thingy?

I am happy to say a lot of great agents have come out the other side. Will share with us, “What’s the one single greatest thing you learned?”

For me it was, “I didn’t have to outspend my competition on marketing. I had to learn to say NO.” Actually it’s really easy. Try it… No, No. See it only takes a second, calls over and you didn’t spend they money you don’t have to impress other agents and really not the consumer. Hello!

Share some love and tell us the best you learned____________.

and Tired Always Follows Sick! Goodmorning America

Welcome back to the Land of "I'm no longer depressed."

It's so nice to have you all back, the party has been very quiet without you, hence the reason we waited for you to get here! I get the feeling everyone is Tired of being Sick and Tired. Why even the media has grown weary of perpetuating the gloom they once seemed to enjoy so much. maybe if they play nice we will advertise with them again someday. LOL

Seriously though I love this country and America's spirit. We have learned to make lemonade from lemons. Reflecting back on mistakes and try to find ways not to repeat them. The reason I write this is I have seen a noticeable difference in folks. As a Realtor I am busier than ever. Hmmm...

I believe at some point you just decide to pull yourself up by the boot straps and come up fighting because life isn't waiting for you. Take buying a home for instance. Do you want to make a wise buying decision YES of course. Is your house a Bank, NO. But that became the mentality of consumers over the last 10 years.

Let's reflect for the younger readers. Do you remember the day when you saved your 20%, looked for the home you wanted to raise your family in, make your own over the years and create your memories? Then you focused on paying it off. Well welcome to the new millennium, That became such a dated idea, "I mean who does that?" (note the sarcasm)

The new idea was move every 2-3 years, use your home as in investment. Well that worked for a select few that carefully timed the market. But using your personal residence in your investment portfolio is probably not a good plan. (hindsight is always 20/20).

I see folks having a completely different mindset these days. I'm tired of the bad news, I'm not going to waste money on renting, I'm going to make a wise buying decision that I can afford, how can I pay off my home and plan for college for my kids and what payment do I need if one of the wage earners decides to stay home? Do I hear LONG TERM PLAN? You bet ya! It's really the best thing that's happened in a long time.

The best inventory is selling in under 30 days (that's great), Gas is finally heading in the right direction, rates are still historically low, elections will be over soon, (maybe then we can move ahead without having to worry about who gets the credit)

So yes there are some turbulent times ahead as we work our way through the inventory, the unemployment rate and energy. But I'm encouraged and not suprised to see that America is up for the fight. So as you put away your cartons of Haagen Daz, and step out into the sunshine make sure you tell someone it's gonna be alright!

Real Estate Acronyms? Can Someone Speak English?

I was working with a first time buyer the other day and realized that the longer one is in the real estate business you begin to speak in code. Not on purpose mind you just a bad habit. Oh it makes perfect sense inside your own head. Ah, but if you could only hear yourself speaking in consonants you would realize that your customers are mearly nodding at you and smiling.

I have decided that to put together my Top 10 Realtor Acronyms. Not to steal a Mortgage Lenders thunder I will leave those for one of you to reply. I realize there is another unique list.

• DOM Days on Market - How long a home has been listed for sale or rent
• HUD (Department of) Housing and Urban Development -The Government Regulated closing statement
• CMA Comparative Market Analysis - Market Value Range a home will sell in
• CDD Community Development District - (a tax collected for the infrastructure and usually the operations and maintenance of a planned community (PUD-freebie planned unit development)
• CO Certificate of Occupancy- House is in compliance with building codes and is suitable for occupancy
• FSBO For Sale by Owner We (Realtors) pronounce this as if it's a word
• HELOC Home Equity Line of Credit (sometimes I will ask a seller if they have a HELOC (also pronounced as a word) , I usually get a puzzled look as if it's an exotic pet. Then you realize when they went to the bank they went to get an Equity Line.
• REO Real Estate Owned - By the bank after an unsuccessful auction on the court house steps. Which is happening more often due to a homes value being less than what is owed.
• SFR Single Family Residential
• ASHI American society of Home Inspectors "Make sure you get and ASHI inspector" What is that? Especially in Florida we encourage some form of certification. Not until 2010 will Inspectors be required to be licensed.

There are 30 others to choose from, this was simply to get the wheels turning.

Often times folks do not want to tell you they don't understand, so they just agree. It's kind of like me talking to the Doctor. Don't dazzle me with terms I don't understand, speak to me so I do.

Listing that get ATTENTION

First let me say that Northeast Florida has some of the most amazing professionals practicing real estate. I'm thankful to call many of them friends from every company albeit ReMax to Prudential, Coldwell Banker to Watson and of course my personal favorite VANGUARD/GMAC

However there are still those left over from the order taker days of the real estate BOOM! One thing that drives me crazy is why in the day of digital technology can't we get an interior picture or two of a listing. Consumers have so many choices to pick through to determine what they will look at. When a listing has only a front shot it tells the buyer one of two things, one it would be anti productive do to condition or two the agent is lazy. Either way the listing loses. Digital pictures are free. You take the picture, upload then delete from your camera then start over, wallah!

Now if the house needs straightened up or staged then time to get the seller on the team. This is no time to not care about the difference a little elbow grease can make you! Even if a home is not a show stopper, cleaning up all the clutter, doing a little pre-packing (boxes in the garage are much better than too much clutter you can't see the house), washing the windows and cleaning up the landscape can not only make the difference of if you sell or not it will make you money with little or no investment other than time!

If you want to take it to the next level, stage it! Look at the pictures below and compare then I will tell you a story about market and staging!

Both slides say the exact same thing, both homes are in the exact same neighborhood, interestingly though the house on the left was listed for 35,000 dollars more. Both homes are 3 bedrooms 2 baths. The home on the right was 200 sq ft smaller and big surprise SOLD. The home on left is now off the market.

How a home is presented makes all the difference in the world. It is not a judgement on the owners taste or style. Too many times the seller will take this personally. This is the seller recognizing that they are taking their home and transforming it into a product that will be the most expensive purchase that the prospective buyer will make and it needs to be appealing to the masses not only a select few. It's a a bad plan to say the buyer will just have to get over it. Remember it is the seller that is trying to entice the buyer.

Let's look at it like this. What is the first thing you do when you go to sell your car? Hmmmm? You wash it, detail it, vacuum it, maybe Armor-All it. Why? To attract buyers and get top dollar. Now there is something else you do. You go to the Kelly Blue Book and see what kind of price you are looking at based on condition and features and mileage.

Now after you have done that you take that information and look at your local swap sheet and see what your competition is. Now if you're smart you will position yourself accordingly.

Mercury Mountaineer 2001 65,000 miles Value $7,500. Current listing range from $6,800 to $8,000. There are 10 for sale in your zip code. You strategize and decide to list your SUV for $10,200 just to give you negotiating room. The problem is there isn't anyone to negotiate with. Why? The buyers have the same information you do. There are 10 others to choose from in the right range, why call on an overpriced one you anticipate will be difficult to deal with ?

We come to next and most important point. PRICING! This has never been more important than it is today. You cannot market an overpriced house into the hearts of the consumer. It's a false lie. LOL Just think about it. Buyers will buy value, Buyers will work with reasonable people, Buyers enjoy a home that is appealing (smells nice, clean, uncluttered) If you were buying what would you do?

It kills me when I hear sellers insult Buyers from California. They act as if they are totally detached from reality, they will hire a clueless agent and overpay no matter what because everything in Florida is a deal. If that is your pricing plan don't start packing. So what am I saying?

• Strategic Pricing


• Condition


• Marketing & Exposure


• Equals Sale

Your listing agent is not supposed to be your best friend that tells you what you want to hear and agrees with you on everything to get your listing. They need to be like a Doctor delivering the diagnosis along with the prescibed treatment good, bad or indifferent because it's in your best interest not theirs.

What if your Doctor had bad news? He read your chart and discovered you had a chronic disease. He knew you would not receive this very well so he walk into the room and says " Hello Mr. Patient everything looks great, see you again in 6 months" You leave and he hopes maybe before then if you don't change Doctors he will find a way to tell you next time. In the meantime this is affecting your life in a real way. NOT GOOD!

When you choose a listing agent make sure they've got game! What kind of a track record do they have? Can they look you in the eye and tell you the hard stuff.? If they can't do it now will they be able to do it later? Get a referral from a friend. Make sure they have a marketing plan. Comps, Sold-Pending and Active should factor in to your competitive position. They should have helpful thoughts on staging and preparation. If you don't have a direction to go in we would love to compete for your business or if your an out of town agent receive your referral. Kim Knapp 904-334-7425

Short Sales

Well, I'm going to address the difficult topic of Short Sales not just from the prospective of the seller but from the prospective working with the buyers. There is a link above that explains what a short sale is and it's for educational purposes.

I have become increasingly frustrated with the number of short sales that are not "for sale". Let me explain, you take your buyer out and show the 15 homes and the one they fall in love with is a "short sale". That's okay I can live with that. I have already closed 8 this year. So where's the problem? The problem is that if the seller and their agent do not understand the process it's like a slow boat to China without enough gas to get there. So I said all that to say this. Before even bothering to look at a short sale here is the test.

Call the agent and ask..... Drum Roll.......

1. Have you closed a Short Sale before?



2. Has the lien holder been notified of the intent to short-sale and have they agreed to this? (why) If there was Mortgage Insurance they may not agree.



3. Has the complete short sale package been sent to the lien holder AND have you confirmed receipt?



4. What communications, if any, have you had with the bank?



5. Have you the seller been assigned a Loss Mitigator?



6. Has there been a BPO? Did you meet the BPO agent? Did you get the results back? Has the bank approved the list price?



7. Have you received any other offers that you are waiting to hear back from the bank on?



8. Is there one or two trusts? Any other liens? (This can complicate things)



9. What are the names of the banks? Are these FHA or VA loans?



10. How long do you estimate that the lender will take to provide an answer to an offer?
    

Now if you can happen to get knowledgeable answers to these questions you have yourself a "Short Sale Opportunity" Prepare you offer, get your pre-approval letter and make sure that it's written so that if the LIEN HOLDER does not respond in your required time line you can move on!! Otherwise with the seller signing the offer you are now in a never ending contract. Also require that all contractual time lines begin when LIEN Holder accepts offer.

Unfortunately I have found that more often times than not when I make these calls I get silence. It's a disservice to our customers when we take their listings without knowing the process. It's better to refer it until you figure it out.

As far as listing short sales, after attending 2 training classes and having success (we are 10 for 10) feel free to send your short sale our way! (if the seller qualifies)

For sellers: if you need help determining if you qualify let us know!

Do you really want to sell your home?

I am compelled to write this. I often times get called in after a home has been listed for 6-12 months with another company. The seller wants to know why their home hasn't sold. Most times it has been due to their price consistently trailing the market. Denial has cost owners 10's of thousands of dollars.

Gone are the days where you can overprice a home and think buyers will look anyway and make an offer. They have so many homes to choose from why deal with an overpriced/in denial seller. It's a tug of war, not against the buyer and seller because the buyer doesn't perceive that home as an option. The tug of war is between the seller and the reality of the market.

The fact is this drives down prices. By a seller holding out until the surrender it's too late for the initial suggested price. the market has moved again. See Below

Home should be listed at $250,000 (from $200,000-$250,000 there are 53 homes for sale)

Seller prices it at $275,000 (from $250,000-$300,000 there are 62 homes for sale)

That's of a total area inventory of 463 homes ranging from $100,000 to $2,000,000. That is a huge chunk of the market.

After 6 months seller reduces to $264,500 (Unfortunately the $250,000 ship has sailed)

The seller considers $250,000 and is not happy about it. The bad news is the price should now be $240,000 with a likely sales price between $220,000 and $230,000

10 months later new price $250,000 (offers start coming in at 200,000)

Final Sales Price $218,000

(Due to the comparable properties that have sold during this listing period this is the highest and best price the market and this property can demand and substantiate with the lender and the buyers)

If the seller in this scenario had listed at $250,000 when they needed to , they would have sold closer to $240,000. That is a loss of over $22,000 dollars. Unfortunately we have seen this same scenario with much bigger losses. Once prices have moved property owners will have to wait for incremental increases to begin that will most likely be very modest compared to what was experienced in the past. That being said, it would take 4 years for the owner in this example to get back where they started with $250,000.

When you begin to factor in double mortgage payments, maintaining more than one home the loss is even bigger. If you really want to sell your home, find out how much competition you have and where they are priced not just what has sold. You have to cause the buyer to choose you. You want to be the Bride not the Bridesmaid!!

Appraisers are having to include active and pending sales in their appraisal to assure the lender not just of past sales but where the market is and where it is going!

Be realistic, view your competition.

Why are the ones that are selling going under contract?

Did those buyers even look at your home?

Why not?

Waiting will cost you. Be the leader not the follower. The sales that go before you set the market. If you don't need to sell now and you don't like the price take your home off the market. It's only driving down prices even further. Prices went up when buyers were fighting over the sellers. Prices go down when sellers are fighting over the buyers. Less inventory, less choices prices stabilize. Supply and demand in balance=healthy market!

Buyer Analysis Paralysis

You walk into Blockbuster on a Friday night looking for just the right movie. You have money in your pocket and a mebership card in your wallet. It's been a long week, you need to relax and you're open to just about anything. Maybe a comedy (a Little laughter might be good) action adventure (journey to new places, living on the edge) romantic comedy (always light fare leaving you feeling fuzzy) drama (mmm, no you already have enough) so many to choose from.


You see the end cap with the hottest new movies and make a mental note of a few then move onto the NEW RELEASE WALL. Everyone has a different strategy on this, some from A-Z others prefer Z-A. You start thinking out loud, " I've seen that, that didn't get good reviews, Oh they're out of that one (next time I'll get that), I don't like her in films, I guess I'm not in the mood for a romantic comedy, Mmmmm?, I heard that was stupid, my husband really doesn't want to see "Ya Ya Sisterhood", (then you look to see what other folks are picking up) Ugh! don't they have anything good?


You take one quick pass through the interior movie shelves and determine nothing really looks good. You consider your options. You could just go home and watch a movie you already have, watch TV, maybe you'll just take a bath read and go to bed early. That sounds like a plan. You proceed to walk out of Blockbuster that houses more than a few thousand movies without one. What is that?


Welcome to the world of Buyers! Analysis Paralysis! They totally set out excited about buying, open to options, wanting to see what the world of real estate holds for them. Determining the price range they begin. There are 67 homes in their price range! WOW, where do they start? I will tell you that they will miss any homes that are real winners that are just out of a price range. ie $305,000 instead of $299,000, $155,000 instead of $150,000. Consumers look in blocks of $50,000 normally. There is no need to look a little higher or a little lower. There are too many to choose from already.


You now have an overwhelmed buyer. Looking back 2,3 and 4 years ago respectively, buyers had 4-5 to choose from. That was it! Out on property they begin thinking out loud, " this kitchen is a little small, there's too much stuff in this house I can't tell anything, the yard needs a lot of work, these paint colors are awful (even though it's just paint), I would really like that one if..., I don't care for this neighborhood, Ugh! They begin to feel discouraged, maybe I should wait for the new release wall (new listings). In the meantime they go home empty handed.

This is unfortunate for the buyer because there are truly some great buys out there. The rates are very desirable as well as sellers are often times agreeing to closing cost assistance. FHA has been given new life and has many pro's that is allowing more buyers to get into the market place.
In the meantime sellers that want attention need to make sure they dot all their i's and cross all their t's. First and foremost PRICE! Get it right sooner than later. You can't fool the market only yourself. How's the curb appeal? Get rid of clutter, Neutralize walls and decor, Make it smell great (not smell on smell), Get your marketing on!!!!!

FOUND A BUYER, NOW WHAT?

The seller is batting! The buyer is pitching. The game is on! A good negotiation is a win win, you want to make sure your transaction is a home run! Exposing your home to the entire market place in order to obtain the right buyer goes without saying. You can’t get out of the batters box without a buyer. However, it’s at that point that the game begins. Often time’s sellers are focusing on one thing and that’s the price. Understandably so, but there are many pieces to the contract puzzle and that is just one.

Here are some things to consider. First, is the buyer approved? Meaning the Loan Officer has actually looked at their credit prior to extending the pre-approval and verified funds. There is nothing worse for everyone involved but to find at the end of the transaction that it’s not closing because of financing. All packed up and ready to go, the house is no longer in show condition and it’s time to start over. The good news is that almost 99% of the time this can be avoided.

Second, are there any contingencies? Does the buyer have a house to sell or to close prior to closing on yours? If they have a home under contract waiting to close, how solid is that contract, the buyer and their financing? It’s very important to understand how each one of these situations can affect your closing. You don’t want to find yourself at the end of a domino effect. A professional Realtor’s knowledge can be invaluable to you during this process.

Third, how far out is the buyer looking to close and how much binder are they leveraging? If the binder is too small and the closing too far out, you could find the buyer walking three months later. Though they may have offered a higher price they can be a risk. Losing one thousand dollars may be worth it to a buyer that finds something they like better. That could leave you having your home off the market for three months and now you’re facing closing on another home without a buyer for the home your in.

Other terms you may want to consider, what is the buyer asking for? Appliances, transferable termite bond, window treatments, closing costs, home warranty and/or repairs. There are many other nuances, more than could be spelled out in such a short article, but the point being it’s a large transaction with many facets and you need to cover all the bases. Time for a homerun, seek out the services of a trusted professional. Keep in mind that the best pitchers and the batters have top notch coaches’. Having professional assistance certainly takes the pressure off. Getting a referral from someone who has had a remarkable experience with a real estate professional is always a good place to start. Take the time to interview several different Realtors, request references and require that their service commitment be in writing. Most importantly it’s a partnership and you need to feel comfortable and have a mutual respect for the agent you choose to market and handle your transaction to closing. It can be a very emotional time for families. With the right guidance it can also be the beginning of their next exciting adventure. Batter UP!

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Effective Pricing Strategy in a Slowing Market

Just some thoughts on the local market (Jacksonville, FL) and how to get your home sold in a timely manner and at the top of the range. According to the Northeast Florida MLS in December of 2005 there were 13,271 homes for sale equaling 5.64 months worth of inventory. Fast forward to July 2007 there are 26,065 homes on the market equaling 12.98 months worth of inventory. These statistics can be overwhelming however it's not all doom and gloom. Over 2000 homes sold in July as well. The question is how to be among them.
There are several items that influence selling in the current market and primary among them is pricing strategy. The old strategy was to price the property with room to negotiate, wait for buyer interest and then settle on a price that was agreeable to all. Unfortunately, this pricing strategy will not bring showings. Today's marketplace is on the internet, I think we all agree on that, and that should change everything in our pricing strategy.
In yesterday's market, when prospects looked in newspapers, on television and in magazines they only received limited information about the properties that they saw and they only had access to a limited number of the available properties. This meant that the prospect had to call the agent to get all of the information about a property he was interested in and that gave the agent the opportunity to introduce additional properties the buyer did not know about as well as provide more information about the property that the buyer called about. Agents who were successful at this conversion process prospered and the spectrum of properties that were shown was far greater than it is today.
In today's market the buyer decides what his parameters are and looks on the internet for properties that meet his qualifications. The problem for sellers and listing agents is that when the buyer looks on the internet, instead of getting a few words in the newspaper or a few words and one picture in a magazine, the buyer gets, 5 to 20 photographs of everything in the property, virtual tours, a complete list of features, Google mapping and probably access to the school report. In other words the buyer knows it all before he calls.
If there are 40 properties that may fit the buyer's needs (area, price range, bedrooms, baths, size) he can prejudge all of them prior to calling about any of them. Because the buyer has all of this information the vast majority of buyers are going to call on the same limited number of homes that seem to represent the best value within the buyer's spectrum of needs. This creates a situation where the most competitive houses get an inordinate amount of activity and houses that are priced in the middle of our value range get little to no activity. That means that the old strategy of "leave room for negotiations" is not valid because it creates so little activity that there probably will never be an offer to negotiate.
If you want to compete on the internet that means a seller needs to be in the top 10% of all homes that they are competing with in terms of value, otherwise there simply will not be substantial showing activity. So the new pricing strategy must be to price it very competitively, based on the active competition and not the sold "comps", and then when the buyer is interested hold firmer to the price that you want.
In many fields this is known as "puppy dog" selling. The point being that the best way to sell a puppy is to get it into the purchaser's hands and when he likes it he will find a way to buy it; in the same way the home seller is better negotiating with a buyer after the buyer has been in the seller's house and has made a decision that he wants to write an offer. Now the seller has some leverage to hold close to his asking price, whereas keeping his price high and being "willing to negotiate" simply means there will not be any activity. This is hard for sellers because they have to face up to what they are ultimately going to receive rather than hope that they may do better, but if sellers are going to succeed in selling their property at its highest and best price they must adapt this strategy in order to deal with today's internet buyer.
The second issue is merchandising. Buyers that are not on the internet are riding through the areas that they are interested in, although statistically this only amounts to about 15% of buyer activity it is not something to be overlooked. Now is the time for sellers to look at their property through the buyer's eyes rather than the way most of us see our houses while we live in them. This means that sellers need to insure that lawns are in excellent not just good condition, that windows are freshly cleaned (especially on the first floor in the front of the house), that garages are neatened, closets are cleaned out, rooms are freshly painted and the house "shows well" in all respects. The dollars spent on landscaping and other "clean up" items will be dollars that are recouped when the buyer thinks the property "looks great" rather than "is OK".
Recognizing the shift in the market coupled with unparalleled local, national and international exposure through our extensive marketing plan together we can sell your home. If we can compete for your business let us know! Email us or visit us at our site Team Knapp.