"How To Sell Your Home in ANY Market"

At the library the other day, I picked up the book by this title where Loren K Keim and his team who have been selling homes for over twenty years, identify 6 reasons a home doesn't sell-and what you can do to fix them. He's spot on for most of his advice. In the Denver metro area today, as in his turf in Philadelphia, many segments of the market are a buyer's market. Actually, in a hot market not every home sells.

Keim's 6 reasons for a home not selling are:
Reason No. 1 Poor Staging---It's remarkable how buyers respond differently to the same floorplan when it's set up to trigger a positive emotional response in the buyers. Buyers fall in love with the lifestyle a home can bring them. Some how your staging needs to help the buyer feel that connection.
Reason No. 2 Incorrect Pricing---Even in a hot market some homes don't sell because of the price. In a buyers market pricing is more sensitive. Some neighborhoods are very elastic in price with huge variations in price based on perceived (and real) differences in the homes. The obvious case is that a trashed home won't sell for as much as an updated home. However, every seller wants to know how much they can push the price for their improvements. Ask your realtor about the showing benchmarks in your neighborhood, so you know what to expect. Be realistic. It's frustrating and tiring and possibly expensive to lose prime selling time because your price places you out of consideration. Some experts suggest 90% of selling a home is pricing it correctly! Shortsales sometimes come into play here, as do lease/options if the seller owes too much and still has to move.
Reason No. 3 Improper Marketing---Market timing, marketing focus, effective marketing systems, and "guerrilla" techniques all apply here. Certain neighborhoods are not active in the winter, others are not active in the summer, if you choose to sell outside these times, the pool of available buyers shrinks and your time on market often increases. Ask your agent who are your likely buyers and how the marketing systems attract those buyers. For the tough sell properties "guerrilla" techniques may be needed. Guerrilla techniques target the buyers in non-traditional methods or with "give-aways" like vacations or appliances or bonuses or seller paid closing costs. In my experience, this can get more folks in the door and raise interest after the pricing is near right.
Reason No. 4 Location-Challenged Properties---What do you think the effect of a busy street or high tension power lines or a business next to a property? Any of these could affect a buyer's perception of the property and limit the number of buyers who will consider the property. In my experience of over a decade selling expired or withdrawn listings, price is affected by these location challenges. Market research can often determine just what the effect is on days on market and price.
Reason No. 5 Functionally Obsolete Properties---Imagine a home with only one bathroom or no central heat. The options for sellers in these cases are monetary-either upgrade the property to sell it at an acceptable standard for area buyers or sell at a discount for an investor or handyman to purchase and bring up to standard.
Reason No. 6 "Nobody is buying in the area"---Keim addresses what may have to happen if buyers are to be found outside the immediate area or cash flow is needed and a lease/option is a fall back position.

The rest of the book gives an overview of the sales process through closing in a generic way. Each state makes its own rules for real estate transactions. Ask your agent for specifics where you live. What is the sales process? Who pays for what? Who are the players? What is the time line? What are the usual tricky spots in a transaction? When do I know my home's sold? When do I move? When do I get my money?

That's the bottom line, right? It's about moving and getting your money from the sale. All the rest is done to get you there in as timely and profitable a fashion as possible. Here's to your smooth move.

Radon Testing Reasons

Recently, I asked Dallas Collins of Precise Radon Testing Labs why home buyers would consider the extra expense of having their prospective, new home tested for radon levels. We don't easily identify radon-it is a colorless, odorless, unchemically reactive, heavy gas. Radon gas has a radioactive isotope that is a product of uranium's nuclear decay. The EPA puts safe levels at or below 4.0 picocuries/L of air.

So check out this blog for more details: preciseradontesting.blogspot.com

What's your decision as a buyer? To test or not to test, that is the question....

Questions to Ask Your Mortgage Loan Originator

The latest from the 2010 required Realtor Update course.

Consider these when choosing your next lender.

*What will the monthly payment be for every month of the loan, and could it increase?(When could it increase? What would my new payment be? Could my monthly payment incrase more than once?)
*Does the monthly payment include an escrow amount to pay for my property taxes and homeowners insurance? Or must I pay these costs on my own? If I have to pay on my own, can you give me an estimate so I can budget accordingly?
*What is the term of the loan (for example 15 years or 30 years)? How many payments will I have to make? Would the loan be paid off at the end or would I still owe a "balloon" payment?
*Will I have to pay prepayment penalties to refinance and pay off the loan early? If so, how much, and when would they apply? If the loan has an introductory or tease rate, can I refinance without penalties before the rate resets and my payment increases?
*Is the person I am speaking to on my mortgage a state of Colorado licensed loan originator?

DORA, the Department of Regulatory Agengies in Colorado, suggests that people verify they are working with licensed lenders or people who are exempt from licensure. Further, they recommend checking out these tips:
*Consumer Corner: availableon the Division's website at http://www.dora.state.co.su/real-estate
*Complaints with the Commission can be made online by clicking the "complaint process" button on the Division's home page.
*Look up mortgage licensees online by clicking the "search licensees" button on the Division's home page.

Aid 4-Mile Canyon Fire Victims and Local Food Bank

Want to do something for those who lost their homes in the recent 4-Mile Canyon fires?

Are you concerned about the increasing number of people who go rely on the local food bank for groceries as times are tough?

Do something about it. Bring your donations to our fundraiser this coming Sunday, September 26th from 1 pm to 3pm. The location is 3360 W 98th Pl, unit A, West minster, CO 80031. See the invitation below for more details. We're having an Open House to gather the donations. As a thank you we'll have live jazz by a local trio and nibbles. (Yes, Broncos fans, the game will be on in the loft, too!) So you could say, we're having an Open House with Purpose!

Hope to see you there!

Make The Final Walk-Through Useful

Here're some good ideas for that final walk through before closing. It's usually a day or so before closing and all inspection items have been completed, you hope. For those who like check lists, check this out...

Lease Options, Wraps, other ways to get a property

Recently a couple of clients asked me about rent-to-own, rent-to-buy, lease option and other alternatives to a straight purchase or a straight lease. This article by Karen J. Radakovich, Esq. (counsel with Frascona, Joiner, Goodman, and Greenstein) discusses some of the pros and cons of this netherland between leasing and purchasing a property. You may care to read this article before contacting your lawyer to draw up an agreement that links renting and buying.

Spot On: Getting a Mortgage Loan Today

This recent article in Forbes correctly identifies the current market for home mortgages.

I would further add that a buyer putting down 25%, who has substantial assets liquid in the bank, a stellar credit score, and is no longer working for a salary (read retired or independent contractor), will find it harder to get a loan for an investment property than a person of modest means and decent credit scores with 3.5% down purchasing their primary residence.

Once again the resale markets for residential loans are driving the market. What is and is not possible is not governed by ability to pay as much as ability for the lender to resell the loan with other mortgage backed securities. That was the essence of the mortgage crisis earlier. To the other absurd extreme we go! The good news is that people are gettting loans. It's just harder across the board, no matter how qualified a buyer is.