Newton Houses in High Demand, But Are You Positioning Your Home Correctly?

November 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Newton real estate is in high demand and in analyzing the market for Newton houses; you find almost across the board, the market is favoring sellers. Inventory of houses on market in Newton is just meeting demand or falling shy of it in some price ranges.

The price range with most pressure is the $800,000-$899,999 price range in Newton, with only one month of inventory. Houses in this price range are sitting the least time on the market at only 51 days.

Alternatively, luxury Newton homes priced $3,000,000-$3,999,999 have 16 months of supply. This means the sellers can expect their house to sell in 16 months, even if their home is the best of the lot.

What does this mean to you if you are selling your house in Newton?

First, you can use this information to set expectations on roughly how long it will take to sell your home. The months of supply tell you if you have a lot or little competition in relation to the demand in recent months. Many people thing the average days on market is the best indication for how long it will take for a home to sell. But average days on market don’t always go hand in hand with months of supply.

Second, if you plan to price your home near the top or bottom of a price range, it may make sense to price higher or lower just a bit. For example, if you plan to price your Newton home just over $900,000, it may be worth to price your home at $899,999 where you’ll have less competition and more buyers.

No matter where your home is priced, and regardless of competition, there is a guaranteed way to a quicker and easier home sale. To beat the competition you must offer the best value in the price range. This doesn’t mean you should have the biggest, newest, prettiest house, but the one offering the most solutions for buyers for every dollar they spend.

Next, the house needs to be marketed correctly, online exposure being the single most important element of property marketing. Regardless of the low inventory and high demand, to attract a better buyer faster who’d pay top dollar for your home, your house must stand out in the crowd of 152 Newton houses.

A home priced correctly and marketed properly, should be the first one sold in the price range, within the period of months of supply. Newton houses may be a hot commodity in most price ranges, but there are still houses lingering on market for months without an offer. Don’t be the home seller of such a house.

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Where to Advertise a FSBO? The FSBO Online Resource List

October 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

Real estate agents deliver tremendous value to home sellers and home buyers. I have a belief in the importance of my work and it seems my clients agree. Yet, some homeowners want to venture into the world of For-Sale-By-Owners. In another post of tips for FSBO’s, I’ve shared some key elements for success.

In this post I’ve compiled a list of online resources for FSBO’s. Choose to work with those that best suit your property and budget.

  1. For Sale By Owner.com This is the most well known website for FSBO’s, with a 14 day free trial. You can post up to 6 photos, print flyers, write a description of the home. Once you are a paying customer, your home can be advertised on Realtor.com and MLS.
  2. Owners.com. Lot’s of online resources, high satisfaction rating, and a connection with Realtor.com and MLS.
  3. Craig’s List. Post for free, but ensure you do not post your ad more than once a week. Be aware that you will likely receive inquiries from bargain hunters.
  4. All The Listings.com. Post your ad for free, claimed to be search-engine friendly. You have premium membership options.
  5. FSBOads.com. Free advertising until the closing date.
  6. Miadomo.com. Claiming worldwide exposure for you ad, a free listing allows for 12 pictures, and $2 more if you want to be a “featured” listing.
  7. Virtual FSBO.com. Offering flat fee MLS, and syndication to Google Real Estate and other FSBO websites.
  8. Caagal.com. Free advertising for your property, wherever it is!
  9. Backpage.com. This website will remind you of what Craig’s List used to be. Clean, simple, great place to find anything.
  10. And one more resource. If you are selling your real estate in the Boston area, I’ll happily write a blog post about your home and promote it through my distribution channels. Write me directly if you are interested.

Be aware when you search for where to post your advertisement for your home, some websites are a lead generation resource for Realtors. This is not necessarily bad, but it is unlikely to fill your need for exposure for your home.

Good luck!

photo by: MïK
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Should I Renovate My Home or Sell It?

August 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the most popular question I get these days is “Should I renovate my home or sell it.” Everyone’s situation is different so everyone comes to a different conclusion. It’s a loaded question because it involves many variables and a big undertaking whatever you choose.

Speak to your real estate broker about your options. First, here are the questions you can ask yourself to come a bit closer to what’s best for you.

Is my home in my ideal current location?

If you are living in a neighborhood you love and in which you want to stay, that’s one point on the side of renovation. But what if you always really wanted to live on the other side of town, or a different town altogether? With very low mortgage rates, the timing is perfect to consider an area that seemed a bit out of reach some years ago.

No matter what you do to your current house, it will stay put, you will have the same view out the windows, same noise from the road, same cherry tree in the yard.

To what extent do I have to renovate this house to be ideal?

Is a bathroom renovation and kitchen update enough or are you ready to strip the house to the studs and put in dormers? If you considering an extensive renovation, I hope you like a project. If you are not easily annoyed by people working power tools in your home at 7AM, by all means, learn more about renovating.

What would my return on investment be on the renovation?

The cost of the renovation will be key to figuring out the financial cost and benefit of moving versus renovating. If you spend money on a renovation with only a 50% return if you should sell the home, then the outlay is a waste. For example, in a 1800 square foot Colonial a $35,000 renovation on kitchen and bath can add $50,000 to the property’s value. A $90,000 renovation on the same kitchen and bath may only be worth an added $65,000. It depends on the house, the location, and the renovation.

What will I be able to afford if I sell and buy a new home?

If you can add $100,000 to the price you get for your home, you may surprise at what you can afford! Actually, you may be completely discouraged. Obviously, it depends on the market and where you are looking to move. Learn the value of your home, get a pre-approval, and spend some time at open houses to learn if what you can spend brings you closer to your ideal.

What do I want to do?

This may seem like an obvious question but it amazes me how many people don’t ask themselves what they really want. Much of my work as a real estate agent is to uncover the true needs and desires of clients, because they are not sure.

If you love the idea of renovating and staying where you are, then the financial consideration are secondary. If you are ready to move and feel you want to be elsewhere, then focus on finding something better, rather than wasting time with a renovation that will leave you dissatisfied.

The variables to consider when asking yourself if to move or renovate are both financial and emotional. The key is to find the balance where one does not so outweigh the other you will be left with remorse. Your first step is to get all the facts: you home’s value, its value once renovated, and what homes are available in your price range.

Contact me if you have any questions about any of these issues, and we’ll put together a plan that works around your true needs and wants.

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The First Seven Steps Your Realtor Must Take

August 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

You’ve signed the listing agreement, now what?

Between the signing of the listing agreement and the second week your home is on the market, there is an enormous amount of work for the listing agent. Done right, completing these tasks lays a solid foundation for a successful marketing plan for your home.

Here are the first seven things a listing broker must do once a new listing is signed.

  1. Paperwork. There is lots of paperwork. Some paperwork is mandated by the Commonwealth, some of it is by the company. The agent has to have all of the paperwork complete and in order. I even fill out paperwork for the sign installation, but some agents in very small firms will install the sign. If your agent is not highly organized and complete, it may reflect on a sloppy company or other sloppy work.
  2. Preparing the home for sale. It is you duty to prepare the home to look it’s best. But it is your agent’s duty to be helpful. Your listing agent should spend time with you and either advice or referring you to a staging professional. It is vital you take your agent’s advice or hire a staging professional. The home you live in should not look like the home you sell.
  3. Photographs. The listing agent’s third order of business is to arrange to take photographs of the property. Preparing the home for sale and great photos is the groundwork for a successful marketing campaign. Photographs, and any other media such as floor plans and home tour, are the materials necessary to market the home online and to attract the right buyers.
  4. Calendar. You should know when the agent plans to hold open houses and establish a schedule for showings. Some people refuse to show homes on Saturdays or need a day or two notice. Your agent must know your limitations and work with them. You should know what happens when, including any promotions, mailings, office tours, broker open houses, etc.
  5. MLS. With photos in hand, the agent is ready to enter the home into Multiple Listing Service. If done right, this takes some time. A complete MLS entry is the goal, including room measurements, building and area information, public records data, description, related documents, etc. The MLS entry of your home must look perfect the first moment it is published. Once it’s “live”, it is send to anyone in the system looking for a home like yours. People tend to skip homes with incomplete information and bad pictures. The very first days of the listing are most important to your marketing plan!
  6. Online Promotion. MLS and some brokerage firms syndicate listings all over the web. Listings will feed into websites such as Homes.com, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc. These syndication are the lifeblood of the online marketing campaign. When 88% of home buyers searched online for homes last year, this is a big piece of successfully marketing a property. Tech savvy agents who understand the importance of online marketing pay for their own syndication feeds which override any company or MLS feed. This gives the listing agent more control over what the audience sees and allows buyers to directly contact the listing agent, rather than the office.
  7. Direct Mail. A “just listed” card to a radius around your home should be sent the first week the home goes on market. Just listed cards peak neighbors’ interest and they spread the word about your home in their beloved neighborhood. This is also a perfect marketing opportunity for a neighbor considering a new home who want to stay in the area.

There is so much to do the first few weeks of a listing. After that, the work load is lessened until the offers come. Still, you should expect updates on activity and a regular marketing effort that continues through the life of the listing.

To receive a copy of my Home Selling Plan, click here.

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Today’s Home Selling: Listing Agents as SEO Expert

July 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Selling a home used to be characterized by three activities: putting up a yard sign, hosting an open house, and advertising in the paper. Some agents did this extremely well. If selling your home was that simple, no wonder so many people chose to sell homes by themselves.

These days, selling your home is a lot more complex and requires a new level of sophistication. Listing agents need to be search engine optimizing (SEO) experts. Most agents don’t understand this yet. Brookline Realtors, Newton MA real estate agents, and Boston real estate in general often lag behind in these matters.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 88% of buyers use the internet in their home search, and I bet that number is even higher in the Greater Boston Area. Where else would you begin any search for anything? When you are finding answers to your queries, it means someone has taken the time to put content together and optimize for you to find.

Home searches are not just beginning online, but they continue online as well. Buyers don’t stop their search as they get closer to finding their home. Photos, floor plans, videos and information is reviewed and used to make shorter lists of homes to see. Online home profiles are used to compare and contrast homes and to make final decisions as well.

If this is how buyers choose to consume information, it is the listing brokers’ responsibility to feed that information accordingly. A successful online marketing strategy for a home has two functions. First, to be found by as many targeted buyers as possible. To be easily found is great, but quality trumps quantity. I would rather have five visitors to the home who are qualified, ready to buy, and are the right fit for the home than 25 visitors who are browsing and curious.

The second function of a successful online marketing strategy for a home is appeal. Your home needs to look amazing online. Professional photos, floor plans, complete information, and a video all help. More than ever the preparation for a home sale is important so the photographs and videos inspire the buyer to schedule an appointment.

Incomplete information may have been acceptable in the days when the buyer’s agent was the gatekeeper of information, but no more. Any listing agent who’s marketing plan focuses on open houses, yard signs, and advertising is missing the point, and a good chunk of good buyers for your home.

How did you find your home? How long ago was that?

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FSBO Do’s and Don’t Introduction

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I don’t know why anyone wants to be a FSBO – for sale by owner. To me, selling your own property is like doing your own dental work, a bad idea. But let’s say you super-glued your chipped tooth and want another adventure. Here are the do’s and don’ts for a sale-by-owner if you want a shot of succeeding.

Do pay a commission to buyer’s agents. The buyer’s agent compensation is figured into the prices of professionally listed homes. Agents who will bring buyers probably have a contract for compensation, so you will pay it either way. It will either be part of the offer price, or your offer price will be lower by that amount. So expect to pay for a buyer’s agent.

Don’t assume you’ll sell to unrepresented buyers. Buyers don’t want to be unrepresented, partly because they don’t want to deal with you, dear home seller. First-time home buyers are especially savvy at interviewing and choosing their buyer’s agent. They also understand it is the best way to buy a home, at no added cost. Move-up buyers are usually also selling a property, and working with an agent on both the buy and sell.

Unrepresented buyers are usually in earlier stages of their home search and likely not ready to buy. They may come over to look at your home, maybe even love it and you may hit it off. That is a far cry from putting money on the table.

Do list on Multiple Listing Service. There are brokerages that will list your home on MLS for a nominal fee. You must do it for the chance of brokers and buyers finding you. This is the most important source of information for anyone in the real estate market.

Do have information packages ready for buyers. At the very least, provide town records information. Include pictures, a floor plan, and a list of improvements you’ve done in recent years. Off season photos are nice, too, and any interesting house history. Don’t forget the price, condo fees, and taxes!

Don’t hide information. Share what you know to be true, even defects you have chosen not to repair. You are liable for what you know about the house, and remember, inspection is coming anyway. Termite damage, roof leaks, water damage, wet basement…I’m a big fan of honesty and disclosure.

A great way to get some marketing ideas is to follow some of the area homes on the market, and go to open houses. Who knows, maybe you’ll do very well and find yourself in a new career. But if you get sick of it, or for some reason the home is not selling, give me a call and we’ll fix that.

Good luck!

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How to Choose a Listing Agent to Sell Your Home

June 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I hope you invest some time to look for the right listing agent to sell your home. You don’t want to be the one telling the story of how you hired your cousin’s connection who dabbles in real estate, or your agent is an out- of-town friend, or how you called just one of the big companies and hired whoever walked in the door.

At an average price of about $1,000,000 in the Brookline and Newton area, you’d think an approximate paycheck of $50,000 warrants some investigation. The truth is that many potential home are overwhelmed by the research, and some bully agents discourage it. Here are some tips to choosing the right real estate agent for you.

  1. Call several offices. Take the time and speak to a few companies. And don’t just stick to the two big ones in Chestnut hill, Brookline and Newton. Call some boutique agency, maybe a mid-sized office, or perhaps a brand new realty office just opened. This way you’ll get a variety of perspectives on the marketing options, and you’ll choose what you think works best. There are pros and cons to various sized companies, much of it depends on your comfort level and the agent representing the company.
  2. Remember, it’s about the agent. If you don’t like the agent, things will end badly regardless of the brokerage firm. You’ll be going on a long bumpy ride with this agent, so choose someone you feel is hard working, understands fiduciary obligations, and someone you’ll enjoy working with. Yes, it’s personal.
  3. What’s the marketing plan? You need a clear plan of action of how your home will be marketed. You need to know the marketing plan that will be implemented, and that your home’s sale is a top priority. What will be done, when will it be done, and by whom should all be answered. As Brian Tracy said, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” It always amazes me some agents are still “winging it.”
  4. Local market knowledge. It is vital a listing agent knows as much as possible about the local market. An agent planning on listing your home should have seen other homes in your neighborhood, and understand local housing trends. For example, the Newton market the past spring was extremely busy, and multiple offers very common. Yet the numbers show single family home prices are down in Newton about 10% this year. Does your agent know the seasonal price changes, and how it affects the pricing for your home?

The right listing agent will have a great marketing plan, in-depth knowledge of the local housing market, and the backing of a brokerage firm you like. But most importantly, your listing agent will be someone with whom you’ll feel comfortable and confident to make very big decisions.

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Caught in the Bad Information Trap? No More Zestimates for Brookline and Newton!

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Are you addicted to Zillow? It’s so easy to sink into that site. I admit to getting caught up in it when trying to get a picture of real estate in other parts of the United States. My real estate curiosity doesn’t end in Newton, Brookline and Boston. But then I remember, the injustice Zillow does to my neighborhood, it does elsewhere.

Don’t get me wrong. I love that information is totally accessible and easy to use. It’s those Zestimates that drive me nuts. Zestimates 50% off are not uncommon. In price ranges we have in Newton and Brookline, even 15% off a useless estimate.

Just because something is computer generated doesn’t make it right. A lot goes into pricing real estate, variables a computer just can’t compute. From experience, I believe the Zestimates are a combination of recent sales data and the public records. This is incomplete information.

I’ve encountered Zestimates used in two different ways. First, by sellers. “Zillow said my home is worth $950,000 and you’re telling me to put it on market for $800,000???!!!” Well, Zillow didn’t know that the square footage in your public records is wrong, that your house is a “contractor’s dream” and your back-yard is a puddle.

Buyers sometimes try to use the Zestimate to come up with a price for a house when they want to make an offer. This makes me so nervous! Offer too much for a home and you are overpaying. Offer too little and your are missing out on a home that may make you very happy.

If you want to continue using Zillow in your search, be mindful and ignore the Zestimates. You’ll do better looking at recent sales (and make sure they are recent), and comparing them to each other and your subject property. Done professionally, it is called a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA).

Better yet, ask your agent for a CMA whether buying or selling. For buyers, your buyer agent should provide you with a CMA before you make an offer. For home owners, a market analysis is usually a free service, and one that is provided happily and without obligation. This is your best bet, especially if you trust your agent. Leave the Zestimate for your home in Zewton or Zookline.

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Three Reasons to Sell Your Brighton Condo Now

April 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Time to Sell?

It has been a tough ride for Brighton condo owners who have been on the fence about selling. The average time one lives in their first condo is about seven years, and many who bought in the boom are approaching, well, a bit of claustrophobia.

But the Brighton condo market has perked up as many first time home buyers are buying. If you have been on the fence about selling the condo, here are a few reasons to consider that now is the time.

1. Market is Hot! The Brighton condo market has been enjoying a lot of activity and we also see a bit of a pop in prices. If you’ve had a market analysis done a year or two ago, it is time for a new one. Contact your favorite agent, or shop around for someone who can give you a realistic selling price. You may be pleasantly surprised.

2. Move-Up Time! I assume if you are selling a condo, you’ll be buying another home. If so, this is your market. Even if you forgo some equity in your Brighton condo, your next home will have a very low mortgage rate, (probably lower than your current one, unless you refinanced recently). You can take advantage of an active local market, while where you move may only be starting to perk-up.

3. Conditions Will Change! The market is hot now, the mortgage rates are low now. Who knows for how long this window of opportunity will last. One year, maybe two? Do not wait for the boom market of the 2000′s, it is not coming back for a long time. Most likely your condo is worth less now than it did in 2007.

You probably loved seeing the value of your home going up and up. But just because it was worth $275,000 in 2008 does not mean it will sell for that in the next ten years. That valuation is meaningless now, as it was meaningless then if you were not in the market to sell. Do not get attached to the past value of the condo.

The questions you must ask yourself are; do I want to move? If so, can I afford it? Between a good Brighton real estate agent and a reliable mortgage broker, you can get answers to both.

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Choosing Your Boston Area Real Estate Broker: Big Chain or Small Local Firm?

April 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are creatures of comfort. We tend to like the known and choose the familiar. This is true especially with big financial decisions, such as selling or buying a home.

In the Boston area you are blessed with seemingly endless options of real estate brokers to represent you. But when the same three companies are dominating your area’s for-sale signs, it is likely you’ll choose to call those three. I don’t blame you.

But here’s some insider information, from someone who has sold real estate in the Boston Area through three different real estate firms. Here some major differences between choosing a big chain or small local firm.
1. Customization. Big real estate firms offer some great services, but they’ll never truly customize to your needs. The offices streamline the business for good reason - efficiency, timeliness and organization. But in this need to avoid chaos, the individual need of the client is lost.

A small firm has much more flexibility, and thus a greater ability to market your home appropriately, and cater to buyer clients easily. No cookie-cutter marketing plans.

For example, I worked with a large agency and there were specific marketing steps to take, a checklist of materials and deadlines to meet. But many marketing methods were useless to the type of properties I was selling. I did not have the option to move the money from, say, newspaper ads to online exposure.

2. Agent Control. You’d think a big company would have more resources, and thus be able to meet your needs. In a large firm, the agent has company rules and timelines, less control over the transaction. In a small firm, the business is centered around the individual agents, giving the agent control.

If you were a repeat client and I wanted to give you a discount on commission, my large agency would cut my pay substantially. The company would not compromise over its share of the commission. After marketing expenses, I could be left with nothing.

3. The Office Space. Real estate offices of large firms, especially in the Boston Area, seem to be on a race of which is fancier and more modern. Sure they look nice, but do they have a purpose? Most real estate client meetings are not in the office, but in your homes or touring properties.

So next time you are impressed by the lobby of a big-name agency think about this: it’s there to attract the agents, more than anyone else. Real estate agencies must keep hiring agents all the time, it’s the most important job of the sales manager. A nice office surely helps.

This has nothing to do with the quality of service you get. Most agents are on the go with a smart phone. Busy agents are not in the office much. As my first manager used to say, “If you are in the office, you’re not selling real estate.”

4. Broker versus Agent. Large companies have call centers and agents on “floor duty,” answering the calls. As a seller, this is not good for you. Picture this: a potential buyer sees the sign or ad, calls up the company number, and one of two things happen. Either the buyer gets a call back a while later from the agent, or talks with a “floor duty” agent who has no connection to your home. This agent’s job is to pick-up business and sell that buyer anything, not your home.

Wouldn’t you rather have the buyer connect directly with your agent, intent on selling your home ASAP?

Next time you consider hiring a real estate broker in the Boston area, please consider to get out of the real estate comfort zone, and perhaps aspire to a for-sale sign that is not blue.

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