May 2009 bring better real estate and stock market.

Wishing you the best of health in the coming year.

Every professional provides free services (pro bono)to clients and Realtors are no different.

My favorite pro bono is a “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO) in West Chester.  His property has been for sale for over 18 months- 6 months with 2 different real estate companies and 12 months (give or take a month) as a FSBO.  Currently there are 81 single family homes for sale in West Chester/Beckett Ridge priced between $250,000- $400,000.

Our first contact was a phone call questioning something I had written in the blog- and when I didn’t back down - he decided I was his new “best friend”. 

We chat every couple of weeks - most recently he was looking for fresh ideas about marketing his home….lowering the price is not something he likes to hear.

Why do I put up with his calls and emails- well in his favor is a wicked sense of humor….and I have learned from him too.  He is extremely polite and always questions whether I have time to talk.  So we talk and talk and talk…

Right before Christmas he wanted to run an ad in the newspaper- but didn’t like the cost.  I pointed out the bulk of buyers (84%) use the internet to search for homes- having your information online is more important than ever.  My pro bono”FSBO” has a neat informational web page - but it rarely shows up when buyers search West Chester real estate or homes for sale.

Other things we have worked through and are common mistakes hampering many For Sale by Owners:

• Hard to show the property.  He wants to be home and his schedule doesn’t always fit the buyer’s schedules
• “Puppy dogging” -following closely behind the buyers- pointing out everything- never allowing the buyers “private time”.
• Wasting his time with buyers looking for a land contract, seller held mortgages or lease options- this seller is not interested in any of these.
• Emailing oversized photo ads/informational pieces to area Realtors.  Many of these emails are caught in company spam blockers or are so large- that it takes more than a minute to open the attachment.
• Overpriced, Overpriced, Overpriced-this isn’t unique to FSBO’s.

If you are trying to sell your own property- put a buyer’s hat on and think about making it easy for everybody.   Screen out problem buyers by asking questions before you set an appointment.  Take a look at homes for sale in your area and price accordingly.

Finally, find a realtor willing to do “pro bono” work and listen to all their suggestions! (No I do  not want this particular listing because he is priced 20% over the market and will likely still be for sale most of 2009)

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009!

What would Scrooge say about today’s current real estate market West Chester, Fairfield and Cincinnati?

Rhetorical question- but some of the values we should have learned over time seemed to have disappeared.

Yesterday I read an interesting article by Rick Newman (US News and World Report) titled “The 10 Worst Assumptions of 2008″. 

I would like to add to his assumptions:

• Mortgage rates will drop below 4.75%.  They might- but then again they might not.  Rates are around 5.47% on a 30 year fixed-well below the 6.11% a year ago.  If you are waiting for a magic mortgage rate before purchasing a home- what are you going to do if rates actually go up a bit?  There are no guarantees about the future.
• Sellers are giving their properties away-in order to sell them.  Not really.  True, people who purchased homes for more than they could afford may be in a bind (about 10-15% or our current market).  The average seller may not net 2005 prices- but if they are buying another piece of real estate - they aren’t paying 2005 prices.  Long term owners (more than 6 years) are usually walking away from home sales with money in their pockets.
• Homes are investments.  Yes they are, but I still see ads for equity loans using your property as collateral.  If you borrow against your “investment” you are depleting its overall value and when it you sell- the money you loaned yourself needs to be repaid.

“A Christmas Carol” is a classic story about a man who gets a second chance at life- maybe we should look at today’s market as a second chance to do it right and responsibly.

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati, condo and single family home sales are behind for the same time frame in 2007.

No big surprise - although our local economy is fairly stable- real estate buyers seem to be waiting for further price and interest rate declines.

If you need more detailed information about your complex or unit- call or email.