Jul. 4, 2008 - Should I Sell My House Now or Wait?
Recently I am meeting three kinds of people who are considering selling their current home. Some are buying a bigger home, while others are buying a smaller home, and some are selling and renting.
Use the same line of thinking from my previous article, that is to expect the market to be down over the next 3-5 years. Sellers have missed the peak of the market, for sure. But really, who can pick absolute peak without hindsight?
Yes, I think if you sell this year you will sell for less than you could have sold for last year. But I also think the liklihood is that you WILL sell for less than this year, if you are already considering selling and decide to wait.
Let's say the market goes down for 3 years and not 5. It could still stay flat for two years after that. It could take 7 years for it to get back to where it is now or where it was last year. Can you see yourself waiting for 7 years? Can you hang in there without home equity loans or cash-out REFIs for 7 years? If no, then bite the bullet and sell now, and forget that you could have gotten more last year.
More importantly, know that when you sell your home you are "Paid in Full" and hopefully "Debt-Free" for a split second when you close escrow. Now think hard about what that means to you in your life at the moment.
If you are young, and your income is high, you want to talk to an accountant about what you are losing in tax write offs and seek appropriated advices about what to do next.
If you are near retirement and don't see yourself retiring where you are but still need to work where you are, consider renting where you are and buying where you will be retiring. Talk to an accountant about being able to claim your future home as your current primary residence and the requirements for doing that.
If you need a home for your family, your pets and your hobbies and cannot enjoy your life in a rental for many reasons, then buy wisely. Buy in the best area your money can buy, so that you are buying in the strongest of markets and the one that will go down the least and spring back first.
Look at selling and becoming Debt-Free as an opportunity to start over from this point forward. Shake all of the advices out of your head, yes even mine! :) Ask youself what would make you happiest rigfht now in terms of where to live and what to live in. Make yourself happy...life's too short. But when you consider "happy" don't forget to consider the financial aspects of paying the monthly cost of where you will be going.
Make yourself as happy as you can without over-extending yourself. Pick the best where and the best what...and don't forget "the sleep factor".
Mar. 15, 2008 - Pottery Barn Paint Colors - Benjamin Moore
I often recommend that people check out Pottery Barn paint colors when trying to decide on a paint color when getting their home ready for market. Plain white or off-white is often just too boring, and in a market with lots of other homes on market, sometimes you want to stand out a bit.
I am writing this post today for a man Kim and I visited this week who is preparing a home for market over in Shoreline. A small home in a private, lush setting with medium colored wood trims around the wall of garden windows and for kitchen cabinetry. I recommended that he use a little color in the high vaulted walls in the kitchen to accent the height of the space. You don't want to use colors that are too dark anywhere in a small space. Perhaps semolina in the kitchen and stem green in the master bedroom areas. By painting both the bedroom and the dressing area the same color, you expand the size of the master space beyond just the bedroom.
For a small home with medium colored natural wood trims, the colors that work best together from the above list are semolina, stem green, suntan yellow, brookside moss
Due to the coloring of the millwork, I recommend from the above chart, Semolina, Stem Green. Semolina may be a little too bright except in the kitchen where there is not much wall space due to the cabinets. Stem Green in both the kitchen would likely work well, but I don't think semolina can carry into the bedroom. Suntan and acadia look nice together, but you want the house to blend well with all of the lush dark greens peeking in from the outside.
A little color goes a long way in a small home and Pottery Barn clearly spends a ton of money determining which colors are popular at any given time. You can benefit from their research dollars by emulating or choosing from their prechosen colors.
The right color can really make your millwork pop.
Here in Seattle where you want a lot of internal brightness to compensate for the lack of sun, painting only the angled accent walls, instead of the entire room, keeps everyting light and bright even when the weather says otherwise.
Did you ever ask yourself how it can be that you meet people all the time that first saw the home they live in at an Open House. Yet if you Google "Open Houses" you get story upon story of how Open Houses rarely, if ever, help to sell a house?
Did you ever ask yourself why you can't drive through any neighborhood on a Sunday between 1 and 4 without running into scads of Open House tent signs pointing to an Open House, if they don't work?
Mainly it's because Open Houses DO work for the owner who is selling the house but they DON'T work for the agent who is holding the house open. Many people see a house at an Open House and then call their agent to buy it. The same agents who will say Open Houses don't work, will be the same runs crying the blues that a buyer who came to an Open House bought the house...but not with the Open House agent.
Because often the agent holding the Open House is not the listing agent, you read many stories about how they are a "waste of time". They are not a waste of time for the owner who is trying to sell the house...but often they are a waste of time for the agent who stands to gain nothing if both the seller and buyer have an agent...but the Open House agent is "none of the above."
Open Houses DO work, and often, for the seller. Sometimes people go home after an Open House and can't get that house out of their mind. They come back later with their own agent and buy it.
Mar. 6, 2008 - Pricing Your Home Right and Having Patience
It is more difficult now more than ever to determine whether or not you have priced your home right.
With average days on market doubling in many areas, it is hard to tell if you are not getting showings and offers because your price is incorrect, or simply because there are fewer buyers in the marketplace.
It is not unusual for buyers to want to see price reductions, but it is also not unusual for buyers to want to pay less than asking price. Consequently you could get a triple whammy if you lower your price to get an offer, the offers are coming in at less than asking price AND then you get hit hard at the time of the Home Inspection.
Still, I think the next 6 months will be better than the last six. Just try to be more patient, more flexible, and try not to worry if you don't get an offer in the first 10 days. The market is not a Buyer's Market and still leans to the seller side for the most part, but only if the seller is realistic and pays a lot of attention to condition and pricing well.
Feb. 28, 2008 - Where is the Seattle Real Estate Market Going?
Every week on Rain City Guide, I have been posting data from King County Home Sales.
Click here for weekly statistics from Jauary 6th or so of 2008 to present.
The big news is that volume is down pretty much across the board by just over 30%. That many fewer homes are selling compared the the same months a year prior and that started in September or so of 2007.
Days on Market has also been affect to the point where it is taking most owners about twice as long to sell their properties.
Determining if the reduction in number of sales and the lengthening of days on market has impacted prices yet, and if so what extent, is not an easy calculation. Every year the expansion of price happens in the months from April through July. So we will be watching closely to see if the Seattle Area squeezes any appreciation into 2008 during those months.
For those of you trying to decide whether or not to sell your home in 2008, you need to ask yourself this question. If you do not sell in 2008, when will you likely sell at a later time?
While it is true that selling in 2008 may be more difficult than in the hot market of 2005 or in the next hot market, you may be totally screwed if you are waiting a short time vs. selling now.
Let's assume for a moment that we are at a point near the peak or just past the peak of that bell curve. If it takes three years to get to the bottom of the valley and eight years past that to get above the previous peak, you may be better off selling in 2008. Maybe that will be a fraction less than you could have gotten had you sold 12 months ago. But it very well could be 20% more than you will eventually sell for, if you can't wait until a very long time from now.
The expectation of market changes is that since prices have doubled, they may drop back by 30% or even 50% before the rise up again to values higher than the current peak. It's OK to wait...but ask yourself this. What exactly are you waiting FOR and how long can you wait for THAT?
If your current sale price is double what you paid for it, and you want to move, then DO IT! Don't worry so much about whether you could have sold it for more several months ago. Worry more about whether or not you will be forced to sell it for even less if you wait.
I dubbed 2007 the year of the Never Ending January. In January of almost any given year, stale inventory from "the previous year", which on Jan 1 could be two weeks ago, sits - while everyone runs for "the hot NEW listing".
In most years, that January market fades into "high season" long before this time of year. But in 2007 we seem to be having a never ending January. New listings are either gobbled up quickly, or left to go stale and rot along with the rest of the stale inventory, some of which is still hanging around since 2006.
Is the market slow? I can't say it's slow, since my most recent seller closing had its best offer in less than 12 hours, and sold at top dollar. What we are seeing are buyers being exceptionally discerning, and looking really hard for value. We are also seeing buyers saying, at these interest rates THAT just isn't worth it. The rise in interest rates, though only up a fraction, has had an impact on people's willingness to buy.
They will still buy a property, but they are also willing to pass it by if the seller is being unreasonable as to price, or if negotiations go back and forth into a first or second counter. Price and condition of property has NEVER been more important, in recent history, as it is today.
Both buyers and sellers have to really roll up their sleeves and be careful about valuing the property they are selling or buying. There is no margin for error! The days of being "about right" as to home value are OVER! A hair off as to price can make the difference between "in escrow" and being thrown on the pile of "no one wants 'em". And once you land in the "stale inventory" pile, it's really, really hard to get out.
Not a good time for agents to "be nice" to sellers and let them "try their price" without strong warnings regarding how that stance may cost them $10,000 or more somewhere down the line. Consumers need to bite the bullet and find an agent they may not like, who will give them the cold-hard facts. Being a little bit wrong right now, can cost you plenty.
Because I rarely agree with other real estate professionals, I thought I'd put some links to what other "tips" are available out there in Cyberspace, regarding Getting Your Home Ready For Market. Then I will provide Ardell's Advices On Getting Your House Ready For Market, which are bound to be quite different from the generic advices available on the Internet.
Let's take that book up there as an example. I didn't even open the cover yet, and I already disagree with the author.
Read the yellow print. Is your goal to make "the inside of your house A SELLER"S DREAM"? Of course not. It is your goal to make the inside of your house A BUYER'S DREAM!" and there is, in fact, quite a huge difference between the two.
ARDELL'S ADVICES ON HOW TO GET YOUR HOME READY FOR MARKET.
Priority 1 - Set your budget
I have used the same number for 17 years, and it never fails me. The Seller sometimes fails me by not listening :). but not the number itself. It's simple. No one should ever spend LESS than 1/2 of 1% of the sale price to get their home ready for market or MORE than 1% of the sale price. So if your sale price (not asking price) is expected to be $500,000, then you spend $2,500 to $5,000. If your expected sale price is $190,000, then you spend between $800 and $1,900. The lower the number you have to work with, the more you may have to do the work yourself. Don't blow your whole budget on one item. It will be a waste of money.
Priority 2 - Make a list of things you SHOULD do
No one is EVER going to do everything they SHOULD do, so it is very important to make this a COMPLETE list, knowing you will not do all of them. Don't make a list of what you WANT to do...that come's later. This first list is everything...absolutely everything. I don't care if it is 45 pages long at the end...we want to see everything first.
DON'T MAKE THIS LIST!!! THE SELLER CANNOT BE THE ONE WHO MAKES THIS LIST, unless he is the one with the pencil and someone else is telling the seller what to write on the paper. Forget those advices in the links that tell you to look at your house differently. Listen to me on this one. You CAN'T EVER look at your house like a buyer will. How do I know this? Try seventeen years in the field. NO ONE CAN! NO ONE! If you live near me, then call me. I will do this with you even if you are going to sell For Sale By Owner. The best person to do this is an agent, but not just any agent. It must be someone who isn't afraid of hurting your feelings. Many agents are too afraid of hurting your feelings, and you must be present during this process. They are afraid "they won't get the business" if they hurt your feelings. So hire somone who is a straight shooter and will tell you the truth. Not many are.
Many agents want to tell you the truth AFTER you sign the contract to hire them, as they are afraid to tell you the truth before then. Some NEVER want to tell you the truth, they want "the market" do to that, so they don't EVER have to. I say that for reasons of transparency, and not to badmouth other agents. You MUST know this enough to recognize it when it happens. So if that is the case, and you can feel it, trust your instincts and hire them now with instructions to NOT let anyone see the house and NOT to put a sign up until the house is ready, IF that's what you have to do to get some honest advice.
Don't want to call an agent? Then pay three strangers to walk through your house slowly and say anything that comes to mind. You will be amazed at what they DON'T see (that you were going to spend money on), and what they DO see (that you didn't want to deal with). Even I often do this after I think the property is ready for market. When I've done everything, I get someone to come through and point out anything they see that is negative. Often it costs nothing or almost nothing to fix those things quickly. It's an excellent last step that I'm throwing in here at Step 2.
P.S. Don't have MORE THAN ONE agent come at this stage. You don't want more than one agent seeing your home at its worst. Try to make it the one you will "likely" hire, if and when you decide to hire one at all.
Priority 3 - Do EVERYTHING that costs nothing and is easy to do first.
All too often people go to the most expensive things first. It's a waste of time and money to go that route. Often after you do everything that costs nothing and is easy to do first, You find that you are done. SURPRISE! Even I'm surprised, when we do all the things that cost nothing first and say, WOW, this place looks good enough to sell and putting money into it isn't worth the return. That almost never happens before you do the cheap stuff first, because no matter how hard you try, you can't visualise what the place will look like with these things taken care of.
A) Call an agent who has staging credentials to help you with this list of DO FIRST stuff. My credential for this is called an ASP meaning an "Accredited Staging Professional", there are others, I expect. This way you don't have to spend extra money on this initial round of improvements. In fact it's free, but you shouldn't "use" someone by intending to hire Agent A, but using Agent B for this step. It's just not nice. If the Agent you know you are going to hire can't do this, then pay the $500 or so for a staging consult by a Staging Company.
B) DON"T do ANY of it before the agent or stager comes. DO NOT "de clutter" or put things away or into storage before the agent or stager comes. Often what you have "out" will go into storage and some thing over here will end up over there and something in the garage or closet will end up as "staging". I usually tag these items and say "I need this, I need this" Often the owners are surprised with what I want and what I don't want. So don't assume you can do this on your own. We want to see it ALL, and then you will know what to pack and store.
C) At this point you will have taken that first EVERYTHING list and turned it into TWO LISTS. One that costs nothing and one that costs money. The items on each list will be prioritized in order of importance. Sometimes a "cost item" will be being done, while the "free list" is being done, if that cost item is an absolute necessity. Often the cost item is outside and the free item is inside, so both can be done simultaneously.
I think I've already given you a good start, and disagreed with enough people in the links to get you going in the right direction. Often, very often in fact, when you are finished the above you are done. If you did the "must do" cost stuff and all of the free stuff, sometimes you are just done. You are too tired to move and you are out of money, and sometimes when you get there...it's "good enough to go".
Nov. 30, 2006 - When is a good time to sell your home?
Honestly, people really do overthink things sometimes. I certainly do.
Today there are 4,581 properties in escrow in King County. 4,015 of those are priced at $750,000 or less. There are 6,428 for sale at $750,000 or less. Looks like a 45 day supply to me. Looks like plenty of people are buying and not all that many are selling.
Makes you wonder why people want to wait until Spring.
I'm not particularly fond of a metal exhaust pipe sticking up from the cabinet over the micro/range hood.
I prefer when they build it in, though this one is a little too large and doesn't quite match the cabinets.
This one with the smaller space above the cabinet and small, recessed pipe "enclosure" might look more like yours.
My range top vents out and the cabinets have crown molding at the top, rounded at the outside corner. Since I couldn't "stage" the top of the cabinets because of the limited space, I painted the wall a light color to differentiate it from the ceiling color to offset the cabinets. For the cabinets you talked about, a light sage green might be nice.
ARDELL
DellaLoggia
On Seattle Real Estate including Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Green Lake and most areas around Lake Washington North of Downtown Seattle.
Phone: 206-910-1000 - Mailto:Ardell@RainCityGuide.com
You can find many great Seattle real estate agents and loan officers on ActiveRain.com ARDELL DellaLoggia is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.
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