FSBO: Answer your phone!

I just returned from a week in the mountains of North Carolina.  While there, my wife and I spent some time driving around and touring log homes and looking at property.

I called a few FSBOs while there and saw many mistakes being made.  No wonder most FSBOs wind up listing with a Realtor!

For example, we found a beautiful lot with a fantastic view, in a location where the home would not seem like it was "clinging" to the side of the mountain.  It had a FSBO sign, so I called the number while walking the property.  I got an answering machine, so I left a message.  Since then I have called and left two other messages.  No call back yet.

FSBOs:  The odds are already stacked against you.  When someone calls about your property, call them back.

This is just one of the mistakes I saw FSBOs making.

Another is the placement of their yard sign and the size of the writing on the sign.  Put the sign in an area where it can be seen from a car in the road, clear the area of obstructions lie tall grass and weeds and make the writing big enough and dark enough to read.

Another is not having a clear idea of just what kind of offer you will accept.  When someone calls and asks the price, you should have an answer.  When they ask if you will consider owner financing, you should have an answer.

Another is not knowing answers to simple questions like, "Well or city water?", "Septic or sewer?", "Is there a Home Owners Association?", "Are there any annual dues or fees and if so, how much?", etc...

Oh well, I really like the one lot, but so far I have not even had the opportunity to ask this one particular FSBO any of these questions.

FSBO, Answer your phone!

Did you two hit it off?

Geek 1: Did you two hit it off?

Geek 2: Define "Hit it off".

Geek 1: Did she continue talking to you, after you fixed her computer?

Panning for Gemstones

This weekend we took a couple of days off from real estate and went away.  Today we went to a gemstone mine and my wife and I found a few sapphires and garnets.  We looked at a lot of worthless rocks too.

If you have never panned for gemstones, it is a simple process.  You dump a bunch of what looks like sand, clay and rocks into a pan that is made out of wooden sides and a metal perforated bottom.  You set this in a moving stream and rub the rocks around and wash as much of the silt away as you can.  Then when you have i pretty clean, you place all of the rocks and stones in a little pile and rub them all around.  This forces them to rub against each other and rubs away more sand and silt.  Eventually, every thing that is soft enough to break away gets washed away and if you are lucky, there will be a speck of something shiny or red or rose colored.  Or something transparent or hex shaped.  And if you are really lucky, it will be bigger than a speck.  But, when you see it, you know it is different than all of the junk you have been looking at.

Then you take your "gems" and you put them in a little pill bottle and take them inside for a professional eye to see if you have found anything.  Between my wife and I, we probably took 10 - 20 gems in with us.  Of those, we only had 6 real gemstones.  The rest had names I don't remember and were totally worthless.

Why am I telling this?  The whole experience reminded me of searching for a home.  Sometimes, I will take a buyer to look at quite a few homes.  Naturally I am trying to show homes that I know matches their criteria.  But, many times after seeing a couple of houses and getting my customer's feedback I find out that the criteria I am using needs to be adjusted.  Now the first couple of houses may appear to be worthless rocks, but at least they helped me wash some of the silt away and now I can see the criteria more carefully.  And my customers can see more clearly too.  Now, we just keep looking and washing away more silt, until we have narrowed our criteria to the point that the homes I am showing are now the equivalent of the gemstones in the pill bottle.  My customers then see one that "sparkles" and catches their eyes and their fancy.  Or maybe more than one.  Once I have helped them to decide how much to offer for the house, the offer is made with a contingency for a home inspection by a professional inspector, a contingency for financing and most likely a few others.  My professional help with determining a fair price to offer and all of the hundreds of other details that are involved with an offer along with the help of inspectors, appraisers, mortgage companies, etc... are like the gemologist that looked at the gems we had in our pill bottles and told us which ones were flawed and how.

This analogy may be a contrived a bit, but this is what I was thinking about while rubbing my fingers around in the silt, mud, clay, rocks, stones and gems.  So, if I spent my vacation thinking about real estate, did I really get a vacation?

Real Estate - Plant City FL

Currently the market is a little flat in Plant City.  Sellers have finally begun to drop their prices a meaningful amount or taking their houses off the market entirely.

Those that are dropping the price are typically those that have already moved out of the area and are feeling the pain of two mortgages.  Those that are removing their home from the market are those that did not have to sell, just wanted to.

Then there are those with dollar signs in their eyes.  Many of these people still have their home listed at last years prices and if they sell, it will be a miracle.  But, if they keep them listed long enough, maybe the market will catch back up with them.  History indicates that this will happen, the question is "When?".

But with this full blown buyer's market, there are still exceptions.  There was a house I was working with a buyer on and we were thinking he could get it for something less than list, when out of the blue another buyer stepped in and bought it for $182,000 and the house was only listed for $175,000.

One problem with buyers now are that they are afraid that prices are going to go down more and they don't want to buy until they can convince hemselves the deal they are getting is the best they can get.  This is causing them to want to look at more homes and sometimes, like the situation above, by the time they decide to act it is too late.  And maybe too little.

Call volume has been sporadic lately with some weekends going by without a single call.  This is unusual, but is allowing me to catch up on a lot of things I have been putting off. :)

Credit Repair

Did you know that if you have a bad credit score there are companies that can repair your credit?

Like most things in life, there is only so much that can be repaired, but if you have been turned down for a mortgage due to your credit history, give me a call and I will hook you up with a company.  They can explain how they charge and whether they can help you in your specific case or not.

Once your credit has been repaired, I would like to help you BUY A HOUSE!!!

Do Buyers Lie?

Yesterday, I received a sign call on one of my listings.  The buyer wanted to see a home I have listed in Lakeland.

I asked her if she had been pre-qualified for a mortgage and for how much.  She said yes, for $250,000, but the pre-qualification letter had expired.  I think, great, somebody who can qualify.  So I schedule the showing for this evening and hook her up with a mortgage guy.

Twenty minutes later I receive a phone call from the mortgage company and my buyer has a very low credit score.  They tell me that they don't know who would have pre-qualified her for $250,000.  Her credit problems are long term and deep.

Was she lying?  Did she think I would not check or that the mortgage company would not check?  Why would she want to waste her time, my time and the seller's time?

Do buyers lie?

If you are a buyer, make sure you are honest with your Realtor.  If you tell me up front that you have credit issues, I can counsel you and refer you to a lender who may be able to help.  Or maybe to a credit repair specialist.  But if you start out lying to me, I probably will tell you to find another Realtor, I don't have time to waste.

Jury Duty Today

I had jury duty today and after sitting there all day, I am glad I am not an attorney.

I was on a jury panel, but was not chosen for the trial.

But I digress.  As an attorney you have to sit, cooped up all day in a stuffy court room, where one guy is so special that everytime he enters or leaves the room, everyone stands up.  And if the case is in criminal court, there is another guy who is legally being presumed innocent, but you know in the back of your mind that the police and the state's attorney's office is convinced of his guilt, or no one would be there.  Then there is the family of the accused sitting in the back, with an eye always on the door and the bailiffs.  Makes you wonder if they are afraid of getting arrested too.  You wonder what they have done.

Well, my one day break from real estate is over, since I was not one of the chosen ones!  Tomorrow, BACK TO REAL ESTATE!!!

Tips for Pricing Your Home

If you are a "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO), here are some tips for pricing your home.

Tips for Pricing Your Home

· Consider comparables. What have other homes in your neighborhood sold for recently? How do they compare to yours in terms of size, upkeep, and amenities?

· Consider competition. How many other houses are for sale in your area? Are you competing against new homes?

· Consider your contingencies. Do you have special concerns that would affect the price you’ll receive? For example, do you want to be able to move in four months?

· Get an appraisal. For a few hundred dollars, a qualified appraiser can give you an estimate of your home’s value. Be sure to ask for a market-value appraisal. To locate appraisers in your area, contact The Appraisal Institute (www.appraisalinstitute.org) or ask your REALTOR® for some recommendations.

· Ask a lender. Since most buyers will need a mortgage, it’s important that a home’s sale price be in line with a lender’s estimate of its value.

· Be accurate. Studies show that homes priced more than 3 percent over the correct price take longer to sell.

· Know what you’ll take. It’s critical to know what price you’ll accept before beginning a negotiation with a buyer.

Geek Agent Man Observation

Right now, the deals the builders are offering are so good, buyers who start out looking at resales, ultimately buy a new home.

What this means to you as a seller is that you need to lower your price if you need to sell now.  Or, if you can wait, maybe the prices will go back up.  But in the mean time, homes are selling.  New ones, and those that have dropped their price.

Today's Subliminal Message

Software Engineers vs. The Universe

What Not to Overlook on a Final Walk-Through

Another NAR handout for consumers.

What Not to Overlook on a Final Walk-Through

Be sure that:

• repairs you’ve requested have been made. Obtain copies of paid bills and any related warranties.
• all items that were included in the sale price—draperies, lighting fixtures—are still there.
• screens and storm windows are in place or stored.
• all appliances are operating.
• intercom, doorbell, and alarm are operational.
• hot water heater is working.
• HVAC is working.
• no plants or shrubs have been removed from the yard.
• garage door opener and other remotes are available.
• instruction books and warranties on appliances and fixtures are there.
• all personal items of the sellers and all debris have been removed.

How many Microsoft Engineers?

How many Microsoft engineers does it take to change a light-bulb?

None - they just declare darkness to be industry standard.

Open House Tips for FSBOs

The list of tips below come from the National Association of Realtors.  I view these as a starting point.  For more suggestions, give me a call and I will help you any way I can.  All I ask is that if your house fails to sell, you give me the opportunity.

Open House Tips for FSBOs

Advertise your open house. Ideally you should advertise both the weekend before and the weekend of the open house. Check with the local paper to see when their ad closing deadlines are.

Create a property summary sheet. This sheet gives prospective buyers an overview of your home. Include dimensions for each room, copies of a property survey, summaries of utility costs and property taxes, and a list of when capital items such as roofs and furnace were added.

Develop a sign-in form for prospects’ addresses. You’ll ideally want both phone numbers and e-mail addresses to follow up with prospective buyers.

Put up signs. One or two days before the open house, place directional signs at major intersections within three to four blocks of your house. Be sure you check on anti-sign regulations in your area.

Get your house ready. Remove clutter, clean your house, wash your windows, add flowers, turn on lights, open draperies and blinds, remove valuables and breakables, confine pets, turn on soft music, and set up a table for your property fact sheet near the entrance.

Develop a follow-up sheet. Getting feedback on your home from prospects who attended your open house will give you a better understanding of how to make your home more appealing to buyers.

Best Sandwich in Tampa

As a Tampa native (3rd generation Floridian), I have tried almost every sandwich in town.  By far, the best sandwich in Tampa is the Italian Sub at Brocato's Sandwich Shop at 5021 Columbus Drive.

Add a devil crab to your order and you will not be disappointed.  Or if you prefer something sweet, my grandmother (nanny ma) recommends the guava pie.

If you drop in, let Joe and Michael know I sent you.

5 Tips for Home Sellers

It's Geek Season

Get a Home Inspection

Many home buyers ask if they should get a home inspection.  Sometimes the buyer (or an uncle or other relative) is a handyman and they feel like it would be a waste to pay someone else to do the inspection.

My advice is that they should always hire a professional, licensed and insured home inspector.  The cost of the inspection will be minimal, in my area less than $300 for an average size home, including a wood boring insect inspection.

I have taken the following points from a National Association of Realtors handout from consumers titled "What Your Home Inspection Should Cover".  After following home inspectors around and watching them crawl under houses, into attics, behind water heaters and other scary places to check the items on this list and others, I think they are well worth their fee.

Siding: Look for dents or buckling

Foundations: Look for cracks or water seepage

Exterior Brick: Look for cracked bricks or mortar pulling away from bricks

Insulation: Look for condition, adequate rating for climate (the higher the R value, the more effective the insulation is)

Doors and Windows: Look for loose or tight fits, condition of locks, condition of weatherstripping

Roof: Look for age, conditions of flashing, pooling water, buckled shingles, or loose gutters and downspouts

Ceilings, walls, and moldings: Look for loose pieces, dry wall that is pulling away.

Porch/Deck: Loose railings or step, rot

Electrical: Look for condition of fuse box/circuit breakers, number of outlets in each room

Plumbing: Look for poor water pressure, banging pipes, rust spots or corrosion that indicate leaks, sufficient insulation

Water Heater: Look for age, size adequate for house, speed of recovery, energy rating.

Furnace/Air Conditioning: Look for age, energy rating. Furnaces are rated by annual fuel utilization efficiency; the higher the rating, the lower your fuel costs. However, other factors such as payback period and other operating costs, such as electricity to operate motors.

Garage: Look for exterior in good repair; condition of floor—cracks, stains, etc.; condition of door mechanism.

Basement: Look for water leakage, musty smell.

Attic: Look for adequate ventilation, water leaks from roof.

Septic Tanks (if applicable): Adequate absorption field capacity for the percolation rate in your area and the size of your family.

Driveways/Sidewalks: Look for cracks, heaving pavement, crumbling near edges, stains.

How did you find your Realtor?

I read all of the polls from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) and they tell me how I should be finding my customers and how my customers should be finding me.  The problem is that my numbers aren't even close to theirs.  My customers are mostly referrals and sign calls.

If you recently bought or sold, or intend to buy or sell real estate in the near future, please leave me a comment and let me know how you chose your Realtor.  If you are local (Tampa area), I would love to be your Realtor, but I promise I will not contact you if you reply to this post unless you explicitly ask me to.