Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - A Terrific Town

There are a lot of small things that make a town "home". For me, living here in Cheverly, I appreciate lots of small things. Twice a week trash pickup. Once a week "big trash" pickup. A quick visit to the town offices and a small check later -- I have easily gotten rid of old appliances. Mulch delivered to my driveway. Town officials and employees who are easy to get ahold of -- and easy to talk to.

I'm amazed at how often residents of other jurisdictions are impressed at the range of services provided by the Town of Cheverly. When my mom lived in Rockville, she had once-a-week trash pickup and had to call the county to arrange for anything larger to be picked up -- with no guarantee as to when.

When you're deciding on a place to live, these things are often far down on the scale of what seems important. But once you settle in, good services make a big difference.

Thanks, Cheverly.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Monday, May 29, 2006 - Remove at Your Own Risk

Why is it that an appliance will be reliable for years, but as soon as the house goes on the market, it quits?

It seems to be an unwritten rule that if you put your house up for sale, something -- mechanical, electrical or plumbing -- will give up the ghost. Usually right before or right after a prospective buyer takes a tour.

In the particular case that I'm thinking about, it's a 30 year old refrigerator. As the owner says, it sure doesn't owe her anything, but she really hadn't planned on the expense of replacing it.

We're thinking it broke because she took all the magnets off.

C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - Which Contract to Use?

We have two different contracts that are used in our region. One is written by and sanctioned by the Maryland Association of REATORS(r) and very capably covers the legal requirements of the State of Maryland for a residential real estate contract.

The other is a regional contract and is so general that it can be used in Maryland, DC and Virginia.

Each contract is around 10 pages, but the MAR contract only needs one additional addendum to make it comply with Prince George's County requirements.

The regional contract needs a eight-page addendum to make it conform to Maryland's and Prince George's requirements. Hmmm...9 pages versus 18 pages.

By the time all the mandatory disclosures and any other addenda and/or contingencies, such as home inspection, are attached even our most basic contracts can easily approach 45 pages.

I prefer the statewide contract. Besides the obvious benefits of being written specifically for our state, it's shorter! I like shorter.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - Showing houses, part 2

I wrote about making appointments for showing properties a couple of weeks ago and promised a follow-up.

Well, for one thing, all the appointments went smoothly, except for all the phone calls.

All together, it took 15 phone calls to make 7 appointments and one of those appointments wasn't confirmed until shortly before we arrived at the front door.

That being said, every lockbox was where it should be, all of the keys worked, and no big dogs jumped out at us.

The funniest part was that all of our appointments took place during Cheverly's "Truck Touch" and everytime all the horns and sirens sounded, we all got the giggles.

Most of the houses seemed over-priced to my clients, but not by a lot. One house had tenants who were not overly welcoming and wouldn't let us see the whole house, but that's not unusual with tenants.

So. No unbelievable stories to tell on this one. Maybe next time.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.

Sunday, May 14, 2006 - Adjusting to a Shifting Market

When the market began its shift a few years ago to a strong seller’s market, buyers often were unrealistic when making offers on houses. They would find that other buyers – ones who had already overcome being unrealistic – were the ones who were successful in having their offers accepted. It sometimes took as many as three offers before buyers were willing to write truly competitive offers – and still many were unsuccessful in their bids.

Now, as interest rates rise, affordability is declining. And, as the market slows, we see houses staying on the market longer, fewer buyers and unrealistic sellers. Unfortunately, when the market shifts, sellers don’t get that visceral feedback of having offers rejected. Instead, the house languishes on the market and the lack of offers is the only feedback.

I showed a house this weekend that started off priced too high. Perhaps the sellers wanted to “test the market” or they needed a certain amount of money out of the sale to move on to the next house. Or the price seemed reasonable at the time. Whatever the reason, this very nice house has been on the market for months. The price has come down once. And still it sits. At this point, many buyers are wary that there might be something wrong with the house. And frankly it has become such a fixture on the house-for-sale landscape, that many buyers and agents no longer even register its existence.

While “priced too high” is sort of subjective, the seller and the agent had to have known in fairly short order that something wasn’t working. Something had to change – make showings easier, change the condition of the property, or – gasp! – reduce the price.

There is a very general rule of thumb regarding pricing – one that works especially well in neighborhoods where there are lots of similar houses. And note – this scenario assumes that the property is in the MLS, has a lockbox on the door and has a sign in the front yard. In other words, that the house is getting the normal exposure that a house-for-sale should get.

• If you get no showings, the price is way too high.
• If you get showings, but no offers, it’s still priced somewhat too high.
• If you get showings and offers within the first week or two, you’re right on the money.

Most houses sell within 5% of other similar properties that have sold recently.

If you’re priced above that, prepare yourself. You could be on the market for a long time.

(C) 2006 Susan Pruden.