Monday, March 31, 2008 - Cheverly Goes Green

Congratulations to Lance and Melanie Hartwig-Davis, who were featured in this past week's Gazette for being the first of three families who have earned the Cheverly Green Home Certification. Craig and Janet Tupper and Dave and Casey Kneipp have also earned the certification.

Visit Progressive Cheverly's Green Homes pages for more information. You can download the qualification sheet to see if you too have a green home. Perhaps you just need to make a few changes and you'll be able to earn the certification yourself.

It's good for the earth to take these steps and it doesn't hurt re-sale value either.

(C) Susan Pruden.

Sunday, March 30, 2008 - Market Cycles and the Bottom in Housing

A client passed on a newsletter to me about the current housing market and forecasting the future (which was pretty bleak, thanks, Ken!) but also excellent reading. I've subscribed to the newsletter, which is called Thoughts from the Frontline, and this week's letter is called "Where is the Bottom in Housing". I strongly recommend signing up on his website (www.2000wave.com) to take a look at his other articles - very in-depth and very readable.

His newsletter took me to another site, www.RealEstateConsulting.com and this video, which did about as good a job explaining this market and housing cycles as I've seen. It's aimed at new home builders, but any seller can take this knowledge and apply it to the sale of his home. Call me if you need popcorn!

(C) Susan Pruden.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - Proof Positive - Put It In Writing!

About 3 or 4 days after our realtor put in our 2nd offer...verbally, my husband and I went into the sales office alone to see if they had other homes. We found out from the sales agent our dream house was sold, and she [had] called our realtor about the other offer (but she never called to tell us). About another week went by without hearing from her, so I sent her an email telling her we were going to continue our search on our own and no longer required her assistance. She responded very unprofessionally and rudely, but I expected that from her.

 

Weeks went by with our stress level rising, our lease coming to an end, and running out of houses to look at. We kept broadening our search but every time something we'd be willing to look at came up- it would be under contract, or we'd see it in person and it would be trashed.

 

One day we went back to the sales office where we put in the other offer to see if they had any other homes available. They had one so we checked it out. This one was even nicer but was more expensive. As we were getting desperate and we loved this new house (which was above what we wanted to spend) we decided to just put in a low offer. I typed up everything we wanted (add study, fix this fix that, pay closing etc) and went up there with my check book. I left feeling pretty good. 3 hours later I got a call that had me almost jumping through the roof. They accepted our offer.

 

So, we're closing in about 1 month. Its a brand new house with everything we wanted and more, and we got it for about 30k under their asking price.

 

I owe you a big thank you for writing that blog about verbal offers. It is what really got me thinking about ditching our realtor, and had we not done that- who knows what would have happened. So, again thank you so much for your advice. We're extremely excited to move into our first house.

(C) Susan Pruden.

Friday, March 21, 2008 - Southwestern Jewelry (or Realtors Need Good Jewelry)

Okay, this is admittedly a totally personal posting.

Those of you who know me know that I love silver and turquoise jewelry. I frequently buy from a gallery who comes into town a couple of times a year from Durango, Colorado, called Rain Dance Gallery. If it sounds familiar to some of you, it used to be a store in Montgomery Mall some years ago.

Anyway, Rain Dance Gallery is coming to town from March 27th to March 30th and they have wonderful jewelry, pottery, rugs, fetish carvings and more. I've uploaded their flyer, so check it out and give them a visit. You won't be sorry.

Tell Lori and Bob that Susan and Joseph Pruden sent you.

(C) Susan Pruden.

Friday, March 14, 2008 - Talking Myself Right Out of Business

Occasionally a buyer will want to buy or a seller will want to sell -- and I will suggest that they may want to consider other options. Nothing seems to surprise buyers and sellers more than when I help them find an alternative to buying or selling.

For example, a couple called me some years ago saying that they were close to being behind in their mortgage and that they felt they had to sell in order to get out from under an unbearable debt. I helped them refinance instead. They had gotten bad advice from other agents and lenders and didn't think they had any other options. They managed to reduce their monthly payment by a large enough amount that they were able to stay in the house.

I've also begged buyers to wait until they were in a better financial position before buying. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't. Okay, usually they don't. It's not that I don't think they can buy, it's that I think they would be in a stronger position -- qualify for better interest rates or lower downpayments -- if they wait until their job situation has settled down or they've fixed their credit. A plan for increasing savings or for fixing credit can make a world of difference even just a few months later.

It's not that I don't want the business, 'cause I really do. The litmus test is this -- what advice would I give to my son, daughter or my mother-in-law. If I wouldn't give a particular recommendation to them, I won't give it to my clients. Putting commission first is a sure way to burn bridges. If the choice is to move forward with buying or selling, then I'm happy to move forward with them, but at least I know they've explored the options.

(C) Susan Pruden.