Real estate is changing.  How’s that for the understatement of the year decade?  Okay… besides the obvious up and down and down and down market, Realtors are being smarter.  They are doing more, doing more with less, and doing it differently.  Agent Norma Toering of Rancho Palos Verdes, California tells about some of the things she and her colleagues are changing to be successful,

Returning calls is in; a lengthy message stating what days you will return calls is out. Good manners never go out of style.

DocuSign is in; chasing after signatures is out. Not every client is ready to embrace electronic signatures and I always honor my clients’ wishes, but it saves time and simplifies the laborious task of shuffling documents to and fro.

Kudos to agents who are working smarter and succeeding!

Photo by Tim Walker via flickr creative commons.

Pending home sales were up in May according to the National Association of Realtors.  However, just because more homes are now under contract it doesn’t mean the housing recession is over.

The housing market is grappling with an oversupply of homes, which is keeping prices subdued, and economists do not see a recovery any time soon.

According to the NAR, there were 3.72 million used homes on the market in May, excluding the so-called shadow inventory of homes which are at risk of being foreclosed upon or have been seized by lenders.

The article published by Reuters news via xfinity.com went on to say that economists are cautiously optimistic that the market will continue the slow improvement. If economists are cautiously optimistic, I will be too!

On the heels of good news (an offer!) for one of my houses, it’s time to ask again, “Is this the right time to buy?” Housing prices are low, but will values drop even more after you close?  Interest rates on home loans are good, but can you even get a loan?

These are other factors should be considered before making the very serious financial decision to jump into this market. According to MSNBC.com, people are still taking into account the economy and job safety before making the decision,

Whatever the condition of your local housing market, as a potential homebuyer you need to start with the threshold question of whether buying makes financial sense.

To figure this out it’s important to consider several factors including the direction of home prices and rents in your area. Recognize that, if you buy, it typically takes four to five years before your annual expenses fall below the cost of renting. Although homeowners get the benefit of deducting mortgage interest from income taxes, precisely when they will be able to realize that benefit is influenced by the direction of rents and home prices in the area.

Always consider your personal financial health before making the decision.  You *will* have plenty of houses to choose from at this time!

Here’s a little sumpin sumpin for your trouble.  I can’t even count the times people have asked for free real estate advice, lied to me about buying, or lied about selling.  Then they feel really guilty and promise they’ll “make it up to me.”  And they never do.

Kind of like what Mike Cooper of Winchester, Virginia goes through,

I had a friend call the other day and ask if I could help him get his house rented. He followed up the question with, “And, I’ll be sure to give you something for your trouble.”

For a moment, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. In my Twilight Zone head I had a monotone monologue running that sounded like, “I have a plenty of money. Real estate is only my hobby. I do it to make other people happy. It’s fun. I am so glad I was able to spend all of that time in school, all of that money on licenses, insurance, continuing education, signs, business cards, software, computers, smart-phones, cars and fuel in order to freely meet the needs of my friends, family and colleagues.” NOT!

It did make me laugh.  And I’m not complaining about the job – truly.  I nurses, attorneys, accountants, and others who provide professional services also get asked for free advice on a regular basis.

Just don’t promise to make it up to me … and then forget me.  A thank you card would be just fine.

Photo by little debbie via flickr creative commons.

My friend lived free in her home for over a year before the bank finally kicked her out.  I never understood how she could go from not having money to make a house payment to renting something for a lot more than her original house note.

While my friend truly faced hardship that led up to the loss of her house, and the hardship of others seems to take a lot longer time.  According to CNN Money,

If they want to fight evictions hard, borrowers can remain in their homes even longer while their cases are being worked through.

The Segals have been doing that — in court. They bought their home in 2003 with an adjustable rate mortgage. After a few years, their monthly payments tripled to $3,000, just as their home-inspection business was cratering.

The Segals, according ot the article, haven’t made a mortgage payment in five years.

I can not begin to fathom what living with that stress could be like… never knowing when you’ll get the letter or waiting for the police to show up.

We had a sparrow build a nest in our gas grill this spring. That mama bird didn’t get too protective, but we still respected her space.  Home inspector Jay Markanich of Bristow, Virginia had a little different experience with a mama bird,

As I was walking off the front porch, the mother came out and, fairly viciously, attacked me.  I have never been treated like that before on a home inspection.

Screaming, she got in my face.  All I wanted to do was my home inspection.  She was relentless!

Surely I wasn’t impolite and I didn’t yell back.

All I did was duck my head and continue to walk toward the side of the house.  Was that impolite?

Ha! What a cute little experience the home inspector had!  I hope the new owners will let the birds continue to nest there in the future.

Photo of Vista Dhome by Monolithic.

In this mean housing market, it is usually the motivated seller who lands the contract from the buyer and goes to closing.  There are several ways to figure out if you are a motivated seller… just a few simple questions:

1.  What is your reason to sell?

2.  Are you realistic about the price?

3.  Will you allow showings?

4.  Will you be ready for showings?

5.  If you get a contract immediately, will you be able to close quickly?

Be honest with yourself because otherwise you may be sitting on a “for sale” house for months – maybe years.  Be honest with your real estate agent, too.  They are there FOR YOU – in fact my own state law compels me to put YOUR needs before my own. That means if it is in YOUR interest to not sell, then I’ll tell you that even when it means I won’t be paid.

Agent Bryant Tutas of Poinciana, Florida talks about working with your agent,

The only way for us to be successful is if we are all on the same page. The time to determine this is before you agree to take the listing. Sellers love this. They don’t care about all your awards and marketing techniques. They care that you are on the same page as them and that you are working towards the same goal, which is, selling their home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money.

Selling your home in the shortest amount of time for the most amount of money. A perfect goal for any seller!

I just blissfully returned from another trip to Savannah, Georgia – home of some of the most beautiful architecture in the nation.  We stayed at a condo on Tybee Island that had just sold and is set to close on June 17th.  While there, the owner called and said the appraiser needed to come by at noon … and did we mind?

How could I say no to this urgent request?  “Of course he can come. We’ll be sure all the beds are made” (We always want to make a good impression, right?

Actually we left before the appraiser’s arrival, but when we got back later that afternoon, we made a very wet discovery.  The appraiser had apparently turned on the shower (to check that there was water??) and had failed to notice the shower curtain was outside the rim of the shower stall.

There was about 1/4 inch of water all over the bathroom floor that had thankfully stayed on the vinyl and hadn’t moved to the hardwood in the bedroom.  Being good Girl Scouts, we cleaned the mess.

We also informed the condo’s owner that if the appraiser gave them grief – tried to low-ball the value for example – they should remind him that he very nearly caused extensive damage.  I don’t know the end result of the appraisal, but will say that the new owner will be very lucky to get the home.  Easy walk to the beach.  Beautiful hardwood throughout. Home was immaculate.  Three bedrooms, three bathrooms.  Top balcony with an ocean view.  Loved it!

An acquaintance of mine had an open house this weekend.  Her house is for sale and has been on and off the market for well over a year. This past weekend her agent held an open house.  Some disclosure… the agent is not from the town – or the county for that matter – where the buyer lives.  He has the listing, has taken a lot of photos, and has marketed it extensively online.

So he had an open house for the national open house weekend.  Two potential buyers came through to view the property, which is immaculate. The agent gave the buyer registry list to the seller and said, “You should call the buyers and thank them for coming by.  Just to give it a personal touch.”

I nearly fell over when she told me about that.  I would never never put my seller and buyer together until closing – unless they knew each other or if there was something very complicated to discuss (like how to care for a salt-water pool, for example).

The agent has probably reached the point where he doesn’t care because after that long on the market, she has given him until the end of the month to sell it… or she will find someone else.  My advice was that she follow her agent’s advice, though I think it is a bad suggestion.  Who knows?  Maybe this marketing ploy will work and get her an offer on the house.