Some people say…”I can sell my house on my own”  why should I pay someone when I can do it my self and keep all the proceeds.

Consider this…

If you sell your house on your own, you are missing out on many things, but one of the main things is having your house listed on the Multiple Listing Service.  The MLS is accessible by all agents that are subscribers (which is 99.9% of all agents) and is the #1 way that agents find a home to show buyers.  The MLS also syndicates to many other online sites that buyers use to search for homes directly such as: realtor.com, homes.com, zillow.com and more.   Additionally, even if you advertise your home on FSBO.com, most buyers do not go to this as a source for listings because it does not show up on the first few pages of a search for a certain areas which is how buyers typically search for homes (i.e. “homes for sale in Alexandria VA).

Another thing that an agent can do for you is talk to other agents about your listing…about 20% of homes are sold before ever coming on the market because of office word of mouth.

One overlooked part of working with an agent, is that they will help you price your home within the limits of what the market will bear so that it sells within your timeframe.  They are able to look at your home from the perspective of a selling agent and ultimately a buyer.  They can also look at sales history of homes that have sold and are under contract that are in your specific geographic area and that are most comparable to your home.  We also hold brokers open houses to get agents from offices all over the city to come view the property which will accomplish two things: 1) Allow other agents to see the property and suggest it to their buyers if it meets their criteria and 2) Allow other industry experts to weigh in on the price and features and leave feedback to enhance showings and ultimately get you a faster sale

An agent will often stage your property to make it so that potential buyers can “see themselves living there”…they will also suggest potential upgrades or “fixes” that will make a difference in your sales price and amount of time on the market.  Additionally, we look for things that could potentially be a problem to potential buyers or that could hold up a settlement.

And I will say again…PRICING…any house will sell at the right price.  This also includes not pricing too low either.

We put your home on a lock box so that you do not have to be there for every showing…but only buyers with an agent can access it, so your belongings are safe.

We will holdpublic open houses and market the open house to get more prospective buyers through and give the home more visibility.

Last but not least and certainly the most important…negotiate on your behalf and protect your interests in the deal.  We make sure that you get not only the best priced contract with the most favorable terms, but also make sure that you accept a contract that will ultimately get to settlement.  We determine this based on the buyer’s contract terms and financing terms.  We also want to make sure the house appraises…cuz if it doesn’t, it can kill a deal…

This is all stuff that we work very hard at and are experienced at.  This is our job!  You wouldn’t try to perform surgery on yourself, you would go to an experienced surgeon to do it, regardless of the cost…so why would you trust your most costly asset (in most cases) to a non-professional (yourself)?

Think about what it would cost you to have your home on the market for a year instead of 2 months.  That is 10 additional months of a mortgage payment for a home that you need to get out of or do not want to be in anymore.  Consider the opportunity cost of missing out on a home that you want to purchase because you can not unload the one you have.  These things are much greater than the fee you will pay to someone to sell your property for you.

There is so much to gain from having an agent that it doesn’t make sense not to have one.

Think about it…

Yes, I am a real estate agent, and of course as an agent, I think that you should use an agent to buy your home…but let’s look at some of the advantages to using an agent, and you make the call.

1) A buyer’s agent can get you into houses before they come on the market.  If we are doing our job, we are “in the know” with what is coming on the market in our offices…if a property meets your criteria, it is likely we can get you in before anyone else sees it.

2) A buyer’s agent get’s you into houses period…most homes are on lockbox and unless you have a lock box key, you aren’t getting in.  The agent schedules times to go see all the homes on your list (that meet your criteria) and get’s you into them.  We can often save you from wasting time on seeing a particular property if we have seen it before an know it does not meet your criteria.

3) Working with one agent takes the leg work away from you.  If you do not work with an agent, you have to call on every house you drive by that you are interested in for sale and have the listing agent let you in.  The house may not be what you are looking for at all and have been a waste of time.  If you decide you like that home, the listing agent (who represents the seller as a part of their listing agreement) will not negotiate on your behalf because they don’t represent you….but they will write-up a contract for you.  Additionally…you may be looking online and searching that way (along with the other 90% of buyers out there), but the same holds true for just calling every listing agent whose house they have listed. Which brings me to number 3

3) A buyers agent is representing YOU, not the seller.  Having your own representation protects you in the deal and does not cost you any more money.  You will not pay less for a home by using the sellers agent and you will also not get true representation.  And P.S.  if you are working with an agent and have not signed a “Buyers Agency Agreement” in the state of Virginia, that agent has not done their job and by default is representing the seller when they show you homes.  If your agent has not had you sign a buyers agreement, you may want to ask them why they have not asked to represent you.

4) As I mentioned in #3, a buyers agent is free (except for a flat commission charged by all companies at closing which is usually around $300…but you only pay this IF you buy a house).  In no other profession do people do work and ONLY get paid if you get what you want.  Real Estate agents do not get a salary, so unless we find you a home, we never get a dime.  A buyer’s agent’s is paid by the listing company, not by you.  The seller has worked out compensation with the listing company (the company who has their house on the market) and the listing company has offered a portion of that negotiated compensation to the selling company (or the buyer’s agent) for finding a buyer for the house.  No one gets paid unless you go to settlement.

5) A buyer’s agent will negotiate on your behalf for the best terms and will counsel you on your offer…they will also bring up things that you may not have thought of that will ultimately be for your protection.  A buyers agent will often save you money…they will never cost you more.

6)  A buyer’s agent will schedule and be present for things like the home inspection, radon testing, termite inspection, closing, etc.  He/she will also keep you on schedule with the terms and contingency dates outlined in the contract.

7) A buyer’s agent continues to negotiate for you while under contract because if things are found on the inspection report or something else unsatisfactory occurs, the buyer’s agent will work to get it corrected in your favor.

Gone are the days when buyers and sellers sit down and decide to trade money for a house.  There are contractual obligations now and title does not pass unless they are met.  Realtors have experience in dealing with these contracts and have partners in the industry that will save you time and money.  There is no reason not to use one.

Hope this helps!

So many people ask about the real estate market and their question starts off like something like this “so…how is the market doing…still in the dumps?”

I typically answer it by telling them how the Northern VA market is not only one of the fasted in the country to recover from the bubble burst of 2007/08.  We have buyers out looking and sellers are beginning to put homes on the market again.  Still though, the inventory is down which drives prices slightly higher due to increased competition.

According to RGS Title in the last issue of NVAR magazine, the monthly average sold price in the whole Northern Virginia area in May of this year was $450,000 while in the same month of 2009, it was around $420,000….so we are seeing some slight appreciation year over year (about 7% which is healthy).

If you look back at the trend over the past 50 or so years, the price of a given home nearly doubled every 10 years…well, in 2000, the average home price in this area was 250,000 and in 2010, it is $450,000…pretty close to double.  I would say if we looked at a specific home in (say) Alexandria Virginia and it’s value/price in 2000 vs. its price now, it is probably almost exactly double.

So you see, if you look at it in terms of what the market should be doing and not what inflation did to the market between 2004 and 2008 vs. now, home prices are exactly where they should be.  Even the Washington Post said in its real estate section something to this effect.

Naturally, in the summer months, activity slows a bit, so the momentum will slow through June, July and August (so don’t be alarmed it home sales drop a bit over the next couple of months) but have no fear we are moving along at a good pace right now.  Stability is a good thing…and our market is finally experiencing it!

Jim Weichert asked the National Association of Realtors to take a look at the Weichert footprint (everywhere that there is a Weichert Realtors office) and tell him where the highest demand area was.  They discovered that it is right here in Northern Virginia.  They found that demand existed in other areas; however, Northern Virginia is the most successful because not only do people WANT to purchase homes here, but they can AFFORD to as well…because unlike other areas, Northern Virginia has JOBS.  People here actually qualify for the homes they want to purchase (for the most part)…this is what sets Northern Virginia apart from other high demand areas.  This is also why Northern Virginia was the first market to begin to recover from the housing crisis and why prices are beginning to increase here.  Additionally, most houses sell for at LEAST 90% (and many sell for over) of their list price and only stay on the market for an average of less than 90 days (many sell within only a few days…and folks…90-days is ONLY 3 months).

The market is not bad here…if you are still tailgating, get in the stadium folks…the interest rates are amazing and the price of homes aren’t getting any lower.  Wanna know when it has hit the bottom?  You wont…you will only know when you have missed it.

Happy Thursday!

So you have a property survey when you purchased the property and you go to build a fence…you begin construction within your boundaries (as stated by that survey) and the neighbor throws a fit.  You say…I am within the boundaries of my property…see…look at my survey…and the neighbor says no you are on my property…look at MY survey.  Which survey is correct?  Well…they both are…or they are both incorrect may be more accurate. 

When you purchase a home, the bank requires a survey to lend on the property.  This is called a “location survey”.  All this basically says is that there is a house where you say it is and the land that it sits on is the size it is supposed to be.  This type of survey is NOT accurate in terms of where your boundary lines stop and another homeowner’s begins.  To determine this, you need a boundary survey…but unfortunately, if you own a historic property (like the ones here in Old Town Alexandria, VA), the original property lines were determined something like:  from the boulder at the end of the North Corner of the Anderson property, take 300 paces south to the old oak tree…and so on and so forth.  Well, 400 years later, the boulder has disappeared and the tree cut down…so where does the property start now?  You can look back in the records in this case, and still come up short and have 5 different surveys and all of them end up different.  What do you do…well I suggest that you make good friends with your neighbor in this case and come to an agreement because otherwise you have to get an easement to build the fence where you originally wanted to and pay a ton of  money for it.

In a non-historic neighborhood where the boundries were drawn a little more cut and dry, you will have to get a boundary survey to determine the property lines.  This can be costly and upsetting if you were under the impression that the property you purchased included some part of land that it actually does not include. 

If you are unsure and it matters to you where the ACTUAL boundaries are, have the title company have a boundary survey completed prior to settlement and not only the bank ordered property location survey so that you know the facts when you purchase the home.

Hope this helps…happy Tuesday!