Posts Tagged ‘Real estate’
Posted by tblefko on June 3, 2010
So you’re thinking about putting your home on the market and moving to that condo/farm/new build/quiet neighborhood/high-rise/bigger home/smaller home (select one). Even though prices on homes seem to be stagnant and you won’t be able to get as much for your home as you could just three years ago, the deals you can get as a buyer after you sell your home seem too good to pass up.
Your natural inclination is to save the commission and try to sell your home yourself which will leave extra cash to put toward your next home. Simple math says that if you don’t pay a REALTOR® a commission to sell your home, you’ll have more left over to buy your new home. You may want to reconsider your strategy.
In a recent article posted on FORBES.com, they make the case that going it alone has drawbacks that most potential ‘For Sale By Owners’ don’t even consider.
Here is the article posted in its entirety:
Five Reasons Why You Still Need a Real Estate Agent ¹
The proliferation of services that help homebuyers and sellers complete their own real estate transactions is relatively recent, and it may have you wondering whether using a real estate agent is becoming a relic of a bygone era. While doing the work yourself can save you the significant commission rates many real estate agents command, for many, flying solo may not be the way to go–and could end up being more costly than a realtor’s commission in the long run. Buying or selling a home is a major financial (and emotional) undertaking. Find out why you shouldn’t discard the notion of hiring an agent just yet.
1. Better Access/More Convenience
A real estate agent’s full-time job is to act as a liaison between buyers and sellers. This means that he or she will have easy access to all other properties listed by other agents. Both the buyer’s and seller’s agent work full time as real estate agents and they know what needs to be done to get a deal together. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, a real estate agent will track down homes that meet your criteria, get in touch with sellers’ agents and make appointments for you to view the homes. If you are buying on your own, you will have to play this telephone tag yourself. This may be especially difficult if you’re shopping for homes that are for sale by owner.
Similarly, if you are looking to sell your home yourself, you will have to solicit calls from interested parties, answer questions and make appointments. Keep in mind that potential buyers are likely to move on if you tend to be busy or don’t respond quickly enough. Alternatively, you may find yourself making an appointment and rushing home, only to find that no one shows up.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Sellers | Tagged: Buyers, Sellers, National Association of REALTORS, Web Sites, Agents, Negotiating, Real estate, FSBO, For Sale By Owner, Fiduciary, Commission | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on April 25, 2010
The average sized home in America is starting to shrink. No longer are homeowners demanding square footage and soaring open vaults in their living spaces. McMansions are OUT – - – efficiency and versatility are IN. MarketWatch’s Amy Hoak recently reported on this fast-evolving building trend.
Posted in Buyers, Construction, Consumers, Harrisburg, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Amy Hoak, Builder's Show, Buyers, MarketWatch, National Association of Home Builders, Real estate, Sellers, Statistics, U.S. Housing Market, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on October 31, 2009
Google unveiled its latest innovation for real estate this past week and they crushed a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth into the upper deck! Every time Google tinkers around with its website, real estate people get a shiver of anxiety and this latest innovation is likely to give many within the industry a full-blown case of hives.
Since Google announced the ability to see lots of real estate listings directly on Google Maps back in July of this year, they’ve been working hard to make it even easier to use. They’ve added things like brand new high-resolution Street View imagery and detailed map data. Now they’re making Google Maps an even more useful tool for online real estate searching. Here are a couple of things you can look out for next time you visit their website:
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Sellers, Technology | Tagged: Agents, Buyers, Google, Google Map, Google Streetview, Moving, Real estate, Search Engines, Web Sites | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on October 18, 2009
The world of real estate finance has undergone drastic changes over the last couple of months. Just over a year ago, underwriting standards to qualify for a mortgage were easier than they have been since I got into the real estate business back in 1983 (Yes – I’ve been around that long!). I just read this web page¹ from The Stamford Review that lists ten things to keep in mind if you are applying for a mortgage in today’s, financing environment. While the intent of the ten edicts is to be a little humorous, there is a grain of truth to each one. Enjoy.
I. Write upon thy heart the law that ‘reward’ and ‘risk’ shalt always appear in the same sentence.
Translation: Mortgages are not FREE money. There is risk with any financing vehicle. Know what that risk is before signing on the dotted line.
II. Make neither markets nor regulators into idols, and follow not false prophets of simplistic bias.
Translation: The age-old adage applies here – - if it looks to good to be true, it probably is. Use common sense.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Financing, Market Conditions | Tagged: Finance, Investment, Mortgage, Real estate, The Stamford Review, Underwriting | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on October 11, 2009
I found a recent online editorial in the Lancaster New Era/Intelligencer Journal by Jeff Hawkes on “Smart Growth” very interesting. Hawkes was writing about a workshop that he had attended recently that expounded on the virtues of “Smart Growth” and that Lancaster County needs to embrace this concept as it moves into the 21st century. Overall I thought the piece was well-written and made a number of good points. What caused me to sit down in front of my laptop and fire off a blog post was actually what was written after his editorial in the “Comments” section.
. . . and I quote:
“Smart Growth is dense development in townships that are not compensated by other townships for the havoc caused by traffic snarls, added services, and infrastructure needs, not to mention higher school taxes.”
. . . and then there was this little gem:
“ . . . don’t call it “Smart Growth”. There is nothing “smart” about it, except for the folks to stand to profit off of the development. Its delusional to think that this type of development is in anyway “smart” in the long run, or saving farmland. Continued development of this nature will bring the infrastructure of the county to its knees, and the taxpayers will be left to pick up the tab.”
Huh????????????
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Posted in Construction, Development, Lancaster | Tagged: High-Density Housing, Environment, Intelligencer Journal, Real estate, American Planning Association, National Wildlife Federation, American Farmland Trust, Center on Sustainable & Regional Growth, Environmental Law Institute, Institute of Transportation Engineers, National Association of Counties, National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, National Neighborhood Coalition, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rails to Trails Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Trust for Public Land | 2 Comments »
Posted by tblefko on October 7, 2009
The American Planning Association (APA) recently named Lancaster’s Central Market as one of American’s ten great public spaces. If you have never been to ‘Market’, you’re missing out on an experience that is uniquely a Lancaster landmark and tradition.
The APA’s Great Places’ program celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Locations are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow. In short, they are considered enjoyable, safe, and desirable and places where people not only want to visit; but to live and work every day. They are defined by many criteria, including architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement.
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Posted in Lancaster | Tagged: American Planning Association, Central Market, Lancaster County, Media, National Register of Historic Places, Pennsylvania Dutch, Real estate | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 29, 2009
Another month – another positive sign! The Standard & Poor‘s/Case-Shiller home price index rose 1.2 percent from June to August which reflects a positive trend for the third month in a row.
Before we all go off the deep end and declare “happy days are here again”, we should probably temper our enthusiasm just a bit. David M. Blitzer, the committee chairman for the Case-Shiller index said, “We do need to be cautious in coming months to assess whether the housing market will weather the expiration of the federal first-time buyer’s tax credit in November, anticipated higher unemployment rates and a possible increase in foreclosures.”
Stay tuned – - -
Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Business, Buyers, Case-Shiller index, David M. Blitzer, Media, Property Values, Real estate, Reports, S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, Sellers, Standard & Poor, Statistics, Tax credit, U.S. Housing Market, Unemployment, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 23, 2009
The term ‘Baby Boomer‘ gets thrown around a lot in the world of advertising. It seems like everyone is trying to sell to this segment of the population; including the real estate industry. Economic statistics show that baby boomers account for 28% of the population, but over 77% of all financial assets in the United States. This generation also accounts for more than 50% of all discretionary authority in private organizations as well as in government. But do REALTORS® and builders really know what baby boomers want in a home? Do they know what features they want? What locations are preferential? How much money they’re willing to spend? A new survey conducted by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders entitled 55+ Housing: Builders, Buyers and Beyond was just released that sheds some light on these very questions.
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Construction, Consumers, Motivation, Technology | Tagged: 55+ Housing: Builders, Agents, Baby Boomers, Builders, Buyers and Beyond, Downsizing, Green Building, High-Speed Internet, Media, MetLife Mature Market Institute, National Association of Home Builders, Property Values, Real estate, Reports, Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on September 10, 2009
There are more and more positive signs that the fog is starting to clear in the residential real estate market. Gone are the dense, pea-soup like conditions from a couple of months ago that caused buyers and sellers to try and drive through it at 5 mph. It appears that they’ve put their collective feet on the accelerator and are now driving more confidently, albeit still with the headlights on.
Point2 Technologies, Inc., the largest independent provider of website and listing syndication solutions for the real estate industry, with users in over 100 countries on its platform, released its Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) for August 2009 this past week. Over 3,000 real estate professionals covering every U.S. State, Puerto Rico and Guam contributed to this month’s report. Charts of their findings are shown below:
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Posted in Agents, Buyers, Consumers, Market Conditions, Sellers | Tagged: Buyers, Sellers, Statistics, Reports, Web Sites, Charts, Agents, U.S. Housing Market, Real estate, Saul Klein, Point2 Technologies, Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on August 15, 2009
more about “Social Media Revolution“, posted with vodpod
A couple of weeks ago I posted a video to this blog which showed the impact that social media is having on our society, and in particular, on the real estate business. Still aren’t buying into this phenomenon? Wake up and smell the coffee!
Posted in Agents, Technology | Tagged: Advertising, Flat World Knowledge, Google, Media, Newspapers, Real estate, Social media, Social Networks, Society and Culture, Statistics, Twitter, Video | Leave a Comment »
Posted by tblefko on July 21, 2009
How many times during our lives have we looked at someone else and asked the question, “I wish I had their talent?” Was it when you looked at the boy on your team who hit the game-winning home run? Perhaps it was the time you gazed in amazement at the pig-tailed girl with freckles who could tickle the ivory on the piano like no other fifth grader. I think at some point in our lives, we all have had these moments of awe and envy.
I think too many times we look at the other person’s accomplishments and we chalk it up to God-given talent. Sure, some people are born with certain attributes that belie their age or physical stature, but apparently, it’s what you do with those talents that, in the end, gets a person across the finish line faster or better than their peers.
In a recent article that appeared in REALTOR® magazine, Geoff Colvin the senior editor of Fortune magazine, granted an interview where he discussed the findings in his latest book, “Talent is Overrated.” The article appears in its entirety below:
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Posted in Agents, Motivation | Tagged: Agents, FAQ, Geoffrey Colvin, Interview, Real estate, REALTOR Magazine | 1 Comment »
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