Critical Seller Information

Finding The Right Agent To Sell Your Property

Congratulations . . .

You’ve decided to maximize your equity preservation,

You realize that there is no substitute for competent, knowledgeable, committed professional representation,

You are committed to moving forward and want to find an agent who can accomplish this . . . What do you do?

Minimum standards when hiring an agent to sell your property:

They spend at least 3 hours/week building their skills and professional competencies
They and/or their staff/team spend a minimum of 25% of their time looking for buyers for their sellers each day
They provide you with an outline of what to expect, how the process will work, what you should expect as a seller, a list of seller’s FAQ’s, information on your direct competition, and all of the forms and documents necessary to get started prior to taking any of your time in person.
They DO NOT use sellers and their properties as bait to capture buyer leads, which most agents would then switch to other properties. This typically shows up as excessive advertising, marketing, open houses, internet presence etc.
They respect you and your time and will not spend hours telling you all about them, instead they focus their efforts on what you, the client, need to accomplish.
Ideally, they work directly with a coach, mentor or guru to assist them in constantly learning how to grow their business forward thereby benefitting all of their clients (if they don’t have them contact us!)
They care enough about you, your needs, and your situation to assist you in seeing the reality of the current market by being honest and direct. Much like a great doctor, they will demonstrate empathy while helping you to examine your options not sugar coating or telling you what you want to hear.
They either possess, or have access to, experience in all types of markets with all types of properties.
You know they are different when you speak with them, they impress you as professionals, not the kind of people who plaster their own pictures all over their signs, their cards and their ads!

Questions Every Seller Should Consider

Q When should I sell, can I wait and get a higher price later?

A Isn’t this really the $64,000 question? Since none of us have a crystal ball, we recommend you look at the following questions and answer them as honestly as you can to put you and your family in the best possible position for the days ahead.

- Economics 101 teaches us the Law of Supply and Demand. Please note this is a law, much like the Law of Gravity. Failure to recognize it can be harmful to one’s health! The Law of Supply and Demand tells us that prices are a result of supply, in real estate the number of homes (and perhaps more significantly, the number of distressed homes) for sale. And the relationship of that supply to demand, in real estate this is the number of people who are actually buying.

Q1 knowing that supply has grown drastically over the past few years, and that all projections are that the subprime mortgage foreclosures are just now peaking, and it takes 18-30 months for those defaults to be foreclosed on, and then to come on the market and ultimately sell . . . when do you project we will see the peak of supply?

Q2 are you aware of what happened to many of those subprime, and other, borrowers who are not currently facing foreclosures?

Q3 if you knew that they typically fell into 2 separate and distinct categories we need to be aware of, #1 those who re financed into option arm type loans where their payment is artificially pushed lower, typically for 5-7 years, with the balance of the true payment simply being added to their loan balance each month, and #2 they sold and got out. Typically, those sales were to borrowers who had accessed “100% financing” type products. Would either or both of those cause you concern?

Q4 What percentage of the people who are now paying $2500/mo to live in a home they paid $300k for 3 years ago will continue to stay in that situation when they have no money out of pocket and they could, in many cases, move across the street, and rent an identical property for half or less of their mortgage payment? Do you know this is so prevalent that there already exists a term, “walk aways,” to describe this phenomenon?

Q5 What about their “credit score,” aren’t they afraid to ruin it? Ask your parents what their “credit score” was when they bought their first home. What do you think you will find? If you guessed that there was no such thing, then ask these questions: did banks really used to require 20% down on all mortgages and only lend to people that actually had jobs and real (not stated) incomes? How many defaults and foreclosures happened then? What happened to the number of foreclosures when lenders got away from requiring people to have things like down payments and jobs? Does “credit scoring” sound like a real winner to you? Do you think it will stick around?

Q6 Even if credit scoring does stay around, how do lenders make money? Yes, obviously, by making loans. If we are now living in a nation where almost everyone’s credit score is dropping and lenders want to continue to lend, won’t they have to adjust their requirements? So are the “walk aways” either betting

on this or just planning to rent for long enough that the hit to their score goes away?

Q7 What about all those option arms? What percentage of the people who refinanced a few years ago for $300k, who will owe $350k in a few more years, on a house that is currently worth $240k will NOT default when the peak of those loan adjustments occur in late 2011, and early 2012? If they default at that time, and we know it will take 18-30 months for those defaults to work through the system . . . when will supply, particularly highly motivated institutional supply (the people who say we need to just get it sold at any price) hit the market and how long will it take to go away?

Q8 Don’t like the supply side of The Law of Supply and Demand? Let’s take a look at demand. How many people are rushing to jump into home ownership when every news story talks about a lengthy, deep recession, job cuts, unemployment, global economic tragedies, etc?

Q9 How much demand exists as lenders now are requiring people to actually verify incomes and 100% financing is rapidly becoming a thing of the past? How many people have stable, secure, sufficient income, reasonable credit and 5, 10, 20% or more to actually put down? Can they sell their stocks and get the money? Sorry bad attempt at humor!

Q10 How long will it be before lenders work through all the challenges they currently face and again anxiously give loans to would be borrowers with no jobs and no money?

Q Should I just rent the property?

A It depends, typically the real cost of owning residential real estate is approx 1.1% of the value of the property per month in a flat market. Rather than use that rule of thumb let’s figure it out:

Q1 How much is my current mortgage payment?

Q2 Will it change?

Q3 What are my monthly taxes and insurance expenses? (Remember to account for non owner occupied changes)

Q4 Will they change?

Q5 What can I rent the property for? (Will this remain constant if the economy softens?)

Q6 What will it cost me to get it rented, how quickly can I do it and what will property management cost me either in terms of the value of my time or a fee to a professional? (Use an average of ½ the first months rent + 8-10% of the monthly rental income if you don’t have any better data)

Q7 What is a reasonable vacancy rate? (Use 5-10% of the monthly rental rate if you don’t have any better data)

Q8 What utilities will I as the owner be required to maintain and pay for?

Q9 What are the deferred maintenance issues I need to account for? These are things like the real cost of renting the home for a few years and then selling a home with older, more dated kitchens, baths, roofs, etc

Q10 What will damages and credit losses cost me?

Q11 Who will perform lawn care, etc? (Careful in requiring tenants to do this for liability purposes)

Q12 If I had all my equity out, and I invested it in something that went up in value, how much would I gain per month?

Q13 If I keep the property, how much will the value change per month?

Now add up these numbers to see your true cost of holding the property. Can you rent it for enough to make sense? Very few residential properties can be converted to income properties while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

Q If things are this ugly now, why would I move?

A Are you and your family happy in your current property, or are you settling? Making the move today would do what for you and those you care about? What’s that worth? Or is it like the MasterCard commercials “priceless?” If you are moving are you moving up into a price range with even fewer capable buyers where you will negotiate an even better deal? Have you considered selling now and working with a competent, knowledgeable Realtor (yeah we know they are hard to find) who will let you know 6-12 months before your market reaches a bottom? If you sold now, invested your equity in debt reduction or something else you felt comfortable with, and then also invested the difference between your new monthly rent and what the mortgage would have been had you bought, how much will you have in 3, 5, 10+ years? If prices obey The Law of Supply and Demand, what will those savings do for you when the time does come to buy?

Q Where’s the silver lining?

A For every seller that sells, there must, by definition, be a buyer who buys. As prices drop sellers loose and buyers win. As prices rose sellers won and buyers lost. Nationally, since 1900, excepting the last Great Depression, real estate cycles have typically averaged about 5-7 years +/- with about 2/3 of that time spent on the up side of the cycle and 1/3 on the down. The last Great Depression didn’t see prices correct as far as we already have seen in most of the country. Yet it still took many markets until 1940 and beyond to return to where prices had been in 1929.

What To Expect During The Selling Process

If you have made the right decision in who to work with, you should start by receiving information. You should know what properties you will be competing with to win your buyer and how long they have been sitting on the market.

You should then approve all the necessary documents to “list the property.”

You and your agent should review the things you can do to maximize your properties “show ability” a plan should be put in place with a concrete date to begin showing the property to prospective buyers. During this time a sign and lockbox should be installed.

While you are getting your property ready, your agent should submit the home to your local MLS, and should begin talking to your neighbors and other agents who have sold other properties in your area. Their objective should be to create as much interest in the great value you are offering as possible to maximize the interest you will receive during the first few days you allow showings.

Ideally, you have created a strong enough value to create a sense of competition amongst your potential buyers, your agent should be able to heighten this urgency, and you will receive offers within 2-3 days of beginning showings.

You will then have the opportunity to select the highest and best of these offers.

Once an offer is accepted, numerous inspections, approvals and the like must be obtained. You and your agent will work together to accomplish this.

As your closing date approaches there will inevitably be hiccups, hurdles and challenges, this is where you realize how important it was to hire the right agent!

You close, thereby maximizing your equity preservation, and move on to the next phase of your life!

IF you do not have multiple showing and offers within the first few days the property is available to be seen, your agent was not able to generate enough interest. Either they didn’t speak with your neighbors, potential buyers and other successful local agents OR you have not created enough perceived value to entice today’s buyer. At this point you will need to react quickly and decisively by creating a better value. This typically takes the form of increasing or improving the features, benefits and amenities your property offers, or decreasing the price to create the needed interest. Do not be afraid to attempt both as this will increase the likelihood of multiple buyers having an interest in your property thereby increasing the odds of competition which always results in the highest possible price and best terms for you the seller.

What It Takes To Sell A Home Today

Think back to when you bought your home. How did you choose it? Did you come up with an area and a price range? Then either on your own or with a Realtor start looking at the various options in your area and within your budget? Did you look at every single option live and in person, or did you narrow it down by doing drive by inspections, looking on line, reviewing publications, or maybe you even had someone else narrow it down for you? Once you had narrowed it down and you were actually out looking, how did you choose which property to buy? Did you compare the features, benefits, amenities, location, condition and price of all your options? We’re guessing you then bought whatever offered you the best combination of all of these, you know, the best value, are we close? How on earth could we have known that? Yep, you are correct most buyers purchase that way. Think back to when you bought, was supply as high as it is now? Was demand as low as it is today? When were sellers more in control of the market, then or now? Even with sellers having been more in control back then, did you ask or even care what a seller wanted or needed, or did you just buy based on what was best for you and for your family? What do you think today’s scarce hyper value driven buyers are looking for?

YOU MUST BE THE BEST VALUE AVAILABLE, PERIOD!

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR COMPETITION MUST BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE SOMEONE TO TAKE ACTION, PERIOD!

YOU MUST WORK TO GO FIND BUYERS; THE DAYS OF EXCESSIVE DEMAND LEADING TO BUYERS SEEKING OUT PROPERTIES ARE LONG GONE!

ADVERTISING, INTERNET, OPEN HOUSES AND OTHER PASSIVE ACTIVITIES ARE FINE FOR REALTORS TO COLLECT LEADS, COLLECTIVELY THE AVERAGES TELL US THAT LESS THAN 1% OF THE LEADS WHICH COME IN FROM THESE PASSIVE ACTIVITIES WILL RESULT IN A SALE ON THE SUBJECT PROPERTY. DO YOU WANT YOUR AGENT USING YOU AND YOUR PROPERTY AS BAIT TO COLLECT THE 99% OF INTERESTED BUYER LEADS AND THEN HAVE TO SPEND ALL THEIR TIME SHOWING AND SELLING OTHER PEOPLES HOMES?

TO SELL PROPERTY TODAY YOU NEED:

TO BE THE BEST VALUE

TO EITHER GO FIND THE BUYER OR HIRE SOMEONE WHO WILL

EXPERTISE, COMPETENCE, EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE TO GET OFFERS IN PLACE AND THEN TO KEEP THEM TOGETHER THROUGH TODAY’S EVER MORE DIFFICULT PENDING, ESCROW AND CLOSING PROCESSES.

Seller Frequently Asked Questions

We understand the following information is somewhat lengthy.

Please look for the question or questions that pertain to your situation.

If your concerns are not addressed below, let us know, we will gladly discuss them with you

Why haven't we seen this from other agents?
We operate under a belief that if we do what is right, tell clients the truth and educate you instead of trying to trick you, you will ultimately do what is right and hire us. Then after we help you, we believe you will be anxious to have us assist all of your friends and family as well. As you may know, real estate agents are generally not perceived in a very positive light by the public, read on and maybe you will start to see why!

Why should I move forward now, won't the market come back soon?
Take a look at the following questions and you can decide for yourself if that is realistic: * Real estate, like many other markets, is cyclical. A typical real estate cycle lasts 4-7 years. During that time a market moves up, and then down, usually not going as far down as it had gone up. There are many things that impact real estate cycles and we would be glad to discuss them if you like. The bottom line is we have recently completed 12+ years of up cycle, how many years of down would you logically expect? * Interest rates have risen consistently the past several years, now the 80%+ of buyers who bought with an adjustable rate mortgage are facing severely escalating monthly payments, what will happen when they simply can't make the payments? Do you want to try and compete against banks that just need to get foreclosed real estate off their books? * In recent years the cost of owning real estate in this market escalated to the point that it is now 3-5 times more costly to own, than to rent here. With an uncertain market, a desire to not be tied to any specific area, lower costs to rent than own and minimal need for up front capital, don't you think more and more financially savvy buyers will choose to rent? * At the markets peak we were selling 1500 homes per month. Even if we returned to that level of sales, it would still take over 2 years to sell just the current inventory. What do you think the odds are of returning to that level anytime in the near future? * Speculators and non owner occupants accounted for over 60% of all the sales in this market during its greatest upswing. That demand is now almost entirely gone. How many of those people who bought properties hoping to make a quick buck are we going to be competing against when you hire us to sell your property? Want more information on this? Please ask us for a copy of The Reality of the Coming Market Report

Should we list high; we can always come down in price later?
We understand you may be tempted to list high and leave room for negotiating, but have you considered the problem that creates for you? Most qualified buyers won't even bother looking at properties that are priced to high. Would you rather have a bidding war on your home or not have an opportunity to negotiate any offers at all? With the market trend heading downward for at least a few more years, why would you want to wait to get further from the top?

How long should we list for?
In today's market with properties sitting longer and longer it is imperative we price the property aggressively up front, and react quickly if it doesn't sell within 15-30 days. If we can agree to price aggressively up front, and then adjust our shelf position as necessary, if the market doesn't see our value, we should absolutely be able to sell the property in less than the market average of about 180 days. However, if we can not price it right up front and instead need to adjust to catch up to the market it can take many times longer.

Why do some agents claim they can get me more money?
Again, several possible answers: An agent that will list your property overpriced; assumes they can take the listing now. Then they will start beating you up on the price week after week because your property isn't selling. Or, they are telling you whatever you want to hear just to take your listing because they know that by having a listing, potential buyers will call them. Some agents will do this and then switch the buyers to other, better priced properties where they will get paid a full commission. Or, they simply aren't paying attention to the market. Now are any of these the type of agent that you want working for you?

Why wouldn't we save the commission by selling it ourselves?
This is a common thought among sellers and you need to be aware of the total number of choices buyers have today is about 40,000, and there have been only about 400 homes/month actually sold. That's about a 10 year supply of homes if no other homes come on the market, and last month well over 2000 homes came on the market. This doesn't even include all the new construction currently flooding the marketplace! What's worse for the seller is the fact that only 2% of For Sale by Owners actually sell themselves and 98% are listed and sold by real estate agents. You need to ask yourself, can I afford to have only a 2% chance of selling my home?

I have a friend or relative in the business, shouldn't I use them?
We can certainly appreciate this, and in this market almost everyone does. So ask yourself some critical questions: * Do you absolutely have to sell this property or are you just looking to do your friend or relative a favor? * As the seller you need to consider this as a business decision and ask yourself, "Which agent will I financially benefit from hiring?" * "If something goes awry would I want it to impact that friendship?"

Will you cut your commission, other agents said they would?
This is a great question we want to share with you why this makes us nervous. There are a lot of desperate agents out there, and if an agent doesn't have the courage to stand up to you regarding their own worth, how strong could they possibly be at defending you and the price set on your home? We're going to show you upfront how tough we are going to be on your price by being tough on our commission.

Is it important to have an agent who sells a lot of homes in a certain area?
The most beneficial reason to choose someone like us is we have homes for sale all over the area. Meaning when you sign the contract we can expose your property to potential buyers from all over the area. Now isn't that the kind of marketing exposure you are looking for?

Should we think it over?
We understand that making a logical decision is important. So during our appointment tell us what it is specifically that you would like to think over because three minds are better than two, and having an open discussion is very important to us to help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself in selling this home.

How important is it to be familiar or comfortable with the company you hire?
When you stop and think about it we are certain you realize that a company doesn't sell a home, it's the individual agent's activities. The question you need to ask yourself is do you feel we can sell your home and maximize the equity we are trying to preserve?

What do you do to sell homes?
That's another valid concern. Are you aware that there are two kinds of real estate agents in the market today? There are Active and Passive agents out there. We are active agents, meaning when you sign the contract we will spend our time actively marketing your home to the public and the other active agents in town. We get on the phone and call people, it's a lot like work, but don't you deserve to have someone actually work to sell your property and earn their commission? You want an agent that will work actively and aggressively to get your home sold, right? We won't try to convince you that signs, open houses, websites, advertising and other forms of passive marketing are going to get anything accomplished. We know that when you stop and think about each one of those activities, no one is going to buy because of junk mail or an ad that is lost amongst a million others. Buyers will buy because you hire powerful agents, like us, who go find the buyers and/or go find the agents they are working with. You do want us to be honest about what it takes to sell real estate in the current marketplace, right? Want more information on this? Please ask us for a copy of our Listing Plan of Action.