Location and Price and Condition….OH MY!

Responding to what buyers are looking for can help you maximize your return!

In today’s competitive market, you really have to stand out to capture a buyer. It is commonly known that there are three vital factors that determine salability of a home; location, price and condition. Taking an in-depth look at each factor as it relates to selling your home can help you easily determine if your strategy will produce a sought after stand-out.

Location, Location, Location!

This is such a popular expression in the real estate industry. It’s almost as if nothing else matters. In fact, this is very nearly the reality of it. The prettiest home in town with all the bells and whistles can’t draw buyer attention if it is surrounded by alligators. With so many fluctuating dynamics affecting location such as new road construction, neighborhood maintenance, and traffic flow changes, it can be difficult to predetermine a good one. A stunning home in a posh, gated community would lose tremendous value if, after years of gaining equity, a major thoroughfare were built behind it. The key items that buyers consider when evaluating a home’s location are accessibility, topographical factors such as highways, utility lines and railroad tracks, neighborhood amenities and overall desirability. Location is the one element in the equation that cannot change, so if it is less than prime, the other 2 factors have to take up the slack.

Price

Often the bone of much contention, pricing your home right can make the difference between a swift sale and a languishing listing. A home with an inflated price tag will not even make the showing list of most agents. Setting the price on a piece of real estate is much more involved than coming up with a figure you would like to get. Several factors must be considered, including recent home sales, market conditions and the condition of the home. Among common methods of calculating listing price is to use a price per square foot calculation. This is done by analyzing comparable homes recently sold in the area, making adjustments for upgrades and amenities, and working some mathematical magic to determine the price your home should fetch. Thankfully, real estate agents are experts in assessing the value of a home. Generally, active agents who specialize in certain areas are aware of everything going on in that segment, and are the best resource in accurately pricing your home.

Condition

This is the factor that most homeowners consistently lose money on. Often overlooked, it is the one factor that sellers have the most control over. When the For Sale sign goes up on the lawn, your home needs to be dressed in its Sunday best. Potential buyers walking through the door determine within 10 seconds if the home is going to be a contender. They need to visualize themselves living in the home, and the more universally attractive it is, the easier it will be for them to create that bond. Home to most people is not only where they live, but how they live. All repairs and updates should be made before opening the door to buyers. That leaky faucet that you’ve gotten used to after all these years won't go over well with buyers, who naturally gravitate to the biggest and best value for their dollar. Small tasks such as removing dated wallpaper (authors note: ALL wallpaper is dated!) and painting a neutral color yield a 796% return on the cost. Cleaning and de-cluttering, with a whopping 594% return on investment, are by far the most important tasks on the home seller’s agenda list, yet frequently this is the task that gets the least attention. Condition will directly impact price, so it makes sense to put as much of your home's equity in your pocket as possible. Be careful how you spend your preparation dollars, though. Over-improvement is just as bad, if not worse, than not making any. Investing $50,000 on a new kitchen may not "pay you back" when it's time to sell unless it compares to what purchasers expect to find in your market range. With the other 2 factors under consideration, there is only so much you can invest before you hit the point of no return…on investment!

Recent press release from Houston Association of Realtors..."excellent time for home buyers to invest".

HOUSTON PROPERTY SALES CONTINUE TO SLIDE IN FEBRUARY

Sixth consecutive monthly decline is tempered by notable increases in average and median single-family home prices

HOUSTON — (March 18, 2008) — Property sales across greater Houston slid for the sixth consecutive month in February, but the decline was not as steep as January’s. While February sales of single-family homes dipped, the prices of those homes rose, according to statistics released by the Houston Association of REALTORSâ (HAR). Total property sales for February 2008 registered 5,266, which represents a 13.1 percent drop compared to February 2007; it’s an improvement over last month’s 17.2 percent fall. Properties sold during the month totaled just over $1 billion compared to $1.1 billion in sales one year earlier, a 7.9 percent decline. The average price of a single-family home rose 5.6 percent last month from February 2007 to $206,140, representing the biggest increase since last August. The median price of a single-family home increased 3.1 percent to $151,430. “Houston continues to feel the ripple effects of the national mortgage crisis,” said Michael Levitin, HAR Chairman and principal of HTownRealty.com. “However, many area Realtors are actually reporting brisk sales, which supports our contention that real estate is local, meaning some parts of town are doing well and others not so well. For Sale signs have gone up in many neighborhoods in recent weeks and sales of luxury homes remain high, so we’re hopeful that the overall numbers will soon show signs of improvement. With interest rates at historic lows, pricing that’s affordable and a good selection of inventory, this is still an excellent time for home buyers to invest.”

For full article go to http://www.har.com/mls/dispPressRelease.cfm

Time for Texas to CATCH UP!

Florida builders offer to stage customers' old homes

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
August 19, 2007

Here's the latest come-on Florida home builders are offering potential buyers: Stage your present home.
Pulte Homes and Toll Brothers both are making the offer, saying sign a sales contract with us and we'll pay for the services of a professional home stager to make your current home look great so it will sell faster.
Staging is the art of using furnishings and accessories in a different way to make a home look more attractive. It involves purging clutter, rearranging furniture and highlighting a home's best features without spending a lot of money on new things.
“There's a difference between living in a house and setting it up for sale,” said Deborah Ehrlich of Staging Plus in Hillsborough, Fla., which is providing the staging services for Pulte.
Pulte will contribute a maximum of $2,000 as compensation when the stager does an in-home consultation with sellers for outlays required to comply with the stager's advice, depending on the community and the type of Pulte home they are purchasing.
Toll Brothers offers a similar program, said Tom Wingfield, sales manager at the Estates at Harbour Isles in Apollo Beach, Fla. “If they have to spend money to follow the stager's ideas, we would cover the cost to a certain extent,” depending on the location and price of the Toll Brothers home sellers are buying, he said.
David Leonard is convinced the advice he got from a stager helped him quickly sell his 2-year-old house so he could move ahead with his purchase of a Pulte home. “They brought out things I never would have thought about,” said Leonard, 43.