Is your home on the market for sale? Have you noticed this early sign that fall is around the corner?
Yes, the spiders are busy building their webs. Often they build them in the covered area around the front door. If your home is for sale, you need to pay special attention to keep the webs removed. Buyers tend to stand longer at the front door as the agent removes the key from the lockbox. So, you want to make a good first impression and have the area look as nice as the interior will look.
We’ll talk about fallen leaves in another month. Why did the summer go by so fast!
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
By now, you’ve probably heard the various news media (national & local) reporting on the July housing data as compared to last July. The number of homes sold in July 2010 is down versus what was sold in July 2009. Is anyone really surprised by this? We knew it would happen, because the Tax Credit incentives merely moved sales to the first half of the year as those homes had to close by June 30.
I’ve never been one to just accept the info that is published because I know that there are so many caveats to the data. So I decided to relook the sales in MY service area: the Olentangy and Dublin school districts.
JAN-JUN Sales Comparison 2010 vs 2009
- Olentangy: 478 homes sold with an average price of $328,996 in 2010. 397 homes sold in 2009 with an average price of $318,040. So for the first half of the year, the number of homes sold was up 20% and the average price was up 3%.
- Dublin: 369 homes sold with an average price of $313,201 in 2010. 290 homes sold in 2009 with an average price of $313,516. So for the first half of the year, the number of homes sold was up 27% and the average price was flat.
JULY Sales Comparison 2010 vs 2009
- Olentangy: 83 homes sold with an average price of $340,319 in 2010. 108 homes sold in 2009 with an average price of $313,211. The number of homes sold is down 23% but the average price is up 9%.
- Dublin: 61 homes sold with an average price of $363,381 in 2010. 87 homes sold in 2009 with an average price of $330,215. The number of homes sold is down 30% and the average price is up 10%.
What does AUGUST look like?
- Olentangy: As of today, 185 homes have closed or are in-contract. This compares favorably to the 104 homes sold last year in August.
- Dublin: As of today, 111 homes have closed or are in-contract. This also is favorable to last year when only 56 homes sold.
This shows the danger in putting so much emphasis on just one month’s worth of sales. My fear is that with all the publicity July’s numbers are receiving, that it will influence current buyers to decide to not buy. This would be a mistake because they have much to gain with the extremely low interest rates.
Of course, there may be markets nationwide that aren’t as positive as the news we have here, but at least for now, we’re doing OK.
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Home buying process, Homes, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Sellers
Tagged Olentangy school district, central ohio real estate market news, Dublin school district
Can a real estate agent decline your business when you are buying or selling a home? The short answer is ‘yes‘. That’s because real estate agents are self-employed and can operate their business as they choose … as long as it’s done legally.
Why might an agent not take my business?
- The primary issue is often HONESTY or TRUTHFULNESS. If the agent suspects you’re not being truthful in the information you’re providing, they may be cautious about working with you.
- RESPECT and TRUST might also be a reason. Few people want to work so closely with someone who doesn’t respect them or might treat them rudely, but that’s true for many industries, not just in real estate.
- UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS can lead to frustrations down the road. Sellers who want to overprice their homes regardless of what the comps indicate may have a hard time finding an agent to list their home. Likewise, buyers who are determined to to buy a home for 80% of its list price regardless of the competitiveness of the list price, may find themselves without an agent to drive them around neighborhoods writing countless offers.
- FAILURE TO ACT to prepare to sell or buy, such as cleaning the home properly, making suggested repairs or meeting with a lender to get pre-approved prior to viewing homes.
- OUTSIDE THE AGENT’S AREA of expertise or geographical area may cause an agent to decline. Currently, numerous agents are not working with short-sales or REO’s. Some agents may not want to work with farmland because they feel they lack the expertise required. Still other agents may have a policy to not work beyond a certain number of miles from their home base or office.
- Some agents don’t work with THIRD PARTY RELOCATION sellers or buyers. These are clients taking new jobs in other areas and the new employer has hired a 3rd Party Relo company to handle the move. The agent must pay 38% or more of their commission to the Relo company. With other financial requirements from the Relo company, an agent may make only 45% of their normal income. If the time involved with the Relo client cuts into the service level the agent is able give a regular client, the agent may refuse the Relo business.
Just like any other company or business, real estate agents have a business plan with target markets, sales & income objectives, and the need to control overhead costs. Remember, while you are interviewing the agent to see who YOU want to work with, the agent is subtlety interviewing you to see if your goals/intentions fit their biz plan. Sometimes it’s a good fit and sometimes it’s not. To reference Kenny Rogers’ song, gotta know when to hold ‘em & when to fold ‘em.
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
“Should I reduce the price of my home?”
That was a question someone Googled prior to visiting this blog. The answer may be, “if you’re asking, then the answer is probably ‘yes’“. However, do check out some things first before you make the pricing decision:
- Look at the photos your agent has posted on the Internet. Do the photos flatter your home or are they dark, blurred, crooked, or generally poor quality? Was your home staged to remove clutter – especially in the kitchen; were bedspreads smoothed; toys picked up or removed; were all the lights turned on for photo taking; are there cars or trash cans in the photos. If your photos don’t make the home look its best, request that your agent take new photos.
- Is your home advertised on lots of Internet sites with maximum photos on each? Your home should be on the agent’s broker’s site, on Realtor.com with 20-some photos, on Trulia & Zillow, and many other sites.
- Ask your agent to show you a copy of the MLS sheet. Make sure all the data in it is correct. Sometimes the person entering the data makes a mistake on one of the key searchable details such as area, subdivision, school districts, or even price.
- If your photos are good and you’re on lots of Internet sites, are you getting showings? If showings are occurring, then what has been the feedback as to why the buyers didn’t choose your home? Can the buyer’s complaint be fixed – like new carpet – or is it unfixable – like floor plan or location? If it can be fixed then do that. If it can’t be fixed, then the price needs to be lowered.
- If your photos are good and you’re on lots of Internet sites, and you AREN’T getting showings, then chances are good that buyers think your home is overpriced for what it offers OR there just aren’t many buyers for your price range or your area. Higher priced homes often experience this as there are fewer buyers in the upper ranges. However, you want to make sure that your price is competitive so that your home becomes the most appealing of all the other homes the few buyers will be viewing. You may only have one chance to appeal to that one buyer. Give it your best shot.
Too often sellers try to price a home based on the net amount they want to have to buy their next home. To be very frank, the buyers don’t care about what the seller wants for their proceeds. The buyer will pay what they think the home is worth in the current market as it compares to other similar homes. That fact can be a tough pill for some sellers to swallow. The second truism is that “price solves all problems”. At the right price, all homes will sell.
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
A couple days ago, I wrote about whether it was a buyer’s or seller’s real estate market in the Olentangy school district. In that report, I calculated the absorption rate of current inventory by the various price ranges. At the end of the article, I noted that making an initial offer of 85% of list price might not sit well with sellers in the lower price ranges, but might be worth a try in the very high price range where the absorption rate was quite long.
A reader asked whether a seller would agree to the 85% ratio or whether that would just be a starting point on an offer on homes priced over $500,000. Naturally that depends on the seller and whether their home is competitively priced or not.
To better answer that reader’s question, I went to the MLS system to calculate the ratio of sell price vs list price for each of the price ranges. The following chart shows the AVERAGES for single family homes that have sold since January in the Olentangy school district. Of course, I have no way of knowing what the initial offers were. All this tells us is what the seller and buyer finally agreed to for a selling price.
Luxury Homes List-Sell Ratio for Olentangy School District
| Price Range |
Avg List Price |
Avg Sold Price |
Avg List/Sell Ratio |
Avg $ Discounted |
| $500′s |
$550,355 |
$505,957 |
92% |
-$44,398 |
| $600′s |
$649,650 |
$615,359 |
95% |
-$34,291 |
| $700′s |
$767,200 |
$715,650 |
93% |
-$51,550 |
| $800′s |
$862,450 |
$812,500 |
94% |
-$49,950 |
| $900′s |
$992,450 |
$910,000 |
92% |
-$82,450 |
| $1,000′s |
$1,524,155 |
$1,274,750 |
84% |
-$249,405 |
As an example, if you’re shopping for a home priced in the $900′s, should you automatically expect a seller to settle at 92% of the list price? NO! These are AVERAGES. Each home will have a unique situation. Your best advisor is your real estate agent. They can check to see how long the home has really been on the market (the DOM resets every time a seller changes agents). They can view how frequently the seller has taken price reductions.* They also can analyze comparatives to determine how they compare to the home under consideration. Armed with all the data, the agent can help the buyer develop a strategy for how their offer should be positioned so BOTH parties feel good about the transaction. And, remember that it’s not always about the price but other terms of the contract are important as well.
* I once saw a home that had been on the market for some time with regular price reductions of a certain amount leading us to wonder “how low will they go and how long did they plan to keep it up?”.
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Galena Ohio, Home buying process, Home prices, Home selling process, Homes, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Sellers
Tagged central ohio real estate market news, luxury homes in delaware county ohio
The answer to that question is “it depends”. How’s that for a non-answer! I looked at sales and absorption rates for just the Olentangy school district, since that’s where most of the sales occur in Delaware County. The “experts” generally consider an absorption rate of 6-7 months to be a stable market. Less than that would be a seller’s market. Over that, of course, would be a buyer’s market.
What I found is that the type of market depends upon the home’s price, at least according to the Active Listings that were available yesterday afternoon when I pulled the numbers from the CBR MLS system.
This chart shows the number of homes sold between Jan-Jun for last year and this year. The ‘% Chg’ column is the year-to-year change of the number of homes sold. The Active Listings reflect the number of homes that were available for purchase yesterday afternoon. The final column shows the number of months it would take to sell the active listings based on the sale rate during the first 6 months. What is not shown are the homes that are currently in-contract.
Olentangy School District Home Sales Jan-Jun 09 vs 10
| Sold Price |
Sold 2009 |
Sold 2010 |
% Chg |
Active Listings |
Mos to Sell |
| <$200K |
50 |
54 |
8% |
50 |
6 |
| $200′s |
160 |
191 |
19% |
210 |
6 |
| $300′s |
98 |
122 |
24% |
171 |
8 |
| $400′s |
48 |
54 |
13% |
73 |
8 |
| $500′s |
20 |
26 |
30% |
57 |
13 |
| $600′s |
14 |
10 |
(29%) |
48 |
29 |
| $700′s |
7 |
9 |
29% |
27 |
18 |
| $800′s |
1 |
2 |
100% |
19 |
57 |
| $900′s |
2 |
2 |
- |
9 |
27 |
| +$1,000′s |
- |
6 |
- |
35 |
35 |
Based on what the chart is telling us, homes priced under $299,999 are in a stable market. In the $300′s thru $400′s, it’s moved just slightly into a buyer’s market. $500,000 and up is definitely a strong buyer’s market.
So how do you use this info? If you’re a buyer interested in a home costing $225,000, it’s probably not wise to submit an offer of 85% of list. You’ll just anger the seller. However, if you’re buying a home over $1,000,000 then “go for it”! 
Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Galena Ohio, Home buying process, Home prices, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Housing stats, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Sellers
Tagged central ohio real estate market news
