The other day one of my clients mentioned that they let two people view their house without an agent. I know that in this market neither sellers or agents ever want to miss a potential opportunity by not allowing someone into their house. That’s all well and good but safety should also be kept in mind.
Most of the time everything is going to be all right but you should never let your guard down. Even agents are nervous if they don’t have a previous relationship with a client and someone calls to meet them at a house to show.
I always tell my clients to never let someone in who sees the sign in the yard and wants to see the property. They can call an agent or they can call me.
The sargent in the old tv show “Hill Street Blues” used to say all the time…”let’s be careful out there.”
Without question the real estate market is going through some challenging times. Prices are down and it’s taking longer to sell a house than it did during the unrealistic years of 2003-2006. Those years were so far out of the norm for real estate historically that it’s difficult to compare them to what is happening now.
Several facts are contributing to the current downturn in real estate.
- home prices have escalated too far, too fast, in many parts of the country,
- the national economy is undergoing a downturn which also affects the real estate market,
- the loan crisis is having a negative affect on people’s ability to get a loan,
- foreclosures caused by the drop in prices in many parts of the country,
- lending guidelines are changing making it more difficult to get a loan
Despite this not all news is bad…especially in the Annapolis MD real estate market.
If you look at the statistics from the Metropolital Regional Information System comparing February 2008 to February 2007 home prices for those properties that sold in Crofton were higher by 3.28%. A 3% increase is more in line with how real estate typically increases in value.
Other zip codes in the area have had increases in prices as well including Davidsonville which had a 121% increase.
Annapolis MD real estate is staying on the market longer and home sellers need to do everything they can to get an advantage in this market. Spending a few dollars staging your home is a great way to accomplish this goal. Here are a few tips to get you started.
- The Entrance: This is the first place to start and probably one of the most important to buyers. The curb appeal of your house and the condition of the front door is what gives buyers their first impression of your home, and it better be good. Winter debris on the lawn, now is the time to get rid of it. Nicks and chips on the front door, paint it. Looks a little bare, flower it. This is the gateway to your home and it should look its best.
- Out Dam Clutter: George Carlin has a pretty good bit about all the “stuff” we accumulate during our lives. Great fodder for a comedian but not good news when you’re selling your house. When it comes to selling your house, less is better. One key area to absolutely remove clutter is your countertops. The countertops don’t have to be completely cleared of everything but the closer you get to clear countertops the better it will be. While you’re at it, de-clutter the rest of the house as well. The potential buyers should be focusing on the house and not your stuff.
- De-personalize: Like clutter, a lot of personal items can get in the way of a buyer. Box up the pictures on the refridgerator and any areas that have too much of a personal nature. We want the buyers to be able to visualize this as their potential future home and the less you have around to remind them it’s your house, the better.
- Paint: Yes, but keep it neutral. Beige paint, white ceilings and trim. Wait until you get into your new house to get creative again. If you push me maybe an accent wall, but that’s it. A newly painted house looks, smells and feels clean. Painting is one of the least expensive fixes you can do that increases value.
- Furniture: Like other stuff, furniture tends to accumulate the longer we’re in a house. You want to avoid having the rooms look smaller because there is too much furniture or the furniture is too large. Rearrange it if you have to or take some out so the potential buyer gets a better impression about the size of the rooms.
- Light: Yes, and plenty of it when the house is being shown. Rooms that have plenty of light, both natural and electric, show better. Increase those 40 watt bulbs but be careful to not exceed the capacity of your fixture. Unlike clutter, where less is better, when we’re talking about light, more is definately the way to go.
There are plenty more staging tips where these came from. Contact me at your convenience at Rich@RichSellsHomes and I’ll send you an ebook about all the things you can do to spruce up your home before selling.
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The internet is a tremendous resource for so many things…but, in my opinion, it is not a great place to pick a mortgage lender. Certainly there is no lack of mortgage lenders looking for your business on the internet. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to make a contact and possibly a sale.
As an agent in the Annapolis MD real estate area I always advise looking for a local brick and mortar lender. Lenders who are local to the area where you plan to buy a home are certainly more familiar that an internet provider who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away.
When you deal with a local lender you get the same person every time you call…and that can be very important during the course of a transaction. Many internet lenders use call centers so it’s a different person every time you call. There is no relationship, you’re just another incoming call. If your loan isn’t going well they don’t have much of a commitment to getting you into a home.
I’m not a lender but as a real estate agent in the Annapolis MD real estate market area I consider choosing a mortgage lender on of the most important things my clients do during the purchase of their new home. Statistically, most contracts fall through because of financing troubles during the course of the contract.
Like your agent, you have to be comfortable with the lender you choose. They are processing one of the most important financial transactions of your lifetime.
OK, so we all know by now that it’s a difficult real estate market. Just turn on any news channel and they’ll reinforce that time and time again. Of course some of it is true. There are more listings on the market and they are taking longer to sell but it isn’t really as bad as the doomsayers in the press repeat.
Suffice to say that when houses don’t sell someone may be in for a termination. If you guessed that it’s the listing agent, sometimes thats true but sometimes not. Nowadays it may very well be the seller who is fired by the agent. When the seller continues to ignore the agents recommendations it frequently isn’t in the agent’s best interest to continue to spend money trying to sell the listing.
Selling a house is a cooperative undertaking between the owner and their agent. The agent puts up the risk money associated with marketing the house on the hope of a future payoff. If the hope of that future payoff dwindles because the owner refuses to make improvements, reduce the price or allow for ease of showing than the agent has a decision to make. Do I continue to bleed money or do I cut it off now. Many agents today are deciding to cut their losses and move on. Many sellers are deciding to do the same as well. Let’s relist it with a new agent and try for a fresh start.
After all, if the house doesn’t sell…it’s the agent’s fault.
The redistricting committee has voted to make a recommendation to the School Superintendent regarding how to populate the new elementary school being built in Crofton.
- All students who live in Walden.
- All students who live on the east side of Route 3 who currently attend Four Seasons.
- Piney Orchard students off Strawberry Lake between Waugh Chapel and Porceline Tile to Four Seasons Elementary.
- North Patuxent Road students to Four Seasons Elementary.
- All new elementary school students will go to Crofton Middle and Arundel High.
The committee recommendations are in and they sound pretty reasonable. Pretty much related to geography and that makes a lot of sense.
Now all we need is a name for the new school. I know…lets create another committee.
When the new elementary school in Crofton is completed next year several hundred elementary school children will be reassigned to the new school. While I’m sure that some parents will welcome this move there are also a number who will be disaffected.
To their credit the School Board has been having a series of meetings to provide information and get comments on potential plans for the re-districting.
The school will hold over 700 students and they have to come from somewhere. That somewhere is the existing schools, many of which are overcrowded.
One of the proposals is that any child who lives east or west of Reidel Road and is currently going to Crofton Elementary or Four Seasons Elementary would go to the new school. This sounds reasonable since geographically they would be closest. Middle school assignments are still in flux. Either Crofton Middle or Arundel Middle are still on the table.
As it turns out the re-districting committee will vote and make their recommendations to the Superintendant who can change the recommendation to the School Board. All of this is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
No matter what happens I’m pretty sure that not everyone will be pleased. The re-districting committee is doing the best they can to make accommodations.
Annapolis MD Real Estate
In the Annapolis MD real estate market there is a lot of new construction. If you’ve ever bought new construction you know what the blue tape is for. While there are several meetings with the builders representatives before settlement one of the most important is when the purchasers do a walkthrough with the construction representative about a week before settlement.
Every little knick or smudge gets the blue tape treatment. As you do the walkthrough with your agent and the construction rep check everything make sure that everything that doesn’t meet your standards gets a piece of blue tape. This is the best time for you to get even little things taken care of, since you haven’t gone to settlement yet. Like a lot of other things in life once the check is cashed it’s more difficult to get the builder’s interest.
Blue tape it to get it fixed before settlement.
The Annapolis MD Real Estate market also comprises a robust rental market as well. While rental prices are high they could get higher if foreclosures continue to increase.
Investment properties are not immune to the market conditions affecting the general real estate market. It seems that investors are not necessarily as savvy as they think. Investment properties are being foreclosed on and renters are being affected.
Once a foreclosure is in effect the lease you have may not be worth the paper it’s printed on in most states. The bank can, and will, give notice to vacate so that they can dispose of the property.
Your rights as a renter to remain in the property are terminated with the foreclosure. I’m not aware of any statistics to indicate how often this scenario happens but suffice to say, it does happen, and will continue to grow as a percentage of foreclosures.
Lawrence Yun, NAR vice president of research puts the housing crunch in perspective. 2007 will be the fifth highest year on record for existing home sales. Fifth best ever.
He expects that 5.78 million homes will be sold in 2007 and that number moving up to 6.12 million next year.
Despite some small declines in prices in 2007 they are expected to increase again next year. The recovery in the new home sale market is lagging existing home sales.
