Tag Archives: real-estate

Marketing my Home on the Internet

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While my opinion that a good real estate blogger does not include their listings on their blog is well documented and much debated, there is always room for an exception… and marketing my OWN home is one of those!

[photopress:kids_at_easter.JPG,thumb,alignright]Essentially, we have about two weeks left before we put it on the market. We’re just waiting for the movers to take our stuff and then, after we refinish the wooden floors on the main floor, we’ll be ready to list!

So, here are the internet marketing items I have on my checklist (of course, we’ll do some off-line stuff like putting together fliers, but I’m more interested in exploring the online stuff!)

  • Add Our Home to the Free Directories. Craigslist and Google Base come to mind. Are there others I should consider?
  • Blog About Our Neighbors. I know that there is very limited things that a real estate agent can say about the family-friendly nature of a neighborhood, but not having a license gives me the freedom to talk in great detail about are wonderful neighbors. Things I’d like to mention are all the kids that live nearby (8 kids within a few houses!), our regular Sunday BBQs during the summer and our weekly game nights during the Winter. (And I’m sure the neighbors would love it if the new owners continued our tradition of hosting the annual neighborhood easter egg hunt!!!). When moving to a new home, one of the biggest mysteries is what are the neighbors going to be like and because the people on our street are so cool, I’d like to put together an extensive neighborhood blog post! (Honestly, the hardest part of accepting a position in LA was leaving the neighborhood!)

    • [photopress:start_easter_hunt.JPG,thumb,alignright]

  • Financing Options. Interestingly, I’m in a place where I could offer the “right” people some innovative financing options… Like a lease-to-own, or something similar (as long as it is a win-win for both parties, I’m game for any idea!). Does something like this normally happen through the usual MLS channels or is there a special market for these types of properties? (Hint: if you contact me before we list, we might even be able to cut out some obvious fees.)
  • Blog About Our House. I promise not to overdo this, but I think one blog post about all the cool features of our home that might be too “personal” for the typical MLS listing would be appropriate on Rain City Guide. I’m thinking of things like the tree house I built in the backyard and the original art deco fixtures… I’d also like to add a map of all the recently sold homes (or maybe I’ll be lazy and just link to the appropriate ShackPrices page!)
  • Unique Icon. Robbie says he’ll give our home a unique icon on the maps of listed properties… Any ideas for what the icon should look like?
  • Enhance listing on Realtor.com. Around Move, people are shocked at how often real estate agents pay to get showcase listings and then don’t spruce up their listings by adding additional photos and other extras. Considering that Anna’s broker already pays for this service, I’ll make sure we spruce up our home!

    • [photopress:eggs.JPG,thumb,alignright]

  • Get on the Redfin Blog. If I provide a direct link from my blog to my listing on Redfin (and beg people to click on the link!) maybe I can blow out their single home stats for a day and thereby get a mention in their blog!!! (hmmm…. Is there a way to get on the Zillowblog?)
  • Newspaper Coverage? Is someone at the Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Seattle Magazine and/or any other local newspaper interested in writing a story about preparing and then selling a 1920’s Crown Hill (N. Ballard) home? We’ve got lots of great photos and I could probably write most of the story for you! 🙂
    (This reminds me… I did an interview for a real estate technology story that was suppose to be in the May issue of the Seattle Magazine. I never saw or heard anything about that story… Did this story ever go live? )
  • Picture Cloud. These guys just sent me a link for a free photo cloud. Interesting technology and easy enough to put together, so I think I’ll try them out with our home. (By the way, their branded option is free, but if you type the code “raincity”, they they will give you credit for five unbranded clouds for a penny.) If you try them out before I post my cloud, let me know what you think!

Any other ideas as I prepare the marketing plan for our home? Has anyone ever had any luck marketing a home on the internet? What did you do?

Seattle Real Estate Calendar Update

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Thanks to Tom of Trumba, I’ve been playing around with Trumba‘s calendar solutions. They are definitely doing some interesting things and there are some benefits to their solution that go above and beyond the current offerings of Google Calendar I discussed a little while back. In particular, I really like two features they’ve added to the NYTime’s Automotive Calendar that I think could easily be ported to the Seattle real estate scene.

  • Feature 1: Submit an Event allows for any user to add an event
  • Feature 2: Add This Calendar to Your Site gives some simple javascript so that anyone can add the calendar to their site.

There are two types of calendars that can easily be added to another site. One is a preview calendar shown on my sidepanel (below the comments!) and the other is a “full” calendar shown below.

I really like the distributed collaboration and if anyone wants to add this calendar to their real estate site, it is as simple as copy-and-pasting some code… If you are interested, email me and I’ll send you the code!

By the way, the current calendars on this site do not have the “add an event” feature, but Tom assures me that it will be available in a few weeks! Until then, feel free to email me with your real estate event if you’d like me to add it to the calendar!

One more thing!!! The TechCrunch event looks to be a lot of fun and is coming up this next Wednesday!!!

Going, Going…GONE!

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[photopress:gavel.jpg,full,alignright]A few days ago a property came on market just after noon at 12:48:39. The property was emailed to me through the mls, so I saw it fairly quickly after it was listed. I emailed it to a client of mine, even though it was not in the area he requested, but it was in the price range.

I don’t know why I sent it to him, except that I knew it was an exceptional property in an exceptional location and priced to sell. There are hundreds of properties on market in his price range, but this one caught my attention. This one above all others. Sometimes I wonder how we can just instinctively know that as we are emailed listings, while we are in the midst of doing other things. Now there’s a REALLY good one.

The property was apparently viewed, an offer received and accepted and the property changed from ACTIVE to STI by 9:58:46 the same evening. No, my client didn’t see it or buy it. But he did change his instructions to me and asked that I, rather than following his instructions, send him anything in his price range that I felt was not only appropriate to his needs, but a good property. Sometimes just knowing “how to pick ’em” is what sets you apart.

I do see some weaknesses in the marketplace. In fact, I don’t like most or many properties that are for sale. But we are, as always, waiting like cats to pounce on the next good one coming out the gate.

Condos: Conversion versus New Construction

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(Editor’s Note: Please welcome Wendy Leung as the newest contributor to Rain City Guide. She is a real estate professional specializing in the Seattle Condo market. She has been running a very interesting condo blog for a few months now, and I thought we could all benefit from her knowledge on the condo market in Downtown Seattle. if you haven’t read her blog, definitely check out her post on Cars and Condos where she gives insight into the local condos by describing the type of car that they would be. Great stuff! You can always learn more about her at her website or by contacting her directly at 206-321-2493)

With an increasing number of apartment buildings converting into condos as well as a parade of new construction projects being unveiled every day, home buyers may be wondering how to think about these two property types.

At the end of the day, your Realtor should help you evaluate the options based on your goals, budget, needs, and circumstances. Furthermore, every property is unique and generalizing about conversions and new condos is a bit like saying one genre of restaurant will always offer better service than another. That said, there are some fairly consistent differences between the two property types. Here are some of the advantages for each.

Advantages of new condos

  • Newer, nicer interiors and exteriors, often come with better amenities and more imaginative architectural designs.
  • Better quality construction (at least as far as we know). Gone are the days when builders used leaky Synthetic stucco for every new project. The quality of construction has advanced these days and more and more builders are using hardy plank, a combination of brick veneer, vinyl, metal, concrete, steel and cement.
  • Flexibility to customize the interior. Usually, the builder will offer you a variety of upgrades and style options to make the place match your personal style.

Advantages of conversions

  • There are fewer surprises. What you see is what you get. The building has been around for a while so generally, if there are any issues with the building, it should already have happened. If the building has issues, you can usually get hold of the information about any issues much easier than a new condo to make a better informed decision.
  • There is actual market data available for that building and even that unit to support the rental value for the building if you are purchasing it as an investment. There will also be more insight into peoples’ opinions of the building as opposed to speculation from the new condo sales center.
  • Most of the time, conversions are cheaper than buying new construction. When you’re looking at ROI, this can be the biggest factor of all since 3 years from now, a new condo and an apartment conversion will both be older condos in the eyes of most buyers.

If you are not paying a really large premium for new construction (this is getting harder to do these days), it will probably resell for more than a conversion. However, a pricey new construction unit may have a higher absolute price appreciation but may not have a higher return on investment (than a value-priced conversion unit). At the end of the day from an investment point of view, it’s the rate of return on investment and not the absolute resale price growth that maximizes your profits.

Buyer Agent Bonuses

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[photopress:50_50_1.jpg,thumb,alignright]For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume that in normal market conditions, the division of the total commission agreed to by the seller in the listing contract is divided evenly between the agent for the seller and the agent for the buyer. In the diagram, the blue portion represents the listing agent’s compensation and only the yellow portion will be the subject of this discussion.

When a seller or seller’s agent is having difficulty “moving the product”, that being the house, sometimes they will raise the “offering” to the Buyer Agent as an incentive. For instance, if the price of the house is $350,000, each percent of price equals $3,500. So the seller could offer the Buyer Agent a bonus of 1% or 2% above the area norm, and spend less than a price reduction. Let’s say that it would take a price reduction from $350,000 down to $325,000 to get the property sold. That would “cost” the seller $25,000. Instead, the seller might increase the “offering” to the buyer agent in the mls by 2%, which would only cost him $7,000 in this $350,000 example. Even if the seller doubled the “offered fee”, it would cost him less than the price reduction, as doubling the compensation to the buyer agent might cost him $10,500, and dropping the price to the point where it would sell would cost him $25,000. So increasing the offering makes total sense from the seller’s side of the fence.

OK, now for the tricky part. Click here and read this before considering the rest of this post.

[photopress:33_66_1.jpg,thumb,alignright] The seller is increasing the fee to persuade “YOUR” agent to “SELL you” his house. By doing so, “your” agent can double his money. The idea that increasing the buyer agent fee will be effective in selling the house, is a holdover from the days before buyer agency existed. As the agent for the seller, I would still use this strategy when advising the seller, as it is a more cost effective method of selling a home that isn’t “moving”. However, as a buyer agent, the concept that I might be motivated by a higher fee to me, is insulting. While I generally do not believe in buyers signing buyer agency agreements, this scenario points out one of the advantages to the buyer for doing so. Even if the buyer cannot negotiate the buyer agent fee below the area norm, the buyer can stipulate that any Buyer Agent Bonuses would go to the buyer, and not to the agent. However, a more appropriate strategy might be to ignore them entirely, and simply focus on the attributes and value of the house, without regard to these incentives.

The yellow portion of the fee is the amount that the seller offers “to the person who brings buyers to his home”. It is also, and simultaneously, the amount that the buyer perceives that he is paying to the agent for representing him, the buyer, in the transaction. Until we all agree that it is the latter and not the former, buyers will never truly have equal representation in the real estate marketplace.

This duality of purpose for the same monies, continues to be a problem in the industry. One that should be talked about a whole lot more than it is. So let’s talk. What do you think? While you can comment anonymously, please note if you are responding from the point of view of a seller, a buyer, an agent, or a giraffe.

This odd duplicity of purpose regarding the yellow portion of the fee (the mls offering/buyer agent fee) has been going on for about 15 years. It’s time we began the process of coming to terms with it, by discussing it openly. There are NO easy answers to this one, but engaging in a dialogue might help move the topic out of it’s current “holding pattern”. Until and unless agents all agree that they are in the business of representing people and not in the business of SELLING anything, we can’t get to the appropriate answer. And then the consumers would have to likewise view what is happening accordingly, and not hire an agent “to sell” their house, but to “represent them in the sale of the house”.

But we can, at least, open up Pandora’s Box in the hope that the discussions will begin moving things in the right direction.

Free Class!

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If anyone is interested, I am offering a free class tonight at the Phinney Neighborhood Center (Blue Building Room 6, 6532 Phinny Ave. N. in Seattle) from 7:30-8:30. I’ll be addressing legal issues relating to the purchase and sale of a home, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of buying or selling without an agent. I hope to see you there!

Real Estate Tech Talk

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Back at MindCamp, Stewart Maxwell of Seattle Real Estate Talk recorded a podcast featuring me and Galen Ward discussing our ideas behind real estate technology.

While you’re on Seattle Real Estate Talk, check out their new layout. It’s very tight and I love the updated header graphic!

UPDATE
I just noticed that Galen wrote a little something about this podcast on the ShackPrices blog.

Multi-family investments – recommended reading

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Generally I have an issue with most real estate books as they are usually advise on how to make a million dollars in 90-days or some similar hype. So it’s refreshing to come across the few books that are sound, practical advise on investing in real estate. The latest that I’ve read that fits into this practical advise category is The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings by Steve Berges.

Let’s face it, with high vacancy rates and low rents, multi-family hasn’t been a great place to invest the last few years in the Seattle area. But with the increasing prices of entry level homes, number of condo conversions removing units from existing inventory and the increased interest rates the rental market is seeing renewed demand. So where do you invest and how do you analyze the deal?

That’s why I like this book. Steve Berges doesn’t promise to make you a millionaire overnight. Instead he lays out tax planning, case studies and financial analysis examples that help you develop some investment strategies. I was a finance major in college, plus several years at Microsoft brainwashed me with the metrics mantra — if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t matter. So I really appreciated the financial analysis part of this book. Sample spreadsheets on how to calculate different ROI scenarios and determine the best investment among several properties.

This isn’t an exciting, feel-good rich dad, poor dad type of read. It’s practical advise on how to get into the game, analyze your investment and calculate your exit strategy. For anyone contemplating multi-family investments, I highly recommend this book.

One last note — don’t spend useless hours trying to recreate his spreadsheets from the book. I wasted several hours on that before realizing the obvious — all his analysis tools are available on Steve’s website www.thevalueplay.com