Tag Archives: sellers

Top 10 List of Real Estate Lists

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That’s right, I’m going meta-meta. Or better yet, I’m going mega meta (unlike Greg who went mini meta! 🙂 ).

  1. Hanan’s irregular list of new real estate blogs. Beautiful idea, perfectly executed. It is interesting to note that almost none of blogs from his first installment are still around writing interesting content…
  2. 10 Best Women Bloggers. Because it matters.
  3. 3 Easy Steps to Stop Zillow from Publishing the Zestimate of your Home… Because it doesn’t matter (and it still generates a ton of hits).
  4. Curbed’s Broker Boys and Babes Contest. No one else could have done this right.
  5. Curb Appeal Enthusiasm. Simple. Relevant. Useful. Interesting.
  6. 21 reasons to bank on the Phoenix real estate market… Should serve as a great warning to agents writing about the bubble… Be prepared to take the issue on like Greg or don’t even go there… (and I simply can’t ignore his list of blogs that feed a hungry mind.)
  7. The consistently growing list of neighborhood videos from TurnHere… I’m addicted.
  8. The PMI Group’s list of cities with the riskiest housing market. (This is a personal favorite since they traditionally rank Seattle as one of the least risky places to invest in real estate.
  9. Another ego item for the list… I check out the technorati site multiple times a day to find out if anyone is linking to RCG. But technorati provides so much more like keyword searches of blog posts and keyword searches of blogs. I similar argument could be made for del.icio.us since it is so darn useful for finding good content!
  10. Ardell’s list of posts for buyers and for sellers make up an incredible, wild, colorful, useful list of content.

And the worst real estate lists?

  1. I have only one: PubSub. This great concept is in desperate need of some algorithm love. For starters, if they are not going to count blogrolls each day, then they have to be consistent. For example, the Seattle PI Real Estate blog shows up #1 day in and day out because PubSub thinks that all the PI blogs are giving a fresh link to PI Real Estate blog every time they post a new blog entry. In reality, it is simply a function of their blog being on the blogroll of all the PI blogs. In addition, many features (like their URL detail page) have been broken for most of their existence. Lazy-coding issues like this make their tool nearly useless.

Why I like Zillow and Redfin by ARDELL

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[photopress:3ofhearts.jpg,thumb,alignright]I’m still scratching my head as to why agents around the country hate Zillow so much that they want to call it “Z”. Theory is that if they even whisper the name Zillow, they are spreading “the word” and helping it to become even more popular.

Zillow is a system of mathematical calculations, a tool that is easy and fun to use. So isn’t hating Zillow like hating your calculator?

I like Zillow because before they came along, all of the lead generators were about buyers. Buyers went there to look at houses and hit the big flashing “Find an Agent” button and were taken off to never-never-land where the lead generator collected a toll. Buying buyer leads has always been a joke. I can hardly go anywhere without hearing someone talking about buying a house. Every coffee shop, restaurant, the lady in line in front of you at the bank, at least 20% of the people at a barbecue…really. If you need to buy a buyer lead you need to look in the mirror and figure out why you need to trick people into hitting a big flashing button and pay for one. Time to hone up your skills and get a personality.

The innovation of Zillow is that every lead generator has asked that question: “How do we attract SELLER leads?” Even House Values knows that they cannot get enough seller leads, and they can sell them as fast as they can get them. There are more agents willing to buy seller leads from House Values in prime areas, then there are seller leads to go around. There’s a waiting list…I know…I’ve been on it for over a year. Every time they email or call me I ask…you have a seller lead spot available for 98033 or 98034. Answer is always no, but they are trying to sell me something else. Because attracting sellers rather than buyers is something the lead generator industry has been very lax at doing well.

And then comes Zillow. I don’t know what they are selling, but they clearly have the seller’s attention. Did Zillow get an Inman award for that? If not…Zillow now has the ARDELL award for innovation in lead generating sites. Don’t be waiting for the trophy, I haven’t gotten out shopping for Greg and Sharon yet, and you’re behind them.

Kudos to Zillow. Don’t know where you’re running with that ball, but kudos for putting a seller oriented site in play.

I like Redfin, because…

a lot of my past clients who came to me from blogging,

tried them first 🙂

How to Choose a Client

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[photopress:diversity.jpg,thumb,alignright] I have only one criteria when choosing a client. That criteria is very difficult to describe, because the best term to describe my favorite clients, I only know in the Greek language. I dated a Greek guy for six years, from the time I was 16 until I was 22. Whenever he introduced me to his Greek friends and relatives, they would lightly and quickly thump their fist on their chest and say

“kalu ka thYA” (emphasis on the YA). Generally, they were saying, “She has a good heart.”

When I meet a potential new client, I am actually interviewing them to determine whether or not I want to work with/for them. This can be a great business or it can be a miserable business. The difference between the two is the clients one chooses. Agents who view all people as “leads”, who think anyone wanting to buy or sell a property is a “potential client”, do both themselves and the client a great disservice.

My talents are best suited to people who need my “help”. To sellers who need to sell their home at the highest price they can get, and who are willing to roll up their sleeves WITH me, and get the house to its highest potential, spending little or no money to do that. To buyers who recognize that there are many potential pitfalls in the home buying process, and who want someone to tell them when they are about to make a mistake.

[photopress:winner.jpg,thumb,alignright] I have very little time for someone who wants to end up with all of the chips on their side of the table when the “deal is done”.

I have very little time for a seller who thinks his house is ready, because he shouldn’t have to do a thing to get top dollar and he can wait for “just the right sucker” to come along and fork over more than the home is worth, so HEcan WIN and THEY can LOSE.

I have NO/ZERO time for a buyer who wants to find some little old lady who can be tricked into selling her home for a great deal less than it is worth. (Yes, I have met people like that.)

All of of my clients are people raised with good values and who have a strong moral code, in other words…people who possess “kalu ka thYA”…”a good heart”. Once in a blue moon, I agree to represent a total bastard…but only because I feel sorry for his wife 🙂

So when a buyer or seller complains, “I guess they didn’t NEED my business because they never called me back after we met”, maybe the agent didn’t “follow up” because the agent chose you, not.

Sales that “fall apart” on Home Inspection

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[photopress:brokenmask.jpg,thumb,alignright]Tim’s Comment: “What many do not realize is the extent and frequency in which commissions are reduced via credits to the parties at closing. It is very common.’While Tim raised this subject as if these credits were commission negotiations, and sometimes they are, more often these credits are how agents help the buyer and seller accomplish their true objective. The true objective of a seller is to sell his house. The true objective of the buyer is to close on their new home.

Often during the home inspection negotiations, people get all upset. The buyer is really ticked that “the seller won’t fix…:and the seller is really ticked that “the buyer is being so petty as to want him to fix…” For many, many years, agents have used a portion of the commission to keep everything together and throw money at the problem that the buyer wants fixed and the seller won’t fix. With commissions being reduced, and so many agents paying referral fees and bottom feeder site fees and lead generation fees, there is less and less money available to keep these sales together, so more and more are falling apart.

It will be very interesting to see if the new business models that cut the commission down to the bare bones, have a higher rate of sales falling apart at inspection time, with not enough commission in play to fix what the buyer wants fixed and the seller won’t fix. The first time I saw an mls listing that required the buyer agent to submit the offer directly to the seller, one of the $500 mls only listings, the poor sellers were on their third round with two sales falling out of STI. They had even lost the house they were going to buy because of the failed efforts, and were on their third try at getting a buyer that would “stick” to the end. So my guess is the less money on the table to hold everything together, the more sales will fall apart.

When I negotiate with a buyer or seller, I make sure based on the type of property and price range, that I am not leaving the client so short, that the objective cannot ever be attained.

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride

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if-wishes-were-horsesIt’s much easier to “stick it to the man” when you’ve never met the man.

“If” the beginning of every residential real estate transaction were the buyers and the sellers and their agents meeting and chatting, maybe having dinner together and a drink or two for an hour. Then everyone walks through the house together while the seller tells the buyer the story of their life in the house and the buyer and agents ask questions. Then the offer is written, and proceeds through the inspections to find things the seller just truly doesn’t know about. At the end of the transaction when all items and terms are fully negotiated, the buyer comes into the room with a check in his hand. The seller comes into the room with the keys to all doors and garage door openers and manuals on appliances. The agents review the final numbers and nod to the closing agent.

Everyone smiles and shakes hands after the seller gets his check from the closing agent, and the seller hands over the keys to the new owner and wishes them much luck in the home they have lived in, and now pass forward to the new owners.

Believe it or not, that is how many of my original real estate transactions transpired, once we achieved balanced market conditions. For the past several years, more often than not, the buyers and sellers never even meet each other. The Seller’s Agent never meets the buyer and the Buyer’s Agent never meets the seller. The playing field seems to get nastier when it becomes a true buyer’s market or seller’s market. For the first time in many years, I am starting to see transactions that are more civil and fair to both parties.

I’ve been in this business long enough to see both buyer markets and seller markets. I’m still happiest when the market is balanced and all parties have met each other and treated one another with dignity and respect. I wish it were always so, but then, “if wishes were horses, beggars would ride…and there’d be no work for tinkers.”

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?

Should You Leverage Your Home or Pay it Down Rapidly?

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There is a great debate within the inner-mortgage circles these days. Should we, as loan professionals, encourage clients to borrow as much money as possible? Or would consumers benefit more if we helped them to understand the advantages of 15-year amortization schedules and pre-paying principal? Let’s examine the pros and cons of both strategies.


Leveraging Your Property. In order to understand why you’d want to borrow as much as possible for your home purchase, you must first grasp the concept that equity has a zero rate of return. Here’s an example:

If Consumer “A” buys a home for $300,000, and puts 20% down, then they have $60,000 in equity. Over the next 5 years, the property appreciates $100,000 in value. Consumer “A” now has $160,000 in equity.

Consumer “B” buys a home for $300,000, and puts no money down. At the end of 5 years, that same home is now worth $400,000. Consumer “B” has $100,000 in equity, which is the same appreciation as Consumer “A”, a net $100,000.

As you can see, your down payment has nothing to do with your rate of return. What becomes important is how you choose to manage the $60,000 you didn’t use as a down payment. If you use it for frivolous activities, such as buying toys or going to Las Vegas, it would be more prudent for you to use that money as a down payment. Especially since this will enable you to obtain a lower interest rate.

However, if you were to invest the $60,000 in a vehicle that can out-earn the cost of that debt, then this could be a formula for success. This is why some lending professionals suggest putting as little down as you possibly can, maximizing your tax write-off, and investing the rest. This principle has been applied for many years in the life insurance game. The old saying goes, “Buy term and invest the rest.” The key component is taking the money you would have used as a down payment and creating an asset accumulation account. This account should earn a significant enough rate of return to enable you to pay your mortgage off entirely and achieve the ultimate goal of being debt-free.

Paying Your Home Down Rapidly. There are very few times over the course of my career that I have seen a client with zero debt and no financial difficulties. Choosing to pay off all of your debt can reduce stress and help you to gain freedom of cash flow for investment opportunities. A 15-year mortgage or a bi-weekly payment strategy provides structure. It can also put you on track to have your mortgage paid off within a set timeframe. Simply put, it contains built-in discipline.

It’s important, however, to understand that regardless of how rapidly you pay your home off, you’re not getting any greater rate of return on your investment than if you paid it off slowly.

Conclusion. So how does one determine which scenario is best? The choice depends entirely upon the individual. Savvy consumers who are disciplined, and are comfortable taking chances from an investment perspective, would do well with the first scenario. Over the course of time, it’s been proven that your rate of return over the long-haul will be far greater than the rate you’d pay for a mortgage in today’s rate environment. It’s important to seek the advice of a skilled investment advisor to ensure success with this strategy.

The second scenario is best for those who have a difficult time managing their money or who’ll sleep easier at night knowing they have a plan in place to pay their loan off more rapidly. Be sure that your budget can handle accelerated payments. When consumers “bite off more than they can chew” with a 15-year mortgage, they frequently end up having to refinance back into a 30-year schedule.

If you find this subject intriguing and would like to know more, I recommend that you read a book titled, Missed Fortune 101, by Douglas Andrew. It’s an outstanding read that is very simplistic and goes into far greater detail than I can cover in this column. Douglas is a financial planner who advises safe-structured investments such as whole life policies and tax-free fixed income instruments.