Real Estate 411: August 2005 Archives

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August 31, 2005

Hot Tips For A Cooling Market

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My 5 Favorite Tips, Tricks, and Techniques That Will Make
or Save You Money When You Sell A Home In A Softening Market

by Jeff Hoffman

When the hot as a firecracker real estate market cools off, many frustrated sellers are caught without a plan for selling their home. If you’ve never sold a home in such a market, or perhaps you’ve forgotten how to navigate through one, the “rules of engagement” are quite different than you’re used to.

Whether they help you make money, save time, save money, or avoid frustration, these tips, tricks, and techniques can be a lifesaver to anyone selling a home in a softening real estate market.

Here are my 5 favorite tips, tricks and techniques to selling a home in a softening market.

1. Hire the "Top Gun". Throw away the flyers, postcards, and door hangers from the discount commission agents and hire the full service “neighborhood expert” real estate agent. Now is not the time to hire a newly licensed agent or a low commission “do some of the work yourself and save” real estate company to represent you in the sale of your home. I have a saying…”saving nothing of nothing is still nothing.” Translated, it means; if your home doesn’t sell you’ve saved nothing by listing with a reduced commission agent. The extra commission you’ll pay to hire an expert with a history of selling homes in your neighborhood will be easily offset by the fact that your home will likely sell quicker and for more money. Experienced agents who have been through a declining market cycle(s) are worth their weight in gold to you. Remember, if your home doesn’t get sold you don’t get moved and your agent doesn’t get paid, you both lose.

2. Value Range Pricing. One of my all-time favorite tricks. Most MLS systems allow your agent to offer your home for sale using a "range" rather than a specific list price. This alerts agents and buyers that you'll entertain offers between "X" price and "X" price. This technique is great at creating traffic and offers. There are two reasons why. First, buyers like to barter. When you list your home in a "range", it creates an impression that they can negotiate a lower price for your home. Second, without having to actually lower your price, you are creating the impression that you have lowered your price, which in turn, gets more buyers interested in your home than if you did a traditional price listing.

3. Price "below" the market. Before you panic and say you're giving your home away consider this...in a declining market, today's right priced home is tomorrows over-priced home. Staying ahead of the pricing curve is critical to selling for top dollar when the market is softening. Get at least two price opinions from different sources and enter the market below the median price of the homes that have sold within the last four weeks. For years I've used a tool called the "Total Market Overview Report." It's a computerized spreadsheet that shows the up to the week snapshot of the real estate market in your area to help you see which direction the market is heading. Contact me if you'd like to know how to get one for your home.

If you want to do your own research on pricing histories here are three online appraisal services you can use:

www.ElectronicAppraiser.com
$29.00 Complete Property Valuation - Detailed property information, comparable sales in the requested area, charted valuation, accurate market value.

www.InstantHomEvaluations.com
$9.95 Basic Home Valuation Report—a quick and inexpensive snap-shot of a home's worth. Provides the value range, assessed value, previous sales price and sale price information for 3 comparable homes.
$29.95 Professional Home Valuation Report-- a detailed evaluation of a home. This is the same report used by mortgage companies and banks to approve home loans.

www.REcyber.com
FREE--recyber society offers a yearly subscription service costing $149.95 however you can use their "Top 25 E-tools" link to get to a link for Instant Home Prices via domania. You'll receive up to five recent sales for your area without having to pay a registration fee. The information is general at best but it can help you confirm the pricing recommendation of your agent.

4. Offer an incentive to agents or buyers. Real estate agents often pick homes buyers see and make offers on. Offering an increased commission or a closing bonus if the home receives an offer by a certain date are two ways to increase interest of cooperative real estate agents. For buyers, you can offer to pay their loan fees or title and escrow costs. Secret Tip: If you don’t want to dig into your pocket to pay for these incentives look for an agent who offers a reward program that can be used at their cost like my program at www.buyercashrewards.com. More agents are realizing the power of such programs so ask around before you list with an agent.

5. Offer a Guaranteed Sale Program. Back in the early to mid 1990’s when we last went through a slow seller’s market home builders were offering to buy the home of the person who wanted to buy the builder’s home. Today, there are real estate agents who promote a guaranteed sale program where they will do the same thing. Understand if it’s tough for you to sell your home it will be tough for many potential buyers of your home to sell their current home to buy yours. Call around to local real estate offices and ask if any of their agents are offering a 90-120 day guaranteed sale program, or visit my site at www.Guaranteed-Sale.com.

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Jeff Hoffman is the President of Hoffman Realty Group, Inc. and the creator of a powerful home selling system designed for the home seller not the real estate agent. To learn more about his Smart Seller Home Selling System visit
www.SmartSellerListing.com

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"Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to sell your home ON TIME, for TOP DOLLAR, eliminating the frustration and stress many sellers routinely face...

Click Here => NEW FREE Book "18 Notorious Homes Selling Problems & How I Solved Them"-

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Posted by Jeff at 1:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 26, 2005

Challenges In A Changing Market

The real estate market is changing quickly. In this Podcast we'll discuss the state of the market, and review the problems confronting homesellers, and possible solutions to those problems.

MP3 File

Posted by Jeff at 2:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Why You Need The "411" Blog...

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The Low Down On The Real Estate "411" Blog...

- by Jeff Hoffman

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The key to making big profits in real estate is having the right resources to get timely information that both educates and informs. Buying or selling a home is a process, not an event.

Today, with the proliferation of the internet, the speed at which you can get information, become educated, and ultimately be keenly positioned to take intelligent action, has never been easier.

The intent of this forum is to help you find the best path to take before you begin the "process" of buying and selling, by providing you a jumping off point to give you the information you want and need to best profit from owning real estate.

Since this is my first post, I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself to you, albeit in text and not a handshake (the shortfall of electronic communication unfortunately).

My name is Jeff Hoffman and I’ve been a licensed real estate agent in California since May of 1988. I obtained my Broker license in 1990. In January 1995 I opened my residential real estate company Hoffman Realty Group, where I still actively list and sell homes (www.hoffmanrealtygroup.com).

I have listed and sold nearly 1,000 homes equaling approximately 1 Billion Dollars of residential real estate. I've spoken at major real estate conferences to thousands of real estate agents, invested in and currently own several rental properties from my own personal account, and have studied the "science of real estate" under some of the brightest minds in the industry both past and present.

I'm launching this site with the intent of offering you an unfiltered no-nonsense electronic highway of communication. Incidentally, the name the blog, and even the title of this post, is shamelessly taken from conversations with my young daughter, who like most kids these days have a language all their own! She inspired me to give you the 411 (aka the "information") which as best as I can tell means the "inside scoop."

What does all this mean to you?...

Simply put, that you can begin this new "electronic" relationship (don't worry, I've already told my lovely wife of 16 years that I'm not into online dating just blogging!) with a sense of confidence that I know what I'm talking about as it relates to the world of real estate. One of my personal goals along the way is to become a welcomed guest, rather than an unwanted pest, earning your trust so that you can use and profit from my advice.

Real estate is an exciting and interesting topic. For most of us it represents our largest financial investment. It's also an emotional safe harbor in the busy storm of life. It is that mixture that arouses the passion of so many. If you are one of those passionate people, then visiting this blog on a consistent basis will be time well spent for you.

Here's what we will focus on...

Posts will center on the core issues of helping you make or save more money with your real estate holding(s), save time, and avoid unnecessary effort that doesn't support the above three goals.

If you would like to receive information on new blog posts as they occur I encourage you reply with a comment. We'll add your information (your information is always confidential and will NEVER be given to anyone without your express written consent) and you'll be automatically notified so that you don't miss a post that could provide you with the information you want and need.

I'm excited about the possibilities and I hope you are too.

Till next time...

Jeff

P.S. COMING SOON...Make sure to check out our Podcast feature on this blog. I will be creating information rich audio broadcasts you won't want to miss, which will often be expanded versions of the blog or completely different topical content...so stay tuned. I'll post more information on this blog when we launch our first Podcast!

Jeff Hoffman is a licensed real estate Broker in Sacramento California.

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** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your
ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site so long as you
leave all links in place, do not modify the content and
include our resource box as listed above.

==============================================

Posted by Jeff at 11:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack