SarahGray Lamm ~ Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham Real Estate Blog ~ Agent Outlier: January 2010

You need to sell your Durham home and you've been interviewing Realtors. Let me stick my neck out a bit and say you aren't exactly hearing what you'd like to hear...maybe it's what you expected to hear on some level but there was always that little glimmer of hope, right? Maybe, just maybe, you could hold out for a bit higher selling price than what you’re being told. After all we live in a wonderful, vibrant part of the country and of North Carolina. We have an enviable quality of life. We never saw the outrageous appreciation that some states saw so we couldn’t possibly be seeing the depreciation they keep reporting in the news. Surely there are folks looking to move here who understand this and will open up those pocketbooks a tad wider to accommodate the price you know your home is worth.

“What harm is there in trying it just for a while?” you ask. “Besides, don’t we need some negotiating room built in to the price? A little something to make the buyer feel like they got a good deal?”

You need to hear me say this: You are talking about over pricing and it is a very, very bad strategy. Here are the facts.

The red bars show the percentage of the original list price which was achieved at closing when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale for Durham County, NC homes. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY and did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer.

The yellow bars show how much LESS homes in Durham County, NC sold for when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The percentage achieved at closing was negotiated off the final list price, NOT the original list price.

The red bars show the average Days On Market for a Durham County, NC home when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY, did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer and the home sold significantly faster.

The yellow bars show how much longer it took to sell homes in Durham County, NC when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The average Days On Market is significantly longer. Time is money and sellers who over price undoubtedly paid a few more mortgage payments than those who do not over price.

You can see that over pricing, as a strategy, has never been a good idea but in an unforgiving market like we are experiencing now it can mean the difference between the seller bringing money to the table or not.

The value of significant real estate experience can not be overstated in 2010. If you are serious about accomplishing your real estate goals, give me a call. I'll give you all the facts you need to make the right pricing decision.

~These charts reflect the latest data available from the T.A.R.R. Report. A subscription publication for Triangle real estate practitioners~

You need to sell your Chapel Hill or Carrboro home and you've been interviewing Realtors. Let me stick my neck out a bit and say you aren't exactly hearing what you'd like to hear...maybe it's what you expected to hear on some level but there was always that little glimmer of hope, right? Maybe, just maybe, you could hold out for a bit higher selling price than what you’re being told. After all we live in a wonderful, vibrant part of the country and of North Carolina. We have an enviable quality of life and some of the best schools in the state. We never saw the outrageous appreciation that some states saw so we couldn’t possibly be seeing the depreciation they keep reporting in the news. Surely there are folks looking to move here who understand this and will open up those pocketbooks a tad wider to accommodate the price you know your home is worth.

“What harm is there in trying it just for a while?” you ask. “Besides, don’t we need some negotiating room built in to the price? A little something to make the buyer feel like they got a good deal?”

You need to hear me say this: You are talking about over pricing and it is a very, very bad strategy. Here are the facts.

The red bars show the percentage of the original list price which was achieved at closing when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale for Orange County, NC homes. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY and did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer.

The yellow bars show how much LESS homes in Orange County, NC sold for when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The percentage achieved at closing was negotiated off the final list price, NOT the original list price.

The red bars show the average Days On Market for an Orange County, NC home when the original listing price was the same as the final listing price at the time of sale. In other words, the listing agent and seller PRICED THE HOME CORRECTLY, did NOT have to lower the original asking price before accepting an offer and the home sold significantly faster.

The yellow bars show how much longer it took to sell homes in Orange County, NC when the listing agent and seller OVER PRICED THE HOME TO START and were forced to LOWER the asking price before getting an accepted offer. The average Days On Market is significantly longer. Time is money and sellers who over price undoubtedly paid a few more mortgage payments than those who do not over price.

You can see that over pricing, as a strategy, has never been a good idea but in an unforgiving market like we are experiencing now it can mean the difference between the seller bringing money to the table or not.

The value of significant real estate experience can not be overstated in 2010. If you are serious about accomplishing your real estate goals, give me a call. I'll give you all the facts you need to make the right pricing decision.

~These charts reflect the latest data available from the T.A.R.R. Report. A subscription publication for Triangle real estate practitioners~

“We hear what you're saying but we NEED to list at our price. We have FAITH in you...besides if we get the price we NEED, you make more money. Isn't that what you WANT?”

I am always dumbstruck by that logic coming from an otherwise intelligent seller.

I have just finished explaining that you have a 90 day window to sell your home. A 90 day window in a market averaging 10 months supply of available homes at the end of 2009. The qualification period for the government tax credits, love 'em or hate 'em, will end in 90 days. Over. Not coming back. You NEED to have your home under contract by then and the supply of housing in this area is more than triple that.

I have explained that every single day agents all over the Triangle are hitting the SUBMIT button on another new listing.

It's the third week of January 2010 and there are over 700 new listings in the last seven days alone in Wake, Durham, Orange and Chatham counties.

Another new listing which has been freshly painted, decluttered and staged for sale. Another new listing that opens the possibility of owning a great home for a qualified buyer who WANTS a deal...a great deal. And why shouldn't s/he? It's a buyers market and this buyer either has nothing to sell in order to buy because s/he is a first timer or was wise enough to take the advise of a real estate professional and get their previous home perfectly positioned to be at the top of another buyer's wish list. Done. Gone. Cash in the bank.

I have explained that you purchased your home at the top of the market. I know you were excited to move into this wonderful home and with such a great mortgage that you barely had to touch your savings. In a few years, when your house had appreciated normally (not those crazy appreciation rates we heard about in Florida or Nevada) but 'normally' at 5-6% a year (excuse me while I pause to reflect on how many times over the last 30 years I have said that the real“normal” in my book was 1-2% per year) you would be able to “break even” in a year or two, sell your home at a modest profit, pocket the difference as your next down payment and move on to do it all over again in another town. Well, that WAS the plan, wasn't it?

I have explained that the pool of potential buyers for your home is limited by several things beyond your control. First, they must have a job. Second, they must have some savings. Third, they must have good credit, not OK credit, good credit. They must be able to get an interest rate that allows them to afford the payments on your home. Those interest rates are available at least through March. But once the government stops buying mortgage backed securities (in March) they will have to get that loan from a bank. I think it is clear that banks have no intention of loaning money to home buyers at the current rates of under 5%. It isn't rocket science that rates are going to go up. An interest rate rise of just 1% will mean a potential buyer for your home must pay $10,000 less for it in order to have the same mortgage payment.

Which brings me to the other thing we just talked about: Sellers care about Price but Buyers care about Cost! Remember back a couple of years ago when you were the buyer? Did you care what you paid for the house or did you care how much your mortgage would cost you every month?

So I guess the answer to your question is: Thanks. I appreciate your faith in me but really, shouldn't faith be reserved for things which cannot be proven? I'd prefer you simply trust me and my actual facts. I have absolutely no special skills which allow me to unerringly locate the one buyer out there who has cash, no television or internet access allowing them to find out that this is a buyers market, no real estate professional working for them and who WANTS your home so much they will pay whatever you NEED.

As for my commission? I make no commission on a home that does not sell. I create no good will by making a promise on which I cannot deliver. I have yet to list a home on which the commission I made would allow me to retire with no worries about the future. I don't expect to ever list one.

I expect to work hard, offering my hard earned wisdom to my clients and to rely on their appreciation of my skills and services so that they feel good about referring me to their friends. It's a good business plan. I do what I have done for over 30 years because I love it, I'm good at it and I can make a profit at it. In that order. So can we rephrase the question?

I have FAITH that after you have processed all of the information I have provided, you will understand that if you NEED to sell your home and are not one of the millions doing so in distress, you will WANT to make it as attractive as you can, both in price and condition, to the well informed and qualified buyers out there. If you do that I can predict that you will move forward as one of them yourself...a well informed and qualified buyer...now that's a good business plan!

My colleague, Lisa Udy in Utah says it beautifully in this post...whether you are contemplating selling a home in North Carolina or Lisa's home state of Utah, these are the facts about what it will take to get the job done. Home sellers in Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh are well advised to take her words to heart and consider carefully her advice. I will gladly provide the local market statistics you need to understand how the reality of today's marketplace will affect you here in the Triangle of NC.

I know it's a hard message but seeing the truth of it now will put you in the best position you could be in...you will be the ready, willing and able buyer in a buyer's market! 

If you love nature and the outdoors, biking, trail running or simply strolling along listening to the birds singing, Chapel Hill and Carrboro have some easily accessible ways to get out and enjoy your passion! Part of a planned system of greenways throughout North Carolina's Triangle ( anchored by Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill) are plenty of easily accessible trails running along the streams and through the forests that are part of the Triangle's treasure. Quite a number of the trails can be reached by local residents right in their own communities.

A short stroll through my own neighborhood and I am exploring The Bolin Creek In Winter:

This map shows the area where I filmed this video:

Carrboro is probably the most walkable community in the Triangle and that is not an accident. Sidewalks, bikeways and greenways, many connecting with Carrboro's sister community of Chapel Hill and finally with the larger Triangle greenway system is a community goal. Click here for a printable map of the sidewalks, bikeways and greenways in Carrboro, NC.

If this sounds like your kind of town, give me a call! I can help you find a home with nature on your doorstep!

Back in August I had a featured post which was about a wonderful blog I had run across from a real person...a young woman by the name of Molly who blogged about her search for a new home in Charlotte, NC. It was a great read and many of you stopped by her blog and subscribed to hear the rest of her tale.

It was disappointing (but terribly understandable) that with everything going on in her life PLUS a home search, she wasn't posting minute by minute updates for us eavesdropping real estate agents, in her unique style, about every detail of her experience...would have LOVED to follow that!

Well, Molly did find a home! She eventually posted a short blog that indicated she had moved in.

Then the unthinkable happened. On December 29, 2009, her new home was broken into and her beloved beagle was injured in the process.

I'm sick for her. She is very, very angry and it has colored how she looks at things. Who could blame her? She posted her first blog article of the new year about the experience and she called it Horrible. It is horrible...and I wish we could make it better.

Maybe a little moral support is in order and a prayer or two that she regains some of the "new home bliss" that was robbed from her along with the television. Realtors can surely understand better than most how much she has been violated.