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

A Tale of Two Comps: COMParables and COMPetition

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:06:36 -0600

Just knowing down to your toes that something is true can inspire some truly well written prose. Mike Jaquish talks about a big reality check for sellers here in the Triangle. We are lucky to live in an area where buyers have lots of great choices in housing and communites. On the other hand, buyers have lots of great choices...are you prepared to market your home to a buyer with so many options?

Via Mike Jaquish Cary, NC, Real Estate (KELLER WILLIAMS® Realty):

Taking a few liberties with Charles Dickens here....

It was the best of markets, it was the worst of markets, it was the market of wisdom, it was the market of foolishness, it was the market of belief, it was the market of incredulity, it was the market of Light, it was the market of Darkness, it was the market of hope, it was the market of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to closing, we were all going direct to foreclosure - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparables only. (Sorry, Charlie.) It's all about your perspective.

I help buyers and sellers in Wake County, NC.

Sellers too often limit their view to the "comparable sold properties." Sellers say, "I have 5 comps." "I can justify my price with the comps." "The comps support me." "Why should I sell for less than the comps say?"

It is just great that we can justify the price on your home, based on the most recent sales in your neighborhood, or even when we drag in a couple of homes from the subdivision across the street, or down the road. Great. You are "Priced Right." So, how is that sale going? Have you been on the market longer than you thought you would be? Did your lookie-lous buy somewhere else?

Now let's talk about another set of comps. As in "Market Competition."

If you are in Wake County, you have tons of Competition. Tons. So, yes, we have a lot of Buyers. And they have a lot of homes from which to select.

It is not uncommon for a Buyer, particularly a relocation client from out of town, to look at properties in a very wide area, up to 20 miles wide, or even wider. See, they are focused on value as well as specific location. And, with Wake County Public School System running the whole county, they can go twenty miles away and be in the same school district. I routinely show Buyers homes in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, and Morrisville.

And transportation options to centers of employment are diverse enough, Buyers can select from multiple areas and have agreeable commutes.

So, what ties the Buyers to your home? What will compel them to buy YOUR home, from amongst the competition?

Comparables? Not really. A motivated Seller will consider the main function of the Comparable Sold Properties as supporting the sales value for Buyer lending purposes.

Town boundaries? The Cachet of Cary? The Appeal of Apex? Raleigh Suburbia? Hardly. They are all great choices, but our annexation laws in Wake County allow for immense gerrymandering of town boundaries. Some areas of Cary are not even contiguous to Cary. Some Caryites have mailing addresses from surrounding towns, as the Postal Service serves the customer as they deem efficient, not as the towns have gained jurisdiction. Cary homes may have an Apex mailing address, and a Garner telephone exchange.

Will the schools keep them in your neighborhood? Nope. Buyers may well attend the same or similar schools from a home miles away.

It was the best of values. It was the worst of values. It was the same house....

You may have the best property on your street or in your neighborhood. You need to know how your home stacks up in the broader market, to the competition. Is there better competitive inventory 5 miles away that is not considered "comparable?"

All the choices your prospective buyer has are competing with you.

If you are priced at $350,000 in a luxury townhome, you have to recognize that YOU are locked into selling a townhome. Your Buyer may choose to buy a townhome, but has choices of townhomes, single family homes, condominiums, multi-family, in town or rural, etc. You must make Buyers want YOUR offering above the others.

You have to make your home among the most appealing in the broader competitive market. Price. Condition. Updates. Decor. All of them must combine to help sell your home. If you think that any Buyer "...Will have to overlook" something, bear in mind that you will probably take a price hit for that approach. If they look at all.

It was the market of comparables, it was the market of competition...
.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Mike Jaquish, REALTOR®

919-880-2769 www.MikeJaquish.com

Try my "No Hassle Home Search" No registration required!

Broker Associate, KELLER WILLIAMS® Realty, Cary, NC

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

SarahGray Lamm is a licensed, full time, residential real estate agent in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina. She specializes in serving the real estate needs of home sellers and home buyers in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Northern Chatham County.

With over 60,000 hours of experience in NC real estate, SarahGray is proudly associated with Allen Tate Realtors, the Carolinas #1 independent realty company. With exceptional relationships all over the Carolinas and the U.S., SarahGray is able to connect you with other professional Realtors in all areas who will make your search for a new home or your home sale the best experience you have ever had!

Use of content from the AgentOutlier blog without the express permission of the owner is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Home For Sale ~ 2106 Strebor Street, Durham, NC 27705 ~ $145,000 ~ SOLD

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:22:22 -0600

SOLD in 16 Days for $142,000

~2106 Strebor Street, Durham, NC 27705~
$145,000

3 Bedrooms + 2 Full Bathrooms
Well Maintained and Updated Brick Ranch Home
Living Room with Raised Brick Hearth Fireplace /Built in Bookcases
Large Dining Room
Bright Spacious Kitchen
Laminate Flooring in Main Living Areas
Attractive Sun Room with door to Private Patio and Landscaped, Fenced Backyard
Covered Front Porch
Large Shed with Workbench

Video Tour and Clickable Floorplan Here or Below

Check out other North Durham Properties between $135,000 and $155,000 by clicking here

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Call Me Anytime, Mr. Buyers Agent...Agency Does Not Have To Be Adversarial

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:26:29 -0600

I just received a phone call from a local Realtor on behalf of his buyer clients. Seems they viewed one of my new listings, 5 days on the market, over the weekend and are very interested. (The fact that they were able to get out and see it during record snowfall while the entire region was shut down shows the dedication of buyers who are truly looking to take advantage of never before seen prices combined with tax credits and low interest rates.)

Apparently, this agent was following the course of action taken by many which is to show folks listings that are above their price range on the assumption that there is room to negotiate. I have no problem with that as it is generally true since many listing agents haven't figured out that proper pricing is an imperative in this buyer's market.

Here's where I want to thank this buyers agent for being a true professional. He picked up the phone this morning and gave me a call. On behalf of his clients he was wondering if my sellers would be in a position to entertain an offer $30,000 lower than their asking price. He was up front about the fact that while his folks loved the house they are simply not qualified to go above that kind of an offer.

I thanked him for his call and his clients interest. I told him that I was sure he had looked at the history of the property in the tax records and MLS, knew what they had paid for the home and would be aware that my sellers had made a decision to price this property aggressively in favor of a quick sale. They have also done the necessary work to be sure it shows very well. I explained that my sellers were not at a place where they needed to consider such an offer.

He thanked me and graciously indicated that this was what he had figured. Job well done in my book. He is educating his buyers and representing them well. He did not make me entertain and present a ridiculously low offer on behalf of his buyers which would only have forced my sellers and me to spend time countering and rejecting since the buyer would never have qualified for an acceptable selling price.

I also appreciated the opportunity to be able to work well on behalf of my client. They took my advise about condition and pricing and I have no qualms about defending their price and position in the market.

You see folks, with all the opportunities buyers and sellers have to see unprofessionalism by some who call themselves real estate agents, this proves to me that a true professional, who is truthful and honest with clients, can stand by their words and honor the commitments made to them without being rude or overly aggressive while still doing what our clients ask of us...represent their interests to the best of our ability!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Durham Home Sellers: What Over Pricing Means To Your Bottom Line

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:57:14 -0600

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~

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Chapel Hill / Carrboro Home Sellers: What Over Pricing Means To Your Bottom Line

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:21:26 -0600

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.

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.

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

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Home Sellers, What's Your Plan?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:55:51 -0600

“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!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Gearing Up For Spring: Selling your Home When Everyone Else Is

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:40:45 -0600

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!

Via Lisa Udy Realtor Utah Real Estate Specialist (Logan Utah Real Estate The Platinum Real Estate Group):

In the last month I have had a few sellers that have taken their Logan Utah homes off the market. They decided they just wanted to wait until spring time, and didn't want their homes to become stale on the market. Some of these seller's homes were on the market for some time, and I couldn't talk them into reducing their prices. The market had spoken, their homes were overpriced.

Just because you wait to sell in the spring doesn't mean your home is priced to sell.

Everyone knows in the real estate business, spring time is the busiest time of the year. There are more buyers in the spring, but there is also a lot more competition.

If your home is on the market for an extended amount of time, the worst thing you can do is take it off the market and wait to price it exactly the same a few months down the road when you are going to have twice the competition.

Here's Why:

The market has already shown your home isn't priced correctly, if it was, it would have sold no matter what season it is. Price is the #1 factor for selling a home, no matter what condition it is, if it's priced correctly, you can sell it.

Your mortgage payment isn't going to go away. Every month you stay in your home, you have to pay for your mortgage. Which means more money you pay your lien holders in interest. That money is gone forever.

The longer your home is on the market, the more behind the market it becomes. If your home was priced competitively in the first month, but soon after you start noticing homes selling in your price range for less then what they were the month before, you have to adjust your strategy. It may have been priced right 3 months ago, but how does it compare today? The real estate market is a living creature, it changes, and no one knows where it's going until it has already been. Price your home ahead of the market.

If you think it's going to be hard to sell your home in the winter, imagine how hard it's going to be when inventory goes up 30%.

Now, don't get me wrong, I understand you need a certain amount of money out of your home. The problem with that thinking is, the market doesn't care how much money you need out of your home. The market doesn't care that you can't sell your home for the price the market says it's worth. The market provides the price a buyer is willing to pay, and nothing more.

Take a deep breath, look at the facts, and think about your motivations for selling your home. If you can't price your home at the price the market dictates now. Why would you want to wait until the busiest time of the year, with more competition, higher interest rates and then price it at the same as you did with less competition, better interest rates, and in a market that is heading into the unknown?

What are your motivations for selling? Are you relocating? Are you trying to move into a bigger home? Are you downsizing?

If you have all the time in the world to wait out the market, that's great and you are in a unique situation, but be prepared to wait a long time. If you want to sell your home fast, price it to sell in today's market, and you will actually save a lot of money in the long run.

This market is, to be blunt, insane. No one knows what's going to happen over the next few months, and if you wait until the grass is greener on the other side, you may find that someone has poisoned the grass.

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Lisa Udy, Logan Utah Real Estate Copyright © 2009

If you are considering buying or selling a home in Utah, you deserve local expertise and advice to be provided by a professional in real estate. Lisa Udy, is a Utah REALTOR® providing full time, professional real estate services to home buyers and sellers in the cities of Logan, Providence, North Logan, Hyde Park, Smithfield, Richmond, Nibley, Lewiston, Cornish, Trenton, Amalga, Clarkston, Newton, and all surrounding cities in the Cache County Northern Utah area.

You may be relocating to or from Utah due to any number of reasons , whatever the case, when searching for a real estate professional outside the state of Utah, please feel free to Contact Me or call me at 435-881-3022 as I am more than honored to provide to you the contact information of exceptional agents across the U.S.

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It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

A Sunday Walk In Carrboro, NC Along The Bolin Creek

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 09:03:58 -0600

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!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Remember Molly? She's Angry And I Don't Blame Her

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:23:03 -0600

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.

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Here's Hoping Your Blue Moon Turns To Gold

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:22:14 -0600

By now I'm sure you've heard that we will have a "Blue Moon" tonight, New Years Eve. How cool is that? We not only get a new year and a new decade but we get an extra moon...a blue moon...to boot!

We use the term Blue Moon more often nowadays than the names of the other twelve moons. The Harvest Moon is probably the second best known. There's the Hunter Moon and the Gibbous Moon. Are you surprised to know that the Egg Moon is around Easter?

The moon won't really be blue. That only happens, well, once in a blue moon. To make the moon appear truly blue you need an atmospheric influence like, say, the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. But this "extra moon" is called a Blue Moon. Back when the calendar was aligned with the seasons and based on the phases of the moon (moon = month) folks planted and harvested crops based on the appearance of the Early, Mid or Late Moon in a season. Based on the calendar year, a Blue Moon (or a month with two moons) comes along about every 2.8 years more or less. That extra moon (or the third moon in a season with four if you prefer the seasonal way of doing things) was called a Blue Moon so as not to have to rename the Late Moon. That doesn't make them quite as rare as a truly blue moon but still...a Blue Moon on New Years Eve hasn't happened since 1990 and won't happen again until 2028.

So tonight we have an extra full moon, the second one of December 2009. Heaven knows we can certainly use a little something 'extra' to make 2009 memorable for more than loss, economic hardship, wars, crazy folks and ne'er-do-wells.

I'll take a beautiful full moon on the very last night of the year and hope it bodes well for us all. Here's hoping your blue moon turns to gold in 2010 - just like the song says!

Reference: Folklore of the "Blue Moon"

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Changes In Credit Card Rules...Time To Read The Fine Print

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:56:27 -0600

You know that letter that arrives in your mailbox periodically from your credit card company? The single page filled front and back in a #8 font, single spaced and with no pictures, clearly formatted to be sure your eyes glaze over before you reach the halfway point? All the better to make sure you don't read it, right? This time you better read it. The changes coming are like none you've seen before.

The credit card companies, unhappy about changes passed by Congress and aimed at changing the way they do business, have pulled out all the stops and are reworking their fee schedules and other rules and regs in order to offset what they believe will be a multi-billion dollar loss to them. Even if your credit card philosophy is the same as mine...never charge what you cannot pay off at the end of the month, you could get hit by some of the proposed changes.

Credit has been so readily available for so long and with so little requirement to qualify for it, that who among us doesn't have at least one card you never use but keep 'just in case.' Besides, haven't we always been warned that closing a credit card account will adversely affect our credit score? So how does a MONTHLY INACTIVITY FEE strike you? Would it upset you to pay $240 a year NOT to use your credit card?

Some companies are closing accounts for inactivity which can change your ratio of used to available credit and drop your excellent credit score to something less excellent. (Thinking about buying a home? This might matter to you!)

Not surprisingly the VARIABLE interest rate on credit cards is going up. I could have told you that without reading the “informational letter” from the credit card folks. But if you have a FIXED rate on a card it has probably already been converted to a variable one. Not to worry, you'll just transfer your balance to a card with an enticing lower rate. Gotcha...new fees associated with that.

As I began to look into the changes being implemented by credit card companies I ran into many stories of consumers getting caught in some pretty sticky wickets. Start googling and you'll see what I mean. But I am not a financial adviser and have no special skills for assessing the impact of what is coming. My only advice is to PAY ATTENTION to YOUR situation and be proactive in seeking any help you may need.

Here's what I do. I have ONE business credit card and ONE non-business card. I use them all the time but only as a convenience. I have the discipline to pay them off monthly without paying finance charges and I like having the record of my expenditures. I never, ever, finance a purchase over time on a credit card. Never.

I'm going to pull my free annual credit report and make sure there are no unused cards languishing out there. Have you ever canceled a card only to find out they never really canceled it? I have. I'm going to talk to my personal banker and financial adviser and simply ask them if there is something I am not doing that I should be doing.

Now is not the time to sit back and wait for all of this to shake out. Read the fine print and don't assume your good credit will not be affected if you just don't change anything you already do. Maybe this is cynical but one financial writer believes the credit card companies are hoping to mitigate consumer outrage by targeting many of their changes to those of us with good credit so that they may not create situations that look good on the nightly news!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Is It Good Business For A REALTOR To Turn Down A Listing?

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:57:49 -0600

Lizette Fitzpatrick, a colleague from Kentucky, writes beautifully about exactly why a Realtor would consider not taking a listing. The public deserves an honest and professional assessment when they ask for the assistance of an experienced agent. After all, if I can't succeed with my own business how would you expect me to succeed with yours? I welcome the opportunity to discuss with potential sellers in the Chapel Hill / Carrboro / Durham market what it will take to sell their home quickly and profitably!

Via Lizette Fitzpatrick - Broker-Realtor® Kentucky Homes - Horse Farms (Lizette Realty - Lexington KY - Richmond KY):

Why would a REALTOR turn down listing your home?

Maybe, It's Nothing Personal...Just Good Business.

A few days ago, I was asked by another REALTOR to take a look at a property out of his MLS area to see if I might be interested in listing it as a referral.

The property was actually a county outside my usual area but, if it were marketable I would be interested.

You never know till you go look and see what is around it.

There are some areas surrounding Lexington and Richmond KY that just take extra time to sell. Even in good times they just take a long time to sell.

I toured the property, but decided it would just not be the right fit for my stable of listings.

(The house picture in my post is not the subject property...just an example)

Factors influencing my decision:

Too far away (in another county I'm not famular with...never sold a property there).

The property backed up to a landfill(the tenant said the smell in the winter was pretty strong, not too many people would buy a farm next to a landfill).

My car would not make it up the steep gravel driveway (we drove up in a front-wheel drive truck and it had trouble getting up the hill).

House in dire need of repair and not freshly staged (Too many cosmetic repairs needed. A home inspector would find mountains of things to kill a deal with this one).

Temporary fencing for horses on 15 acres (fencing a farm is expensive for a new owner).

My cell phone wouldn't work there out in the country (what if I had an emergency?).

I thought it over carefully while I toured it. Since it would be a referral, if I sold it, I have to pay a referral fee to the referring REALTOR. This takes a bite out of my commission if it sells and we make it to closing.

This listing might take years to sell and eat up advertising and gas money. I decided it just might drain my budget right now. We are in a strange economic time.

Now, it's not unusual for me to turn down a listing. It's just the market we are in.

REALTORS work on a commission basis. If we can't sell your home we don't make any money. It's that simple.

To list a home takes advertising money, gas and time. Maybe some REALTORS have a different situation, but I pay for all my advertising. Going into winter, the budget gets tighter.

Gas is more expensive now...so I might not want to list a home that will require a lot of mileage to and from.

Time...I have plenty of that, but a REALTOR's time is just as valuable as an attorneys, doctors or anyone else that gets paid by the hour for services. I make time for what is important and my clients.

You can bet if I have to spend my money to advertise in a slow market, in winter... your house should be in tip top shape and marketable.

It needs to be squeaky clean, polished, staged, freshly painted and looking like a new penny. We have tough competition!

Buyers are walking in and walking out of listings right now. Nice houses are getting showings...but no offers. Some listings are not even getting showings! It's tough for sellers and REALTORS.

I'm all for getting a house sold fast. I have lots of ideas on how to get a home ready to sell.

There are plenty of houses selling now in Central Kentucky. All it takes is a little extra effort in getting one ready to market.

Lizette Fitzpatrick- Principal Broker at Lizette Realty.

#1 featured Kentucky Realtor on Activerain.com and Localism.com.

Publisher/Author for the only Central Kentucky email newsletter on local real estate listings and sold properties, Kentucky relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun!

For more information on Kentucky Horse Farms, Fayette County, Richmond or Lexington KY real estate click on Lizette.us.

Copyright © 2009 By Lizette Fitzpatrick, All Rights Reserved..*Is It Good Business For A REALTOR To Turn Down A Listing? *

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

The Quick and Expected Climb to 6% Mortgage Rates (How To Stay Dry When The Fed Throws Water At You)

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:48:54 -0600

Brian Brady, a California mortgage broker, has a unique way of illustrating how he knows interest rates will begin to climb very shortly. It involves his daughter,a beach and calculations a child can make! If you are interested in purchasing a home in the Chapel Hill community and taking advantage of the artificially low interest rates available today, read this excellent article then call me to get started! An increase of just one point in your interest rate can add hundreds of dollars to your monthly mortgage payment.

Via America's #1 Mortgage Broker/858-777-9751:

Mortgage rates have been steadily climbing, from a low of 4.5% around November 27, 2009 to above 5% on December 22, 2009. For the past two months I've been warning that this will eventually happen. It's not because the economy is recovering; it isn't recovering. The reason mortgage rates will rise to 6% or above, soomer rather than later is because that is the "natural" market.

About a year ago, The Federal Reserve announced a $1.25 Trillion mortgage rates subsidy,by purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the open market, through March, 2010. Right before that subsidy was announced, mortgage rates were at or above 6%. The subsidy was referred to as Bernanke's "nuclear option" meaning he was using an extraordinary monetary stimulus to keep mortgage rates artificially low.

One year and 12 months into the 15-month game, we're at $1.07 Trillion spent on this open market MBS purchase progran. This means that the Fed still has about $150 Billion to spend in three months, so mortgage rates should stay around 5%, right? After all, the Fed only spent $80 billion/month and they have at least 2 months of money left.

Markets are discounting mechanisms meaning that traders anticipate how potent the Fed can be. The Fed's just about out of bullets and MBS traders know it. Let me try to give you an example of what the Fed did by recanting the explanation I gave, to a Del Mar REALTOR, on the beach this summer.

I had my daughter (Maggie) get me ten cups of water from the ocean. Then I drew six lines in the sand, equidistant from each other, and labeled them 6% (on the right) through 4.5% (on the left). I had Maggie stand at 6% and explained that this represented Dec, 2008 mortgage rates. I announced that my intention was to throw water at her until she moved to the left, away from 6% and towards 4.5%. I grabbed two cups and threw one at her, then at the line marked 5.5%; Maggie quickly darted to the left.

Then, I threw a cup at her every time she inched to the right. I explained that Maggie was acting EXACTLY like the MBS traders, naturally gravitating towards the "natural" market. Each time I chucked a cup full of"stimulus", Maggie moved back under 5% and closer to 4.5%. Once, she got real daring (like the MBS market this past summer) and I threw three cups at her.

At the beginning of December, The Fed had two cups of water. Now, they only have 1.5 cups of stimulus left.

Maggie, knowing that I only had 1-2 cups left, knew she could afford to get a bit wet in her dart towards 6%. She faked me by jumping like Rickey Henderson dances off first base; I threw a half cup of water at her. Then, she defiantly and purposefully walked towards 6%, knowing full well that I would throw my last cup of water at her.

Maggie knew she might get a bit wet but that I was utterly and completely out of water. She got sprinkled but was safely standing at 6% and I was as bone dry as the Sonoran desert in July.

That's what I think is happening today. The MBS traders are purposefully selling mortgage-backed securities, knowing that the Fed will buy every last bond they offer until they are "bone dry". Everybody is running towards the finish line (6%) now and they don't care how wet they get along the way.

Mortgage rates are headed to 6% and it probably won't take until March, 2010 for them to get there.

Get a customized mortgage rate quote today

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

Keep The Wreath Green - A Chapel Hill Fire Department Annual Reminder

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:21:24 -0600

The Chapel Hill, NC Fire Department participates each year in a safety campaign called Keep The Wreath Green as a visual reminder to the local community of the danger posed by Christmas trees and other holiday decorations if they are not properly installed and monitored.

The wreath hangs on the Chapel Hill fire station from the first day of December until the last and starts out decked with a large red bow and green lights. For every house fire during the month of December a green bulb is changed to a red one.

Today is Christmas Eve and fortunately there is but one red bulb on the wreath. Of course the goal is no red bulbs but this year cigarettes were the cause of a house fire in Chapel Hill which completely destroyed someone's home.

There are still eight days to go until the wreath comes down. Here's hoping our firefighters have a boring end of the year and get to spend their time with their own families and not witnessing the destruction of any more area homes.

Be Safe and Merry Christmas!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!

In Chapel Hill We Do Snow Southern-Style

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:12:41 -0600

Can't you feel the anticipation? The magic words were spoken yesterday, “The Raleigh Durham area is preparing for a snow event.” Yes, that's what we call it here; a “snow event.” That's because snow in the Piedmont of North Carolina is always an event.

The technical reason is that we see so little snow, and it is so infrequent, that the cities and towns around most of North Carolina don't have budgets for the equipment and manpower to stay ahead of mother nature's winter kiss. We have none of the mountainous salt hills of the north. No massive snow moving equipment or fleece clad armies ready to spread out in the middle of the night to take care of the business of erasing the effects of the latest snowfall so business as usual can go on. No, the irritating inconvenience of chipping ice off a windshield experienced by most northern dwellers is unheard of here. We aren't going to work.

Southerners know that a “snow event” means everything will stop. And I mean STOP. School will be canceled in anticipation, meetings and other less climatic events will be postponed. Parents who work will stay home, no discussions. Who would watch the kids if they went to work? But no one else will be at work either. Southerners have no “snow driving skills.” I'm not kidding. You take your life into your hands by attempting to drive in snow in Chapel Hill. Any amount of snow. Half an inch or half a foot, no matter. Ah, you're from the north you say. You KNOW how to drive in snow! Take my advice...don't do it. It is really irrelevant that you know how when absolutely no one else does. The only folks out on the road will be in a 1975 Chevy Impala with bald tires, driving around in the silence, just because they can...they CAN walk away alive from a slow motion slide through an intersection which ends in a shallow ditch.

Yet we still make sure the car is full of gasoline and we fill the extra gas cans, just in case the power goes out and we have to crank up the generator. A truly prepared Chapel Hill homeowner has a gasoline powered generator in the garage just waiting for the next “great snow event.” I've been there. Five days with no power. Blankets hanging over room openings and the biggest neighborhood party on record. For us, snow is a magnificent unplanned event. But that doesn't mean we don't plan for it. Far from it. Southerners race to the grocery store at the first hint of a snow advisory to buy up all the bread and milk available. We haul in the wood and check the pantry. We need all the fixin's for homemade vegetable soup, chili and applesauce cake.

Which brings me to the best thing about snow events. Party in the 'hood! Southerners have party skills. Skills finely honed during that other kind of weather event we occasionally endure; the hurricane. Neighbors come and go, eating together, cooking together and just hanging out by the fire. It's true what you've heard about us. We know our neighbors. On a normal day we think nothing of borrowing a cup of sugar to finish a recipe and understand that returning with a bit of the resulting treat is part of the process. A southern snow event is simply an excuse to do what we do best...take a party to another level!

Gotta run now...Greg Fischel, our perpetually reliable local weatherman, just announced that we are “under a winter storm warning” and I just realized I need some more egg nog before the neighbors arrive!

Let It Snow!!!

It's Simple...When You Have A Great Agent!