Chance Gates' Blog

Understanding Pricing
I realize it is hard to stomach, but short sales and foreclosures have driven the value of homes way down. The good news is houses are starting to sell if they are priced right. It use to be: that a seller could find the highest price house that compares to his, price his house a little higher, wait a couple months and he would sell the house. Now if a seller prices his house to high and waits a couple months the actual selling price is less than before. In order to sell a house, the price must be accurately determined to get a fast sale for the most money possible. If the house stays on the market longer than 7 days, with no activity, a price adjustment is needed. A seller needs to stay updated on other houses for sale, in his neighborhood, at least once a week.

Marketing
The way to market a house has really changed in the last few years. A seller use to be able to put an ad in the newspaper or magazine to create interest in his property. Now only about 20% of home buyers go to a newspaper or magazine before buying a house. Wayne Gretzky once said “A great hockey player skates to where the puck is going”. In real estate that is also true, a seller needs to advertise where the buyers are going. That is the internet; over 80% of buyers start their search by looking at houses on line. A seller should get his house on as many web-sites as possible, over 200 different sites is highly recommended.

Internet marketing is a good start, however in today’s market a seller can not stop there. He needs to have fliers made up and passed out to all his neighbors. More than 50% of houses sold come from neighborhood activity.

Open Houses – Good or Bad?
This is a question that will be different for every seller. It is very true that less than 5% of open house actually sell the house. There is no telling if a potential buyer is actually inspecting the house to rob later. However, it does remind people that the house is on the market and helps create conversation about the house. It also gives potential buyers a noncommittal way of seeing the house.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional I encourage all questions and comment on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any article posted.  I can be reached by email at  chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

As a Reno/Sparks real estate consultant I always welcome any comments or questions on the Reno/Sparks real estate or any of the articles I posted.  You can email me directly at  chance at ballard-company.com

The next step is to determine the price to list the house. Once again this will be less than the homeowner owes on the mortgage. Knowing it is tough to find a buyer, for a short sale, the sale price will usually be to the lower end of the market. This will hopefully generate more interest in the house. However this price will have to come with in, a percentage of market value. The percentage could differ depending on which bank holds the mortgage.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate consultant I always welcome any comments or questions on the Reno/Sparks real estate or any of the articles I posted.  You can email me directly at  chance at ballard-company.com

Hopefully if there is more than one mortgage on the house, both are with the same bank. If the first and second mortgages are held with two different banks then the problem I discussed in “When Buying a House that is a Short Sale” come into effect.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate consultant I always welcome any comments or questions on the Reno/Sparks real estate or any of the articles I posted.  You can email me directly at  chance at ballard-company.com

Met with a gentleman last month.  He says "Chance what can you do to sell my condo".  First I let him know how people reason for buying has changed.  Use to be a person would buy a house and the value would go up and they would have equity in their house.  His condo a one bedroom 480sqft that was built in 1982, has been totally remodeled, similar properties once sold between $85,000 and $90,000.  He understands that bank REOs and short sale have reduced their prices to sell.  He also understands that he will have to compete with their price.  So I show him how I will get him listed on several different web-sites.  I also show him what the fliers or possible post cards will look like.  I then explain different marketing techniques that will be used to sell his house.  So we go over the comparable sales in the area and he decides to list this property for $55,000 (been reduced to $39,000).  I explain to him how this is higher than anything in the area that has sold in the past 3 months.  He understands that I feel this price is to high, but is close to what I think it should be listed at.

Doing the Math:   

$39,000.00
-  8,000.00  down payment 
$31,000.00  financing amount 
    $244 + 113.00 = $357.00
30yr fixed @ 6.5% monthly payment $244.00 plus insurance.
HOA fees $113.00
Profit  $475.00 – 357.00 = $118.00
 
Rents going between $475.00 – $525.00  
Profit  $118.00/ month – insurance.

Interest rates and Insurance will verify.
Buyer to verify all rates and payments.

Like to thank National City Mortgage for the interest rate.
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

In the current Reno/Sparks real estate market it is important to take advantage of everything a seller can.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to Get Your Property Ready To Be Sold in a Hard Real Estate Market and How a Home Stager May Assist You  wealthyways4you.com)