Realtors Do More

Many consumers think that all Realtors® do is market and sell properties, but very few understand the significant measures that Realtors take to help consumers in all areas that affect real estate ownership.

Here are a few things that MAR (Mississippi Association of Realtors) made happen during this past legislative session:

• Employer down payment/closing cost assistance signed by Governor:
  
  MAR Supported legislation designed to allow employers and employees a tax
  incentive for down payment assistance and/or closing cost assistance in
  the purchase of a home. The bill has passed the Senate 52-0 and the House
  121-0 and has been signed by the Governor.
  
  Mississippi REALTORS® believe in supporting employers who help their
  employees pursue the dream of homeownership. This legislation will allow
  an employer to establish an employer-assisted housing program to provide
  funds to eligible employees. Funds under this program may be utilized by
  an eligible employee for rental security deposits, rental subsidies, down
  payments, closing costs or any other fees or costs associated with the
  rental or purchase of a home. The housing assistance may be in the form of
  a grant, forgivable loan or repayable loan. Such support builds company
  loyalty which leads to greater job retention. Greater job retention leads
  to a better workforce which helps build better communities. HB 1482 also
  excludes from gross income under the income tax law amounts received by an
  individual from an employer or nonprofit housing organization that are
  benefits associated with an employer assisted housing program.
  
  

• Requiring Lawyers to close all residential mortgages defeated:
  
  
  MAR was opposed to House Bill 384 (making it mandatory for everyone to use
  an attorney in all residential real estate closings.) I am happy to report
  that because of our lobbying efforts and because of a very successful
  "REALTOR Day at the Capitol,” those pushing the legislation decided not to
  bring it before the House for a vote. This issue was clearly about a
  consumer's right to choose whether to have an attorney conduct a real
  estate closing. It would have meant that title companies could have been
  put out of the business of closings real estate transactions. These
  companies are not only reputable; they have been providing quality
  services, in a cost efficient manner for years. It is this very
  competition that has helped keep the costs of closings steady over the
  years.
  
  
• Impact Fees dead:
  
  We were successful in killing SB 2711 introduced by Sen. Debbie Dawkins
  (D- Pass Christian), which would have created impact fees. MAR will
  continue to oppose impact fees in any form, under any condition
  whatsoever, and strongly encourages government at all levels to refuse to
  enact impact fees where they do not currently exist and to discontinue
  their use in areas where they are currently assessed.
  
  

• Insurance Rates on Coast Lowered as a result of MAR Backed Legislation:
  
  In 2007 MAR was instrumental in the sweeping changes made to the states
  windpool program. The wind pool is state-sponsored insurance sold to
  homeowners who can't get private insurance companies to sell them a policy
  in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson, Stone, Pearl River and George counties. As
  a result these changes made to the program, $25 million in state tax
  dollars were recently put into the pool and could save some South
  Mississippi homeowners an average of about 11 percent this year on wind
  pool premiums. Some commercial rates will be reduced up to 37.6 percent.
  
  
  

Realtors® care about their communities and the impact of government on their clients, neighbors, and family. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is one of the largest lobbying groups in government, looking out and speaking up for your best interests.

What Can I Do To Make My Home Desirable In A Buyer's Market?

Selling a home quickly, and for more money, in today's market is going to take some effort. There are many things that you can do to make your home really stand out in a buyer's mind when they have so many homes to look at.

First thing to do is get a Home Inspection. These typically cost between $260-$350, but the money that you will gain in the long run will more than cover this cost. A Licensed Home Inspector will inspect your home for all mechanical, electrical, and physical issues that may affect the sale of your property. To see an example of a Home Inspection, go to www.prchomes.com/homeinspect.htm. By having this inspection completed, and correcting the deficiencies that are discovered, you can eliminate problems that will arise when a buyer makes an offer on your home.

A good Buyer's agent will suggest that the buyers have a home inspection performed so they will not be surprised with problems after the sale. Many of these deficiencies can become a negotiation tool for buyers, getting you to reduce your price because of their changed perception of the value of your home when the problems are discovered. Eliminating any possible problems can really support your price, and get you the most amount of money for your home.

Secondly, you will do your pocketbook a world of good if you freshly paint each room of the home, have carpeting cleaned or replaced, and freshen the paint on all baseboards and trim. When a house is in "move-in condition" it sells for a higher price. If a buyer feels that they have to do all of these improvements in order to move in, they start deducting the perceived cost in their minds when making an offer. Something as simple as re-painting your home can net you $5,000 or more in value.

If you are considering updating or adding amenities to your home, be sure to check with a Realtor before making those changes. An improvement that YOU think will add value to your home, may actually be a draw-back to a buyer. For example, adding a swimming pool to your home is going to cost you fortune, but unless pools are common in your neighborhood, and the typical buyer looking at homes in your neighborhood is looking for a pool (and doesn't have small children), you will not be able to re-coop the cost of this upgrade. The same goes for granite countertops in a "rental" neighborhood. You could end up over-improving your home and pricing yourself out of the neighborhood.

Other changes that are easy to take care of, and don't cost a lot of money, are fresh landscaping, removing any wallpaper, and deodorizing the home (cigarette smoke is a BIG turn-off to buyers and their agents).

Another item that can add perceived value to your home is a Home Warranty. Most Home Warranties cover the buyer for 12-13 months after the sale of the property, and are a wonderful tool to use to market your home. Should something go wrong with the plumbing, electrical, or mechanical elements of the home, the buyer is covered by this warranty, and saves you and your agent the hassle of calls after the sale.

Keep in mind that anything you can do to make your home sparkle and feel like new will add the most value and make it stand out in a buyer's mind when they have so many homes to see.

For other articles on how to improve your home for sale, see www.prchomes.com/seller.html

How Will YOUR Home Stand Out In Today’s Market?

You hear what the news is telling everyone – “It’s a down market”. Buyers have more choices in new homes today than ever before in the history of Pearl River County. The market is saturated with new construction, and it seems like buyers are taking their sweet time to choose.

How do you know that yours will be one that makes them take notice? You need a marketing specialist who uses today's technology to put your home out in front of all other houses on the market today.

It just isn’t enough for a Realtor to put a sign in the yard, enter it into the Pearl River Board MLS system, maybe run an ad or two in the local Homefinder, and pray for it to sell. Today’s home buyers are sophisticated, and they depend on technology to help them find the home of their dreams.

Over 80% of today’s home buyers start their search on the internet, long before they look at home buyer magazines, or read classified ads. They know they can get more detailed information online when searching for a home, and not waste their time calling on every ad they see. If your home isn’t marketed using the right mediums, it may never get the exposure it needs to attract the perfect buyer.

If you have a home that you are looking to sell, and want to find out what can be done to make it stand out in today’s rough market, give me a call. I’d love to discuss what I can do to give your house the buyer attention that it needs to get it sold.

“SERVICE”, “RESULTS” – What do these really mean??

Seriously, folks, don’t you expect to get “service” and “results” when you hire a “professional”? The real question you should ask any real estate agent is “What do you do to assure me great service and results?”

When someone boasts that they give good service, or that they provide results for you, you really need to look at what KIND of service and results you will be receiving. Some real estate agents think that putting a sign in the yard, and placing the listing in the MLS is providing good “service”. This may really be all you will be getting. “Results” could be defined as a sale for your property, or just activity (calls, etc) on your listing. There are many stages of service in the real estate industry, and you as a consumer should ask the questions needed to be certain that your agent’s definition of these terms are equal to your own expectations.

Don’t ever assume that the realtor that you bought a house from in the past is the best agent to sell your home now. Listing agents and selling agents can be very different, and you need to ask questions about the service you will receive BEFORE you sign a listing. How and where will they advertise your home to make it stand out in today’s market, and what can you expect during the process?

Ask for a plan. When interviewing agents – and this goes for both sellers and buyers – you should ask the agent to give you a plan of what they do to provide you with the best service. They need to know what you expect during the process, how often you want to be contacted, and they need to be able to answer all your questions in the interim.

Buying or selling property is already stressful enough. When you are talking about one of the largest investments you have or will ever make, don’t just entrust it to just ANY real estate agent.

Bad Market Or Realistic Market?

The numbers are in, and the report for Pearl River County doesn't look as dismal as a lot of people think. According to the NAR Residential Sold Report generated from the Pearl River Board of Realtors MLS system, during 2007 there were 466 residential properties sold for a total volume of $74,755,811 and an average sales price of $160,420.

Many people (including Realtors) are basing their opinion of the market on their experience during the "Katrina Market", and you really can't base it on such an inflated market. When looking at the numbers that were done the year before Katrina hit Pearl River County (2004), you can see that our current market is just a NORMAL market.

In 2004, there were 490 properties sold for a total volume of $61,953,237 and an average sales price of $126,435. Our sales volume and average sales price have improved substantially.

2008 is already giving signs of being a more possitive year for our County, considering the influx of military families being transferred to the Stennis Space Center, and other factors that are moving in to the test site and to the Michaud facility in New Orleans.

My personal predictions are that this is going to be a better year, and that the "market slump" will be improving. This is good news for sellers, but if you are a buyer it means that the choices out there are going to get smaller, and interest rates are going to start moving up. NOW is the time to buy, if you are in the market for a home.

Where are all the Buyers??

With interest rates so low, and the market full of homes to choose from, it amazes me that buyers are so hard to find. Look around the Pearl River County area and you can find a house to meet just about anyone’s needs.

Maybe buyers are overwhelmed with all this hype about a “bad market”. The only ones this market is “bad” for are sellers! Never before have there been so many homes to choose from at one given time, which gives a buyer more opportunity to find a special home and negotiate a good price.

I think many people are in the dark when it comes to what the media is touting and what they can actually do in this market. It’s a fantastic time to BUY a house. This is the best “Buyer’s Market” in the past 10 years.

This is also a perfect opportunity for renters to break out of financial slavery to their landlords, and step up to the American Dream of homeownership. Many people don’t realize that they could be owning their own home instead of throwing hard-earned money away each month. It is possible to have a mortgage payment for just about the same cost per month as your rent. And think of the tax benefits of owning your own home. You’ll be getting more money back from Uncle Sam in the long run!

Did you know that there are loan programs for first-time homebuyers that can get you into your own home with little or NO money down? And did you know that it’s possible to ask the seller to pay all of the closing costs involved with getting a loan for your new home so you don’t have to come up with a lot of money out of pocket at the closing table?

Pearl River County also has some of the lowest homeowner's insurance rates in the region - compared to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

This IS a bad market . . . . if your are on the selling side. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this isn’t the most opportune time to BUY a home. To see what is available on the market today, go to www.prchomes.com.

Why Sellers Don’t Save Money by Selling on Their Own

“Why should I use a Realtor?” I know this is a question that many sellers ask themselves. After all, can’t you just do it yourself and “save the commission”? You could. But let me ask you something . . . How much training do you have in negotiations?

You have to put yourself in a buyer’s shoes. A buyer who calls on a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) is expecting to save some money, so they take the commission off the asking price – I mean of course you as a buyer don’t want the seller to keep that fee if there isn’t an agent involved! Now the buyer feels that there is some room for negotiating off of the discounted price, so they make an “offer” on that - Usually another 3-5% off the net price.

Now subtract the cost of all the advertising you will need to do in order to get the word out about your property. You will need to put classified ads in the newspaper (not a cheap venture), and run ads on the internet on “FSBO” websites that make you pay $1500 or more UP FRONT, even if the property doesn’t sell. You’ll need to buy signs for your yard, and try to find as many other ways as possible to let people know your property is for sale.

We are currently in a buyer’s market, which means that buyers now have a huge amount of homes to look at and consider when making a purchase. What makes yours stand out more than all those listed with real estate brokers? How is your home going to be in front of all of those people who are working with a realtor, looking for a property like yours? The only way you are going to get it to stand out is to ask for less than market value, so your property is a “better deal” to the buyer.

Now take into consideration all of the relocation buyers, and first-time homebuyers that are either not going to even know your property exists, or are not wanting to deal directly with the seller without having someone there to help them make the right decisions and help them get financing? A relocation buyer doesn’t get the local newspaper, and they certainly don’t have much time when they are here to drive all over creation and happen upon your sign. If you are looking to purchase property in a new area, where would you start to look? . . . www.Realtor.com. Then their relocation coordinator sets them up with a broker in the area they are moving to, and they are off to see properties.

If you have a mortgage on your property, every month that it doesn’t sell takes the money you are paying in interest payments away from your profit. Say your interest each month is $600 (and that is usually on the low side). When you wait 8 months, you have lost another $4,800.

So, if you started out asking $200,000 for your property (hoping that it is priced at market value so you can sell it at least attracts some attention), you then subtract the commission, advertising expenses, and interest payments, not to mention the amount the buyer haggles out of you negotiating the price. How much profit do you have left? And who is there to consult you if something goes wrong with the sale, or the buyer can’t get financing? Do you know what financing opportunities there are for a property like yours? Do you have a plan B for the buyers if they can’t get the loan?

Selling your property on your own might save you paying a commission, but it will also keep you from walking away with as much as you would have if you’d had an experienced, licensed, full-time professional do it for you.

For more articles like this, visit www.prchomes.com