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David Rathgeber's

$elling Your Home
    in Northern Virginia

First Internet Edition

International Standard Book Numbers
0-9710312-5-8 and 978-0-9710312-5-8

Published by The Realty Research Group, LLC

This is the textbook for the George Mason
University – OLLI home-selling course.

Copyright © David Rathgeber - 2024
All Rights Reserved

You are hereby authorized to read this copy on your screen and to print one copy for personal use. You are NOT authorized to make any additional copy of any nature: paper, electronic storage media, or otherwise without the express written permission of the author. Violators will be vigorously prosecuted.

PLANNING

Initial Considerations
Some Basic Ideas
Basic Questions for Your Prospective Agent
Tough Questions for Your Prospective Agent
Final Questions for Your Prospective Agent
12 Interviewing Mistakes to Avoid
Exploding the Local Specialist Myth
How’s the Market?
Market Seasonality
Market Value Analysis
Marketing Strategy
Secondary Strategies and "Fat" for Negotiation
Round Number Pricing
Put Your Best Foot Forward
Home Preparation Checklist

MARKETING

Planning Your Marketing Effort
Critical Information
Bring on the BUYERS!
Do this . . . Don’t do that
What works . . . and what doesn’t
Showing Traffic
Does your home need a price reduction?
Discrimination in housing: Perspicacity
Average Days on the Market for SOLD Homes

FINISHING

Negotiating Basics
Presentation of the Offer
To Accept, Reject, or Counteroffer ???
Negotiating the offer: Information is POWER
Dealing with Common Negotiating Situations
After the Meeting of the Minds
Onward to Closing
Selling Your Home - an Overview

APPENDICES

(This is where the really interesting stuff is hiding.)
9 Steps to Success in Selling your Home
9 Critical Factors in Agent Selection
The only question needed to select the best agent
Real Estate Tax Assessments
Important Statistics
Put the NEWS into Perspective
Home marketing guidelines for Medicaid
Flashback Market Bulletin - November 2002

GLOSSARY

[Go to Glossary]

David at the National Association of Realtors Convention

About the Author
****************************

David Rathgeber ranks consistently among the top award-winning agents and is actively engaged in sales and marketing of residential real estate in Virginia. His comments and articles have appeared frequently in major newspapers, and he has written for the national REALTOR Magazine. His books incorporate the wisdom of over 3 decades of real estate experience along with his diverse technical and international business background. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration.

Note: Contact the author with your questions and comments, or for help buying or selling a home. See his web site for contact information, the local Market Report, other online books, and much more.


Foreword: The history of this book
************************************

In 1977 I attended the famous negotiating course given by Dr. Karrass and received a copy of his book Give and Take: The Complete Guide to Negotiating Strategies and Tactics. It was good reading, but I especially appreciated the small bite-size chapters, each only a few pages long. Fast-forward to 1993 when my first home-selling book came to the attention of Peter Vandevanter, the inventor and editor of the Washington Times Friday Home Guide. At his request, I sliced the book into bite-size excerpts that appeared almost weekly in the Washington Times for years. These excerpts have now been updated and assembled into this e-book.

PLANNING

Initial Considerations

This information will save you time, money, headaches, and possibly heartaches. Selling your home is an extremely important undertaking, and in these times, a complex one. You need to know what to expect before you begin. Accomplishing the task in the best fashion can make an enormous difference by enabling you to:

You need the inside information to help you cut through the task with insight and direction. Although analytical, it is not just theory, but it contains verifiable facts and practical ideas that work in today’s market. The statistical data presented have been sampled and verified through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database that serves the region.

This information is intended to complement the experience and technical knowledge of licensed professionals. It will reinforce important concepts and will debunk more than a few of the currently popular myths, formerly known as "old wives’ tales" (is that the correct homonym?), which are running around loose in the local real estate market.

Other useful information of a more general nature is available from the following sources:

But stop for a minute and ask yourself if selling your home is the right thing to do. Most of us who have bought and sold a few personal residences over the years can imagine how much better off we would be financially if we had kept each home instead of selling it when we moved. So, maybe this is the time to start a real estate collection, save the trouble and expense of selling, and become an investor.

Some who have sold homes in the past have had to take money to the closing. Even some who bought homes many years ago might have this problem if they refinanced their property for a large amount of money and spent the proceeds. If you share this position and have a choice, you might elect to stay put until the equity in your home is a number greater than zero. Another option to avoid selling and moving is to expand your current homestead to accommodate present needs or desires. If expanding is for you, heed the following:

Of course, there are legitimate reasons why you might elect to forge ahead on the selling trail:

Perhaps you have a reason of your own, but now is the time to sort it out. To sell or not to sell, is that the question?

For tax information, in addition to local accountants, some free Internal Revenue Service (IRS) literature might help:

These publications and many more, as well as tax forms, are available on the Internet at irs.ustreas.gov.

Now that you are firmly committed to selling your home, it will be of great value to determine where you will live after the sale. If your move is voluntary and local, consider whether you should find your next home and execute a contract contingent upon the sale of your present home, or sell your home first then find and purchase your next home. Selling first is clearly the only choice for most sellers in today’s market. If you wish to move directly from your present home to your next home, then the purchase of your next home probably will have to be executed quickly. If you are willing to rent temporarily between the sale of your current home and the subsequent purchase of your next home, you will gain flexibility, peace of mind, and a negotiating advantage at the expense of an additional move.

No doubt you have an idea of how soon your home needs to be sold. This factor will control many details of the process. So just in case this needs to be a quick sale hastened by bad news from your employer or mortgage company; let’s get moving (no fun intended).

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Some Basic Ideas

The local real estate market is very organized and orderly. It is defined by those area homes listed for sale in the MLS computer database. Our area has a high proportion of sophisticated and intelligent buyers and a well-developed set of customs and procedures. The vast majority of home sales are made through real estate brokers who utilize a computerized MLS search facility in conjunction with a lockbox system. These features facilitate locating and showing properties.

Most buyers see many homes and weigh their decision carefully before making a purchase. After all, home buyers know that this is their last home purchase and that they will live here forever. Also, most are spending what they consider to be a large sum of money. They believe that a home not only should provide shelter but also should be a good investment, a comfortable abode, and a palace made for entertaining.

The impact of the above on a home seller is that, with all these considerations, a home purchase will not be made impulsively or emotionally. Home sellers who spend time and money searching for that one buyer who will pay 10% more than fair market value invariably find it to be a frustrating and unproductive exercise in futility. There might be a sucker born every minute, but they are not here in the D.C. metropolitan area buying homes.

For the reasons cited, the selling prices of most homes do represent their fair market values. The significance is that, because of the continuity and orderliness of the market, future prices can be predicted from recent sales. Exceptions to this rule are rare and usually result from one of the following:

It bears repeating that the above exceptions are rare and that prices of sold homes typically represent fair market values.

You should not be surprised then that "the market," in its infinite wisdom, has already determined the selling price for your home, give or take a few thousand dollars. The idea of a well-informed, rational, and orderly real estate market is a most important concept that should be kept in mind as you proceed.

The most important decision in the home selling process is who, if anyone, will assist you. The majority of home sellers use a conventional, or full-service real estate broker. This option will be explored in depth later.

You have two other choices. First, a few real estate firms specialize in offering less than full service, usually at lower cost. If this idea appeals to you, further investigation is in order. But talk first with a full-service broker to define exactly what is offered. Then, knowing the answer, you are in a position to make an informed decision regarding which elements of full service you can do without, and what savings might be available. Be sure to ask when the commission is paid: Some firms ask to be paid up-front whether they find a buyer or not.

Second, there are the do-it-yourselfers, known as FSBOs (pronounced fizz-bows). The acronym FSBO stands for For Sale By Owner. One local study found that roughly one-third of FSBOs were successful in finding their buyer. Another one-third retained an agent eventually. The remainder never sold. Occasionally, one can see "For Sale By Owner" signs, but selling your home yourself is not recommended. A few of the reasons are the following:

Only real estate agents have access to the up-to-date market information. News reports cannot approach the timeliness or specificity available to agents. Further, real estate agents are involved in home sales much more frequently than the average homeowner is. This familiarity leads to a degree of expertise that provides an edge on negotiating and successful home selling.

Compared with even the best-informed homeowner, most agents have a much better idea of what to say, when to say it, and to whom. Expert agents also know what not to say, which can be of vital importance. If your do-it-yourself room painting job does not turn out quite right, it is easy to fix. If the bathroom tile job becomes overwhelming, an expert craftsman can be summoned. With home selling you are dealing with large sums of money, a complex process, and legally binding contracts that are frequently impossible to re-work. A do-it-yourself home selling job that seemed as simple as merely finding a buyer can become a nightmare because of unforeseen complications.

So why do any sellers take the do-it-yourself route? The reason is, very simply, that it is so easy to calculate the savings of being a FSBO: For example, 6% of $600,000 is $36,000 (and that’s a lot of money). But such savings will be cut to $18,000 if a 3% commission is offered to agents who bring a buyer. On the other hand, the financial advantages of hiring a capable agent are much harder to quantify and therefore seem less certain; but they do exist. The pitfalls likely to beset a FSBO seller are generally unknown to him. If they do come to mind, they are easily ignored until it is too late. (It is a blessing to recognize what you do know, versus what you don’t.)

Does this mean that you will need to deal with a real estate agent? You will be pleasantly surprised to find that the average real estate agent does not bite. Most can smile and behave pleasantly, if put to the test. A few have earned the coveted "human being" designation. Some might even qualify to become a friend. So, forge on fearlessly to learn how to select the best agent for your needs. But remember that the choice of an agent is much more important than the choice of a firm. The agent will play the central role in the marketing effort; the firm will play the supporting role if any. Home selling is an important undertaking, so stay tuned. (Ed note: If you know the derivation of "stay tuned," never admit to it!)

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Basic Questions for Your Prospective Agent

Are you ready to interview prospective agents? Of course, the agents will try to impress you with their suitability. Many will welcome the opportunity to address your perceptive questions. You will be moving constantly toward your important choice.

If you meet agents in your home, many will expect a tour. Some will seize the opportunity to bubble over with exuberance about your home. Try hard not to be captivated by flattery. This is not the purpose of the meeting. In fact, you can save time and skip the home tour when interviewing agents. A tour removes the focus of the interview from where it should be: On the agent. Your home is not at issue. Any home can be sold. Save the tour for later, after you have selected an agent. Then you will get the best advice, undiluted by extraneous baloney.

The following set of questions deals with the candidate’s personal record and experience. Make it clear that you are not asking about the history of the agent’s office or of the real estate firm in general. These are not the most critical questions you will have, and most agents will expect them. Show that you are an informed seller.

How many homes do you have listed currently? Less than two or three can indicate inexperience or lack of a full-time commitment. If the answer is greater than 10 or 12, obtain assurance that there is enough time for you. Some agents employ a full-time staff. If administered properly, this can work satisfactorily, but find out who you will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis and for critical negotiations.

How many of your listings sold in the past year? In general, more is better, but an answer greater than five is probably sufficient to indicate a minimum level of experience. It reinforces a full-time commitment claim and should reasonably support the answer to the previous question. Most agents also work with buyers, which provides important complementary experience.

What was the average time on the market? First ask the agent about the industry average time on the market locally. Then ask the agent about the average time on the market for his or her own listings. Be wary of an answer that is too different from the average. But remember that while time on the market can give a very general indication of the agent’s effectiveness, time on the market is controlled much more directly by the seller: That’s you!

By now you should be on a roll. The next set of questions is very important in determining whether the candidate has the market knowledge required for the job at hand. It is customary to ask each agent to provide a market analysis that predicts the contract price for your home. Break with tradition. At this stage, focus on how the analysis will be done. Select an agent who uses the best method and you will avoid having to listen to several ill-conceived and misleading presentations. Also, you will avoid the temptation to simply hire the agent who predicts the highest price. This is one of the most common mistakes made by home sellers. It will always cause problems and cost you money.

If you absolutely must hear several agents’ ideas of market value, be clever enough to give no hint of what you believe your home is worth. This will obviate the possibility of any candidate telling you exactly what he or she knows you want to hear. But now, pose more questions about the proper method for determining your home’s value.

How will you determine the expected contract price for my home? Professional appraisers customarily select three (or more) similar or comparable, nearby, recently sold properties and make dollar adjustments to the contract price of each one in order to arrive at three (or more) estimates of your property’s value. These figures are then combined, though not necessarily averaged, into a single estimated market value. Your agent should use some form of this generally accepted method in calculating the estimated value of your home.

What is your accuracy record in determining expected contract prices? Some agents will not know. Some might guess. The one who checks his or her own record is the one who cares. See if the agent has a record of his or her performance and pay little attention to the actual number quoted.

Where should the initial asking price be set for my home? This question measures basic understanding of the current market. The correct answer depends upon the local average selling-price to asking-price ratio and upon the general rate of increase or decrease in area home prices. Be sure that your agent has up-to-date and specific information on these statistics. When these factors are known, you will be able to determine what to add to your expected contract price in order to arrive at your asking price. The amount added is sometimes called "fat for negotiation," and is often around 3 or 4%.

How is my tax assessment related to my expected contract price? Many people today are convinced that market values can be predicted somehow from government tax assessments, not to be confused with professional appraisals. Indeed, the stated goal of most local tax assessors is to assess properties at some percentage of market value. Of course, an average relationship between tax assessments and contract prices of recently sold homes can be calculated easily. But the idea that a government employee sitting in an office with some records and a computer can predict the market value of a specific home is ludicrous. If this were true, the entire professional appraisal industry would be out of business. If you must, call your local tax assessment office and ask what contract price you should expect. An agent who puts stock in tax assessments will be dangerous to your marketing program: You will very likely be setting too high an initial price or will be accepting too low an offer. Either will be disastrous. The wrong answer to this question is enough to disqualify a candidate. Zestimates are no better!

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Tough Questions for Your Prospective Agent

Your prospective agent should be more than ready to tell you about the custom marketing plan that has been designed especially for you. If you review three marketing plans, you probably will find much similarity. So save a lot of time and politely forgo this step. In so doing, you will avoid the most common mistake made by home sellers: Selecting an agent because of the marketing plan. Agents do many things to help sell a home and to impress the seller that an exceptional marketing effort is being witnessed. Yes, more exposure is generally better, but one also needs to consider effectiveness. It is often difficult for home sellers to separate what really works from what really sounds as if it works.

Most sellers choose an agent primarily because of the marketing plan. Many agents perpetuate the notion that this is a good idea because they sincerely believe it to be true. However, as an important criterion for selecting an agent, the marketing plan does not even rank among the top three. As you will see from the next set of questions, your listing agent probably will never show your home to the eventual buyer and the most fabulous marketing plan will be for naught. Choosing someone primarily on the basis of "rah, rah, rah; sis, boom, bah" will not lead to a successful sale.

What usually sells your listings? The MLS? Signs? Advertisements? The industry average is overwhelmingly clear: Over nine out of ten home buyers come from the computerized MLS, not from the direct sales efforts of your agent. Signs and open houses account for the few remaining sales. Is the candidate in touch with the market? In our market, it is the MLS that sells. This fact explodes the myth that personal contacts and word-of-mouth selling have measurable effects.

In what percentage of your listings were you the selling agent? Be wary of an answer that is higher than one out of ten. It can suggest inaccuracy, or worse yet, a practice of "pocket listings," not entering homes promptly into the MLS.

How many times do you expect to show my home personally each week? Again, is the candidate in tune? Most agents will welcome the chance to confess at this early stage that, except for open houses and calls from signs, they personally will not show your home very often.

How many showings should we expect each week? If your price is in tune with the market, there should be at least 4 showings each week in order to sell within 8 weeks. For expensive homes, showings are less frequent and longer marketing times must be anticipated.

How many showings will we need to find our buyer? This question is another check on experience and provides valuable information so that you know what to expect. The number varies widely but a reasonable response is 10 to 30 showings. The experienced agent will know this number. It is an essential piece of information for an agent to possess whether working with sellers or buyers.

The most valuable exposure is through the computerized MLS database. It is about 50 times more important than whatever is in second place. Serious home buyers do not want to waste time. They know how to find a home: Search the MLS. It’s a lot quicker than attending open houses or chasing real estate signs. That is why over 90% of all homes are sold this way. No, your listing agent will not actually find your buyer directly. This means that the information entered into the MLS computer is critical to your success! Your listing agent is your connection to the buyer. Read on to learn where to look and what to look for in selecting an agent to put your home’s best footing forward. Your agent’s computer literacy is one of the most important factors.

Real estate agents include a diverse mix of personalities and capabilities. Some adjust to change; some fight it. Some are born computer nerds, and some will never know the difference between a bit and a byte, or between baud and bawdy. And some will never even care. A few well-placed questions will sort out your special computer nerd-agent.

What sells homes? If the answer is, "The MLS," then you are off to a good start. You have an agent who understands market basics. Conversely, an agent who thinks that his or her "dynamite marketing plan" is going to do the trick is way off base and might look at the MLS data-entry job as something to finish as soon as possible with as little thought as possible.

MLS computer entry is very important. There are many critical decisions involved in filling certain fields so that other agents searching the MLS will find your home for sale. Some of these items will be hard for you to check, so remember that your agent must think like a computer in order to enter your home in a manner that will maximize the number of times it issues forth in other agents’ searches. And when your page does pop out of the computer, the information there needs to say, "come visit me." Like life, there is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Choose your agent carefully!

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Final Questions for Your Prospective Agent

The next set of questions is of greatest importance and, unfortunately, will take many by surprise. These questions deal with the agent’s personal negotiating record and will give an indication of negotiating skill. Do not omit these questions. A favorable response is mandatory. The answers have a direct bearing on your bottom line.

What is the selling-price to asking-price ratio for your listings? In other words, when an offer arrives, how close to full price are you able to negotiate for your sellers? The answer is too important to rely on an estimate or recollection. Be sure to see a written tabulation of MLS data from the agent’s recent sales. Since many agents will not have this information readily available, ask that it be sent along or dropped off at your home as soon as possible. A survey of six top selling agents from several different firms revealed personal averages between 85% and 96%. To determine the importance of this single question for yourself, just calculate 11% of your home’s value. This is the difference on your bottom line between selecting a 96% agent and an 85% agent. And you can surely do worse if you leave the matter in the hands of fate by failing to obtain a definitive answer to this question.

What is the industry’s average selling-price to asking-price ratio? Every knowledgeable agent needs to have some idea of this ratio whether working with buyers or sellers. Compare this answer with your candidate’s answer to the question above. Is your prospective agent’s personal record better than the average? The average also has great value when setting the asking price, after you have an idea of the fair market value of your home. The correct answer is often between 95% and 99%. Ask your agent to determine the latest figure.

By now your candidate is in awe. Are you an agent? How did you ever learn so much about real estate? DON’T TELL. The fun is just starting. You are about to find out, firsthand, how good a negotiator you have. Ask what commission the agent charges. Remember that commission rates are not set in any manner by any body, or by anybody. They are set by negotiation between you and the broker, which strictly speaking, is the real estate firm. You may assume that the agent has some latitude to speak for the firm regarding commission, so go ahead and ask. Plan to have two or three reasons why you should pay a lower commission than that requested. Be prepared to press your point a bit.

Eliminate any agent who is willing to give up a significant part of the commission. Why should you pass up such a saving? Some reasons follow:

Score extra points for the agent who explains that the commission structure is set to be uniformly fair to each client: past, present, and future.

The following are optional questions of lesser importance.
Do you specialize in my type of property? If your candidate makes such a claim, find out how such specialization benefits you. Remember that your listing agent will rarely show your home in person and therefore will rarely get to impress a potential buyer with his or her expertise. Also, what kinds of business does the agent refuse in order to specialize? With modern technology and a little ambition, it is very easy to cover the entire residential spectrum. Ask yourself why an agent chooses to be self-limiting by specializing.

Will you market my home alone or with a team? Suit yourself; it can work either way. Are you being given a choice? Ask who will be your main contact.

If you use the following questions, have the agent’s business card handy for reference.

Are you licensed as an agent or as a broker? A broker’s license requires more education, testing, and experience.

Did you win any sales awards last year? Most firms as well as the Realtors’ associations give awards. An award can generally help substantiate an agent’s experience claim.

Have you earned any professional designations? These are usually based on classroom education. While professional designations are valuable, remember that they are not a substitute for experience.

The following are a few questions that are better left unasked.

Do you currently have a buyer for my home? This question invites trouble. First, the theoretical likelihood of this happening is probably about one sale in 25 million. In practice it probably occurs more often, maybe one sale in two thousand. (Not great odds.) Second, if you still think you are hiring an agent to find your buyer, throw this newsletter away! If the agent does have your buyer in waiting, be assured that he or she will be on your doorstep as soon as your home is listed, no matter who you list it with. If you are really enticed, tell the agent that he or she will not be your listing agent but that you will execute a 3-day listing with him or her for named buyers at a reduced commission. But keep your eyes open for trouble, delays, or both.

Answers to these questions will ensure that your agent has, without doubt, the experience, market knowledge, and personality to serve you well. In addition, you will be assured of your agent’s communicating and negotiating skills, which are absolutely crucial to your success, especially in this era of buyer-brokerage.

Do not forget that your feeling of trust, your agent’s computer literacy, and your agent’s negotiating expertise are the most important factors in selecting an agent. Your agent’s superior record is proof of market knowledge and experience. No doubt this has been an exhausting procedure but rewards will accrue in personal satisfaction, time, and money. Once you have chosen your agent, the rest is easy.

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12 Interviewing Mistakes to Avoid

Home Sellers: Are you interviewing agents thinking you will learn all their secrets? Here's the real secret: Every transaction is different, and a lot can go wrong. You will not be sure that you hired the right agent until you are negotiating the unforeseen bumps in the road.

Avoid serious mistakes: Do not select an agent who:

Don't miss the items in the appendices which provide further guidance on agent selection. And again, beware: Any agent who has been in the business for more than a few months is familiar with the term "listing tools": Ideas that sound exciting or unique but have absolutely no basis for being effective. It is nearly impossible for home sellers to distinguish between ideas that really work, versus ones that merely sound good. Listing tools are routinely used in listing presentations, supported with flimsy anecdotal examples, so be prepared.

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Exploding the Local Specialist Myth

Your home's most valuable exposure is through the MLS. It is 50 times more important than whatever is in second place. Well over 90% of all homes are sold through the MLS. No, your listing agent will not actually find your buyer directly. Your listing agent is your connection to the buyer. Your buyer will come from the MLS through another agent, not from the direct sales efforts of your listing agent.

Your listing agent will rarely show your home in person and therefore will rarely get to impress a potential buyer with his or her local expertise, assuming it exists at all. The first time your listing agent meets your buyer likely will be at the settlement table! Your listing agent's job is marketing, not selling. There is absolutely no unique information that a local specialist possesses. What does your local specialist know that you don't know? Nothing! Further, don't waste precious words or dilute your remarks in the MLS trying to sell your subdivision or area.

It is often difficult for home sellers to separate what is really important from what only sounds really important. But all agents are not created equal. Selecting the right agent will reap rewards in personal satisfaction, time, and money.

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How’s the Market?

It might be surprising to find that the current value of your home has already been determined by market forces. "The market" somehow knows how to value your home’s location, number of bedrooms, and even its uniqueness. Indeed, every home is unique and yours is no different. Just think about it for a moment! If you expect to find that one buyer who will appreciate everything you have done to your home and pay a handsome premium over market value for it, you are searching for a fool who is your clone.

Most buyers search for a home over a wide area and see many homes before they purchase. Therefore, there really is no unique market or even niche for your area, your subdivision, or your home. By realizing this, you acknowledge that you will have to compete with other sellers for a buyer. And in a competitive environment, it is imperative to know the market.

It is important to have an accurate idea of your home’s market value. You might use it to briefly reexamine your decision to sell. Should you rent the home? Stay in it? Sell it? If you decide to proceed with selling, an accurate estimate of its value gives you a preview of what is at the end of the home selling journey. With this information, you can plan your marketing strategy more effectively and possibly even enjoy the trip. Your carefully selected agent can usually predict your home’s market value within a few percent.

But how does "the market" determine your home’s value? How can we find out what the market already knows? What are the critical factors? And how can we exercise maximum control over the outcome? To be sure, the market neither knows nor cares:

Before we consider the market for your home, we must examine the overall supply of homes on the market, and the demand for them, in order to place your sale in perspective. There are seasonal variations: The number of homes on the market peaks around midyear. There is a common misconception about the market cycle. Ask anyone when it is best to put your home on the market. They will recite that many buyers have children and wish to move in the summer when school is out. Then they will tell you to put your home on the market in May or June. It makes perfect sense, but it will be a big mistake to follow that advice. Another example of "what everybody knows" being just plain wrong!

The mystery unfolds when demand is considered. It will surprise most folks to find that that the number of homes sold (contracts entered) usually peaks in March or April. "Spring" buying activity starts in January. In May or June, there will be fewer buyers chasing after more homes. This will mean a longer marketing time and possibly a lower price for you.

It is possible to develop a "Market Index" to show the combined effect of supply and demand. Months supply of homes on the market can be easily calculated: Divide the number of homes on the market in any month, by the number of homes sold in the same month. Conceptually, it indicates when the current inventory of resale homes would be exhausted if buyers kept buying at the current rate and no additional homes came onto the market. Of course, this never happens.

A months supply figure of less than 3.0 favors sellers while a number greater than 5.0 indicates that buyers have the advantage. This concept provides a general assessment of the strength of the market which is critical information for home sellers. To get this information months ahead of anyone else, visit www.drrealestate.net and click Market Report.

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Market Seasonality

graph
The graph above incorporates supply and demand into a single number and shows seasonality of the real estate market. This is the classic case of how the market should behave. It shows sellers’ best market to be in March, not June and July as you often hear. It shows buyers doing best in December. Note the September "slump."

The graph below incorporates supply and demand into a single number for each month and shows the seasonality of our real estate market in recent years. Sellers still have their best market in March, not June and July as you often hear. But buyers now do best in September; not December anymore. This is the new normal.
graph
What has changed? The seasonal pattern and shape of the demand (number of homes sold) chart has not changed with peak sales usually occurring in April. The seasonal pattern and shape of the supply (homes on the market) chart has flattened. There is now very little change in supply from May to October, and the average number of days on the market is much lower than years ago. Both supply and demand are decreasing in the final months of the year as always, but the supply decrease has become the controlling factor.

Caution: Most information in the media is 2 to 4 months out-of-date: Media reports are generally based on closings, not contracts entered, and there is an additional lag before publication. If you want to sell when buyers are writing contracts, rather than months later, act on up-to-date information. For example, their reporting of strong "sales" (closings) for June (usually reported in August) is probably due to contracts entered in April.

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Market Value Analysis

If you are selling your home, you will need an accurate idea of your expected contract price or market value. Can your agent help with this? While some agents might present you with a wad of printouts and offer a ration of verbiage about your expected price, others could take a more direct approach and merely ask you what you would like. Still others will check with the local tax assessor’s office, deferring to them the decision on your home’s value. And finally, your own guess will usually be more accurate than any of them, or even Zillow.

None of these methods will be satisfactory to you or your agent, who will be happy to prepare an "appraisal style" market value analysis. It is the method that is important, not the look of the report. At this point we should reinforce the distinction among the following:

There is wide latitude for the use of judgment in an agent’s market value analysis: Good judgment will produce a superior result. A description of a typical market value analysis follows, so that you will have a better idea of the procedure. This will facilitate your review of the analysis that your agent prepares in order to predict your home’s market value or expected contract price.

The critical first step in the process is finding three (or more) similar sold properties. "Similar" does not mean exactly the same. A proper choice requires judgment and experience but the ideal homes are within a mile, have sold within the past year, and are the same style, colonial, for example. The choice is sometimes obvious, sometimes nearly impossible. Properties currently under contract, sold but not yet settled, can be used but your agent must obtain the contract price from the listing agent.

The procedure uses sold properties to predict market value. Asking prices of homes on the market cannot be used for this purpose: They will predict only a price at which your home will not sell because these properties have not sold yet themselves. But if the asking prices of some similar nearby homes are so low that you might not be able to achieve the predicted contract price, then the analysis should be repeated using those homes. Information from unsold properties should be used only to answer the question: How much do you need to lower your expected contract price (which was predicted from the sold properties) as a result of the low asking prices of the nearby homes? Do not fall into the trap of spending time and effort predicting a price that is too high, and which will only keep your home on the market unsold. It is easy to find a price that is too high without all that complicated analysis stuff. But resolve to do it right. By comparing your home with sold properties, you will be setting the stage for your home to be sold.

The contract prices of comparable properties that sold more than a few months ago could be adjusted for time, that is, for appreciation or depreciation. But this adjustment will not be required in a market where prices move very slowly. Next, significant differences between your property and each comparable property must be identified and dollar adjustments made. Dollars will be added to the contract price of a comparable home for features your home has but the comparable home does not have. Think of this procedure as "buying a deck for the comparable" to make it equal to the deck that your home already has. Dollars will be subtracted from a comparable home’s contract price for features it has but your property does not have. Think of this procedure as "taking the value away from the comparable home" for its two-car garage that your home lacks.

The list of features that make a difference is almost endless, but items with a value less than about $500 can usually be ignored. No adjustment, positive or negative, is required for any feature that both your home and the comparable property have. Values assigned to features are a matter of judgment. They should measure what today’s buyer will pay for that feature in a similar home. Values are not the original cost of the feature, nor its replacement cost today. The classic example is a $50,000 in-ground swimming pool, which often is found to be worth only $10,000 or $20,000 to a typical buyer. Condition is important, but difficult to gauge.

Also keep in mind the concept of marginal utility: A home's first bathroom is almost a necessity, and as such is probably priceless; the second bathroom can be valued at a bit less; but having seven bathrooms instead of six will be nearly worthless to the average home buyer. Similarly, if you added 10% on to the floor space of your home, its value would normally increase by something much less than 10%. Another example is that a single (indivisible) one-acre building lot does not sell for four times as much as a quarter acre lot, assuming they are in the same general area.

When the contract prices of the three comparable properties have been properly adjusted with appropriate positive and negative values, you will have three individual estimates of your home’s market value. These three numbers should be in a reasonably tight range. Using experience and judgment, your agent can suggest a single expected contract price for your home. This figure need not be the arithmetic average nor the median value.

A decades-old example of what an agent's appraisal-style analysis might look like is below. An appraiser's full report would be many pages, but the analysis below demonstrates the concept.

Comparables      EnglishMillCt  FoxMillRd  OaktonWoodsWay
Date sold      July 1991   Sep 1991  Dec 1991
Sold Price     416,000   410,000  430,000
Time Adjusted Price     416,000   410,000  430,000
     
Positive Adjustments          
  Backs to parkland      0   12,500   12,500
  Location      0   20,000   0
  Walk-out basement      3,600   0   0
Negative Adjustments          
  Extra bathroom(s)      (3,600)   (2,200)   0
  Extra fireplace      0   (1,700)   (3,200)
  Home size      0   (16,520)   (34,930)
  Lot size      0   (20,000)   (10,000)
  Pool      0   (15,000)   0
Total Adjustments      0   (22,920)   (35,630)
     
Adjusted Home Value      416,000   387,080   394,370
Subject Property     History Drive 
Probable Sale Price     $395,000 

Note that the probable sale price is neither the average of the 3 comparable homes, nor is it a suggested asking price.

It takes a lot of experience to prepare an accurate market analysis. The above will help you recognize a properly prepared analysis and appreciate the underlying concepts.

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Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy is an overall plan, in other words, the big picture. What are you trying to accomplish? By what time? How can it be done? There is nothing wrong with high aspirations or the "power of positive thinking." But if your goals are not realistic and you think that you or your agent can control the market, eventually you will realize the folly.

There are three basic strategies to consider, one of which will suit you. They are:

Through the entire home selling procedure remember this: You are the seller. You decide what your price will be at any given time, and whether you will accept any particular offer. Also, you will reap the benefits from your good decisions or bear the consequences of your less-than-good decisions.

The classic approach to a marketing strategy is the mainstream approach rather than one of the extremes that will be discussed later. It is the correct strategy for more than 90% of home sellers and is probably the right one for you. In the classic approach, you will enter the market at exactly the right price and sell in two to ten weeks. If you sell in less than a week, your asking price might have been a bit low. Do not worry too much about this happening to you. It’s rare. Further, it can be "self-correcting" if handled properly. But if your home languishes on the market, the price has proven to be higher than the market will bear. Up to 50% of home sellers err on this side and cost themselves time and money. Your agent can point out many local properties that have been on the market too long.

To accomplish the classic approach, you will start with the expected contract price from your home value analysis as described earlier. To that, you will add a small amount for negotiation, usually about 5% of your home’s market value. That is much less than many would guess. But why guess? The average home’s selling-price to asking-price ratio is often around 95%. In other words, all you have to give at the negotiating table is 5%, much less if you have done a good job of selecting an agent with a superior negotiating record. It might be a good idea to ask your agent to run an updated selling-price to asking-price ratio calculation as discussed earlier. A tailored calculation can reflect your price range or geographic area. However, the MLS data must be taken at random and must include at least 200 recent sales in order to ensure the statistical significance, or reliability of the information generated.

In all but the slowest markets an asking price 5% above the predicted contract price is a good starting point. In a slow market this will provide the required fat for negotiation. In hot markets the 5% uplift will help "lead the market" and provide some assurance that you are not pricing your home to low, as home prices rise.

Why does this work? The classic approach holds that at any time your home enters the market, there are a certain number of ready buyers, let’s assume 25, milling around in search of a home similar to yours. They have seen everything currently on the market. Within a few weeks these 25 buyers will notice your new entry on the market, visit it, and form an opinion of it. If everything is right, including the price, your home will sell to one of these buyers. If not, you will never see them again; perhaps because they purchased something else or felt they had no need to see your home again later, even at a lower price.

After this "initial wave" only buyers newly entering the market will visit you. This number is rather low and will produce, for example, only one or two visits weekly. But if someone in the initial wave did not buy your home, the newly entering buyers probably will not buy it either and your home’s asking price will need to be reduced.

The classic approach is usually the best approach, but even with the best plan, occasionally your home will not sell in ten weeks. Results do vary. The numbers above serve to illustrate the theory. In the real world, the decline in buyers’ visits is not precipitous: Do not look for exactly eight visits per week for two weeks, followed by an immediate drop to one or two visits per week. And remember that it takes at least two weeks to establish a trend. Good judgement comes with experience.

The classic approach will give you a reasonable chance of obtaining multiple concurrent offers. If you are fortunate enough to generate the concurrent interest of more than one buyer, you will be in the strongest position to get your full asking price or more, with other terms to your complete satisfaction. The next issue will detail two alternate marketing strategies.

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Secondary Strategies and
"Fat" for Negotiation

The (maybe) top dollar approach to a marketing strategy is right for very few sellers and will be discussed mainly to define it so that it can be avoided. It attempts to maximize price at the expense of time.

To accomplish this approach, you again start with the expected contract price and then add 10% or 15% to determine the initial asking price. Set your last asking price at about 10% lower than the expected contract price. Next, divide the difference between the higher and lower prices into steps equal to about 5% of the expected contract price. Finally, schedule these price steps evenly throughout the marketing period available, or the maximum acceptable time for your home to be on the market. The following is an example for a home with an expected contract price of $500,000 and six months available for marketing it:

Your prices and times will no doubt be different.

The top dollar approach seems logical enough and certainly will sell your home if the plan is followed. If you consider this approach, keep a few things in mind. The cost of keeping most homes can approach 1% of the market value per month, or $5,000 monthly in the example above. If your home will be vacant, you could lose $30,000 in six months. Remember, it will be a month or two from contract to closing.

In times of rising market prices, this approach has slightly greater appeal. If the price happens to be a bit high, market appreciation overtakes the error and the home sells in a few extra months. In a stable market it is questionable whether this approach will mean extra dollars. In a market of falling prices, it can be a disaster: If your reductions do not overtake the falling market, you will sell much later at a much lower price as you "follow the market down" never at quite a low enough price to sell until desperation shocks you into reality.

The quick sale approach also is not suitable for many sellers. It minimizes the time on the market at the probable cost of several thousand dollars. But if you need to sell quickly, you will be the first to see that this approach is for you. Your home will enter the market at an asking price about 2% to 5% lower than the expected contract price and it should sell quickly.

Be very firm when negotiating. If you counteroffer, supply the selling agent who brings the offer with data to support your price: Your market value analysis, an appraisal, or comparable sales. Address this information to the prospective buyer, via the agent. Above all, be calm, reasonable, and firm. Do not appear anxious. If your buyer gets the idea you are in trouble, you indeed will be in trouble. If the negotiations are conducted properly, the buyer will agree reluctantly from the data presented, as well as from his or her own knowledge of the alternative properties available, that your home at your price is the best option.

The quick sale approach maximizes your chance for multiple concurrent offers. If negotiations take a couple of days, your chances improve. If your listing agent can develop a second offer, you could end up with your full price or more without having to make any concessions, such as paying points for the buyer’s new loan or giving any other "seller credits."

If you are in a tight spot (for example, in default) with your mortgage holders, advise them of your plan to sell. Some mortgage companies can be of significant help. They do not want to add your home to their inventory of homes for sale.

You now have three well-defined marketing strategies from which to make a selection (the classic approach was discussed in an earlier article). A few additional considerations will be very helpful. But first, it bears repeating that if a home’s price is too high for the current market, there will be few visitors to it and no offers.

Even if your overpriced home is shown occasionally, it will receive no offers. Any buyer who sees 20 homes in a certain price range will be able to easily reject, as a comparatively poor value, any home that is priced 10% or more over its fair market value. Because many other homes are priced right, your home also needs to be priced correctly in order to compete. Worse yet, an overpriced home will be shown to the wrong group of buyers; those who can afford more. These buyers will buy a home of greater value in which to live, rather than accept your somewhat lesser home even if it might be obtained at a discount.

Sellers whose prices have too much "room for negotiating" invariably end up with no offers to negotiate. One study showed that that if a home is overpriced by 15% initially, time on the market can easily be 300 days. Although this data was developed in a slow market with stable prices, it serves to illustrate an axiom: The higher the price, the longer the time on the market! In addition, overpriced homes often must be reduced before they sell, so time and money are lost for no gain at all. To repeat, overpriced homes are not shown to the right group of buyers. They languish on the market because they are competing with the wrong set of homes: Those of greater value.

Here’s a compelling thought: If the average home’s selling price is, for example, 95% of its asking price, then the average home does not receive a viable offer until its asking price is within about 5% of its actual market value. This fact reinforces the critical importance of having only a small margin of "fat" in the asking price for leeway in negotiation.

No matter what strategy you employ or at what stage you find yourself, if a price reduction is needed, it usually should be greater than 5%. A reduction smaller than 5% is not significant to the market. It is a waste of time and effort to even imagine that it will make a difference. On the other hand, reductions greater than 10% generally should be avoided. There is a risk that an entire range of buyers could be bypassed completely, never learning of your good value. In any event, get the price right, and your home will sell.

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Round Number Pricing

A little-known advantage will be gained by pricing your home exactly on a round number. You are not selling clothing, gasoline, groceries, or used cars. Remember that the home selling market is uniquely driven by online computer searches. By pricing on a round number you will get more visitors and sell faster. An example will help:

If your home is priced on the round number $600,000, it will be considered for showing by all three agents above when they do an MLS computer search for available properties. If your home is priced at $599,999, only Agents A and B will find your home in their computer output. Agent C will be oblivious to the fact that your home is for sale.

Almost all agents, as well individual buyers, search in round numbers. In fact, many of the myriad third-party sites (e.g. Zillow, Trulia, etcetera, etcetera) provide online price pick-lists that do not allow anything other than round numbers.

Of course, not every home can be priced on an even $100,000 interval, but use increments of $10,000 or prices ending in $25,000 or $75,000. This pricing tactic will gain you a competitive edge over most sellers. "Over how many other sellers," you ask? Check some random prices of homes for sale to see how many sellers understand real estate market pricing as well as you now do.

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Put Your Best Foot Forward

Preparing to market your home will take time and thought. The ideas presented here are those that are most important, frequently overlooked, or unique. Read on carefully, a home that shows poorly will cost its seller at least 10% to 15% of the home’s fair market value as well as require an extended marketing time, and cause needless aggravation.

First impressions are the strongest. In marketing your home, as in life, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. So, when your prospective buyer pulls up to the curb, make it count. When visitors arrive, they will use all their senses, with the possible exception of taste, to gain an impression of your home. The following will form their impression:

Your objective is to slip into the shoes of the home buyer, a total stranger, and identify the essential elements, whether positive or negative, dealing with each, bringing the positive ones into sharp focus and eliminating or minimizing the negative ones. It will be difficult for you to identify subtly embarrassing or possibly offensive elements of your home. The importance of eliminating these factors is easy to understand: Unspoken objections, can represent powerful negatives, and can never be known, addressed, or resolved by the agent showing your home. You must identify and eliminate such problems if at all possible.

Minor repairs should always be done. Fixing that dripping faucet, the hole in the wall, and the loose front doorknob are minor expenses that will return many times their cost, not to mention those closet doors that are off their tracks or dragging on the carpet. When buyers observe minor maintenance items that have not been done, they wonder what other problems might be lurking. Also, standard resale contracts require that major systems, appliances, et cetera, to be in normal working order on the date that possession is delivered. Why wait?

The presentation of your home that you are striving for can be summarized as: light and bright; uncluttered and neat; neutral in color and pattern; impersonal and inoffensive; and clean. Of course, an entire book could be written on preparing a home for the market, its importance, and what happened for those sellers who did it right, and to those sellers who did not. But for now, we will just hit the highlights. Bear in mind that home buyers will be especially impressed with your home if it is neutral, neat, and clean.

To achieve "light and bright," go through your home carefully and replace the light bulb in each lamp or lighting fixture with the maximum wattage bulb allowable. Permanently installed fixtures should have labels showing the maximum watts. No penny pinching either; if a lamp will take a three-way bulb, go first class. Wash the lenses of all lamps and lighting fixtures. Remove shades, blinds, drapes, and curtains if possible, but be careful not to create a barren look or expose ugly windows or unpleasant views. Sheer curtains that you feel are needed should be taken down, cleaned, and re-hung. Have all windows washed inside and out, including the space between the windows and storm windows, which sometimes resembles an insect cemetery.

The ideal home for showing has a minimum of furniture. Identify any items that you will not move to your next home and sell, donate, give, or throw these things away now. Remove furniture from hallways and narrow foyers. Move any furniture that impedes entry or clear sight into any room. Pack all valuables, collections, and family photographs and store them safely for the move. Remove everything from kitchen counters, bathroom vanities, and your desk top. Replace only those items that you are sure to need in the coming week. Pack the rest. Be honest, you will never use all of those 137 lipstick colors next week. Give some attention to storage spaces, attics, and garages as well, and remove everything from the stairs: A broken arm, leg, or neck is not the way you want a prospective buyer to remember your home. Keep your home neat at all times.

Neutralize colors and patterns as best you can without spending a fortune. Can you remove wallpaper and paint the walls? If you choose to paint, remove all the electrical switch plates and socket covers before painting and replace them with new ones as soon as the paint is dry.

The more impersonal your home, the less chance it will offend your buyer. Often buyers will not openly express their personal feelings about what they find offensive. Sometimes their feelings are not even put into words. But they rarely want to think of a home that they found distasteful, let alone see it again. Clean everywhere, but pay special attention to kitchens and bathrooms. Tile grouting and tub caulking must be cleaned and bleached white. If stains persist, consider replacing the offending material. For rust stains, look for products containing oxalic acid. Any soiled carpets must be cleaned if not replaced. Get professional help if necessary. If there is any question about your carpet, get an estimate for replacing it with modest quality, light, neutral carpet, the same in all rooms.

Try to find paint to touch up the appliances and the corners of walls where the paint has been chipped off. If your home has a forced-air HVAC system, clean the vents giving special attention to cold air returns. While you’re at it, replace the air filter.

Be alert to odors. The only time you will be able to evaluate odors is during the first few seconds after you return home. Track down any odors to their source and eliminate them. The cat’s litter box really needs changing more frequently than every month. Because your fireplace can produce unwanted odors, especially on rainy days, clean out the ashes and set new logs for your next fire. Use some type of "odor eaters" or air fresheners, but avoid strong scents. If your HVAC system is forced-air, consider setting the circulating fan to "on."

Set the dining room table for dinner including plates, silverware, water or wine glasses, coffee cups, place mats, and napkins for four. Finally, don’t overlook the outside. Everything should be neat and trimmed. Your lawn should look picture perfect, and any required painting should be done. This is the ideal time to remove the spare plumbing fixtures and the old car (the one up on cinder blocks) that you have been saving in the front yard. If your home does not look inviting from the curb, many buyers will drive by and never come in. Elementary? Intuitively obvious? But thousands have lost millions through their own disregard and negligence. Do not join them.

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Home Preparation Checklist

(First impressions are the strongest.) The following summarizes the ideal presentation of your home:

Specifically:

MARKETING

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Planning Your Marketing Effort

In the absence of any written provisions to the contrary, anything that is attached or fastened to the property conveys (that is, it stays) with the property. Identify personal property that will be sold with the home such as that oversized, wall-mounted telephone that covers the spot where the wallpaper is missing. In our area, it is customary to sell the refrigerator along with the home. Also identify what property will not be conveyed. If you are not leaving Granny’s crystal and gold chandelier, replace it now and avoid silly "Does Not Convey" signs, which raise more questions than they answer. Besides, some buyers specialize in negotiating such heirloom items into the contract. It’s better if they are never seen.

From which direction will most of your buyers be coming? Select a suitable major intersection and prepare directions from there to your home via the easiest or, alternatively, the most scenic route. If possible, avoid having your buyers pass the local landfill, junkyard, or neighbors whose properties bear any resemblance thereto. A table of the minutes or miles to the following points will also help:

Don’t doze off yet! The best is yet to come. Chances are that your agent has never lived in your home. Therefore, you are the one best able to identify its unique features that need amplification. Consider why you bought your home originally. Whatever sold you might be exactly what your buyer is looking for, so point it out. Was it curb appeal? Room sizes? Privacy? A view? Community amenities? Was it something really superb, that you have become so accustomed to, that you now take it for granted? Most importantly, is it something that might not be obvious to your buyer? Something simple but personal? Give the idea some thought and you will be duly rewarded.

An excellent vehicle by which to convey some important thoughts is a personal letter from you to your prospective buyer. The more personal, the better. It can be handwritten or typed, and it should be signed with your first name. Include it with the information handout available to visitors in your home.

If you have a major highway, a railroad, or high voltage power lines in your yard, give some thought to how these negatives can be minimized. If you have lived with such things, they probably did not bother you. Figure out why. You likely will have to convince your buyers that these features will not be a problem to them either.

Information on monthly homeowners’ association dues or condominium fees will be required. A tabulation of last year’s utility bills will help to answer the inevitable question. Do buyers really think that a few dollars a month, plus or minus, on utility bills will make or break a home purchase? Or do they think that bills from one homeowner can be relevant, despite the wide variation in personal heating and cooling preferences? In any event, you will be ready.

You might order any required condominium or property owners association disclosures so that they are available when your home goes on the market. Delivery of these can take up to two weeks. Keep them handy to pass on promptly to your purchaser. But if your time on the market is long, these disclosures could become out of date and some additional expense will be incurred to obtain an updated issue. Ask your agent to advise the best course of action in view current laws and the buyer’s right to rescind the contract.

Samples of the contract and addenda forms that will be used by your purchaser should be reviewed so that any questions can be resolved at this time. Your agent can provide copies of these standard forms. When a contract is presented, time will be of the essence and you will be able to respond in a timely manner.

Is your mortgage assumable by your purchaser? Most loans are not attractive when they are assumable and are not assumable when they are attractive. Nevertheless, any buyers who wish to assume your loan should be required to qualify for it on their own financial merits. During the process you must be sure that you are released from future liability to repay the loan. With VA (Veterans Administration) loans, you also need to consider the effect on your entitlement, whether you will be able to obtain another loan. Letting your buyer assume your loan is generally not recommended, and offers very few advantages, especially when interest rates are low.

Are you willing and able to provide owner financing? Be cautious in this area. Are you skilled at assessing your buyer’s financial condition and ability to repay? Are you prepared to foreclose if your buyer defaults? Why does the buyer need owner financing, which involves higher monthly payments because the interest rate is higher and the term is shorter? Will a mortgage lender provide the required funds? If the answer is "NO," then don’t put your money on the line either.

And finally, remember that your home is on the market, especially if you are one who would find it somewhat awkward to meet your prospective purchaser while taking your bubble bath. Most showing agents will give you ample warning.

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Critical Information

When you are selling your home, the most valuable exposure is through the MLS database. It’s 50 times as important as whatever is in second place. Serious home buyers do not want to waste time. They know how to find a home: Get an agent to show them MLS-listed homes. It is a lot quicker than attending open houses or chasing real estate signs. That is why well over 90% of all homes are sold this way.

No, your listing agent will not personally find your buyer. This means that the information entered into the MLS computer is critical to your success! Your listing agent is your connection to the buyer and computer literacy is one of the most important factors in putting your home’s best foot forward.

Get your home’s MLS information sheet from your agent. Review it carefully, recognizing that some of the data is entered automatically by the system, and some is selected from "pick lists." Other information is entered by "lookup" functions, which are preferred over manual data entry. The "Remarks" are entered entirely by your agent.

There are a few more critical items that will be hard for you to check. Ask your agent to double check them:

There are many, many more ways to go wrong. But you get the picture, your agent must think like a computer in order to enter your home in a manner that will maximize the number of times it issues forth in other agents’ searches. And when your page does pop out of the computer, the information there needs to say "come visit me." Like life, there is no substitute for experience and good judgment.

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Bring on the BUYERS!

At last! Your home is on the market. The trumpets sound, it’s center stage. Your agent has thoughtfully provided one of those little machines that dispenses sequential numbers on bits of paper such as you’ve seen at the deli counter in the supermarket. Those who wish to make offers on your home will queue up, take a number, and be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis.

What? There is no line at the door? The number "1" droops woefully out of the little machine? And it is already your second day on the market. Is it back to the initial planning stage? Relax, and welcome to the real world of selling your home. The experience will consist of nothing but peaks and valleys. If you have done your homework, it is unlikely that you are in trouble. But it will take two or three weeks to know for sure, assuming you are not lucky enough to be caught in a hot sellers’ market. Meanwhile, there is a lot of work to be done. It is your agent’s responsibility to keep you advised of what could happen as well as what should happen. No one likes surprises.

A lockbox provides the best accessibility to a home for sale. All homes, except the multi-million-dollar homes of the rich and famous, should have one. Many agents will not show your home if it is one of the very few without a lockbox. And it is easy for a selling agent to select only those homes with a lockbox during an MLS computer search, thereby avoiding the hassle of either running around to collect your key, or worse, hoping that your listing agent will arrive on time and then wait patiently two hours for the showing because their buyer dawdled over lunch. Current electronic lockboxes make a record of each agent who enters, the day, time, and contact information.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, your home must be entered into the MLS computerized database within 3 days of the signing of the standard listing agreement. If this is not done, either your agent is too busy to handle your home or is trying to sell it personally, rather than through the MLS and the other agents. In this event your agent has neither fulfilled his or her obligations to you nor to the thousands of other agents. Therefore, you should terminate the listing agreement immediately and find another agent.

Carefully check the accuracy of the MLS printout and any information handout or sales brochure placed in your home. The vital importance of this is that the great majority of buyers first visit a home as a result of what they or their agent read from the MLS. In addition to accuracy, your home should be presented as positively as possible. While your agent will note all the important features and emphasize highlights, unimportant information should be omitted so as not to dilute the overall impact. In the MLS data entry for a home, some of the details are required and therefore must be entered. Much of the rest is a matter of judgment. Your agent’s familiarity in working with buyers, and knowledge of the MLS search options will be invaluable.

Again, it is critical that you review your MLS printout carefully. Your buyer most likely will come from this very source. The printout involves so much information that even the most careful agent can produce an error. Any one bit of information in error could be insignificant, or it could be a controlling factor in finding your buyer.

If permitted, a sign has strategically been planted on your front lawn for maximum visibility. Your information handout should be located on a table in the foyer or elsewhere near the front door. Agents should always call to advise you when they plan to visit, and should present their business cards upon arrival. If you are not at home, they should leave their card as evidence of their visit. Note that your listing agent is usually not present for these showings.

It is not necessary for you to leave your home before a showing and hover in hiding until the agent and buyer depart. When an agent tells you that they will arrive at 2pm, that is an estimate. Your home is usually one of several to be shown and the buyer has much more control than the agent does over the progress of the tour. If several homes are bypassed without viewing in the morning, the agent and buyer could arrive at noon. If the buyer is a research librarian, it could be tomorrow. So, tidy up a bit, go on about your business, and relax. If you were going out anyway, you might get ready to go, but delay your departure to coincide with the visitors’ arrival. However, if you try to vacate your home for every showing, you will go crazy. If your MLS data checks out OK, and your home is reasonably tidy, then relax, and good luck!

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Do this . . . Don’t do that

Occasionally an agent might call and then fail to keep the appointment. Time might have run out, or the buyer might have asked to bypass your home. Nevertheless, an agent who makes an appointment will show your home if possible. Some agents might not advise you of a change in plans. If you find no-shows becoming a pattern, make it a point to ask the name and phone number when an agent calls for an appointment. With this information your listing agent can follow up to determine the problem. Sometimes there is an underlying problem: Your "curb appeal" could be deficient. The solution could be as simple as trimming the bushes or painting the trim. At times the problem is not fixable (for example, having another home or a major highway in your yard) and therefore it must be handled by a price reduction. But such obvious factors should have been accounted for in your market value analysis.

Always maintain the temperature of your home at a comfortable level, whether you are there or not. If you are at home for a showing, open the shades and blinds, turn on all lights, and turn off your dishwasher before your guests arrive. Meet the agent and prospective buyer at the door with a smile, introduce yourself as the owner, invite them to look around, offer to answer any questions they might have at the conclusion of their visit; then hide. Never offer an apology for any aspect of your home; it would only highlight deficiencies.

And now a word about beans: Don’t spill them. Do not discuss compromising information with anyone other than your listing agent. If a buyer has questions about your home, answer directly and accurately. But questions about the price (other than the asking price), closing date, terms, or other details of the transaction must be referred to your listing agent. Plan in advance, with the help of your agent, exactly how you will handle the inevitable question: Why are you moving? A polite but vague response probably will be innocuous. Never mention that you are moving because of a job transfer, divorce, foreclosure, et cetera. You must never convey to a buyer that you are in a hurry to sell. To do so invites the use of "pressure tactics."

Be careful not to discuss irrelevant topics such as sports, religion, politics, or the possible sale of the grandfather’s clock or other furniture. There is no way to know which of these topics might cost you a contract. So be polite, brief, and stay focused on the goal. Also, keep any remaining pets, as well as pet remains, out of the way whenever your home is to be shown.

Never, ever tag along during a showing. The buyer will feel inhibited and will not make the comments that the agent needs to hear. Positive comments help the agent recognize and pursue serious buying interest. Negative comments need to be addressed promptly and resolved on the spot. If comments go unspoken, the agent will miss the best opportunity to sell your home. Besides, you truly cannot help: Most agents readily will find the pantry as well as the linen closet. Many agents will even be able to figure out, on their own, which is which.

If you happen to be at home and notice that a prospective buyer shows unusual interest, asks several questions, or spends a long time, give your listing agent a call as soon as the visitors depart. These can be buying signs and prompt follow-up is required. In addition, if a buyer has returned for a second visit, or if you find two business cards from the same agent, advise your listing agent at once: Your home is probably on the buyer’s "short list."

Occasionally an agent will appear without an appointment. Often, this happens because an alert buyer has "discovered" that your home is for sale by seeing the sign. It could be exactly what the buyer has told the agent they do not want or it might be way out of their intended price range. Nevertheless, try your best to accommodate them. What have you got to lose? But ask them to use the lockbox to enter; a business card is not sufficient identification..

For personal safety reasons, refuse entry to any individual who appears without an agent. There are no exceptions to this rule. Write down his or her name and phone number, and provide your listing agent’s business card explaining that your agent will call to schedule an appointment for them.

Your agent might arrange a "brokers’ open-house" on an appropriate Tuesday so that local agents can see your home. The number of visitors can vary from a few to over one hundred. The attendance is not totally within control, but then again, it is not critical anyway: These events rarely produce a buyer. Agents’ comments on your price are generally worthless compared with the rigorous home value analysis that your agent has done already.

An open-house might be held periodically. Here again, results vary unpredictably, but six groups of visitors for an open-house is respectable. Plan to be out of the home for all open-house events. You do need to realize that an open-house will not be an effective means of locating a buyer. It usually takes well over 100 open-houses to sell a home that way. That’s an open-house every weekend for two years! Not great odds. Serious, focused buyers are conducting efficient home searches on the web; and through an agent who can provide full MLS information, and can show homes at times other than 1PM to 4PM on Sunday. Few homes sell because of an open-house, but having one will not hinder your effort to find a buyer. There is no magic in selling a home, only recognition of, and attention to, the important details.

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What works . . . and what doesn’t

It is important to know which types of exposure are effective in producing showings that lead to offers and which are not, so that efforts can be directed mainly toward the effective types. Statistically, more than nine out of ten buyers purchase a home as a result of information provided by the MLS. Signs and open houses account for the few remaining sales. Newspaper and magazine advertisements, TV spots, direct mail campaigns, personal contacts, et cetera, altogether account for an insignificant portion of all home sales. That is why you and your agent have spent so much time assembling and checking the MLS information.

Most buyers recognize the overwhelming efficiency of searching for their home online, compared with going to an endless number of open houses, driving down an endless number of streets looking for "For Sale" signs, or reading an endless number of real estate advertisements. So, you ask, why do agents and real estate firms spend time and money doing what does not work? The reasons vary, but some ideas follow:

By some estimates, the likelihood of a buyer buying the exact home that he or she sees advertised is less than 1 in 300. Be assured that your listing agent will sell your home from an advertisement if possible, but most respondents will opt for some other home. It is interesting to note that an advertisement for any home, even roughly similar to yours, has at least a small chance of generating your buyer. This could happen whether the advertisement was run by your agent’s company or by a competing firm.

The primary indicator of your price’s suitability to the market is measured by the traffic generated; that is, by the number of times that your home has been shown. If your home is shown at least four or five times a week, you are probably on the road to having a contract within a reasonable time. An average of about 20 showings will be needed to find your buyer but individual results vary widely. If activity is slow, you must:

Resist the temptation to take the easy way out by doing nothing except rekindling your hopes. Your inaction will almost certainly lead to another month of market inaction for your home.

At least once a month, and especially when you are considering a price change, your agent will run updates on competitive homes for your specific market area. Important factors are homes new to the market, homes sold recently, and price adjustments made by competitive homes.

During the marketing period, remember that all the effort will pay off. But when you are halfway through your marketing period, you will see no milestone by which to measure your progress. You will not have 50% of a contract. Your offer will usually come out of the blue when you least expect it. So don’t give up hope.

It is unlikely that you will need to change your listing agent during the marketing period if you made a careful selection initially. Focus on the quality of information and advice you have received from your agent as well as the timeliness and responsiveness. Lack of an offer alone is not a good reason to switch agents. If your listing agreement is expiring, re-list for a reasonable period. Do not give your agent a vote of "no confidence" by re-listing for only a few weeks. On the other hand, if you do feel so unsure, perhaps it is time for a change.

Finally, remember to check your messages often and to minimize your time in the bubble bath: No one likes surprise visitors. If you plan to be away for more than a day, be sure to let your agent know how you can be contacted. THIS CAN BE IMPORTANT. Many buyers, especially job transferees on a house hunting trip, will not wait and hope that you might return tomorrow. If necessary, you can review, negotiate, accept, and execute an offer from anywhere. In short, to sell your home, do the right things and you’ll get the right results.

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Showing Traffic

The very best market indicator for home sellers is the number of showings your home receives every week. Reasonable expectations vary greatly by the health of the market, seasonality, price range, and proximity to Washington D.C. which is the center of our region’s market. But if no one came to see your home in the last 2 weeks you very likely are in trouble: The answer is most likely on the sheet that comes out of the printer from the MLS. Often, but not always, it is your home’s asking price. This is not rocket science, just attention to details, which includes knowing which details need attention. There is no magic involved in selling a home.

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Does your home need a price reduction?

Everyone wants to sell faster and for more money but those two objectives fight each other. Sellers control the asking price and thereby time on the market; but it is "the market" that controls the price the home will bring.

Sellers enter the market based on an estimate. If the home is priced at or below the true market price, it will sell in a reasonable time. But at least half the homes on the market started above that and need a price reduction.

So the questions are:
1-When should the price be reduced?
and. . .
2-By how much should the price be reduced?

The answer to the second question is easy. In almost every instance a home's price should be reduced by about 5%. We could spend time detailing why, but the short answer is perspicacity.

The answer to the first question requires a bit more analysis because it varies with market conditions. The number of agents showing a home each week is very important. But as a rule of thumb, the number of days it took to sell half the homes that have sold indicates when a seller should consider a price reduction. Unfortunately, reliable days on the market (DOM) figures are not readily available. See DOM.

Would you rather have an offer to negotiate, or watch the other homes sell first? Don't languish on the market. When the market speaks, listen.

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Discrimination in housing: Perspicacity

(Or: Why that 5%?)

Perspicacity is the ability to discern a difference. For example, if you see a home whose real value is $450,000 and a second one whose value is $550,000 you will know immediately which is which. However, if you see a home whose real value is $499,000 and a second one whose value is $501,000 you have only a 50/50 chance of guessing which is which. Somewhere in between a $2,000 difference and a $100,000 difference, there is a level at which most folks can tell the difference. Over many years, I have found that the minimum level where most folks can discern a difference is 5%. This is one (quantum) level of perspicacity.

So what?

When setting the asking price, sellers should consider a figure 2 to 4% over the estimated market value. This added amount is sometimes called "fat for negotiation." Sellers who add too much, often find that they have no offers to negotiate. Why is this? Because buyers who can afford a home worth more, are looking for a better home. They do not want to give up one level of perspicacity, even if they could buy the home at a 20% discount. They simply do not want to live there.

When considering a price reduction, amounts smaller than 5% are just not significant to the market. Sellers must reduce their price so that they are competing with lesser homes. You got it: Homes at least one level of perspicacity lower!

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Average Days on the Market (DOM) for SOLD Homes

DOM should be an important statistic, but the interpretation is too tricky: The calculation can be done for all homes on the market, or for only those homes that have sold recently. In the latter case, days to agreement, days to removal of contingencies, or days to closing might be the figure that gets reported. To further compound the problem, some MLS systems compute DOM using only the current listing of a home, some account for previous un-sold listing entries of the same home, some systems provide both figures, and some provide no information at all.

To add still another level of problem-compounding-complexity: The most useful, DOM at the current price, is often difficult or impossible to determine. And finally, at the risk of TMI, no one ever tells you which number they are reporting! To be useful, DOM should be calculated as days to agreement, at the final price, for recently sold homes. The MLS computer-weenies all know how to calculate an average, but none of them know or even care whether it is useful to anyone.

Using DOM in an ideal world for home sellers:

When the market speaks, sellers need to listen, but remember that any sold data lags by 1 or 2 months, plus the time needed for data assembly and publication.

There is a general relationship between price and time on the market: The higher the price, the longer the time on the market. "Overpriced" is defined as the relationship between a home’s asking price and its actual market value. But note well: When a home enters the market, no one knows the real market value. (No, not even Zillow!) Does your home need a price reduction?

Instead of using any published DOM, check whether average prices are rising or falling annually as well as seasonally, and be sure to consider the all-important Months Supply.

Note: A clever agent can extract pertinent DOM figures from the Realtors' MLS database; very useful, but it is not easy.

FINISHING

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Negotiating Basics

Negotiating your contract will be the most challenging and exciting part of your home selling experience. It also will be satisfying to see the effort that you have spent assembling the team, mapping the strategy, and executing the plan come to fruition. The most important part of your agent’s job is managing the negotiations to a successful conclusion. You might visualize the process as traveling down a road. A proposal or offer to buy your home marks the beginning. You have no direct control over the timing or content of this offer. It merely represents the buyer’s wildest wish. At the end of the road is a contract to sell your home. It must be mutually acceptable to both buyer and seller, a meeting of the minds. If it is to be legally enforceable, which is highly desirable, it must be written. You have a good deal of control over the final content of the contract, and you will exercise this control with the help of your agent during the negotiation phase. But the road can be filled with bumps and potholes (surprises), can wind up hill and down dale (confusion), surely will contain many forks (decision points), and could run close to steep cliffs.

You might recognize at this point that it would be rather cumbersome if we had to negotiate a written contract each time we wanted to buy a loaf of bread. So, what’s the difference? One difference is that homes are unique in comparison with loaves of bread, and neither the seller nor the purchaser has nearly as much experience with the transaction (assuming that you either eat bread or own a bakery). A home’s price is less certain, hence the need for negotiation. In addition, home purchases are more complex and involve more details, hence the need for writing. But it is also important to consider the length of time between the agreement, and the consummation of the agreement, called closing or settlement. If your buyer came in and you agreed on a price and other pertinent details and went immediately to closing, with all the necessary information and funds being available, then written contracts might be avoided. Negotiation and written contracts, of course, will continue to be an essential part of the home selling process.

The phone rings. It’s your listing agent with an offer. Your mind starts churning out alternating dreams and nightmares. You have waited so long for this event. What if it is totally unacceptable, the talks end in a stalemate, and the buyer runs off to buy someone else’s home? Perhaps the offer is sent from heaven, full price and otherwise acceptable in every detail. If this happens, then the time you spend reading this can be considered recreational, and you can thank your lucky stars. In most cases, however, buyer and seller reach a meeting of the minds after some back and forth discussions, namely, negotiations.

During the negotiations, always keep in mind that you are determining how much of the money you will end up with. You are paying for professional advice. You will make critical decisions and you will live with the outcome. This is where your talented and experienced agent pays off handsomely, being at your side and on your side. Your rigorous investigations on your choice of an agent will not be confirmed fully until this point. Those who have not followed the selection process carefully should watch for danger signals and prepare a plan to minimize their losses during the negotiating process.

Details of each transaction are very different. Some negotiations are quite simple, some impossible. To treat real estate negotiating exhaustively would fill several volumes. So we will discuss only the most important considerations. During the negotiation stage, your agent’s experience and expertise will prove invaluable.

The term "negotiating" has a nasty ring to some people. The offer is an insult! The buyer obviously wants to steal your home while you are not prepared to take a penny less than the asking price. Feelings seem to be overpowering thoughts. A totally adversarial yelling and screaming match is imminent. Even the agents are getting emotional. Although the above scenario is possible, it rarely happens. Skilled agents focus on the facts and concentrate on resolving differences. Buyers and sellers usually will settle for what they believe to be fair and reasonable.

Negotiation is the process of give and take during which a fair and reasonable set of terms and conditions is defined into an agreement or contract. Your objective is to convince the buyer that your position is fair and reasonable. It will be a major advantage if your position is close enough to fair and reasonable in order for it to seem so. Stretch the credibility of your position too far and the negotiations will fracture.

The secret of successfully negotiating the negotiating process is control. To control the negotiation, control yourself. Never let the tone reach a state of emotional strain. To do so will always cost you time and money. Your agent will be a big help. If emotions start to creep in, consider slowing the process by tabling all issues, perhaps to seek additional information, for a few minutes, hours, or even days. Usually, delays in negotiations are best avoided, but make an exception in this case.

Develop an idea of timing or the rate of progress. Always move ahead in discussions whenever possible in order to avoid losing momentum. Negotiations generally proceed quickly in a sellers’ market, and at a slower pace in a buyers’ market. Be alert for that rare occasion when it is preferable to delay your response, assuming that time is on your side. Be prepared to give. It is expected in all but the hottest of sellers’ markets. But give little and give slowly. Try to give on terms that are of lesser importance to you. When you give, you will be able to get something in return, if only one step closer to a contract. At each stage, consider carefully whether to compromise or to say "NO." Develop a workable plan to reach an attainable goal and stick with it. So much for the generalities, next we will gain insight into the process.

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Presentation of the Offer

Making an offer and negotiating an agreement on a home in our area has developed over many years into a well-defined and orderly ritual. The main object has been to develop a process, including the forms and the procedures, to resolve and record pertinent details and to avoid problems, while treating all parties fairly. Part of the process is rooted in law, part in custom. Your agent has advised you what is customary, and you should conform unless it is impossible.

Your agent will be your communications link and will provide a buffer between you and the buyer. While your agent is your representative, it is also helpful to recall the broad definition of the word broker: One who brings the principal parties in a transaction together conceptually so that they can forge a mutually satisfactory agreement. Never forget that it is your responsibility to define and communicate clearly what terms and conditions are satisfactory. No one else can handle this role.

Offers to purchase real estate should always be written. Standard contract forms are used in almost all local resale home transactions. Insist on their use by your buyer and resist changes in the wording by anyone. If someone maintains that wording changes are needed or if you have unresolved questions, consult a local attorney whose main business is real estate.

Invariably, your response to a verbal offer will be: Put it in writing and it will be considered. Those who make verbal offers have so little interest in your home that they are unwilling to invest an hour in the paperwork.

Presentation of the offer usually will occur via email. Your agent will address what the offer is worth to you after the expenses of the sale and any mortgages are paid. In other words, your agent will define your bottom line or net proceeds from the sale.

Consider the offer carefully, asking any questions that you have. Main items of concern are:

Many of your financial questions will be answered if the buyer has already been approved for a mortgage loan and presents a lender-letter to that effect. Otherwise, be sure to request a pre-qualification letter from a mortgage lender indicating the buyer’s financial ability to purchase your home. The letter should make reference to a recent credit report and acknowledge any currently-owned real estate. Better still, has the buyer survived desk-top-underwriting?

In most cases you should be hesitant to accept a "contingent contract," an offer that is contingent upon sale of the buyer’s home that is not yet under contract. In a buyers’ market it is likely that a customary 45 or 60-day contingency period will expire before your buyer’s home is sold, especially if homes are selling slowly. Your home will be 95% off the market during this time because its MLS status is changed such that showings will drop off precipitously. Remember that the great majority of potential buyers come as a result of the MLS.

The "kick-out clause" in a contingent contract, which allows you to sell to another buyer, will be of little consolation if there are no other offers. If you do consider a contingent contract, your listing agent should verify independently that your buyer’s home is priced to sell quickly. This might require a personal visit. In any event, most sellers require the price on a contingent contract to be higher than they might accept otherwise. So why break with tradition? In a sellers’ market, an ample number of unencumbered buyers obviates any need to even consider contingent contracts.

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To Accept, Reject, or Counteroffer ???

Your complete set of response options to any offer are the following:

Your home has been on the market for some time. An offer was nearly inevitable. You should have developed some idea of what is acceptable to you. If you sleep on it, the offer could become a nightmare and be gone in the morning. Respond NOW. But before you do, consider carefully the details as well as all the alternative courses of action.

If you accept the offer, sign, initial, and thank all parties.

If you reject the offer, write, "REJECTED" across the face of the contract form, and initial the notation. Do not sign. Give no information other than that the offer did not form a basis for discussion. This sends the strongest negative message back to the buyer. It is rarely the best course of action, because it can end the negotiations. Nevertheless, make it clear that you would consider another offer. Sometimes it takes jacks or better to open the bidding.

If you counteroffer, you are implicitly rejecting the buyer’s offer. Your counteroffer becomes the only offer on the table. Note that when you counteroffer you return control to the buyer. It is then his or her decision whether to accept, reject, or counteroffer, and when. Since you are giving up control, you should counteroffer only if the changes you make are truly of major significance to you.

Your counteroffer will be made in writing, usually by making changes directly on the original offer, initialing them and leaving space for the buyer’s initials, which will signify approval. The modified document will be presented to the buyer for consideration. Ask the agents to avoid negotiating by phone unless the change involves only one item and is relatively insignificant. Also avoid rewriting the contract. Yes, it will probably become cluttered, but you need be concerned only with clarity and legibility. Rewriting the contract for the sake of neatness can cost you dearly. So don’t ask.

There is a fate worse than rejecting an offer because the buyer is not financially qualified: That is, getting locked in with a buyer who is unable to close and having your home off the market, all the while begging the buyer to release you from the contract so that you can get on with your home sale and your life. So, review your buyer’s financial qualifications carefully.

You should be very happy if you receive multiple concurrent offers. Recognize that you are in an excellent negotiating position and act accordingly. You should consider all the offers and resolve any questions before responding. Your agent will help to organize the information, compare the proposals, and evaluate your options. If you accept one of the offers it need not be the one with the highest offer price, the one with the greatest "bottom line," nor the one from the best qualified buyer.

Your agent also will avoid skillfully the embarrassment of having your house sold to more than one party. This sounds ridiculous, but it does happen. Be alert for this possibility if negotiations span more than a few days. Make sure that any counteroffer you make comes back accepted, counteroffered, or rejected with the buyer’s initials, not the agent’s!

But not so fast! Just as you are ready to put your final initials on a binding contract, consider this: Some sellers express remorse following conclusion of a negotiation. This is not only unfortunate, but also totally unnecessary. So, when negotiations are nearing an agreement, hopefully at the last stage, play this imagination game. Consider carefully the terms and conditions to which you are about to agree. Remember that a contract is binding and that its details can be changed only with the agreement of all parties. Then imagine that the proposal on the table has been finalized, that you have had a good night’s rest and that it is now tomorrow morning. Do you have reservations about the agreement? Could you have done better? Tomorrow morning will be too late to make significant changes. Are you sure that you want this proposal to become a binding contract now? Of course, you can "sleep on it." But there will be no additional information available in the morning, and a delay can only serve as an opportunity for the buyer to reconsider too. If the proposal is acceptable, sign it now and be happy.

When you reach an agreement, your negotiations are finished. Go ahead, celebrate. You have a contract. (While this is an important milestone for sellers, experienced agents have learned to postpone their celebration until after the closing.) Keep in mind that contract provisions can be altered with the agreement of all parties. So, if you need a minor change later, feel free to ask.

In all stages of the negotiation, maintain a reasonable or at least a defensible position. Always project your sincerity and avoid emotion. These general guidelines will lead to your most favorable contract.

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Negotiating the offer: Information is POWER

First, you should assume that the selling agent is a "buyer-broker," taking the side of the buyer. The popularity of buyer-brokerage in our area has grown since its introduction in 1991. Buyer-brokers now account for nearly all home sales in our area. The buyer-broker’s demeanor, and tone might be indistinguishable from those of a seller’s agent. On the other hand, the buyer-broker has the charter to be downright adversarial if the need arises. Nevertheless, there are ways to handle any eventuality and still emerge with a satisfactory contract. But the advent of buyer-brokerage makes your listing agent’s superior negotiating skill and experience, critical commodities to have on your side. Chances are good that you will be shielded from any direct abrasiveness since selling agents rarely present their buyer’s offer in person nowadays.

When considering the offer, you and your agent should consider what type of buyer you are dealing with. A few examples:

Each type of buyer needs special handling. Has the buyer seen enough homes to be satisfied that yours is the one? How long has he or she been looking for a home? What features did he or she especially like? Were these features present in any other home?

You will know that you are in big trouble if a host of new considerations crops up during your consideration of an offer. A few of the many examples, all designed to implore you to accept the offer, are:

You might hear these things as well as others. But this is not the time to make your important decision based on brand new, alarming, unverified, or irrelevant information. In any event, do not yield to any pressure to accept an offer that is unsatisfactory to you.

Some initial offers are ridiculous, designed to determine how desperate you are or to shock you into lowering your expectations. This is no time to become insulted and scuttle the proceedings. An emotional response is your biggest enemy. It will always turn down-to-earth issues and quantitative differences into an ill-defined mishmash that will be impossible to deal with. Although this offer might make you mad enough to expectorate, try to remember that it is the very best offer you have today. Deal with it. Use your judgment. If an offer is too low, you must either reject it or counteroffer. Review the information at your disposal, make your decision, and give your rationale.

The initial offer defines the minimum outcome of negotiations, your asking price defines the maximum. The final outcome will usually be somewhere between the two. Your objective is to convince the buyer to see things your way and to agree on a price very near what you are asking.

Remind yourself that your position is justifiable. You are on firm ground. You have an unbeatable team, you have done your homework, and you have much more ammunition (information) than the buyer has. Approach the problem carefully and logically. What information formed the basis of the buyer’s offer? Do you need to rebut the tax assessment myth? What information is the buyer lacking? How can you impart the understanding required to bring the buyer’s view into line with yours? Can you offer information on comparable sales, a recent appraisal, or perhaps your original market value analysis?

Be ever-mindful of whether market conditions favor buyers or sellers, and remember that delays in negotiating usually favor the seller. Work with your listing agent and through the selling agent, who will be your messenger. Convince the selling agent and you will be at least halfway there. By the way, the selling agent wants this to work because if it does not, he or she will be back on the road showing properties instead of setting up your home inspection, and trying to figure out which bank account can take the commission deposit without exceeding the FDIC insurance limit.

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Dealing with Common Negotiating Situations

It will come as no surprise that price is usually the most difficult factor to negotiate. The price is usually composed of two parts, the down payment plus the mortgage. If possible, examine the buyer’s financial data. Can the down payment be increased through the sale of liquid investments, borrowing from retirement funds, a new loan on a paid off car, or a gift from relatives? Will the buyer’s income support a larger mortgage? Recognize that an extra $10,000 on your selling price could cost the buyer less than $40 per month. Always provide the selling agent with that additional monthly cost number; this is a powerfully convincing tactic. What kind of a mortgage is the buyer seeking? To stretch the maximum mortgage amount, ask that the buyer consider a loan with a longer term, a lower interest rate, or even a lender with higher qualifying ratios. If you receive offers from more than one buyer, obtaining your asking price, or even more, is very likely. But even with multiple offers, it is sometimes necessary to make a counteroffer. In any event, the discussion above could be valuable.

In general, you should never accept a price lower than 95% of your asking price unless you are in dire straits with your anchor dragging. By settling for too low a price, you bypass an entire segment of the home buying market who never saw your home because they never dreamed that you would give it away. So, before you do give it away, expose it to the market at a moderately lower price. You might end up with multiple offers. Also remember that you chose your listing agent to produce a contract at least close to your asking price. This is not an unreasonable objective.

In general, is best to avoid time limits, which can weaken your position and add needless aggravation to the negotiation. But nowadays an executable copy of your counteroffer will likely be emailed to the other agent (in person presentations are extinct) and there might be lazy, inconsiderate, or ignorant agents out there who shirk their responsibility to provide closure; that is, a written rejection. Without this, you must write a letter of withdrawal in order to kill your counteroffer. So, add an expiration date even though local contract forms do not provide for one. Your agent can communicate that it is not intended to apply pressure. If your counteroffer does expire, it is easy for the buyer to delete your expiration note, initial the change, and return it for your concurrence.

You might reach a point where someone says, "Let’s split the difference." If this is satisfactory, accept it. You have reached an agreement, and now you can celebrate. There is, however, no basic rationale to support this approach and you should feel no obligation to give an automatic "YES." For example, imagine that you are asking $500,000, and an offer is made at $300,000. Would you split the difference and sell for $400,000? Of course not. If splitting the difference is not acceptable, reply that you simply cannot afford to split the difference and therefore you are making a counteroffer.

Somewhere along the way the idea of face-to-face talks between you and your buyer might surface. It sounds reasonable enough, two adults sitting down and coming to a mutual agreement directly. While this has surely been done, it is advisable only as a last resort. The danger of a fatal injury to the talks is so great that it usually is better just to break off the negotiations leaving a chance that they might reopen later. When there are four parties at the negotiating table instead of two, the possibility of total failure rises exponentially.

One of the most valuable services that your agent provides is insulating you from direct negotiations with the buyer. This is crucial in avoiding snap decisions made before complete and careful consideration of all options and implications. You might have noticed that important negotiations, business or diplomatic, are never conducted directly by savvy principals or the ultimate decision makers. There are good reasons for this: Take the hint.

If you say this is absolutely your last offer, be prepared to mean it. Do not bluff by making a take-it-or-leave-it counteroffer. This can end your discussions in a hurry. If you did not mean it, the buyer will learn that you do not mean what you say. The credibility you have built will be reduced to rubble. If your buyer gives you a final-offer ultimatum and it is satisfactory, take it. Otherwise consider rejecting it without a counteroffer and without comment. In doing so you are telling the buyer that you believe what he or she said. The subtle message is that you mean what you say too. But recognize that most final offers are not really final offers.

Your alternative to making a take-it-or-leave-it final offer is to make your last offer without any mention of its finality. If it is not accepted, re-submit your offer at exactly the same price. Be calm, reasonable, brief, and almost apologetic. You will make your case in a strong but non-threatening manner. This works.

If negotiations do break down at any point, it might not really be the end. But before you "walk out," have a plan by which you can walk back in. You will not run back immediately. Let some time elapse. The hardest thing to change is a mind (unless, of course it’s your own). It always takes time. How much time it takes is a matter of judgment. If you return too soon, you will have gained no mental adjustment from the buyer and you will have lost some of your credibility. If you wait too long your buyer will have lost interest or will have purchased another home. If your buyer was the one who broke off the talks, do not be too proud to initiate resumption of negotiations. The selling agent can be a major help in this event. Ask for his or her advice.

As you proceed, you will find that all the negotiating information you have read is merely the tip of the iceberg. But do not lose hope. Not all the nasty things mentioned herein can happen to you. Always keep your primary goal in mind: You want to sell your home. Also remember that the buyer really wants to buy your home. In fact, if you use all the information at your disposal the prospects of negotiating an excellent agreement are very good. But it is impossible to anticipate the exact combination of information and important decisions you will have to address in your negotiation. There is no substitute for years of experience: Use your agent.

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After the Meeting of the Minds

From signing of the contract until closing is normally 30 to 60 days. Through most of this period you will have the nagging feeling that there is something you should be doing regarding the transaction. Usually there is not, but it is better to ask than to wonder. Processing of your purchaser’s loan usually will take about four weeks.

One thought that almost certainly will occur to you within a day after contract finalization: Could you have gotten even more for your home? The answer: Maybe you could have gotten an extra thousand dollars or even two; but maybe you could have lost your buyer to another home. You made your best decision at the time and it is done. You deserve happiness.

A few things will need attention. If you live in a condominium or a home that is covered by a property owners’ association, obtain the required disclosures and get them to the purchaser without delay. Prompt delivery of these disclosures is important in order to minimize the time during which the purchaser can withdraw from the contract. Obtaining such disclosures can take up to two weeks.

Most purchasers will want to have your home professionally inspected. There is no reason to deny such a customary request. If you are at home during the home inspection, be busy. Do not tag along. This is not a good time for you to try to teach the inspector how to inspect homes or to become personally offended by critical comments. Most of the time the inspector will not find any surprising major deficiencies. The inspection is not intended to address cosmetic items.

At the conclusion of the inspection or shortly thereafter, your listing agent will review the results with you and suggest a response. You should be given a copy of the inspector’s report. Feel free to ask questions. The home inspector should have made a clear distinction between deficiencies that need immediate attention, and routine maintenance suggestions or opinions regarding the remaining life of various systems offered merely for the buyer’s information. Refer to the provisions of your contract to see what is customarily required of sellers regarding systems, appliances, et cetera, even in the absence of a home inspection. If you believe that one of the inspector’s findings is out of order, support your case with reasons and, if possible, receipts showing when the problem was resolved. For example, evidence of a roof leak can remain long after it has been repaired. On a dry day, the home inspector often cannot tell whether the leak is active or not. Your buyer wants your home and usually will go along with anything that is reasonable. But remember, if you do not agree to resolve all deficiencies, your buyer can withdraw from the contract without warning.

The procedure is similar if your purchaser obtains a radon test result greater than the accepted maximum of 4.0 picoCuries per liter. It is indeed true that the test measures conditions during just a short period. The result might be only 4.1 picoCuries per liter. But how accurate are these tests, and what is a picoCurie anyway? Resist the urge to request a re-test: It’s not in the cards. Usually, problems can be remedied for less money than a few re-tests. Besides, once a failing result is on record, almost every purchaser will demand remediation at your expense. As with the home inspection, you should get a copy of the radon test report.

Also, you are required to deliver your property with the well and septic systems in good order, if you have such features. (Did they have to deal with both these items in the same addendum?) Check to see if specific well or septic system approvals are required and how they can be obtained. Your property will also have to be visibly free of wood destroying insects (such as termites) and the damage therefrom. A clear termite report will be required, usually within the 30 days before closing. Sellers of townhomes often find that they are required to replace any defective fire-retardant-treated (FRT) plywood sheathing found in their roof. Certain types of plastic water supply lines are an issue in some locations. Other less likely problems include contamination from asbestos; certain types of Chinese drywall; urea-formaldehyde-foam-insulation (UFFI) vapors; and lead in drinking water. Lead-based paint contamination issues will need to be dealt with in accordance with the Federal Law covering homes built before 1978.

Occasionally, minor problems are uncovered during the title search, a painstaking research of government land ownership records which is conducted to ensure that you have an unencumbered right to convey (i.e. sell) the property. Most of these items can be resolved easily, so do not be upset. But if that disgruntled contractor who believes that you still owe $100 has filed a lien against your home, it is now judgment day.

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Onward to Closing

The closing agent might or might not be an attorney. In either case, the closing agent is not representing you even though you are paying part of the bill (nor is the agent representing the buyer). Most buyers and sellers in our area do not retain an attorney to represent their interests at closing. If you do anticipate unresolved problems or feel especially inadequate, discuss possible legal representation with your listing agent or with an attorney whose specialty is real estate.

The closing agent will notify your existing lender of your intention to pay off the mortgage and will obtain the required information. It is a good idea to double-check this event with your lender. If you cannot be present at closing, you will need to designate someone to act for you. Power-of-attorney forms should be available through your closing agent. If you surprise your closing agent with a non-approved power-of-attorney form, you risk having to postpone settlement until a suitable document can be secured.

The purchaser’s lender will send an appraiser to your home to render an opinion of its fair market value. If there is a potential problem, your agent might want to discuss the matter with the appraiser and possibly provide helpful information. If the appraisal report indicates that the fair market value is lower than the contract price, do not panic. The appraiser will usually work with you to justify your contract price if it is reasonably possible: Your listing agent’s original market value analysis might help.

If the final version of the appraisal sets your home’s value below the price on your contract, price negotiations probably will reopen. Check your contract for the rules. Do your best, but you are in a weak position because your purchaser knows that if you lose this contract, you likely will have an appraisal problem next time. On the other hand, remember that the buyer probably does not want to start the home search process anew. Watch out if the story about the purchaser’s "second choice home" is true, or if he or she previously has expressed second thoughts about buying your home.

At some point you will have to make a commitment to your movers. If your purchaser has not obtained loan approval by this time, get a progress report and some assurance that a timely approval is likely.

As closing approaches, transfer of electricity, gas, water, sewer, telephone, refuse collection, cable TV, newspaper delivery, et cetera, normally can be handled within a few days. Coordinating the transfer of utilities with your purchaser can help avoid unnecessary extra charges. Most important, continuity of the basic utilities will help ensure a meaningful final inspection: It is hard to check the air conditioner when electric power has been shut off.

The purchaser’s final inspection, or walk-through, will be done shortly before closing. It is usually uneventful, but if a problem is detected, the purchaser could ask that part of your proceeds be set aside with the closing agent in an escrow account until the problem can be resolved. Reasonableness should rule. Refer to your contract for details.

A typical closing takes less than an hour. Most questions are directed to the closing agent. The financial details of the transaction are among the first items to be explained. Check carefully for errors or omissions compared with the contract provisions. Errors do occur, but your agent will help. Most of the signing is associated with the new loan and is done by the purchaser. All mortgage companies have major investments in paper mills. There is a form for everything, even a form to check whether all the forms are completed.

Although you might be receiving tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars from this transaction, the actual closing ceremony can be boring: The buyer signs most of the documents. To ensure a more memorable occasion, complain at length about the $5 charge for notary fees.

Near the end of the closing ceremony you will pass any keys, garage door openers, instruction manuals, et cetera, to the purchaser if they have not been left in a designated kitchen drawer. You might not receive the net proceeds from your sale at closing. They might be available the same day, but it could be a day or two later. Ask about the specifics in your jurisdiction. Do not cancel your homeowners insurance until the deed has been recorded in the land records.

The closing agent will have sent more than sufficient funds to pay off your mortgage. In several weeks, your mortgage lender will refund the unused portion of those funds plus any unused balance in your real estate tax and homeowners insurance escrow account. Save your copy of the financial documents with your important records. There might be important tax considerations involved in selling your home. If you are the least bit uncertain, a good tax accountant can be worth his or her weight in gold. At the end of the closing ceremony, go ahead and un-cork the champagne.

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Selling Your Home - an Overview

The important concepts reviewed below will give you an excellent chance of selling your home for a maximum price with a minimum of stress and strain.

Our local real estate market is orderly and rational, driven by the information exchange capabilities of the computerized MLS database. Today’s buyers are sophisticated, well-informed, comparative shoppers who do not purchase homes on impulse. Also, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan market is a continuum, in other words, a continuous whole. Although you might be concerned with only a segment of the market, a specific area or a price range, the market itself is not segmented. No matter where you live, there is no unique market for your subdivision, your development, or your home.

Selling without an agent is not a suitable alternative in today’s market, so you will need to select one. Specific questions, will separate your agent from the rest. You will need to verify that your agent is in tune with critical market information, cares about the quality of service provided, and understands how those considerations directly relate to your goal. You will also avoid one of the classic home seller mistakes such as awarding your listing to an agent who has given you the highest estimate of your home’s value. The agent projecting an unusually high market value is frequently inexperienced or worse. Other "red flags" are statements such as:

Any agent’s home-selling efforts are insignificant in comparison to the efforts of the thousands of other agents using the MLS to find your home for their buyer. Your agent’s job is marketing, not selling. It is therefore unrealistic to expect that your agent will ever show your home to its ultimate buyer. You will also appreciate the critical importance of your agent’s computer literacy which you verified. Primary emphasis should be on your agent’s experience, and especially on negotiating expertise.

Supply and demand information are important when combined into a months supply of homes figure which indicates whether buyers or sellers have a greater advantage in the market. The "valuation by comparables method" is the most accurate way to estimate your home’s fair market value. This is essential in correctly pricing your home. Remember that real estate tax assessments, your neighbor’s asking price, and even Zillow, are irrelevant. And don’t forget to price you home on a round number.

The question of how much "fat" you need in your asking price needs to be answered statistically. The obvious relationship between asking price and time on the market can be summarized: Higher asking prices mean longer marketing times. This is truly un-amazing here in print but might be somewhat harder to identify in specific instances, like the sale of your home. Traffic, the number of times that your home is shown, is the primary indicator of your price’s suitability to the market.

In the critical contract negotiation process, control is paramount. Runaway emotions are the destroyer of productive negotiations. Credibility, firmness, and sincerity will lead to your most favorable result. Be alert not to sell to an unqualified buyer or to two separate buyers: You need to sell your home, not end up in court. Review the important negotiating tactics you might use as well as those you should avoid. The critical importance of your agent’s expertise is a recurring theme.

Special handling will be required for various types of buyers, as well as buyer-brokers, and multiple offers. Emphasis will be given to skillful, deliberate, and timely use of the tools at your disposal. Information is power! Critical: Knowing what to say, when to say it, and what not to say. Understanding what to expect in advance will smooth any potential turbulence during this sometimes anxious period.

In summary, start by carefully selecting an agent who will provide an accurate analysis of your home’s market value, assist in preparing it for the market, and entering it into the MLS database properly. If the words and photos match the price, prospective buyers will appear. They will return for a second visit and make an offer. With the critical advice of your agent, you will successfully negotiate and then cruise on uneventfully to closing. If you experience a major problem at any stage, review the process up to that point and hopefully you will be able to pinpoint and resolve the problem. With attention to detail, success will be yours!

APPENDICES

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9 Steps to Success in Selling your Home

Below is an update of David Rathgeber's “9 Steps to Success in Selling your Home” which appeared in the “Home Guide” (published Fridays by The WASHINGTON TIMES).

Almost any home can be sold in a reasonable amount of time. In summary, start by selecting an agent carefully. Then the remaining steps in selling your home are the following:

  1. The Analysis: The key is to correctly predict the price your home will bring in the current market. When you miscalculate the expected value of your home, you are in trouble from the start. If there is significant doubt about the market value, consider ordering a professional appraisal. If your home is priced too low, it might sell too quickly if it has not had adequate market-exposure. However, a low price can work out to your advantage in a hot market, if it is handled correctly. A more typical problem is a price too high for the market: At times, this is the case with over half the homes for sale.

  2. The MLS Words and Price: The data entered into the MLS computer will affect the number of times your home's information appears in other agents' computer searches of properties to consider. It also will determine whether your home will be one of those shown to their buyer or one that ends up in the trash can. The data on your home needs to compare well enough with the other homes so that yours is selected for showing. If fewer than three or four agents show your home each week, your problem can be located on the MLS printout. Carefully review the words and the price. You must find your problem here; there are no other choices. "What about exposure," you ask? The MLS is by far the best exposure that money can buy. If you are not cutting the mustard there, a thousand flashy newspaper advertisements or open houses will not help. Nor will Zillow and dozens of similar third-party websites. Hope you didn't fall for that "dynamite marketing plan."

  3. Traffic: If too few agents show your home, the problem certainly can be identified by reviewing Steps 1 and 2 above. When the agent and the buyer arrive in front of your home, the MLS information has been effective.
    a - Arrival: Most agents who schedule, will arrive, sooner or later. If agents make appointments and then drive up and drive away without showing your home, there is a problem with its curb appeal. Go out to the curb, look at your home, and do not come in until you have the answer.
    b - Entry: The next step occurs when the buyer decides to get out of their agent's car and spend time inside your home.
    c - Approval: A critical accomplishment at this stage is to gain the buyer's approval. It is frequently impossible to gauge the buyer's true reaction regardless of whether any comments were positive or negative. Often even the buyer doesn't know yet! If you have done your best to prepare your home, that is all you can do.

  4. Remembering: It was once customary to provide handouts in your home for visiting buyers. However, in recent years with dozens of pictures and virtual tours available on the web, handouts have become superfluous.

  5. Return for a Second Visit: If the buyer decides to return for a second visit, it is likely that your home is on their "short list." It is most important to alert your agent promptly and to put your home's best foot forward at such a critical time. If no one returns, your home has failed the Approval Step or the Remembering Step. In short, it is not competitive with the other homes in your current price range. Many buyers will skip a second visit in a hot market: They know that by the time they have a second look, your home will be sold.

  6. The Offer: When you receive a written offer, your home is almost sold: At this point most buyers have decided that your home is the one for them. But be careful: Many will have a second-choice home and a good buyer-broker will not forget to mention this. A low initial offer can be a sign, but not proof, of a less than serious buyer. In any event, rely on your agent's expertise. If there is no agreement, then either the buyer was totally unreasonable, or the negotiation was handled ineptly. In a hot market, some sellers will receive dozens of offers within a day or two.

  7. Agreement: Assuming you have a serious buyer and you have avoided an emotional conflagration, you will come to an agreement. What is said during negotiations is often less important than how it is said. What is not said can be critical. If you have utilized your agent's excellent negotiating skills, the terms of the agreement will be very favorable for you. Assuming there is not an alarmist involved (home inspector, agent, buyer, seller) all should progress nicely.

  8. Removal of Contingencies: Although you can hit a bump or two at this stage, they normally are not fatal. Possible problems, which can surface very late in the game, are a low appraisal, or lack of loan approval. While these are serious problems indeed, especially in the week or two before settlement, they usually can be resolved with the help of an experienced agent.

  9. Final Inspection and Settlement: When you get to the settlement table, the only issue likely remaining is the result of the buyer's final inspection. Any findings are customarily minor; so be reasonable, relax, keep smiling, and keep signing.

If you experience a major problem at any stage, carefully review the process up to that point and you will be able to pinpoint and resolve the problem. Do not just wait a few months hoping against hope that some magical force will take over. Save time: Fix the problem without delay. Time on the market is within your control.

            (End of The Washington Times Article)

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9 Critical Factors in Agent Selection

Ranked in order of importance:

  1. Someone you trust who is a full-time agent. Ideally, someone you know or someone who comes highly recommended by a trusted friend. You won't need to worry about any hidden agenda.

  2. Experience. Not the number of years but the number of recent transactions. The average real estate agent is involved in fewer than 4 transactions annually. Do you think that 4 transactions produce a high level of expertise? A lot of things can go wrong in a real estate transaction; experience matters.

  3. Communications; verbal, written, and electronic. Knowing what to say, how to say it, what not to say, and when not to say it.

  4. Negotiating expertise is absolutely essential to your success. Sellers need someone who will promote multiple offers and maximize their bottom line. Buyers always want a lower price, but winning their first-choice home can be crucial when other buyers suddenly appear.

  5. Availability. Your agent should be readily available by phone, email, mobile email, text, et cetera. For buyers, this can be the difference between winning your home of choice, or living forever in your second-choice home. Don't settle for an assistant.

  6. Computer literacy. Your agent must think like a computer in order to maximize the number of times your home comes up in other agents' searches. And when your page pops out of the computer, the information needs to say, "Come visit me."

  7. Your agent needs current market knowledge that comes from working with both buyers and sellers over a wide area and price range, and the ability to separate the actionable information from the mindless prattle. This is especially important in pricing your home to sell, and is critical in setting the pace of negotiations for buyers.

  8. An agent who is numerate and uses the appraisal method to determine a home's market value for buyers as well as for sellers. Focus on how a home's value is determined rather than on the result. Agents using tax assessments or third-party estimates (e.g. Zillow, etcetera) should be taken out at dawn, lined up, and shot.

  9. Be sure your agent will use the electronic Sentrilock lockbox that records data for every entry. It costs about 6 times as much as combination lockboxes which can be hacked.
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The only question needed to select the best agent

Note: You don't need this; you have me. This is written for your less fortunate friends who might be selling their home. They have read their newspapers and are interviewing agents. Give them this, and reinforce your friendship. They will thank you.

A little-known advantage will be gained by pricing a home exactly on a round number. You are not selling gasoline, groceries, or used cars. Remember that the home selling market is uniquely driven by computer searches. For a complete explanation click Round Number Pricing.

There is NO magic in selling a home; it's about attention to details. Your friends should disqualify any agent who does not voluntarily suggest that their home should be priced on a round number. This is not rocket science, but agents who have failed to recognize this one detail, could easily fail to recognize other critical details.

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Real Estate Tax Assessments

Selling your home? One of the first things you'll need is an estimate of its market value. Then add some "fat" for negotiation, and you've got your asking price. But what is your market value? Here's an easy way? Google up your city or county official website and check your tax assessment. It will tell you that assessments are estimated at "100% of fair market value." It might also mention their expert assessors or appraisers. Note that assessments and appraisals are often confused since they both begin with the letter "A." Your assessment is indeed a published number, and the assessors would not be able to publish it, if it were not correct. Hhhhhmmmmm?

There you've got it: No messing around with real estate agents, some of whom might not even be numerate. No paying for a costly appraisal. No need to even consult Zillow or the myriad other third-party value estimators. Make sense?

But whoa! If it's really that easy, why are mortgage lenders requiring appraisals? They cost the borrower hundreds of dollars, and the appraiser needs to visit the seller's home. A decades-old study suggested that tax assessments could be off by plus or minus 35%. A recent update using a random sample indicated that local homes were selling at about 15% above their tax assessed value.

So, you've got it! Read the tax assessed value and add 15%. You’ll be glad you're still reading, and you haven't gone to sleep yet. But wait: One of the homes in the data set sold for 15% less than the tax assessed value. Another sold for 85% more. In fact, 75% of the tax assessments were more than 10% off, and that's a lot. Using a tax assessment to determine the market value of a specific home should be enough to make even the tax assessor giggle.

State-licensed appraisers need many hours of education, need to pass a test, and need 2,000 hours of apprenticeship. Their estimated values are usually within 2% or 3% of actual fair market values. Amazingly, elaborate calculation schemes or algorithms (pronounced: Al Gore rhythms) have been devised to predict home market values from tax assessments. Although the mathematics are impeccable and some have even gotten favorable press, any calculation based on flawed data (i.e., tax assessments) inevitably produces flawed results. Garbage in; garbage out. And some of these schemes are no more than applications of 8th grade ratio-and-proportion mathematics.

How long it has been since the tax assessor has seen your home? Never? How about Zillow? Never? Zillow and other such schemes that rely heavily on tax assessments are not accurate. There is no substitute for a properly prepared market value analysis or an appraisal. Mortgage lenders do not rely on tax assessments, and neither should you.

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Important Statistics

The selling-price to asking-price ratio is one of the most important statistics available about today’s market. The greatest usefulness of the ratio, which will be expressed as a percent, is in determining what the asking price should be, once the fair market value is known. In other words, the ratio tells how much "fat" is required in the asking price, on the average. Sellers and buyers alike are usually surprised to find the ratio so high. It is often above 96%, even in buyers’ markets.

For example, if the ratio were currently 96% then the asking price would be set about 4% over the fair market value. This price should bring an offer that you and your agent can expect to negotiate to be within 1 or 2% of your asking price. When the plan is executed properly, you will do significantly better than the average. Alternatively, with the price too high there will be no offers to negotiate. In sellers’ markets, the selling-price to asking-price ratio might be greater than 100%. But in the absence of compelling information to the contrary, you can obtain your asking price by adding 4% to the expected contract price in almost any type of market.

Another way to interpret a 96% selling-price to asking-price ratio is that the average home does not obtain a viable offer until it is priced within about 4% of fair market value. Click here for related thoughts.

To verify the current selling-price to asking-price ratio, ask your agent to run 200 or more recent sales at random out of the MLS database of sold homes. Data can be limited by type of home (for example, detached) or price range. It is important to have 200 or more individual sales. Divide the total of all the selling prices by the total of all the asking prices to find the selling-price to asking-price ratio. Ask your agent to perform a search tailored to your needs. Did any individual sellers obtain more than their asking price? How does this happen?

The selling price to asking price ratio represents critical information about your local market; do not rely on a guess or the 96% figure noted in the above example. It is so easy to obtain an exact, up-to-date reading. Ask your agent now.

Self-sold listings occur when the listing agent marketing the home, also finds the buyer. In this case, the listing (seller’s) agent is also the selling (buyer’s) agent. This frequency, when compared with how often the listing agent is not the selling agent, gives an idea of the overwhelming effectiveness of the MLS in finding buyers.

The proportion of self-sold listings is not valuable as an agent selection criterion because results for individual agents will very likely not yield major differences when analyzed statistically. As a seller, your prime concern is with obtaining a suitable contract, not with who finds the buyer. Besides, the MLS is always the winner by a wide margin. The overwhelming likelihood that your buyer will be found through the MLS means that:

Agents sell their own listings much less than 10% of the time. The buyer comes from the MLS through another agent in way more than nine out of ten sales! To verify this statistic, ask your agent to run 200 or more recent sales at random out of the MLS database of sold homes. It is important to have 200 or more individual sales. Prepare a columnar report showing the listing agent and the selling agent of each property. The listing and selling agents seldom will be the same.

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Put the NEWS into Perspective

Why were the "pundits" telling us all this baloney? What did they think we should do? Sell our homes and live with mommy and daddy? With the kids? In a tent? We'd be happy if the Wall Street folks could give us an accurate prediction for the stock market, where they should be the experts! Be worried when Realtors on TV start telling you what stocks to buy!

Here are important questions we should ask about the news:

When we examine the underlying data, we might ask:

Of course, radio and TV news spots, and even newspapers have time and space constraints that make answering all the above questions impossible. So, it's up to us to decipher the truth. Unfortunately, this is well beyond the scope of most listeners and readers, the savvy folks like us being a small minority. Isn't listening to the news just a recreational activity anyway?

Remember that "what everybody knows" is not always right, even when it sounds right. Get real estate advice from reliable real estate folks, not ignorant Wall Street lemmings. Monitor local economic conditions including employment, and most importantly, housing supply and demand: Yes, the Market Index — months supply. And when you are making those really important decisions about your housing, good luck!


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Home marketing guidelines for Medicaid

The following is extracted from Virginia's Medicaid home-selling guidelines:

"If you own real property that makes you ineligible for Medicaid, it can be excluded from the Medicaid eligibility determination if you have made a reasonable effort to sell it. If you become eligible for Medicaid, you must continue to try to sell the property until it is sold or you no longer want Medicaid coverage."

[Editor's note: If you are contemplating Medicaid, it is recommended that you seek the advice of an experienced, local, elder-law attorney early-on, especially if you own a home that you might be selling.]

Unfortunately, the State has not defined "reasonable effort to sell." However, since your Medicaid benefits are at stake, it is prudent to take a conservative view. You do not want your real estate agent to be called before the State Medicaid folks to give an opinion regarding a reasonable effort in general, as well as specific details of your case. You certainly want to meet requirements and minimize the chance of any question arising, or worse yet, loss of benefits.

A reasonable effort will almost certainly include listing the home in the multiple listing service (MLS), as well as a yard sign whenever possible. It will also involve showing the home to prospective buyers. Most home sellers opt to use a lockbox to make it easy for State-licensed agents to show the home without your personal involvement. This is the easy way, especially if the home is not occupied. An electronic lockbox will record the agent's name, the company name, the date, and time of showing.

Nevertheless, some sellers opt to show their home personally. If this is your choice, agents will contact you to request an appointment. Such requests should be answered within an hour or two, either to schedule an appointment, or at least to let the agent know that you have received their request. Delays in responding are a potential problem for Medicaid, but can sometimes result in a fair-housing complaint if an agent or their client is a member of a minority, or a fair-housing tester. Fair-housing complaints can be problematic when defendants are considered guilty until proven innocent. Yes, the burden of proof is on the defendant, and that's you. Worse yet, you likely will have no clue whether you are dealing with any of the many covered minorities until it is too late: There is no need for them to identify themselves in advance. Your good intentions or past exemplary behavior are irrelevant.

You certainly do not need to meet each agent at their requested time. Showings should be scheduled reasonably, as well as being at your convenience. You can encourage multiple agents to visit at the same time when you are answering their requests. Please understand that very few agents will be making a trip to see only your home. When agents tour with prospective buyers, they often are planning to see several homes in geographic order, so their projected arrival times are not exact. In any event, be sure to respond to them in a timely manner.

Also, when you get an offer, a customary response time is one or two calendar days. Try to conform to that whenever possible.

Some other important considerations:

Finally, the home's asking price is dictated by Medicaid. Most often it is the tax-assessed-value, which has no relationship to a home's market value. There are Medicaid penalties if the home is sold for less than the asking price. Dealing with this can be a challenge.

Your attention to the details above will help ensure continuing Medicaid coverage for your loved one. In summary, it is important to fulfill the Medicaid requirements whether you home sells or not.

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Flashback Market Bulletin
November 2002

(The following was originally published in
The Washington Times Friday Home Guide)

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Inventory, the number of resale homes on the market in our area, normally decreases from the middle of the year until December. However, in the past few months, inventory has increased 42 percent when it would normally have decreased 16 percent. No doubt you’ve heard accounts of the slowing market in the local and national media. Does this unusual inventory growth portend problems for our local market?

Of course not! We’ve all heard of the dot-com problems, and associated layoffs. This news suggests that Loudoun County, dot-com heaven, should have the highest growth in inventory. But such is not the case. In fact, the rate of inventory growth in Loudoun County is approximately half of that in other jurisdictions.

Regarding a slowing market, we need to focus on sales. October sales were 13 percent higher than sales in October 2001. We are still on track for 2002 to set a new sales record for resale homes in our area. The inventory growth that we’ve seen recently is likely a return to a more normal market from the hot sellers’ market that was characterized not only by robust sales, but also by extremely low inventory.

Inventory is expected to continue its unseasonal growth in November and December, and then will seasonally increase again from January to June in 2003. But a return to a buyers’ market is not in sight. The market index currently stands at 1.4 months supply, up slightly from last month, and the hot sellers’ market will continue to ease as is expected at this time of year.

Buyers still need to take aggressive action to win the home of their choice. Desirable homes are drawing multiple offers in less than a week. Sellers need the latest market information to price their home to promote multiple offers, and to negotiate effectively. Dealing with multiple offers is fun for sellers, a nightmare for buyers, and a critical skill for agents.

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A Real Estate Glossary

AGENT - Short for real estate agent. A person licensed by the State to sell real estate. Also see listing agent, and selling agent.
APPRAISAL - An estimate of the value of real estate provided by a State-licensed expert, the appraiser.
APPRECIATION - The increase in value as a result of market forces.
ASBESTOS - A mineral fiber that is a health hazard, used in heating system insulation, flooring, and exterior shingles of some older homes.
ASSESSMENT - Also tax assessment or assessed value. The value assigned to real estate by the local government tax assessor and used in determining the amount of real estate taxes to be paid, nothing more.
BROKER - Short for real estate broker. A person licensed by the State to direct and be responsible for a real estate firm. A broker engaged in this activity is called a principal broker. Someone with a broker’s license who is actively engaged in selling real estate is customarily called an associate broker. The term broker is also commonly used to refer to a firm.
BUYER-BROKER - Almost all local transactions are now handled by buyer-brokers, who represent the buyer’s interests in a real estate transaction. It had been customary for all agents to represent the seller.
BUYERS’ MARKET - A situation in the market, caused by an excess supply of homes relative to the demand, giving individual buyers somewhat more negotiating power than is customary.
CLOSING - Also called settlement or close of escrow. The time at which the buyer pays, and the seller executes (i.e. signs) the deed.
CLOSING AGENT - Also called settlement agent or escrow agent. Someone hired to conduct the closing procedure.
COMMISSION - Money paid to a real estate broker for services rendered. Customarily a percentage of the sale price, set by agreement between the broker and the seller.
COMPARABLE - A property that has already been sold (chosen for its similarity to a property being sold) used in estimating the market value of the property being sold. See appraisal.
CONDOMINIUM - Also called condo. A form of real estate ownership that conveys an exclusive right to use a living space plus other rights shared jointly with condominium co-owners, to use common facilities on a non-exclusive basis. Individual ownership of land is generally not a feature of condominium ownership. Although the term condo usually brings visions of apartments, the strict definition refers to a form of ownership without regard to architecture or land. For example, there is no reason whatsoever that a detached home could not be part of a condominium association, although this is uncommon.
CONFORMING LOAN - A mortgage loan approved under conventional loan guidelines for less than a specified amount. (Also see jumbo loan.)
CONTINGENT - A term used in real estate to denote that an offer to buy, or a contract depends on a future condition or event such as the eventual sale of the buyer’s present home.
CONTRACT - Also agreement of sale. An agreement, which should be written, between buyer and seller to transfer certain real estate for a stated sum of money at a given time.
CONVENTIONAL LOAN - Not an FHA loan or a VA loan.
CONVEY - To transfer ownership.
DATABASE - A collection of related information. For example, the MLS database stores information on homes for sale, homes sold, et cetera, which is accessible to real estate agents.
DEED - A document that is used to transfer ownership of real estate.
DEED OF TRUST - A form of mortgage customarily used in Virginia.
EARNEST MONEY - A portion of the purchase price deposited by the buyer with a contract. It is intended to show "good faith" or sincerity and is usually held by the broker or the closing agent in a special escrow account. A buyer who defaults might forfeit this sum.
ENCROACHMENT – This occurs when an improvement, (such as a fence, pavement, or outbuilding) on one property, extends beyond the boundary line onto an adjacent property.
EQUITY - The amount by which the value of a home exceeds its loans.
ESCROW ACCOUNT - A special and separate account, used by real estate brokers, and closing agents, to hold funds for disbursement upon closing. Escrow account procedures and disbursements must conform to pertinent State laws.
FEE SIMPLE - A form of real estate ownership that includes land.
FHA - The Federal Housing Authority, which facilitates mortgage loans.
FRT PLYWOOD - Fire Retardant Treated Plywood used in the roof construction of some townhomes and condominiums. Over time it can become structurally unsound and roof replacement is then required.
HUD-1 FORM - A form sometimes used to account for the financial details of the transaction.
JUMBO LOAN - A mortgage loan approved under conventional loan guidelines for an amount greater than the limit for a conforming loan. (Also see conforming loan.)
LEAD - A metallic element that is a potential health hazard. In the past it has been used in some paints, to fabricate water supply pipes, and as an ingredient in solder used to join copper water supply pipes. A strict Federal Law treats disclosure for homes built before 1978.
LIEN - A claim of a third party, usually for a certain amount of money, attached to a property by recording of the lien in government records.
LISTING - v. The act of putting a property on the market. n. An MLS printout giving information on a property which is on the market.
LISTING AGENT - The real estate agent hired to be directly responsible for the marketing and successful sale of a home.
LOCKBOX - Also called keysafe. A strong and secure metal box outside of a home, frequently attached to the doorknob, which contains keys to the home. It is accessible by real estate agents. It facilitates home sales by making the home readily accessible to be shown to prospective buyers.
MARKET VALUE - Sometimes called fair market value. The price agreed between ready, willing, and able buyers and sellers providing neither was under undue pressure to act. In most cases, market value and contract price are identical.
MIP - Monthly insurance premium. An extra sum, collected monthly along with the mortgage payment, associated with FHA loans. The intent is to insure the lender against financial loss from such loans which represent extra risk because of the relatively low down-payment.
MLS - The Multiple Listing Service is an arrangement by which brokers (and associated agents) agree to sell homes being marketed by each other (sometimes called listings) and to share the resulting commissions. The MLS database is a major factor in the local real estate market, facilitating information exchange and thereby the sale or purchase of real estate.
MORTGAGE - As commonly used, a real estate loan or document defining such. More correctly, a right or claim on property, given by a borrower to a lender.
PMI - Private mortgage insurance is collected monthly along with the mortgage payment, and is often associated with conventional loans for greater than 80% of a property’s value. The intent is to insure the lender against financial loss from such loans which represent extra risk.
POINTS - Also called discount points. Money charged by a mortgage lender at the beginning of the loan. One point is equal to 1% of the loan amount.
RADON - A colorless, odorless, naturally occurring gas which is a potential health hazard. It can seep out of the ground and accumulate in homes.
REALTOR - A licensed real estate agent who is a member of the National Association of Realtors, which publishes a Code of Ethics to which members agree to adhere.
SELLERS’ MARKET - A situation in the market, caused by an excess demand for homes relative to the supply, giving individual sellers somewhat more negotiating power than is customary.
SELLING AGENT - The agent who brings the buyer, shows the home to the buyer, and helps the buyer prepare and negotiate the offer. This could be the same person as the listing agent but is usually another agent.
SETTLEMENT - See "closing" above.
STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE - A mathematical concept, too infrequently applied to real estate, which holds that for a conclusion to be meaningful, it must be based on a sufficient number of observations or data points. For a more complete treatment of the subject click here.
SUBDIVISION - Also called a development, land development, or (condominium) complex. A parcel of land with more than one property.
TITLE SEARCH - A painstaking research of government land ownership records, conducted to ensure that a seller has an unencumbered right (e.g. true ownership and no liens) to convey the property.
UFFI - Urea-formaldehyde-foam-insulation. A potential health hazard resulting from vapors that might be released into the home.
VA - The Veterans Administration, a government agency that facilitates mortgage loans.

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