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Should You Sell BEFORE You List?

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

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Should You Sell BEFORE You List?

By Mary Anne Walser, Realtor & Attorney, 404-277-3527, maryannesellshomes@gmail.com

It’s a hot seller’s market in Atlanta right now. We don’t have enough inventory for the buyers who are ready to purchase. So many times recently I have received offers on a home that I am getting ready to list BEFORE it was listed. This can occur when I am working with a buyer who is looking for exactly what I have coming up – or when another agent and/or buyer asks me “what do you have coming up?” and what I have coming up suits their needs and an offer is made.

So, from the seller’s perspective, is it a good idea to sell your property without ever listing it? Here are some considerations if you are lucky enough to have this dilemma.

From an agent’s perspective, I would typically prefer that a seller LIST the home with me before we agree on the contract. This way the home is exposed to fair market forces and we are sure that everyone who might make an offer on the home has the chance to see it and bid on it. Exposed to market forces, we might even get an offer above the list price or a buyer who is willing to pay above appraised value. So why would a seller EVER agree to sell a property prior to listing? Here is an examination of some of the reasons:

  • The most common seller who sells prior to listing is the seller for whom showings are a real hassle. My clients Vivian and Mike have four young children under the age of ten, two rambunctious dogs, and had trouble keeping their home clean, much less straightened up and staged for showings. They needed a bigger home as soon as possible, and needed to sell their home in order to buy their next home. So when I brought them a buyer (and an offer) that was more than they thought they would get if they had listed their property, they were ecstatic and chose to accept. This allowed them to get under contract for their next, bigger home and concentrate on the move rather than on the logistics of showing their current home and the fear that it would not sell fast.
  • Another seller who might agree to a contract prior to listing is the seller who has time on their hands and for whom this is a low risk proposition. Let me explain. If a seller gets under contract prior to officially listing the property on the MLS, and the buyer terminates, the seller can always then list on the MLS with no ill effect. Typically if one contract falls through, the world knows about it because it’s noted when a property goes under contract on the MLS. With a prelisting contract, however, if it falls through, the only parties who are informed are the seller, the buyer and the agents, not the world at large. If the contract doesn’t fall through, then the seller has saved the hassle of listing the property.
  • Some sellers want to sell before they list because they don’t want to pay agent commissions (or don’t want to pay two sides of an agent’s commissions). Agent commissions are negotiable no matter what, of course. But sellers will sometimes sell without involving agents and/or using only one agent to represent both parties, hoping that will save them money. Of course, a great agent will always maximize your return even with the payment of commissions, so I feel this logic is faulty. If you’re cutting out agent commissions, you’re also cutting out the marketing, advocacy, and market exposure that full agent representation provides.
  • Sometimes a buyer who makes an offer prior to listing is willing to pay more than they would otherwise for the opportunity to snag a great property before it is exposed to the market. While this sounds counterintuitive, we never know for sure what will happen when a property hits the MLS. While we can often predict, we are sometimes wrong. A property that we think will be hot gets few showings and no offers. If you hold that buyer off telling them you want to list and test the market first, if you do NOT get better offers then guess what? Often that buyer has cooled and is no longer willing to pay what they were willing to pay prior to you listing the property.

So as you see, there are many considerations involved, and every seller’s situation is unique and must be examined in light of your specific wants, needs, and goals. I hope that you too are lucky enough to have offers before listing! But whether or not you want to accept them is a separate determination. If you are ready to sell, please call the Walser Team today! We will strategize the right way to get the most money for your property.

 

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential & commercial real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

 

Selling is Showtime

18 Wednesday May 2016

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It’s SHOWTIME, folks!  Grab up the toys, wipe down the counter, turn up the lights, and send in the clowns… oops.  Send in the BUYERS.  Buyers, not clowns (guess they could be clowns, but we don’t know that yet).  And their agents.  (No more clown comments.)

When you have your home on the market, here is how a showing works from curtain up to curtain call.  The audition is the listing appointment in which you engage me as your agent.  The rehearsals are the staging work we do prior to taking pictures.  Unless we have sold your home before putting it on the market, we put those beautiful professional pictures up on the MLS (multiple listing service) and at that point you are ready to welcome the audience.  You want exposure to as large an audience as possible.  In the Atlanta area, that means advertising in both multiple listing services: Georgia MLS and First MLS and syndicating your listing to all websites that provide the public access to listings.

Once in the MLS and across the web, buyers and agents are able to see your home.  When a buyer and/or agent has identified your home as one they want to see in person, they will ask for a showing.  An unrepresented buyer may call me directly to arrange a showing.  The represented buyer will have their agent call me to set up the showing.  Or, depending upon how you, the seller, and I decide to handle showings, the agent may call you directly.  In any event, you will (hopefully) have 24 hours or more notice to have your home show ready.  BUT YOU CANNOT COUNT ON THAT.  Here’s why an agent might tell you between 2 and 3pm but actually show up at 1:30 or 3:30 (or anytime in between).

A buyer’s agent is typically showing their buyer more than just YOUR home on that day.  They may be showing anywhere between four homes and fourteen homes (or maybe more).  It’s difficult to tell in advance if a buyer is going to breeze through some or all of the homes before yours, or if they are going to want to take extra time and sit a spell at a prior listing.  Traffic may be particularly bad.  For any number of reasons, a buyer and agent may not show up at your home at the time that they say that they will.

So when they show up thirty minutes early or thirty minutes late or even are off by an hour, the key is to be friendly and understanding.  How you react greatly effects how the buyer is going to feel about the home.

Recently, I went with my buyers to see a home and when I knocked on the door, it was clear the frazzled Dad had no clue that we were coming.  But he put a big smile on his face and explained (you guessed it) “I had no clue that you were coming, but it’s totally fine!  Give us just a minute and we’ll be out for your showing.”  Dad and the two kids cleaned fast and headed to the driveway to play basketball.  My buyers had a great feeling about the house.  It’s like the home has good “mojo” because nice people live there.

Contrast that with the time I knocked on the door and was regaled by the person answering the door who practically screamed “YOU ARE EARLY.  You *(#() agents are always early!”  I apologized profusely, but then looked at my watch: I had said we would be there between 2 and 3pm and it was 1:59!  My clients didn’t even want to go inside after being yelled at.  Turns out the person answering the door was a home manager (more on that in a future blog post).  The home manager did not keep that position for long (no surprise).

So the moral of the story is to be the first seller, not the home manager.  Be ready and be courteous if the agent shows up early or late.  It’s totally fine if they are outside their time window to politely excuse yourself to sit on the front porch or to take a short walk.  Don’t act exasperated.  Just smile.  How a buyer feels about YOU really does affect the way they feel about the HOUSE.

While it’s okay to leave when an agent gets there if they are off their appointed time, as a seller, you always want to leave for a showing before the buyer and agent get there if at all possible.  Trust me on this.  The buyer needs time to LOOK at your house – experience it – and talk with their agent freely about their feelings, thoughts, and questions.  A seller in the house is distracting whether that seller is trying to engage the buyer or not – either way it’s bad.  A seller who is just hanging out in the home doing their thing makes a buyer feel that they are intruders and should get out quickly (not to mention the buyer feels that they can’t reveal their true feelings about the home or talk about it with their agent).  A seller who tries to give a tour of the home is even more disruptive.  If the buyer is looking at and listening to you, they aren’t experiencing the house.  And believe me, they don’t care about your hand painted kitchen backsplash tiles or the age of the windows if they haven’t even had a chance to decide if they like the house.

So if you have left prior to the showing as I am suggesting is best, how are agents and buyers going to get into your home?  As your listing agent, I will leave you a SUPRA ibox.  It’s a very secure blue box that can be attached to an exterior door or simply left out behind a planter when it is buyer showtime.  Buyer’s agents have SUPRA “keys” (or an app on their phone) that can open the lockbox through an infrared signal.  The lockbox even signals me, the listing agent, who is accessing the lockbox and when.  A great advance from the days when Realtors would have to pick up keys from the office for every listing they wanted to show.  The ibox is a good security measure since it identifies the person opening the box.  Always have the agent use the ibox for entry even IF you are there when they arrive.

When you are getting ready for the showing, here are your ground rules:

  • Leave ALL lights on. Every home looks better with the lights on.  In our staging consult, we’ve made sure that the light is of the right “quality”; make sure that all lightbulbs are operational and all lights on.
  • Leave all window shades open (unless there is a strategic reason for keeping one closed, or half closed – say if a view isn’t ideal).
  • Be cognizant of SMELL. No strange cooking smells, no locker room smells, no pet smells.  If you suspect any of these, the best counter-smells are citrus or pine (cleaning products).  Don’t use those plug-ins.  They are heavy scents, give many buyers headaches, and make it appear you are trying to cover up some particularly problematic odor.
  • In appealing to all senses, don’t forget TASTE. Leave cookies, chocolate (or both) with a sign that says “help yourself”.  Guess who it really helps?  A buyer with higher blood sugar will stay around longer and like your home more.  Leave water too – hydration improves perception as well!
  • While we’re appealing to all senses, sometimes leaving music on just feels creepy. Buyers think that there must be someone home so they are a bit on edge.  Silence is best.

You’ve set the stage and put your best foot forward for your buyers.  Afterwards come the reviews.  The best review of all?  AN OFFER.   Here’s to you being showered with offers like the star performer is showered with roses…..

 

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne s a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

Staging to Stay

15 Friday Jan 2016

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Staging

As a Realtor, I help people sell and buy homes… but today I’m going to talk about staying IN your home.  Since most of you will sell or buy sometime in the next 5 to 7 years, today most of you are probably planning to stay where you are for the time being.  If you’re not, call me immediately and let’s sell your home!  But if you’re not planning to move in the very near future, what I’m telling you today will help you regardless.

When I go on a listing appointment with a potential seller, sometimes the house is perfect for selling.  Perfectly staged and ready to go.  You know the home – the one that looks like it belongs in House Beautiful or in the pages of Dwell.  But this is the exception rather than the rule.  If I can come in, get the listing agreement signed, have the pictures taken and get the listing in the system right away, that’s marvelous – but more often there’s work that needs to be done.  And often after the work is done, the seller will tell me that they wish they had done the work long before OR that they now don’t want to move!

SO let’s talk about the advice I’m going to give you when you go to SELL your home – if you do these things now you’ll be way ahead of the game and when you’re ready to really sell, you won’t have as much work to do; if you plan to stay, you’re going to LOVE your home all the more.

  1. CURB APPEAL. It’s everything when you go to sell – the first impression of your home is the most important.  So spend some money on landscaping and make sure you keep it up (this means an irrigation system if you don’t plan to water your plants yourself).  Don’t have too much “stuff” in the form of yard art and the like.  This will be a common theme as we move inside.  While we are out here, keep these in mind:
    1. A fresh coat of paint goes a long way in terms of curb appeal. A home’s exterior should be repainted every 7 years or so.
    2. A new welcome mat IS welcoming. And not that expensive.  Spring for a welcome mat you love.
    3. Consider adding seating somewhere in the front yard – some place welcoming, a place to rest, a place to enjoy the yard. You will meet a lot more neighbors if you hang out in your front yard!
    4. Along those same lines, if you have a front porch, use it! You’d be surprised how many people have awesome front porches and don’t use them.  For a small front porch, a small cafe table and chairs will do wonders.
  1. CLEAR THE CLUTTER. Moving inside, remember that most of us have way too many “things” for comfort.   Clearing your possessions also helps to clear your mind, as pointed out by that great NY Times bestseller “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”.  Because so much of it is relevant to real estate, it’s worth mentioning here:
    1. Only keep things that are useful and which you love. If it’s in a box that you haven’t opened or unpacked in more than a year, chances are you never will and it needs to GO.  Same with clothes!  I recommend a rotation system.  When an item of clothing comes to the front of your closet, you either wear it or donate it.  After it’s worn, it goes to the back. This way you avoid the trap many fall into of wearing the same thing over and over and over and never wearing half of your closet.
    2. The general rule for closets is that they should be HALF full with NOTHING on the floor whatsoever and if there are shelves, nothing folded on the shelves. Instead, use baskets and put extra items in there.
    3. Visual clutter kills a sale, and it makes you feel unorganized and unfocused. The best thing to do is to CLEAR EVERYTHING off horizontal surfaces – that is, from shelves and bookcases and tabletops, then come back and put only a few items back.  Ideally, your home should feel a little sparse to you.  Believe me, you’ll get used to it and you’ll love it.
    4. Much of the psychological difficulty about getting rid of stuff, I find, is that people don’t want to WASTE things. But you don’t have to THROW THINGS AWAY.  Give them to Goodwill.  Make it a goal to go to Goodwill with a bag of items at least once every two weeks until you feel you have clutter under control.
    5. Clearing clutter includes FOOD. How many of the items in your pantry are EXPIRED?  I am guilty of this, and after my son-in-law pointed out a few expiration dates, I went to work clearing out pantry and fridge.  It feels marvelous!
  1. TAKE PICTURES. My stager, after she’s met with my sellers and given a list of things for them to do which includes enhancing curb appeal and clearing the clutter, recommends that they go around their home with a camera or their iPhone and take pictures of each room from multiple angles.  Do this!  Then go back and take a close look at the pictures you’ve taken.  There will be lots of things you don’t notice with your straight eyesight that will pop out in a picture.  There are many reasons for this, but among them that you are USED to seeing your own home.  Seeing your home through a camera lens gives you a new perspective and you’ll notice things you wouldn’t otherwise, like cords that add visual clutter.  Taking pictures will give you a whole new perspective.
  1. REPAIR LIST. This is less visible, but an important part of making your home wonderful for yourself!  Keep a list of all those “little” repairs that need to be done.  You know – the ones that you notice only at certain times but which always bother you when you notice them.  The door that sticks; the drawer that doesn’t close all the way; the dimmer switch that heats up too much; the wood rot on the exterior.  It’s well worth your investment to hire a handyman at least two times a year to take care of this stuff.  Most of them will charge you by the hour plus materials.  And while you’re at it you can have them change the lightbulbs you have trouble changing or install that new light fixture you’ve been eyeing at Home Depot.  If buyers see a stuck door or dripping faucet, they are going to wonder if the home is well cared for and will be looking for other “problems.”  You want them focused on what’s RIGHT with the house.  The same goes for you!

That’s just a start of things I suggest for “staging to stay”.  In a future blog post, I will cover renovations – how to plan renovations that will pay off when you go to sell, but will increase your enjoyment of your home in the interim.  And never hesitate to call me, your Realtor, for advice and counsel.

 

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

THE WEATHER TURNS COOL, BUT THESE ATLANTA NEIGHBORHOODS ARE HOT!

28 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Hot NeighborhoodsAtlanta has SO many great neighborhoods!  But here’s a quick take on what are some of our hottest (of the moment) neighborhoods and those that are HOT VALUE neighborhoods NOW, this Fall, 2015, in Atlanta.  Note the distinction.  When a neighborhood is “HOT” – i.e., very popular at the moment, oftentimes prices will rise rapidly as buyers bid against each other in their rush to move in.  A HOT VALUE neighborhood is one that is not yet “RED HOT” but which WILL be hot in the coming years, and so there are still bargains to be had.  Now, if you’re bidding in a HOT neighborhood and prices are rising, there is no need to fear overpaying as long as it’s a neighborhood that is likely to hold or increase in value in the coming years.  Usually a neighborhood is HOT either because of location, schools, or both; the location isn’t going to change and if the schools are good, residents always fight to KEEP them that way.

Don’t be concerned that I am leaving out your favorite HOT neighborhood – know that I’m not addressing CLASSICALLY HOT neighborhoods… I’m not addressing them in this particular blog post because they are always hot.  This would include Decatur zip 30030, Midtown, Va/Hi, Morningside, and many northern suburbs such as Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek, and East Cobb in its great school districts.

And also know that there’s no way to address all the “hot” areas in one blog post – I’ll just touch on a few to whet your appetite, and I’ll cover different areas of town.

Let’s start in Ashford Park, just east of Peachtree Road – Ashford Park is HOT.  The elementary school is awesome and there’s lots of new construction.  While several years ago one could get a pretty decent home for $300,000 here, I just sold a teardown LOT for $500,000 with multiple offers in one day.

HOT VALUE near there is CHAMBLEE.  While Montgomery Elementary is not yet par with Ashford Park, it’s getting there, and the City of Chamblee is making great strides in developing retail areas.  THE ASSEMBLY huge mixed use development is going in where the old GM Plant used to be and that’s exciting.  Because it’s up and coming, there are still values to be had.

NOW, let’s go to the Beltline, which is of course driving values everywhere it touches.  We’ll start with Old Fourth Ward, O4W in local parlance, and its neighbors, Inman Park and Poncey Highland.  HOT because of the Beltline (and that’s a continuing theme – the Beltline has made many Atlanta neighborhoods “HOT” so it is important to know where the Beltline IS, where it will be, and where it’s going…. ).  Quick aside = the Beltline is a 22 mile bike/walk/run path being built in a huge Atlanta circle.  Only parts of it are complete, other parts are underway, and some sections may be years in the making. But the O4W portion is complete and with it O4W Park, Ponce City Market, Krog Street Market – the list of “cool” things that have come with it are legion.

HOT VALUE is south of there, in Reynoldstown, Edgewood, and East Atlanta.  There’s also Ormewood Park, nestled between Grant Park and E Atlanta on the Southside (Grant Park has been and continues to be a “hot” area).  The beltline goes right through this great neighborhood of old bungalows and great diversity.  There is section 8 housing a block from $700,000 homes.  There are still a lot of values to be had – I just sold a $250,000 adorable house one block from the Beltline.  The Beltline here is not yet finished, so prices haven’t risen SO high SO fast.

For more hot values, seek out Capitol View Manor, Mechanicsville, and Adair Park – neighborhoods to the west of the afore-mentioned neighborhoods.  These are nestled in west of I-75/85 and south of I-20, and the Beltline goes right beside and through them.

Let’s leave the Beltline for a minute and head down towards to the Airport to stop at The Manchester Arms in College Park for a meal.  Marvel at what College Park is becoming.  Because Woodward Academy is down there, some northern suburb dwellers have built weekday homes for one spouse and the kids to live in before they go back to the northern burbs for the weekend.  PORSCHE moving into the airport has meant even more wealth moving into the area.  College Park is hot; East Point just to the north of it is still a hot value neighborhood.

Back on the Beltline and moving North; HOT is BRANDON SCHOOL DISTRICT = you’ll pay a premium for great public schools in Atlanta, and Brandon is a good indicator of that.  One of my favorite neighborhoods is CHANNING VALLEY, where prices have risen 22% over PRE recession prices; it’s a small friendly diverse neighborhood in a great convenient spot.

HOT VALUE is West Midtown = Howell Station is an example.  It’s near BELLWOOD QUARRY, which saw thousands of zombies in the season premiere of Walking Dead.  Now that the zombies are gone, that park will be the crown jewel of the Beltline.  Because that area is still very industrial and the Atlanta Jail is nearby, prices are still low, but demand is rising.

And finally, up North to just outside the Perimeter.  Smyrna west of 285, just outside Vinings, the area nicknamed “Smynings” is hot but there are also still a lot of value priced properties.  With the new Braves Stadium going in, it’s becoming even more desirable as a place that will be close to the action and the new development; and yet far enough west that residents can still get places without running too much into Braves traffic.

Again, these are just a FEW of the “hot” areas that I am seeing.  Please email me YOUR favorites so that I can feature them in a future blogpost!

 Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

Chicken Little Goes to Closing

06 Thursday Aug 2015

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HUD

The sky is falling! To hear lenders and closing attorneys tell it, the world as we know it comes to an end on October 3rd. That’s the day new regulations come into effect that govern the mortgage lending and closing process. Whether or not there’s mass bedlam, there are certainly changes that buyers and sellers of property should be aware of and prepared for, so this article will summarize them.

To understand how things are changing, it is important to know how the world works now. Today, sometimes the loan and closing statement will change the day of closing or even while parties are sitting at the closing table. Starting in October, that cannot and will not be possible anymore, at least as to every mortgage application received October 3, 2015 or later. The new rules require that a new document, the Loan Estimate, must be provided to the borrower within three days after loan application, and another new document, the Closing Disclosure, must be provided to the borrower at least three business days prior to closing. These apply to any mortgage loans with no exceptions. If there are changes to the deal, a new disclosure must be provided and the three-day waiting period starts all over. While previously the settlement statement was provided by the closing attorney and often at the last minute, with the new regulations the lenders themselves will likely be providing the statement directly to the borrower and they must confirm and document receipt by the consumer.

You can see how this can potentially cause big problems. “Stacked closings” are common now, in which the seller of one property uses those proceeds to purchase a new property in the next hour from a seller who may the following hour be buying a new property of their own. These back-to-back closings dependent upon one another for consummation are already tenuous at times. Imagine what the new three-day waiting requirement may do! So in practical effect and application, we Realtors must advise our clients of the following:

  • Delays are much more likely, particularly in the early days of implementation of the new regulations.
  • A seller will want to negotiate possession some number of days AFTER closing. While this has always been the case for a seller still living in the property they are selling, now it becomes even more crucial.
  • A buyer will want to commit to a lender as soon as possible in order to attempt to limit any delays. A buyer will want to be sure they choose a lender fully conversant with the new regulations and a lender who has a system in place to comply.
  • While some lenders can get a loan through underwriting and closed quickly, every loan is going to take longer with these new requirements, particularly at first. A cushion of 45 days between contract and close is advisable.
  • From a Realtor’s standpoint, any and all provisions of the contract should be tied up as early as possible. In particular, if there are monetary concessions during the due diligence period, those should be provided to the lender as soon and as early as possible. Even changes in the Realtor’s commission are part of the disclosure process and should be wrapped up as early in the process as possible.
  • While lenders are the primary front line, closing attorneys must also be in line with the new regulations. It is advisable to look for a closing attorney who does residential real estate closings regularly, has systems in place, and preferably is ALTA (American Land Title Association) best practices certified.

The new disclosures are designed to help consumers better understand the terms and costs of their mortgage loan; however, in one aspect the new disclosures are more confusing. The new rule prohibits lenders from disclosing a reduction that is commonly offered by the title insurance companies when a lender’s title policy and the borrower’s title policy are issued at the same time. Instead, there’s one lump sum disclosed; at closing the cost will actually be *less*. While that might result in a pleasant surprise for some at closing, those borrowers who are watching closely will likely be more confused about what, exactly, the title insurance is actually going to cost them at closing.

The home sale and purchase process can be confusing enough. If you are planning to make a move this year, be sure you plan for these new regulations and have trusted advisors guiding you through the process.

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

Buyer’s Remorse

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

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First Home Blues Five Tips to Prevent Buyers Remorse First Home Blues: Five Tips to Prevent Buyers Remorse

We don’t talk about it a lot, but it is real: buyer’s remorse.  That sinking feeling that you rushed too quickly into your home purchase and that it is all a big mistake.  If remorse comes during the due diligence period (during which the buyer can terminate for any reason or no reason at all), you can still terminate your contract; if it comes after that period, you cannot terminate without facing potential legal penalty.

Buyer’s remorse is not just a problem for buyers – it’s a HUGE problem for a seller.  If a home is on the market, goes under contract, and then comes BACK on the market, there is a stigma attached to the property, whether or not the contract termination was called for by any logical reason.  This stigmatizing effect is why sellers want to be as certain as possible that the buyer is NOT likely to back out.  For instance, many sellers would never accept an offer from a buyer who has not yet seen the property.  Why, you ask, would any buyer MAKE an offer without seeing the house?  Well, in these days of low inventory and few houses to choose from, buyers sometimes HAVE to make an offer without seeing it.  I recently helped buyers moving back to Atlanta from Sweden; with their three children, they didn’t want to move into a rental only to then move again when they purchased a home.  They had lived in Atlanta previously, and knew the area in which they wanted to live – so they trusted me, working with their parents, to decide on a home and get it under contract for them.  Whether or not they’ll have remorse is yet to be determined.

But buyer’s remorse may be more rampant in these times of buyers rushing into purchases because there is such low inventory.  The first advice I give is to remember that almost EVERY buyer has remorse at some stage of the process.  Despite my vast experience with the phenomenon, I myself had buyer’s remorse with the purchase of my current home.  I went through with the sale – at the urging of my husband – and it’s the absolute best home for us that I could ever find or ever imagine.  So working THROUGH the buyer’s remorse and soldiering onward to closing is sometimes the answer.

And I also suggest to buyers feeling a bit of remorse that we examine if the remorse is illusory and fleeting or based on fact and true potential pitfalls.  For that, we take the buyer’s initial wants and needs list.  Does the home they chose fit what they said they were looking for?  Is there likely to be another home in their price range that would fit those needs and wants better?  Looking at the inspection – are there problems with the home that are not fixable, or has the buyer just been spooked by routine home repair items that aren’t a big deal?

There are several scenarios where buyer’s remorse seems to fester that usually IS fleeting and should be worked through: when the negotiations with the seller have been contentious and the buyer is left not having good feelings about the seller; when the buyer keeps looking at homes online and considering other homes; and when family and co-workers plant doubt.  Remember that the seller is LEAVING the home and it will be yours; remember from our search that homes can be and usually are much different in person than they are online; and remember that the family and co-workers did not engage in the search with you and don’t know all that went into the decision (it’s typically more realistic to consult with friends who have been with you through the process).

With a careful selection process, a great inspector and a great real estate agent guiding your way, any buyer’s remorse may be a typical and passing phenomenon.  Sometimes knowing that it’s common is all a buyer needs to know to get through it.  For the seller faced with a terminating buyer, it is a good practice to let future purchasers know if the termination was based on “cold feet” rather than a true problem with the house.  Always let us know your current thoughts and concerns – armed with all information, buyers can avoid remorse, and sellers avoid a lost buyer.

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

Let’s Sell Your Home this Spring

25 Wednesday Feb 2015

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We have had one of our busiest winters ever in the Atlanta real estate market.  With prices rising, many sellers realized that they again had equity in their homes and were ABLE to sell.  So those who had waited through the depressed housing years (since 2008) were suddenly in a position to be able to move.  Buyers were eager to purchase before home prices rose even more.   As a result, we had record home sales.  Demand in many areas of Atlanta exceed inventory, so some sellers who didn’t want to turn down  a great offer for their home even moved into a rental when they couldn’t find the “right” place to move into.  So there’s much pent up demand for homes to purchase this Spring.

If you are thinking of selling your home, there’s no time like the present.  The sooner the better, for many sellers wait until the Spring to sell – and as the season proceeds, you’ll have more and more competition.  We have a lot of “shadow inventory” poised to hit the market in late Spring and Summer; you’d like to avoid as much of that extra competition as you can.

Even with the buyer demand high, no one wants to overpay for a home so pricing is KEY.  We see competing offers for some homes, but those that are priced too high are receiving no offers at all and actually eventually net LESS.  The longer a home sits on the market, the less it is worth in the eyes of a buyer.  We can work with you to determine the ideal initial list price to bring you the highest return.

To prepare for listing, remember that first impressions are key.  A buyer will often decide from the street that they love or dislike a particular home; in fact, they will often tell us to “keep driving” if they don’t like the curb appeal.  So trim your trees and bushes and pressure wash your driveway, front walk, house, and deck or patio.  Clean and even repaint your front door and make sure the key works easily.  Have a nice, fresh welcome mat.  Buyers will linger with us at the front door while we open the lockbox for access, and they have extra time to notice these details.

Do your Spring cleaning NOW if you haven’t already.  And declutter, declutter, declutter.  Go through all your furniture, decorative items, and closets with a ruthless eye.  We have stagers and declutterers who help us prepare your home for sale – but start with the initial sweep immediately.  The savvy seller will remove half of all items in a closet and have nothing on the floor, for instance.  It sounds drastic, but it works.  Pack up everything you want to keep and take it to a storage unit or call in a company that will deliver a storage pod and then take it offsite for you.

Repaint to freshen up where needed; if you have any carpeting, get it cleaned.  If you know that a home inspector is going to find anything that needs to be fixed – go ahead and fix it now.  We have great contractor references if you need them.  It makes more sense to do the repairs first – a buyer may end up asking you to spend $300 on a repair you can do now for $100.

CALL US NOW if you are thinking of selling your home.  We can help you through the preparations and price your home correctly to sell at top dollar – it’s what we do!  And we’d love to hear from you.

 

Mary Anne Walser is a licensed attorney and full-time REALTOR, serving buyers and sellers in all areas of Metro Atlanta. Her knowledge of residential real estate and her legal expertise allow her to offer great value to her clients. Mary Anne serves on the Committee that drafts and reviews the contracts utilized by all REALTORS in the State of Georgia. In addition, she is a member of the Atlanta Board of Realtors, the Georgia Association of Realtors, the State Bar of Georgia and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers. Contact Mary Anne at 404-277-3527, or via email: maryannesellshomes@gmail.com.

A HOUSE DIVIDED: The Family Home in a Divorce

27 Friday Sep 2013

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“When we divorced we split the house 50/50 – she got the inside and I got the outside.”

 “Have you seen the new “Divorcing Barbie” doll? She comes with Ken’s house.”

House Divided

             Joking aside, the family home is sometimes the greatest asset to divide in a divorce – so let’s look at how to handle this crucial asset.

It is advisable to call a Realtor early on, when you’re analyzing what assets you have and don’t have.  I often get called in to look at the home and give an assessment of its value in today’s market.  It makes sense to call a Realtor at this point – we typically are more familiar with the neighborhood and have been in the homes that are for sale and have sold, and are accustomed to pricing properties for sale.

There are online tools you can use as well – zillow.com, for instance, which gives you a “zestimate” of what your home is worth, or trulia.com.  However, these services have obviously not been inside your home or the other homes – so they are very general and cannot necessarily be relied upon.  Tax records are also notoriously unreliable.

A crucial consideration at this point may be whether or not the couple is “underwater”; that is, whether you owe more on the property than the property is worth.   If so, to sell the home you would have to bring money to the table.  In other words, in some instances it may not be possible to sell the home.

Also consider early on whether or not you want to fight to keep the home.  Can you afford the monthly carrying costs?  It might not be worth fighting for if it’s something you cannot keep up.

If one party does end up staying in and keeping the home, however, that party may be buying the other party out.  In that instance, professional appraisals are probably in order – each side getting their own appraisal and then perhaps a third appraisal if the two vary widely.  Know that appraisals are an ART as well as a science – while appraisers are bound by the Uniform Appraisal Guidelines and professional dictates, there is some subjectivity in the process.  When you hire an appraiser, you might wish to share with them the comparable sales that you think are most applicable and why they should be used.  Most appraisers are happy to consider the information, although of course they are not bound to use it.

But say the decision is that the home needs to be SOLD.  It’s great if you can both agree on a Realtor.  That actually happens much more often than you might think.  Maybe you both liked the Realtor who sold you the home.  Or know a Realtor jointly who you respect.  Another tactic is to interview three Realtors and see if there’s a clear front runner who you can agree upon.  If not, one way this is sometimes handled is that one party will choose the Realtor for a specified period of time and the other party will choose for the next period – be it 3 months or 6 months.

Several considerations arise here.  Keep in mind that there are various expenses involved in getting the home ready for sale and keeping it maintained while it is on the market.  How those expenses are handled should be decided upon in advance.  You might also want to decide in advance how much the list price will be decreased and when – and what offers should be acceptable (i.e., you can agree that any offer within five percent of list price must be accepted, that sort of thing).

Then there are some very practical showing considerations.  An example will illustrate this point.  We had one client where the wife left with all the nice furniture.  We were left showing a home with very little furniture and a “divorce feel.”  Try to agree to keep enough nice things in the home to make it show well.  Like it or not, buyers are swayed by these things.  Most buyers choose emotionally and THEN justify the purchase logically.  If they walk in and the home feels forlorn and empty, they will not feel great about the home – or may think the seller is in desperate circumstances and thus make a lower offer.  It pays off to have the home nice for showings.  If nothing else, the parties can agree to borrow or rent furniture or to have the home staged for showings.

The home must also be AVAILABLE for showings.  This becomes an issue when the person staying in the home doesn’t necessarily want the home to sell.  Perhaps the other party is paying the bills, and so once the home sells the occupying party loses that support AND must move to a lesser home.

When an offer comes in, keep in mind that your net is less the Broker’s commissions, the mortgage payoff(s) and any repairs that will be necessitated during the inspection period.  Your Realtor can help you figure your net from a given offer.  Again, it is sometimes helpful here to have agreed what amount and type of offer should be acceptable.

A note here if one party stays in the home.  Be aware of title issues.  When you sell the home, a title search is performed.  If there are any liens against the property, these must be paid off before closing.  Even if you do not sell the home, if you are the one keeping the home you want to have a title search before all is finalized.  That way you can be sure the departing spouse didn’t borrow money against the house or otherwise create liens that you will be responsible for when you sell the house and which effect its value.

The final issue – housing options once you leave the family home.  This is for you and your Realtor to decide, but just a few things to keep in mind: do you need to stay in the same school district for the kids?  Do you need to stay close to the other spouse for the children’s sake?  Even the priciest zip codes have affordable options that your Realtor can help you find.  And keep in mind that emotionally you may want to stay in a familiar area; the one you’ve lived in or an area with friends and family near.

PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR SALE

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

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House For Sale

So you’ve decided that you want to sell your home.  The first question is WHEN should you sell?  The prime months for selling vary year-to-year, but in good years and bad, generally the “peak” times are from March 1st through Memorial Day and from mid-August until the week before Thanksgiving (conversely, the “slow” periods are typically the summer & winter vacation months, and the holiday lull extends through February).

But also remember that there are ALWAYS buyers out there.  Even in our “slow” months there are buyers ~ and there’s less inventory.  So although it may seem counterintuitive, if your home comes on the market in a “slow” month it may actually help your chances of selling.  In times of limited inventory, the listing is king!

Regardless of your target date for putting the house on the market, your preparation for selling should begin months before.  It is never too early to contact an agent and start getting your home prepared.  Your agent or your agent’s stager will give you a list of things to do to get your home ready, and the earlier you start on them the better.

And please do not be insulted by the list of things your agent or stager tells you to do in order to sell.  All of us start to overlook the little quirks that a home develops and the clutter that accumulates once you live in a place for a while.  To sell your home at top dollar, you want your home in great condition and looking its best.  That means putting aside a little pride and listening to what the professionals ask you to do.  It really does pay off!

If you want to get started NOW, here are some general guidelines we give clients:

GENERAL STAGING GUIDELINES:

1. Gather packing supplies; boxes and tape or plastic bins.  Also gather boxes and bags for those items you want to donate to charity.

2. Take everything off the floor of every closet and find another place for it if you can – ideally, nothing is on the floor of any closet.

3. Pack up half of what is in every closet.  Half of your clothes, half of everything else – make sure every closet looks SPACIOUS and incredibly neat.

4. Clear as much stuff off every horizontal surface as you can.

5. In one place, have any staging “extras” that you may have – extra pictures, vases, pillows, towels, etc.  Your agent or stager may be able to use them in getting your home ready..

6. Make sure all lights work and no lightbulbs are out.

7. Fix anything you know needs to be fixed; that icemaker that stopped working, the siding boards that need to be replaced, and the faucet that is dripping.

8. Take down all of your personal pictures, then just put back out one or two on each floor (minimal personal pictures, but enough to personalize and let the buyer know that you are a “real” person).

Those should get you started.  And who knows, after you clear some clutter and fix up things you may decide you want to stay.  If not, it is time to call in your Realtor.

HIRING AN AGENT

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

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So you have decided that it is time to sell your home and move on to a smaller home, a larger home, or just greener pastures.  How do you find an agent?  You might ask your friends and colleagues who they recommend; you might decide to hire the “neighborhood expert”; or you might already know a great agent you would like to use.

If you are not certain who you want to use, it is time to call in several agents, meet with them and have them look at your home, and then decide who you are most comfortable with.  There are many factors to consider and questions to ask:

  • Is the Realtor a FULL TIME agent?  You do not want to hire anyone who only does real estate part time – they cannot give your home the attention it deserves.
  • Is the Realtor with a reputable company, and are they well connected/well liked among other Realtors?
  • Does the Realtor have an assistant to help with marketing efforts so that if the Realtor is very busy someone is still marketing your home full time?

Hire who you are most comfortable with, not necessarily the agent who gives you the highest suggested list price.  Some agents will give you an inflated price to entice you to list with them.  Overpricing your home can be deadly, since the longer a home sits on the market the less desirable it is to buyers and the less you will ultimately get for the home.  Go for the agent who is the most knowledgeable and realistic about your home’s value over the one who gives you a high price just to get you to sign the agreement.

Ask what services the agent offers as part of the listing – among the things a great agent may offer are professional photography, staging services, full color professional brochures, agent caravans, and videography.  Let the agent know what you expect from them – some sellers like to be contacted by the agent as much as possible, while others just want a phone call when an offer comes in.  Let your agent know what works best for you.

And as the listing moves forward, let the agent know whenever you are unhappy about anything and give them the opportunity to rectify it.  Most of us will bend over backwards to make a seller happy, and to sell the home.