Crofton Real Estate

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Crofton Real Estate Agent Talks About FSBO’s

May 16th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate

It’s not often you’ll find a Crofton real estate agent defending homeowners who choose to sell “by owner” – but that’s what I found myself doing yesterday on ActiveRain, a real estate blog network in which I participate. In fact, my Maryland Real Estate Blog on ActiveRain is ranked #43 out of 88,158 members, for most subscribers.

FSBO sign The FSBO conversation all started when I was visiting my daughter Susan in Texas for Mother’s Day weekend, and I posted a blog titled My Daughter Made an Offer on a FSBO this Weekend…. Then I followed up the next day with a second post, FSBO Foot-In-Mouth Syndrome.

The comments took on a life of their own for both posts – over 60 comments on each! I was out of town, so I didn’t pay much attention at the time, but I was almost embarrassed at the tone of some comments when I got home and started reading them. That led to a third post, In Defense of FSBO’s, written yesterday afternoon – and there have already been over 35 comments for that in less than 24 hours.

Click through to all three posts in this series and the other links within them, and take the time to view the comments from across the nation. Anyone thinking about selling your own home in this tough market may find both the posts and comments to be interesting reading.

NOTE: If you experience a formatting issue when you visit ActiveRain – i.e., the blog post does not stay within the frame, simply click “refresh” one time in your Internet browser and it will correct itself. The problem arises if you’ve ever visited ActiveRain before the new formatting, and you have a cached version of the old format on your computer.

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Tags: Crofton+Maryland+Real+Estate, Crofton+For+Sale+By+Owner, Crorton+FSBO, Crofton+Real+Estate+Agent

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Posted by Margaret Woda | Discussion: No Comments »

Crofton Real Estate Update - April 2008

May 14th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate

The most accurate source of information about what’s happening in Crofton real estate is probably the monthly statistics released by MRIS. I usually review and report them for you between the 10th and 15^th of each month, since regional and national real estate news doesn’t always reflect what’s happening in Crofton real estate.

Crofton home sellers are listing for higher prices, in spite of the fact that average and median sold prices are down slightly. That contributes to the fact that the average sale price as a percentage of average list price is down to 92.92%, from 97.07% just a year ago. In other words, if your $240,000 Crofton condo sold last month, it’s likely the actual selling price was about $223,000, compared to a year ago when it probably would have been close to $233,000. What a difference a year makes!

But a comparison of April 2008 with the three previous years shows the Average and Median Sold Prices of homes in Crofton is still higher than it was in 2005. Crofton real estate values are doing a much better job of holding their own than other communities across the country. This may be due, in part, to the incoming personnel associated with the BRAC realignment to our area.

21114 Overview

The greatest disappointment for Crofton home sellers has to be the increase of days on market before a home sells. The following graph provides a comparison of this year, so far, with the three previous years. As you can see, it’s not pretty – although the 121 days of March and April are more favorable than the 134 days in February 2008.

21114 DOM

My prediction regarding any improvement of this trend is guarded, since 78 new listings came on the market in Crofton during April and only 23 were marked “Under Contract.” With the inventory growing at this rate, I’m afraid the length of time to sell will continue to be longer than homesellers like. The only way to fight this is to price list your Crofton home conservatively and make sure it’s in top condition, including staging.

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Tags: Crofton+Maryland+Real+Estate, Crofton+home+prices, Crofton+Real+Estate+Market

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Negotiating Skills Are Essential for Crofton Home Sellers

May 12th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate

CROFTON HOME SELLERS – In a Buyer’s Market like we have today, home buyers don’t just hope you will compromise your home-selling goals – they EXPECT you to accept a lower price, offer more incentives, and meet their timing demands.

By definition, a Home Buyer’s Market is one in which economic and psychological conditions favor buyers rather than sellers.

A buyer has many options in this scenario, because there is a large inventory of homes available – and several sellers are seriously competing to attract a very small number of qualified buyers. Today’s sellers offer closing help, free condo fee for a year, buyer’s choice of new carpet, a discounted price and other incentives that say “please choose me!”. Even though buyers may love your home, they do have many attractive alternatives if you don’t accept their offer.

Negotiations actually begin when you put your home on the market, because that’s when you make YOUR offer to prospective buyers. That’s why Pricing Your Crofton Home for Sale is so important, including your offer of incentives to the buyer.

Crofton home sellers, you should take any offer seriously, even if it is not attractive to you initially. In this 2008 buyers’ market, in fact, you can probably count on a low offer. If you say “no”, the buyer can say “adios” and move on to another home without further negotiations. Unlike 2004, buyers now have many homes to choose from, and this is what gives them so much power!

My suggestion is this: Find something you like in the offer, focus on it, and make a counter-offer on any terms that are unacceptable. ‘Truth is, the buyer is probably expecting a counter-offer – it is likely they will be happy to get some of their offer accepted as written.

When I am your listing agent, I will present any offer to you, discuss it with you, help you evaluate your options, and together we will craft a counter-offer that acknowledges the acceptable terms and addresses the unacceptable ones. You will have a ratified contract only after both parties come to agreement in writing and all contingencies are satisfied.

That last phrase is the “kicker” – there are other moments of reckoning between contract and settlement that sometimes trigger renegotiation, including appraisal, home inspection, and pre-settlement walk-through. That’s why it’s more important than ever to be represented in negotiations by a tireless and effective advisor and advocate.

If you’re thinking of selling your home in the Crofton area or ANYWHERE in Anne Arundel County and nearby Prince Georges or Howard Counties, give me a call. We can talk more about negotiating strategies and other factors impacting your home sale. In the meantime, here are the earlier blog posts in this Monday series of posts for home sellers:

A SOLD Sign in Your Crofton Front Yard

Factors That Impact the Sale of Real Estate

Pricing Your Crofton Home for Sale

Five Things Crofton Home Sellers Must Do

Crofton Home Buyers Want to See Your Home

One Big Secret for Effectively Marketing Your Crofton Home

Coming Monday, May 19: The single greatest factor affecting your home sale

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Tags: Selling+my+Croftom+home, Crofton+Maryland+real+estate, Crofton+real+estate+agent, Real+Estate+Contract+Negotiations

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One Big Secret for Effectively Marketing Your Crofton Home

May 5th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate

Cartoon - Marketing Factors that Impact the Sale of Real Estate in Crofton have been my Monday blog topic for the past several weeks. Previously, I addressed factors you cannot control (such as the weather, economy, politics, competition, environment) and factors I may advise you on but you control completely (pricing, condition and access).

Marketing, however, is usually within MY control. And here’s my one big secret for successfully marketing your Crofton home:

Marketing your Crofton home IS NOT all about
your property and its many wonderful features.

Marketing IS all about the buyers and how your property can satisfy their wants, needs and budget.

Accurately identifying the most likely buyers for your home, effectively packaging your home to attract the most likely buyers, and successfully communicating with the most likely buyers – that’s marketing.

Here’s the 3–part challenge I face when you choose me to market your Crofton home:

1. Accurately identify the most likely buyer for your property

Who is likely to buy your home (demographics)? Why will they choose your home over another (motivation)? How will they buy it (financing options)? Where are they now (local or relocation)? When will they buy your home (seasonal factors)?

I need these answers before placing the first ad or even writing any remarks in your mls listing. They are the core information required for marketing to have a purpose and to be successful.

2. Create an effective message directed to that buyer.

An effective message requires language and visuals that appeal to those “most likely buyers” on both emotional and intellectual levels.

Again, that magic word experience. I often fall back on my inventory of past marketing messages that proved to be effective in reaching a similar target audience. There’s no learning curve here, no trial and error – no need to experiment or waste valuable time with ineffective marketing messages.

3. Accurately determine the best strategies and tactics for reaching that buyer.

Maximum exposure is a term that’s widely mis-used to describe marketing, in my opinion. Who cares how many people see your marketing message if they’re not prospective buyers or don’t have access to prospective buyers? And what good is “maximum exposure” without an effective marketing message?

Targeted exposure to likely buyers for your home is my primary strategy, using a variety of tactics that include blogging and “alternative” real estate web sites as well as the MLS, print media, mailings, broadcast email to local real estate agents, and open house tours. Not all agents are articulate in all of these tactics – Fortunately for my clients, I am. And remember, for any of these tools to be used effectively, #1 and #2 must come first.

Let’s dispel the MLS myth: There’s been such a ruckus over the years about FSBO’s and discount brokers gaining access to the MLS. Now that many of them have this access, consumers are discovering it wasn’t inclusion in the database they needed – it was the expertise of REALTORS who used it effectively to achieve results.

The Bottom Line:

Effective marketing of your Crofton home depends entirely on the buyer profile – i.e., accurately determining who the most likely buyer is and the best way to reach him or her. The experience and expertise that goes into developing that profile, the ability to reach buyers through technology, and the creativity to hold their attention through effective dialogue – these are the skills of an experienced and effective listing agent.

If you want A Sold Sign in Your Crofton Front Yard, contact me today at 301–346–2923 (cell) or 410–451–1900 (office).

Earlier posts in this series for Crofton home sellers:

A SOLD Sign in Your Crofton Front Yard

Factors That Impact the Sale of Real Estate

Pricing Your Crofton Home for Sale

Five Things Crofton Home Sellers Must Do

Crofton Home Buyers Want to See Your Home

Coming Monday, May 12: Negotiating

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Tags: Selling+My+Crofton+Home, Listing+My+Home, Choosing+a+Real+Estate+Agent, Crofton+Maryland+Real+Estate

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Crofton Home Buyers Want to See Your Home

April 28th, 2008 Categories: Crofton Real Estate

Buyers rarely make an offer on a home without first seeing it, inside and out.

ACCESS Impacts the Sale of Real Estate

I have sold only three homes in thirty years to buyers who didn’t first inspect the property. Two were relocating buyers from out-of-state and one was a real estate investor who didn’t want to let a good deal get away from him in a sellers’ market. In other words, your chances of this happening are very slim.

Since access is so important to the sale of your Crofton home, and YOU control access to your property, you must take it very seriously when your home is for sale:

You must be accessible to answer questions from prospective buyers’ and their agents at THEIR convenience, not yours.
Your home must be accessible for buyers to inspect at THEIR convenience, not yours.

Your Real Estate Broker’s Role in Providing Access

You CAN and MUST control access to your property when it's for sale. One way you can take control of and maximize access in your favor is to list it for sale with a Crofton real estate broker who treats access as a high priority. Not all brokers do, so make sure you include this topic in your interview questions before you choose a broker. (And remember, you usually get what you pay for!)

Find out:

1. Who will be accessible to answer questions from prospective buyers and their agents at THEIR convenience, 24/7. (This may or may not be part of the services the real estate broker provides, so be sure to ask.)

2. What will you do to make your home accessible for buyers to inspect at THEIR convenience? (Again, this may or may not be part of the services this real estate broker provides – when you ask questions about this, make sure your prospective broker and agent are very specific about what they do/do not do to provide access to properties they have listed.)

3. How will you control who accesses my home AND make sure that everyone is an authorized lockbox user?

4. When will you (or someone on your behalf) notify me about someone accessing my home? (Before, after, or when they’re standing at the door?)

5. Why choose you over another real estate broker to manage access to my home?

User-friendly Access

There’s more to access, however, than responding to inquiries from buyers and agents or showing your home to them.

Providing access in the most user-friendly way possible is extremely important. Some examples: a good listing agent will provide directions to your property via the most scenic route, not necessarily the shortest or most direct; he or she will make it convenient for buyers and their agents to gain access to your home.

This sounds very basic, but you’d be surprised how many home owners and agents are available to receive calls for appointments only during very restricted hours… or place key lockboxes behind shrubbery… or too high for short people to reach… or too low for people with bad knees. You’d probably be surprised to know how often keys don’t work (did anyone bother to check them before placing them in a lockbox?)… how many home owners leave security alarms “on” or pets running loose on the property. Even caged birds can hamper a showing, as some are very loud and downright frightening to buyers and agents who enter the property.

All of these situations impact access to your property and, in turn, the sale of your property (or not). Don’t assume that all real estate brokers and agents are equal, when it comes to this.

Bottom Line

Access is an important factor in the sale of your property – one that you CAN and MUST control to maximize the likelihood of a sale. If buyers don’t have easy access to information about and inspection of your property, it could mean the difference between SOLD and REDUCED AGAIN.

Earlier posts in this series for Crofton home sellers:

A SOLD Sign in Your Crofton Front Yard

Factors That Impact the Sale of Real Estate

Pricing Your Crofton Home for Sale

Five Things Crofton Home Sellers Must Do

Coming Monday, May 5: Marketing

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Tags: Crofton+Maryland+Real+Estate

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