Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk

On Ann Arbor.com today, and using the recent market data released by the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors, there is a comment I would like to address today.

The comment is “gotta love crooks, I mean REALTORS.

I was going to answer over there and maybe I will but I believe it needs a longer response than I like to give on Blog comments.

REALTORS Are Not Crooks

A seller and a REALTOR work together to determine the price of where a home should be listed.

The market (or current buyers) looking for a home during that time period, and what is on the market determine the value. Period

The numbers don’t lie, and if a REALTOR, looks at the recent SOLDS and currently LISTED homes it is not rocket science to determine, where the home should be listed and where it will sell.

The Problem

The problem is not that REALTORS are crooks, the problem is:

1)    Some sellers don’t look at the data, and say…”If I can’t get such and such out of my home, then I am not selling,” or “I have to get this much from my home so I can move.”

2)    The second problem is some REALTORS don’t have the guts to stand up to sellers and tell the truth. They would rather “accommodate” the mindset of the seller and list a home “over market value”, just to have a listing in their stock pile.

3)    Third, some REALTORS, don’t even do CMA’s, (Comparative Market Value Reports) they just walk through the sellers home and ask what they want to sell it for and throw it in the MLS.

Listing a home at Market Value is NOT Rocket Science, it is not a science at all. It is the professional opinion of an experienced REALTOR, looking at the historical data,current listings and pricing the home accordingly. 

Once I have studied a neighborhood, and put together a CMA, if the homeowners in the Ann Arbor Area don’t like the price, they can interview other agents to see other opinions. In fact, I encourage it.

My typical time to do a CMA is 4 hours, so by the time I meet again with the sellers I know the data, the neighborhood and am confident in my price.

The last few years,after looking at their comps I have told 10 or so homeowners that I can not sell their home for the price they want. I have wished them good luck and moved on.

Of the 10 or so, four called me back, after trying at a higher price with another agent. “Get over here and list my house, Missy, we should have listened to you.”

Others I have watched the home listed and seen price reduction, after price reduction taken until it sells sometimes a year later below what I told them in the first place.They are chasing the market down.

Some have chosen to wait the market out until home prices rise again.

Know Who You Are Hiring

Is the REALTOR you as a Ann Arbor Area home seller interviewing experienced?  Do they list enough homes to know the market? Are they familiar with the area to determine the value? Are they showing you the market data? Do they have a written out Marketing Plan?

I disagree with the comment by Towny of the AnnArbor.com article, REALTORS are not crooks, but some are not experienced and some will take any listing and “throw it against the wall,” to see if it sticks sells. And some REALTORS don’t have the guts to tell the seller the truth.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Consumer Reports in 1990,

“ Beware that some devious agents will at first suggest a very handsome price. Then, after they have the listing and the house hasn’t sold they’ll come back a with a pitch to lower the price.”

Here is a pdf version of the recent Ann Arbor Area Market Data by the Ann Arbor Area Board of REALTORS.

It is not unusual to hear an Ann Arbor seller say at some point during the listing presentation,”I’m not giving my house away?”

When I hear this, I understand where they are coming from do to the fact that at one time the home they owned would have sold for more. (like in 2005-2007)

But, are they “giving away the house” if selling in the current market conditions?

Market Conditions Change

Every market changes, whether it is stocks, food or homes. It is fluid.

Selling your Ann Arbor Area home in 2011 is not the same as selling it in past years.

A home priced at the current market value, is “not giving your house away.” It is selling at this point in time under the current market value conditions. Realtors can’t change the market, we only list, sell and work in it.

Trust me if I had the power to change the market value I would.

The National Residential Appraisers Institute defines market value as…

The most probable price which a property should bring a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the buyer and seller, each acting prudently, knowledgeably and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus.

The Realtor Job

My job as a Realtor is to help buyers and sellers understand market value by providing data of solds and actives of the local Ann Arbor Area market. The numbers just don’t lie. The data is there.  I am good at what I do, but I don’t control the market, I only interpret the data provided by recent solds and current active homes.

Someone once said…”The market may not be kind, but it is never wrong.”

In other words, your home is worth not what I think it is, nor what you think it is, but only what the market says it is.

Next time you think, “I am not giving my house away”, ask yourself if you are really giving your house away or if you are just selling at a point in time that the market has changed.

You may not like hearing what I say, but I will always tell you the truth.

When we meet you will see a complete list of all the homes sold in recent months and a list of what your competition is based on size, location and what other homes are selling for in your local area.

You are welcome to subscribe for weekly market updates for your location and zip code here or on my Ann Arbor Real Estate web-site.

Ann Arbor Home Sellers

If you home is listed for sale, is your home safe? In Ann Arbor we have the opportunity to put a SentriLock lock box on our listings. Unfortunately many Realtors don’t use them.

Yes, they cost a little more, but so what.

SentriLocks are electronic lock boxes that require a card. The costs of the card to Realtors is $8.00 a month. The lock boxes are $80.00.

When we first started using them, the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors sold them to us for $35.00.That afforded us the opportunity to use them at an awesome price.

I bought a bunch for my sellers so I could provide them with the utmost security.

Excuses

As a Director on the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors I have heard every excuse you can imagine on why agents don’t use them.

• Never had a break in with the old lock boxes.

• They cost too much.
• I don’t want to go to the office to update my card.

Foreclosures

Foreclosures are everywhere. Did you know most banks use the same code over and over again. That means it doesn’t take Rocket Science to figure out the codes. They are even the same in Nashville, where my son is a licensed Realtor.

One Day Codes

SentriLock affords us the ability to give out a one day code to Contractors, Inspectors on other agents. So if the agent doesn’t pay for the card to access a home, we can give them a one day code or a 2 hour window code to view the home.

Here is the difference over an electronic lockbox vs a punch number non-electronic lockbox. When the agent calls for a showing and they don’t have a key, the showing is tracked. We know who the code was given to and can provide security for our sellers.

One of my short sales had a showing recently and the agent did not have a card, so the Keller Williams Showing Assistant gave the agent the One day code. My sellers kids were home, the buyers agent thought it was vacant. The agent gave the code to her buyers to come in alone.

What a surprise!

The sellers were surprised when in walked the buyers WITHOUT their agent. So they called me. It ONLY took a few minutes to know which agent had given out the code to her buyers and let them view the home without her being present. Can we say Violation of our Code of Ethics and Professional Standards?

Ann Arbor home sellers, use a Realtor that will help you provide the utmost security to your home while it is on the market.

If your listing agent can not afford the electronic lockbox, we rent them at the Board office for $5.00 a month.

When you are interviewing Realtors to list your home in the Ann Arbor Area, ask them what lock box they will use on your home. Don’t assume.

Check back as I share in the next week, some scary things that have happened to homes for sale in Ann Arbor.

Negative equity is when you owe more than you can sell your home for in the current market.

Negative equity is why there are people in Ann Arbor selling their home Short, or for less than owed.

According to Core Logic, a real estate data and analytic company 29.4 percent of all homes with mortgages in Ann Arbor area underwater for the 3rd quarter.

Now we could look at that and gasp, or we can look at it and say 70.6% of homeowners are fine.

Michigan has consistently been in the top four states with negative equity. Below is a graph, by Core Logic to give you a visual of quarter by quarter for 2010.

The following chart gives you all the states distribution of negative equity.

So nice graphs, and information, Missy. What do I do about it, if I have negative equity in my home?

If you have lost your job, or experienced another hardship and need to move, then be willing to sell your home Short= for less than owed. If there is not hardship and you don’t need to move then just wait until the market rebounds and sell at that time.

According to Fannie Mae, if you sell short and have not been delinquent on your payments, you can purchase again using FHA in one year. IF you have been delinquent than you wait 3 years to purchase again.

A short sale is a much better option than foreclosure or bankruptcy. Either of those options will not allow you to purchase again for 5-10 years depending on your circumstances.

I wrote a post yesterday on if you are a buyer and wanting to search for short sales and foreclosures in Ann Arbor to fill out the form and one of my team members will set you up for a specific search.

For more information on trends and graphs visit the Core Logic web site.

The 35th Annual Saline Christmas parade is this Saturday in downtown Saline. A favorite of mine for too many years to count. Let’s just say I can remember nursing my 8 month old baby under my coat on one of those nights it was freezing snow and ice.

All my kids have participated in the Saline Parade at one time or the other. When we first moved out to Saline, 20 years ago, it was a short parade, and over the years I have seen it grow, and grow and grow.

Regardless, it really gets me in the Holiday Spirit.

The theme of the parade this year, is the Christmas Story“.

The parade begins at 5:30 PM on Saturday and goes throughout downtown Saline.You can catch a shuttle at Busches if you want to park. After the parade Santa will be at Santa’s Village.

Related articles

• Saline Holiday Week Starts November With the Craft Show (annarborundressed.com)

window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
FB.init({appId: “258847270794016″, status: true, cookie: true,
xfbml: true});
};
(function() {
var e = document.createElement(“script”); e.async = true;
e.src = document.location.protocol +
“//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js”;
document.getElementById(“fb-root”).appendChild(e);
}());

In Ann Arbor, both a buyer and a seller have the choice of which Title company to use for the closing or settlement.

When I list a home for sale in Ann Arbor or the surrounding area’s, I always order a Pre-Committment Title policy upfront. I do this so my sellers can review it and give to an attorney to review. (Anything that needs cleaning up can occur during the listing period.)

If the sellers have a preferred title company then I use that one. All of the local title companies in Ann Arbor are excellent.

When an offer is accepted it is perfectly OK for the buyer to decide which title company they want to use.  The only exception to this is many banks that are working with Michigan Servicing Companies for foreclosures will make you use their title company. (Not always but many times.)

If you are a buyer in Ann Arbor it is best to write that into the original offer that you will be using your own title company.

In Ann Arbor and all of Michigan, buyers and sellers split the cost of the Title Policy. The sellers pay what is called a Owners Policy and is based on the sales price of the home.

The buyers pay their portion of the Title Insurance based on the price of the mortgage they are obtaining.

Example: Contract price of home is 200,000.

The seller provides an owners policy on 200K.

The buyers is putting down 50,000. His portion of the title insurance is based on the amount of the loan which would be 150,000.

Both Buyer and Seller can choose their own title company.

• Ann Arbor Elementary Schools Price Per Square Footage (annarborrealestatetalk.com)