Home sale renovations

home sale renovations
Interior Home Sale Renovations (infographic from nar.realtor)

According to the National Association of Realtors (nar.realtor), the average time a homeowner stays in their home is ten years.  This is higher than the seven-year average prior to the great recession (but is less than the thirteen-year average immediately following the recession).  Needless to say, many homeowners are approaching (or have exceeded) their ten-year stint, and are likely selling their home during the spring and will likely be doing home sale renovations.

Any home sale preparation in today’s housing market should include some home sale renovations.  If you haven’t replaced the home’s systems (such as the roof or HVAC) while you lived in your home, there’s a good chance that they are approaching or have exceeded their average life expectancy.

Additionally, the décor and fixtures in your home are likely outdated.  The home sellers who make the mistake of not updating or renovating before they list inevitably face home inspection issues.  They ultimately find that the home takes longer to sell at a reduced price.

Let’s face it, remodeling can be expensive and overwhelming, especially when it’s for home sale renovations.  According to the NAR’s 2017 Remodeling Impact Report, about $340 billion was spent on remodeling projects in 2015.  Although a majority of homeowners would remodel their home themselves, thirty-five percent would prefer to move instead of remodeling their home.

The Report cited functionality and livability as the top reasons for home sale renovations.  It’s a no-brainer that home buyers prefer homes that are functional, comfortable, and sustainable.  Aesthetics is not enough for a home to be appealing to today’s home buyer, it has to fit their life style.  Additionally, home buyers want efficient systems in their new homes that can help save on utility costs.

Home sale renovations should focus on functionality and livability

What projects will get buyers who will pay top dollar into your home?  It should be no surprise that the number one interior project, listed by the 2017 Remodeling Impact Report, is a complete kitchen renovation.  Other essential interior projects include renovating bathrooms, installing new wood flooring, creating a new master suite, replacing the HVAC system, and finishing a basement or attic.

It also shouldn’t be a surprise that the Report listed replacing the roof as the top exterior project. Other exterior projects in high demand include new windows, new garage door, new siding, and installing a new front door.

If you want to add value to your home, even if it’s not for home sale renovations, check the 2018 Cost vs. Value report (costvsvalue.com).  The report can give you insight to which remodeling projects are the most popular, and estimates how much of the cost you can potentially reclaim when you sell your home.

There’s no doubt that renovating your home can be expensive.  Although the costs of home sale renovations can tempt you to cut corners, don’t.  Cutting corners on renovation projects can actually cost you more.  You may have to repair, or even re-do the project if not finished adequately.  Home buyers are savvy, and can spot low quality materials and poor workmanship.

Also, make sure to get permits when required.  If the home buyer doesn’t ask you, the home inspector will likely recommend that the home buyer check for permits.

Although many homeowners don’t mind a DIY project, many hire home improvement professionals.  When hiring home improvement professionals, check with the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (dllr.state.md.us/license/mhic) to ensure they are licensed contractors.  You should also ask for proof of their insurance, including Workman’s Comp insurance, in case there is an accident on your property while completing the project.

If you hire a contractor who will accept payment when the house sells, read your contract carefully and thoroughly. Do your due diligence.  There may be provisions in your contract that you may not be aware of, such as added costs, charging interest, and setting/lowering the sale price.

Original article is published at https://dankrell.com/blog/2018/11/17/home-sale-renovations

By Dan Krell. Copyright © 2018.

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Winter home sale profits

winter home sale
Reasons to buy (infographic from keepingcurrentmatters.com)

If you are planning to sell next spring, don’t wait!  Consider a winter home sale.  A National Association of Realtors survey indicates that a surge of home sale inventory is on the horizon.  The NAR third quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience survey indicated that 77 percent of Americans believe it to be a good time to sell (Homeowners Ready to Sell in the Third Quarter of 2018, says Realtor Survey; September 25, 2018; nar.realtor)!  This happens to be a record high for the survey.  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun believes that the strong sentiment is due to recent home price appreciation.  He stated:

“Though the vast majority of consumers believe home prices will continue to increase or hold steady, they understand the days of easy, fast gains could be coming to an end. Therefore, more are indicating that it is a good time to sell, which is a healthy shift in the market.

A winter home sale has less seller competition

The housing market conditions are such that we are on the verge of experiencing a déjà vu.  Two years ago, winter home sales were fueled by rising mortgage interest rates, low inventory and pent up demand.  As I predicted in a November 2016 column, rising interest rates and pent up demand were credited for the almost 10 percent jump in home sales by the end of January 2017!  The massive jump in home sales occurred during the deep winter, when existing home sale inventory dropped about one-third of the summer inventory.  Sellers who had a winter home sale during 2016-17 were greeted by eager home buyers and faced little competition.

Fast forward to 2018.  Yes, admittedly, home sales have slightly dropped off during summer.  But many are attributing this phenomenon to the lack of inventory.  Consider that Montgomery County existing single-family home sale inventory was almost 20 percent lower than that of the summer of 2016.  Although summer home sales dropped off, indicators point to a hot winter housing market.  Moderating home prices, combined with pent up buyer demand and a strong economy could make a winter home sale ideal.

It’s clear that home buyers facing rising interest rates have taken a pause.  But as rates approach 5 percent, positive economic sentiment is lessening the shock and many are planning to buy before rates creep higher.  Giving perspective to the mortgage rate hysteria, current mortgage rates are about the same as they were during 2014.  Additionally, the last time we saw mortgage rates above 5 percent was in 2010.  Rates exceeded 6 percent when home sales broke records during the market buildup of 2006.

Current sentiment is good for a winter home sale

Another indicator that a winter home sale may be primed is the most recent Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index (No Thanks to Housing, Home Purchase Sentiment Edges Up; fanniemae.com; August 2018).  Home buyer sentiment increased the first time since May.  Economists attribute this uptick to a strong economy along with the awareness of the recent market slowdown.  The job and income related index components increased significantly indicating that buyers feel financially more secure with a home purchase.  There is also a belief that home prices may moderate due to the summer sales slump.

Winter home sales tend to have less competition and serious home buyers.  As I said in 2016, don’t wait until spring to sell your home!  If you wait until spring to list your home, you’ll be faced with a profusion of seller competition.

Original located at https://dankrell.com/blog/2018/10/03/winter-home-sale-profits/

By Dan Krell.          Copyright © 2018.

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Home pricing psychology

home pricing psychologyPricing your home correctly is the foundation of a successful sale.  I have often talked about the science and art of pricing a home in various market conditions, but did you know home pricing psychology also plays a role?

With vast amounts of public data available on the internet, you may be tempted to price your home on your own.  However, keep in mind that unverified internet data can be inaccurate or outdated.  Moreover, the most recent sales data may not yet be available on your favorite real estate sites.  Asking a Realtor to help you analyze relevant comparables from the MLS can help you decide on a sales price that is in line with home buying trends.

The science of pricing a home is a straight forward method of analyzing the sale prices of similar neighborhood homes.  The analysis will provide you with a potential sales price range.  When selecting comparable homes, make sure that the homes are similar in style (colonial, split level, rambler, etc.).  Select comparable homes that are similar in size (usually within 15 to 20 percent of your home’s living area).  Also, try to find comparable sales that sold within the last six months to be relevant to current market trends.

The “art” of pricing your home is a process of fine tuning the sale price range derived from comparable homes.  Looking at various factors for each home, you can make adjustments on your calculated sale price range.  Interior differences, such as number of bedrooms, bathrooms, or having a finished basement, can change a sale price significantly.  Likewise, exterior features, such as a deck or fence, can also affect the price.

Let’s talk about your home’s condition.  Whether you like it or not, your home’s condition should be a major factor in determining a sale price.  You should be honest and objective when it comes to your home’s condition.  Have others offer their opinions about necessary updates and repairs.  Are there any comparables that are in similar condition?  You may have to make adjustments to correspond to deferred maintenance and lack of updates.

Home Pricing Psychology

To attract home buyers while trying to get top dollar, you may also have to apply home pricing psychology.  Of course, many of these home pricing psychology strategies are not sound or based on facts.  An example of this is the use of a “totem” price.  A totem price is when the second half of the number is a mirror of the first (e.g., 543,345).  This was a strategy that was highly touted during the “go-go” market of 2005-2006.

Until recently, there hasn’t been much research into the psychological effects of real estate pricing strategies.  An empirical study by Eli Beracha and Michael J. Seiler revealed how sellers can ask for a higher price without turning off buyers (The Effect of Pricing Strategy on Home Selection and Transaction Prices: An Investigation of the Left-Most Digit Effect; Journal of Housing Research; 2015; Vol. 24, No. 2, pp.147-161).  Their study revealed that “just-below” pricing can help you sell your home faster and get a higher price.  Just-below pricing is a strategy that lowers the price by reducing the left most digit by “1.”  However, they suggest that when using the just-below strategy in real estate, it should be rounded to the nearest hundred or thousand.  For example, if you decide on a list price of $450,000, then the rounded-just-below price will be $449,900.

Original published at https://dankrell.com/blog/2018/06/05/home-pricing-psychology/

By Dan Krell
Copyright © 2018.

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Protected by Copyscape Web Plagiarism DetectorDisclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

Attract home buyers – Zillow listing

If you’re selling your home, check your Zillow listing.  You may find that the information may not be complete.  Or worse, the information posted is from a previous sale.  But don’t worry, Zillow now gives you the tools to take control, attract home buyers, and improve your sale.

Most of the information you see on your Zillow listing is syndicated from the MLS.  This means that your listing agent uploads information to the MLS and the MLS sends it to other websites.  If you’re not happy with the listing, your agent can change some information via the MLS, and/or log into the Zillow listing to make changes.  However, if your listing agent is too busy to service your listing or does not know about logging into your Zillow listing, you can now take control and attract home buyers.

Zillow offers home owners the opportunity to “claim” their home to access features to personalize information to help home buyers (and Zillow) to get a better picture about their home.  The “Personalized Owner Dashboard” gives you control of your listing (zillowgroup.com/news/personalized-owner-dashboard).

Of the many available tools, online metrics is useful to see how much attention your home is getting from home buyers.  You can view your home listing’s online activity, including how many times the listing has been viewed compared to your competition.

Improve on the house description by adding “What I love about the home.”  This feature conveys to home buyers what attracted you to your home.  Elicit the home buyer’s emotions to visit it and attract home buyers by adding your story.

The MLS limits the number of pictures on your listing.  So, solely relying on the MLS feed can also limit your Zillow listing.  Increasing the number of pictures and adding video can make your home listing more robust, and attention getting.  Zillow allows you (and your agent) to upload additional pictures.  You can upload, arrange, and describe additional photos to help give home buyers the best view of your home.  Zillow even lets you upload a video that you record from your smartphone!  Besides including a link to the MLS virtual tour, Zillow added the “walk through” video feature last year.

Not happy with your Zestimate?  You’re not alone.  Zillow’s Zestimate tool has received mixed reviews since its inception.  Many home buyers and sellers have used the tool as a guide in to help their buying and selling by looking at house and neighborhood trends.  However, there has been criticism from home owners and real estate agents saying that home valuation tool is not inaccurate and does not correctly portray their homes and listings.  As a response, Zillow has changed the algorithm over the years.  And this year, Zillow announced a $1,000,000 prize for the best model to improve the Zestimate tool (zillow.com/promo/zillow-prize).  But that hasn’t stopped a class action suit that complains that the Zestimate is “misleading” home buyers (Rachel Koning Beals; Do Zillow ‘Zestimates’ mislead home buyers? Lawsuit claims yes; marketwatch.com; May 23, 2017).

Attract Home Buyers – Improve your Zestimate.

Yes, you can improve your Zestimate.  The dashboard allows you to update the facts about your home.  Updating your home’s information will give home buyers a better description, and it can possibly improve the Zestimate.  Since the Zestimate is based on public records, all your home’s information may not be current or complete.  Telling Zillow about the extras, such as bathrooms, a finished basement, a deck, etc. can be a plus and attract home buyers.

By Dan Krell
Copyright© 2017

Original published at https://dankrell.com/blog/2017/08/20/attract-home-buyers-zillow-listing/

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.

Gonzo home sales and prices

Everyone seems to be excited about this week’s Case-Shiller home price numbers reported for February.  Even the title of the April 25th press release sounded a little giddy: “The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Home Price NSA Index Sets Fourth Consecutive All-Time High” (spindices.com).  Yes, the Case-Shiller 10-city and 20-city composite indices are close to the 2007 level.  But before you become intoxicated by reports of gonzo home sales and prices and run off to sell your home, here’s more to the story.

Gonzo home sales and prices

Gonzo home sales and prices depend on the market.  According to the recent Case-Shiller release, Seattle, Portland, and Dallas topped the charts with annual index gains of 12.2 percent, 9.7 percent, and 8.8 percent respectively.  Not surprisingly, Seattle and Portland have been the hottest real estate markets over the past year.  Tampa’s and Cleveland’s housing markets are at the opposite end of the spectrum with decreases of -0.5 percent, -0.3 percent during February; while Miami’s home price index was unchanged.  Washington DC reported an annual gain of 4.1 percent, with a 0.2% gain reported in February.

David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices stated:

“There are still relatively few existing homes listed for sale and the small 3.8 month supply is supporting the recent price increases. Housing affordability has declined since 2012 as the pressure of higher prices has been a larger factor than stable to lower mortgage rates.

Housing’s strength and home building are important contributors to the economic recovery. Housing starts bottomed in March 2009 and, with a few bumps, have advanced over the last eight years. New home construction is now close to a normal pace of about 1.2 million units annually, of which around 800,000 are single family homes. Most housing rebounds following a recession only last for a year or so. The notable exception was the boom that set the stage for the bubble. Housing starts bottomed in 1991, drove through the 2000-2001 recession, and peaked in 2005 after a 14-year run.”

Gonzo home sales and prices are dependent on local real estate.  It’s true, housing inventory is lacking.  At a time when homes should be coming to market for the spring season, the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors Montgomery County single family statistics for March 2017 indicated that there were -1.8 percent less new listings compared to the same time last year.  And the total number of active homes for sale are -16.4 percent less than the same time last year.  Although June is usually the peak time for home sales and prices in our area, home sales increased 17.9 percent month over month, and is 11.7 percent higher than the same time last year; while average home sale prices increased less than 1 percent (gcaar.com)!

Holy shades of 2005, Batman!

Housing stats sound eerily like those before the housing bubble crash.  But this market is different in many respects.  Consider that housing speculation is not as prevalent as it was at that time; homes are not being flipped in a matter of days in most areas.  And home buyers are more sophisticated and savvy than they were in 2005; home buyers are more demanding, as well as sensitive to home condition and price.

Yes, it’s true that house values are increasing.  Yes, home sales are breaking records.  But not all homes sell.  You should realize that that home sale stats includes data of homes that sell.  Homes that don’t sell are not included in the numbers of closings, nor are they included in home sale prices.

Homes that don’t sell tend to be overpriced for the home’s condition, or neighborhood.  Sometimes, the physical location of the house is not ideal; for example, situated next to train tracks.  If you’re selling your home this year, don’t get greedy.  Get a professional opinion on pricing your home correctly; over priced homes tend to not sell quickly, or not at all.

Pricing your home may not be as easy as you think.  Empirical research has confirmed that there are many variables that affect sales price.  Factors that impact home sale price include the home’s location, condition, amenities, and market timing.

If you want to sell your home quickly and capitalize on home sale trends: consider repairing deferred maintenance issues, making updates, and don’t take home buyers for granted.  When making repairs and updates, don’t go for the cheapest quote because it will likely show.  Also, make sure your contractors are licensed.

Home buyers are just as savvy as you, so any attempt to deceive will backfire and hurt your sale.  Focus on broadening your home’s appeal.  Consider making your home turnkey, since most home buyers are looking for a home they can move right in and without making immediate repairs and updates.

For a guide on a successful home sale, take a look at “The magic of 4 to sell a home

By Dan Krell
Copyright© 2017

Original post at https://dankrell.com/blog/2017/04/28/gonzo-home-sales-prices/

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Disclaimer. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.