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Evaluating Realtors Using the Internet

Are you accustomed to using the internet for all your shopping needs? Those who prefer to research and buy products and services on-line will find it natural to do the same for agents.

Here are four ways to use the internet when selecting a realtor:

1. Google their name. Any realtor worth considering should have a decent web presence, and hopefully some evidence of their past performance. Check the dates of their latest blog posts or featured listings.

2. Check their license number. Every piece of advertising has the realtor’s license number on it, including websites and business cards.

There are some new agents who are really good, and there are older agents that should be put out to pasture, so it’s not a perfect guide. But at least you can easily tell how long an agent has been in the business with a simple glance at their license number.

The real estate licenses are issued with sequential numbers. I just use my company’s broker number as a guide. If they have a lower number than Klinge Realty, they’ve been around for more than ten years, and if they are a new or newer agent, then I need to check how many sales they have closed on the MLS. Here are the months that these licenses were issued:

License Number	Month Issued
01900000	June, 2011
01800000	April, 2007
01700000	June, 2005
01400000	Nov, 2003
01388871 (Klinge Realty)	June, 2003

3. Check their profile on Zillow. The industry’s leader now includes both reviews of agents, and how many sales they have closed in the last twelve months.

An agent who has something to offer should have double-digit reviews and sales (good agents should sell at least one home per month on average). Any agent who has more than 75-100 sales has a big team of agents who are all reporting under the leader’s name, which is somewhat deceiving.

4. Look for videos. Every agent worth considering should be using video in some fashion – at least a video of themselves on Zillow or their website, and/or real video tours of their listings with commentary.

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Yelp used to be a reliable source, but they have been under fire lately. They have deleted positive reviews from my actual clients, and here a Carlsbad dentist gets on TV with his experience:

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Yelp-Under-Fire-for-Alleged-Pandering-to-Advertisers-232472381.html

Yelp hides additional reviews – check at the bottom of each Yelp page where you see this link: other reviews that are not currently recommended

Get good help!

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Nov 20, 2013 in Listing Agent Practices, Tips, Advice & Links, Why You Should Hire Jim as your Buyer's Agent, Why You Should List With Jim | 2 comments

Design Tips For Home Selling

This got fouled up last night but it’s fixed now:

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Nov 14, 2013 in Thinking of Selling?, Tips, Advice & Links, Why You Should List With Jim | 0 comments

Half Sold Over List

From C.A.R.

LOS ANGELES – More properties were sold above their asking price this year, as tight supply conditions continued to heat up market competition in the first half of 2013, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2013 Annual Housing Market Survey.”

Nearly half (49.5 percent) of all homes sold in 2013 were sold above asking price, nearly twice the share in 2012 (25.9 percent) and triple the share in 2011 (16.6 percent).

The 2013 figure was more than twice the long-run average of 18 percent during the past 20 years. For homes that sold above the list price in 2013, the median premium paid over the list price was 4.8 percent, unchanged from 2012.

For the third consecutive year, an increasing number of home sellers – nearly half – planned on purchasing another home in the future.

“Sellers are more upbeat about the housing market and are more comfortable with their financial situation. As the real estate industry and the economy continue to recover, many sellers regained confidence in owning a home since the Great Recession,” said C.A.R. President Don Faught. “The number of home sellers planning on repurchasing, in fact, increased to the highest level since 2007, which suggests that repeat buyers could be the driving force in the housing market in 2014.”

The shortage of housing supply intensified further this year, leading to heightened market competition and more multiple offers, with more than seven of 10 home sales (72 percent) receiving multiple offers in 2013, up from 57 percent in 2012.

The 2013 figure was the highest in at least the past 15 years, with each home receiving an average of 5.7 offers, up from 4.2 offers in 2012 and 3.5 offers in 2011.

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2013releases/2013ahms

Get good help!

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Nov 7, 2013 in Frenzy, Market Buzz, Market Conditions, Why You Should List With Jim | 2 comments

Random Observations

1. The frenzy re-sort is underway, as hopeful sellers wait for the lucky sale to come their way. There isn’t any panic in the streets because sales remain strong, and very few sellers need to sell bad enough that they will dump on price. Besides, holding out has been working for many.

2. Ivory-tower types like cnbc.com keep hammering at reasons why the market will cave – HT to daytrip for sending in the latest on weak household formation. But meanwhile it is rare that you can find a decent house under $700,000 around NSDCC, and if you want more than just a house that will do for now, expect to spend at least $900,000.

3. To make sense of the market, it helps if you can discharge all previous assumptions and beliefs. Big money is here, and has been providing adequate demand to soak up most of those sellers who are willing to tune their price. Example:

There were more NSDCC 3Q sales this year than last year (881 vs. 845), even though average pricing was 18% higher ($440/sf vs. $373/sf).

4. Agents for flippers are poor bluffers. They all seem to have offers that just came in, but then weeks and months later they are still unsold. To smoke them out, I like to ask an unusual question to catch them off-guard, like “Yeah, how much?”. You can tell they are bluffing by how they react.

5. I have seen a couple of flips that were purchased a couple of years ago get relisted, and they don’t wear well. Because they are basically a lipstick job done with the cheaper materials, they look bad quickly. Flooring in particular was used up, and cabinet doors and drawers showed wear-and-tear, and were out of alignment.

6. With few new homes being built, flippers are enjoying a clean shot at the buyers who want/need a new look. Unfortunately there are very few new homes or flippers in the higher price ranges, making it more difficult to find a turn-key home. Buyers need to adapt, and get comfortable with buying a home that needs work.

7. I haven’t had an REO listing assigned to me this year, and like many former REO-listing agents, have been scrambling to secure organic listings. The new effort is still on-going, but so far 60% of my sales this year have been representing sellers.

8. Many are already anticipating next year, and it should be a wild one!

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Nov 6, 2013 in Jim's Take on the Market, Why You Should List With Jim | 5 comments

Value-Range Pricing Stats

Yesterday reader DaCounseler asked about value-range pricing, and how it shows up on the statistics.

Using two list prices to create a ‘price range’ was added as an option about ten years ago as an alternative to “get the conversation started”.

It does provide one benefit on the MLS. Agents looking for properties up to $800,000 would see a listing priced on the range $799,000 to $849,000, where if it had just the one price of $849,000, the agent wouldn’t see it.

How is it working? Here are the stats for the NSDCC detached homes sold in September, 2013:

Total homes sold: 259
Number of listings that used value-range pricing: 67, or 26%
Average SP:LP, using the bottom of range: 101%
Average SP:LP, using the top end of range: 94%
Number of sales closed under the bottom of the range: 16, or 24%

In September, the average sales price was just barely above the average bottom price of the range. Almost a quarter of the sales prices were under the low end.

Here is the comparison of the sales using the value-range pricing, vs. those using just one price – it looks like the MLS is using the top-end of the range for their statistics:

Sept. 2013	Value-Range Pricing	One List Price
Number of Sales	67	192
Average SP:LP	94%	97%
Avg. SP/sf	$434/sf	$479/sf
Avg DOM	31	52

Those who use the value-range pricing can expect buyers to gravitate to the bottom of the range. The listings with the extra-large ranges have trouble trying to bridge the gap – the recommended gap is 6% to 8%.

Many buyers see the bottom of the range and want to go down from there, and others are turned off altogether. Furthermore, the main listing websites use the top end of the range only. Sellers beware – use the value range with caution!

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Oct 25, 2013 in Jim's Take on the Market, Listing Agent Practices, Why You Should List With Jim | 3 comments

Home Price Reductions

It is natural for home sellers to resist lowering their price.

No matter what the evidence is, we want to believe that there has to be other alternatives. The blame game usually starts early too, and virtually everyone makes the list:

1. The agent isn’t doing enough.

2. The government.

3. The Fed.

4. The Democrats.

5. The Republicans.

6. The Padres.

7. The Chargers.

8. The wife and kids.

9. The dog.

10. The ‘market’.

Sellers are usually so resistant that when confronted with lowering thier price, they won’t even ask why. For those who do, here is the answer:

Posted by Jim the Realtor on Oct 21, 2013 in Bubbleinfo TV, Carmel Valley, Jim's Take on the Market, Market Conditions, Why You Should List With Jim | 0 comments

Get Your Home Sold

The political circus got kicked down the road a couple of months, and weather will be great for another week – it’s a perfect time to sell your house!

But you’ve already been on the market for a few months, and no luck. You experienced a big rush in the beginning, but now it’s down to a trickle. You think – if someone would just make an offer…..

What can sellers do to get their home sold in the next 30 days?

Start with putting yourself in the buyers’ shoes, and examine your online presence – is it compelling? Are there quality photos and video? Does the listing make you want to go see the house?

Then look at how your price compares with others for sale in the neighborhood. If there are two or more competing homes for sale, and nobody is selling, then a breakout is needed. Lower your price to be the cheapest of the bunch, or the cheapest $/sf – and make the gap big enough that it is obvious to buyers that you are the best deal.

Nothing works as well as lowering your price. But there are other things you can do to help the cause - complete as many of these items as possible:

Jim’s A La Carte List: