Home Prices Post Fourth Month of Gains

Have we turned the corner on house prices?? Read the following article reprinted from Inman News for some insight.

Home prices post fourth month of gains

By Inman News
Inman News™

U.S. home prices inched up for the fourth month in a row, rising 0.9 percent from June to July, according to the latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
Only two of the 20 metro areas tracked by the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite saw month-to-month price declines: Las Vegas (-0.2 percent) and Phoenix (-0.1 percent). The index showed prices in Las Vegas down 59.3 percent from their August 2006 peak, hitting a new low.
Looking back a year, 18 out of 20 metro areas saw annual price declines, with the price index for Minneapolis falling 9.1 percent, Phoenix down 8.8 percent, and Portland, Ore., dropping 8.4 percent.
Detroit (up 1.2 percent) and Washington D.C. (up 0.3 percent) were the only cities to post annual gains in July, leaving the 20-City Composite down 4.1 percent.
But a dozen other cities -- Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, and Tampa -- posted improvements in annual price declines compared to June.

Metros tracked in Case-Shiller 20-City Composite

Metro	Change June-July	Change from year ago
Atlanta	0.2%	-5.0%
Boston	0.8%	-1.9%
Charlotte	0.1%	-3.9%
Chicago	1.9%	-6.6%
Cleveland	0.8%	-5.4%
Dallas	0.9%	-3.2%
Denver	0.0%	-2.1%
Detroit	3.8%	1.2%
Las Vegas	-0.2%	-5.4%
Los Angeles	0.2%	-5.4%
Miami	1.2%	-4.6%
Minneapolis	2.6%	-9.1%
New York	1.1%	-3.7%
Phoenix	-0.1%	-8.8%
Portland	1.0%	-8.4%
San Diego	0.1%	-5.9%
San Francisco	0.3%	-5.6%
Seattle	0.1%	-6.4%
Tampa	0.8%	-6.2%
Washington, D.C.	2.4%	0.3%
10-City Composite	0.9%	-3.7%
20-City Composite	0.9%	-4.1%

Source: S&P Indices and Fiserv
 
Standard & Poor's said the report included some "unusually large revisions" across some metro areas. Detroit was the most affected, with additional sales in May and June showing "a much healthier market than previously thought."

The problem with ... “We can always go down, but we can’t go up.” ...The 7 Deadly Sins of Overpricing

The problem with ... “We can always go down, but we can’t go up.” ...

Overpricing a home can have many ramifications for a home seller.  It can limit the number of potential buyers who can afford your home, reduce showings and create an impression in the marketplace that the homeowners aren’t really serious about selling their home.  Serious homeowners who overprice their home often get caught in the trap of price reduction after price reduction trying to catch up to the market.
During the past year, U.S. home sellers slashed more than $24 billion from home listings on Trulia.com. Trulia’s Q1 Home Offer Report indicated that on average, most sellers will reduce their list price after 79 days on the market, choosing to cut their original list price by 8 percent. Following a first reduction, 35 percent of these sellers will make a second.
Most homebuyers look at 10-15 homes before making a buying decision. Because of this, setting a competitive price relative to the competition is an essential component to a successful marketing strategy. Underpricing a home isn’t good either- educating your clients about the importance of properly pricing a home is key to the home sales process.

7 Deadly Sins of Overpricing

Most experts would advise that the best way to increase your odds of a successful sale is to price your home at fair market value. But, as logical as this advice sounds, for many sellers it is still tempting to tack a few percentage points onto the price to "leave room to negotiate". To avoid this temptation, let's take a

look at the seven deadly sins of overpricing:

1. Appraisal Problems

Even if you do find a buyer willing to pay an inflated price, the fact is over 90% of buyers use some kind of financing to pay for their home purchase. If your home won't appraise for the purchase price the sale will likely fail.

2. No Showings

Today's sophisticated home buyers are well educated about the real estate market. If your home is overpriced they won't bother looking at it, let alone make you an offer.

3. Branding Problems

When a new listing hits the market, every agent quickly checks the property out to see if it's a good fit for their clients. If your home is branded as "overpriced", reigniting interest may take drastic measures.

4. Selling the Competition

Overpricing helps your competition. How? You make their lower prices seem like bargains. Nothing is worse than watching your neighbors put up a sold sign.

5. Stagnation

The longer your home sits on the market, the more likely it is to become stigmatized or stale. Have you ever seen a property that seems to be perpetually for sale? Do you ever wonder - What's wrong with that house?

6. Tougher Negotiations

Buyers who do view your home may negotiate harder because the home has been on the market for a longer

period of time and because it is overpriced compared to the competition.

7. Lost Opportunities

You will lose a percentage of buyers who are outside of your price point. These are buyers who are looking in the price range that the home will eventually sell for but don't see the home because the price is above their pre-set budget.

Most buyers look at 10-15 homes before making a buying decision. Because of this, setting a competitive price relative to the competition is an essential component to a successful marketing strategy.

This great article was reprinted with permission from Trulia.com

Proper Pricing is Sooooo Important!

We had 2 of our listings sell in the past week or so, each with their own "pricing" story that you might learn something from.
The first went on the market on a Thursday. It had 4 showings over the weekend and 2 offers. By Tuesday it was under contract. It was a cute home, in nice condition, and priced right. They didn't have it priced high to see if they could catch someone, then if not lower it in a while. That tactic just wastes time and gives your house a negative spin. They did their homework and priced it right from the start.
The second home I'm using as an example was, again, a very nice house. The owners were in no huge rush to move, so they priced it where they hoped against hope they'd get a buyer. After much time passed with lookers and no offers they did a drastic price reduction. We cancelled out their old listing, and put it in fresh with some new words, some new photos, but most importantly a new price. Within 10 days they, too, were under contract.
The moral of the story is that there ARE buyers out there. Every hit your property gets on realtor.com, and every family that comes to see your home IS a buyer. If you don't capture them because your home is priced too high it's just a waste. You don't have your home on the market just to meet new and interesting people. You want to get it SOLD!
Check realtor.com for homes currently on the market so you can see what your competition is. Sign up for email alerts (link to this found on our home page) to find out when new listings come on the market so you can keep an eye on pricing trends.
We also have an arrangement with an appraiser to do a Certified Appraisal on your home for only $250. This is a good savings, and will give you a sense of what a buyer would find when having your home appraised for their mortgage. Find out if you're on the mark or way off base.
Send us any questions you have, and let us know if we can help!

Do agents show our listings?

  I had some very good questions today from a woman who is planning to list her house with us. She wanted to double check on a couple of aspects of our program. She wondered whether agents would actually show her house once she listed with us.
  I assured her that the agents definitely show our listings just as often as they show other homes. They are guaranteed commission on our listings just as they would be a listing of Prudential, ReMax, or any other company. As far as agents are concerned our listings are not "For Sale By Owner", but are real MLS listings with commission attached to them.
  With technology being what it is they wouldn't dare not show our properties. Their buyers have already seen our listings on CutTheCommission.com, Realtor.com, CTReal.com, Zillow.com, Homes.com, Yahoo.com, Trulia.com and every other real estate website in existance. The agent knows that if they don't show the house the buyer will call the owner directly to see it.
  So what the heck... if the agent doesn't choose to show the house it saves you the 3% commission when the buyer comes to you directly :-) But the agents are smart enough to realize this, so Yes, Virginia, The agents will show your house. Besides, we've been around for 23 years now, so our listing program is nothing new to the agents. They're familiar with how we work and are glad to have some extra inventory to show and possibly make some money on.
  In the meantime you, the smart seller, save half the traditional commission or all of it if your home sells without a Buyer's Agent. Sweet......

New Listing in Waterford,CT

Are you or a friend looking for a great home in the Waterford, CT area? We have a new listing at 222 Butlertown Road that is definitely worth a look. Beautiful newer home with a sunny open floor plan. Set on lots of acreage for your own use or to possibly subdivide.  Check it out on our site, or MLS #G585521.This is a picture of the rear showing their beautiful deck with retractable awning. Yes, Spring is coming and you'll get a lot of use out of this south facing deck!

Welcome to our Blog!

Thank you for visiting our Blog. We'll be keeping you posted on new listings that we get as we get them. Feel free to email these posts to any friends that might be interested in the listing that we're featuring.
We'll also review questions that we get from buyers and sellers. Most questions are very typical. If someone calls or emails us with a question we know there are many more of you wondering about the same thing.
So... let us know what you're thinking, and what you'd like to hear about.
We look forward to making your buying and selling experience easier!
We'll talk soon...