It seems everyday now I am asked to do a market analysis for a homeowner in hopes of selling and moving on with their lives.  In so many circumstances, folks have no idea what has been going on around them in their own neighborhood – that prices have declined by 20% and that in order to sell they’d have to take a huge loss in the tens of thousands of dollars.  I guess I’m writing to suggest that you stay on top of your market value.  A good Realtor can run this data and analyze it for you at no charge.  Just like an appraisal, this info is only really valid for a short period of time (i.e. you wouldn’t want to use an appraisal from 6 months or a year ago – it needs to be recent).  It’s not all doom & gloom, but if you bought in 2006-2008, there’s a good chance you’ll be in a similar situation if you need to sell. 

I've spoken to numerous home owners that spent months if not years trying to sell their home after bouncing around from Realtor to Realtor, and often a large part of what they were concerned with was saving 1 or 2% on the real estate commission. 

Now, the commission is surely the largest expense of selling, but I always ask these sellers this:

'By listing with a Realtor that agrees to cut their rate 1%, what are you saving when they don't sell you house after 6 months?  You are saving exactly 1% of zero - nada!  Plus, you have wasted your most valuable marketing time while you days on market (DOM) have risen - often stigmatizing your property.'

Not to mention that a properly exposed & marketed home will help sell a home for more - far exceeding any marginal reduction of commission.  So, before you focus on potential 'savings' - think about the cost of not working with someone that will earn their commission and get you a faster result and higher sales price.

There are segments of buyers that didn't capitalize on the tax credits and are still in the market to buy a house.  There are different reasons for this such as:

• They were tied to a lease during the tax credits.  I just got a call on one of my listings from some nice folks that have a lease up in November, and they are in the market to buy now. 
  
• They didn't have their finances or credit in order at the time.
• Maybe it wasn't the right timing due to the birth of a child.
  

The point is, as much as everyone would've liked to taken advantage of the tax credits last year and early this year, it just wasn't the right time for everyone.  So breathe easy sellers - people are still buying real estate in the Triad!

My first blog!  Where to start?  I thought I'd start with the basics.  The things I seem to repeat a lot.  I mean a lot.  It's not that they're complex or hard to understand concepts.  It's just that I work in a field (like anybody else) that has it's own language and/or is overly boring until you are in the market to buy or sell a home.  So, I guess my first few blogs will be about the basics - working with a Realtor (me) as a buyer, as a seller, or as both.  We will cover:

• Buyer Agency - Hiring a Realtor in or around Greensboro, NC to represent you through a purchase.
  
• Seller Representation - Hiring a Realtor to assist you in the sale of a piece of real estate.
  
• Both - As a seller, you may decided to up-size, downsize, move across town (or country) - this is a good time to have a Realtor (I suggest the same Realtor) help you with selling your current home and acquiring your next piece of real estate.

So that's it - I hope you'll stay tuned for more, and I'll try my best to keep fresh articles posted regularly!