View from the trenches

In the past 3 weekends my colleagues and I have introduced three properties in "popular" neighborhoods that all received multiple offers. In each case none of the initial offers, despite the buyers being aware of the competitive bidding situation, reached the asking price. What was seen by all three sellers, with three very different homes, is that buyers are very cautiously submitting offers on property even in what had been considered "A+" locations. In the end two of the three properties went under agreement, and I'm sure the third isn't far behind, but I'm not sure if any of the three very popular listings will sell for full asking price. The other observation shared by all three listing agents is the drawn-out nature of the multi-offer negotiating process. In the past buyers saw the competition and one or two made a push to win the property. I think all parties would agree that in these cases the buyers gingerly approached the negotiating rounds and at no point was anyone truly forcing the issue and taking control of the negotiations. At the end of the day the signs are somewhat conflicting. Sellers who have a strong product to offer will still find a significant number of interested and qualified buyers. Those buyers will still make offers, but the speed and strength of those offers has been greatly reduced.

Finally, these three properties all had very strong initial open houses. In the case of two of the properties they were introduced to the marketplace on Easter Weekend, had no print advertising driving traffic to the door, and still drew an extremely high number of open house guests. If I were the Boston Globe I would start to worry that sellers are going to stop pushing for their house to be listed in the Sunday print edition, because agents have been saying for years now that the print media does not aid the selling process at all. I would much rather take the significant money spent on Globe advertising and create content-rich websites and e-marketing campaigns. At the end of the day, the sellers usually want to be in the Globe no matter what, so we're there, but this process would be significantly less costly without print media.

Where are all the houses?

As we approach Super Bowl Sunday we should be seeing the start of the busiest portion of the annual real estate calendar. Wednesday "Broker Tour" open houses should number in the 30-40 range each week and we should see new inventory popping on the market left and right. Instead, what we're seeing is an average of 5-10 new listings each week. More distressing though is the lack of Broker Tour property. Two weeks ago there were a whopping 6 showings available to the brokerage community and last week there were 8. To put this in perspective, in October of 2005 there were 65 properties open on a single Wednesday.

I cannot understand why any listing agent, trying to make a positive impression on the market, wouldn't open up for an hour on Wednesday. Also, why aren't sellers pushing for more and more exposure? Normally we've seen listing agents introduce their properties to MLS on Thursday night or Friday to give them the highest likelihood of attracting "direct" buyers to their open houses two days later. This week I am going to be trying a different approach. I will be bringing a listing on the market on Monday, trying to attract the buyers' agents to bring their clients in. The buyers are out there, let's make sure they can see the properties!

Have you ever sold a car?

I attended a training program last week that I was reminded of yesterday. As many of you might not know, Wednesdays are "Broker Tours" for Brookline property. Since many agents are busy with clients and customers on the weekends, Wednesday is the day we get to preview listings in an open house style visit. I walked into a new listing near Brookline Village and was greeted by a dirty, empty room and wood floors in absolutely horrible condition. If this were a vacant condo I could overlook the emptiness, but the owners were still living here. They had all of their furniture crammed into the two bedrooms and the living room, and had a lovely dining room space that was bare and dusty.

My question: Have they ever sold a car?

When you sell or trade in a car you most likely spend the day before bringing it to the dealership getting the car detailed, cleaned inside and out and repair any nagging issues. You make sure that the second you drive into the dealership the car is looking better than it ever has. The papers and leaves are all removed, the floor mats are clean, and everything looks and smells shiny and new. You take a little extra time because you know that it will directly improve the price someone's willing to pay.

So why is it that homeowners don't do these things? I know in some cases I am preaching to the choir, but there is this mentality out there that lets people think they can just throw a sign on their lawn, open the door and leave it to the agent to work magic. Then, if it doesn't sell the agent must be a failure. In this case the homeowner has given the agent absolutely no shot. The first impression someone gets by walking into this condo is that it's been neglected. The owners don't care, they're not willing to do the things necessary to show the condo. How willing are these owners going to be to negotiate? Are they even serious about selling? All of a sudden these are the things going through our head, not "wow, does this space fit what I'm hoping to find?"

Instead of sitting there making jokes about the condition of the property I went around with another agent and took a look at what furniture was available for the empty room. While it was clearly a dining space at one point we were able to find a desk, a lovely chair, a bookshelf and some end tables which turned this barren, dirty space into a lovely sitting room and office. We did not spend a penny, we did not disrupt the homeowner at all, and we did it all in about 20 minutes. Now all of a sudden the horrible floors didn't stand out so much, the space looked livable and the condo felt like maybe it could become someone's home. We uncluttered an overcrowded bedroom by removing the desk and shelf, we added flow to the living room by moving the chair and we most likely brought the value of this space back in line with the asking price the sellers were hoping to get. This is staging. This is why you need an agent who understands property around you. This is why I spend my valuable time earning certifications like my Home Staging Specialist designation.

Next time you are about to display your house to the public, think about selling a car and compare your preparation. It will make you money.

Property news as we go into the "off-season."

As we approach the busy shopping and family visiting time of year, properties like The Warwick and Washington on the Square will most likely get more aggressive in marketing their final batches of units. Last year, when I was one of the listing agents for the Warwick, the busiest week we had was the week immediately before Christmas. That Saturday morning we were able to put 4 condos under agreement. I point this out because as buyers, you should still feel comfortable putting property under agreement if it fits the quality of life you are looking for. In fact, you might just find that the seller is more willing to negotiate in these upcoming weeks than they will in early January with the prospects of the "Spring Market" around the corner.

As you go about your holiday preparations, please consider me a resource. Having represented buildings like the Warwick as well as many other properties in and around Brookline, if there is a question about something you have seen, I will do my best to answer it. I spend much of my time during the week previewing new listings (most of the time before they hit MLS) and will be more than happy to try to point you in the right direction.

What do you think?

We're in the final week of October now and we're about to turn the corner into the Holiday Season. How have you found the fall market? Are there properties which have interested you? How has the mortgage crunch affected you? Why are you or aren't you involved in the market? Post your comments below.

Get Ready for Your Interview

It's Friday again, and while most of us are thinking about Cowboys and Indians, you should also start preparing for your interviews on Sunday. Stop scratching your head and think about your normal Open House behavior. There are three reasons why most people attend an Open House.

1) You're not working with an agent and you are "just starting" your search.

2) You're working with an agent and they haven't found and property to show you privately.

3) You're bored and want to walk around and see what's out there

For the first reason, this open house visit is critical. All of the people who will be involved in the decision making process should be out there looking at the same things together. You should use your time to identify key elements of each home that you like or would like to avoid (write them down!!). You should also, most importantly, start interviewing agents through their performance at Open Houses. A good agent will not be all over you. They should let you take in the atmosphere and style of the home, stand back and let you identify which questions need to be answered, and then be armed with the information you need to compare and contrast the things you're looking at with what you cannot see. Buyers so often think that they'll just walk aimlessly from listing to listing without a game plan or process for narrowing down their search. There is no more colossal waste of time in my mind. Every time you walk in the door you are interviewing either the agent or the property, and on a good match, maybe even both.

The second reason for viewing an Open House (working with an agent but they're not privately showing you property) is a symptom of the first. How did you select your agent, and once selected, did you give them a realistic list of property priorities? Did they have a buyer questionnaire for you to fill out which identifies your reasons for moving and your housing priorities? Have you seen a lot of property with them and not found a match yet? In a lot of cases, a well paired buyer and agent team should be able to look at fewer than 10 properties before finding a match.

The final reason, boredom and curiosity is actually great. It's a wonderful way to understand what is going on in the market around you, therefore making you more informed if and when you or a friend of yours decides to enter the market. Remember, it's never a bad time to start interviewing agents. You know who your physician is, your mechanic, your barber/stylist, etc... why not identify your Realtor before you need them too?

Enjoy the weekend, good luck in your interviews, and I hope you find a match!

Open House Advice

Today many of you will search open house listings, visit an open house or speak with an agent about a house you saw in the paper or online. As you have those conversations with agents, please remember a few key facts about Open Houses.

1) When you call an agent about a property they have advertised that ad becomes the "procuring cause" of your contact with the property, and your rights to use a buyer's agent have been lost.

2) When you visit an open house and do not sign in as working with an agent, that open house becomes the procuring cause, and again your rights to use a buyer's agent have been lost.

3) When you search Boston Homes, the Globe or Boston.com you need to remember that you are not seeing a large portion of the homes currently on the market. Since Open Houses don't usually lead to the sale of that specific property offices are cutting back more and more on their weekend advertising. The open house is almost exclusively seen as a tool for agents to generate contacts with potential buyer clients these days. This means the office, as property sits on the market longer, has to take a good hard look at how many properties go in the weekend publications.

These three facts make it critical that you employ a buyers agent. You need to have a contract signed with this agent to make sure you get your full protection. This contract, except for the most rare situations, is free and the obligation (99.9% of the time) to pay your buyer's agent falls to the seller. I suggest you use this weekend to interview an agent or two. The top agents today will not be sitting in open houses, they will be out viewing property for clients or in the office writing offers for their clients. Remember this as you go out, and make sure you stack the cards as much as you can in your favor. Happy Sunday!

Go Sox! Go Pats!

The dangers of The Globe Real Estate section

Every week I see it. The top searches box in the upper right corner of The Globe's homepage. "Open Houses" is always at or very near the top. It's great in theory that you can just go to your local paper, enter your search criteria and not have to worry about being contacted by an agent. I mean, it makes perfect sense. I want to by a home, I go to an advertising section in a paper. I want to buy food, I can find that in the Globe too, same with clothes, or stocks, or furniture. OF COURSE NOT!

Yes, there are a lot of real estate agents out there, and sometimes contacting them will cause one of them to call you back. It's amazing that consumers like to complain about how little agents do for their money, but these same consumers go to great lengths to avoid all of the efforts those very same agents are doing.

Here's the scenario: I am a listing agent for "Property A." Before signing the listing contract I went out and did a thorough market analysis sifting through over 1200 homes which have recently sold. I've compared square footages, amenities, finishes, styles and proximity to the things we all want to be close to. I've now presented my case to the sellers. At that moment, I am the most knowledgeable person about that property and its place in the market. What gets overlooked is I can also tell you about the 5-10 closest "competitors" to this listing as I've already analyzed their square footages, amenities, etc...

Now, Mr. & Mrs. Buyer, you give me a phone call, and I determine with you that you're qualified to buy "Property A" and it seems like it might be a good fit. We arrange a meeting to go see Property A but we also take a look at the three most similar alternatives currently available. There are over 400 homes on the market, how much time did you, the buyers, have to spend researching and sifting through to come up with those alternatives? None. It's my job.

Here's the other danger with searching the Globe. It's an advertising section, and therefore only has the listings which each company has chosen to put in on that specific week. There are many properties which never have open houses (they don't really lead to property sales) and the Globe doesn't let you see that inventory.

Call an agent. They are working hard every day to preview the market, determine what the best values are, and weed out the ones that don't fit.