Andrea Scott #1 Alamo Realtor

Today, the majority of consumers, 75 percent, say it’s a good time to sell a house. Based on Fannie Mae’s recent Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) reveals the number of respondents who say it’s a good time to sell is higher now than it was over the past few summers.

In a recent post, Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American, offers a different take on the financial components of housing affordability. Kushi proposes we should at least consider the impact equity build-up has on the affordability equation, stating: For those trying to buy a home, rapid house price appreciation can be intimidating and makes the purchase more expensive. However, once the home is purchased, appreciation helps build equity in the home, and becomes a benefit rather than a cost. When accounting for the appreciation benefit in our rent versus own analysis, it was cheaper to own in every one of the top 50 markets.

Whether or not you’ve been following the real estate industry lately, there’s a good chance you’ve heard we’re in a serious sellers’ market. But what does that really mean? And why are conditions today so good for people who want to list their house? It starts with the number of houses available for sale. The latest Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows housing supply is still astonishingly low. Today, we have a 2.6-month supply of homes at the current sales pace. Historically, a 6-month supply is necessary for a ‘normal’ or ‘neutral’ market in which there are enough homes available for active buyers. - Keeping Current Matters.

It’s economy 101 – when supply is low and demand is high, prices naturally rise. That’s what’s happening in today’s housing market. Home prices are appreciating at near-historic rates, and that’s creating some challenges when it comes to home appraisals. In recent months, it’s become increasingly common for an appraisal to come in below the contract price on the house. Shawn Telford, Chief Appraiser for CoreLogic, explains it like this: “Recently, we observed buyers paying prices above listing price and higher than the market data available to appraisers can support. This difference is known as ‘the appraisal gap . . . .’”

Basically, with the heightened buyer demand, purchasers are often willing to pay over asking to secure the home of their dreams. If you’ve ever toured a house you’ve fallen in love with, you understand. Once you start to picture yourself and your furniture in the rooms, you want to do everything you can to land the property, including putting in a high offer to try to beat out other would-be buyers. When the appraiser comes in, they look at things a bit more objectively. Their job is to assess the inherent value of the home, so they’re going to study the facts. Dustin Harris, Appraiser Coach, drives this point home: “It’s important for everyone to understand that the appraiser’s job in the end is to remain that unbiased third party, to truly tell the lender what that home is worth in the current market, regardless of what decisions have been made on the price side of things.”

As of this writing, my current list-to-sales price ratio is 10% above the asking price year to date, and the average Alamo realtor’s list-to-sales price ratio is 6% above the asking price.

This is another one of the top 3 questions sellers and buyers should ask realtors they are considering hiring to represent them. Real estate is a full time job, and then some! Everyone will tell you that 60-80 hour weeks are the norm. A part time realtor and a full time realtor cost you the same – why settle for less than what you are owed?

This is another one of the top 3 questions sellers and buyers should ask realtors they are considering hiring to represent them. Especially for sellers, the way a lower cost home is marketed is different from the way a higher cost home is marketed. A realtor accustomed to marketing lower cost homes will not have the skill set for a higher priced home. Additionally for both buyers and sellers, if your property is much lower than the realtor’s norm, will you receive the attention you deserve?

This is one of the top 3 questions sellers and buyers should ask realtors they are considering hiring to represent them. Real estate is hyper-local, the real estate community networks together for the good of all. If the other realtors do not know your realtor because they don’t usually work in that area, you won’t be getting the best information. Also, in many neighborhoods homes vary in value from street to street, and even by position on the street. You’ll want someone who can guide you with this level of detail.

In a real estate transaction, the brokerages are usually paid by the seller via commission. Typically, a real estate commission fee is 5–6% of the home’s final sale price. In many cases, both the buyer’s broker and the seller’s broker split the commission fee 50/50. Both receiving 2.5–3%. The real estate agents receive a portion of this fee.

The selling price of a house fluctuates depending on multiple factors. The most common ones are the neighborhood and what similar-sized houses are currently selling for. Also, look at the age and condition. If it looks more like The Brady Bunch than Chip and Joanna were there, that will have a very big effect on value in the eyes of a buyer. And again, the market matters. Like everything else, home prices vary depending on supply and demand.

As of this writing, my average days on market for a single family home year to date is 6; the average Alamo home represented by other realtors was on the market for 17 days, and the longest time has been 479. Depending on whom you hire, somewhere between 6 and 17 days is likely.

Yes. Lately, all inspections have been being performed in advance by sellers, so that buyers feel comfortable making completely non-contingent offers. But even before this sellers’ market, knowing what might arise during a transaction gives the seller the ability to head off problems. When a property goes pending and then falls out of contract, it is rare that the seller receives another offer at or above the original one, as this situation is generally considered to be a ‘black eye’ on the property. The buyer cannot ask for credits nor repairs on issues that they knew about when they wrote the offer, so pre-sale inspections are a wise addition to a complete disclosure package.

First impressions matter in business, but especially in real estate. The online presentation is what will get buyers through the door. This entails property preparation with an eye toward photography, top notch photography, and a professional property website. My job is to get you ‘eyeballs,’ that means that I assist you in creating a fabulous internet presence, and make sure that it gets in front of the largest possible pool of buyers currently in the market for a home like yours. If that value proposition is correct, eyeballs become feet – the buyers see your property in person – and feet become offers. Curious to learn more? I’d love to discuss it with you further.