This is how we roll - helping sellers and keeping buyers informed

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or Subscribe by email on the right. Thanks for visiting!

In an incredibly tough market like this, you have to be on your toes. Use your time wisely and productively. As a real estate agent, one of the key things you need to know is the inventory in your area. What are the average days on the market? What is the average list to sale ratio for the neighborhood? And you have to know the inventory… What do the houses in the neighborhood look like compared to mine? What condition is the house in right now? The Mt Airy Long & Foster Office real estate agents cover four counties; Frederick, Howard, Carroll and Montgomery.

We are getting back to basics at the Mt Airy Long & Foster Office. Once, sometimes twice a month, we schedule a LARGE caravan of our real estate agents to preview our listings. This has a twofold affect… One; the agents get to see new homes and get first hand knowledge of the condition, location and layout of the them. They are able to talk more intelligently about the neighborhood and provide their buyers valuable time saving information. Two; there are multiple agents previewing the home to provide feedback to the seller. They know what their buyers expect out of the homes in today’s market. The seller might not have noticed that wrinkled carpet, but the buyer will. Maybe the paint job is not that complimentary and needs to be neutralized. When you live in a house there are a lot things that kind of disappear into the background. A discerning buyer will pick up the littlest item and might cause them to reject the rest of the beauty the home has to offer. The inventory is too high not to be best in show. When you are selling a home you have have to have an open mind to the suggestions made with feedback. Granted, you are not going to be able to address all the items, nor will you really want to. But it is best to know what other think about your house, because it will help you position yourself as competitive as possible. In this market you should consider staging your home to increase your appeal.

Some agents believe the caravans or home tours are a waste of time…my question? What information are they providing to their clients? It sure isn’t anything about your house! And besides, what else are they doing with their time? I can think of two instances that an agent on tour immediately called their buyers to inform them of the house they were previewing. This lead to scheduling a showing for that seller. Both agents said they would have never known the beauty of the house if it were not for the tour. Sometimes, pictures and words on the internet don’t do the property justice.

Speaking of pictures… I still don’t understand why agents only put ONE picture of the home on the internet… That’s another day’s ~~rant~~ blog.

December 12, 2007 · Filed Under Buyer, Frederick MD Real Estate, seller

9 Comments

Who pays for a Buyers Agent?

That is a common question that I get from first time home buyers. There’s a lot of information you should know about your buyers agent. One of the concerns you can push to the side is the fact YOU DON’T PAY THEM. Yep, they work for free…well not really. But Bob, right there in the Buyer Agency Agreement, it says I must pay them X%. Read a little closer…

Click picture to enlarge

If the seller has agreed to pay the co-op to the broker that brings a ready, willing and able buyer, the seller will pay commission. This statement really applies to FSBO (For Sale By Owner) properties. There are occasions when the FSBO homeowner is reluctant to pay a commission. Your buyers agent should know this when he/she schedules a showing for the FSBO property. (Some agents charge a retainer fee for their services, this is the exception not the norm) The seller credit for the commission will show up on the HUD1 at closing as an expense to the seller.

Here is some of the minimum paperwork your buyer’s agent should go over with you on your first visit. At the very minimum he/she has to disclose to you two forms; Understanding Whom the Real Agents Represent and Consent for Dual Agency. I am not going to go into complete detail on both of these today. But a couple things I want to stress, these are required documents from our Real Estate Commission. They are non-binding. If I am to show you a house, I need you to understand a few disclosures.

Understanding Whom the Real Estate Agents Represent basically tells you the roles of the agent. An agent can either represent a seller or a buyer…NEVER BOTH. When you tell your agent something in confidence, it is theirs to keep and respect…not to be discussed with others. Your agent is to represent your best interest. I like to think of it as…it is my job to keep the most amount of money in your pocket and protect you from future damages as best as possible.

Consent for Dual Agency has to deal with the brokerage company. Your buyers agent can show you any house that is listed in the MLS or on the internet in the area in which that agent is licensed to sell real estate regardless of who list the home. Example: I work for Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. I can show you any house listed with RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, Weichert, Real Estate Teams, or any Frederick Real Estate Companies. Agency is actually with the broker of record not the agent. Now where dual agency comes into play is with an agent showing you homes listed with their brokerage. (me showing you other Long & Foster homes) what you have to understand; Long & Foster has an agency agreement with the Seller and the Buyer on the same house. They no longer have exclusive agency with the buyer and the seller. In my opinion, the seller’s agent and the buyer agent are two different people and protect their clients information from everyone in the office, but you must be informed that the chance exist that it can be compromised in the same office. Without consent for dual agency, two things can happen, either the property can be shown on behalf of the seller (seller’s best interest in mind) or agency is broker for either the buyer or the seller and representation is made with another brokerage. Either way you need to know your options.

A good buyers agent will alway look out for your best interest. They will walk you through the whole process of buying a home. Stick around are read more about the buying process.

Here is an example packet prepared for a Buyer. Read through the documents. This is not an all inclusive list of documents, there will be more as preferred by the buyers agent. I am not a lawyer and do not offer legal advice. If you have questions concerning the legal aspects of the documents, please consult an attorney for advice. If you have questions about real estate…call me.

November 28, 2007 · Filed Under Buyer, Frederick MD Real Estate

3 Comments

Housing Market in Frederick MD

We are starting to close in on another year. It’s hard to believe that 2007 is almost in the bag. The Frederick Fair is here, the leaves are about to fall, and I mean fall, since it has been so dry. Time sure flies when you’re having fun…. The Frederick County housing inventory has climbed to 2338 as of right now. The new homes to the market have pretty much been flat all year with an average of 18 new listings every day. Granted some of the listings were ones that were previously listed with another agent. Sellers have been pretty frustrated in this market. They haven’t been getting the price that they truly wanted. It’s not the agents fault…the market determines the price. With Foreclosures in Frederick County on the climb, (Currently 95 in Preforeclosure and 226 in Foreclosure status according to RealtyTrac.) pricing is a moving target. Unfortunately, foreclosures and short sales are your next appraisal and it will impact your sales price. You will need to lower your price, if you want to move on to the next step…this is a reality. Loans are harder to get and also harder to keep together. With all the changes the Mortgage market is going through, sometimes they are disintegrating before they get to closing. So here, as the seller you will also need patience. Lenders have been giving out money way too easily and now we are paying for it. Paying for in a sense that we have been spoiled. We have been used to lenders jumping through hoops to give out money. Now they make the buyer jump through hoops to get the money…not as easy any more.

Here’s a chart of a few numbers over the past year.

Past market updates;

September 17, 2007 · Filed Under Buyer, Frederick MD Real Estate, Market Condition, frederick real estate, seller

Comment

Open Houses for Labor Day Weekend

I had some issues with the links in the last Open House. So I will try something new. Since it is a Holiday weekend the number of Open houses are low. Have a great holiday.

Here is a link to all the open houses scheduled in Frederick County for this weekend to include Condos, Single Family and Townhouses. They are sorted by least expensive to the most expensive scheduled open house.

Frederick County Open Houses <— Click here

August 29, 2007 · Filed Under Buyer, Frederick MD Real Estate

Comment

← Previous Page — Next Page →