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Walking a Mile (in My Shoes) as a Real Estate Agent
Being a real estate agent is one of the greatest privileges in the world. It requires a diverse skill-set of sales, compassion, empathy, marketing, organization, hustle, wit and patience. It’s connected me with people in ways unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before and is incomparable to any job I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot). It takes no guts to start but it takes all of them to continue.
I briefly started to emulate Greg’s thoughts and style and quickly determined that wouldn’t be fair to either of us. So I went with a bit of a stream of consciousness. But pulled out two of his points that resonated most with me.
Tips for a New Homeowner in Charlottesville
Homeownership means, for better or worse, you never stop working on and protecting your home. The Charlottesville area can be a moist, humid environment with lots of stinkbugs, termites, bad ladybugs and more. This means constant vigilance concerning your home.
A client who will soon be a homeowner for the first time asked me for advice – what does he need to do once he owns the home? (I’m thisclose to recommending that folks do as I say and not as I do and get a home inspection every couple of years)
Naturally, I asked on Twitter and Google + (I’m not giving up on it quite yet) and got some useful and interesting responses from homeowners and real estate folks.
Before I go on, thank you to everyone who answered; I sincerely appreciate the responses and for your helping me help my client (and hopefully quite a few more)
Stephen provided the most comprehensive answer:
I heard homeowners should budget to spend ~2% of the house price in maintenance per year. May sound like a lot, but if you do the math and add it up over the last 5 years and two houses I’ve done: repave driveway, replace HVAC, septic pumping, minor pluming leak, replace dishwasher, replace switches, replace main water shutoff valve, repair drywall, repaint railings, clean gutters (didn’t have a big enough ladder), pest control … and that doesn’t even include costs of yard maintenance. And then there’s upgrades like: new fence, new wood stove, install garage door opener, new garbage disposal, new propane tank, replace fixtures and cabinet handles, new tv antenna… There may be more I’m forgetting…*
Jane offers simple and perfect advice: “Never. Never ignore water or damp inside the house.” (I’m bolding this one)
Jennifer said – “Get a ladder and some basic tools and clean your gutters”
Steve says on G+ – “Claim your home on Zillow. If the listing agent or previous homeowner provided a description and photos, those may not be relevant anymore. Plus, it puts the control back where it belongs. That, and buy some duct tape and WD40.”
This is an interesting response (Steve’s in California where Zillow may be more accurate) … In Charlottesville, Zillow’s accuracy is dubious at best, but I’m finding more and more of my clients are using Zillow, even if only for ancillary information. So … better to be prepared!
Jeremy says: “Changing air filters DOES make a difference”
Bobbi suggests: “Fireplace? Get it cleaned and inspected. and Free energy inspection via power company. Work with@LEAP_VA to correct. Simple changes to blinds/curtains help. Tax credits. and Service plan for HVAC system (relationship w/company goes a long way when crisis strikes). Same for pest control/termites.”
Scott suggests: “#1 – Get on your roof 2x a year just to see what’s going on up there. #2 – Unequivocally buy a home warranty.”
And Keith says: “Put aside 2% of asset value annually and you’ll never have a problem”
What tips do you have for new homeowners? Please leave them in the comments (or email me)
Show Notes from Sunday’s Radio Show Discussing Charlottesville’s Real Estate Market
Assessments are a starting point when looking at market value. – Pricing a home to sell in Charlottesville – price it right from Day One, regardless of what you need or want to make. – What are some of the steps to take in preparation/anticipation of selling a home? … Less about staging and de-cluttering and more about the psychological steps taken to prepare for selling. – Selling vacant homes in Charlottesville – – This is the story about vacant homes and homeowner’s insurance – Getting rid of the house. – ” Accidental landlords ” – Accidental Landlords and the Shadow Inventory – What if – you can’t sell your home for more than you paid for it? … Businesses are held to different standards than homeowners – right, wrong ? – Fannie Mae Cracking Down on Walkaways – Fannie Mae’s Announcement – “Fannie Mae will also take legal action to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt from borrowers who strategically default on their loans in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments” – Lenders Chase Borrowers for Money Lost in Foreclosures – “In many states — such as Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas, and Virginia, to name a few — lenders have the legal right, known as a deficiency judgment , to go after borrowers who owe money on their foreclosed home. … Is the Charlottesville area housing market accessible to to seniors? – What is the Charlottesville real estate market doing right now ? – — Ignore the national real estate data — Charlottesville and Albemarle foreclosures are increasing — Detroit’s bulldozing homes ; Charlottesville’s not that bad. — One of the reasons that the Culpeper market has been hurt so badly – It’s the exurbs .
What Makes a Great Hyper-Local Blog
It’s a shame that he’s ” throwing in the towel ” because the comments speak to the value that his site has brought to his community, but it’s good that the site will continue. … Two Three Four points (just read the whole thing) with which I particularly agree, and if I could copy and paste his entire post, I would, because each one is poignant.
Days on Market penalties
One of the most important statistics offered via the MLS is the Days on Market – the number of days a particular property has been on the market is a good guide to the seller’s motivation, an indication as to whether they may be more willing to negotiate, etc. However, with every system comes those who try to “game” the system, by withdrawing a property and re-listing it, to make it appear as if a property is new, or “fresh” on the market. Any system with no form of punitive measure to deter this behavior is potentially worthless. From an agent in the Charlottesville area:I won’t mention names, but… I know one agent who changes the listing agent to another one of her partners and then relists the property so that it looks like she has been fired and a new one brought on. It doesn’t benefit anyone to have this kind of practice.Behavior and practices such as this damage the credibility of the MLS system and opens up more cracks in the MLS armor. For this reason, I was and am quite pleased that my secondary MLS, MRIS, just came out with the following announcement regarding fines:Sweet.
Realtor.com pushes traffic to Google
That said, we firmly believe that the value rendered by REALTOR.com® Marketing Systems are monumentally greater than the price charged to REALTORS®.Just as REALTOR.com® carefully evaluates a number of factors before arriving at the aforementioned business decision to raise prices, so too do we encourage each individual REALTOR® to carefully evaluate the value you receive on behalf of you and your clients in relationship to the costs, before you make your individual business decision…. In order to carefully contemplate REALTOR.com® value, we are providing a minimum of two months to a maximum of twelve months advance notice of the price change (depending upon the REALTOR’S® product renewal date), because we believe this should be a carefully thought out evaluation…. Google is fast becoming a “no-brainer,” but one must “carefully consider” using Realtor.com.Details of the price increase: Beginning January 15, 2007, prices for the Showcase Listing Enhancements Marketing System, Standard Listing Enhancements, Featured Homes™ Marketing System and Featured CMA™ Marketing System will increase by 10% and the Featured Community™ and Featured Agent™ Marketing System will increase by 7%…. And again, on behalf of everyone here at REALTOR.com®, we thank you for the privilege of serving you and helping you better serve your clients.Sincerely,Mark MathisSenior Vice President,REALTOR.com®Realtor.com’s cushy arrangement with getting all (or most) of Realtors’ listing data is swiftly coming to an end.