Open Houses Rule

This weekend, despite being at one end or the other of just about every school system's vacation week, was a big one for open houses.  Some had as many as 25 people at them.  The market seems driven by first-time home buyers (proving that they are the one group that probably doesn't need an incentive to want to buy), who want to take advantage of low rates and low prices.  Of course, it is usually their parents who have to let them know how low rates are, since anyone under 35 wouldn't remember high ones.  (Conversely, my husband and I bought our first home in 1982 with an 18.75 % special low rate, that seemed OK to us, given that other mortgages were at 21%---it's all relative!).

Houses are starting to come onto the market at springtime pace, and buyers are out there to take advantage of the rates, the choices, and the weather.  Let's hope it keeps up at this rate!

Almost Too Late to Beat the Spring Rush

Everyone knows that more homes get listed and sold in the spring season, mostly because of school schedules. People either start jobs at the start of an academic year, or want to have their kids into new schools by September. What isn't as settled by all experts is the ideal time in which to list during that season.

I'm a firm believer in the earlier, the better. It's hard to know exactly when the market will pop, but there are certainly signs already--lots of ads, lots of open houses, lots of calls. If you are a seller, you want to have your home on the market before all of the sales activity really begins. It takes time to get the paperwork processed, get the home ready, and set a price. If possible, you want to list before the vast majority of people do, so that early lookers will see your home when there aren't as many places from which to choose.

We don't know when the snow will stop for good, nor when the temperatures will really start to climb. We do know the school vacation schedule, the holiday schedule (and Easter is very late this year), and the traditional boom times. In our company, we believe this: It's best to begin right now. If you are thinking of selling, call your agent today!

Snowing Again

It's snowing tonight in Guilford, and it seems to have been snowing quite a lot lately. When our kids were little, they used to get excited by snow, and hope for a day off from school. The phone would ring, and I would tell them that it was the sound of people cancelling their real estate appointments. No school, no showings. Although that was a decade ago, things haven't changed. When the weather is bad enough, no one looks at real estate.

We're lucky that we aren't in a business where a day like today means that those sales can never be made up at another time. If a plane takes off with empty seats, or a theater has no patrons, that's money down the drain. At least most people looking for property will look again on a nicer day. Generally, it's not an impulse purchase, or a date-specific one.

There are also the issues of showings and open houses. Unless everything is perfectly plowed, it can be tricky to have buyers coming in on icy sidewalks. It's often hard to park with snow piled on the sides of streets. And few places look their best with wintry boots and shoes tracking the outside slush onto rugs and floors.

I wonder if the Internet has changed all this for us. When you're home due to cancellations, as I am this evening, do you go online and shop for your dream home? Or a vacation place? Or the new location your business needs? We hope so!

Vacation!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. I've been on vacation, which has coincided both with the only hot weather of the summer and our new puppy's arrival. That's kept me busy, but I did just finish reading Free by Chris Anderson, which is a book about all the things that we now get for free (mostly on the internet), and how that has changed business. Our industry, of course, is a great example.

When I started in real estate, all the information about all of the properties offered came in a printed book that was published every two weeks by our local Board of Realtors. Customers couldn't take it out of the office, so they had to come in to look at what was for sale. We controlled all the information, and thought that that was our salvation.

Fast forward to today: Our website gives away everything that we know about a property, and it does it without requiring payment or loyalty or even identification. We now map properties, so that you know where they are located, we tell you approximately what your own home is worth, and we post all the things we can think of that you might want to know.

What happened? Our role as Realtors has changed. We are now consultants, negotiating between buyers and sellers. We no longer work only for the seller, and we no longer rely on information as power. And what we've found is that people who use us, which they are no longer almost forced to do, get more for their homes, or pay less as buyers, than those who go it alone. Also, we save time, hassle, and costly mistakes. Are we worth it? You bet! Most people who buy or sell without a real estate agent say that they wouldn't do it again. There certainly is value in experience, expertise, and local knowledge. And we can still put all the facts on the Web. So take advantage of that, and log on anytime!

Back to the Cold

Today is my first day back from vacation. I just finished going through my 600 emails and dozen papers, and tomorrow I will start writing articles that I've promised to people. Like a lot of people, I hope that the new President and his administration will bring a new beginning for our industry and others. The government is certainly pumping money into the economy--it just has to find its way down to the real estate market. And, in the Northeast, the weather isn't helping! Every day seems to bring snow, ice, or freezing temperatures. We know from other years that people don't look at property under those conditions. We also know that it can lead to a nice pop as the spring market blooms (pun intended), and never before have we needed that so much.