I am not going to give my home away!

Somewhere between "I am not going to give my home away" and " this home is never going to sell", is the right price where the home does sell, even in this market.

What sellers and their real estate agents should know by now is that the sold price cannot be influenced by:

• What the seller needs to get
• What the seller paid for it
• Offerings of incentives, higher commissions or concessions
• Time

The sold price is only determined by:

• A buyers interest
• Continuous and aggressive pricing strategy

Buyer's interest is obtained by using a professional marketing and prospecting plan that has proven success in finding qualified buyers.

The continuous and aggressive pricing strategy centers on determining the real value of the home at the onset and not being distracted by forces that have no bearing on what a home should be listed for. The continuous effort is accomplished by watching the values of homes in a given area and instead of chasing down the market with regards to pricing, the agent and the seller will need to stay ahead of the market and counter any changes with reductions in price that are substantial and effective.

If a seller is unable to meet the criteria needed to sell then they should consider not listing their home for sale.

Contact me to find out where your homes falls in the continuum.

Related Florida real estate views:

Why would anyone offer to buy a home at list price or above in this market?

How can I make sure I am not paying too much for a home?

Smart home sellers listen to what the market is telling them.

- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

Free report on why your home did not sell.

Have you tried to sell your home only to find yourself in the same position as hundreds of Central Florida homeowners who were not successful? Did your home languish on the market with no buyers making offers or even interested in viewing?

What happened? Was it the advertising? The marketing? The price? The staging?

We may be able to help you determine what the reason or reasons were that prevented your home from selling. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to sell your home only to find that no one is interested.

Our free report will include our examining:

• Market conditions surrounding your specific location.
  
• How your competition fared compared to you during the same time period.
  
• Effectiveness of the advertisement used with your home.
  
• Online exposure your home received.
  
• Exposure created by direct mail campaign.
  
• An in-depth price point analysis.

Our report will thoroughly examine the previous promotional, marketing and prospecting techniques used to attract a buyer for your home. We will then provide a written report outlining suggestions, recommendations and include a complete marketing plan that, when implemented, will put you in a better position to sell your home regardless of market conditions.

The report is free. If you are still interested in selling your home then I strongly encourage you to take advantage of our free report.

Related Florida real estate views:

Does your agent have enough money to advertise your home?

Smart home sellers listen to what the market is telling them.

Real estate agent costs rise as income dwindles

- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

Do you provide a CCMA for your home selling customers?

A CMA or comparable market analysis is what an agent will provide a seller at the initial listing appointment. This report provides recent real estate activity in the neighborhood, sub division or city to use as comparable for the seller’s home in order to determine a property market value.

In normal times the initial CMA is all that is needed to confidently place a home on the market with legitimate expectations of procuring a buyer.

Today’s challenging market requires additional effort on the part of the agent and seller in order to be sure that the current pricing of the property is keeping in line with the changing market. As the average days on the market increase and sales prices decrease, real estate agents should be providing a CCMA or continuous comparable market analysis.

Continuously updating the original market analysis for the seller may provide data that will help the seller make an informed decision as to the pricing and price enhancement direction they may need to take. Has a larger home come on the market for less money? Have similar homes in pricing and size expired with no offers? Are there new pending homes to report? Is there new sold data to consider? Not knowing what is happening in the market since the initial listing appointment can be costly to a seller.

If you have your home listed and you are in a market slow down or market correction area, ask your agent to provide you with a continuation of your original comparable market analysis in order to be confident your home is still being offered at a competitive price.


Related Florida real estate views:

I am not going to give my home away!

Realtor and seller obligations under a listing agreement.

Where do you have the largest selection of homes priced at $1 million dollars?


- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

Communication is a key ingredient of a successful real estate transaction

For those who hire a real estate agent to assist them with selling their home, it should be expected that their agent would keep them in the loop throughout the process.

Unfortunately this is not always the case.

Communication is one of the vital keys to realizing the goal of selling a home. Here are a few examples of the communication that should take place between a real estate agent and their customer.


Related Florida real estate views:

Selling real estate is not very prestigious

Is customer service improving as the market weakens?

Watson Realty - Customer Testimonials


- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

Is it safe to buy or sell in today's real estate market?

To those who are thinking of making a home purchase or selling their current home are certainly cautious as they read about the current market conditions.

What you need to know about buying and selling in a down market is the subject of my latest article page.


Related Florida real estate views:

University of Florida predicts Florida residents will keep their money in their wallet

Smart home sellers listen to what the market is telling them.

Do you provide a CCMA for your home selling customers?


- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

An interview with Watson Realty's Central Florida Regional Director Ken Bennett .

The following is an exclusive interview with Watson Realty's Central Florida Regional Director, Mr. Ken Bennett concerning today's Florida real estate market conditions.


Question: How would you describe the current Florida real estate market?

Mr. Bennett: The Florida real estate market is in a period of transition and adjustment after experiencing record annual sales since 2001. From a sellers perspective the market is highly competitive due to record inventories throughout the state, yet this is great news for purchasers as there has never been a greater selection of homes to choose from and prices have been softening throughout the state. It’s a great time to buy.


Question: What advice would you offer today’s home seller?

Mr. Bennett: Today’s home seller needs to 1) Price their property below any and all direct competition; 2) Completely catch up on all deferred maintenance… new paint, new carpeting, landscaping, etc. The home has to be in ‘showroom condition’; and 3) Listen to the advice of their Realtor when it comes to price adjustments. If you have complied with recommendations 1 and 2 above and haven’t received an offer to purchase within the first thirty to forty-five days, you need to bring your asking price down as the market is telling you the buyers are taking advantage of better buys elsewhere.

Today’s market is still active, but the qualified buyers are waiting for the best values to come on the market. When the best buys do become available, they are normally purchased within days of being placed on the market.


Question: What advice would you offer today’s home buyer?

Mr. Bennett: Do your homework. Ask your Realtor to research values within your intended price range over the last six to twelve months. Compare what has sold against what hasn’t sold within your price range to determine a realistic price point range for what you are looking for, based on what has actually SOLD vs. what is currently listed for sale. Ask your Realtor for the average listing vs. selling price differential so you’ll have a solid perspective as to what you should offer a potential home seller for their property. If your offering price is too low, you can upset and alienate a seller and lose leverage when attempting to negotiate favorable terms such as closing cost assistance, subordinate financing, etc.

And lastly, very carefully scrutinize the lender that you select to finance your purchase. Don’t be mislead by interest rates that sound too good to be true. Ask your Realtor for recommendations as to reputable lenders that they have had solid success with in the past… I would recommend steering clear of online lending institutions or lenders that are outside of our immediate area as you want to be able to deal personally with a lending institution when and if you run into some challenges on the way to closing your loan.


Question: What are the biggest challenges facing real estate agents today?

Mr. Bennett: Educating home sellers and home buyers as to current market values in 2007. The market is driven by two principles, supply and demand. When the demand for housing is high and the inventory levels are low, we relate to that as being a sellers market and prices escalate accordingly. A prime example of that phenomenon was in 2005 in Central Florida and in many other markets throughout the state. Conversely, when inventory is high and demand is low, we label that as being a buyers market and that’s where we find ourselves today.

The Realtor plays an important role in both the aforementioned markets by bringing buyers and sellers together at what is deemed to be a reasonable price, given the current market conditions. Today’s real estate agent has to work very closely with home owners to establish a realistic fair market value range for their property that reflects today’s values, not the escalated values we experienced in years past. That is a very real and present challenge to today’s Realtor as home sellers don’t want to lose any more equity in their homes then they have to while seeking a range of value that both fair and reasonable in today’s market.

Once again, properties that are priced properly sell quickly, those that aren’t don’t. It’s that simple.



Question: When do you expect the Florida real estate market to stabilize?

Mr. Bennett: The market will stabilize when the overall balance of supply and demand is achieved. Until current record inventories throughout the state are reduced to more manageable and recognizable levels, our market will continue to experience the dynamics we’ve witnessed throughout 2007.

The overall impact of the sub-prime lending boom that we’re just now beginning to obtain data on will also effect not only future mortgage lending practices and guidelines, but will further exacerbate the increased inventory or supply issues we’re experiencing due to the foreclosure of a fairly large percentage of those sub-prime mortgage loans.


Question: With more and more buyers starting their home search online, what changes have/are you making to capture these potential customers?

Mr. Bennett: Our data suggests that upward of seven out of ten perspective home buyers initiate their searches online. As such, we are continuing to focus a significant amount of our attention and resources towards our corporate website. Watsonrealtycorp.com wants to be positioned as the vehicle to address, answer, and assist with any and all real estate related issues for today’s real estate buyer and seller, and to make that process as simple and expedient as possible. Our goal is to be THE website that anyone would want to bookmark for all their real estate needs, and to have them come back to our site time and time again for any real estate related questions or interests that they might have.


Question: Do you blog?

Mr. Bennett: Yes



Final comments?

Mr. Bennett: This is the very best time to purchase real estate in Florida that we’ve experienced in recent memory. ‘Sitting on the fence’ and waiting for prices to drop further is a risky strategy inasmuch as any benefits that you are likely to realize by doing so will most certainly be offset by what you are losing in tax savings and what is sure to be a gradual yet stable increase in value over the next five-to-ten years. Get together with your Realtor and mortgage finance professional and take advantage of this window of opportunity that surely won’t last much longer. Ninety-six percent of the wealthiest people in this country have established their wealth through investment in real estate. It is still the American Dream… make yours come true today.



Mr. Bennett's bio: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ca, and attended L.A. Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Ca. Served on active duty in the United States Navy for five years and was honorably discharged in 1977 and obtained my license to sell real estate in the Washington, DC. Area. Received many sales honors in the ensuing years and was issued my Broker’s License for the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1982, and have been actively engaged in real estate management since that time. 2007 marks my thirtieth year in this industry.

Related Florida real estate views:

More people sharing living arrangements suggest University of Florida

Homebuyers and sellers in Florida may have fewer Realtors to choose from

Real estate agent costs rise as income dwindles


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Watson Realty continues to caravan residential listings

Watson Realty has been in the real estate business in Florida for over 40 years. We continue to lead the way when it comes to our marketing efforts.

There is one tool we continue to use that seemingly has been forgotten by our competitors and that is the weekly caravan of new listings.

Each week our associates hop into each other's cars and form a nice caravan with the goal of personally visiting the new listings taken in office. We will normally visit anywhere from 4 to 10 homes of our newest sellers each week.

Why do we continue to do this basic marketing step with so many advancements in technology taking real estate marketing to a new and exciting level? The answers are simple.

We still believe that a good salesperson needs to physically see their inventory. We have a better chance of selling a home if we personally have been to the home, enjoyed the view, studied the layout, noticed the little things that make the house a home all with the goal of highlighting these same features to our buyers.

Additionally we believe that as a group we can review pricing and staging in order to advise our seller and the agent to points they may be overlooking. All with the goal of helping to facilitate the sale.

Selling a home is a team effort. We value the trust each seller places with us and strive to do all we can to sell their home.

Even caravan.


Related Florida real estate views:

Does your agent have enough money to advertise your home?

Do I still have to pay a commission if I list my home but then decide not to sell?

Free report on why your home did not sell.


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Using a twenty dollar bill to explain the importance of pricing a home correctly

Proper pricing when listing homes is the name of the game from this point forward at our Orlando Watson Realty office. With a record number of homes on the market and a limited amount of buyers it is extremely important to advise sellers on the real market value of their home, both at the listing appointment and during the listing contract period.

To drive home the importance of listing a home at its real value I brought to our sales meeting a twenty-dollar bill. At the beginning of the meeting I announced that a friend has asked me to sell the bill for him at today's meeting. I placed it on the dry erase board and wrote the offering price my imaginary friend asked me to sell his $20.00 for. I received a few chuckles when I wrote down the $50.00 list price. I further explained that any agent at the meeting that wishes to purchase the bill must have the cash with them at the meeting. The point being that there would be a few in my meeting not qualified to buy much like buyers we meet in our day to day business. Then I asked if there were any interested agents wishing to purchase my $20 for $50 and of course I had no takers.

Continuing on with the meeting for the next 15 minutes, we discussed several other important real estate topics.

After 15 minutes, I turned my attention back to the $20. With still no offers, I suggested that maybe I am not advertising it properly and enough. So I took out a colored dry erase marker and wrote a big “for sale” over the $20 with an arrow pointing to the bill. This advertisement guaranteed that every potential buyer in the room saw the $20 for sale at $50 and yet...still no offers.

30 minutes into our meeting, I reduced the price by $5.00. No offers

5 minutes later I offered a $5.00 selling bonus to the agent who would give me $40.00 for my $20.00. Even with this agent bonus, no offers.

I lowered the price yet again to $30.00 and told my agents that my friend had someone else look at this $20.00 and it was definitely worth every bit of his asking price. This tactic did not sway anyone to make an offer.

I then informed my group of agents that if I sell this $20.00 for my imaginary friend, he promised that I could sell other $20's for him in the future. Still, no offers.

Before further reducing the price of my $20, I made sure that the agents knew that my friend needed to realize a certain amount of money so he could buy the 100 dollar bill he had his eyes on. This admission netted the same result, no offers.

Finally I made sure that they understood that at $30.00, this was the lowest priced 20-dollar bill being offered for sale at this meeting. That too, produced no offers

With just a few minutes left in the meeting a quick thinking agent made an offer of 15 dollars cash, then seconds later another agent offered 17 dollars and I sold my 20-dollar bill.

What were the lessons learned?

Value is determined by a set of facts as they exist at the time a seller is trying to sell. You cannot get more than a property is worth by increasing the advertisement, you cannot get more than a property is worth by offering special incentives, and a property’s value is not determined by a seller’s need or opinion of value. You could fly an airplane directly above an over priced listing 24 hours a day with a big banner flying behind advertising the home and if the home is over priced, even with this type of advertisement, it will not sell. Property is worth what the market determines it to be worth. In this case, the $20 sold for less than real value.

Possibly because it was over priced to begin with?

With a limited number of qualified buyers searching the market for the best use of their hard earned dollars and an ever increasing listing inventory, our agents are advising sellers to carefully consider our market opinions and list their homes within our suggested price point range.

The twenty-dollar bill experiment gives them more confidence in their ability to advise their seller’s correctly about value and pricing.


Related Florida real estate views:

Will it sell for a dollar?

Florida Realtors who test the market may receive a failing grade.

Home not selling? What does your agent say?


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Home not selling? What does your agent say?

Have you had your home on the market for 30 days? 60? 90? Maybe you have been on the market waiting for the "right" buyer for over 4 months or longer. What does your agent say when they provide you feedback? Let's examine some of the feedback you may have received.

• No buyers have viewed the home. Well it could be that your home was never placed in the MLS, or no advertisement was ever done or no open houses have been held or time as we know it stopped at the exact moment you listed your home....OR....it could be that with over 26,000 homes for sale in the 4 county area of Volusia, Osceola, Orange and Seminole that there are homes of similar size, quality and location as yours priced better. Real buyers are buying. They are not missing out on homes that are priced to sell. If your real estate agent has not shown you recent pending and sales in your area since you listed the home, make them show you. Homes are selling.
• The agents all say it is priced ok. This is one that I heard today. An agent in office said that their listing cannot be over priced because feed back from all the agents who showed the home did not indicate it was over priced. News flash, the agent is not buying your home! The buyer who is with the agent is and if they did not ask their agent to present you with an offer, then they have made a decision on your price. I wanted to dig deeper with my agent who made this comment so I asked, "well then if it is not the price, why haven't the buyers made an offer"? The yard is small and the 4th bedroom is not functional was the reply. BAM, that is value speak for, "The home is not priced correctly". My associate was viewing the home as if those items were not a problem. Today’s market dictates more that just a square footage/location analysis. I pointed this out and they finally got it. Hopefully we will be seeing a price reduction this week.
• It takes time. Don't take this at face value. Here is where a company with a strong marketing plan coupled with proper pricing will prove that statement wrong time and time again. Homes are selling within a day, a week, a month and well within the average days on the market statistic of 90 days in this area. Make sure you have your home positioned to take advantage of the available buyers in the market place today.

It is true that the market is much different than it was in 2004 and 2005. A savvy homeowner and real estate agent know that testing the waters with pricing needs to be done so with caution. Carefully watching the market and making the necessary adjustments to price can be all the difference from a home selling to a home getting "stale" on the market.

Related Florida real estate view:

Does your agent have enough money to advertise your home?

This home “won’t last” is now at 612 days and counting

Free report on why your home did not sell.

- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407304-0255

If you think you are selling your home too cheaply, just say no

(I wrote this back in 2005 as a result of some slanted media reports.)

One of the network news programs this Friday had a segment that suggested Realtors may not be interested in getting their sellers the maximum price for their property if it means just waiting for a better offer. The inference is that Realtors want the seller to accept an offer on the table, rather than wait for a better one. They even used a survey that indicates Realtors in a certain geographic area sold their personal property for 3%+ more than the average consumer.

Here is my suggestion to anyone who feels they are being pushed by a high pressured realtor who is seeking a fast commission check at your expense. Just say no.

Just say no at the initial listing interview appointment or at any later time, if you get the sense the realtor is more concerned about their check than your interests. Contact the realtor's broker if the feeling persists.

Just say no if they call you and say "we have a verbal offer", which very often are just fishing attempts to see where your bottom line might be. Make them put all offers in writing.

Just say no when an offer is presented and the estimated net proceeds are less than you are comfortable with. Ask your realtor if your listing price is correct and if not, why has it changed? If it is correct, then counter back at a price that is more acceptable to you or reject the low offers outright.

It really falls into the hands of the seller to decide their bottom line. That would seem to be the main reason Realtors showed a higher sales price (3% +/- ) as mentioned earlier. They, as sellers, waited or just said no to lower offers. Are their Realtors in this business that have a house payment due or some other pressing financial matter who are focused primarily on their own need to get paid over the seller's bottom line? To think not would be short sighted. As a seller you have the final say, use it. Just say no

They did have a Realtor on the program who made the point that often the seller is satisfied with the numbers and against the suggestions of their realtor, they accept the 1st offer that comes or one that is lower than may be obtainable with more time. This is true. Each seller's motivation is different. A realtor's job in part is to present the offers as they are delivered, explain the contingencies and provide a written net proceeds report for the seller to use in making their informed decision. A seller may ask for suggestions, but should never let their realtor make the decision for them.

In conclusion, a seller can go a long way to ensuring they sell their property for the best price possible by simply making sure they have hired a true professional who shows by their actions and words that they value the seller as a treasured customer. Spend some time interviewing Realtors as you would any professional service provider you may need. After you have chosen a realtor, the final decision rests with you. Do not be afraid to say no.


Related Florida real estate views:

Orlando home sellers: giving in, selling or losing their home?

Make sure you review an estimated proceeds document before signing an offer to buy your home

Smart home sellers listen to what the market is telling them.


- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255