On the Long Island real estate market front, every homeowner, that's been on the market and not sold their home, has a different answer for why their home didn't sell.
I came across a very objective method for grading your own listing. If you're listed, this may be a good thing to review with your agent. If you're not listed (well call me 631 831 9048), http://steveharneyblog.com/2009/10/13/how-to-grade-your-listing/ , is a good place to actually help you prepare to sell your home.
This grading system will help you objectively prepare to sell your home. Again, if you're not listed, the icing on the cake will be to utilize an active agent with the "right stuff" to get the job done.
Something like http://142411thstreet.epropertysites.com/ might set someone like me apart from the average agent. This might help you reach that grade A!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Broker Price Opinions: Who Was That Guy?
I am currently conducting about 12 broker price opinions each week. Broker price opinions are quick estimates of home values completed by licensed real estate agents. Broker price opinions or BPO's are ordered by banks or asset management companies and allow these companies to get a sense of what a property is worth.
So who's that guy taking pictures of my neighbor's house?
That's a question i think many people across the country are saying more and more.
You might say, "The guy (or gal) got out of their car, they took a few pictures and were gone before I got a chance to put my robe on to see what was going on."
Don't worry, you're not alone.
Whether a company is ordering it for quality assurance purposes (checking on themselves to see if they're writing quality loans), or more likely, because the person who owns the home is behind on their mortgage, broker price opinions are at an all-time high.
So next time when you're looking out your window and you see someone get out of their car, take three or four pictures of a home, you'll know that chances are, it's a real estate agent doing a BPO.
You may see me.
Either way, the more "business" I get with regard to broker price opinions, in our local communities, the more uneasy I feel.
So who's that guy taking pictures of my neighbor's house?
That's a question i think many people across the country are saying more and more.
You might say, "The guy (or gal) got out of their car, they took a few pictures and were gone before I got a chance to put my robe on to see what was going on."
Don't worry, you're not alone.
Whether a company is ordering it for quality assurance purposes (checking on themselves to see if they're writing quality loans), or more likely, because the person who owns the home is behind on their mortgage, broker price opinions are at an all-time high.
So next time when you're looking out your window and you see someone get out of their car, take three or four pictures of a home, you'll know that chances are, it's a real estate agent doing a BPO.
You may see me.
Either way, the more "business" I get with regard to broker price opinions, in our local communities, the more uneasy I feel.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Long Island Homes For Sale: No Coke, Pepsi
Okay so what do Long Island homes for sale and soda have in common? Nothing, I just felt like naming an article I write after the famous Saturday Night Live skit with Jim Belushi as the guy in the fast food joint. What a great skit.
Actually, sometimes I feel it's necessary to draw a comparison like this skit, where people visit Belushi's food joint and ask for "fries" and he say, "no fries, cheeps (chips)" and when the patrons ask for a hamburger, he tells them "Cheeseburg" and then yells back to this staff (Dan Ackroyd), "Cheeseburg, Cheesburg, 2 cheep..."
Where am I going with this? Well that's what I do as a real estate agent. And for sellers, this is what you want. When an agent, like myself, has multiple listings in his/her own inventory, meaning they're homes specifically in my own inventory, I get some people who want Pepsi instead of Coke.
Stay with me here.
Buyers will come to my open houses or call off of signs or ads that I have on other homes. Then if the home doesn't match their criteria (they want "Pepsi" instead of "Coke"...well then I tell them, "No Coke,...Pepsi!"
I can then bring them to your home and make the sale. That's the advantage of having a mover and shaker as your listing agent.
I make it happen.
Now I do not speak like Jim Belushi does and I will be more professional than he is, but I'll try my best to introduce the "Pepsi" with same decisiveness.
NOTE: I am making no reference to the quality of the soda here. So one home is not "better" than the other....
:)
Actually, sometimes I feel it's necessary to draw a comparison like this skit, where people visit Belushi's food joint and ask for "fries" and he say, "no fries, cheeps (chips)" and when the patrons ask for a hamburger, he tells them "Cheeseburg" and then yells back to this staff (Dan Ackroyd), "Cheeseburg, Cheesburg, 2 cheep..."
Where am I going with this? Well that's what I do as a real estate agent. And for sellers, this is what you want. When an agent, like myself, has multiple listings in his/her own inventory, meaning they're homes specifically in my own inventory, I get some people who want Pepsi instead of Coke.
Stay with me here.
Buyers will come to my open houses or call off of signs or ads that I have on other homes. Then if the home doesn't match their criteria (they want "Pepsi" instead of "Coke"...well then I tell them, "No Coke,...Pepsi!"
I can then bring them to your home and make the sale. That's the advantage of having a mover and shaker as your listing agent.
I make it happen.
Now I do not speak like Jim Belushi does and I will be more professional than he is, but I'll try my best to introduce the "Pepsi" with same decisiveness.
NOTE: I am making no reference to the quality of the soda here. So one home is not "better" than the other....
:)
Friday, September 25, 2009
Long Island Real Estate Market: Unexpected Drop In Sales Across Nation
For some reason, the Long Island real estate market is saw a marginal increase in sales in August 09 in comparison to July 09 and analysts looking at data across the country say it's "unexpected".
This I do not understand. You can read an article about it by CLICKING HERE. This link will take you to DSNews.com.
What is in the report that I have been talking about on my website www.tommcgiveron.com, is that short sales and foreclosures are playing a major role in driving down median home prices across the country. "Distressed properties" normally are priced 15 to 20% less than a "normal sale" and they made up a third (33% or 3 in 9 homes) of the sales in August, 2009.
Now that's something to be weary of because it suggests that these types of properties are having a major impact on the values of homes suggesting further distresses in the real estate market for sometime to come.
This I do not understand. You can read an article about it by CLICKING HERE. This link will take you to DSNews.com.
What is in the report that I have been talking about on my website www.tommcgiveron.com, is that short sales and foreclosures are playing a major role in driving down median home prices across the country. "Distressed properties" normally are priced 15 to 20% less than a "normal sale" and they made up a third (33% or 3 in 9 homes) of the sales in August, 2009.
Now that's something to be weary of because it suggests that these types of properties are having a major impact on the values of homes suggesting further distresses in the real estate market for sometime to come.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Long Island Houses For Sale: Resources
Where are all the Long Island houses for sale? The good ones that is.
Ouch!
Seriously, I'm a real estate agent and I see homes everyday. I walk into a home where a seller is asking $399,000 and the place hasn't been painted since the turn of the century....19th to the 20th century! (For those that are a little behind on time...psstt - it's the 21st century)
So seriously, where do you find the real good ones for sale?
The answer of course is the resources I have available to my buyers. Psst...hey sellers, if you're reading this, your home could be here too - email me or leave a comment.
Anyhow, visiting www.tommcgiveron.listingbook.com will get you all set up to get morning reports on anything that changed within your criteria. You set the rules, the criteria, the locations, everything!
The system updates every 30 minutes! Hello. MLSLI.com updates every 24 hours. By the time you, the buyer, notice a price change...the home that you've been eyeballing is gonzo!!!
Well I'm going to keep on bloggin' on here.
If you want to read some article about the Long Island real estate market specifically, visit my main website at www.tommcgiveron.com.
Thanks!
Ouch!
Seriously, I'm a real estate agent and I see homes everyday. I walk into a home where a seller is asking $399,000 and the place hasn't been painted since the turn of the century....19th to the 20th century! (For those that are a little behind on time...psstt - it's the 21st century)
So seriously, where do you find the real good ones for sale?
The answer of course is the resources I have available to my buyers. Psst...hey sellers, if you're reading this, your home could be here too - email me or leave a comment.
Anyhow, visiting www.tommcgiveron.listingbook.com will get you all set up to get morning reports on anything that changed within your criteria. You set the rules, the criteria, the locations, everything!
The system updates every 30 minutes! Hello. MLSLI.com updates every 24 hours. By the time you, the buyer, notice a price change...the home that you've been eyeballing is gonzo!!!
Well I'm going to keep on bloggin' on here.
If you want to read some article about the Long Island real estate market specifically, visit my main website at www.tommcgiveron.com.
Thanks!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Long Island Real Estate Market: What You're Not Hearing In The Media
For the Long Island real estate market, there are issues facing the market overall that you’re not hearing about in the media. I want to take a peak at the money issue.
Part of me really doesn’t want to write a series of articles about the realities because it just doesn’t look good for sellers. Another part of me says that I owe it to my communities here on Long Island to “keep it real”, otherwise I risk becoming just another real estate agent with head firmly implanted in sand.
One item we hear about is the “FHA” or Federal Housing Authority and the loans they back called “FHA loans”. Banks provide money to buyers at a greater amount (up to 96.5% Loan to Value or LTV). LTV is based on what the total appraised value is of a given home is and how much the buyer puts down and how much the bank lends.
Read the rest of the article
Part of me really doesn’t want to write a series of articles about the realities because it just doesn’t look good for sellers. Another part of me says that I owe it to my communities here on Long Island to “keep it real”, otherwise I risk becoming just another real estate agent with head firmly implanted in sand.
One item we hear about is the “FHA” or Federal Housing Authority and the loans they back called “FHA loans”. Banks provide money to buyers at a greater amount (up to 96.5% Loan to Value or LTV). LTV is based on what the total appraised value is of a given home is and how much the buyer puts down and how much the bank lends.
Read the rest of the article
Monday, September 21, 2009
Long Island Foreclosures: What's Happening Across The Country
In order to avoid a copyright infringement, I am going to provide the link to a website that I frequent that covers the Default Services field of real estate.
http://www.dsnews.com/articles/experts-worry-option-arm-time-bomb-is-about-to-explode-2009-09-21
The article is a very brief and chilling look at what is looming over the entire market.
What's crazy is that the mainstream media is very hands-off when it comes to really covering this threat to the overall real estate economy.
What does this have to do with Long Island specifically? Read my article:
http://www.tommcgiveron.com/long-island-real-estate-market-2-in-3-homes-underwater-in-western-suffolk/
http://www.dsnews.com/articles/experts-worry-option-arm-time-bomb-is-about-to-explode-2009-09-21
The article is a very brief and chilling look at what is looming over the entire market.
What's crazy is that the mainstream media is very hands-off when it comes to really covering this threat to the overall real estate economy.
What does this have to do with Long Island specifically? Read my article:
http://www.tommcgiveron.com/long-island-real-estate-market-2-in-3-homes-underwater-in-western-suffolk/
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