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What Sells a House
In Today's Markets
 In today's market many sellers want to know the secret to selling their homes quickly. They want to know ways to hold on to the equity they've build over the past decade.
Unfortunately, there is no golden equation that equals the perfect sale. Yet, while there is no "sure thing" in the housing market these days, there are certain factors that affect how quickly and for how much your home sells.
Here are the top ten. Consider how these apply to your own home, how that affects marketing, as well as what aspects of your home you should "play up" to elicit a better response from
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buyers.
1. Price: It's a common misconception that location is the leading factor of whether or not a home sells. It is, instead, price. Think about this scenario. You have a home located in a
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Seller Advice: Stay Calm During Negotiations
 After much soul searching and working the numbers, you decided to put your home on the market. You may be selling to change cities for a job or are needing to downsize. Regardless of the reason, this is a big and important decision!
The time has come, though. You have received an offer on your home. How can you make it through? This can be a very trying time. How do you know which offer to take or what counteroffer to make?
Here are 10 tips to help you stay calm during negotiations.
Trust your Agent: You hired your agent for a reason. He has experience handling negotiations and contracts. Feel free to ask him any questions you have, but don't let the pressure of every minute detail overwhelm you.
Eat and Sleep: Our body needs to refuel in two ways: food and rest. Be sure to get plenty of both so that your brain is well-prepared for any big decisions you may need to make. Pack a bag lunch or some snacks if you think you may be too
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Stop Renting and Buy While Homes are Most Affordable
 If you're currently renting and have dreamed of owning a home, now may be the perfect time. Trulia.com is reporting that during the month of July, buying was cheaper than renting in 74% of the country's 50 largest cities.
However, in 12% of the cities, such as New York, Seattle, and San Francisco, you could rent a place for less than you could buy one. And in the rest of the cities (14%), it was about even, with renting being only slightly less than the cost of buying.
What's tipping the scale to make buying cheaper than renting? Of course, it's the declining home prices and historically low interest rates are also helping to encourage home buying. Recently, interest rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed have been hovering near 4%. Also, the increased demand for rental units is pushing rents up, making now a good time to buy as purchasing a home is cheaper than renting one in most major U.S. cities.
This is making purchasing a home enticing for those who are planning to stay for several years and have the ability to put down a downpayment of about 20 percent.
Where are the hot buying markets? Las Vegas tops the list. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, as reported by CNNMoney.com, shows that prices "have plunged more than 59% from their August
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Mammoth's Micro Market
One of the most frequently asked questions in the real estate community during the past two years is “Have we hit the bottom yet?”, referring to the recent decline in real estate values.
While it may not be appropriate to answer with a definite “yes” or “no”, perhaps the best way to answer this question is to present factual information and allow the person to draw their own conclusions. Investors love data, and when interpreted properly this information can guide them to rational and educated decisions. A recent analysis of condominiums and Single Family Homes (SFR’s) over the past 10 years resulted in a graph that shows a typical bell curve. To some, this may represent doom and gloom, particularly as they see the current median condominium price drop below 2002 levels. Average condominiums in 2002 were selling for $255,000. In 2011 the average sale is $225,000. The high in 2006 was $560,000. However, there are the optimists who will view this as a classic bell curve and an ideal opportunity to buy while there is “blood in the streets”.
Listening to the national news is depressing at best and enough to deter just about anyone from jumping into the investment world, if not out a window; unfortunately this is a primary source of information for many people. I’d offer to change the channel from time to time and look at other markets. There are some statistics in micro-economies, like Mammoth Lakes, that are bucking certain trends and even showing signs of strength. I’ve been conducting informal surveys within Mammoth in order to get a grassroots understanding of our local economy. I’ve spoken with a number of lodging operators and restaurateurs in order to gain local insight of what is currently taking place our small business world. What I found is that many of the restaurants are experiencing close to, if not, record years in business. Many of the lodging operators are experiencing similar trends, with occupancy levels and average daily rates nearing new highs. Granted this doesn’t apply to everyone in town and it certainly doesn’t establish the bottom of a market, but it does provide an exciting alternative to national or world news. Another significant piece of data that I expect will shock the Mammoth Community, come the end of 2011, is the total number of people flying commercial air service to and from Mammoth. It seems that every time I’ve departed Mammoth by way of Alaska Airlines the plane is near capacity. Other frequent flyers have reported similar experiences, and often during mid-week flights. I would venture to guess that flights from Orange County and San Diego will also prove to exceed expectations.
There is a lot of information out there and what to do with it is a big question. In a recent meeting with the newly formed Economic Stimulus Council, one of the first goals of the group was to gather a cross section of relevant data and generate a quarterly Indicators Report for which the Mammoth community will be able to analyze changing trends. The report will show strengths and weaknesses within the community and provide a snapshot of Mammoth’s overall economic health. This report should be out this fall, and will hopefully create a reliable baseline moving forward.
Now, I don’t think that anyone can honestly predict when the economy will “hit the bottom”, but gathering as much reliable information as possible will help. There is a lot of negative news out there for sure, but don’t let it dissuade you from seeing the positive too.
Daily News and Advice
Read about the events shaping the Real Estate market today, find current interest rates, or browse the extensive library of advice and how-to articles written by some of the top experts in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.
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