Are you excited to sell this house ?

We had a listing appointment on Monday where everything was going great. I had great rapport with the potential sellers, a fantastic Q&A session answering all the questions regarding pricing, strategy, marketing, advertising, our experience and so forth. I was on fire ! Then a final question was asked by the husband:

Are you excited to sell my house ?

I almost froze on the question and thought “Oh my God - am I excited ? Am I not excited ?” I have not froze on a question on a listing appointment in years !! But I took a moment and smiled. I remembered that this is what it is all about. Helping people accomplish their goals, being part of their lives, and really being excited and feeling honor and pride that you are the one that they are choosing to help them with one of the most important decisions in their lives ! This process will net them the most amount of proceeds and help them move foward in their lives and you are a part of it !

I found myself thinking for a moment, wow… I have been caught up in the details, some of the drainers and being drained in the tough real estate market. Sometimes I worry about all the things that could go wrong or look at the fact of why did we not get a certain listing… Instead of focusing on all the positive things which they are numerous. It really is all about perspective and gratitude.

I answered his question, “Yes I am pumped up to sell your property ! ” That is what we do !!!

We just listed the property last night and we look foward to selling it for them. It makes me happy to be able to see the big picture and not get totally lost in all the clouds and confusion of the tough real estate market. Remember when you first started and got your first listing ? Or your second ? Or closed your first deal ? Or had your first settlement ? Or accomplished that first milestone ?

It is important to maintain that energy and excitement - that attidue of excellence and vibrancy. It shows and it is important not only to success, but to ones inner soul as well.

Are you excited to sell your client’s house today ?

Philadelphia Real Estate Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

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Nuttiness in the Philadelphia Real Estate Market

Below are some of the interesting things that have happened in the last week:

1. Listing Agent Must Accompany for the showing:

For a lot of our center city showings recently, the listing agent has had to accompany. This is understandable time to time for a large building, but for 1 unit ? One real estate office showing policy is to only accept faxes for showing request. If you are lucky, you will get a call back, either pick up a key at their office or LA must accompany. My wife Stephanie showed a 600 sq ft condo recently where our buyers were a young couple and one of their parents. So it was 3 buyers, Stephanie and the listing agent and her realtor friend all in a 600 sq ft condo that did not show well. Not a pleasant showing to say the least. On a side note, there was only one photo for that listing. I would suggest maybe to get more photos and less LA must accompany !

Later in the week another condo, same office, the LA had to accompany. This time we politely explained that the last showing was not comfortable for the buyer, but if had to be that way, could the LA wait outside ? Our showing request was about to be cancelled as the LA was furious with that request, but cooled off. When the showing happened, the LA said, “You know what, I will wait outside”. : )

2. Mysterious Buyers

Ever have a buyer go under contract, get the home inspection done only to never hear from them outside an occassional email or a cancellation of a meeting to go over their options as a result of the inspection ? And after basically stalking them to the point to let them know their home inspection timeline is gone, they then point the finger at you ? Is like the relationship where after the date you wonder “what went wrong ? ” . Maybe we were too good !

3. $45K light for settlement

A member from my team had a settlement today where the seller needed to bring $40,000 to the table to get the property sold. He did that. But unfortunately, there was another $5K judgement that came up after the bringdown ! Well… if you had $40K, I guess what is another $5K to get it done. My team member had the buyer : )

4. Arbitration for $1K ? Are you kidding ?

Another team member offered 3 percent for a listing where in the description it said $1,000 bonus with acceptable offer. A deal came in below the listing price. Seller agreed to take it but not pay the $1,000 bonus. Agent tells the buyer agent there will be no bonus paid on the deal. At settlement buyers agent demands the bonus. My team person still said no. Keep in mind there is no broker co-op letter. This went to arbitration today. Who knows what happens after these hearings ? Is like a game-show “Anything Goes” ? Who has time to sue another real estate office for a measly $1,000 where they received 3 percent on a $200,000 property ? Are starving artists turning into starving realtors ?

5. Two weeks ago, one of our buyers submittted a cash offer, no inspections, $5K over the listing price on a property. There are supposedly 2 other offers over the listing price too. Listing agent finally gets back today saying seller wants more money (this is one week after highest and best)… All I can think about is who priced the property to begin with ? Why is there not a deal closed on this yet ? Mr Listing agent - wrap up a deal !!!

6. Short sale rant - today bank asked for a fax of the agreement-of-sale for the 4th time.

Not too bad for the last couple of days !! The beauty about our profession is that each day brings about new nuttiness ! We love it ! If interested in buying or selling real estate in the Philadelphia market, email us at thesomersteam@yahoo.com

The Somers Team The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

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How to choose the right investment property ? Know what you are doing. Part 1.

Almost every day, we will receive a call or an email from an investor looking to pick up an investment property or a homeowner looking for a property that “needs work”. Often times, they will ask “what about foreclosures ? ” “what about HUD homes ? ” and the like ?

The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities out there and always will be in my opinion, in both sellers markets and buyers markets. The strategy is to know what you are doing from the beginning before getting your feet wet. We have met with countless sellers who made in their opinion “a great investment” and when we go to meet with them, unfortunately we may have to tell them that their investment was not so great, either because they overpaid, they did not understand the comparable sales, they were mislead, they underestimated the costs of rennovations…etc.

On the flipside, we have helped so many investors be very succesful on the investment properties they have bought and sold or continue to own and are collecting rents each month. Some of those testimonials can be seen at our homepage - testimonials .

Below is a short checklist of items to consider. I WILL TAKE EACH POINT AND EXPAND ON THEM IN LATER POSTS:

1. Know your goals - Is your goal resale ? Long term buy and hold ? Immediate cash flow ? Income ?

2. Selecting a property - know your local market or work with an expert who does.

3. Purchase price - Your money is made when you purchase, not when you sell. We typically look to buy investment properties for 15 to 20 percent below market.

4. Financing - have your financing ready to go if you are not paying cash. This is critical especially in today’s market where financing is tight. It will also be critical to know to look at how the financing relates to the cash flow and the investment value of the property.

5. Rennovation - get a qualified contractor who can give you an honest assesment of what your rennovation costs will be.

6. Plan for Problems - allow a 10 percent cushion for any unforeseen problems. That way if a problem does arise, you will handle it with veins of ice and calmness.

7. Always keep an open-mind and be willing to learn - The more you do, the more you learn. Learn from your mistakes and from your successes. Do not be afraid to fail.

8. Reevaluate and reassess - Examine your goals and your investment properties periodically as what you can do to improve the property or adjust your plan for the next one !

If interested in buying or selling investment properties in the Philadelphia area, feel free to contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at thesomersteam@yahoo.com and visit our site www.thesomersteam.com .

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

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