Entries from February 2007
How would you place a value on your home? More critically, how would you put a price on your home? Sounds like the same question, but it suggests the difference between price and value that’s important to understand as you prepare to sell your home.
Two homes may have identical features and prices, but factors like location and condition can impact the homes’ perceived value. To arrive at an attractive asking price, you must compare your home’s value against its competition, which is easily done through realty websites and advertisements.
Your goal is to set the right price right away. Your best window for a full price offer will come within the first three weeks, so if you don’t see any activity in that timeframe, take action. In changing markets, pricing a home becomes an ongoing activity. You need to consider real estate dynamics – new listings, recent transactions, expired listings, shifts in inventory, and so on.
Your best source of information and guidance is your neighborhood real estate agent, whose vocation it is to monitor all those conditions and bring buyers and sellers to the table for a satisfying transaction. Meet with your representative to discuss your motivation and timetable, compare your home’s value against the competition, and analyze current trends in this market. The relationship between price and value will become crystal clear!
Happy Investing!
Kendall E. Matthews
Phoenix Arizona Investment Real Estate
Categories: Articles of Interest
If you move out of your home while it’s on the market, you’ll expect your real estate agent to handle showings in your absence. But how do you avoid the unwanted attention that a vacant home can attract from uninvited intruders?
There are many suggestions to offer to increase your security. While your agent likely won’t have the time available to constantly monitor your home, you do have the option of registering with the local police department, so that officers assigned to your neighborhood can keep an eye on your home and perform security checks as needed (generally at no charge).
If you have a security system already installed, be sure to notify your service that the house is empty, and provide an emergency contact number. Also employ a caretaker for the grounds, to keep the yard clean and maintained for a more lived-in look. Stop your newspaper deliveries and make sure your mail is being forwarded to your new address before your big moving day.
Don’t leave anything valuable behind, and be sure to program all of the lights on timers, inside and out. An overlooked issue, however, is to not leave the lights on all night, as that is actually an obvious clue that no one is home.
Some simple planning now can save you untold worry and stress later. Enjoy your move!
Happy Investing!
Kendal E. Matthews
Phoenix, Arizona Real Estate Investments
Categories: Articles of Interest
Foreclosure. The very term strikes fear into the heart of any homeowner. Would you believe that one in every 1000 homes in the U.S. were in the process of foreclosure at the end of 2006? If you’re facing such circumstances, first understand that you are not alone.
Most people got into this position by taking advantage of ridiculously low introductory rates on adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). Now that those loans are resetting, consumers face dramatic increases in the interest rate, and consequently, the monthly payment. Even a reasonable rate like 7% becomes a burden to those who have grown accustomed to the 1 or 2 percent introductory rates.
Ideally, a short sale coordinated by a real estate professional provides the opportunity to satisfy all the motivated parties – seller, buyer, and lender. The seller wins by liquidating the property before foreclosure proceedings begin. The buyer benefits by securing property at a good value. Finally, the lender benefits by not having to initiate the foreclosure or take the property back.
A real estate agent may even have suggestions to help keep you in your home. Granted, it isn’t a sale, but agents appreciate the subtleties of building good relationships with loyal clients who will refer business to them in the future. Trust a professional to guide you through this difficult time with experience, courtesy and respect.
Happy Investing!
Kendall E. Matthews
Phoenix, Arizona Investment Real Estate
Categories: Articles of Interest
In my investing group called Kingdom Investment Networking Group, I teach my partners how to establish an area of expertise to find distressed properties or distressed people.
To clarify, distressed property doesn’t have to mean an “Ugly House.” A distressed property could also be one that is not living up to its highest and best use. For example, today I found a 625 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath house built in the early part of the last century on an acre in the middle of Phoenix. This area has an overlay zone that states you could possibly build 15 to 30 units per acre.
Ladies and gentlemen, this property doesn’t want to be one home. It wants to be 15 townhouses basking in the Phoenix, Arizona sun.
I just finished reading a real estate research article from Net Value Central which showed nearly 40% of all residential sales transactions occur outside of multiple listing services.
In your own area of expertise you have to find opportunites with door knocking, relationsihp building, and direct response marketing. Don’t think the multiple listing services is the only way to get to financial freedom in real estate.
Happy Investing!
Kendall E. Matthews
Phoenix, Arizona Real Estate Investments
Categories: Real Estate Investing
When I was working in corporateAmerica, my manager told me that the best financial magazine to get was Smart Money Magazine.
I have been a subscriber for 7 years and the columns in there have been very beneficial to me. Yesterday, I received March’s issue. On the cover it states:Double Your Money! 5 Moves To Make Now! Can you guess what one of the moves they suggested you make?
They suggest you invest in Real Estate. Isn’t that a shocker.
Specifically, according to them, a move you should make now is to invest in 2-4 unit multi-family rental property.Here are some suggestions from Smart Money Magazine with regard to investing in rental properties:
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Choose a property with four units or fewer. With 5 units or more you have to use commercial financing at a higher interest rates and more money down.
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Buy close to your home. If you’re handy you can do your own property management.
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Steer clear of overheated condo markets. Condo developers may convert slow selling condos to rental properties, creating a surplus.
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Choose the right neighborhoods. Follow upscale chains like Starbucks, there marketing departments have already done the research for the area before opening.
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If you don’t live in the building, you can write off every penny, along with capital depreciation of roughly 1/27th of the building’s value.
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The national housing market’s average annual return has been 6.1 percent since 1975.
The other four moves Smart Money Magazine suggest you make are:
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Diversified Stock Market Investing
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Starting A Business
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Smart Savings & Spending
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Focus on Your Personal Health
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Happy Investing!
Kendall E. Matthews
Phoenix Arizona Real Estate
Categories: Articles of Interest
Okay, it’s time to return to Real Estate 101. With so much gloom and doom reported, our successful sale stories are being pushed aside by national reports of overstocked inventories and reluctant buyers. Blaming slow sales on “the market” is just an excuse. There is only one reason that homes remain unsold: they are overpriced.
For many sellers, this lesson is only learned after it’s too late, resulting in frustration and finger pointing. Let’s try to put the record straight. Many markets experienced extremely high levels of activity over the last few years. Inventories adjust as the number of eager and willing buyers drops off. Simply put, buyers are becoming choosier.
Sellers must look around them and take note of homes currently for sale, homes that have recently sold, and homes that have languished or expired. In other words, look at those prices and learn from the experiences of those who have gone before you.
A primary rule of Real Estate 101 is that a home’s value is determined by the buyer, not the seller. That means today’s buyer, not yesterday’s and not tomorrow’s.
Buyers are in fact plentiful, but they’re just as tuned in to the media’s scare tactics as sellers are. If you want to sell your home to “today’s” buyer, consult with a professional and price your home competitively against your rivals.
Happy Investing!
Kendall E. Matthews
Categories: Articles of Interest
At some point in your life you’re likely to find yourself either buying or selling a home. When that time comes, you might want to ask yourself some questions. Can I figure like an accountant? Can I measure like a surveyor? Do I understand “legalese” like an attorney? Can I spot defects like an inspector? Can I speak like an auctioneer? Do I understand zoning, building codes and taxes like a city or county employee? Do I understand human motivation like a psychologist?
Chances are you’ll be hard pressed to answer all those questions with a “Yes,” unless you’re a real estate professional. Why, you ask, would an agent be different? It has to do with “rubbing elbows.” The daily routine of an active, highly committed real estate broker or agent is an exhausting one. During any 24 hour period, such a professional will likely have contact with loan officers, lawyers, tax collectors, land surveyors, insurance company representatives, mortgage lending officers, accountants, auctioneers, courthouse personnel, local businessmen and – most importantly – buyers and sellers.
Working at least six days a week, can you imagine how many individual contacts would be made in a year’s time? Such an active individual can mean the difference between winning or losing at real estate. After all, it’s who you know, and now you know the benefits of representation.
Categories: Articles of Interest
