Haunted House for Sale- Must A Stigmatized Property Be Disclosed?

With Halloween around the corner, you might be wondering…. do I have to disclose my house is haunted? Or if there was a murder or a suicide in the home? So a stigmatized property may or may not have to have a disclosure to the potential buyer depending on the state you live in.

Do I Disclose My House Is Haunted?

When we talk about haunted houses fo sale, we classify it as stigmatized property or home.

What does stigmatized mean? It means to mark with disgrace or infamy.

A stigmatized home could include:

A haunted house
A home that had a murder
A home where the owner committed suicide
A home where a crime was committed
A high profile house (like the house on Breaking Bad)

A stigmatized property is a home that is “psychologically impacted” by an event or events with no physical damage to the home. It is strictly psychological.

Massachusetts Disclosure Laws on Psychologically Impacted Homes

A Massachusetts real estate agent must disclose any material fact known about the house that could affect the value.

Now let’s face it a recent murder or a rumored haunted house is going to be a tough sale to a home buyer.

But, oddly enough a “stigmatized house” in Massachusetts is not an issue that must be disclosed to the home-buying public.

The seller or listing agent is well within the law by not disclosing such events as a haunting, murder, suicide or other crime that may have previously occurred in a home.

Many years ago I listed a home that had a recent murder occur inside the home.

The house was popular and received offer after offer only to fall apart after the buyers found out the home had a murder.

The homebuyers and buyer’s agents were angry at me for not disclosing the fact that the property was psychologically impacted by murder.

I immediately got on the phone and called a real estate attorney I work with and he said it is not an issue that must be disclosed and to do so without my client’s permission would put me in violation of agency law.

Basically, my fiduciary responsibility was to the seller. The seller did not want me to disclose, so I could not do so upfront.

Other States Regarding A Stigmatized Property

Before thinking you do not have to disclose a psychological event, check the laws in your state. Laws vary greatly from state to state on what must be disclosed to a potential home buyer when it comes to stigmatized homes.

In Alaska, a listing agent must disclose if a murder or suicide occurred on the property the past year. The agent is not required to disclose if they did not know.

California requires the owner of a home to disclose if an occupant of their home has died in their house in the past three years. Most states that require a death to be disclosed cap it at one year.

In Connecticut, nonmaterial facts like murder or felony do not have to be disclosed.

In Iowa, it is the responsibility of the buyer to discover any “psychological defects” in a home. No disclosure is required.

How Do I Avoid Buying A Haunted House?

Ask!! While an agent nor a seller does not have to disclose upfront about a psychological impact or defects, they are bound by law to answer all questions truthfully when asked.

So if it is important to you not to buy a haunted home, one that has had a murder, suicide or major crime committed in it, get a list of questions together to ask before writing an offer.

Also, as standard practice when I am working as a buyers agent in Massachusetts, I always Google the address to see if there is any abnormal activity happening in the house or nearby.

By the way, Google is a great way to find out if the home you are interested in is sitting on a superfund site! What did we use to do before Google?

Sellers And Their Stigmatized Home

This is obviously a very controversial subject and the law varies greatly. So if you do own a stigmatized house that you want to sell, I always recommend talking with a real estate attorney.

Here’s a great article from Richard Vetstein, a Massachusetts Real Estate Attorney, about Dealing with a Stigmatized House.

My limited experience in this matter, having gone thru selling a physiologically impacted home, carefully consider disclosing upfront any issues impacting the home.

If the issue is recent and in the news or it is a highly known fact about the house I would suggest disclosing to the buyers before viewing. Otherwise, there will be a lot of work done and deals falling apart.

If it is an older issue that the community has forgotten about then consider not disclosing the issue. Either way, talk to an attorney!

Other Real Estate Resources:

The Economist says that stigmatized properties and haunted houses for sale definitely scares off buyers and impacts value.

Bill Gassett states “buyer beware” when buying homes with an emotional impact from haunted houses to homes with a murder or suicide.

Find out what home sellers should be disclosing with advice from Paul Sian.

Happy House Haunting!!

Top Credit Don’ts While Buying a House

Today we will discuss the top credit don’ts while buying a house. When you get a pre-approval and you are in the process of buying a home in is important to keep your credit status quo. Your credit score is a complicated thing. It is calculated by “mystical” alogrithyms from the major credit reporting agencies. Something that you think makes sense can send your credit into a tail spin. Alternately some home buyers will just plain do stupid things.

4 Top Credit Don’ts While Buying a Home

Don’t be late on any payments. Adding any late payments to your credit profile can certainly change your credit score. As far as your credit score is concerned, late payments are a big no-no. The other point to remember is the recency of your late will have an impact on your score.
Don’t close any credit accounts. After you have had your credit pulled by your mortgage officer do not close any credit accounts thinking your score will improve. Closing a credit account can actually hurt you. Why? If you have limited credit and you close an account it can show you don;t have enough credit. Or, alternately you may have a credit account you have had for a long time that you close. Length of credit is also an important factor that goes into determining your credit score.
Don’t open new credit accounts. Do not open any new lines of credit. You may be anxious to furnish your home or start work on your home as soon as you move in, but opening a new account can damage your credit score…. even if you leave the balance at zero. What happens is your available credit compared to your income will change even though you have never used the line of credit. This also means buying new cars, boats, etc….
Don’t significantly increases balances on the credit you have. There are benchmarks the credit scores use on the available credit to balance owed. Balances at 25%, 50% and 75% of your available credit are significant benchmarks. The higher your balance compared to the available credit the more it will effect your credit score.

Takeaway… Don’t alter your credit profile in anyway.

If you feel you should be doing something like significantly paying down debt, closing credit accounts, opening a home depot credit card, etc… don’t do it without running it by your mortgage officer.

Your credit score will affect whether you get financed or not or theloan program for which you are eligible. There are credit scores that are significant turning points for your credit. One major one is 620. 620 is a major milestone in your credit. Say your current credit score is 622 today and you do something that alters your credit by 5 points. This will drop your credit score to 617. At that point you will find that you have been prevented from qualifying for many types mainstream financing. You will have lost the program that worked for you and that dip will make it very difficult to get financed.

Your credit score will also affect the interest rate you will receive. The higher the credit the better the rate available to you. For some buyers a 1/4 or 1/2 of a point in interest can alter the buying power significantly. MyFico.com has a great loan savings calculator that will show you the impact credit scores may have on your interest rate.

I ran a $250,000 loan scenario. The difference between a 760+ credit score and a 640- credit score was $235 a month. This translates to approximately $42,500 in buying power. Meaning if you had a 760 credit score and would be approved for $250,000, you would only qualify for a $207,500 mortgage. Just a half a percent different in rate translated to about $60 a month difference in mortgage payment.

What Do I Risk If My Credit Score Drops During the Home Buying Process?

Loss of the ability to get financed completely.
Loss of a more favorable loan program.
Loss of a more favorable interest rate.
Loss of money spend and or escrow deposit. Banks will pull your credit either the day before or the day of funding. If they find your credit score no longer qualifies you, you will have lost your financing. If you lose your financing any deposit monies held in escrow will most likely be forfeited.

The best thing to do is consult your loan officer before making any significant changes to your credit profile.

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This article, Top Credit Don’ts While Buying a House, was provided of Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate. I have been in the business for many years and can provide you with the experience you need to buy a home…. from making the decision to buy, financing, what to buy, to a closing….. I can help. If you would like to discuss an upcoming purchase please feel free to give me a call at 978-360-0422.

Days on Market, how does it effect your home sale?

Days on Market or Market Time

You will hear the two terms used synonymously. Days on Market or Market Time is the number of days your house is marketed before receiving and accepting an offer to purchase on your home. You list your home on July first and do not receive an offer until September 15 you are looking at 76 days on market or 76 days market time.

I read a post of Chicago Real Estate Agent Mike Cuevo, The Importance of Market Time. After reading the post by Mike it prompted me to relate days on market in our area of Massachusetts and how Days on Market can impact the sale of a home. I couldn’t agree more with the points he made with this article about market time.

Days on Market Analysis

I decided to track the sold homes for Dracut MA Real Estate. The criteria was all the single family homes that sold in the past 120 days and what impact did the Days on Market have on the sale price to the original list price as well as on the median house price. The analysis encompasses 110 homes in total.

Days on Market	Percentage of Sold to List Price	Median Sold Price
0-10 DOM	101.3%	$317,900
0-30 DOM	100%	$293,000
0-60 DOM	99.2%	$295,000
0-90 DOM	98.4%	$280,000
0-120 DOM	97.6%	$266,000

Conclusion of Days on Market Analysis

So this little Days on Market analysis, shows what real estate agents have always known. Selling your home in the first 60 days is vitally important to receiving as much net funds from your sale as possible. If you can get it under agreement in a week that could even net you more. I have done this analysis before and the data always lines up has similar results. The swing on the median sold price is on the drastic side. I would not always expect such a wide range. But it does go to show you that the median sale price trends downward.

If you can sell your home fast it can provide you with many advantages, including financial.

It is easier than you think to sell your home fast. A real estate agent that is experienced in listing homes will walk you though the process of preparing, pricing and marketing your home for a quick sale. Most of my homes sell in well under two months and it is though a collaboration between me and the seller.

So how does Days on Market impact the sale of my home

The impact Days on Market, has on the sale of your home is two fold. One is the psychological factor it has on buyers. The second is the life cycle of a home for sale. They are both intertwined with one another.

Lets discuss the life cycle of a home for sale. The graph below is a very typical scenario that I see over and over again in one form or another. This or a similar pattern is repeated not only in the showing activity but also in the online views of a home for sale. The interest is high in the beginning, sometimes it take a week or two to ramp up then after week 6, 7, or 8 the showings start to drastically slow down. Why?

Its quite simple, the buyers coming through the door as soon as it comes on are typically your best buyers. They are working with an agent, they are pre-approved and they have flt pain in the market place they are the most motivated buyers. They have rejected every home out in the market place and they are waiting for the next new home to come on the market. They have felt pain, through lost offers, failed inspections they are tired and want to buy a home. They are educated on what they need to do to buy a home.

Then showing drop off and you will see the showing are typically from buyers just entering the market place. They are using your home to educate themselves about the real estate market.

The other impact is psychological. When a home is new to the market, there is excitement, this could be the one. If there is a lot of activity, the buyers notice. It is human nature for people to want and desire what others want and desire. Buyers will compete to buy your home early on in this process, it is almost guaranteed.

Homes are not like cars. They are unique, generally no two are exactly alike. If they miss an opportunity to buy your home, they will probably never have that chance again.

Now if you sell your home in the first 30 days, then great your probably received the highest amount you could for your home in a given market. The you pass the 60 day mark and then the 90 day mark. What happens?

Again the pack mentality kicks in. Whats wrong with this house, no one is buying it? There has to be something wrong. If no one else wants this house why should I? Your house is experiencing market rot. This is a term I use for a perfectly good house that isn’t selling. It is not physically rotting, but in the eyes of the buyers it is.

How do I keep the Days on Market down when I sell my home?

For most houses it boils down to pricing your home properly for the style, the condition and the location of the home. If all of those fall together properly you should have a successful home sale in under 30-45 days. Happy house selling!!

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This post, Days on Market, how does it effect your home sale? has been provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate. Think of selling? I would love to sit down and talk with you. I bring 12 years of experience to the successful sale of your home. Call me at 978-360-0422.

Assessing Your Needs When Buying a Home

Assessing Your Needs Upfront Can Save you Months of Frustration

When buying a home, assessing your needs upfront can help you maintain your focus. Be careful not to confuse wants with needs. When I say needs I am talking about the base needs that are an absolute must. Deciding to buy your first home or to move from one you already own is a big decision. Take a few moments and assess your needs on paper.

The first question to ask yourself is: Why are you looking to buy a home and what are you hoping to accomplish, short term and intermediate term (remember buy a house that will suit your needs for a minimum of 5-10 years)? Write it down memorialize it.

Below is a list of what I find to be some of the bigger driving factors when purchasing a home. I usually ask buyers to rank the importance between 1 being the most important and 8 being the least important criteria when purchasing a home. Each criteria can only have one rank…. There can’t be two number ones!

From there I will ask you ten things you think you want in a home and if there is room for compromise. For example a want could be a fireplace or granite in the kitchen or a 1 acre private lot. Then next to it but your level of compromise on that need on 1-5. 1 being very hesitant to compromise and 5 being I can compromise easily.

Assessing Your Needs- Rank the Need

____ The Town- The town or towns you look in may be a huge driving force about where you look for a home. Maybe family lives there or you are entrenched in a community already or any number of reasons

____ The Commute- Commuting time can be important for a lot of buyers not wanting to spend hours on the road everyday and sometimes can be one of the driving forces of where to look for a home.

____ The Location- What type of location would you like with-in a community. For many buyers a neighborhood setting at the end of a cul-de-sac is highly desirable. For others that is not so important and a busier secondary road could buy you the same house for less money then the one at the end of the cul-de-sac.

____ School System- Many home buyers with children want the best schools system that their money can be. Opting ro a much smaller home in a better school system can be a priority for them.

____ Size of Home- The size of your home will often dictate what the basic function of your house will be as far as room count, bedrooms and bath.

____ Age of Home- For some buyers the age is important to them feeling a home that is less than 20 years old may cause less short term problems. There is also a certain style issue for some that can go along with the age of a home.

____ Condition of Home- Are you only willing to look at pristine homes or would you consider a home that requires some cosmetics or even some major renovations?

____ Amenities of Home- There may be certain amenities that you must have in a home. Maybe it’s a detached garage for business purposes, or an in-law apartment a first floor bedroom or again a number of different scenarios can come into effect here. This is one criteria where you should not confuse wants with needs. A first floor bedroom for grandma who can’t climb stairs is a need. A fireplace in the living room is a want.

Assessing Your Wants When Buying a Home

Buying a home is very personal and there can be many different reasons and needs that compel a buyer to buy a home. These may not be the only criteria, but be open with your buyer’s agent about your wants and needs. Feel free to add the absolutely needs to the list and rank in order of priority when assessing your home buying needs.

Tip- When assessing your needs, don’t be afraid to reassess as you get out and look and homes and find out where reality may lie. Reassess with your agent on a regular basis.

I have been helping buyers successfully purchase for many years and I can tell you your wants and needs will change over the process, especially if your are just starting your home search. If you find the right buyer’s agent and they become a trusted advisor, they can quickly help you asses your needs and wants and help translate it into the perfect home for you.

Many times a buyers wants and needs do not meet their budget, and that is certainly alright. You just have to get out there and find out where reality may lie.

A great example I personally run into a lot, is a buyer will call me because they want to be in a certain school system. Which, by me, happens to be Andover. After chatting I find out that the most they can afford is $275,000 is the top of their home buying budget. Today as I write this article there are only 3 houses below $300,000 in Andover all of which are over $275,000. All three of these homes are challenged as far as condition, size and/or location.

Another example is a buyer will approach me wanting to buy a new construction there budget is $450,000. They will give me a list of upscale towns where they would like to live. Through experience and some quick research I can tell them that the chances of finding a new construction in the communities they are interested in is slim to none. What they want or need just does not exist.

Now I am not being a Debbie Downer. In this example each town had 10-12 new construction that sold in the past year. The data speaks for itself. To find a new construction in Andover for 450k will probably be impossible. Tewksbury may happen but the chances are slim. Dracut or Haverhill would be more realistic.

	Average Sale	Lowest Sale	Highest Sale	Average Sq Ft
Andover	$829,000	$617,000	$1,190,000	3500
Dracut	$472,000	$340,000	$558,000	2400
Tewksbury	$500,000	$443,000	$565,000	2500
Haverhill	$414,000	$414,000	$483,000	2200

Tip- Finding out the median house price of a town over the last year will quickly help you determine what your likeliness of success will be in a town given your budget and help match your budget with your assessment of needs and wants.

For example, in both cases: Andover has a median house price of $567,000. That will tell you that you will probably not find a new construction below the median house price and that to find a house that is priced 35-40% below the median or more will be difficult

I cannot tell you how often this happens. Many times buyers are out there floundering getting frustrated because they don’t fully understand the market and they are approaching it haphazardly. I meet up with them and we connect and start to have a real dialogue about their wants and needs. I can then have a discussion backed up with data showing what exists out in the current real estate market place. Remember I do this every day probably 6 days a week 8-10 hours a day. It is my job.

We can now focus on real needs and real homes that will fit your criteria instead of spending months being aggravated and frustrated.

Tip- A good buyers agent can quickly help you assess your needs based upon experience, knowledge and data. They can then help direct you in the right direction.

In The End, Assessing Your Needs Upfront Will Save You Time, Money and Aggravation

Ok so you can see how assessing your needs early on in the process can save you time and aggravation. How can it save you money? Driving around going to showing after showing, open houses or doing drive-bys costs you in gas and wear and tear on your car. Don’t forget time taken off from work. But where it will really cost you money is when you get frustrated and aggravated. When your frustrated and aggravated you will start to make wrong decisions in haste. When your patience is gone you can buy the wrong house, in the wrong community or overpay for a house just to be done with the process.

Again the reasons to buy a home can be so personal. Take 15 minutes to assess your reasons for buying a home, your wants and needs. It will help focus your home search and keep you on track. Lastly, it is perfectly alright to adjust those wants and needs as you get out into the real estate market and start to get an understanding of where reality may lie for you.

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Assessing Your Needs When Buying a Home is provided by Kevin Vitali a Massachusetts Buyers Agent. Kevin has been helping home buyers for many years and can help you to. If you would like a no-obligation buyer consultation call Kevin at 978-360-0422.

Maximize your Massachusetts Home Search- Active Statuses

Over the years I have found much confusion about the availability of homes for sale when doing a Massachusetts Home Search. When you are thinking of buying a home many buyers will just start cruising the internet looking for a website where they can do a Massachusetts Home Search. There are certainly plenty to choose from.

Where the confusion lies for many buyers is the actual status of a home that is for sale. The status is whether it is for sale, sold, withdrwan from the market.etc… Today we are just going to talk about the Active Status in the Massachusetts Home Search. These are dictated by the Massachusetts Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Unfortunately there is more then one “active status” when performing home search.

What do you mean Active Status in Massachusetts Home Search?

Statuses are broken down into two categories in the Massachusetts MLS. Active, meaning the home is available for sale and off market, meaning the home is not for sale. Again today we are only going to talk about active statuses in the Massachusetts Home Search. So we say “active” meaning they are technically for sale. And I say technically because not all active listing are truly available for buyers.

There is nothing worse to get your hopes up about a house and then find out it really isn’t available for sale. I will go through the active statuses you will run into and explain how it effects your home search.

Variation of an Active Status in a Home Search

The first four are relatively uncomplicated and should readily be available to accept offers and cooperate with showings. The sellers will be anxious to get an offer on their home.

New– The new status means the home is new to the market and has been newly listed in the past four days. After four days it will just go to an active status if an offer is not accepted in that time period. These are great homes for you to look at and most likely where your next house will come from.

Active- These are homes that are no longer considered new to the market but are actively being marketed and accepting offers. These are good homes to target.

BOM or Back on Market- These are homes that were previously taken of the market but put back on the market. Homes will stay in the BOM status for four days and then just convert to active. There are a couple of reasons it can come back on the market. The most common is there was an accepted offer and the deal fell apart do to a myriad of reasons. Those reason can include a home inspection or financing. Also it could be a home that came off the market temporarily due to personal reasons and then put back on. If you notice this status, make sure your agent ask why it came back on. There may be home inspection issues that should be disclosed.

Price Change- A home will be marked as price change for four days then convert to active. The status is pretty self explanatory and they are homes that have had a price change in the past four days.

The last two can get complicated. They are both statuses that are considered “active” but there are accepted offers on the property. Seller motivation tends to be low and quite frankly in many circumstances it is a waste of time for buyers to spend any time on these homes especially if there is plenty of active inventory out there.

Contingent- This is a home that has an accepted offer on it pending on something occurring at some date in the future. What can those contingencies be? Home inspection, mortgage commitment or lien holder approval are the ones you will typically see. When you see this status the chances of getting this home are relatively low. Most of these will close with that offer that has tied it up with a contingency. You will most likely find that homes marked as contingent will have low motivation from the sellers to show the home. You will also not be able to “bump” the offer on the table. You will only be able to negotiate a back up offer in case the first offer does not clear it’s contingency. I usually tell buyers just starting there search not to waste time on these homes it will generally leas to excitement but go no where.

Kick-out Clause- The kick-out status is a bit complicated. It is a contingent status where there is a condition in the contract where if the seller receives another offer the buyer with the current offer has a certain period of time (typically 24-48 hours) to remove the contingency or the seller is free to accept the new offer. This status is typically used for a house to sell contingency. A seller will accept an offer with the stipulation that the buyer has until a certain time period to put a current house under agreement. As a home buyer I would certainly encourage looking at these.

The last status is actually an off market status but a lot of national aggregate sites will show these like Zillow and Trulia.

Pending or Under Agreement- A status where an offer has been accepted and is heading to closing. Unfortunately this is a home that will not be available to purchase.

Where do you find the Status when searching for a home?

Finding the status can be a tough one. Where the data shows up can be different for each and every site. I encourage my buyers not to bounce around from website to website. Find one or two websites where you like the home search and learn how to use it. Some of them can be very powerful tools to help you find your next home if you take the time to properly use them. To the right is where it shows up in the home search on this blog but again it varies from site to site. On my Massachusetts Home Search you have the ability to toggle some of these statuses on or off which will greatly maximize your home search.

If there is one tip I can leave you that will help save you a ton of aggravation:

**** TIP 1 Most online home searches feed from the same sources. There generally are no homes for sale that are not listed on ALL of the websites.

Yep…. there are no secret homes for sale that are listed on only one site. Learn to effectively learn to use the tool you have rather then crossing your fingers and hoping to find that one home that no one else knows about! I can’t tell you how many times a get a call from a client because they found a house on Trulia that they cant find on my home search. There are two reasons why this can happen. First is Trulia will show data on houses that aren’t for sale.

Second is the criteria. The client will insist that they will not look at any home below one acre. So I have their criteria set for one acre and over. Then I go looking and find out the house they found is a quarter acre. This leads me to home search tip #2:

****TIP 2 Do not be so restrictive on your search criteria that you might be missing homes slightly to the left or right of what you are looking for. If you do you may miss great opportunities.

Happy House Hunting!!

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This article has been provided by Kevin Vitali of EXIT Group One Real Estate. Kevin has the experience to maximize your next home purchase. If you have any questions or what a trusted advisor in your upcoming purchase call Kevin at 978-360-0422.

Please feel free to comment on Maximize your Massachusetts Home Search- Active Statuses.

House is not selling? Avoid MARKET ROT!!

You list your home and you anxiously await an offer. Showings are sporadic. Thirty days go by, then sixty then ninety. Then you pass the average days on market in your area. It starts to become obvious to you that your house is not selling and now your are getting worried. The days on market (DOM) is the amount of time from the day you list a property until the day you take your house of the market due to an accepted offer. Typical DOM runs about 74 to 120 days in our area and can be very price or property specific. Sometimes luck is on your side but selling a house is usually a well orchestrated plan and not an accident.

I have been in real estate full time for over 12 years. My rule of thumb is you should receive an offer in 15-20 showings and those showings should occur in the first 30-45 days on the market. Not all but most of my properties will sell well below average DOM due to marketing and working closely with the seller for accurate pricing and proper home preparation. After 60-90 of your house not selling you will start to experience MARKET ROT!!

While your house sits on the market longer and longer, typically showings become less and less or almost non-existent.

When your house is not selling you will experience Market Rot!

What is market rot? I heard an agent use this term a long time ago and it is so fitting. Market rot occurs when your house is sitting on the market unsold. The longer your house sits the more stagnant or rotten it gets.

Think of it this way…. when you go to the store and buy bananas, you usually buy them slightly green, they reach their peak in a few days and as they sit on your counter they get a little browner as the days go by. Eventually, if they go uneaten they are so rotten you have to throw them away. No one wants the rotten bananas.

Not unlike what happens to bananas buyers of your home will perceive your home as stagnating or rotting on the market the same way. When your home is new to the market buyers will initially perceive it as fresh and exciting…. maybe this is the one. They are afraid to miss out on an opportunity. As time goes and your house is not selling they become less excited about it. The buyers attitude becomes it hasn’t sold it will be her next week I’ll look around and see if I like something better. The urgency is now gone. Eventually you’ll reach a point where buyers wonder what is wrong with your house because it hasn’t sold. It will get to a point where they won’t even want to look at it because no one else wants it why should they.

I have buyers that will call me on homes they show an interest in and many times as market times creep up they ask me flat out, what is wrong with it, it hasn’t sold.

The life cycle of a house sitting on the market

The graphic below is what happens to showing activity the longer and longer a house sits on the market. This pattern will repeat itself in showings as well as online viewings on various websites. There are two variations on this graph…. the one I am showing you below and one where showings activity is high coming out of the gate and then tapers off after a month or two.

The Number One Reason Your House is Rotting on the Market!

So your house is not selling and literally “rotting” on the market as perceived by buyers….why? The number one reason your house is experiencing market rot is it is overpriced. Right now in today’s market you overprice even 3-5% over fair market value, your house can possibly sit, rotting on the market. Yes you will get activity, but eventually it will dwindle to a trickle. There are two pieces of information I can impart to you and I know my counterparts will agree:

No amount of marketing will sell an overpriced home.
It is almost impossible to under price a home. If your slightly under price buyers will bid up a good property. It will attract far more buyers and showings. Increased activity will generally attract buyers and create competition.
Proper pricing turns the tables on the buyers, instead of sellers competing for buyers attention, buyers are now competing for the home!

Just to back up what I am saying I reviewed data for Middlesex County Massachusetts. All single family home in the past year between 0- $1,000,000. What the data shows is that property that sell quicker sell for more money then homes that sit on the market.

Home on the market for 0-60 days- 6633 home sold for an average of 100% of the list price for a median sale price of $470,000. Out of those 6633 homes 1425 of them had price changes averaging 3.71%

Homes on the market for 60+ days- 3188 homes sold for 97% of the list price for a median sale price of $425,000. Out of those homes 3144 had price changes averaging 5.33%

In that same time period 3237 were expired unsold or withdrawn from the market. While some of the withdrawals are for various reasons most are because the home owners are tired of trying to sell their home.

I am not a math whiz but it looks like that selling a home in under 60 days will probably net you about 5% to 7% more then homes that sit on the market for over 60 days. Their were far less price changes prior to the 60 day mark and the home that sold under 60 days sold for 3% more! On top of it the longer you sit on the market there is a chance your home will go unsold!! Besides saving time and money there are other reasons to price your house properly.

While overpricing your home is the number one reason that your home isn’t selling there certainly can be other reasons and they are spelled out in the blog post series I did on expired listings.

Some Ways to Avoid Market Rot

Hire an experienced agent- An experienced agent will know how to counsel you and price your home properly. They will not just be “yes men” and do anything to get the listing they will provide data and counsel you on how to properly price your home. This data will include a comprehensive Comparative Market Analysis of sold properties that are similar to yours.
Review and understand the data yourself- Review the data yourself that your agent provides you. Does the data make sense? Again, its your decision what to list the house for decide if the information is believable or not.
Don’t get into the trap of thinking asking more will net you more- Yes that is certainly human nature. I can provide valid data for you to review but it is ultimately your choice to set the listing price. I have had sellers say, yes they understand but they want to leave bargaining room or worse yet…. I want to try let them make an offer. Understand that many buyers will walk away and not make an offer even if they like your home if you are overpriced. They do not want to get involved in a process they don’t believe will have a good outcome.
Make your home available for showings- Yes you have to show it to sell it don’t deny every other showing because its inconvenient. Guess what? Selling a home is inconvenient at times. If you cant be inconvenienced maybe you shouldn’t sell your home.
Put your home in tip top showing condition- Clean, de-clutter, freshen paint and clean some more!! If you can do some of the small repairs that need to be done. A home that shows well will also photograph well and attract buyers online. Your house may need a knew kitchen or could use a little TLC. Maybe you don’t have money to fix it up but you can certainly paint, declutter and clean.

These are just some of the reasons why your home is not selling. Keep a constant line of communication open with your agent and constantly review what is happening in the market place as well as the feedback you are getting on your home from the buyers. React quickly before it’s too late. I always tell my sellers, feedback is one of the most important tools we have once a home is on the market. One bad comment doesn’t make for an immediate change but if you are hearing the same feedback over and over its time to make a change. Of course there are things that you can fix or change, but there are some objections that can only be overcome with a price adjustment.

A house can easily be cleaned or de-cluttered if it is distracting to buyers. But a house that backs up to the highway cannot be moved. I have noticed over the years after working with 100’s of sellers that feedback like the house is too small or the highway in the backyard is too loud goes away as the home starts to be priced more inline with what will attract the right buyer.

At the end of the day, take the time to understand the comparable properties to yours and price it right. It will save you months of aggravation as well as putting more money in your pocket.

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I have been helping home sellers successfully sell their homes for over 12 years. I offer valuable historical data about your market and an exceptional marketing plan. I can help you maximize your home sale. If you would like a no-obligation consultation call me today at 978-360-0422. Thank you for reading, House is not selling? Avoid MARKET ROT!!

Show Your Home to Sell It!

Seems like the selling season is upon us many good properties are getting snatched up quickly. Yet some seem to sit on the market for longer then usual. One thing a seller must pay attention to is how are showings getting scheduled and how quickly is the response time. You have to show your home to sell it!

Seems like a simple concept…. you have to show your home to sell it.

It certainly does seem like a simple concept. But as a listing agent, I will occasional get sellers that will prevent half the showing from occurring. I do have this conversation on how important it is to show your home, yet they deny showing after showing. You can not well your home if buyers can’t get in.

On the other side of the fence, when working as a buyer’s agent, there is always those listing that you can’t seem to get an appointment. You call the agent repeatedly with no response or if you do get in touch with the agent the home owner is denying the showings saying its inconvenient can they come at a different time or day. Once, yes…. ok, but repeated attempts and denials, no.

What happens when you don’t show your home?

Sellers must remember that as busy as their schedules may be, so are the schedules of a home buyer. A buyer might request a specific time that may not be convenient for you so you request another time later in the day or another day.

Remember, that sometimes a buyer is traveling hours to come view homes, they aren’t right around the corner. Also as an agent, I may be scheduling showings at 5, 10 or more houses for that buyer. Your probably not the only home we are viewing that day. The homes were logically laid out in order to facilitate a timely schedule. Everyone else has confirmed and agreed to the buyers requested time except you…. guess what we probably aren’t going to view your home that day.

Ok, so we didn’t view your home that day. That same buyer and I are going out one night during the week and we try to reschedule again your deny the showing. Guess what, we are probably never going to try again. The buyer will lose interest, or get the feeling that this is how the whole transaction will go and say forget it.

Or worse yet…. This just happened this past weekend in Malden. I was working with a buyer and we had 7 houses scheduled to view. 4 were in Malden, 2 in Woburn and 1 in Medford. One of the agents in Malden never confirmed the showing. So we saw 6 houses instead of 7. My buyer wrote an offer that day. You just lost a potential buyer. These folks were serious and ready to buy.

Why doesn’t your home get showed?

There are several areas to look at of why your home doesn’t get showed.

The Home Owner- There are home owners that find every excuse not to show their home. It is not convenient, the house isn’t ready to show, I don’t want to pack up the kids and leave the house, etc… And, I am not talking about legitimate conflicts, like say a child that is home sick with a fever of 103, that’s understandable. That occasionally will happen I will tell you flat out, showing your home can and will be inconvenient at times. But if you want to sell it you need to show your home.
Homeowner not allowing lock box on the house- Some homeowners insist that they are home for showings because they don’t want a lock box on the house. Now that complicates showings in two ways. First, it requires you to be home for showings to occur. No showings can occur while you are at work, running errands or shuttling the kids. Second, don’t be home when showings are occurring it makes buyers uncomfortable.
Accompanied Showings- Are you requiring or is your agent telling you that is the best way to go? Let me tell you, and I know most of my counterparts will agree, accompanied showings can hinder a sale. If you are requiring your agent to accompany showing their schedule now must be accommodated as well as the buyers schedule. Your agent cannot be in two places at once. As a buyer’s agent I can tell you that it can be a nightmare trying to schedule a showing at a house with accompanied showings. Read my article Accompanied Showings Yay or Nay? The wort part is you probably will not even know showings are getting denied by your agent. Do you think your agent is going to call you up and say I had two buyers schedule showings this weekend but I couldn’t accommodate them so the showings aren’t happening? Think again.
Gaining Entry is Impossible- This doesn’t happen much but I run into it occasionally and its a real hassle. Many times this scenario can’t even be fit into a showing schedule. This occurs when I have to pick up the key at the showing office and return it immediately when I am done. This can add hours onto trying to accomplish one showing. If I am doing multiple showings, I tell me client we will have to view this house at another time because we don’t have time to run around and get the key at the expense of viewing other homes.
Agent does not respond to showing requests- This occurs when the agent must be contacted directly to set up showings. You make multiple phone calls, send multiple emails and you do not hear back from the agent. So your home goes unshowed, losing a potential sale. Again, you probably won’t even know this is happening. Your agent isn’t going to call you and say, yeah we lost another showing because I didn’t respond in a timely manner….

You still want to show your home but have real scheduling conflicts

Their certainly are real scheduling conflicts that can hinder showings. They can be things like an dog needs to be removed, so you can’t show when you are at work, someone works third shift and needs to sleep during the day, there is a child that needs to keep a nap schedule or a myriad of other conflicts. There certainly is a way to handle this so that you are not turning away buyers.

How I handle this is to put a schedule together of when the house can’t be shown. I put this right under showing instructions in the Multiple Listing Service for the agents to read. I let them know what times the house is not available and the agent knows right up front what will and will not work for scheduling. For example I recently had a client that worked three night shifts. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. So we disclosed that there were no showings until after 3pm on the following days. No showings Thurs, Friday and Saturday until after 3pm.

No matter what your schedule might be try to be as flexible as possible allowing some days some evenings and some weekend times to try to accommodate a wide variety of schedules. Some mornings, some afternoons, some evenings and some weekends. If a showing agent knows up front the schedule they have to work with, it is much easier to manage the buyer and the showing schedule.

How I handle showings of your home

A lock box with a key goes on every listing. This way your house can be accessed by agents to show your home at anytime. I have a discussion with my sellers about the best way to schedule showings. Most of my sellers are comfortable with 2 hours notice, schedule and send the agent unless notified by the seller that won’t work. If that plan does not work for you we try to come up with an alternate plan.

I have a third party showing service that handles all showings. They are open from 8am until 8pm everyday of the week. All they do is coordinate showings for agents. They receive a call or an email from an agent, they co-ordinate with the home owner and confirm the appointment with the showing agent. I am not hindering showings because of my schedule. More and more agents are using a service like this. They generally are the easiest to schedule because there is a process in place.

My last piece of advice for home sellers, make sure your agent has a system in place that does not hinder showings of your home. Show your home so you can sell it!

Re-think Taking Your Home Off the Market for the Holidays

Conventional wisdom in the past has been to take your house of the market for the holidays. It’s time to re-think taking your home off the market for the holidays, Over the past couple of years that thinking has been shifting. With home buyers having access to information at their fingertips that thinking is changing. Buyers are afraid of missing good homes during the holidays so they keep their eyes open. I also have been in this business for 12 years and the buyers that are out looking at this time of year are very serious buyers.

There will be less inventory on the market and your home has the ability to stand out amongst the best buyers.

If you are marketing your home during the holidays my suggestions is to keep it on! Check out this article from AOL on keeping your home on the market during the holidays that I posted on my Facebook Page, Massachusetts Real Estate.

Post by Kevin Vitali- Massachusetts Real Estate.

Plum Island Homes for Sale

Plum Island is a barrier island of the northeast coast of Massachusetts. The island is divided between four towns, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley and Ipswich.

Most of the residential homes sit in Newbury and Newburyport on the northern side of the island. More than half of Plum Island is made up of the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. There are miles of public beaches for the islands residents as well as a major destination for the greater area.

Plum Island is a popular vacations spot because of its beautiful beaches and proximity to Boston. The island itself is a mix of seasonal and year round homes.

Plum Island real estate has older small cottages, some multi-families as well as some magnificent ocean front homes.

Search for homes for sale on Plum Island

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