The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

 5 Steps in Choosing a Realtor to sell your property

Over the Christmas holiday, I was inspired to write this post as my parents announced their interest to sell their home in a different state.  I found myself doing the 5 steps below to help them find the best listing agent for their needs.  

Selling your property in today's market requires much more skill and marketing expertise by the realtor you choose to represent you.  Several years ago, it was much easier as all your realtor really needed to do was list the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and wait for a deal in a few weeks, or often a few days ! 

 

Back then, every realtor looked like an expert no matter their level of expertise.  Now it is much more critical to have expert representation to navigate through the maze of getting a house sold.  Below is a list of 5 steps that you can use to help you choose the right realtor to sell your property.

1.  Current relationships - Consider hiring the realtor who helped you purchase your home or someone you know already.

2.  Referral - Ask around your friends, family and colleagues for a referral that specializes in your area.

3.  Scout your neighborhood - Notice the for sale signs in regards to the realtors that are selling properties in the area. 

4.  Google your neighborhood - For example if you lived in Northern Liberties, google Northern Liberties Real Estate or Northern Liberties listings to see what individual realtors come up on page 1 or page 2 of the searches.

Once you do steps 1 - 4, step 5 should really determine who you want to set up an interview with.

5.  Google the realtor - search each realtor from your preliminary list from items 1-4 above.  For example, google "Chris and Stephanie Somers" and see what comes up.  Things to look for are:

A.  Does the realtor have their own website ?  Or better yet, multiple sites ?  A blog ?

B.  Can you get more info about the realtor just by reading their site as far as specialties ?  For example, there is no need to interview an agent who says they just specialize in buyer agency when you are looking for a listing agent.  Also, you will be able to see if the realtor has a team or an assistant which definitely comes in handy throughout the process.

C.  Take a look at a listing (or several listings) that a realtor is marketing and google that address and you can see some of the places that a listing is advertised... or more importantly, if there is any adverstising at all !  For example, if you Google 1111 Mount Vernon, this is what comes up:  1111 Mount Vernon - Right away, you can see that it is on trulia, zillow as well as The Somers Team website .

From this, you can pick 2 or 3 realtors to interview with to hear what each individual agent has to say about pricing, getting your house ready for sale as well as their marketing strategy. 

This 5-step checklist is a great way to narrow down who you will interview and who you will choose to be your realtor.  Also, after doing step 5, you may just want to interview one agent for you will already know based on your due diligence !!!

Make this important decision with confidence ! 

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

Happy Holidays

Stephanie and I had a great time taking a break for the XMAS holiday and visiting our parents as well as my sister and her family in Midlothian, VA.   The holidays are a great reminder in terms of how important family is as well as how important it is to take a break from the crazy real estate market from time to time.

Below are some of the photos from XMAS day !

 

Ty received a cereal box that had a serious special suprise inside ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zach received some deodorant that will definitely make him more popular and will have him wanting to use that same brand year after year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynn Christine received some lip gloss that had a treat inside it !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kara and Doug enjoying some coffee post-dinner on Christmas Eve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents received a very special Christmas present of "The Fish" that was painted by my nephew Ty.  He is quite the artist !

 

 

 

 

 

 

My beautiful wife Stephanie enjoying a glass of wine on Christmas Eve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was worth the trip !  Even with the traffic going back to Philadelphia !

 

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

 

Christmas Cats

One of my favourite things to do when I visit my parents in Midlothian, VA is to relax and enjoy some quality time with their 2 Maine Coon Cats, Oscar and Katje.  Our cat Charlie (an Active Rain star) has a little Maine Coon him as well.

Below are a few photos from this past XMAS of Oscar and Katje:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday visiting friends, family and of course pets !

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

 

ACTIVE RAIN ROCKS

When I left to go on vacation for the holidays a few days ago, we had close to 100,000 points.  I figured when I got back home in Philadelphia,  I could post a blog entry and break the 100,000 barrier.  But sometimes you get points overnight due to blog comments made on your blog which is what happened as I noticed yesterday that the 100,000 point barrier was broken !

Maybe that is one of my birthday presents as I turned 40 on December 27th.  Is a little scary but am okay with it.  I am fortunate to have a great life with a great family and to be with my wife Stephanie who makes every day special.

In any event, when I first started on Active Rain, I would post a blog entry every 10,000 points to celebrate.  At 50,000 points I told myself that I would not do one until 100,000 points so here we are !  I thought it would take forever a day but it did not take too long.  More importantly though, in the Active Rain journey, we have learned so much - the people are awesome, and the resources are just amazing.  It is incredible that there is now over 126,000 members, many of which have 200,000 points and above, some having 500,000 points and above !

 

The point system I think is brilliant as it helps all of us have a little competition as well as providing a little motivation.  Below is our snapshot of points. 

It is amazing to think we have made 2,608 comments !  That is a lot of comments : )  Is also amazing that we have received 2776 comments.  I love Active Rain !  Active Rain rocks ! My goal is always to post 3 to 5 new blog posts per week and to make at least 10 comments a day.  Making comments is awesome because you get to learn a lot at the same time !

So it is special to me that we have hit this milestone on my 40th birthday which was December 27.  I feel like I am still 20 years younger and act like it sometimes too !

My message to any new Active Rainer or any blogger is that if we can do it, you can do it too !  And while you do, you get to meet a lot of new and wonderful people, learn a great deal, and position yourself to do more business !!!  How cool is that ?

Here is to a great 2009 for all of us !

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

Happy Holidays Active Rain

2008 was a great year for us as it was during the year that we found Active Rain !  We set up a profile on Active Rain and slowly began to blog.  Since that time we have learned so much regarding internet marketing, blogging tips, real estate information and the list goes on and on.   Active Rain is the best real estate resource on the internet.  We have much to learn and are very much looking foward to 2009.

In our daily quest to grow and to learn more, it is important to relax and enjoy the holidays, to be with the one's you love, to appreciate life, to be grateful and thankful.  Life is short and it is easy to get caught up in the daily grind of stress and anxiety.

Christmas is just a few days away as is a new year altogether.  It is amazing and it is worth a cheer !

Happy Holidays Active Rain !

Happy Holidays Active Rain Members !

Happy Holidays Active Rain Associates !

Happy Holidays Active Rain readers and blog subcribers !

Happy Holidays to our clients !

Happy Holidays to everyone !

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

Dual Agency

In the last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about Dual Agency and it's place in the Philadelphia real estate market.  In some states, it is not allowed.  In Pennsylvania, it is.  On the consumer notice it states:

"Dual Agency is a relationship where the licensee acts as the agent for both the seller/landlord and the buyer/tenant in the same transaction with written consent of all parties."

 

I am interested in knowing what other people's opinions are regarding dual agency.  I have done several dual agency transactions this year and I have a feeling it will continue to be more frequent as a direct result of the intensive internet marketing that we do on our listings.  Basically, since we do so much marketing, often times buyers will come directly to us.  When they do, we will show them properties that fit their needs which may or may not include some of our own listings.  If the buyer decides to write an offer on one of our own listings, that is when we may begin to act as a dual agent.

Based on our past experience with these transactions, I think there are 3 main benefits of dual agency:

1.  Transaction can be smoother and more streamlined as well as being more transparent - you do not have to wait around for the other agent to respond or in some cases, educate the other agent regarding the property (condominium association, the short sale process...etc)  Acting as the go-between can be extremely efficient and effective. 

2. Real Estate Commission - Often times, it can benefit both buyer and seller that a dual agent is involved for there maybe an agreed upon commission that is a little lower which allows some more negotiation room, either on the sales price or perhaps in repair concessions.  For example, we may take a listing with an agreed upon 6 percent commission but it would be stated that if we brought the buyer, it would be 5 percent.  

3. Increased showings for the seller - Because of our internet marketing, we generate a tremendous amount of leads for each listing.  If dual agency was not applicable, what would we do with those leads that want to see the property ?  Hand them to someone else and hope that those leads are communicated with ?  Thus, we can show the properties ourselves or refer them to someone in our office.

I think it is important to note that it is not our goal to be a dual agent.  When it happens, we enter into it cautiously and state the benefits to both parties.   The bigger picture is that we are an advocate for our clients and feel that this can be accomplished in all of the types of agency that we practice:  seller agency, buyer agency and dual agency.

Also, every case should be looked at individually.  If the listing agent is representing themselves or a family member, that might be different where the buyer might be better off served with their own buyer agent.  This can all be discussed with the seller when the listing is taken.

In doing some research, I found some blog posts on Active Rain that also discussed dual agency that are worth reading:

Dual Agency Life in the Fast Lane by Monika McGillicuddy

Entering into dual agency to buy or sell a home - it is not as bad as you think by Jeremy Blanton

Why I Don't Practice Dual Agency by Rich Schiffer

What is your opinion of dual agency ?

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

A Port Richmond settlement due to a Google Search and our Active Rain Blog

This past week I had a settlement for a property in Port Richmond.  The deal was a super deal as the purchasor was an experienced investor who paid cash with no inspections.  It was also a fast settlement, less than 3 weeks which benefited all the parties involved.  It came about in a typical way as a buyer emailed Stephanie and I with an interest in Philadelphia investment properties (specifically in Port Richmond).  We then referred the buyer to a team member and within a week he moved forward on this Port Richmond property which was also our listing.

But the story gets better !!  At settlement, the buyer asked me if we have had success in short sales.  I said certainly and shared a few examples.  In fact, we just had 2 short sale approvals in the past week (another story) !.  The buyer then proceeded to say that he found us from doing a search on Google for "Philadelphia Short Sales" and found our Philadelphia Real Estate Blog !

Sure enough, I went home and typed that in and saw that this came up on page 1 of Google !

 

The real beauty about this is that from our short sale blog, we now have very happy seller clients as far as selling their listing.  In addition, one of our team members now has a very happy investor client who is looking to pick up one property per month ! 

Another huge benefit about internet marketing is that often the leads come directly to you.  I have found as a result that dual agency has been more applicable to us this year, either as individual agents or as an office (this will be the topic of a future post).  I love having a team as those resources are extremely valuable.  This has also become an integral part of our listing presentation as we do not allow any lead to slip through the cracks and we believe through our internet marketing efforts we generate many additional showings than our competition for a listing.  How cool is that ?

To conclude, for those new agents that are just starting to blog, stay with it !  Internet marketing works and Active Rain rocks !

If interested in buying or selling a property in Philadelphia, contact Chris and Stephanie Somers at 215=400-2612 or thesomersteam@yahoo.com.  For Philadelphia investment properties, check out our new site - Philly Investor Hub !

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

Northern Liberties Real Estate

I must admit I love selling real estate in the Philadelphia real estate market.  And I really love selling properties in Northern Liberties !  Why you ask ?  Because we live in the neighborhood and are a part of the community !!

We are very passionate and interested in the community and love to see the progress, the development and the changes over the years.  Recently, I highlighted a blog post about the Top 15 Neigborhoods to Buy Real Estate Highlighted by Business Week , one of which was Northern Liberties !!  How cool is that ?

In any event, when I meet with a seller who has a property to sell in Northern Liberties, I tell them who better to sell your property than someone who lives in the neighborhood, someone who knows everything about the neighborhood !!  From the restaurants, the galleries, the shops, the parks, the real estate market and the list goes on and on. 

As a realtor, I think it is a great idea to focus on a target market for some of your business.  And as a consumer, either a potential seller or a potential buyer, I recommend to use someone who is an expert in the area.  That additional consultation and intricate knowledge of what is going on in any specific neighborhood is invaluable.

In any event, if the buyer or the seller is reading this, congrats on the condo in Northern Liberties !  For this particular deal that settled this week, as it turned out, I ended up being a dual agent, meaning representing both buyer and seller.  Dual agency can be tricky sometimes but it can also be a great benefit for both clients which will be a topic for a future blog post.

For now, happy holidays !  I love Northern Liberties !  Please visit these Northern Liberties posts for more of our blog posts about the neighborhood.

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

I wonder if my plea will be heard...

Back in August I had a suggestion in this blog post "I have a cure for the housing market but I need your help" which stated that every realtor and seller (including FSBOs) should immediately withdrawl their listings that would knowingly never sell.  If that did happen, probably at least 10 percent of the inventory would be cleared !  That in and of itself would be a great stimulus to the housing market !

As an add-on to that post, my next plea is simple and straightfoward.  Please Please Please do not take the overpriced listings - it confuses the sellers (and realtors as well as the public) in the neigborhood and it wastes everyones time.  We are all better served by having realistic priced homes on the market as the inventory will begin to move and take some of the sting out of the sluggish marketplace. 

A couple of examples and I'm sure you will have many more but case in point:

1.  TIME WASTING

There was a Fishtown home that was about to expire approximately 6 months ago that was listed at $240K.  I told the seller the max listing price I would do was $199,900 as his sales price really would be around $185K.  He re-listed with his current realtor and then later listed with someone else at that higher number.  This is a perfect example of how time will end up being wasted.

So this week, an agent from my team writes an offer on this property: you would think the seller should be celebrating !  Buyers agent writes a deal for $185,000 (a gift because it would be the high price range for this area).  The seller wanted to straight-out reject this offer but did come back with a counter of only $2K below his listing price of $215K.  Deal dies - buyers agent writes a deal for another property.  What we should look at closely here is how much time is being wasted by buyer agents and consumers (not to mention the listing agents fielding calls and marketing the property).   Even in the unlikely possibility that this seller finds a qualified buyer to write a deal for what he wants "to break even" the house will not appraise by the bank !  That would be a waste of time of another industry !  So for plea number 1, let's stop wasting time.   My suggestion would be to recommend these sellers to rent the property or sell and take a tax loss !

2.  CONFUSION

Agents and sellers who list overpriced homes confuse the consumers.  One mindset that a seller has which becomes a trap is their fear that they are "giving it away" because the one down the street is listed for so much more. 

I would like to say that most of this consufsion can be overcome by an experienced agent but sadly, and more often than not, it cannot.  With all the overpriced inventory, it is very hard to convince a person of the truth.  These high listing numbers can be very persuasive to a seller with high hopes.  Rumors and undocumented values can fly from everywhere for what a house sells for which may not be the truth. As a result, you get a real estate market filled with listings that are inflated and consumers questioning realtors who are actually giving sound advice.

Plea number 2: PLEASE do not be part of the CONFUSION, be part of the solution ! Price and list the properties accordingly.

 

Price your listings accordingly and be firm and communicate with a potential seller.  I subscribe that there is nothing wrong with being a little high in the beginning (heck I do not have a crystal ball) as long as a seller initially agrees to a strategy of price reductions.  I have been doing price reductions based on both (1) days on market and (2) number of showings so whatever happens first can then allow for a predetermined price reduction !

Let's work together and sell some properties ! 

My question is... Consumers, agents, tell me - what are your thoughts ?  Overpriced listings, should we take them or should we leave them ?

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !

 

Should I list now or wait until spring ?

I received a call yesterday from a consumer who said "Chris, I know it is not a great time to sell.  Should I put my properties up now or wait until spring ? " .  What is interesting is that I have found myself answering this question frequently and I have been seeing the same question on Trulia Voices and Zillow discussions.  So, I figured it made sense to write about it as it relates to the Philadelphia real estate market.

The first part of the answer depends on a seller's personal goals.  If a seller has no place to go or plans on purchasing in the future or there are other external factors that pushes their timeline out it might make sense to wait until those answers are figured out and there is less uncertainty.  This is the case for any seller at any time of the year.  For the seller that called me yesterday, she has several properties to sell, one of which is her primary occupancy, two that are investment properties.  She already plans on renting a place temporarily if her property sells before she relocates to North Carolina.  So what should she do ?  List now or wait until spring ?

Well, to me the answer is obvious.  List now !!!  There are six main advantages for a seller to list now in December or January instead of waiting until spring:

1.  Inventory - In the spring, how many other sellers will have ended up doing the same strategy ?  They may have been waiting a year or so until the market got better or perhaps just figured it was the best time to list their property.  So come March, April and May, there will be that much more competition to potentially compete with !   By listing now, you avoid all that potential competition.

2. Motivated Buyers - Often many buyers will just wait until spring to start their search as well.  They will just be beginning the procoess.  Believe me the buyers that are out house hunting during the Thanksgiving and XMAS timeframes are serious and motivated.  By listing now, you will potentially get one of these buyers to write a deal on your property !

 

3.  Mortgage Rates -  "Rates Rates Rates" as my friend Richard Stabile likes to say !  The mortgage rates right now are at 3 year lows !  The average 30 year mortgage is in the low 5s !  This is actually causing an uptick in buyer traffic and activity.  I think November, December and Januaray will be end up being busier months for many agents than July - October 2008 which is an anomaly.  We wrote about this in our blog post "Are we the pulse of real estate ? " and highlighted the increase in buyer traffic in our post regarding "Google Analytics" .  If you list now, you will catch this wave of increased buyers shopping for houses instead of XMAS gifts since mortgage rates are so low.

4.  Buyers confidence - Further, buyer confidence is starting to shift which is also increasing buyer traffic.  See "5 reasons for buyers to act now" .  Another cause for increase traffic is for a buyer to take advantage of the $7,500 first time homebuyer tax credit which expires in the middle of 2009.  A buyer has to settle on their property before that timeframe.  By listing now, you are taking advantage of this trend of increased buyer traffic.

5.  Accomplish your goals now - When it is all said and done, wouldn't you rather have your house sold by March and April and moving on with your life than potentially just listing your house at that point in time.  I love it when we accomplish our goals ahead of schedule - it is a great feeling.  By listing now, you are positioning yourself to accomplish your goals sooner than later.

6.  Reverse Fear - Lastly, not to buy into the media's doom and gloom, but there is always risk that the housing markets could deteriorate more instead of picking up by the middle of 2009.  In addition, the reality of the market getting that much better in a short period of time is remote.  I doubt that just by waiting until spring, a sales price could be higher by 10 percent.  In fact, it could even be a little worse if you think the economy is going to deteriorate as the unemployment rate continues to skyrocket. By listing now, you avoid that extra layer of uncertainty.

What is your opinion ?

As a consumer, will you list now or wait until spring ?  As an agent, what will your answer be when asked this question ?  Also what additional benefits are there to list now versus waiting until spring ?

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The Somers - Philadelphia Real Estate

The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Click here to receive our Blog updates via email !