Home Buyer Strategy in a Seller’s Market Never negotiate hungry. Or tired. Or driving — especially driving.” –Ross Kaplan, “Negotiating Advice.” While most negotiating advice is focused on the “How” of negotiating, experience has taught me that that can be much less important than the “When” or the “Where.” As in, when to stop negotiating...Read More
What’s a “1.5 showing?” When one partner in a couple has seen the house and likes it, and gives their partner a green light to take a look. Rules & Exceptions As a general rule, Realtors acting as a Buyer’s agent prefer that both (all**) decision-makers be present at all showings. That’s not only more efficient,...Read More
“10 Showings, $10,000″ ” Updated Realtors have a saying: “10 showings, $10,000.” What that means is, if a home has been shown by 10 agents ” each representing a serious, well-qualified Buyer ” and it still hasn’t sold . . . it’s overpriced by at least $10,000. Of course, $10k presumes an average priced home...Read More
The Four Types of Housing Market Participants, in One, Easy-to-Explain Graph Every housing market has its winners and losers. Every housing market. So, a decade ago, when the market was tanking, the big winners were first-time Buyers ” at least ones with (good) jobs and unblemished credit. With rock-bottom prices and an ocean of inventory,...Read More
Sure, sure, “how many years someone has been in the business” is a rough proxy for how experienced a particular Realtor is. That’s especially so in a field where something like 90% of new entrants last less than two years. But, I’d argue, there are three other metrics that more accurately capture how seasoned/skilled...Read More
The Harder It is To Sell Listings, the Easier They Are to Get — and Vice Versa “Energy cannot be created or destroyed.” –First Law of Thermodynamics. OK, so residential real estate isn’t governed by anything so fundamental as the three laws of thermodynamics in physics. But, it is characterized by a peculiar sort of...Read More
