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Archive for the 'Market Updates' Category

Home Sellers Top Questions About Home Staging

As I head to Florida for a much-needed vacation and annual Spring Training game (Go Tigers!!!), I leave you with an excellent Q & A reblogged with permission from my staging colleague Cindy Bryant of Redesign Etc, Inc. in Houston, TX.  Her post on Active Rain is spot-on and truly reflects the most common questions that I am asked by potential staging clients.   I apologize for starting my vacation early and taking the easy way out.  Truth is, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Take it away Cindy …

“There is so much information on home staging, that home sellers are on overload.  With advice coming from all kinds of sources and areas of the country.  Yes, it is confusing, where do you start?   If you watch tv, you may get the impression you can have your home staged for under $2000.  Or another show may stage a home for around $20,000.   Big difference!   Another show has strangers coming to your house picking it apart, to the point that you’re thinking, no way am I going to let someone do that to my home.  You can read articles or books on the internet from people that may be experts or just people with an opinion.  You can also read a book on ”How to Cut Hair”, but would you actually trust yourself to cut your hair or someone else’s?  I wouldn’t!  So, where do you start?  Sure, you have questions … who wouldn’t?

Here are a few questions home sellers have when thinking about staging their homes.

1) How much does it cost? Reasonable question … as a matter of fact it’s the #1 question.  It’s the big mystery.  This is why.  I wish I could say every home stager could give you a standard answer, but we can’t.  Every stager should be their own business entity, and provide different services.  Some charge an hourly rate, by the square foot, per room, a percentage of the list price or a flat fee.  As every property is different, we really need to see the home to assess it and give you a solid number.  Some stagers can estimate it, but shouldn’t be held to that number until the property is viewed.  There are too many variables that go into it. Is is vacant? Do furniture and accessories need to be brought in?  Or is it occupied, and you just need a redesign of existing furnishings? These are just a couple of examples.

2) Who pays for the staging? The 2nd most popular question.  The home seller is ultimately responsible for staging services.

3) Why doesn’t my Realtor pay for home staging, they are making the commission? Again, ultimately a homeowner is responsible for staging costs.  Some, but not all real estate agents will pay for a Home Staging Consultation, as a value-added service, but the actual costs associated with staging (furniture rental, actual hands-on staging) is paid for by the home seller.  It is not the responsibility of a real estate agent to pay for home staging costs.

4) Can I pay at closing? This is up to the stager.  Most, do not do this as we do not know if a property will be on the market for 1 day or 3 months.  Again, we all do it a little differently, some ask for 1/2 upfront, and some charge a monthly fee.

5) What do you do? Again, each home stager is their own entity.  Some offer redesigns only, some offer accessories only, and some offer furniture and accessories.  Some don’t have the inventory to do a vacant home so they will have to use a third party source, and some use their own inventory.  Different services can be offered, such as paint color consultations, personal shopping, organizing, curb appeal, recommendations on cost-effective cosmetic changes such as flooring, counters, lights, fixtures, etc.  The ultimate goal is to help a seller get their home sold faster and in the most cost effective manner.

6) How long does it take? It depends on how much you want done and to what extent.  It can take a few hours or a few days, or maybe longer if there are some cosmetic changes that need to be taken care of.

7) When should I have my home staged? As soon as you decide to sell.  Call a professional home stager and get a Home Staging Consultation.  Once necessary recommendations are completed from your stager’s list, your house is ready to be listed.  Don’t make the mistake of putting up that “For Sale” sign in the front yard before your home is ready.  The first 20 days a home is listed will be when it will get the most interest and traffic.  Make sure your house is show ready.”

Tags: answers to home seller's questions, Cindy Bryant, home stager, Home Sweet Home Staging, Marianne Sweet on Home Staging, Redesign Etc Inc., Rochester Hills Oakland County MI home stager

Is Home Staging “Out” for 2009?

Realty Times recently published an article titled “What’s In, What’s Out With Home Buyers in 2009?” . Author Mark Nash gives a rundown of how the real estate market may look this year and what he feels buyers are looking for.

While Mr. Nash makes some very valid observations, I must take issue with a few points that he makes, namely #5 on the “Out” list.

Mr. Nash states that home staging, “an over-used low cost marketing band-aid for vacant or occupied homes” is out. The only thing I agree with in that statement is “low cost”, which is certainly true compared to a price reduction. He goes on to say “Buyers have said enough of the non-professional usage of assorted leftover props placed around a for-sale home to make it supposedly homey. Buyers say, market it as it is and clear out the tired silk flowers and stale potpourri.” I will agree that there are less-than-fabulous attempts at staging out there, but professional home staging is proven to reduce DOM. Can any marketing tool that works truly be “out”?

Another point that frightens me in this article is the notion that “Obama-era paint colors” will be in vogue. Trust me, the “bright optimistic blues and radiant golds” that are mentioned will not help sell a house. Neutral is “in”, no matter who resides in the White House.

2009 should prove to be an interesting year for real estate, and many predictions in this article may be on-point. Let the professionals in your particular market advise you, as they know the real “ins and outs”.

Tags: home stager, Home Sweet Home Staging, Marianne Sweet on Home Staging, real estate trends in 2009

November Foreclosure: We are #5

From the doom and gloom we are hearing around town these days, I bet most Michiganders would be surprised to know that RealtyTrac said we were 5th in foreclosures in November.  1 in 309 Michigan homes is in foreclosure, compared to the nation’s leader, Nevada, where 1 in 76 homes is in foreclosure.

A few big banks agreed to stop foreclosing until after the new year, so the January numbers could bounce significantly, especially with all of the recent layoffs across the country.

Chart from Realtytrac.com

Tags: foreclosure

Metro Detroit’s Super Luxury Real Estate Sales are UP

Would you be surprised to know that a house in Metro Detroit sold for nearly $10,000,000 this summer?  That’s a whole lotta cash, by just about anyone’s standards.  According to information from Realcomp II, 21000 Turnberry Lane in Novi, sold for $9,800,000 in August.  It wasn’t even officially on the market when it sold.

The Metro Detroit area had a total of 6 sales so far in 2008 that had listing prices over $4,000,000 when they sold.  I noticed that SKBK Sotheby’s was involved in half of those sales, something not approached by any other brokerage.  Our presence in the high end is very firmly established.

The most expensive house on the market today is 730 Vaughan Road in Bloomfield Hills.  I have written about the house before. When we last checked in on it in March 2008, the price was at $9,900,000. Today it is at $8,690,000.

I find it interesting to note that there were twice as many homes sold in 2008 over $4m as there were in 2007.

Tags: birmingham bloomfield luxury homes, Bloomfield Hills Michigan, Metro Detroit, metro detroit luxury home sales

Bloomfield Hills Sales Up in October

This GOOD REAL ESTATE NEWS just in from Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors. Note the great numbers in Bloomfield Township:

Home sales again increased in both Oakland and Macomb counties compared to figures from last year. In Oakland, sales rose 23 percent; in Macomb, they rose 26 percent.

Affordability helped make Southfield Oakland’s top-selling municipality: the median sale price there was $56,000, boosting the year-to-year increase 75 percent.

Other Oakland municipalities with 15 or more sales that experienced year-to-year increases in October sales included:

* Commerce Township, up 46 percent
* Bloomfield Township, up 44 percent
* Pontiac, up 43 percent

Macomb’s Eastpointe also benefited from affordable housing, with a median sale price of $45,000 that undoubtedly helped spur a 97 percent increase in sales, year-to-year.

Other Macomb municipalities with 10 or more sales that experienced year-to-year increases in October sales included:

* Roseville, up 46 percent
* Macomb Township, up 40 percent
* Sterling Heights, up 31 percent

You can get the Oakland County October Sales numbers here.

Tags: Bloomfield Hills real estate

Birmingham MI Home Sales 2008

I just ran a complete search of home sales in Birmingham MI for the first three quarters of 2008. There were 243 home sales (225 sold, 18 pending sales) between January 1st and September 30th, 2008.

I decided to create a pdf file so that readers could take a look at these sales themselves. Statistics about Birmingham home prices are always skewed by the high number of $1 sales, deeds that are recorded without the actual sales price. So far this year, I counted 48 $1 sales. So basically over 20% of the home sales data is incorrect or hidden.

Unfortunately, this leads to huge distortions in the statistics we receive from our MLS and our board of Realtors. These statistics are most skewed for Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills, where the practice is most common. The numbers are consistently skewed, so we continue to use them as we have nothing better to offer.

This PDF contains clean data about Birmingham MI home sales.

Tags: birmingham mi home sales

Oakland County Homes Sales, 3rd Quarter 2008

The Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors released third quarter 2008 home sales statistics for Oakland County today, compiled from information they received from Realcomp, our mls.

We’ve highlighted the report for markets that we serve, like Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Royal Oak and Troy.

In the county as a whole, sales were up by 21.12% year to year, with the number of listings down by 12.82% and sales volume down by 5.5%. The falling number of listings, if broader economic conditions were more positive, would typically bode well for stabilization of prices. Obviously with today’s economic uncertainty, it is challenging to predict future prices, and it seems likely that downward pressure on prices will continue until Metro Detroit begins to create jobs. There, I said it out loud.

A few key stats from some local municipalities:

In Beverly Hills sales, in units, were UP by 20%, while median price fell by 25% to $226,300.

In Birmingham sales, in units, were down by 5.71%, while median price fell 26% to $265,750

In Bloomfield Township sales, in units, were UP by 27%, while median price fell by 13% to $258,421

In Royal Oak sales, in units, were UP by 2%, while median price fell by 17% to $142,000

In Troy sales, in units, were down by 7%, while median price fell by 13% to $213,917

All is not dismal in these numbers. I think far more homes are being sold than people tend to believe. Dmitry and I continue to have our record best year, representing buyers and sellers in Oakland County. If you aren’t seriouslycommitted to selling your home, it should not be on the market. If you are a buyer, Oakland County is your oyster, with some exceptional deals to be had.

Tags: beverly hills mi, birmingham mi, Bloomfield Hills MI Real Estate, oakland county, Royal Oak MI Real Estate, Troy MI Real Estate

Fannie – Freddie Takeover Helps Reduce Mortgage Rates

In a historic move yesterday, Treasury Secretary Carlson announced the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two financial giants have been struggling over the past year due to an unprecedented increase in foreclosures which relate to falling home values and the subprime loan meltdown. If the two were allowed to fail the results would have been catastrophic.

Fannie and Freddie are the most important conduits involved in mortgage lending. They purchase or guarantee more than one half of all mortgage loans made in the U.S. – almost $5 trillion. Lack of confidence in these entities this year has resulted in a steep decline in demand for the mortgage backed securities (MBS) created when mortgage loans are made. This weak demand has caused mortgage rates to remain higher than they otherwise could be and higher mortgage rates are not helping the ailing housing market.

This year we have also seen a huge increase in fees that Fannie and Freddie have introduced to offset losses. A whole new rate structure was introduced whereby anyone with a credit score under 720 was charged a higher rate and the rate kept going up the closer you got to a 620 score. In the past, any borrower who was approvable within conventional guidelines got the same rate regardless of credit score. There is some hope that the government will reduce or eliminate these fees allowing more borrowers to be approved at lower rates.

Overall, this move should help to reduce interest rates on conventional loans and attract more buyers into the housing market. I can tell you it’s already working in terms of lowering mortgage rates as the 30 Year Fixed rate declined from 6.5% on Friday to 6.0% today. That’s over a $65 decrease in the monthly payment on a $200,000 mortgage!

The purpose behind this takeover is to improve confidence among investors who buy MBS, to ensure the continued viability of the U.S. mortgage market and to help ease the worst decline in home prices since the Great Depression. Let’s hope it succeeds!

Tags: Fannie Freddie Takeover

Shortage of New Construction in Birmingham?

A recent client wanted a completed NEW home in Birmingham.  With a budget of $2,000,000, one would have thought we would have had plenty to chose from.  We did not.

Spec building in Birmingham, and throughout Oakland County, has almost come to a stop.  We are still seeing a few spec homes going up around town, but not many at all.  Most builders are holding off starting new projects, with a few exceptions.

One prominent local builder told me that other builders are having trouble getting lines of credit for construction.  Many of those who have access to cash are risk averse, and not building specs, reserving their work. Anyone who has lived here more than a few years will notice that there are less construction sites throughout the city.

In some ways, this is a good thing. It will help some resale home sellers who might have lost a buyer to new construction, but did not have that option. As the inventory of resale homes diminishes, that can put supply more in balance with demand. Eventually prices will start to head back up, and builders will start building again.

Personally, if I were a savvy builder, I would be looking to acquire land, even if I did not plan to build this year. There are some super values out there, and if the property is rentable it can have a decent positive cash flow for a while.

Tags: birmingham mi

A Plea for Sellers who WANT to SELL their Metro Detroit Home

The last few months have been whirlwind for Dmitry and me.  In spite of all that you hear about the crummy housing market, we, through hard work, good fortune and a bit of creative thinking, find ourselves square in the middle of our best year in real estate-EVER.  Yes, you read that right.  Our best year EVER.

We started the summer with over 30 listings.  Most of those homes have new owners now.  Some sold in a few days.  One half million dollar Birmingham home sold in less than a week at full price. A few more will close in August.  A few unsold listings remain, and that leaves us with those to focus on now.

But we are also at the point where we have the capacity to begin helping more sellers (and buyers) reach their goals, whether it be moving up, moving down or moving out (we hope that is not the case).

I have heard plenty of groaning Realtors around Birmingham, who are saying they are sick of this market, and tired of going without paychecks.  I am not unsympathetic.  However, the most important message I can leave sellers with right now is that HOMES ARE SELLING!  Sales are actually up (in units) throughout Metro Detroit. There are buyers out there who want to buy homes like yours.

Today I had a call from a reporter from Money Magazine.  She asked what we are doing to get homes sold.  I would say there are a couple of things that have proven successful for us:

• “Right pricing” from the start, which means carefully looking at the comps and trends in the market and helping our sellers to understand the market like we understand it.
• Innovative Internet marketing for maximum exposure.
• Staging.  Marianne Sweet, a contributor here on miOaklandCounty.com, has shown us the light and done wonders with our listings.
• The Birmingham Bloomfield Realtor Network, our tight knit group of 13 top producing agents from competing offices.  We meet to create marketing events for our listings and share ideas in a very collaborative manner.
• We have a strong brokerage behind us.  SKBK Sotheby’s International Realty has provided us with great support and with great marketing for our sellers.

I don’t pretend that this market is not without challenges.  Most brokers will say they have never seen anything like it.  Yet I see plenty of hope and success out there.  I want you to see it too.

P.S.  We need more listings :-)

Tags: Birmingham Mi Real Estate, selling a home, selling a michigan home