Keep Home Listing and Existing Home Sales Point
Keep home listing length just rightReal Estate
What is the best length of time to commit to a listing agent; 30, 60, 90 or 180 days? If the agent has paid to advertise our home and our relationship does not work out, will we have to reimburse her for her fees?
What is the best length of time to commit to a listing agent; 30, 60, 90 or 180 days? If the agent has paid to advertise our home and our relationship does not work out, will we have to reimburse her for her fees?
To answer : I always advocate listing arrangements that steadfastly look out for the best interests of the client. If the allotted days are too numerous, it can invite apathy on the part of the agent. However, if they are too few, that can discourage continuity and even thwart a budding sale.
But I think a 30-day listing is just too truncated, unless the market is simply booming. Even then, the most earnest, successful agents may not be able to produce a buyer in a month. In fact, a lot of real estate companies will not even accept 30-day contracts. Too many things can go wrong, even with a "sure-thing" buyer. For example, the buyer can't qualify, he changes his mind, he must sell his slow-moving home first, bad weather strikes on open-house weekend, repair or disclosure issues suddenly arise, etc.
On the other hand, I like 60-day or 90-day contracts because they demand performance in a time frame that's fair for both parties -- although many agents will argue that 60 days is still too short. Sometimes, you have to tailor your listing contract to the average time on the market that it currently takes to sell a house where you live -- not the average sale time over the last year. Some markets that were bustling a year ago have softened, in which case a 90-day contract may be more practical.
But do not accept a 180-day deal. Such half-year contracts can invite procrastination and minimal accountability, especially if more potentially profitable listings come along for the agent. An exception to that is if that agent will allow you to add an unconditional cancellation clause to the listing agreement that allows you an "out" after 90 days. That at least gives you some assurance that the place will be marketed aggressively. If the agent doesn't agree to that, find another agent. Similarly, you might ask for a 30-day "out" on a 60-day contract in the more active sales markets.
As for the "lost" marketing costs on a failed sale, most realistic agents just write this off as the cost of doing business. But some will try to structure the listing contract to try to recapture the expenses if you bow out early. Before you sign, check the listing contract for "special assessments" or marketing fees. Some agents stipulate they will charge from 1 percent to 2 percent of your asking price if you cancel before the contract expires.
The seller, as well as the agent, should always act in good faith. For a faster sale, be sure to facilitate the sales process every way you can, in accordance with your agent's recommendations.
Happy selling.
To ask a question of the Real Estate Adviser, go to the "Ask the Experts" page, and select "buying, selling a home" as the topic.
source from : bankrate.com
New and Existing Home Sales Point To Contradictory Conclusions
It all depends on who you ask and when you ask them.
Two more housing surveys were released this week with very contrary results and it seems ever more clear that the housing market is either going to take a long while to sort itself out and decide which way to head or it may just see-saw or drift without ever resolving the question of the housing bubble.
The National Association of Realtors issued their report on the sales of existing homes for the month of April (the figures we reported last week were for the first quarter of 2006) and they showed that sales were easing off after two months of increases. But, a day earlier the Census Bureau in a joint release with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced that, to the surprise of almost everyone, new home sales had jumped nearly 5 percent above the March rate for total estimated annual sales of 1,198,000 units.
The NAR numbers which include sales of previously owned single family houses, condos, townhouses, and co-ops slipped 2 percent from downwardly revised March figures of 6.90 million to a seasonally adjusted annual level of 6.76 million units. This was 5.7 percent below the pace of existing house sales in April of 2005 on a seasonally adjusted basis and -10.1 percent unadjusted.
At present there is a six month inventory of houses available for sale at the present consumption rate compared with 5.6 months of inventory indicated by revised March figures. One year ago there was a 4.3 month backlog of houses for sale.
In spite of slowing sales, median and average sales prices were both up over March figures and year-over-year. The median price nationally was $223,000 in April compared to 218,000 in March. This April figure was 4.2 percent higher than the median of $214,000 one year ago. The Northeast showed the greatest increase in the median price since last year, 5.6 percent.
The average price nationally was $269,000, $4,000 higher than in March and 3.1 percent higher than last year. Average prices increased the most in the West where prices were up 3.9 percent year over year.
Census Bureau/HUD information on new house sales painted a brighter picture. Estimated new home sales for April totaled 1,198,000 (annualized) compared to the 1,142,000 projected in March, an increase of 4.9 percent. In spite of this good news, April 2006 sales are expected to be 5.7 percent lower than in April of 2005.
At present there is an inventory of new homes which is expected to take 5.2 months to sell at the current rate compared to a five month supply in March and a six month inventory in February. One year ago there was a 3.8 month supply of new homes on the market. Houses that sold this April had been on the market for a median period of 4.0 months compared to 3.9 months in March and 4.4 months one year ago.
But I think a 30-day listing is just too truncated, unless the market is simply booming. Even then, the most earnest, successful agents may not be able to produce a buyer in a month. In fact, a lot of real estate companies will not even accept 30-day contracts. Too many things can go wrong, even with a "sure-thing" buyer. For example, the buyer can't qualify, he changes his mind, he must sell his slow-moving home first, bad weather strikes on open-house weekend, repair or disclosure issues suddenly arise, etc.
On the other hand, I like 60-day or 90-day contracts because they demand performance in a time frame that's fair for both parties -- although many agents will argue that 60 days is still too short. Sometimes, you have to tailor your listing contract to the average time on the market that it currently takes to sell a house where you live -- not the average sale time over the last year. Some markets that were bustling a year ago have softened, in which case a 90-day contract may be more practical.
But do not accept a 180-day deal. Such half-year contracts can invite procrastination and minimal accountability, especially if more potentially profitable listings come along for the agent. An exception to that is if that agent will allow you to add an unconditional cancellation clause to the listing agreement that allows you an "out" after 90 days. That at least gives you some assurance that the place will be marketed aggressively. If the agent doesn't agree to that, find another agent. Similarly, you might ask for a 30-day "out" on a 60-day contract in the more active sales markets.
As for the "lost" marketing costs on a failed sale, most realistic agents just write this off as the cost of doing business. But some will try to structure the listing contract to try to recapture the expenses if you bow out early. Before you sign, check the listing contract for "special assessments" or marketing fees. Some agents stipulate they will charge from 1 percent to 2 percent of your asking price if you cancel before the contract expires.
The seller, as well as the agent, should always act in good faith. For a faster sale, be sure to facilitate the sales process every way you can, in accordance with your agent's recommendations.
Happy selling.
To ask a question of the Real Estate Adviser, go to the "Ask the Experts" page, and select "buying, selling a home" as the topic.
source from : bankrate.com
New and Existing Home Sales Point To Contradictory Conclusions
It all depends on who you ask and when you ask them.
Two more housing surveys were released this week with very contrary results and it seems ever more clear that the housing market is either going to take a long while to sort itself out and decide which way to head or it may just see-saw or drift without ever resolving the question of the housing bubble.
The National Association of Realtors issued their report on the sales of existing homes for the month of April (the figures we reported last week were for the first quarter of 2006) and they showed that sales were easing off after two months of increases. But, a day earlier the Census Bureau in a joint release with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, announced that, to the surprise of almost everyone, new home sales had jumped nearly 5 percent above the March rate for total estimated annual sales of 1,198,000 units.
The NAR numbers which include sales of previously owned single family houses, condos, townhouses, and co-ops slipped 2 percent from downwardly revised March figures of 6.90 million to a seasonally adjusted annual level of 6.76 million units. This was 5.7 percent below the pace of existing house sales in April of 2005 on a seasonally adjusted basis and -10.1 percent unadjusted.
At present there is a six month inventory of houses available for sale at the present consumption rate compared with 5.6 months of inventory indicated by revised March figures. One year ago there was a 4.3 month backlog of houses for sale.
In spite of slowing sales, median and average sales prices were both up over March figures and year-over-year. The median price nationally was $223,000 in April compared to 218,000 in March. This April figure was 4.2 percent higher than the median of $214,000 one year ago. The Northeast showed the greatest increase in the median price since last year, 5.6 percent.
The average price nationally was $269,000, $4,000 higher than in March and 3.1 percent higher than last year. Average prices increased the most in the West where prices were up 3.9 percent year over year.
Census Bureau/HUD information on new house sales painted a brighter picture. Estimated new home sales for April totaled 1,198,000 (annualized) compared to the 1,142,000 projected in March, an increase of 4.9 percent. In spite of this good news, April 2006 sales are expected to be 5.7 percent lower than in April of 2005.
At present there is an inventory of new homes which is expected to take 5.2 months to sell at the current rate compared to a five month supply in March and a six month inventory in February. One year ago there was a 3.8 month supply of new homes on the market. Houses that sold this April had been on the market for a median period of 4.0 months compared to 3.9 months in March and 4.4 months one year ago.
The median price of a new home in April was $238,500, an increase of $6,500 since last month and the average price was $298,300, up from $291,200. Both median and averages prices fell significantly from February to March so it is hard to draw any conclusions about trends from the current figures.
posted by !GOD BLESS YOU! at 01:37
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