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‘Bought & Sold’ Pits Agents on HGTV

May 31, 2007 News

HGTV is one of my favorite channels, but I can’t help but wonder how real estate agents are going to “come off” on their new show Bought & Sold. Here’s the overview:

What’s your seller’s real estate agent really thinking behind that smile? Wish you could climb into the head of the buyer’s agent to find out what’s going on with the contract? It’s an inner circle with its own secrets. Competitive, calculating and colorful … meet the brilliant real estate brokers at the center of this entertaining and informative new HGTV series, all about buying and selling residential property. Bought & Sold is the reality of real estate, focusing on the stories and high drama behind the sales and the lengths brokers will go to just to do the deal.

The show is likely looking for drama, so expect fireworks. But—need I say this?—don’t expect all agents to behave like these.

Best Louisville Neighborhoods: City of Northfield

May 30, 2007 Neighborhoods

Northfield is an established neighborhood in the East End of Louisville, Kentucky. It is situated just outside the Watterson Expressway on Highway 42, also known as Brownsboro Road.

Northfield is a medium-sized neighborhood in a wonderful location. The subdivision began development during the 1960s. There are a large number of ranch homes in this neighborhood with lots about 1/4 acre on average.

Tags: best louisville neighborhoods, louisville ky, northfield

Failing in Real Estate, Succeeding on the Web

May 27, 2007 News

How do you lose your proverbial shirt in real estate, then turn it into a profit? Casey Serin did it by blogging. And making a lot of enemies along the way.

After running up a debt of $170,000 in failed real estate endeavors, he decided to tell the world how much he hated how things have turned out. To his surprise (and mine) people are hitting his site by the thousands!

“A community formed overnight,” Serin said in an interview. “It wasn’t a very positive community.”

It’s a strange phenomenon when people who dislike Serin, tune in to his site for entertainment. A kind of cyber mob mentality. The guy deserves our pity more than anything else. To make as many bad decisions as he has and still have the fortitude to press on does speak well of his determination (if not his intellect).

Best Louisville Neighborhoods: City of Prospect

May 25, 2007 Neighborhoods

Prospect, like Anchorage, is one of the premiere neighborhoods in the city of Louisville. Located on the city’s east side near Highway 42. Prospect is largely made up of established neighborhoods, many dating back to the turn of the century when Prospect was considered out in the country.

Tags: best louisville neighborhoods, louisville ky, prospect

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness

May 22, 2007 Residential

Do you need to get your home looking its best? Better Homes and Garden comes to the rescue with not one, not two, but three pages of Cleaning Shortcuts to help you optimize your time and end up with great results.

Take some time to look around the Move.com website because there’s some great content there. I especially liked the Green By Design story. There are some great ideas for homeowners looking to be very environmentally-friendly.

Best Louisville Neighborhoods: City of Anchorage

May 20, 2007 Neighborhoods

I’m excited to announce a new project that I’ve been working on for the Louisville area. It certainly has a long way to go, but the first few neighborhoods have been added.

My goal is to someday include a page for each major Louisville Neighborhoods. Each will have photos, commentary and statistics to better help home buyers find which area best suits them. I think will be an amazing tool to help buyers in our city!

If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

So with our very first Neighborhood Spotlight, I present Anchorage.

Anchorage on one of the premiere neighborhoods in the city of Louisville. Located on the city’s east side between Westport Rd. and Shelbyville Rd., Anchorage contains a great diversity of lot and house types. Similar to Prospect, Anchorage is very rural without being a great distance from all the action of the city. More >

Tags: Anchorage, best louisville neighborhoods, louisville ky

Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Home

May 19, 2007 Top 10 Lists

Updated: 5/15/2009

In some ways, this article is similar to Top 10 Ways to Prepare Your Property For Sale. But it’s important to learn that preparing your property is just one aspect of getting your house sold.

Here at Louisville Homes Blog, we’re constantly on the lookout for ways to help our homeowners in Louisville make the most of their real estate investment. With that in mind, we present the Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home.

10. Bad Timing

Sometimes you don’t have a choice. Your boss says, “You’re moving to Cleveland” while your company refuses to help with the relocation. This is unavoidable. But if you can choose when to sell your home, here are a couple of points to remember. First, if you’ve only lived in the home a short time (a couple of years or less) perhaps consider staying a year or two longer. After only two years, you’ve barely built up enough equity in your home to cover closing costs or other fees. Second, avoid listing your home during the holidays. Most buyers are focused on family during this time rather than shopping for a new house. In real estate circles, it’s called “the dead period.”

9. Misrepresenting Your Home

While it may be tempting to describe your family room as “a dream come true with more space than you could possibly imagine” in order to entice prospective buyers, you’ve got to remember that once a buyer arrives and discovers the room is “fine” but nothing special, they’ll wonder what else you might be exaggerating about. Don’t stretch the truth about square footage either, as buyers represented by Realtors are likely to notice the deception. As in life, honesty is the best policy.

8. Lopsided Listing Contracts

When sitting down with an agent make sure you are comfortable with the length of the listing contract. This figure is completely negotiable and both parties should come to an agreement before signing. The length of the contract should be at least as long as the average Days on Market (DoM) for your area. Here in Louisville, that number is currently about 80 days, while 6 month terms are fairly common as well. It’s also a very good idea to ask about any remedies you would have if he or she doesn’t live up to their end of the bargain.

7. For Sale by Owner

The data shows that homes listed with an agent sell for 16% higher than homes sold directly by the owner. But that doesn’t mean you should always use an agent to sell your home. If your home is in one of those ultra hot neighborhoods and you’ve got a good understanding of the home selling process and you know how to price your home appropriately, then you might do quite well. Typically, those are rare situations. You should also keep in mind that there are a number of variables that might arise that would make having a professional on your team a wonderful thing. Never say “never” but you could find yourself months into the process with very few showings and even fewer offers. There’s a reason why the number of FiSBOs have dropped nationally over the past 4 years.

6. Obstructing Negotiations

When you pick up that phone and hear those wonderful words coming from the other end, “We’ve got an offer!”, you may think everything is golden. Just hold on a second. If you don’t negotiate the deal properly, things could go very wrong . I’ve found that sellers often refuse to give any ground in negotiations because they believe the buyer is already getting “a great deal.” It’s tough for sellers to be objective about their own home because they’ve built an emotional attachment to it. Having an experienced Realtor handle this aspect of the selling process may be the difference between selling your home at a great price or pushing away prospective buyers, leaving you with nothing to show for it. As you will see shortly, pricing your property correctly from the beginning is also extremely important.

5. Wrong Realtor

I can’t tell you how many times I hear someone tell me they’re using their Aunt or their sister’s cousin’s neighbor as their agent. Just because someone is related to you, doesn’t necessarily make them a good Realtor. Studies have shown that more than anything else, people want their agents to be trustworthy and professional. So when it comes time for you to sell, interview multiple agents and learn about their work ethic and their strategy for marketing your property. Some of the more successful agents feel like they’ve already paid their dues and don’t need to do the little things. It’s those “little things” that separate the good agent from the great agent.

4. Lacking a Sales Strategy

Selling your home requires more than simply getting it listed in the MLS. There are literally hundreds of ways to promote a property from the well-known: Open Houses, newspaper classifieds and post card mailings; to new techniques like qualified email leads and electronic newsletters. Not every marketing method is equally appropriate for each property. It takes experience and creativity to chart the best course.

3. Big Red Flags

There are certain problems that will scare off prospective buyers in a New York second. If your property has any of the following problems, you should quickly correct them before putting your home on the market: foul odors, visible mold or mildew, siding or gutters that are separated from house, broken doors or windows, problems with the heating/cooling systems or “soft” floors or steps. Assuredly, some problems are bigger than others but problems like these will overshadow the positive qualities of your house.

2. Neglecting Property Preparation

Before listing your home, perform the following exercise. Drive up to your house and park on the street. Walk up the drive evaluating everything from the mailbox to the lawn and landscaping all the way up to the front door. A wise person once said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” What did you notice about your home?

If a buyer doesn’t like your home the first time they visit, they surely won’t return. Therefore, it’s critical to have your house “on its best behavior” when the guests arrive. Remove as much clutter as possible. Make sure the grass is nicely trimmed. Turn on all the lights and open the blinds or curtains. Any little thing you can do to show that your home is well-cared for will improve your odds of impressing those buyers. For more tips, see Top 10 Ways to Prepare Your Property For Sale.

1. Poor Pricing

Far and away, the most important aspect to selling your home is price. Simply stated, if the price is not right then buyers won’t even consider your property. This is the point where having a savvy Realtor on your team really pays off. You shouldn’t just consider comparable properties that have sold, but also what’s currently on the market. Which areas are hot? Which are over-stocked? There are a dozen important factors to consider when determining the appropriate price. In the end, a good Realtor will set an appropriate price range for you and then ask you to select the Asking Price. It’s very important that you feel comfortable with the price. Even though you can always lower your price in the future, new listings get the most attention in the first couple of weeks after they come on the market.

If you can avoid these pitfalls, I believe you’ll find yourself ahead of the game and well on your way to selling your property.

Tre Pryor, a lifelong resident of Louisville, is a Realtor® with Rick Shaw Realtors. A graduate of the University of Louisville with a degree in Marketing, he has 23 years of professional experience, that includes consulting Fortune 200 companies. He uses his Internet expertise to help his real estate clients realize superior results. Mr. Pryor lives with his wife, three sons and daughter in the Springhurst area of Louisville.

Tags: Kentucky, Louisville, real estate, Selling Your Home

Louisville Beats the Averages in Q1

May 17, 2007 Trends/Statistics

Why the Courier-Journal is just full of good news these days. Ok, I’ll quit with the sarcasm.

But honestly, the positive data in this article really deserves some notice.

Nearly 17 percent more homes got default notices, auction notices or were repossessed in Kentucky during the quarter — far less than the national increase of 62 percent, according to RealtyTrac, a Web-based research firm.

No increase is good and certainly 17% is far from a desirable outcome, but when compared to 62% it’s much preferred.

While national media home prices dropped by almost 2% in the first quarter, values in Louisville were up!

The median price for a single-family home in the Louisville-Southern Indiana market was $133,300 in the first quarter of 2007, the Realtors reported, up 1.7 percent over the same period a year ago. The median condominium price was $127,500.

Let’s hope these positive trends continue.

Louisville Trending Back on Size, Price

May 7, 2007 Residential, Trends/Statistics

There’s a growing trend towards smaller, less expensive houses here in Louisville.

“It seems like the trend is going back down to ranches and smaller homes,” Miles said “We are seeing people, as they get older, deciding, ‘I don’t want steps.’ We’re going to see that change our market a lot in the next 10 years.” [link]

This also is reflected in average home prices moving from $180,555 last year, to “$171,259 for Jefferson County permits issued in March and April.”

We look for this trend to continue, even as some retiring baby boomers choose to spend their retirement savings on higher-end homes in places like Prospect and Anchorage.

Comparing Home Improvements in Louisville with the Nation

May 5, 2007 Residential

I culled through the official Realtor® yearly Making Home Improvements Pay report to see how Louisville compares with the nation. From the look of things, we more than hold our own.

Please note how similar items compare. For example, if you’re planning on replacing your home’s windows. Outside our state you’d be better off with some moderately priced wood windows (85.3% > 84.7%). However, here in Kentucky the upscale vinyl windows outperform the competition (93.9% > 84.9%).

It’s this kind of useful information that we’re looking to bring you each and every time we post. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please let us know!

Costs Recouped

Museum Plaza Dramatically Changes Louisville’s Image

May 3, 2007 Commercial, News, Residential

Louisville is certainly used to being the center of attention during the Derby season. Now, with the proposed Museum Plaza ready to break ground later this year, we’re getting some additional recognition from places like the Wall St. Journal.

World Architecture News.com is certainly paying attention. Others have even found the theoretical father of our proposed building design.

One thing is certain, this project, combined with the new arena project, will dramatically change our downtown skyline for the better.

If you want to stay on top of the news on Museum Plaza, head over their extremely well-done site at:

http://www.museumplaza.net/

Make sure to view the video clips!

Interest Rates Still at Historic Lows

May 2, 2007 Trends/Statistics

Lately, we’ve all been bombarded with negative news from the media regarding a “down housing market.” It’s everywhere you look! What we don’t hear enough about is the amazing interest rates that are currently at historic lows. These rates should be prompting more investors to consider real estate as part of their overall investment plan.

Add to that fact the increased number of foreclosures and other “at risk” properties, investors should be giving real estate a very hard look.

If you’re lucky enough to live in Louisville (and I welcome my wonderful readers from abroad as well) there’s even greater cause for optimism as our interest rates (check our tracker in the sidebar at the right) consistently track lower than the national average.