Housing is showing signs of having FINALLY bottomed!

Here are the facts: Distressed sales are now 32% of the market. ALL cash buyers are 31%. Home sales INCREASED in December. I think this is not a small point. When was the last time that housing sales INCREASED in December? (never) The overall supply of homes has dropped from 11 months to 6.2 months. National Association of Realtors is calling this a substained recovery. Meaning, we have seen consistently positive housing reports over the last 90 days. Granted, these positive reports have been mere blips on the radar. We will take all the positive blips- positive momentum we can get! Diana makes a point that does put some water on the optimistic fires of recovery: 6,000,000. Thats the number of homes currently being held in the banks shadow inventory. One way or another those will become listings for REALTORS (YOU?) For the housing market to truly turn the corner we must clear that inventory. Banks finally realizedthat it does not help their other holdings in the same neighborhood to "dump" properties on the market. The "shadow inventory" idea has been around through good times and bad depending on your proclivity for conspiracy theory. While I know that banks are holding homes, I think you'll find in most cases it is for purposes of surveying them, and then packaging them for investors. I have seen this already, in fact for several years now. There is investor demand and the banks are vetting properties and selling them in large offerings of $5 million and up. So the numbers get a bit skewed.

Top 10 Questions To Ask Before Listing Your Home

Austin Texas Real Estate Blogger Tim Thornton (who is THE MAN if you're shopping in Austin, Texas) posted thsi on his blog and I thought I would relay it to you here. Q1: What is the most significant challenge to getting my house sold? A: Pricing your home to market value. Yes, I know it seems obvious and possibly self-serving, but pricing a house at it's competitive market value is one of the biggest advantages that you can have over sellers who are priced above market value. Q2: What is the second biggest challenge to getting my house sold? A: First impressions. Buyers want "move in ready" homes these days. Only investors typically are willing to make significant changes to a home and investors don't like paying "move in ready" prices. Q3: How do Buyers find out about my listing? A: Online. Very few buyers will find out about your listing in any other way. It is what you are doing right now, and it is what buyers do to find a home. Having the very best online presence and online marketing is critical to getting your home seen and then sold. Q4: How many Open Houses should I have? A: One or possibly none. In this day and age, Open Houses are not a strong vehicle to sell your house. When a buyer can see dozens of homes online in less than an hour, homes that fit the size, price and features of their search, why would they drive through communities looking for open house signs to see one house that probably meets very few of their specific needs? The odds are better at hitting the Pick Three Lottery than this lottery gamble. Q5: Does the Listing Agent sell my home? A: The Listing Agent's job is not "Salesman", but is tasked with role of marketing your home. The Buyers Agent is the industry expert who works directly with potential buyers to find and "sell" your home. The best thing that a Listing Agent can do to "sell" his client's listings is to provide good pricing, staging, listing and online marketing information for his seller. When an offer comes in--the Listing agent is your trusted adviser, coach and negotiator--but this part of the process does not start until buyers start crossing your threshold. My advise: Hire a Realtor who is a good marketing professional--not a good "pitch-man" to sell your home. The Listing Agent is not going to be talking to buyers--having a good pitch-face won't help. Q6: Should I hire a Professional Stagger? A: Yes. Yes. Yes. Ask your Realtor who he recommends. Every Realtor should have industry professionals that they know, trust and recommend--including a great Stagger. Q7: What about the competition? A: Know what is going on around you. Similar priced homes with similar features and size will bring more attention to your listing--if you do everything else (above) correctly. Q8: How important are the listing details? A: Critical. We live in a digital age where information is the key to everything. A MLS listing is a digital database with information about your property for sale. Missing pieces of information mean that the person who was looking for your home will not be able to find it because the database did not have enough information to point that buyer to your home. Database data is one business case where more is almost always better. Q9: How important are photographs? A: Critical. Photos need to depict the home and property as it is. Wide angle lens and missing photos will only lead to buyer disappointment and Realtors will start to boycott your listing agent. If your Realtor becomes known for making things look bigger and better than they are in real life--this is only a recipe for disaster. Yours and theirs. Get as many photos as the MLS will allow. Make sure the photos reflect the true look of the home. Use a professional photographer--Realtors seldom make great photographers. Make sure buyers are not disappointed with the real house compared to what they see online. Q10: What about selling FSBO? A: My professional and personal opinion is that while FSBO sellers were a fad in certain Seller's Markets where and when buyer traffic was on Auto-Pilot, I think FSBO homes sales have faded into the shadows. My own personal experience with FSBO marketing tells me that it is expensive (you pay hundreds of dollars whether you sell your home or not), it has limited or no marketing, there is very little coaching and advise (seminar style--one size fits all), and very, very time consuming. If you would like to hear about my own first hand experience with FSBO marketing--give me a call. Let's Talk.
In Summary. Price to market. Make sure your home shows better than anything around you. Make sure you have the best possible online marketing presence and database coverage. Make the photographs count. Put the best Realtor you know on your team. Posted by Tim Thornton, Greater Austin Area Realtor® ZipRealty, inc. at 12/12/2011 GREAT ADVICE, TIM!