MONROE COUNTY MARKET SUPPLY REPORT

MONROE COUNTY MARKET SUPPLY REPORT

For Residential Single Family Listings

Price Range	Historical Data			Proj’d 2011	Total Current Supply	Total # Pending Sales	Current # Listings Available	Current # Months Supply Available
	2008	2009	2010
$25,000-$49,999	20	6	16	26	13	1	12	5.5
$50,000-$74,999	54	44	40	48	17	1	16	4.0
$75,000-$99,999	113	91	95	120	81	11	70	7.0
$100,000-$124,999	163	103	125	135	93	17	76	6.8
$125,000-$149,999	173	153	150	170	106	21	85	6.0
$150,000-$174,999	149	110	125	150	103	17	86	6.9
$175,000-$199,999	126	73	100	115	85	16	69	7.2
$200,000-$224,999	63	52	65	69	37	6	31	5.4
$225,000-$249,999	64	40	43	46	47	11	36	9.4
$250,000-$274,999	44	35	50	34	40	7	33	11.6
$275,000-$299,999	38	22	34	35	28	0	28	9.6
$300,000-$324,999	24	21	32	29	17	3	14	5.8
$325,000-$349,999	17	17	16	18	23	4	19	12.7
$350,000-$374,999	18	16	19	16	18	2	16	12.0
$375,000-$399,999	18	16	21	22	21	0	21	11.5
$400,000-$449,999	19	17	23	22	22	3	19	10.4
$450,000-$499,999	5	12	16	11	17	2	15	16.4
$500,000-$599,999	2	3	10	12	20	0	20	20.0
Over $600,000	16	9	11	14	46	2	44	37.7
Totals:	1126	840	991	1092	834	124	710	7.8

Information obtained by actual listing count from Bloomington Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service as of 9/10/2012

Residential supply report only – Monroe County ONLY Does not include condominiums

Does not include proposed construction Percentage of inventory with pending sales:  14.9%

Five Listing Description Deal Killers (and makers)

BUY ME

Every aspect of a listing’s marketing can impact its sale price, even the word choice. For agents,  making sure descriptions capture a serious buyers attention is key to getting your sellers the most money.

When describing a home, the details matter.  In the bestselling book Freakonomics, authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner explain that “An analysis of the language used in real-estate ads shows that certain words are powerfully correlated with the final sale price of a house…. A ‘fantastic’ house is surely fantastic enough to warrant a high price, isn’t? What about a ‘charming’ and ‘spacious’ house in a ‘great neighborhood!’? No, no, no and no.”

Levitt and Dubner say, “If you study the words in an ad for a real-estate agent’s own home…you see that he or she indeed emphasizes descriptive terms (especially, ‘new,’ ‘granite,’ ‘maple,’ and ‘move-in condition’) and avoids empty adjectives (including ‘wonderful,’ ‘immaculate,’ and the telltale ‘!’).” Also, Don’t make it appear that your clients are desperate to sell, as in “Must Move Quickly.” You’re going after the buyers looking for their dream home – and willing to pay for it—not the bargain hunters!

Words that kill deals or decrease profits Fantastic Spacious “!” Charming Great Neighborhood

Words that make deals or improve profits Granite Energy-Efficient State-of-the-Art Maple Gourmet

The Smart Words Philosophy

When it comes to writing descriptions, the smart thing to do is to be very specific. Don’t be vague and use words like “fantastic,” “spacious,” or “charming.” Boring! Avoid sweeping adjectives.

Give specifics using descriptive, straightforward terms that tell the physical attributes of your home, as in “Marble,” “Spiral Staircase,” “Gourmet Kitchen with New Viking Appliances, and “Solid Bamboo Flooring.”

Remember, home buyers are interested in the facts not your (possibly biased) opinions.

Descriptions Matter

This time of year, there are many new listings hitting the market. Pay attention to these key power words that can help your listings get the right attention and ultimately the best prices. What power words are working in your market that might be missing from the list?

This Blog post is reposted from Trulia's Website for access to the complete article
Written By  Michael Corbett Posted January 23, 2012.

The Top 10 Ways to Make a Bad First Impression on Inspection Day

It's inspection day! The last last thing you want to do is leave the buyer or their inspector with questions about how the home has been maintained and cared for over the years. It's time to put your home's best brick forward, so here are 10 things you'll definitely want to avoid!

The Top 10 Ways to Make a Bad First Impression on Inspection Day

1. The front door is in need of repair; weather stripping is loose, exposed, or dragging on the floor.
2. The doorbell is not intact and/or does not work.
3. What's that smell?! The house smells musty, moldy, or tired. (Dirty carpet plays a big part in this impression).
4. The home is cluttered. (You want the buyers and their inspector to be able to access all areas of the home. An obstacle course will not be welcomed with too many smiles).
5. There are water stains at the ceiling, around the windows, within the sink cabinets, or beneath the shower/bath areas.
6. Windows are inoperable or do not open and close easily.  (You'll want to address any cracked glass or missing hardware as well).
7. Kitchen appliances are not in working order or surface lights and/or fans are inoperable.
8. There are loose, uncovered, or painted electrical outlets and non-working switches.
9. There are no visible smoke and CO detectors. Or they are not working.
10. There is damaged drywall from door knobs, picture frames, etc.

Maintaining and repairing the above items (and anything else on your to-do list) before the inspection will always be to a seller's advantage. And who doesn't want to make a great first impression on buyers during the selling process anyway? But do remember to call in a professional when necessary. A repair done improperly could end up being more of a headache than the original condition!

This is a repost from Chrissy Doremus ~ U.S. Inspect ~ Home Inspections

Chantilly, VA Chrissy's Blog can be seen on ActiveRain.com

Does your Agent Have a Side Job??

"Theresa, Is this video really applicable to today?

Aren't agents making money left and right? After all they get a big chunk of the sales price, right?!?"

Well, I hate to break it to you... Selling Real Estate is hard!

To be honest, most agents need a side job to be able to stay above the poverty line.

Don't Believe me? Let's look at some numbers.

Here's a look at some basic numbers:

2011 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family	48 Contiguous States and D.C.	Alaska	Hawaii
1	$10,890	$13,600	$12,540
2	14,710	18,380	16,930
3	18,530	23,160	21,320
4	22,350	27,940	25,710
5	26,170	32,720	30,100
6	29,990	37,500	34,490
7	33,810	42,280	38,880
8	37,630	47,060	43,270
For each additional person, add	3,820	4,780	4,390

Okay, Let's say our hypothetical agent is a family of One.

How much volume does one agent need to sell to be above the poverty line?

Assumptions:

1) They work in a traditional Real Estate Firm that starts the commission splits at 50/50  

2) The agent has no other out of pocket business expenses like Marketing and Advertising.

3) The average commission on each sale is 6% which is split between the listing and selling broker 3%-3%

If we want to find the sales volume needed to

 make $10,890 in commission we must first divide it by 3%

$10,890/.03 = $363,000

But then we need to account for the Firm's 50/50 Split

$363,000/.5 = $726,000

To be AT the poverty line as a family of one, the agent must sell $726,000 a year.

You say "Oh but that's easy... aren't homes selling at $300,000 a pop?"

Actually in our market, last year's Average Sales price was $166,271.

That means our agent would need to sell at least 5 homes to be above the poverty line.

You say...

 "I see tons of house for sale, so they must be making it up with lots of volume"

Actually, Last year only 1,335 homes sold

You might think that's a lot

but...

There are roughly 426 Agents in town.

If all agent sold an equal amount of homes, each agent would only sell 3 homes per year and every agent would be living in poverty.

We know life is not fairly distributed, some agents are just better than others...

"So how many agents actually sell over $726,000 per year?"

Good Question!

In 2010, only 167 agents sold more than $726,000!

Which means 259 other agents in town either lived in poverty, had side jobs, or were so wealthy they didn't need money.

Where's my Real Estate Coupon?

I was recently asked....

How Flexible are prices?

Good Question. The official answer... the Property selling price is always subject to the negotiations between buyer and seller-- which is why I strongly suggest one of the best qualities you look for in an agent is good negotiation skills.  That being said, it is hard to say for sure that you can get a specific percentage off with out consideration of things like seller motivation, remaining mortgage balance, and property condition. However, over all, our market statistics depict a market in which properties are selling at about 94-96% list price to value.

Keep in mind that your best “30-50 percent off coupon” in our market today is the interest rate at which you will get your mortgage. 5 years ago we were looking at 6-7% interest.  Today were are seeing under 4% rates. In the long run, that my friend, is your ticket to a great deal!

Today Show on Refinancing

Informative perspective on Refinancing in today's Market.

 

Interesting commentary on the HARP refinance program for underwater homeowners and strategies when refinancing your home.

Historical Home Sales Data

Want to see my numbers?

eeekkk... I feel like you're going in to my underwear drawer.... But here it is...

P.S. If you want an updated copy just Email Me.

Say What?!? Click the picture for a larger version.

If you want your own up to date PDF copy of this historical market data... 

Call Me 812-671-0060

or Email Me 

Photo Pet Peeve

Dear Agents,
This is an intervention... Please stop taking pictures yourself!

You do your clients a disservice when catch your reflection in the bathroom mirror... let alone when you take a picture without a wide angle lens or you accidentally get your finger in the shot. Please hire a professional... in our market they run about $65 and compared to the average commission you'll make on the sale it's a drop in the bucket! I beg you stop being cheap!

Actually on Second thought,

Keep it up because you're giving me a competitive advantage. 

This home was on the market for over one year

With Staging and Professional Pictures the same home sold in 43 days

I've found My New Best Friend...

I can flip you and rotate you, drop and drag furniture, move and change walls... and that's not all... I can pinpoint pictures, add video, and place you on a map! This sure beats staying up late with an Exacto blade and a stack of graph paper.  Believe me, this is a great way to show off your home. And that, my folks, is why Floorplanner online is my new best friend.

All this Staging is Making me tired... Welcome Back Bloomington Real Estate Market!!

I just spent a long day Staging homes.

Staging? What is staging you ask? Well that's a very good question. Staging is the act of preparing you home to appeal to the largest number of buyers. It consists of moving furniture and packing up clutter to arrange you home as a salable product.

Can't any one do that? Well yes and no. Any one can rearrange a home's contents but not everyone can do it well. It's like going to the dentist for a pulled tooth... yeah I'm sure Uncle Denny can tie your tooth to a string and then slam the door shut to yank it out... but just because he can doesn't mean he should or that you would even want him to do so.  

Home staging is kind of the same. Lots of agents claim to be able to Stage your home for sale but there are very few who can do it well. Most of the time agents will come in with their magic REALTOR wand (you didn't know we got wands after we passed the state exam ;-) and while waving it around they command that you move this piece of furniture and pack up your beloved clown collection. Many times leaving the home owner feeling hopeless and distraught.

Well, I'm different. As an Accredited Staging Professional, I roll up my sleeves (at no additional cost to the home owner) and I actually spend 2-6 hours moving furniture and packing boxes... with the goal to present your home as the best possible choice in your price range. How many agents will do that for you?


Welcome Back Bloomington Real Estate Market. I hope you are here to stay.

What is a Supra Lock Box? How does it benefit me?

When you are selling your home, Security is Important. Standard lock boxes, like the kind found at your local hardware store, can be easily broken into. Instead, choose an agent who uses Supra Electronic Lock boxes. These Modern key boxes record every agent that accessed the property. As well as block unauthorized users from opening the key box.View the Video to learn more.