The 9 Factors that Determine the Success of Your Home Sale

If you’re selling your home here in the Capital District, there are nine factors you need to pay attention to that will determine the success of your sale.

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If you’re selling your home here in the Capital District, there are nine factors you need to keep in mind in order to ensure that it sells quickly and for top dollar: 

1. Curb appeal. This is like a first impression you make when you meet someone. Stand in front of the driveway of your home and take a long look at it. You’d be surprised at what you might notice that needs to be fixed. 

2. Local school ratings. People will pay top dollar to make sure that their kids are in the top schools. How does your local school stack up?

3. Is the home in move-in ready condition? Buyers want to be able to move into a home without needing to fix it up. 

4. The quality of the home’s photos. These days, 96% of all buyers start their search online. This means that if you don’t have high-quality photos, you’re turning off the majority of your buyer pool before they ever step foot into your home.  

5. Staging. Staging a home tends to sell a home quicker because it allows people to visualize themselves in it better. What you’d pay to have your home professionally staged is absolutely worth the price tag. 

6. Virtual tours. This allows online buyers to get an all-access walkthrough of your home. A presentation like that is a tempting lure to get them to see the home in person. 

7. Design features. If you’re going to invest money into your home, you want to make sure the kitchen and the bathrooms are taken care of and any granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and cabinets are accentuated. 

8. Pricing. One of the worst things you can do when selling a house in a fast-moving market like ours is overpricing or underpricing it. 

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Beautify your home’s condition and list it at the right price.

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9. Having the right agent. Simply put, the right agent will work on your behalf and create the least amount of hassle possible for you and get your home sold for top dollar.

If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call or visit my website. I look forward to helping you!

What’s Going on in the Capital District Housing Market?

Our local real estate market has been super hot lately. How long will this hot streak continue?

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Our real estate market has really been on fire in Upstate New York, and in the Capital District, we’ve seen some record months. Actually, the month of August was the number one month across New York state in terms of the number of homes sold. This is the highest number since August 2007.

Inventory still remains light, however, in that there are fewer homes on the market now than there were last year. Last year at this time, we had about 10 months of supply; we’re now down to about six months of inventory. What we’re finding is that at six months of inventory, we’re in more of a balanced market, whereas last year we were in more of a buyer’s market.

As inventory supply slips further down into five months’ worth, and even three months’ worth in some areas, we’ll be headed into more of a seller’s market. As a result of this, home prices will start to increase.

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We’re beginning to head into a seller’s market.

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So far this year, we’ve only seen about a 2% increase in home sales here in the Capital District, but closed sales are up 14%, new listings are down by about 7%, and pending sales are up as well. This means that we are seeing a lot of homes selling but not a lot of new homes coming onto the market.

Homes are also selling much quicker this year. While last year at this time, the average days on market was about 73 days, this year we’re looking at about 64 days on market.

When people ask, “How is the market?” I tell them that interest rates are still down at record-lows and that some are predicting the rates to go back up after the election. Unemployment rates are still under 5% and consumer confidence is still very strong.

What does this mean if you’re a buyer? Buyers should take advantage of this unique opportunity in the market and act quickly. Sellers should still continue to price their homes aggressively to get them sold but should be sure to price them accurately. A good real estate agent will be able to price their homes correctly so that they sell in today’s market.

As we move into the 4th quarter of 2016, we anticipate that interest rates will continue to stay low and that it will still be a great market for sellers in 2017.

If you have any questions about our market or anything else related to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

Home Buying Tips for Veterans

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A question I receive all the time, especially from new agents, is what type of loan programs are out there for veterans?

Having just spent July 4th thinking about all of our veterans and current members of the military, I thought that this would be a great time to answer that question. To help, I brought in Jeff Miller from Sunmark FCU to explain the benefits of a VA loan and how to qualify for it.

To be eligible for a VA loan, you just need to be honorably discharged from the military and have a DD-214 form. The main benefit to a VA loan is that it offers 100% financing, so there is no down payment required and there is no private mortgage insurance involved. You can even roll in the closing costs with seller’s concessions. If you’re a veteran, all you have to do is find out if the lender you’re working with offers VA loans. Most federal credit unions (including Sunmark) will.

If you’re looking to buy or sell a house here in the Capital District, or want to take advantage of a VA loan, please give me a call or visit my website.

To contact Jeff, be sure to visit https://www.sunmarkfcu.org/.

5 Tips To Sell Your Home for Top Dollar

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I have five tips I wanted to share with you, on how to sell your home fast and for top dollar in the Capital District.

1. Landscaping. It’s important to really look hard at this; many times I see overgrown bushes that need to be trimmed or even dead bushes that need to be removed, for example. Give your home some color with flowers, planted either on the lawn or in hanging baskets. Grass should obviously stay mowed.

2. Curb appeal. Keep walkways clear, house numbers painted, house paint looking fresh, and your mailbox looking new. Buyers can get that first impression and know whether they’re going to like a home or not within a few seconds. 

3. Lighting. Open up the curtains for natural light and paint dark rooms a light, neutral color. Make sure all rooms - bathrooms especially - have all their bulbs and are the same kind.

4. Cleanliness. Keep everything dust-free, especially this time of year with pollen left over. Also make sure your windows are clean, including the front and back door, especially if you have pets. Some people take the time to do power washing but leave the outside of the windows dirty. Don’t overlook it. Make sure carpets are clean and stain-free, and if the stains can’t be removed, you may want to replace it. Otherwise, you can seek out a professional carpet cleaner to really make them shine. Keeping mirrors clean should also go without saying.

5. Decluttering. You should declutter your closets by 50% so that they don’t look overstuffed. Make sure boxes are stowed away and nicely organized in the garage or basement, not in a closet or within the home. You also want to clear your kitchen table and countertops. Remove or box up all the countertop things like knife butcher blocks, toaster ovens, and microwaves to leave it bare and open to make them look usable as workspace. Too much clutter won’t allow them to look beyond it. The same goes with bathrooms; remove knickknacks and supplies.

Hopefully, you find these tips useful. If you or anyone you know could use them, please pass these tips along! If you have questions for me, give me a call on my cell phone or visit my website.

The Capital District Market at a Glance

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I wanted to give a quick update on some of the housing stats for the first half of 2016 here in the Capital District. It's was a very busy first quarter of 2016, and the second followed just as strongly.

Coming into the middle of June, we show that the number of homes available for sale actually decreased by nearly 16%, shrinking inventory and creating more demand. Pending sales rose more than 16%, which is good because more homes are selling. As a result, closed sales are up 17.5% from this time last year.

You’d think the average sales price all over the Capital District would increase, but it actually fell by 2.2% over last year. Then again, there are certain pockets like Saratoga County, which is up about $10,000, in average sales price. Likewise, months supply of inventory is another number we like to watch, and it’s down 28.2% - that’s a huge number. We’re down about 6.4 months of inventory throughout the entire capital district. Again, this varies by area.

Percentage of original list price to sale price ratio is about 93.6%, which is something we’ll probably see start to increase as more and more multiple offers come in. If you find yourself in one of these multiple offer situations, don’t throw out a lowball offer. Do your research and find out what homes in the area are selling for so you can act quick. I recently had a buyer who just came onto the market and only saw two properties, but the second was exactly what they wanted. Someone told them they had to go out and see seven or eight homes before they actually put an offer on a home, and they ended up losing the home because an offer came in and was accepted in the meantime.

Finally, remember that mortgage interest rates are still very low. There are some rumors that these interest rates could rise in the third or fourth quarter, so you might want to take advantage now.

Thanks for tuning in today. If you have any questions for me, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email.

How to Navigate a Multiple Offer Situation in the Capital District

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Today, I want to talk about best practices for handling a multiple offer situations.

The market conditions right now are great for sellers. There’s a shortage of inventory and more buyers in the market, which creates more demand for your property. There are more buyers than there are homes, which means more multiple offer situations. 

Here’s an example. This past week, we had a listing on the market for four days. We aggressively marketed the property to bring in a ton of buyers, which resulted in three offers. The seller was very happy. Two of the offers were above listing price. The other was just under. 

We wanted to make sure everyone had a fair chance. As a seller, you should look at all the offers and let the agents know they have until 5pm the next day to give you their best and final offer. We didn’t want to go back and forth for weeks and wind up turning those buyers away!

We did exactly that and every offer came back over asking price. We also examined the conditions, terms, and the financing. My seller picked the one that best suited their needs. 

Unfortunately, the next morning I received a phone call from one of the buyers who didn’t get the home. They upped their offer by $5,000. My seller decided to stick with the offer they had already selected, so naturally, this buyer was disappointed. 

In a multiple offer situation, you should always have the seller reach out to buyer agents and get the best and final offer. If you want to keep the other two as back up, that’s fine. The fact of the matter is there’s one house and three buyers, so someone’s going to be upset that they didn’t get the home. 

As a buyer, if you find the perfect home, I highly advise that you put your best and final offer forward. If you want to stand out, some buyers will put together a love letter describing why they love the home. Believe it or not, that’s helped many of my buyers secure the home of their dreams. 

You should definitely work with a professional real estate agent to help you negotiate multiple offers as a buyer or seller. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

5 Types of Home Inspections in the Capital District

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A lot of home buyers ask me, “Should I get a home inspection?” The short answer is yes. A home inspection only costs a few hundred dollars, and it reveals any potential problems with a home before you own it. There are five important inspections for buyers:

1. Structural and exterior inspection. The inspector looks at everything inside the home, such as plumbing, wiring, and heating systems to make sure everything is in working order. The inspector will also look at the outside of the home and make sure things like the roof and siding are in good condition. If any problems are reported, you can negotiate price and repairs with the seller.
2. Pest inspection. This is important because you could have termites, carpenter ants, or other pests living in your home, some of which can have very damaging long term effects.
3. Radon testing. Radon is an odorless gas that can cause cancer. It’s incredibly important to test for radon levels. If there is radon in the home, you can negotiate with a seller to have a mitigation system installed. The mitigation system will carry the gas out of your basement.
4. Septic tests. If the property uses the public sewer, you don’t have to worry about this. If you have a septic tank, we recommend that a professional comes out, inspects it, and pumps it out prior to closing on the property.
5. Well water testing. This is more of a speciality inspection, as most homeowners won’t have wells on their property. If there is one, have a professional come out and check the bacteria levels in the water.

For each of these inspections, you should hire a certified home inspector. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Don’t Miss This Expert Analysis of Capital District Real Estate

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We’re currently seeing a very strong market in the Capital District. We had a brutal winter last year, but we are seeing warmer weather this year, which is bringing out a lot more buyers.

Our total days on market have decreased by 10 days, and we now have homes averaging 94 days on the market. Sales price has also shifted and now stands at $218,000. However, this increase in sale price may be due to a very low amount of inventory in the area. 

Either way, 2016 will be a great time to come out and sell your home. Interest rates are still historically low, so buyers can still find very affordable homes even though inventory has tightened up. 

Sellers will be happy to know that rising interest rates will push a few extra buyers onto the market. If your home is in good condition and priced well, you can expect a quick and profitable sale.

If you have any questions about this information, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

How to Buy a Home Without a Down Payment

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A lot of home buyers want to go out and purchase a home, but they have no money to put a large down payment in for a home. Some loan programs require a down payment, but not all of them do. If you qualify for a VA loan or a USDA loan, you will not be required to put any money down. 

You do have options if you cannot put any money down on a property. However, our first recommendation is to get pre-approved for a loan. This will let you know how much you can borrow and it will narrow your home search. 

For sellers who need to use the equity in their homes to purchase new properties, there are some programs available for you. An 80/20 home loan can work in this situation, but another good option for you is to simply contact Liz Jacobsen at 518-347-3174. 

If you need any assistance with Capital District real estate, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

The 2016 Capital District Real Estate Market Kick Off!

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It's official! 2015 was the best year for home sales here in the Capital district since 2006. That's great news! Today, I'll go over some numbers for four different counties with you.

First, I came across a great article in The Business Review. The median sales price in our area increased by 1% to $195,000, but the average sales price has stayed virtually the same, sticking at $222,701.

However, results released over the past few months indicated that the market was on track to post the best year in real estate since 2006. If you remember back to the beginning of the year, we had a rough start to 2015 because of the brutal winter. So it's great to see that in the third and fourth quarter, we came back strong.

Why did our market do so well? I can point to three main factors: job growth, lower unemployment rates, and historically low interest rates. Even though rates went up a little bit, that small increase was not enough to deter buyers from purchasing a home. However, be aware that you will start to see rates increase over the next year or so.

Now for the numbers. Closed sales fell by about 6% in December, but the good news is that pending contracts are actually up 12%. That's a great sign, and 2016 is starting off very strong compared to last year. Here are the sales numbers for four different counties in our area:

• Albany County: Sales are up 10%. The average sales price is down 1% at $239,602.

• Rensselaer County: Sales are up 6% and the average sales price is $182,386.

• Saratoga County: Sales are up 5%. The average sales price is up 3% at $299,878.

• Schenectady County: Sales are up 16% and the average sales price is down 1% at $170,030.

The average days on market is about the same as last year, maybe just a week quicker. That's due to low inventory, which should pick up here in the spring market.

That's it for my market update. If you're thinking of buying or selling a home, I just want to take a quick moment to offer you two great books for free. I co-authored both of these with 18 other top agents: Answers from Experts on Selling a Home and Answers from Experts on Buying a Home.

If you're interested in these books, or if you have any questions regarding real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!