Good Photos Aren’t Optional When Selling Your Home

The speed with which consumers have embraced online shopping amazes me.  In just a few short years, the buying habits of most people have changed from window shopping at the mall to browsing across the internet, comparing quality and prices from the comfort of home.  This same change applies to the real estate industry as well.

With almost any information about homes for sale available online, buyers are able to narrow down their list of most interesting homes without spending an entire day driving from house to house…and most of them are doing this based on the photos of those properties.

The New Orleans MLS (Multiple Listing Service) allows an agent to upload up to 12 photos of each listing.  Is every home a candidate for 12 photos? Probably not.  Tenant occupied properties are notoriously hard to get good photos of – no matter how hard we try.  Homes that have been flooded and gutted usually don’t warrant more than a couple of exterior pictures and maybe one or two interior photos.

However, too many agents are still just using a couple of shots of the front of what might be some great homes and calling it advertisement or marketing.

The result? Houses that are passed over by buyers that assume there is something wrong with them.

I did a quick search of the active listings on the West Bank and of the 1,268 single family homes for sale here is what I found:

• 17% had only 1 photo
• 13% had between 2-5 photos
• 45% had between 6-10 photos
• 25% had the maximum number of photos allowed

These numbers don’t even get into the quality of photos being used.  Here’s what the buyers will see in that 17% that have only 1 picture to draw them in with:

• Photos taken from across the street that give a great view of the trees, but not much of the house
• People peeking out of the front doors (are they included in the sale?)
• Blurry and out of focus pictures (should I check my glasses?)
• Thumbnail photos that are so tiny there is no way a person could decide if it’s a house they might be interested in…combined with a description like “Must see to appreciate”
• Driveways and front yards so full of cars that it looks more like an auto lot than a home
• Pictures filled with garbage cans, overgrown grass and the shadows of the agent taking the photo
• Photos that are so crooked buyers are waiting for the house to slide right off of the screen

So what is my point? Sellers should be reviewing the marketing efforts of their agents.  Ask to see the photos they are using – if you don’t like them, demand additional or replacement photos.  Ask to see the MLS printout that buyers will get.  Don’t be afraid to ask that the descriptions be detailed and accurate…good spelling and grammar are bonuses as well, but that’s a topic for another day.

Marketing and showcasing your home in it’s best light is what your agent is being paid for. Be sure you are getting your money’s worth, because that shouldn’t be optional either.

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For information about home buying or selling on the West Bank of New Orleans, or relocating to or from NAS JRB New Orleans, please contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to have the opportunity to assist you with any of your real estate needs and have a little fun while doing it!

What Are You Giving Up for Lent?

In a city with such strong Catholic traditions, it’s impossible to not hear that question today (Ash Wednesday). I have friends that are giving up chocolate, sugar, carbs, cussing…and one jokester who decided to give up cooking and cleaning

In keeping with the spirit of the season between Mardi Gras and Easter, here are a few suggestions for what home buyers and sellers on the West Bank of New Orleans might want to give up this year:

Home Seller Suggestions

Give up making your home hard to show.  We’ve talked about this before, but when you are selling your home  it is critical to make it easy for agents to get their buyers in.  Have a plan for what to do with your pets during showings, for keeping the house neat and tidy for those last minute appointments and allow a lockbox to be installed for ease of access.

Give up overpricing. Take a fresh look at the comparable sales in your neighborhood and make adjustments as needed.  I know you love your house…..but buyers are looking at the numbers and if you don’t fit within them, their response will be “Next!”

Give up thinking that you shouldn’t help with buyer closing costs.  A large percentage of the homes sold on the West Bank last year included seller contributions towards closing costs.  It is no longer an anomaly to receive a request for assistance in an offer, and if you are not willing to keep your eye on the bottom line, you may be spending a much longer time on the market.

Home Buyer Suggestions

Give up working with several different real estate agents.  Choose one professional to assist you in finding the right home.  It’s no secret that we all have access to the MLS and the listings that meet your needs.  Truthfully, if most agents find out that you are working with others, you may find yourself without an agent at all.

Give up making extremely low offers.  While the market has changed in the last few years, most home sellers are not desperate and some of them are insulted by offers that are pennies on the dollar.  The exception to this rule is dealing with bank owned properties, because banks don’t get insulted….but they do compare multiple offers and accept or counter the highest and best.  If you are just fishing for a bargain, you might be losing out on some terrific deals because you felt you had to offer far below what might be a realistic asking price.  Ask your agent for comparable sale information before you decide on an offer price.

Give up asking for the sun, the moon and the stars after a home inspection.  No house is perfect.  Louisiana purchase agreements even state that offers are made based on the apparent condition of a property.  A home inspection is to allow you to uncover hidden problems with a home, not to provide a basis for beating up a seller who may just tell you to take a hike.

More home buying tips

More home selling tips

    

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For more information about home buying or selling on the West Bank of New Orleans, or relocating to or from NAS JRB New Orleans, please contact the West Bank Living Team. It would be our pleasure to have the opportunity to assist you with any of your real estate needs and have a little fun while doing it!

What’s Your Competition When Selling Your New Orleans West Bank Home?

The first thing that we advise a potential home buyer to do before beginning their home search is to determine how much they are qualified for and what price range makes them the most comfortable with their monthly mortgage payment.  Once they have done that, we start narrowing the search based on location, condition and amenities. 

While the old real estate mantra is location, location, location, the primary driver in most home purchases is price, price, price.

Here’s a quick look at the 2009 home sales on the West Bank, broken down by price range:

There are some interesting statistics here when you review 2009 sales, because we are seeing not just a reduction in the overall number of homes sold in the area, but also a shift by buyers into lower price ranges.  Some of this shift may be due to the first time home buyer tax credits that were offered in 2009 and then extended into 2010.  Generally, first time home buyers purchase at or below the average sale price in an area.  In 2009, the West Bank average was a little over $156,000 and homes in the $120,000-$160,000 range made up almost 30% of the annual sales.

The real issue now is inventory.  If you are considering selling your West Bank home in 2010, you may be in for some stiff competition depending on where your home is located and what condition it is in.

Some of these number are just downright disheartening, especially in the over $250,000 range where the number of homes currently for sale exceeds the total number sold in 2009 in that same range. 

What else does this chart tell us?

Buyers have a LOT to choose from in our current market.   If I was in the market for a home priced around $180,000, I would look at homes that were a little above my price range (assuming that the seller is willing to negotiate) and those that cost less than my budget (assuming there might be a bargain to be had). 

With that criteria, there are over 175 homes currently for sale that could potentially be on my list.  Of course, this is before narrowing down to the neighborhoods I like the best, the number of bedrooms I need and the condition of some of the homes.  But, that’s still a big old number and looks like an awful lot of supply when compared to the current demand.

What’s a home seller to do?

Be realistic. Knowing that you are up against a lot of competition means that you must be priced competitively from the moment your house goes on the market.  Do your research and take advantage of all of the information that your agent can provide to help you pin point the right price for your home.

Be flexible.  With the anticipated reduction in the amount of seller assistance allowed by FHA, I expect to see more buyers asking for the maximum amount between now and this summer.  Offset that with the move up tax credit available for homes under contract by April 30th, and you may have a little more wiggle room in your negotiations.  (NOTE: This is not financial advice – check with your tax preparer to determine if you qualify for the move up credit)

 

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For more information about home buying or selling on the West Bank of New Orleans, or relocating to or from NAS JRB New Orleans, please contact the West Bank Living Team.   It would be our pleasure to have the opportunity to assist you with any of your real estate needs and have a little fun while doing it!

What West Bank Home Buyers and Sellers Need to Know About the New FHA Guidelines

This week, David Stevens, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner, announced policy changes to how FHA loans will be handled later this year.  We don’t have specific dates or all of the fine print yet, but here is the gist of the changes:

The upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) will be increased from 1.75% to 2.25% of the loan

This cost is typically rolled into a home buyer’s loan, increasing the monthly payment.  The additional half percent MIP charge will result in negligible changes in payment amounts for most borrowers.  This change is expected to go into effect in the spring.

New borrowers will now be required to have a minimum 580 FICO (credit) score in order to take advantage of the 3.5% down payment program

This is change is unlikely to impact very many buyers simply because the majority of lenders have been requiring a minimum 620 FICO for some time now.  If, however, a lender is making loans to borrowers with credit scores of less than 580, the down payment requirement will be increased to 10%.  These changes are expected to be put into place this summer.

A reduction in the allowable amount of seller assistance to FHA borrowers

Currently, the maximum seller contribution towards closing costs and pre-paids is capped by FHA at 6% of the purchase price.  The new guidelines will reduce this amount to 3% of the purchase price.  This change is also expected to be put into place this summer.

Of the three changes, the reduction in the amount of seller assistance is most likely to impact buyers in the New Orleans area.  FHA loans made up 43% of the single family home sales on the West Bank of New Orleans in 2009.  53% of the FHA borrowers received some type of seller assistance with their purchase.  Of buyers receiving seller contributions in 2009, a whopping 64% received in excess of 3%.

Now, this does not mean that none of the sales would have taken place under the new guidelines.  There were many that were just over the 3% threshold that I’m sure would have still closed if the new rules were in place.  However, there were a substantial number of buyers who appeared to get almost all of the money needed to close (except the down payment) in the form of seller assistance.  These are the buyers that may be pushed out of the market in 2010 as they will be forced to save longer and have more of their own cash invested in their home purchase.  Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think that having more of a financial stake in a home purchase is a bad thing, as it tends to result in buyers who are truly ready to be home owners.

What’s the possible impact on West Bank home sales?

For buyers, this means you will need more cash on hand for your FHA home purchase.  Not only do you need the 3.5% down payment, but the cap on seller contributions towards your closing costs and prepaids (taxes, hazard insurance, flood insurance, lender fees, etc) means that you must have a larger amount of money saved before attempting to purchase a home.  For some people, this will result in a longer waiting time until you can buy.

For sellers, this could possibly mean a decrease in the number of qualified buyers for your home. A smaller pool of buyers equates to a reduction in demand.  A reduction in demand usually equates to lower selling prices.

If you have been waiting to put your home on the market until later in 2010, my recommendation is to do it as soon as possible – before these changes go into effect, since we do not know what the fall out might be.  This advice only applies to those sellers that fall within the current FHA loan limits.

• For more details, read the entire HUD release here

As always, your lender is the best source of detailed mortgage advice for your particular situation.  If you need a referral to a local FHA lender, please contact the West Bank Living Team and we would be happy to help you.

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For more information about home buying or selling on the West Bank of New Orleans, or relocating to or from NAS JRB New Orleans, please contact the West Bank Living Team.

It would be our pleasure to have the opportunity to assist you with any of your real estate needs and have a little fun while doing it!

Home Staging Tips | Cleaning and Clearing the Clutter

No one really likes to clean (well, no one that I know anyway).  But getting your house sparkling clean and free of clutter is one of the first steps in getting it ready to sell.  

To start the new off on the right foot, our friend, Amie Chaney of Home Staging by Amie, recently provided us with another list of home staging tips designed to address some of the problem areas that exist in almost every home:

Use neutral colors of paint which are not just beige but include taupe, green and gold.

Use the highest possible wattage light bulbs in all fixtures.

Make sure your home has a pleasant smell. If you can’t tell get an objective third party you can trust to answer the question.

Check to make sure the baseboards are clean and free of nicks and dings.

A Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works wonders for removing fingerprints and other discolored areas of woodwork and walls.

Whatever type of flooring you have – make sure it shines.

If you have several layers of window treatments consider removing all but the sheers to create more light and a less heavy feeling in the room.

What about your walls – are there holes that need to be patched and painted?

If you have personal collections pack them away.

Remove all personal photographs.

Do you need a little help getting your home ready to sell? Contact Amie for a professional home staging consultation.  Her advice can help make the difference between listing your home and selling it.

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Do you have questions about the New Orleans West Bank real estate market? Are you considering buying or selling a home? The West Bank Living Team provides local, professional real estate services to home buyers and sellers on the West Bank of New Orleans and military personnel relocating to and from NAS JRB New Orleans. It would be our pleasure to assist you with all of your real estate needs.

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