November 2008

Today is Thanksgiving day. The family is down and we are just about to stuff our faces! We got the turkey,mash potatoes and gravy,Grandma’s yummy dressing and my mom’s pecan pie. We are only missing the pumpkin pie because…..well I really don’t know. My sister, Jayden learned about the i and Indians, she thought it was really interesting. Well the folks are just about ready to ask the blessing,so ta ta for now!!

                                               -Della

You should only do this if 1) You really want to help out the Buyers’ of your home because you are going to be giving them a great deal as I will explain later or 2) You have way too much money assuming the phrase too much money describes a real situation.  Now you should not feel bad if you thought this was a good idea.  I hear it all the time and the idea is perpetuated by real estate professionals.  The multiple listing service is full of listings that say $x,xxx.00 carpet allowance. The logic seems sound.  This way they will get to pick the kind of carpet that they want.  Or, they are probably going to replace the carpet anyway.  Sounds good but only if you don’t understand the way a Buyer chooses their home purchase.  They choose it emotionally.  They choose it often by the way it feels and they usually choose quickly.  I usually can tell if a Buyer is going to purchase a home or not within 30 seconds of being in the house. 

What you will be doing by offering a carpet allowance is giving up something for nothing.  A terrible negotiation.  You are giving up the cost of the carpet but it will not be reflected in your selling price.  Why?  Because the Buyers are going to make an offer based on how your house makes them feel and crappy carpet is not going to elicit those amorous feelings about home ownership that you need if you are to obtain a top dollar price for your home.  Even worse you may get no offer at all. 

The problem of bad carpet is exacerbated if you are selling a house with no furniture.  I have observed over the years that when a Buyer enters a house with no furniture their eyes immediately go to the floor because there is nothing else in the room to draw their attention.  This not only applies to carpet but any type of flooring.  I am only using the word carpet because that is what ties into the title of this post.

So, why is this idea so prevalent?

1. Because often the Seller does not want to spend the money until they know they can sell the house.  Unfortunately this is self sabotage and results in the realization of their fear, namely, the house not selling.

2. The Real Estate Professional is standing right in front of you often asking you to hire them to sell your house.  So, instead of telling you that you are wrong and risk losing the listing or getting a house with nothing to offer but crappy carpet they will take the carpet allowance.  The same professional might be less likely to follow this route if they were footing the cost of offering the carpet allowance.  It is worth noting that people who professionally sell houses, e.g., builders, investors, Realtors will always continue working until they have a finished product.  They don’t stop short of installing the flooring and say they will want to pick their colors.  They want the house to wow the buyer and you should too.

3. Houses do sell all the time with a carpet allowance so it seems to confirm that it was the right choice.  However what is not realized is that the carpet allowance actually cost them money without benefit.

OK, OK I get it no carpet allowance.  So what is a Seller to do.  Install a carpet that is neutral and will have a wide appeal.  Install it before you offer your house on the market so that a Buyer will fall in love with your house and pay you a premium price.

How do you pick a carpet with a wide appeal? One of the easiest ways is to ask a local flooring company what their most popular choice is or what do they often sell to builders.  You will often find that it is a medium priced carpet that is less costly than what you might expect. I have found that most Sellers overestimate the cost of carpet because they remember installing carpet in their house at a higher cost.  Often, this because the carpet salesman upgraded them to a carpet that is much costlier than what would be expected in even a new home.

Well hopefully that myth is put down for good and you are now armed with more knowledge you can use to go out and sell that home for a record price.

The October numbers have just been released and here is what we got.

Total closed in October 2008 was 1293 down ↓14.7 % from the 1516 closed in October 2007.

The average price was $154,873 down ↓1.5 % from the October 2007 price of $157,169.

The median price was $129,500 up ↑0.4 % from the October 2007 price of $129,000.

The average Days On Market for October 2008 was 73 down from 79 in 2007.

 Based on information provided to and compiled by MLSGateway.com, Inc. covering a period 2007 through 2008MLSGateway.com, Inc. does not guarantee or is in any way responsible for its accuracy.

Seems like we are holding our ground pretty well.  The total number closed is down a little but prices seemed to be holding up.

More evidence of Oklahoma City Progress.

The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth.  The components include job, wage and salary and technology growth. 

This year the Oklahoma City, OK MSA ranked 50 out of the Read the rest of this entry »

Buying or selling a home can be one of the biggest decisions that most people make.  However most muddle through the process with preconceived notions that are wrong, bad information from friends and relatives or just a lack of knowledge.  Often times the case is that the buyers or sellers must rely upon people for advice that have an inherent conflict of interest or a lack of experience to answer correctly.  Other times I see people rely upon TV or the newspaper for information that is just simply incorrect.  It is to these situations that I hope to bridge the gap of knowledge.  I daily see people lose thousands of dollars as a result of ill informed decisions.  So to wrap up I am looking for you, the public, to ask me questions and I will answer them honestly free from any conflict of interest.  I truly hope you can benefit from my experience as an Oklahoma Realtor and my almost compulsive need to analyze things.  It is my goal to ultimately contribute to creating a more informed public.  Through knowledge much of the pain and anxiety of a real estate transaction is removed.  So let’s make that next real estate transaction an enjoyable one.  Fire away.  Send me your questions and I will respond with some straight answers.  Until then…………………………………

We recently attended a Chamber of Commerce function. Standard fare. People promoting products that everyone must have. Catering companies distributing samples of their creations. But the real hit was the baby kangaroo who was being tricked into thinking a blanket was his pouch. I am not sure he was buying Read the rest of this entry »

I have repeatedly made the claim that homes are a good investment and tend to increase in value over time.  Below are the median prices by state from the U.S. Census Bureau.  Enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »

Only you can truly answer that question.  As you look at the prospect of a home payment it may seem quite daunting but here are a few things to consider.

Home prices historically have risen about 6% a year.  Meaning the home you are purchasing may be one of the best investments you make and as your investment grows you are able to enjoy the comforts of your home as well.

 The primary vehicle to retirement security for many has been their home.  The US savings rate has steadily declined from almost 10% in the 1960s to zero in this decade.  The counter force to this for many has been the appreciation of their home.  Home equity has been the saving grace for many a retiree.

One of the final things to consider is this.  Your house payment will be fixed.  Your rent is not.  Each year your payment will seem smaller and smaller.  As time goes by your salary will go up.  Prices of most things you buy will go up but if you have a fixed rate loan your payment will be the same.  So in a way you are locking in the price you pay for a place to live for 30 years.  After that of course you will be paying nothing.  Imagine now two peope who had a choice to buy a house or rent 30 years ago.  The price to rent or the payment to buy would be about the same.  It would have been about $200.00 for the average house.  Flash forward 30 years to 2008.  The guy who chose to rent would now be paying about $800.00 with an infinite number of ever increasing rent payments to go. The guy who bought a house would now be making his last payment of $200.00.  Which guy do you want to be?