After coming off of Real Estate Bar Camp Phoenix (REBCPHX) I have definitely been feeling like my poor little blog is lacking. Enter: Real Estate Bar Camp Philadelphia (REBCPHL) and their 21 Day Blogging Challenge. I have accepted the challenge and am on day 3! YEA! I’m really looking forward to creating a better blogging habit and finding my “voice” on my blog.
Today was a little crazy so I thought I’d just share a picture with you. I found this in the MLS recently and well…it pretty much speaks for itself:
Maybe I’m missing the boat in trying to show my listings in the best light I can…
I had a new experience while showing houses the other day — DUMPSTER DIVING!
I used to go dumpster diving with my best friend when I was young. Stacy and I found all sorts of treasures: an artificial Christmas tree (that my family used for years), office supplies, a wedding/honeymoon album with mementos from Acapulco (I didn’t realize the implications of finding that in the dumpster until years later). One person’s trash is another’s treasure, right?
Back to current times…we pulled up to look at a bank owned house and low and behold across the street there was another bank owned house (I know crazy, huh?) with a trashout going on. A trashout is when the bank or listing agent hires a company (or their brother) to go in and remove the remaining belongings and debris of a foreclosed house prior to listing it for sale.
There were two guys each with big trucks and a HUGE trailer with tall sides. As I am trying to reach the listing agent on the phone (because the lockbox is a contractor’s lockbox with no code and no indication that I wouldn’t be able to use my normal lockbox key — that’s a rant for a different day) I hear Mrs. Buyer say, “Are they just going to throw that away?!” When I get off the phone I find that Mrs. Buyer has approached the workers and inquired as to what they are doing. She’s learned that they have to keep anything with a value over $50 but the rest is going to in the dumpster.
Here’s where the fun begins. She starts scurrying around grabbing things: an infant car seat, 2 bicycle helmets, a Boppy…I’m trying to find places to put things…my trunk is small (it’s a hybrid) and has a bunch of real estate and personal junk in it. We all start picking through the “junk” cautiously at first and then not so much. The guys are helping by bring out more and listing stuff off for us. Mr. Seller and I wind up IN the trailer. Then comes the bigger stuff…an ice chest, a wagon, a kids basketball stand & hoop, a small Fisher Price play set with slide. (Now what to do with it?) We decide to stuff this behind the gate of the initial house we went to look at and they’ll pick it up later.
Want to see the treasure I ended up with?
Not a big ticket item but who can’t use some extra napkins around the house?
The buyers keep commenting on it throughout the remainder of our time looking at other houses. Why didn’t the homeowners take their hard earned stuff? Why didn’t they sell it? Why didn’t they donate it? Why doesn’t the trashout company sell it, donate it, something other than send it to the dump where good stuff will take up precious space on our limited planet (I added that last bit)? I don’t know the answers to this particular situation but it’s similar to those I see every day. Maybe the time frame they needed to be out within, maybe denial, depression, laziness, apathy.
I still don’t have a great place to put all these napkins, anyone have a spill?
The holiday season is upon us and each year I have people ask me if they should postpone buying or selling during this time frame. The answer is IDK (I don’t know). It lies in the fact that I can’t EVER tell you if it is a good time to buy or sell. There are so many variables to factor in that there should NEVER be a hard and fast rule not to buy &/or sell during any season. Things to factor in include: the market, the interest rates, the competition, your motivation, your needs, your goals with a move…you get the idea. I CAN tell you that historically December has been one of my best months in business. Somebody must be buying and selling something during that time frame.
I do have a few thoughts for you to ponder…
- Showings are fewer and less intrusive, but more likely to be fruitful with motivated, qualified buyers.
- Many people have vacation time around the holidays allowing more time to look for a home.
- Most December and early January buyers are particularly serious and very likely facing some sort of deadline.
- Buying before the end of the year is beneficial for financial and tax reasons. Investors usually want to close by year-end for tax purposes.
- January is the biggest transfer month of the year and job transferee’s use the holidays to house hunt.
- By selling now you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the spring, when many more houses are on the market.
- Buyers are more emotional during the holidays and often base their decision on the warmth and good feeling they receive when viewing your house.
- The expansion of the Internet and the numbers of people who use it have added a significant off-season dimension to real estate sales.
- Fewer home sales translate into less demand for mortgage money during the holiday season.
- Sellers who failed to make sell before the holidays will be extra motivated now, especially if their houses have been on the market for several months.
- With fewer active house-hunters out there, buyers have even more selection and less competition with offers.
- Less wait time for home inspectors and appraisers. Remodeling, decorating, appliance installation and other services are more available and at less of a premium.
- Interest rates are very attractive. If you’re ready to buy, waiting until Spring could be disastrous. The historic low rates = more house for your money.
- If a house went on the market after the peak season ended, the seller may have a pressing reason to sell, such as a job transfer, financial problems, divorce or illness.
And the most important reason…
- Best Realtors: All the part time Realtors have taken the month off!
Today I was out showing homes to a (maybe) retiree buyer from Pennsylvania. We looked at some patio homes and some 55+ homes. A couple of the active adult community homes she wanted to see were in 
