Archive for February, 2008
$595,385 : Does that price sound right?
February 29th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
If you really want to sell your house, pricing it too high, even in Davis’ market, is suicide! In the USA, people who price too high and later drop their price to at/below market end up settling for 88% of the LOWEST price because they are perceived as desperate. (They probably are at that point!).
There was in interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about pricing your home. Here is a summary of the points:
Prestige/Bargain: Round numbers ($595,000) signify prestige, while precise numbers ($595,385) suggest a bargain. We associate precise numbers with lower priced goods - we also think that you have given a lot of thought to arrive at a precise number.
Price Anchor: Buyers anchor off the first digit, so $599,385 seems a lot less expensive than $600,000
Optimal Drop: Drop your price in even 10’s to make it easily calculable to buyers - a drop from $595,385 to $578,495 is not nearly as effective as a drop to $575,385. Also, specify your drop - “price reduced $20,000″.
Expect Less: Unless you have a really desireable house in a town like Davis where we lack inventory in certain price ranges, expect that you will accept less than what you price your home. I usually subtract $15,000 when preparing my seller’s estimated proceeds statement prior to an offer.
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NEW! Blog meets Website - movingtodavis.com Version 2
February 26th, 2008 Categories: Real Estate News
Today the new version of movingtodavis.com went live. I so wanted to create a website that seemed like there was a real person on the other end, not just another canned “creation” we see so often in real estate. Also, I wanted to be able to update it easily with new listings coming along every day. So, my website is becoming slightly more like a blog, and this blog here is waiting to be more like a website… There is more to do - always! If you are thinking about coming to Davis, I hope that movingtodavis.com is a site where you feel at home, feel inspired about your move, and that you come back often. - Jamie
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Davis Home Market : 1/20 - 2/20
February 20th, 2008 Categories: Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Single Family Homes: The spring hunt is starting up and we only have 108 single family homes on the market in Davis. We have had sunny weekends, people are out at open houses, parents are in town weighing the intelligence of buying an investment for their student-child to live in.
New homes - 43 have come on the market in the past 30 days. The average sq ft is 2088, the average price per sq ft is $323 with the average list price at $652,135. Pending sales - we have 21 new pending properties with an average of 1911 sq ft, $320/sq ft and average list price of $583,371. Sold - 5 homes have closed with an average of 1678 sq ft, $295/sq ft, average list price of $534,980 and an average sales price of $494,350, or 95% sales price/list price ratio.
Selling like it was 2005 ! There have been 3 very interesting sales recently - 5607 Tufts is a pristine 2800 sq ft home on a nearly 11,000 sq ft lot - just 6 years old. The home was listed at just $799k on a street where homes sell for an average of close to $900k. The sellers received 7 offers. There were 7 counters, and 6 of the counters were returned accepted. There were 5 disappointed buyers when the home sold 7 days after listing. We will see how much over it sold for when it closes. 3708 Los Cerros, a beautiful Lake Alhambra home, listed Saturday at $949,000 (a conservative $337 sq ft) and sold on Sunday with multiple offers. 43428 Almond Lane, a simple house on a beautiful 1/2 acre country lot in Old Willowbank, listed this past Friday at $799,000 and sold on Tuesday with 4 offers. Demand is hot at the high end for GOOD houses. Agents are sufficiently confident to price the homes at an agressively low price because they are confident of fast sales, multiple offers and prices well over asking.
Work less/play more. On another note, the Centex homes in Woodland have really caught on. Three of my empty-nester clients are selling in Davis to live without a mortgage in a new Woodland home. Granted their children are beyond school age, so they don’t have to worry about sacrificing the Davis education. They are thrilled to shed the kind of maintenance they were seeing with their older homes. I took a new prospective Davisite to see the Centex homes in Woodland this week and was amazed to see that they have plowed through the inventory and it is nearly gone. New releases are going to lottery in some cases. It is 2008, not 2005, right?
Condominiums: The condo market in Davis is really slow to get moving. In the past month 14 new condos have been listed with an average price of $353k, 4 have gone pending with an average price of $363k and 3 have sold at an average price of $316k, or just 93.6% of sales price/list price ratio. There are a total of 20 available condos with an average days-on-market of 25.
I fully expect to see the condo market change. At the end of 2007 there were over 70 condos withdrawn from the market unsold. I doubt that the need to sell went away in all those cases and I expect to see them come back on the market these next few weeks.
Another new development in the condo market is Oakshade Commons. Petrovich has converted and refurbished 43 apartments into condominiums in South Davis not far from Davis. The condos are about 1900 sq ft with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Are you thinking what I am thinking? Student haven, parent haven, a smart move by Petrovich and a great opportunity for investors.
Call me at 530.574.0596 to get more details or talk about what you are hoping to find.
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Real Estate Patois: Cracking the Code
February 16th, 2008 Categories: Amusement, Real Estate News, Realtor Tales
In case you didn’t get a chance to read Freakanomics (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner), there was an apt chapter on the real meaning of the words we use in real estate. I have been writing a lot of copy for new listings lately, and frankly I am worried that words that sound perfectly okay may impede my efforts to sell the house. Levitt suggests that the language used in marketing copy may have a powerful impact in determining the eventual price the seller will get for their property!
You have probably heard of the hidden meanings - in fact you probably just sense the meaning of the words in a listing. But in case you are new to the whole thing, or inclined to be trusting or literal, here are a few clues for you…
Positive words: state-of-the-art, granite, mid-century, gourmet, sub-zero, photo-voltaic, bamboo
Negative words: ! , fantastic, spacious, charming, great neighborhood
Meanings: (a little tongue in cheek here)
“well maintained” - not quite falling down (hidden message - bid low)
“fantastic” - no atributes worth mentioning
“charming” - small
“cute” - outdated
“quaint” - unlivable
“adorable” - please don’t notice how small it is
“fixer upper” - may need to be torn down, but come make an inflated offer with everyone else
“potential” - its been neglected
“deferred maintenance” - untouched since 1968
“quiet” - noisy
“won’t last” - please make an offer
“going fast” - please make an offer
“shows well” - not staged
“close to transportation” - near a freeway
“curb appeal” - seller planted pansies
“original detail” - lots of beat up woodwork
“original owner” - hopelessly outdated
“custom built” - strange floor plan
“buildable lot” - call the Building Department
“mature garden” - tree roots are clogging the sewer lines
Time to start skipping the adjectives and sticking to the hard facts. Call me on it if you find I am telling you about a fantastic, one of a kind, spacious, must-see. Or, just call me. I am Jamie Madison and I am busy selling homes in Davis.
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