When you are out house hunting, you might notice that some of the homes, although furnished, don't look lived in. That's probably because they are vacant, but have been staged. This is interior design specifically for the purpose of getting a house sold. Come on, you've all seen the shows on HGTV (Home and Garden Television).
The idea of staging is so that people can imagine themselves living in the space. It is a way of raising the value of a property by reducing the home's flaws, depersonalizing, decluttering, cleaning, decorating to create a pleasant flow, and landscaping.
You don't want the buyers to walk into your home and see you and family represented in all of your things. You want them to walk in and see themselves there. Step one is always to remove your clutter and personal items. We all have clutter, don't be offended.
Why is staging so expensive? You are paying an insured design company to come in, create a plan, bring in a house full of furniture, artwork, and knick knacks, and rent it to you for what is usually two months. They will even sometimes do some painting, replace hardware, or do small repairs. The lowest end is a partial staging for $2,000; you won't get anyone to come out for any less, and you can easily go up to $5,000 or $10,000 for a full staging.
Is it worth it? I believe it depends on the property. If you are selling a fixer, staging may look a bit ridiculous. But in general, it can be proven that a property that is staged and well presented will sell faster and for a higher price. In that case, your money comes right back to you. Think of it as saving another month's mortgage. I believe that you do have to spend money to make money, even though it may hurt.
Let me give you an example. At the beginning of the year, Anja and I had a listing for a two bedroom condo on the north side of town. The sellers moved out, and Anja got busy heading up a team to clean the place up, paint, replace hardware and lights, and finally to stage the place. It looked amazing; I was afraid the sellers would want to move back in! They received two very good offers in the first two weeks; both were over asking. Because of that fast initial response, the sellers thought they could get more so they did not accept either offer. Just a side note, the first offer is often the best!
The condo then proceeded to sit on the market for quite some time. The sellers decided to remove the staging because they didn't want to pay for it anymore, and the condo continued to sit on the market. The listing expired. We went to put it back on the market and finally convinced the sellers to have the place staged again. Within the first two weeks, we again received two strong offers. The sellers accepted one of them.
There are two lessons here. Don't pass up a good offer because you think you can get more. Secondly, don't underestimate the power of staging. Both times around the only offers received were in the initial two week period after hitting the market, and it was only after bringing back the staging that we finally got it sold.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Weekly Sales Report
There is strength in numbers. Coldwell Banker is a strong company. Every Wednesday in our standing room only office meetings, the strength of our network is evident. If feels very much like one of those Verizon Wireless commercials where you turn around and the whole network is following you.
Our Wednesday meeting is the time where we come together and try to help each other sell our listings. New listings all get pitched, we are reminded of offer dates, price adjustments are announced, and if we have a specific buyer need or concern we may ask the group for help. This is important when choosing a company to represent you in the sale of your home. Just like when choosing a cell phone company, you want the real estate company with the largest network.
It is because of this networking that 20% of our opened escrows this week were sold within our office as were 50% of the closed escrows. That happens because we get the opportunity each week to pitch our listings to over one hundred agents, each of whom has a list of active buyers they are working with. There is something more powerful about a face to face presentation than seeing an advertisement on the Internet. Don't get me wrong, Internet advertising is extremely important. Did you know that 70-80% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet? Of course you did, you're on the Internet!
Statistics
There were 10 escrows opened this week. Three were multiple offer situations. Two of the properties had fallen out of escrow once, came back on the market, and opened escrow again. Many buyers look favorably on a property that has come back on the market as they believe the seller will be that much more motivated to sell the second time around.
There were only four closed escrows this week. One sold at asking price, one sold over asking, and the other two sold for under asking price.
Our office alone had ten properties on tour this week, which is a good number. I hope to see that continue.
Our Wednesday meeting is the time where we come together and try to help each other sell our listings. New listings all get pitched, we are reminded of offer dates, price adjustments are announced, and if we have a specific buyer need or concern we may ask the group for help. This is important when choosing a company to represent you in the sale of your home. Just like when choosing a cell phone company, you want the real estate company with the largest network.
It is because of this networking that 20% of our opened escrows this week were sold within our office as were 50% of the closed escrows. That happens because we get the opportunity each week to pitch our listings to over one hundred agents, each of whom has a list of active buyers they are working with. There is something more powerful about a face to face presentation than seeing an advertisement on the Internet. Don't get me wrong, Internet advertising is extremely important. Did you know that 70-80% of all home buyers start their search on the Internet? Of course you did, you're on the Internet!
Statistics
There were 10 escrows opened this week. Three were multiple offer situations. Two of the properties had fallen out of escrow once, came back on the market, and opened escrow again. Many buyers look favorably on a property that has come back on the market as they believe the seller will be that much more motivated to sell the second time around.
There were only four closed escrows this week. One sold at asking price, one sold over asking, and the other two sold for under asking price.
Our office alone had ten properties on tour this week, which is a good number. I hope to see that continue.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Beautiful Grand Edwardian
Yesterday was quite a festive day in San Francisco. If you were out enjoying Fleet Week, the Castro Street Fair, or the music festival in Golden Gate Park, I may have missed you. But if you were one of the many people house hunting in the Inner Richmond, you were probably at 739 12th Ave at one point or another. I had more than seventy groups of people come through yesterday, most were serious buyers, and many were serious about that house particularly.
It is a grand Edwardian in a wonderful neighborhood just blocks from Golden Gate Park. It is also a fixer. Some of you may remember that in my weekly sales report on September 19th, the house with the most offers for the week was another grand Edwardian. It was priced at $799,000 and labeled a "major cosmetic fixer". It received 22 offers, and I can now report that it sold at $950,000.
That is now sounding like a bargain; 739 12th Ave is priced at $999,000 and will no doubt be in a multiple bid situation thus driving the price even higher.
This house is also a heavy cosmetic fixer but will be an amazing house when finished. It has two levels of living space; downstairs is the living room, formal dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, and a half bath. Upstairs you will find the three bedrooms and the only full bathroom in the house. The master suite has a really cute vanity/closet area leading into the bathroom. There are many wonderful details about the house: wood floors, huge windows, wainscoting, and a huge backyard with a wonderful apple tree. There is also a full garage/basement with two car tandem parking. It has approximately 2400 square feet of living space.
The questions people were asking are serious buying questions such as, "How long has it been on the market", "Do you have disclosures", and of course "Is there an offer date". I asked questions myself, and was amazed at the answer I got for one question in particular. I often ask people how long they have been looking and of course get all sorts of responses from, "Oh, I'm not really looking" to "It seems like forever".
I noticed a pattern in that answer yesterday. It seemed that the majority of the buyers I met had been looking for a year to a year and a half! That supports the theory that there are many buyers out there who have been waiting on the sidelines. Some are waiting for the right house. Others are waiting for prices to drop. In either case, it seems like it's time to buy a house and move on so you can enjoy everything else San Francisco has to offer on Sundays. Don't get stuck in the "looking" mode for too long. The perfect house isn't out there, and the Blue Angels are the only ones doing the nose diving, San Francisco home prices are not.
It is a grand Edwardian in a wonderful neighborhood just blocks from Golden Gate Park. It is also a fixer. Some of you may remember that in my weekly sales report on September 19th, the house with the most offers for the week was another grand Edwardian. It was priced at $799,000 and labeled a "major cosmetic fixer". It received 22 offers, and I can now report that it sold at $950,000.
That is now sounding like a bargain; 739 12th Ave is priced at $999,000 and will no doubt be in a multiple bid situation thus driving the price even higher.
This house is also a heavy cosmetic fixer but will be an amazing house when finished. It has two levels of living space; downstairs is the living room, formal dining room, kitchen, breakfast room, and a half bath. Upstairs you will find the three bedrooms and the only full bathroom in the house. The master suite has a really cute vanity/closet area leading into the bathroom. There are many wonderful details about the house: wood floors, huge windows, wainscoting, and a huge backyard with a wonderful apple tree. There is also a full garage/basement with two car tandem parking. It has approximately 2400 square feet of living space.
The questions people were asking are serious buying questions such as, "How long has it been on the market", "Do you have disclosures", and of course "Is there an offer date". I asked questions myself, and was amazed at the answer I got for one question in particular. I often ask people how long they have been looking and of course get all sorts of responses from, "Oh, I'm not really looking" to "It seems like forever".
I noticed a pattern in that answer yesterday. It seemed that the majority of the buyers I met had been looking for a year to a year and a half! That supports the theory that there are many buyers out there who have been waiting on the sidelines. Some are waiting for the right house. Others are waiting for prices to drop. In either case, it seems like it's time to buy a house and move on so you can enjoy everything else San Francisco has to offer on Sundays. Don't get stuck in the "looking" mode for too long. The perfect house isn't out there, and the Blue Angels are the only ones doing the nose diving, San Francisco home prices are not.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Time to Sell
Although many buyers are waiting on the sidelines to see what will happen to home prices, others are acknowledging the fact that when the market is slow it is the best time to buy. The object of the game is to make sure you don't wait too long. It is a cycle really, is it not? The downward motion of that cycle seems to be somewhat of a self fulfilling prophecy. The media talks about prices falling, people get scared to buy so they wait, and because nobody is buying prices are actually affected negatively.
I am starting to hear about recovery in certain spots around the nation; people are finally seeing that the sky is not falling and there has been talk of 4 to 7 percent appreciation in the next year. Finally there has been a positive spin on news stories; it seems the media just had to get the doom and gloom out of their system.
Unfortunately when it is a good time buy, it is a bad time to sell. You cannot have it both ways. So even more than the buyers waiting on the sidelines, the sellers are holding out. Inventory will drop making it a sellers market again before we know it, and all of those buyers who were waiting will realize they waited just a bit too long. The funny thing is, there is another cycle here. If nobody is putting their house on the market, and there are no new listings for the buyers to look at, isn't that the best time to put your home on the market?
Anja and I have a long list of buyers who are waiting for new properties to hit the market in various neighborhoods. There was a lot of new inventory in September; some of which is still sitting on the market and some sold right away, but in the last couple of weeks there has been very little.
If there is nothing coming out in any given neighborhood, and there are buyers out there waiting for something in that neighborhood, isn't that the time to put your home on the market? Yours will be the only house available! If you are thinking of selling but are unsure of market conditions, take a look around your neighborhood. See what else is available and for what price. If there are five other homes in your price range in your neighborhood for sale, you may want to wait. On the other hand, if you find yourself with a unique product, the time to sell just might be now.
I am starting to hear about recovery in certain spots around the nation; people are finally seeing that the sky is not falling and there has been talk of 4 to 7 percent appreciation in the next year. Finally there has been a positive spin on news stories; it seems the media just had to get the doom and gloom out of their system.
Unfortunately when it is a good time buy, it is a bad time to sell. You cannot have it both ways. So even more than the buyers waiting on the sidelines, the sellers are holding out. Inventory will drop making it a sellers market again before we know it, and all of those buyers who were waiting will realize they waited just a bit too long. The funny thing is, there is another cycle here. If nobody is putting their house on the market, and there are no new listings for the buyers to look at, isn't that the best time to put your home on the market?
Anja and I have a long list of buyers who are waiting for new properties to hit the market in various neighborhoods. There was a lot of new inventory in September; some of which is still sitting on the market and some sold right away, but in the last couple of weeks there has been very little.
If there is nothing coming out in any given neighborhood, and there are buyers out there waiting for something in that neighborhood, isn't that the time to put your home on the market? Yours will be the only house available! If you are thinking of selling but are unsure of market conditions, take a look around your neighborhood. See what else is available and for what price. If there are five other homes in your price range in your neighborhood for sale, you may want to wait. On the other hand, if you find yourself with a unique product, the time to sell just might be now.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
South Of Market Area
The South Of Market Area (SoMa) is next on our neighborhood tour. As the name implies, SoMa spans the area between Market and Townsend. The western border is the 101 Freeway, and the eastern border was once the Embarcadero, but the few blocks closest to the water are now known as South Beach which will be the next neighborhood on our tour.
This once industrial district is now an eclectic mix of warehouses, nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and residences. This area has changed dramatically over the past fifteen years with the dot com industry and new developments seeming to pop up everywhere. The addition of the Metreon and more recently the new Bloomingdale's are a successful effort to get people to venture across Market Street. The new Federal Building at 7th and Mission is also expected to change the feel of SoMa.
At the moment there are 104 residential properties on the market in SoMa, 94 of which are condominiums or lofts. The other ten are 2-4 unit buildings. Single family homes are almost non existent here. The prices range from $295,000 for a small studio condo to $5,399,000 for a luxury condo in the 4 Seasons with 280 degree views. Don't worry, it does come with one parking space. I know, that is a ridiculous price span. The average sales price according to Trulia.com is $823,120.
What does the average price get you in SoMa? How about this new development designed by Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects Inc.
This building is located on Howard Street at Eighth. For $809,000 you can purchase a two bedroom, two bath, 1279 square foot unit with one car parking. This is a minimalist building with premium quality finishes.
For public transportation, there are buses that run all through the neighborhood, and BART and MUNI Trains run all the way down Market to the Embarcadero. Also, if you are commuting to the peninsula, there is the CalTrain Station at 4th & Townsend.
This once industrial district is now an eclectic mix of warehouses, nightclubs, restaurants, stores, and residences. This area has changed dramatically over the past fifteen years with the dot com industry and new developments seeming to pop up everywhere. The addition of the Metreon and more recently the new Bloomingdale's are a successful effort to get people to venture across Market Street. The new Federal Building at 7th and Mission is also expected to change the feel of SoMa.
At the moment there are 104 residential properties on the market in SoMa, 94 of which are condominiums or lofts. The other ten are 2-4 unit buildings. Single family homes are almost non existent here. The prices range from $295,000 for a small studio condo to $5,399,000 for a luxury condo in the 4 Seasons with 280 degree views. Don't worry, it does come with one parking space. I know, that is a ridiculous price span. The average sales price according to Trulia.com is $823,120.
What does the average price get you in SoMa? How about this new development designed by Stanley Saitowitz/Natoma Architects Inc.
This building is located on Howard Street at Eighth. For $809,000 you can purchase a two bedroom, two bath, 1279 square foot unit with one car parking. This is a minimalist building with premium quality finishes.
For public transportation, there are buses that run all through the neighborhood, and BART and MUNI Trains run all the way down Market to the Embarcadero. Also, if you are commuting to the peninsula, there is the CalTrain Station at 4th & Townsend.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Weekly Sales Report
Although the bulk of our meeting today was taken up with the lively words of a motivational speaker, we did manage to get in a few facts about how sales went this past week.
There were 21 Escrows opened this week, and only a quarter of them were multiple offer situations. This is down quite a bit from the last few weeks; it had been holding steady at about half.
14 Escrows closed this week; only two sold over the asking price. Three sold at asking price, and the other nine sold below asking price. This should be good news for you buyers.
As we enter October, a typically strong month for San Francisco real estate, it is starting to feel even more like a buyer's market. I was excitedly telling everyone in September that there were a lot of great properties to choose from. I am starting to change my tone a bit as the downpour of inventory that hit the market in September has lessened to a trickle. We are working with a lot of buyers who are just waiting patiently for the right property to hit the market. Get yourself ready, get your team together, and start looking! That way when the right house comes along you are ready to submit your offer.
The speaker in our meeting today talked a lot about belief systems. Believe it, and it will happen. Does that translate to home buying? Why not! Just believe that you will find the right house. Visualize yourself and your family living there. See yourself entertaining your friends in your new home. How does it look?
There were 21 Escrows opened this week, and only a quarter of them were multiple offer situations. This is down quite a bit from the last few weeks; it had been holding steady at about half.
14 Escrows closed this week; only two sold over the asking price. Three sold at asking price, and the other nine sold below asking price. This should be good news for you buyers.
As we enter October, a typically strong month for San Francisco real estate, it is starting to feel even more like a buyer's market. I was excitedly telling everyone in September that there were a lot of great properties to choose from. I am starting to change my tone a bit as the downpour of inventory that hit the market in September has lessened to a trickle. We are working with a lot of buyers who are just waiting patiently for the right property to hit the market. Get yourself ready, get your team together, and start looking! That way when the right house comes along you are ready to submit your offer.
The speaker in our meeting today talked a lot about belief systems. Believe it, and it will happen. Does that translate to home buying? Why not! Just believe that you will find the right house. Visualize yourself and your family living there. See yourself entertaining your friends in your new home. How does it look?
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Tuesday Tour
Anja and I hit the streets today for our weekly Tuesday Broker's Tour. It was a beautiful sunny day to look at houses, but about halfway through the day Anja mentioned how quiet it seemed. Thinking about it, I realized we had been the only agents at every house we'd seen so far. As the day went on, we did begin running into other agents, but the general feel of the tour was extremely light.
The amount of traffic on a tour day in any given house is always a good indication of how much interest there will be in that house. You will always hear people say, "If a house is priced right and presented well it will sell quickly". We did see one such house today. It had the most traffic of any house we had seen thus far on the tour. 365 Richland Ave is a four bedroom, two bath, 1800 square foot home in Bernal Heights priced at $999,000.
It was full of agents and a few buyers when we arrived. Maybe some showed up because of the listing agent's promise of lottery tickets to all those who attended, but I think the majority were there to preview the house. We have yet to see if the price is right, but the turn out proves that there is a need for this size house in Bernal in this price range. It is vacant and staged nicely; has good curb appeal, and is freshly painted in festive and cheerful colors. These things will certainly help. The listing agent is trying the good old fashioned two week marketing period with a set offer date of October 15th. I will keep you posted.
Another property where the listing agent tried the same short marketing period with a set offer date is 257-259 Lexington Street, a two unit building in the Inner Mission.
It was on tour today, but it's offer date was last Wednesday. This is a two unit Victorian on a great little street with original details and two car parking. Both flats will be delivered vacant. Sounds perfect, right? The one not so perfect part may be the price at $1,438,000 which is a bit steep for that neighborhood. Had it been priced right I think it would have sold right away.
Our last stop on today's tour was the Sunset Idea House which I wrote about on 8/30/07 in an entry called "Going Green in San Francisco". I was so excited to see this house as I live close by and have seen in built from the ground up. Also, it is exciting to have one of the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified residential remodeled homes in the nation right in our backyard. The anticipation was killing me.
I have to say that I was extremely disappointed. It's not yet finished, so I'll give them that. Also, only the smaller of the two units is for sale, and that is the only one we were able to see. Maybe the larger unit is amazing. The smaller unit was just a bit confusing. I think the concept of it being an idea house is a great one. I'm all for giving the community ideas on how they can make their homes more energy efficient. 90% of the materials are recycled construction waste. The floors were taken from an old barn, the banisters are recycled steel, the counter tops are recycled glass and cement, and the list goes on. They also have a solar hot water system, a wind energy system, solar panels, energy star appliances, and again the list goes on.
All of that I loved. I also loved the deck right off of the kitchen which was a really wonderful outdoor space overlooking the garden. The rest of the unit was unfortunately dark and uninviting. It didn't seem to have a flow or much warmth. The unfortunate statement that this makes is that to go green you must go cold and modern. Hopefully the community sees past this, takes the ideas, and uses them in their own homes. I recommend waiting to see this house until it is finished. Maybe it will make more sense then. The Sunset magazine tours will happen towards the end of the year. Again, I will keep you posted.
The amount of traffic on a tour day in any given house is always a good indication of how much interest there will be in that house. You will always hear people say, "If a house is priced right and presented well it will sell quickly". We did see one such house today. It had the most traffic of any house we had seen thus far on the tour. 365 Richland Ave is a four bedroom, two bath, 1800 square foot home in Bernal Heights priced at $999,000.
It was full of agents and a few buyers when we arrived. Maybe some showed up because of the listing agent's promise of lottery tickets to all those who attended, but I think the majority were there to preview the house. We have yet to see if the price is right, but the turn out proves that there is a need for this size house in Bernal in this price range. It is vacant and staged nicely; has good curb appeal, and is freshly painted in festive and cheerful colors. These things will certainly help. The listing agent is trying the good old fashioned two week marketing period with a set offer date of October 15th. I will keep you posted.Another property where the listing agent tried the same short marketing period with a set offer date is 257-259 Lexington Street, a two unit building in the Inner Mission.
It was on tour today, but it's offer date was last Wednesday. This is a two unit Victorian on a great little street with original details and two car parking. Both flats will be delivered vacant. Sounds perfect, right? The one not so perfect part may be the price at $1,438,000 which is a bit steep for that neighborhood. Had it been priced right I think it would have sold right away. Our last stop on today's tour was the Sunset Idea House which I wrote about on 8/30/07 in an entry called "Going Green in San Francisco". I was so excited to see this house as I live close by and have seen in built from the ground up. Also, it is exciting to have one of the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified residential remodeled homes in the nation right in our backyard. The anticipation was killing me.
I have to say that I was extremely disappointed. It's not yet finished, so I'll give them that. Also, only the smaller of the two units is for sale, and that is the only one we were able to see. Maybe the larger unit is amazing. The smaller unit was just a bit confusing. I think the concept of it being an idea house is a great one. I'm all for giving the community ideas on how they can make their homes more energy efficient. 90% of the materials are recycled construction waste. The floors were taken from an old barn, the banisters are recycled steel, the counter tops are recycled glass and cement, and the list goes on. They also have a solar hot water system, a wind energy system, solar panels, energy star appliances, and again the list goes on.
All of that I loved. I also loved the deck right off of the kitchen which was a really wonderful outdoor space overlooking the garden. The rest of the unit was unfortunately dark and uninviting. It didn't seem to have a flow or much warmth. The unfortunate statement that this makes is that to go green you must go cold and modern. Hopefully the community sees past this, takes the ideas, and uses them in their own homes. I recommend waiting to see this house until it is finished. Maybe it will make more sense then. The Sunset magazine tours will happen towards the end of the year. Again, I will keep you posted.
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