I have benefited greatly from my membership with MMAR aka
Mountain Metro Association of Realtors both in sense of community and book of business.
Please have a look at our new video, I play the role of “Swoop, the Rookie”.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JohbcIVmNZA

Enjoy!

Sean can’t act but he can sell

It is a common belief the Evergreen, Conifer and other communities in the
foothills have a defined “sales season”. I don’t believe this is the
case. For hard working Realtors and proactive sellers the dreaded winter months
can be and often are the best months. I know that for me and other top
producers in my office the fourth quarter is our most profitable. There are
many factors to understand to help buck conventional wisdom.

Factor
1) is the question; Do more properties sell in the spring vs. winter months. The
answer is no. The perception is yes because activity is higher in our warmer
months but the reality is that although showings decrease the buyers out there
are more serious with a greater sense of urgency.

My research is showing %28 sales in the 4th Quarter

Factor
2) is competition; Are there fewer homes on the market? Yes and the pattern is
very predictable. Please see chart below.

Factor
3) Savvy sellers; are seeing the trend and want to get ahead of the market as
the price per square foot is showing and obvious trend . Please see below.

In
conclusion I recommend taking advantage of the winter months. Showing volume
may be down but will result in less fatigue for the seller with predictably the
same result. At this point in history recovery does not seem to be racing
towards us like a speeding train. Below please find a “Summary”
example of our altos report.

You can keep up in real time with excellent data by signing up here. http://www.performancebrokersco.com/area-info/altos-research-report

We do our home work…

Making an Offer vs.
“Make Us an Offer” – Seller Initiated aka Reverse offer

In this challenging market real estate professionals, sellers,
buyers and any others vested interests should be thinking out of the box.  What I am seeing on the national news and here
on Colorado’s Front Range first hand is that Inventory is high so there for competition
for sellers is fierce. The economy is not at its peak so there for resources
are stretched and lending has been a bit more of a challenge.  The gap between buyers and sellers has seemed
to have widened because of constraints and the differing perceptions of the
market. The country’s big picture differs from Evergreens market but I’ll blog
about  that and “shadow markets” some
other time. I would have predicted that the “market” would have corrected all
of this but those pesky logistics seem to have gotten in the way.  The bell curve has gone towards short sales.  I have done these but the pain for both the
buyer and seller tend to be great and I already have too much grey hair to
negotiate transactions that drag on for months with a low success rate with
sellers wringing their hands and buyers running out of steam after jumping through
endless hoops and dealing with poor bank communication. Here at Performance
brokers we have an expert;  Yvette Putt yvette@performancebrokersco.com .  I
like to deal with more positive solutions like trades and seller intiated
offers. I’ll blog about trades later also.

Some of the things I like about “Reverse offers” are:

1) The seller
can generate attention and stand out in a crowd by submitting an offer.

2) The seller
can test the waters and get an insight to what number the market would support
for their home. Though the sample may be small they don’t have to show their
hand to the market prematurely. They can of course make more than one offer but
I don’t recommend doing so at one time. They may legally obligate their home to
more than one party.

3) “A call to
action”. Issues such as contingencies’, time lines, price, lease
considerations, and due diligence issues can and probably should be addressed before
the offer which would serve as a punctuation mark so that both parties can move
forward with plans allowing more certainty in their lives.

4) Buyers may
engage in a “private negotiation” with seller for variables that are not known
or available to the rest of the market.

5) Buyers can
ask questions about the variables on the contract. Those in the industry know
that the devil is in the details and there are tens of other major variables
besides price.

6) The seller
should offer a PRICE that would motivate the buyer towards the offer. The buyer
would be exposed to an invitation only deal.

One concern
for the seller is projecting desperation. This is a possible perception but
most educated buyers will see this stratagem as proactive and creative by
another party in a competitive market who just may have a bit more savvy than
the average bear. This method has a high probability of getting both the buyer
and seller closest to what they need and when they need it with the least
amount of brain damage.

I’’m all for getting people in the homes they want….Sean

Newsweek has reported some of Jefferson County’s High schools as some of
the best in the country. Six percent of schools make the list ; Lakewood,
Evergreen, Conifer and D’Evelyn high schools made the grade for the 2009-2010
school years. Jefferson County alumni include Astronauts, Doctors, Musician’s
and Nobel Prize winners. Jefferson County is the largest school district in
Colorado and has been a consistent performer on a national level.

View accountability reports, policies, boundaries and websites for private
and charter schools as well as Colorado’s Front Range school districts Clear Creek
County and Jefferson County at http://www.performancebrokersco.com/schools.html
Enrollment is often times open but you must move quickly.

My sons’ love their JEFFCO charter school, Sean