What I Learned at REBarCampDC and What It Means To You

This past Tuesday, I attended REBarCampDC - an informal “un-conference” focused on how to incorporate the latest social media and technology tools into your real estate business model. The event brought together some of the best and brightest Realtors and technology folks from around the Mid-Atlantic area - even as far away as California.

REBarCampDC proved to be a great learning experience. No matter how long you’ve been doing something, there’s always more to learn. There are always others that know more or do things differently that can give you a new/fresh perspective on things if you care to listen/learn.

But, more importantly, it proved to be a great event for my clients. Eve though my clients were not there, they will directly benefit in the form of better service and a better experience thanks to the tools I learned about at REBarCampDC.

Some of my personal highlights of the event were…

1. Home Search - the event reiterated the need to have a “Home Search” function available to my blog readers and clients. The general consensus was that FrankyMLS was the most up to date, accurate and user-friendly real estate search site in the DC/VA/MD area. I’m happy to say that I’ve had that feature available to blog readers and home buyers here on my blog since day 1.
2. Statistics - Home buyers, sellers, investors and the media want to see statistics. One of the technology gurus present present at the event was Mike Simonsen of Altos Research. Altos provides in-depth and up-to-date data in the form of tables and charts. I had the chance to sit down with Mike one-on-one to get a test run and tutorial of Altos’ new flash charts, which are interactive and should be a big hit with consumers. You can find an example of these charts on my previous blog post talking about Loudoun County housing inventory being down (click here).
3. Community Topics - Though home buyers and sellers want to know about real estate in the area, they also want to know about the area itself. Though I do talk about local businesses and community events from time to time, I will be focusing much more on this moving forward. I am currently working on several posts about local businesses and events by reaching out to owners and event coordinators for interviews, information, etc. And I’m not talking about posting the facts (What, Where, When) - I’m talking about the “feel” of these businesses and events and my personal take on them as a consumer/attendee.
4. Video - is where it’s at. This is according to many of those at the event that have been dabbling around with video. I tend to agree with them because I’ve done a few video tours of builder’s model homes and they’ve been a big hit with home buyers/consumers. Therefore, I will be doing video tours of all the builders’ model homes in the area over the next few months so that you can see what they look like from the privacy and comfort of your own home.
5. Knowing what you don’t know - is more important than knowing what you do know. Though it’s not necessarily a social media or technology topic, it was talked about a lot at the event. Blogging about or talking to clients about areas or topics that you are not an expert in is a disservice to your clients (and the general public). If you run across a buyer or seller that wants to buy or sell in an area that you’re not completely familiar with, refer them to someone who does. The consumer will value your honesty and integrity and will remember that for years to come. And what goes around comes around…the consumer you referred out as well as the Realtor that you referred them to will most likely refer people back to you at some point down the road. Same thing goes for blogging - Realtors should focus on blogging/talking about topics and area they’re familiar with rather than going outside their area of expertise for the sake of making more money.

Exchanged great ideas…one-on-one time with the top guy at a real estate technology firm…learned a lot…clients will benefit from what I learned…hung out with friends…made new friends… You can’t ask for much more!

Special thanks to Ainsley McDougal of NVAR for helping make the event possible!

Celebrating 3 Years!

Wow, how time flies! Three years ago this month, I started blogging about Loudoun County real estate and the area in general. Back in 2006, there were very few Realtors blogging across the U.S. let alone Loudoun County (there were less than a few dozen across the entire U.S. at the time).

Today, that number is much higher yet, LoudounScene.com and LoudounForeclosures.com continue to be one of the best and most up to date sources of local information and resources for home buyers, sellers, investors, residents and the mass media.

Thank you to all of you who have commented on and been loyal readers of LoudounScene.com and LoudounForeclosures.com. Without you, there would be no Loudoun Scene or Loudoun Foreclosures and I would not be able to say, “Celebrating 3 years!”

Home Buyer Demand, Sales Up Across Loudoun and Fairfax County

Home buyer demand/sales in Loudoun County were up 11 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2009 over the 3rd quarter 2008. And it’s up 53 percent over 2007. (Buyer demand is defined by the number of homes that go under contract during a set time period)

Fairfax County had an 18 percent increase in home buyer demand/sales in the 3rd quarter 2009 over 2008. And it’s up 62 percent over 2007.

Why the increase?

1. Lower prices - prices have come down considerably since the peak making it more affordable and appealing for home buyers. And the less expensive something is, the more people can afford it
2. Low interest rates - interest rates hit historical lows and are still very low. Lower interest rate = greater purchasing power
3. Programs/benefits - Programs such as the $8000 first-time home buyer federal tax credit has helped spark demand (click here for more info on first-time home buyer tax credit). I’ve worked with more first-time home buyers this year than in any of the last 6 years (and it’s only October). Other programs such as the Freddie Mac HomeSteps SmartBuy program have also helped increased demand (click here for more info on Smartbuy program)

Will it continue?

Maybe. If rates remain steady and/or the tax credit get renewed or a similar program come out, then we’ll probably see home buyer demand steady or continue increasing (though I don’t think there’s room for too much more increase in buyer demand).

Maybe not. If rates creep up and/or the first-time home buyer federal tax credit not be renewed and/or (more) bad economic news come out, we may see buyer demand taper off or even decrease.

Who wins?

The buyers that purchased a home at a much lower price than years prior and at a low interest rate while taking advantage of the first-time home buyer federal tax credit made out the best.

Sellers came in at a close second - increased demand and very low inventory make for a winning combination when selling your home.

Home Seller Tips, Part Two - Marketing

This is part two in a three part mini-series for home sellers on how to sell your home for the most amount possible in the shortest amount of time. The first part dealt with “The Three C’s” (click here if you missed it). Part two deals with Marketing.

Who is your audience?

The first step is to determine who your audience is. Your audience consists of ready, willing and able buyers. This means buyers who are looking for a property such as yours in your area, can afford a property at your price point and are ready to make an offer on a property and can settle within the next 30 to 90 days.

How does your audience search for and find properties for sale?

In the Washington, DC metro area including Northern Virginia, approximately 90 percent of buyers start their search for real estate on-line. They search through a variety of real estate listing sites, as well as Google, Bing, Yahoo, AOL, etc. This means that you focus heavily on on-line marketing. This includes putting your property on the appropriate web sites and making sure that your property listing stands out from your competition (other similar properties for sale in your area).

Approximately 40 percent of buyers find the property they ultimately buy through a real estate agent/broker. This means that you must put your property listing in front of as many agents/brokers as possible. The best way to do this is to market your property on the MLS as well as word-of-mouth marketing by your agent/broker to other agents/brokers (via phone, email, in person, social media, etc).

How do buyers get more information about the community, amenities, proximity to major routes, etc?

Buyers don’t just buy your property. They buy the community, amenities, location, proximity to major routes, transportation, etc. The amount of information allowed by the MLS and real estate listings sites is limited. There is no place to put links or much information about amenities, the nearest shopping centers, major routes, etc.

That is why having a single property site specifically for your property is so important. Your property’s site should provide potential buyers with all the information they need to make an informed decision about not only your property, but the subdivision, town and general area it’s in.

To see what I mean, check out a few of the single property sites I have created for my sellers:

• 21377scaraplace.com
• coloniescondo.com
• 44039risingsun.com

Do yard signs work?

They used to work much better once upon a time than they do today, but they still help. The statistics a few years ago showed that 15 percent of buyers found the property they ultimately bought by seeing the sign in the yard. That statistic is now in the single digits.

Nevertheless, they do still work a bit so having a sign that stands out and mainly provides information about the property, not the agent or brokerage firm is key.

Let me repeat… The sign must stand out and mainly provide information about the property, not the just the agent or brokerage firm.

Too many real estate signs are the same size, just say “For Sale” and have the brokerage firm’s name, agent’s name and contact information in bold lettering - nothing else. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t believe having nothing about the property itself makes a buyer driving down the street say, “Wow! That sounds like a great house on the inside! I want to see it ASAP!”

That’s why a custom signs specific to your property listing is important. Put some photos of the interior of the house on the sign. Point out the main selling points of the property. Share some special features of the property and/or community. Make the sign odd sized. And put a link to your property’s web site. This will make the sign and your property stand out above the rest.

Every sign I create for my listings is unique and specific to the property. All of the things I just mentioned along with some others help my signs stand out and help sell the property. After all, I wasn’t hired to promote myself or my brokerage firm - I was hired to market and sell my clients’ property.

Do Open Houses work?

The answer to this question depends on where you are. If you’re in a market such as New York City, open houses are very effective. In areas such as Northern Virginia, they are not. Statistics shows that about one percent of buyers found they home they ultimately bought through an open house.

So why do agents still do open houses? Because it appeases their clients and they’re afraid to “lose the listing” if they don’t agree to do an open house regardless of whether they’re effective or not. Another reason they do it is to get future listing and buyer leads.

All of your nosy neighbors that come through your open house to see what you have inside, how you’ve decorated and how your property compares to theirs are potential seller/listing clients. Your agent hope to chat with them and get their information at the open house so they have a shot at being hired by your neighbors when they decide to sell their home.

The consumers that go through open houses are typically in the very early stages of house hunting and are usually 6 to 12 months out from actually buying a home. Remember, your target audience is ready, willing and able buyers - not, “not quite ready, not quite willing and not able to buy yet” home browsers.

The next and final part of this three-part mini-series will focus on pricing, which is the most important aspect of selling your home in today’s market.

Related Articles

Home Seller Tips, Part One - “The Three C’s”

Home Seller Tips, Part One - “The Three C’s”

This is the first in a three part mini-series for home sellers on how to sell your home for the most amount possible in the shortest amount of time. The first part deals with the “Three C’s” - Cleanliness, Clutter and Cohesiveness.

Cleanliness

If you’ve ever been house hunting, you know how it is to walk into a dirty home. I’ve heard my buyer clients say things such as,

• “Ewwwww”
• “I can’t believe they can live like this”
• “If the house is this dirty, they must not take care of the rest of the house much either”

These are not things that you want potential buyers saying while going through your property.

Here are some of things that my buyer clients say while going through a very clean house…

• “Wow! They really take good care of their home!”
• “The carpets and hardwoods are in great shape!”
• “The house looks much newer than it really is!”

What a difference in buyer perception, isn’t it?

The cleaner your home is, the more attractive your home will be to potential buyer. And the more a buyer will perceive the house being in good shape which translates to the buyer seeing more value in the property and offering a higher price for it.

Clutter

Though your definition of clutter may be different, the definition of clutter when it comes to real estate is,

• No more than one to two items on any one piece of furniture or wall
• Having no more furniture or items in a room than is necessary to fill it up and make it look lived in

An example of the first would be one lamp on a nightstand…or… two items on the fireplace mantle…or…one item on top of the dresser…or…one painting on the outside wall of the family room.

An example of the second would be a medium sized couch in a medium sized room rather than a huge “L” shaped couch that takes up 1/2 of the room’s floor space…or… a small circular table and two chairs in a small eat-in-kitchen rather than a medium-sized square dining room style table with four chairs that takes up the majority of floor space in the eat-in-kitchen and makes it looks formal when it shouldn’t.

Clutter clouds a buyer’s mind and makes them focus on the items creating the clutter rather than property itself. The less a buyer notices the actual property, the less they will remember the good things about it let alone the property itself. This translates to less of a perceived value by the buyer and less of an offer price - if they make an offer at all.

Cohesiveness

Cohesiveness is how well everything flows together throughout the entire property - furniture, decorating, paint schemes, landscaping, outdoor decorations, etc. If things do not flow, buyers will focus more on that then the  physical property itself. This doesn’t help their perceived value of the property and hurts your chances of getting a high offer price.

For example…Buyers are thrown off when one room is burgundy and has contemporary furniture in it while the next room over is burgundy and has traditional or country style furniture.

Stick with one theme and try to make things match as best as possible.

• If you have contemporary furniture in the family room, do the same in the kitchen and dining room
• If you have neutral paint in two of the bedrooms, do the same or something very similar in the other bedroom(s)
• If you have lots of bright flowers and bushes as part of your landscaping in the front of the home, plant some in the back of the home as well

If you would like to find out how your property does in a “Three C’s” test, call or email me - danilo.bogdanovic (at) gmail (dot) com - 703.582.6900. I would be happy to stop by, give you my professional opinion and be of help.

The next part of this three-part mini-series will focus on marketing, a topic often misunderstood or taken too lightly by many sellers and agents.

Because Now is Much Better Than Later

An increasing number of blog readers, sellers and buyers have been contacting me for real estate help and advice. I’m glad to help whenever I can, but many contact me after the problem has already occurred. Contacting me after the fact is often times too late - the damage has already been done. Here are two examples…

My parents just relocated from Delaware and bought a house in [city removed for privacy reasons], VA. On their 2nd look at the house they noticed the stove was different than what was pictured on the online listing.

It was at that time their agent then told them the house was “as is”, however, come to discover after the purchase and moving in and comparing the online pictures to the actual home, all of the kitchen appliances were switched, ceiling fans were removed, the replaced dishwasher wasn’t properly attached and hooked up - it leaked and damaged the hardwood flooring, and the upper air unit had serious problems (due to the “fix” the selling agents inspector supposedly made).

They only had limited time to preview homes and were basing their decision largely by the online pics. Anyway, just seems the out of town “old folks” were taken advantage of.

Your wise thoughts are appreciated. Seriously, I value your input. Thx!

“T”

I have a question that I hope you can  answer.

We just purchased a home in Loudon county…we are actually from out of state & were not familliar with any inspectors. Our agent recommended an inspector that she uses all the time. Well, he missed some obvious things such as rotten plywood for the roof & a rotten water damaged  huge window that is totally shot.

Now these are basic things for the envelope of the  house…how could he have missed them?

To top it off I had asked our agent if he was licensed,insured & bonded she said that he wass. I have since found out that he doesn’t carry any liability insurance for  what he misses–he only carries workmens comp for himself. I also have not been able to find his license# & have asked my agent to get it for me  & she has not responded to my request.

What would your recommendation be at this point? Should we file a claim with the Real Estate firm for sending us to someone who quite possibly is unlicensed & definitely not insured properly? I do not feel properly represented by our agent.

“A“

Though I would love to help “T” and “A” as well as everyone else who has contacted me, I can’t always do so. In “T’s” parents’ situation,  the problem could have been avoided had I been involved in the process in the beginning. But now, they have to battle it out with the real estate broker, lawyers, etc. The same holds true for “A” and her situation.

In many other similar situations, many folks are already working with a real estate agent and/or they are too far into the process and can’t go back and fix the issues that are costing them money and grief now.

Avoid getting yourself into the same situation as these and other sellers and buyers have. And avoid paying the price that they now are (literally and figuratively).

If you’re considering selling your house or purchasing a home in today’s market, allow me to help you now - because now is much better than later.

Click here to contact me now.

Leesburg Single Family Home Median Price up $35K

The median price of single family homes in Leesburg (20175 and 20176 zip codes) has gone up $35K since April. With inventory down 33 percent since 9/08 and buyer demand up, median prices have gone up. You can feel the effect of this in the housing market conditions in the area - Buyers have less inventory to choose from and more competition from other buyers while sellers are seeing more buyers coming through and competing for their property (if priced correctly) than since 2005.

Leesburg Single Family Home Median Price - up $35K

Leesburg Single Family Home Inventory - down 33 percent

This Month’s Special: 58% Off Greenvest Land in Loudoun

Vienna-based Greenvest LC used to own 4100 acres in the Dulles South area of Loudoun County. That all changed two days ago when the land, valued by some at $165 million, was auctioned for $69 million.

iStar Financial, the company that originally lent Greentvest $130 million for the land, foreclosed on the land. The land was auctioned off this past Tuesday at the Leesburg courthouse steps.

The winning bidder?

iStar Financial (they sure love spending money, don’t they?)

What led to the foreclosure auction?

Greenvest was hoping to have the land subdivided into four communities — Greenfields, Lena, Broad Run Village and Arcola. But the public outcry against further intercounty development and the congestion that would come along with it led to the county denying requests to rezone the land. And that left the development dead in its tracks.

Last year, Greenvest tried to sell 100 of those acres to the Loudoun County school system, which wanted the land for future schools. The Loudoun School Board rejected the idea over concerns that the $20 million price tage was too high.

With no chance of moving forward with the development, Greenvest defaulted on its $130 million loan. That led to foreclosure proceedings, Tuesday’s auction and iStar Financial, the company that originally lent Greenvest the $130 million, buying the land back for $69 million.

What now?

iStar Financial will try to sell the land in order to recoup some of the money lost (and spent) throughout this whole ordeal. But they face some serious hurdles:

• previous requests to rezone the land have been denied
• tightened lending/financing guidelines
• a weak local and national economy
• increased proffers (click here for more on that)

On a related note, the $165 million valuation seems to have come from Loudoun County itself - probably for tax revenue purposes - and is most likely not the land’s true market value (just look how much it actually sold for at the auction).

At $16,829 per acre, it may seem like quite a bargain. But it may be a while before iStar sees a return on their purchase. As one real estate developer who attended the auction said, “I don’t buy green bananas.”

When Does the $8000 First Time Home Buyer Credit Expire?

You’ve probably heard about the $8000 first time home buyer credit (click here if you haven’t or would like more information about it). But do you know exactly how long you have before it expires?

IMPORTANT: This is how long you have until it expires, but you must settle/close on the purchase of your home by this date. That means you should be starting your home search in the near future especially if you’re considering purchasing a short-sale property (click here to find out how much time each type of transaction takes to close).

H/T to Ken Brand for sharing about the widget

Two Fellow Realtors, Friends Receive Inman Innovator Awards

A big “shout out” to fellow Realtors and friends Frank Llosa, founder of FranklyMLS.com and Jim Duncan, co-founder of Nest Realty Group in Charlotesville, VA. Frank received the 2009 Inman News Innovator of the Year Award. Nest Realty Group received the Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise Award.

Frank and FranklyMLS.com

If you’ve never checked out FranklyMLS.com is, you should. It’s the most up to date and user friendly real estate search site for consumers in the DC metro area (and beyond). FranklyMLS.com is constantly updated directly from the MLS - more so than any other site including Realtor.com (Realtor.com and others can be up to 2 weeks out of date).

The coolest thing about the site is that it allows Buyer’s Agent to post reviews and photos of properties they’ve previewed or shown to clients. In a down housing market where Listing Agents sometimes stretch the truth or Photoshop photos (or not take any photos at all), it’s great to read objective reviews and see real photos.

Other cool things about the site are its cell phone mode, it loads quickly, you can search for homes by keywords, you can easily search for short-sales or foreclosure/bank-owned properties…the list goes on.

And if you don’t know Frank, check out his blog - blog.franklyrealty.com - or on YouTube. You’ll quickly find out that he’s definitely not your typical real estate broker.

Jim and Nest Realty Group

Nest Realty Group joins a small group of non-related brokerage firms across the U.S. that is raising the bar in real estate. From Nest’s “About Us” web page,

Nest Realty is changing the way real estate is transacted in Central Virginia. With the best interest of our clients in mind, Nest is built on a client-centric business model. We believe in engaging the consumer, not selling them. Nest agents are technologically savvy, up-to-date on all real estate trends, and committed to informing clients of every detail of the selling or buying process. This ensures an enhanced experience for buyers, sellers, and agents.

Jim and I have talked many times about how many brokerage firms are stuck doing things the way “they’ve always been done” despite it not being the way it should be done today. I’m fortunate to work with a brokerage firm that already “gets it” and is raising the bar - Market Advantage Real Estate - while Jim and Jonathan Kauffman (the main person behind Nest) started their own brokerage firm that built on a similar premise.

For more about Jim, check out his real estate blog - RealCentralVA.com.

Congrats once again to Frank, Jim and Nest Realty Group!

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