San Antonio Texas Real Estate Blog – by Danny Charbel

Helping people purchase houses is a funny business sometimes. I’m often faced with interesting situations (dogs, sleeping tenants, etc.) and asked even more interesting questions. This is one such question:

“Has anyone ever bought the first house they saw?”

This question is asked more often than you think, and its answer may surprise you. For those of you with short attention spans, the answer is “yes” now go back to work and have a great day.

Believe it or not, I’ve actually sold houses for several clients having never met the seller. Thanks to the wonders of technology we can sign contracts, chat on the phone, email, scan, sign, and click to our hearts’ content until the house is sold and checks are delivered. My remote sellers are typically very pleased with this, as am I. But selling is different from buying. What about buyers, Danny?

I’m currently in the middle of my first transaction where a client is buying a house they’ve never actually seen. And it was the first house that they didn’t see. Sounds weird? It isn’t.

When you’re relocating halfway across the globe, sometimes you just have to take a chance and have people you trust help you make a decision. The client’s sister is a prime example of one such person. Oh, you didn’t think they trusted me all that much, now did you? I’m flattered.

My client emailed and said “Danny, we found a house we want you to take a look at. Will you please call us when you have a chance, we need to talk.” The conversation was interesting to say the least, and within one day I had shown the house to the sister, taken a video tour, uploaded it to YouTube, had an inspection done on the house, and had an offer written up and ready to be submitted to the sellers pending pre-approval by the lender. We’re not in Kansas anymore.

Once the buyers checked out the video, read through the inspection report carefully, and conferred with the stateside sister, we were ready to roll. They haven’t considered other houses, they haven’t even talked about other houses. This is the one, and we’re going to make it work. After all, “Danny, it’s just a house, right?”

The question leaves a little room for interpretation though, doesn’t it? I’ve worked with clients who have seen 7-10 houses, but ended up buying the  first  house they saw. Does that qualify as a “yes” for this particular question? Sometimes I ask for clarification, but the answer is invariably “yes.” Everyone is different, some people require more data than others, and that’s okay.

Some people buy the first house they see, because frankly if we’ve whittled down the criteria and identified all the wants and don’t-wants, what more is there? Some people need to make sure they satisfy their curiosity and see as many houses as it takes to make them feel that they’ve seen a statistically significant portion of houses that may or may not match their criteria before they can make a decision. And some people buy the first house they don’t see!

Danny Charbel is a Realtor, and he knows you have a lot of questions. Send your questions through Twitter (@dannycharbel) or you can email them to dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com. Danny is a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors, and the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Danny works with  Keller Williams Realty in San Antonio, Texas.

A recent Yahoo! Finance article (link to article) by a similar title (ok, it’s basically the same) claims that there are five things that sellers do that drive real estate agents up the wall. It’s hard to come to a conclusion that is true for every single seller, so let’s see what they came up with and maybe we can make this a little more clear.

1. Sellers who think their property is unique, thus worth more money.

I come across a lot of sellers who have updated/upgraded their home. Some have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a few years to make their house perfect… for them. The nice part about the information age that we live in, though, is that while sellers may think their home is unique, they’re usually realistic about what money they’ll recoup in the sale, and what upgrades are just a perk to the future buyer.

Maybe I’m lucky and only come across realistic sellers, but it doesn’t take long to show someone how the comparable sales in the neighborhood are affecting their list price. Even when you take into account the granite counter tops in the kitchen, the fantastic patio out back, and the renovated master bathroom, the average home isn’t going to realize 100% of the cost of those projects when it comes time to sell, and people typically understand and expect that. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want their  Realtor  to advertise the heck out of those upgrades!

2. The home is a mess.

Okay, I can’t disagree with this. The nice part about my job, though, is that once a few showings have occurred and the sellers see the feedback from the showing agents that say “couldn’t walk through the property because of all the clutter,” or “buyers couldn’t imagine the house without all the stuff,” they tend to clean up their act. Everybody knows that a messy house won’t sell easily, so I make things pretty simple: clean the house or drop the price. Ten out of ten sellers have preferred to spend a little time than to give away their money.

3. Sellers who hang around during an open house.

I don’t hold open houses. I encourage new agents to hold open houses, I’ll teach them how to hold open houses, but I don’t need the random nosy-neighbors or the wandering nowhere-to-go-after-church “potentials.” True, I’m entertaining, but I’d rather do something relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. To this end, if I’m going to do an open house, Mr. & Mrs. Seller are more than welcome to hold the house open themselves. Who cares? Why would this be something you hate? You’re telling me that your clients are acknowledging that this is a team-effort, that they want to hang around and help you do your work, and you’re upset about this? Get over it. Gary Keller has even recently said that sometimes having the seller around can clear up questions more immediately, shorten negotiations, and ultimately put both parties at ease once you get to selling the house. An open house isn’t going to sell your house (at least not according to NAR statistics), so I think agents need to relax a little bit and focus on bigger things, like answering their phones.

4. Holding out for extra money at the last minute.

This isn’t the seller’s fault. This is the agent’s fault. Yes, this is irritating, but if you’re straightforward with your sellers from the very beginning and upfront with them about the way things work, most rational people will quickly come to understand the reasoning behind the negotiation (or lack of negotiation in some cases), and in doing so most become extremely grateful that they decided to use a Realtor. That commission check is great, sure, but you know what lasts longer than money? Gratitude. A grateful client is a friend for life. There’s nothing to hate here.

5. Sellers who don’t clean up before turning over the keys.

Another agent-failure. Listen, it’s simple guys, if you want the house cleaned before your buyers get into it: write it into the contract. It’s really, really easy, all you have to do is write something that sounds something like “house to be in broom-swept condition” or “seller to have entire house professionally cleaned prior to closing” or any other variation of these. Please don’t copy my wording, it’s not iron-clad. I’m not a lawyer, I’m not infallible, but for crying out loud, if it’s not in the listing agreement between the listing agent and the seller, and it’s not on the contract between the buyer and the seller, why would you expect someone to go out of their way for a perfect stranger? Granted, it’s common courtesy, and it’s a nice gesture, but it’s not always the right thing to do! Example: my buyer is purchasing a house that is in wonderful physical condition. But it’s not to his taste. So the very minute that we close and fund on this property he has a demolition crew ready to come in and rip apart the flooring, gut the kitchen, and begin installing new stuff. So who cares if the house is clean? If you want it, put it in writing. If you don’t, don’t worry about it! We have much bigger things to concern ourselves with, ay, gents?

Danny Charbel is a Keller Williams Realty agent, a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors, and the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Charbel also serves as a representative on the Agent Leadership Council (ALC 2011), and helps produce the only real estate office magazine distributed in San Antonio, Texas. He values his unconventional views on the real estate industry and will one day get through to everyone that if it’s not a win-win situation, there’s no point in making a deal. He also enjoys long walks, cold drinks, and photography. Find Danny Charbel on  Twitter  (@dannycharbel) or you can email him directly at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com.

Disclaimer: None of this writing is to be taken verbatim. Please check with your local board and/or a local licensed Realtor to verify that any advice or idea is applicable to your particular situation.  

A recent Yahoo! Finance article (link to article) by a similar title (ok, it’s basically the same) claims that there are five things that sellers do that drive real estate agents up the wall. It’s hard to come to a conclusion that is true for every single seller, so let’s see what they came up with and maybe we can make this a little more clear.

1. Sellers who think their property is unique, thus worth more money.

I come across a lot of sellers who have updated/upgraded their home. Some have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a few years to make their house perfect… for them. The nice part about the information age that we live in, though, is that while sellers may think their home is unique, they’re usually realistic about what money they’ll recoup in the sale, and what upgrades are just a perk to the future buyer.

Maybe I’m lucky and only come across realistic sellers, but it doesn’t take long to show someone how the comparable sales in the neighborhood are affecting their list price. Even when you take into account the granite counter tops in the kitchen, the fantastic patio out back, and the renovated master bathroom, the average home isn’t going to realize 100% of the cost of those projects when it comes time to sell, and people typically understand and expect that. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want their  Realtor  to advertise the heck out of those upgrades!

2. The home is a mess.

Okay, I can’t disagree with this. The nice part about my job, though, is that once a few showings have occurred and the sellers see the feedback from the showing agents that say “couldn’t walk through the property because of all the clutter,” or “buyers couldn’t imagine the house without all the stuff,” they tend to clean up their act. Everybody knows that a messy house won’t sell easily, so I make things pretty simple: clean the house or drop the price. Ten out of ten sellers have preferred to spend a little time than to give away their money.

3. Sellers who hang around during an open house.

I don’t hold open houses. I encourage new agents to hold open houses, I’ll teach them how to hold open houses, but I don’t need the random nosy-neighbors or the wandering nowhere-to-go-after-church “potentials.” True, I’m entertaining, but I’d rather do something relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. To this end, if I’m going to do an open house, Mr. & Mrs. Seller are more than welcome to hold the house open themselves. Who cares? Why would this be something you hate? You’re telling me that your clients are acknowledging that this is a team-effort, that they want to hang around and help you do your work, and you’re upset about this? Get over it. Gary Keller has even recently said that sometimes having the seller around can clear up questions more immediately, shorten negotiations, and ultimately put both parties at ease once you get to selling the house. An open house isn’t going to sell your house (at least not according to NAR statistics), so I think agents need to relax a little bit and focus on bigger things, like answering their phones.

4. Holding out for extra money at the last minute.

This isn’t the seller’s fault. This is the agent’s fault. Yes, this is irritating, but if you’re straightforward with your sellers from the very beginning and upfront with them about the way things work, most rational people will quickly come to understand the reasoning behind the negotiation (or lack of negotiation in some cases), and in doing so most become extremely grateful that they decided to use a Realtor. That commission check is great, sure, but you know what lasts longer than money? Gratitude. A grateful client is a friend for life. There’s nothing to hate here.

5. Sellers who don’t clean up before turning over the keys.

Another agent-failure. Listen, it’s simple guys, if you want the house cleaned before your buyers get into it: write it into the contract. It’s really, really easy, all you have to do is write something that sounds something like “house to be in broom-swept condition” or “seller to have entire house professionally cleaned prior to closing” or any other variation of these. Please don’t copy my wording, it’s not iron-clad. I’m not a lawyer, I’m not infallible, but for crying out loud, if it’s not in the listing agreement between the listing agent and the seller, and it’s not on the contract between the buyer and the seller, why would you expect someone to go out of their way for a perfect stranger? Granted, it’s common courtesy, and it’s a nice gesture, but it’s not always the right thing to do! Example: my buyer is purchasing a house that is in wonderful physical condition. But it’s not to his taste. So the very minute that we close and fund on this property he has a demolition crew ready to come in and rip apart the flooring, gut the kitchen, and begin installing new stuff. So who cares if the house is clean? If you want it, put it in writing. If you don’t, don’t worry about it! We have much bigger things to concern ourselves with, ay, gents?

Danny Charbel is a Keller Williams Realty agent, a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors, and the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Charbel also serves as a representative on the Agent Leadership Council (ALC 2011), and helps produce the only real estate office magazine distributed in San Antonio, Texas. He values his unconventional views on the real estate industry and will one day get through to everyone that if it’s not a win-win situation, there’s no point in making a deal. He also enjoys long walks, cold drinks, and photography. Find Danny Charbel on  Twitter  (@dannycharbel) or you can email him directly at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com.

Disclaimer: None of this writing is to be taken verbatim. Please check with your local board and/or a local licensed Realtor to verify that any advice or idea is applicable to your particular situation.  

A recent Yahoo! Finance article (link to article) by a similar title (ok, it’s basically the same) claims that there are five things that sellers do that drive real estate agents up the wall. It’s hard to come to a conclusion that is true for every single seller, so let’s see what they came up with and maybe we can make this a little more clear.

1. Sellers who think their property is unique, thus worth more money.

I come across a lot of sellers who have updated/upgraded their home. Some have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the course of a few years to make their house perfect… for them. The nice part about the information age that we live in, though, is that while sellers may think their home is unique, they’re usually realistic about what money they’ll recoup in the sale, and what upgrades are just a perk to the future buyer.

Maybe I’m lucky and only come across realistic sellers, but it doesn’t take long to show someone how the comparable sales in the neighborhood are affecting their list price. Even when you take into account the granite counter tops in the kitchen, the fantastic patio out back, and the renovated master bathroom, the average home isn’t going to realize 100% of the cost of those projects when it comes time to sell, and people typically understand and expect that. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want their  Realtor  to advertise the heck out of those upgrades!

2. The home is a mess.

Okay, I can’t disagree with this. The nice part about my job, though, is that once a few showings have occurred and the sellers see the feedback from the showing agents that say “couldn’t walk through the property because of all the clutter,” or “buyers couldn’t imagine the house without all the stuff,” they tend to clean up their act. Everybody knows that a messy house won’t sell easily, so I make things pretty simple: clean the house or drop the price. Ten out of ten sellers have preferred to spend a little time than to give away their money.

3. Sellers who hang around during an open house.

I don’t hold open houses. I encourage new agents to hold open houses, I’ll teach them how to hold open houses, but I don’t need the random nosy-neighbors or the wandering nowhere-to-go-after-church “potentials.” True, I’m entertaining, but I’d rather do something relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. To this end, if I’m going to do an open house, Mr. & Mrs. Seller are more than welcome to hold the house open themselves. Who cares? Why would this be something you hate? You’re telling me that your clients are acknowledging that this is a team-effort, that they want to hang around and help you do your work, and you’re upset about this? Get over it. Gary Keller has even recently said that sometimes having the seller around can clear up questions more immediately, shorten negotiations, and ultimately put both parties at ease once you get to selling the house. An open house isn’t going to sell your house (at least not according to NAR statistics), so I think agents need to relax a little bit and focus on bigger things, like answering their phones.

4. Holding out for extra money at the last minute.

This isn’t the seller’s fault. This is the agent’s fault. Yes, this is irritating, but if you’re straightforward with your sellers from the very beginning and upfront with them about the way things work, most rational people will quickly come to understand the reasoning behind the negotiation (or lack of negotiation in some cases), and in doing so most become extremely grateful that they decided to use a Realtor. That commission check is great, sure, but you know what lasts longer than money? Gratitude. A grateful client is a friend for life. There’s nothing to hate here.

5. Sellers who don’t clean up before turning over the keys.

Another agent-failure. Listen, it’s simple guys, if you want the house cleaned before your buyers get into it: write it into the contract. It’s really, really easy, all you have to do is write something that sounds something like “house to be in broom-swept condition” or “seller to have entire house professionally cleaned prior to closing” or any other variation of these. Please don’t copy my wording, it’s not iron-clad. I’m not a lawyer, I’m not infallible, but for crying out loud, if it’s not in the listing agreement between the listing agent and the seller, and it’s not on the contract between the buyer and the seller, why would you expect someone to go out of their way for a perfect stranger? Granted, it’s common courtesy, and it’s a nice gesture, but it’s not always the right thing to do! Example: my buyer is purchasing a house that is in wonderful physical condition. But it’s not to his taste. So the very minute that we close and fund on this property he has a demolition crew ready to come in and rip apart the flooring, gut the kitchen, and begin installing new stuff. So who cares if the house is clean? If you want it, put it in writing. If you don’t, don’t worry about it! We have much bigger things to concern ourselves with, ay, gents?

Danny Charbel is a Keller Williams Realty agent, a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Texas Association of Realtors, and the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Charbel also serves as a representative on the Agent Leadership Council (ALC 2011), and helps produce the only real estate office magazine distributed in San Antonio, Texas. He values his unconventional views on the real estate industry and will one day get through to everyone that if it’s not a win-win situation, there’s no point in making a deal. He also enjoys long walks, cold drinks, and photography. Find Danny Charbel on  Twitter  (@dannycharbel) or you can email him directly at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com.

Disclaimer: None of this writing is to be taken verbatim. Please check with your local board and/or a local licensed Realtor to verify that any advice or idea is applicable to your particular situation.  

Today™s blog post is brought to you by two great powers:  Richard C. Oliver  and  Wiley Miller.

One created the inspiration, and one brought the inspiration to my attention. So let me share with you Wiley™s (he prefers being addressed as such) genius before we go on:Now let™s talk about why this is wrong.

We™re Building the Future

Hopefully the country is following suit, but as for us here in San Antonio, Texas, we™re not building houses and waiting for people to come love them and buy them. New home development has historically been slow and thoughtful here in the Alamo City, and we like it that way. When it did boom (ahem Stone Oak area, I™m talking about you) we realized our infrastructure was lacking and began quickly taking measures to ensure that folks had access to fire, EMS, and police services, and we™re upgrading those roads to get everyone in and out quickly. It™s more than a matter of supply and demand, it™s what makes sense.We™re putting up houses with a purpose. Shelter is a basic human need, but it seems like all people really care about is money these days. With new lending restrictions the FHA and banks in general are making sure that when people need money to buy a house, that they™re not getting in over their heads. If it works the way it should, we should see fewer foreclosures and a return to the œgood ol™ days.

2011 is Mistakenly Called the Peak

I think calling this the peak is fine if you™re plotting the foreclosure rate on a graph, but I™m going to call this the trough, and I hope I don™t come off as a pessimist. But the truth is foreclosure isn™t a good thing, and calling it œa peak makes it seem that way.It™s going to get worse before it gets better.  This January 13 article by Janna Herron of the AP  states that œabout 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages, and until the job market picks up and unemployment goes down, we may not see much of a change.

The Rest Can Only go up from Here, but We™ll Do What we Want

The saying goes œOnce you™ve hit rock bottom, the only way is up. San Antonio hasn™t been hit nearly as badly as the rest of the nation. Our median home sales price has stayed right around $150,000 for more than a few years now, meaning value hasn™t changed much and prices haven™t sunk like they have in Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and California.As a matter of fact, three major San Antonio areas saw slight upticks in sales prices in 2010, and we™re hoping to keep them that way.  This article by San Antonio Express-News writer Jennifer Hillerdetails those areas and recounts the SABOR 2011 Housing Forecast put on by the  San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR).

Is there Good News?

There always is. I always look for silver lining, even on the darkest clouds. Unfortunately this silver lining comes at a high cost to some.With interest rates as low as they are, and an influx of foreclosures on the market (or coming onto the market), we™ll see a spike in investor purchasing. Getting the money is just as difficult, if not more difficult, than in previous years, but please don™t think that that will stop investors from doing everything they can to get their hands on homes ripe for the picking.A future benefit of current investor purchases: while investors are buying up houses on the cheap, they™re planning on fixing and flipping them. They may not sell these houses for top dollar in the future, but they™re sure to make money on the transaction, and hopefully the next buyer will get a house that™s been revamped and is ready for an owner-occupant to live and love it.The way it used to be, the way it should be.Danny Charbel is a Keller Williams Realtor in San Antonio, Texas. Please contact him with any questions, comments, concerns, keep the spam to a minimum, bring on the jokes, interesting banter, comical retorts, and insightful inquiries. You can email him at dcharbel [at] kw [dot] com, or follow him on  Twitter @dannycharbel.