Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
1301 N Rampart Street N. Apt 301
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Listing Your Home Or Listings At The Magic Number
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
Finding the Magic Number:
Pricing strategies can help you market your listings and generate offers that turn into closed deals.
January 2011
"Once you get a real estate license, you can start telling consumers what their homes are worth," says Melanie McLane, ABR, CRB, owner of the Melanie Group in Jersey Shore, Pa. She’s a certified appraiser with more than 30 years’ experience in real estate. "But I find many people aren’t prepared or haven’t done their homework to know what the market will support before giving price estimates."
And just doing your homework isn’t the end of setting a price; it’s also important to have a pricing strategy that works for your market and your clients. Here are four techniques:
• Employ shock and awe. Remember Economics 101—the simple law of supply and demand? Adam Smith, the grandfather of modern economics, said when an asset is undervalued, the "invisible hand of the market" corrects the pricing to fair market value. It’s a principle that Amanda DiVito Parle, ABR, CRS, broker associate with RE/MAX Alliance of Arvada, Colo., has used to her sellers’ advantage. By drastically lowering the price on some of her luxury listings—a process she calls "shocking and awing the market"—she creates instant demand. "I listed a $1 million–plus property for $599,000, and a sales professional called and asked if it was correct," she says.
Often, properties can end up selling for more what you’d have originally listed them at. "You need to the drop the price so dramatically that buyers think it’s outrageous," she says. "They’ll determine the price. They’ll be eager to see the property and create a competitive bidding war."
• Set a market-leading price. "Do your homework on the local market and price the home to lead the market, not chase the market," says Rick Lawrence, e-PRO, SFR, a sales associate with RE/MAX Professionals Select in Naperville, Ill. He recommends showing sellers virtual tours of comparables to get them on the same page about setting a price that will lead the market.
• Pick an exact number. Ben Kinney, founder of the Home4Investment real estate team in Bellingham, Wash., assesses a listing’s value, setting a price to the dollar: $137,368 or $213,348, for example. "Consumers assume that even prices aren’t carefully calculated and probably just a home price thrown out for the sake of it." At least with Kinney, that notion is correct. He considers all the features of the home to reach a precise number.
• Don’t get counted out. It’s not uncommon to price a house slightly under an even price point, say at $199,000 instead of $200,000, to give the home a competitive edge. The trouble is, buyers who search for homes online (and virtually all do) are typically searching a range of prices, Kinney says. So a buyer looking for a $200,000–$250,000 house wouldn’t even see your $199,000 listing. By knowing the range buyers usually use for a neighborhood, you can price your listing for maximum exposure, Kinney says.
When the offers do start rolling in, take them seriously, McLane says. Sellers sometimes make the mistake of refusing reasonable offers early in the listing period. Help your clients understand that the longer their house sits, the less desirable it may become to active house hunters.
By Katherine Tarbox -- Senior Editor of REALTOR® Magazine
Finding the Magic Number:
Pricing strategies can help you market your listings and generate offers that turn into closed deals.
January 2011
"Once you get a real estate license, you can start telling consumers what their homes are worth," says Melanie McLane, ABR, CRB, owner of the Melanie Group in Jersey Shore, Pa. She’s a certified appraiser with more than 30 years’ experience in real estate. "But I find many people aren’t prepared or haven’t done their homework to know what the market will support before giving price estimates."
And just doing your homework isn’t the end of setting a price; it’s also important to have a pricing strategy that works for your market and your clients. Here are four techniques:
• Employ shock and awe. Remember Economics 101—the simple law of supply and demand? Adam Smith, the grandfather of modern economics, said when an asset is undervalued, the "invisible hand of the market" corrects the pricing to fair market value. It’s a principle that Amanda DiVito Parle, ABR, CRS, broker associate with RE/MAX Alliance of Arvada, Colo., has used to her sellers’ advantage. By drastically lowering the price on some of her luxury listings—a process she calls "shocking and awing the market"—she creates instant demand. "I listed a $1 million–plus property for $599,000, and a sales professional called and asked if it was correct," she says.
Often, properties can end up selling for more what you’d have originally listed them at. "You need to the drop the price so dramatically that buyers think it’s outrageous," she says. "They’ll determine the price. They’ll be eager to see the property and create a competitive bidding war."
• Set a market-leading price. "Do your homework on the local market and price the home to lead the market, not chase the market," says Rick Lawrence, e-PRO, SFR, a sales associate with RE/MAX Professionals Select in Naperville, Ill. He recommends showing sellers virtual tours of comparables to get them on the same page about setting a price that will lead the market.
• Pick an exact number. Ben Kinney, founder of the Home4Investment real estate team in Bellingham, Wash., assesses a listing’s value, setting a price to the dollar: $137,368 or $213,348, for example. "Consumers assume that even prices aren’t carefully calculated and probably just a home price thrown out for the sake of it." At least with Kinney, that notion is correct. He considers all the features of the home to reach a precise number.
• Don’t get counted out. It’s not uncommon to price a house slightly under an even price point, say at $199,000 instead of $200,000, to give the home a competitive edge. The trouble is, buyers who search for homes online (and virtually all do) are typically searching a range of prices, Kinney says. So a buyer looking for a $200,000–$250,000 house wouldn’t even see your $199,000 listing. By knowing the range buyers usually use for a neighborhood, you can price your listing for maximum exposure, Kinney says.
When the offers do start rolling in, take them seriously, McLane says. Sellers sometimes make the mistake of refusing reasonable offers early in the listing period. Help your clients understand that the longer their house sits, the less desirable it may become to active house hunters.
By Katherine Tarbox -- Senior Editor of REALTOR® Magazine
Friday, January 7, 2011
Purchasing a Home is Still a Good Investment
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
Even with several years of price declines, the typical seller who purchased a home eight years ago experienced a median equity gain of $33,000—a 24 percent increase—while sellers who were in their homes for 11 to 15 years saw a median gain of 40 percent. That’s according to NAR’s 2010 survey of home buyers and sellers, available at REALTOR.org/research. "Eighty-five percent of recent home buyers see their home as a good investment, and nearly half think that investment is better than stocks,” says Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research. This indicates the long-term view of home ownership as a fundamental goal and value remains sound.
Even with several years of price declines, the typical seller who purchased a home eight years ago experienced a median equity gain of $33,000—a 24 percent increase—while sellers who were in their homes for 11 to 15 years saw a median gain of 40 percent. That’s according to NAR’s 2010 survey of home buyers and sellers, available at REALTOR.org/research. "Eighty-five percent of recent home buyers see their home as a good investment, and nearly half think that investment is better than stocks,” says Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research. This indicates the long-term view of home ownership as a fundamental goal and value remains sound.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
This Month in Real Estate (US) : December 2010
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
This Month in Real Estate: December 2010
This Month in Real Estate: December 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Update Regarding The Mortgage and Conveyance Division's Online Data Recovery
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
Update from Dale Atkins, The Clerk of Civil District Court
The following updates took place as of December 7, 2010:
PERSONNEL:
In total, 90 men and women are working on the data recovery project as of today, and the Clerk of Court's office is continuing to add personnel to complete this task as soon as possible.
BACKLOG COMPLETED:
The backlog of documents in the Conveyance and Mortgage divisions has been eliminated. This means all mortgage and conveyance documents received between October 26 and November 18, when the system was reactivated for data entry and cashiering, have been entered in the system.
CERTIFICATES:
As it relates to Sheriff’s sales, they are current on all Sheriff Certificates through sale date of December 29, 2010. The Clerk of Court's Office forgot to mention that the houses that are going through a Sheriff's Sale at this time were marketed 45 days in advance, meaning these houses were advertised in October, before the online data crash.
RESTORATION OF DATA PROJECT: CONVEYANCE
The Clerk's office is confident the final delivery of the 60,000 conveyance instruments which are currently being re-entered by the Windward Group will be Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. Once the data is delivered, the only task will be to verify the information. The first delivery of a 1000-piece sample was successfully delivered by the Windward Group on Dec. 1, 2010 and successfully uploaded into the Clerk's database. This data is now being verified. Another 10,000 records are expected for delivery on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010. As more records are entered, more personnel will be shifted to data verification to speed this project along. The date of January 2, 2011 that the Clerk's office mentions is not a guarantee.
RESTORATION OF DATA: MORTGAGE DIVISION
The Clerk of Court's office is in the final stages of negotiating a contract for the data input of the more than 119,000 mortgage documents which need to be restored in the online system. Until the contract is signed, the work is being done internally. Nevertheless, the Clerk's office feels confident this data will be completely uploaded by mid-January 2011, but they are pushing for a commitment to an earlier delivery date of the data. Again, once data is delivered successfully into the system, the Clerk's office begins a verification process of the entries. The time frame for the verification process is about 7-14 days, but there are no guarantees on this either.
In short, this means that there will be very few closing until Mid-January 2011.
If your closing has been delayed as a result of the online data crash in Orleans Parish, here is a checklist of things that you can provide to the Title Company that may help to speed up the closing:
-Obtain Financial Statements from the Seller(s)
-Obtain Forwarding Address of the Seller(s)
-In Whose Name Is The Property Assessed?
-What is the Assessed Value?
-Any Outstanding Mortgages (1st Mortgage, 2nd Mortgage, HELOC)?
-Copy Of Appraisal
-Length Of Time The Seller Owned The Home? _____ Years
-Financial Statement Or Loan Application From The Borrower
If you have any questions regarding real estate, please contact me at 504.382.3724 or email me at AliciaLagarde@kw.com
Update from Dale Atkins, The Clerk of Civil District Court
The following updates took place as of December 7, 2010:
PERSONNEL:
In total, 90 men and women are working on the data recovery project as of today, and the Clerk of Court's office is continuing to add personnel to complete this task as soon as possible.
BACKLOG COMPLETED:
The backlog of documents in the Conveyance and Mortgage divisions has been eliminated. This means all mortgage and conveyance documents received between October 26 and November 18, when the system was reactivated for data entry and cashiering, have been entered in the system.
CERTIFICATES:
As it relates to Sheriff’s sales, they are current on all Sheriff Certificates through sale date of December 29, 2010. The Clerk of Court's Office forgot to mention that the houses that are going through a Sheriff's Sale at this time were marketed 45 days in advance, meaning these houses were advertised in October, before the online data crash.
RESTORATION OF DATA PROJECT: CONVEYANCE
The Clerk's office is confident the final delivery of the 60,000 conveyance instruments which are currently being re-entered by the Windward Group will be Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. Once the data is delivered, the only task will be to verify the information. The first delivery of a 1000-piece sample was successfully delivered by the Windward Group on Dec. 1, 2010 and successfully uploaded into the Clerk's database. This data is now being verified. Another 10,000 records are expected for delivery on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010. As more records are entered, more personnel will be shifted to data verification to speed this project along. The date of January 2, 2011 that the Clerk's office mentions is not a guarantee.
RESTORATION OF DATA: MORTGAGE DIVISION
The Clerk of Court's office is in the final stages of negotiating a contract for the data input of the more than 119,000 mortgage documents which need to be restored in the online system. Until the contract is signed, the work is being done internally. Nevertheless, the Clerk's office feels confident this data will be completely uploaded by mid-January 2011, but they are pushing for a commitment to an earlier delivery date of the data. Again, once data is delivered successfully into the system, the Clerk's office begins a verification process of the entries. The time frame for the verification process is about 7-14 days, but there are no guarantees on this either.
In short, this means that there will be very few closing until Mid-January 2011.
If your closing has been delayed as a result of the online data crash in Orleans Parish, here is a checklist of things that you can provide to the Title Company that may help to speed up the closing:
-Obtain Financial Statements from the Seller(s)
-Obtain Forwarding Address of the Seller(s)
-In Whose Name Is The Property Assessed?
-What is the Assessed Value?
-Any Outstanding Mortgages (1st Mortgage, 2nd Mortgage, HELOC)?
-Copy Of Appraisal
-Length Of Time The Seller Owned The Home? _____ Years
-Financial Statement Or Loan Application From The Borrower
If you have any questions regarding real estate, please contact me at 504.382.3724 or email me at AliciaLagarde@kw.com
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tips For Hiring A Contractor
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
Finding a contractor – Choosing the right contractor can save time & money.
• Ask friends and trusted associates who have already hired contractors for recommendations
• Check potential contractors out with consumer protection groups, such as the Better Business
Bureau: www.neworleans.bbb.org or 504-581-6222. BBB’s video, How to hire a contractor, can be purchased from their online resource library.
• Ask for proof that potential contractors are licensed with the State of Louisiana, and verify with the State Licensing Board: www.lslbc.louisiana.gov/findcontractor.asp or (225) 765 2301
• Ask potential contractors about their familiarity and experience with energy efficient, environmentally responsible, and healthy building practices and materials.
Hiring a contactor
• Once you have found a licensed contractor who checks out with the BBB or another consumer protection group, ask for:
o A list of references, particularly of projects similar to yours – and check them.
o Lists of subcontractors and suppliers and check to make sure they pay their debts on time.
o Proof of current insurance (should include General Liability, Worker’s Compensation and Builder’s Risk). Make sure to obtain an insurance binder with you listed as the additional insured from the insurance company before signing a contract.
• The contract should be modeled after standard American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) construction contract. Contract templates can be purchased at www.aianeworleans.org.
• Before signing the contract, make sure you understand the terms and conditions. If necessary, ask an attorney, or a neutral party familiar with the construction process to advise you.
Payment
• Ten percent (10%) of the contract is the most a legitimate contractor will request for a deposit.
• Payment should proceed according to the contract. Pay only for what is completed.
• Do not pay in cash and keep written records of all payments
• Keep written records of paperwork, conversations and activities, including photographs of work completed.
• Changes to the scope of work should be estimated and approved by the contractor and you in writing before they are begun.
• Do not make final payment until all work is completed to your satisfaction, all subcontractors and suppliers are paid, and the jobsite is clean and cleared of all debris.
Finding a contractor – Choosing the right contractor can save time & money.
• Ask friends and trusted associates who have already hired contractors for recommendations
• Check potential contractors out with consumer protection groups, such as the Better Business
Bureau: www.neworleans.bbb.org or 504-581-6222. BBB’s video, How to hire a contractor, can be purchased from their online resource library.
• Ask for proof that potential contractors are licensed with the State of Louisiana, and verify with the State Licensing Board: www.lslbc.louisiana.gov/findcontractor.asp or (225) 765 2301
• Ask potential contractors about their familiarity and experience with energy efficient, environmentally responsible, and healthy building practices and materials.
Hiring a contactor
• Once you have found a licensed contractor who checks out with the BBB or another consumer protection group, ask for:
o A list of references, particularly of projects similar to yours – and check them.
o Lists of subcontractors and suppliers and check to make sure they pay their debts on time.
o Proof of current insurance (should include General Liability, Worker’s Compensation and Builder’s Risk). Make sure to obtain an insurance binder with you listed as the additional insured from the insurance company before signing a contract.
• The contract should be modeled after standard American Institute of Architect’s (AIA) construction contract. Contract templates can be purchased at www.aianeworleans.org.
• Before signing the contract, make sure you understand the terms and conditions. If necessary, ask an attorney, or a neutral party familiar with the construction process to advise you.
Payment
• Ten percent (10%) of the contract is the most a legitimate contractor will request for a deposit.
• Payment should proceed according to the contract. Pay only for what is completed.
• Do not pay in cash and keep written records of all payments
• Keep written records of paperwork, conversations and activities, including photographs of work completed.
• Changes to the scope of work should be estimated and approved by the contractor and you in writing before they are begun.
• Do not make final payment until all work is completed to your satisfaction, all subcontractors and suppliers are paid, and the jobsite is clean and cleared of all debris.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Tips Gleaned From the Best Credit Repair Services
Blogging From The Desk of Alicia Lagarde-Craig
Open New Accounts Now
A tour of the top credit repair services websites will reveal a plethora of great financial tips. One of the best is the importance of opening new accounts now, rather than waiting until your credit report is all cleaned up. New accounts show that you are capable of getting back in the game and will have a dynamite impact on your score. Are you afraid of getting denied? No worry, secured cards are a perfect credit repair tool.
Reduce Your Credit Card Balances
You have heard it a million times, but it bears repeating. All of the legitimate credit repair services stress the importance of watching your credit card balances. Do not just nod your head knowingly and move on, please heed this advice. The difference between an account topping out at over 80 percent of the limit and an account under 20 percent can be a difference of 100 points. Okay?
Add an Authorized User Account
Often recommended by credit repair services, this is an easy way to get a new credit card along with an instant bump in your FICO scores. Call mom or dad and ask them to add you to one of their perfect, low balance credit cards. In fact, they do not even have to give you a card for you to get the score benefit. This is not a replacement for opening your own cards, but it is a quick way to get credit repair traction.
Check Your Statutes of Limitation
If you are confronted by a collector, the first thing that any of the good credit repair services will suggest is to check your statute of limitation, or SOL. If the SOL is over, the collector has no legal leverage. They could try to sue you but if you raise the SOL defense they will have no case. Check your SOL and you may be excited to find that you have nothing to fear.
Negotiate Collections
The economy is rough. Most good credit repair services agree that now is a great opportunity to negotiate with collectors. Everyone is hungry, and here are some guidelines that can help you capitalize on the opportunity. Make your offer on the last Friday of a month. And make your offer as tempting as possible by figuring out how to get your settlement money to the collector instantly. Let them know that you are ready to push the money button.
Dispute Redundant Collections
It is a funny thing about credit reports. The majority of collections on all credit reports should not be reporting at all. That is right. By law, when a collector sells a debt to another collector they should remove their account at once so you are not double-hit. This little tidbit is often ignored and the result is a whole lot of bogus collections. Review your reports. Find the duplicates and dispute all but the most recent. Try this great credit repair services tip and watch your report shine.
Open New Accounts Now
A tour of the top credit repair services websites will reveal a plethora of great financial tips. One of the best is the importance of opening new accounts now, rather than waiting until your credit report is all cleaned up. New accounts show that you are capable of getting back in the game and will have a dynamite impact on your score. Are you afraid of getting denied? No worry, secured cards are a perfect credit repair tool.
Reduce Your Credit Card Balances
You have heard it a million times, but it bears repeating. All of the legitimate credit repair services stress the importance of watching your credit card balances. Do not just nod your head knowingly and move on, please heed this advice. The difference between an account topping out at over 80 percent of the limit and an account under 20 percent can be a difference of 100 points. Okay?
Add an Authorized User Account
Often recommended by credit repair services, this is an easy way to get a new credit card along with an instant bump in your FICO scores. Call mom or dad and ask them to add you to one of their perfect, low balance credit cards. In fact, they do not even have to give you a card for you to get the score benefit. This is not a replacement for opening your own cards, but it is a quick way to get credit repair traction.
Check Your Statutes of Limitation
If you are confronted by a collector, the first thing that any of the good credit repair services will suggest is to check your statute of limitation, or SOL. If the SOL is over, the collector has no legal leverage. They could try to sue you but if you raise the SOL defense they will have no case. Check your SOL and you may be excited to find that you have nothing to fear.
Negotiate Collections
The economy is rough. Most good credit repair services agree that now is a great opportunity to negotiate with collectors. Everyone is hungry, and here are some guidelines that can help you capitalize on the opportunity. Make your offer on the last Friday of a month. And make your offer as tempting as possible by figuring out how to get your settlement money to the collector instantly. Let them know that you are ready to push the money button.
Dispute Redundant Collections
It is a funny thing about credit reports. The majority of collections on all credit reports should not be reporting at all. That is right. By law, when a collector sells a debt to another collector they should remove their account at once so you are not double-hit. This little tidbit is often ignored and the result is a whole lot of bogus collections. Review your reports. Find the duplicates and dispute all but the most recent. Try this great credit repair services tip and watch your report shine.
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