Seattle's Urban Villages

Magnolia View home...Meeting the homeowners today.

Today I met with a couple who have a wonderful home in Magnolia with views of Puget Sound, Elliott Bay, The Space Needle , Downtown Seattle and Mt Rainier... this is their view.....

Unfortunately, the online photos of the views were of gray, overcast skies, not the sun drenched, bright, open concept rooms and their stunning views.  Their home had been listed on the market for awhile earlier this year with another real estate agent and had not sold, even with price reductions.  This house is ideal for a couple who are downsizing from a larger home, and want to live a more urban Seattle experience, but want more privacy, parking and square footage than they would find living in a high rise Seattle condo. 

Last spring I sent the listing to a couple who live out of state who were thinking of retiring and moving to Seattle where they moor their 40 foot boat.  I previewed the house and strongly encouraged my clients to see the house next time they were in town, because the view really needed to be experienced in person, and the online photos did not do it justice.  Unfortunately my clients plans have changed and are putting off moving for awhile.   

Later, when the house was no longer listed on the market, I called and left a message with the homeowners saying that I had some ideas about improving the marketing for their home.  Last week I received a call from the owners that resulted in our meeting this afternoon.  We talked for quite awhile after I toured their home.   They had questions, and we talked about my ideas for marketing their home if they decide to hire me as their real estate agent to list and market their Magnolia home next spring.

Now that we are in the slower, fall market I feel waiting until next spring will be a better time to list and present their home to potential buyers, because the views are shown off to their best advantage in the spring and summer.  Wouldn't you love to enjoy views like this?

Open Houses; a great way to "interview" agents when you are thinking about selling your home

A great way to find a good Seattle real estate agent when you are thinking about selling your Seattle home is by attending open houses in your neighborhood. 

You get to see an agent "in action" at an open house!  While you are there you can gauge their professionalism by the way they greet you, engage you in conversation and talk about the house they are hosting the open house at.  Ask questions about the neighborhood, the Seattle real estate market both in general and specifically homes in the neighborhood and comparable homes.  While talking to the agent, do you find them knowledgeable, and a good "fit" to work with you?

Check out the agents' marketing materials (flyer's etc.) are they informative and interesting to look at?   Ask the agent what they did to help their client get the house "market ready" and their philosophy for marketing and selling homes.  Later when you get home, look the house up online to see the quality of the online photos, and the marketing remarks for that house, do you find them to present the home well?

A good agent will be happy to answer all your questions, but be careful not to monopolize their time after-all, they are working to sell their clients home!  The agent is there to show their clients' house to potential buyers so they will need to greet and talk with other visitors at the open house too.

Sometimes the agent hosting the open house is not the listing agent, so that is something to find out while talking to the agent.  The hosting agent is still a good potential agent for you even if they are not the listing agent.  Sometimes a listing agent is not available to host that week's open house for one of several reasons, and another agent is hosting it.  Even if the agent you meet and talk to is not the listing agent, that hosting agent may be a good fit for you if they impress you with their professionalism, knowledge and marketing savvy.

Be sure to get the agents' business card and a flyer too so that you can follow up and call them later to talk about what they can do for you to market and sell your home.  A little time and effort spent doing this will help you to find the best Seattle agent for you when the time comes to sell your home.

When is it time to change to a different Seattle real estate agent?

Yesterday I received an update from the NWMLS for one of my searches that I have out for Buyer clients.  This was a notice for a price reduction, the 6th one for a house that has been on the market for well over 600 days - YES - over 600 days on the market.  The price has dropped almost $350,000 since it was first listed and it is still with the original Seattle listing agent.  BTW, this is not a high end , multi million dollar luxury home that would have very few buyers who could afford the property, and that you would expect to be on the market for awhile. 

The original photos are still showing on the listing, which is doubly bad since they were of poor quality to begin with.  This home has great sound views, because it is waterfront, not that you can tell from the photos.  The house is very dated and certainly could have benefited from some work being done to update and get it market ready so that it has more visual appeal, and would photograph better.  I doubt many buyers have even asked to see the house because of what they have seen online.  Unfortunately, because of the NWMLS rules no agents can approach the seller with better ideas while the house is under contract with an agent.  I can only watch  <sigh>  and hope that the seller makes a change.

I don't know the agent or his relationship (not related per listing remarks) with the seller, but I have to wonder why there has been no changes made other than price to sell the house.  I feel for the seller because there may be other options to look into to improve the house to appeal to buyers and get the best possible price.  Of course another option would be changing to a different real estate agent, which brings us back to the original question.  When is it time to change to a different Seattle real estate agent?  A Tip for Sellers; I think that this seller owes it to themselves to hire another agent who can bring a fresh approach to selling this home; 600 plus days on the market and hundreds of thousands of dollars in price reductions are clearly not getting this house  sold.

**Update October 25, 2007**

The house just had another price reduction, 4th for a total of $75,000 since July 11, 2007.  The house has now been on the market for 731 days and reduced a total of $424,950, still no changes to the marketing remarks or photos.  I really feel for the owner.

HGTV's 35 Top Selling Tips

The Real Estate Network...whoops... HGTV, recently broadcast a special; "Designed to Sell Top 35 Selling Secrets" and offered up an entertaining list of mostly common sense things to do to get your home ready to list and enter the Seattle Real Estate market.

Number 35's tip was "Get Rid of Clutter"... you knew that was going to be on the list!  I was able to jot down most of the selling secrets, but not all, so here is an incomplete list:

#34 - Dirt, clean it up!  Ugh factor rules here, no one wants to see someone else's dirt.

#33 - Fix it or forget it!  Deferred maintenance causes buyers to deduct more value off the price than the cost to the seller to fix.

#32 - "Go Neutral"...no unusual colors please!

#31 - Smells...that would be pet oders, cooking, mold, smoke...buyers want a home to smell fresh!

#29 - Curb Appeal.  Buyers may never come into your home if it has poor curb appeal.

#26 - "Deck it out"...make your outdoor spaces nice living spaces.

#25 - Fireplaces play them up for maximum value.

#22 - "Money's in the details"...add molding to "crown" your rooms and add value.

#21 - "Designed to Dine"...play up dining room.

#20 - "Check out the competition"...go to open houses in your neighborhood to see how well your house stacks up.

#18 - Master bedroom must only a master bedroom, and not a gym, office, storage room too!

#17 - "Create instant luxury"...in the master bedroom with a new luxurious bedding set.

#16 - Closet space...clean out the clutter in the closets.

#15 - "Price your home to sell, not sit"

#14 - Use high end materials in the bathrooms...the rooms are small, so are not too costly to make a difference.

#13 - "Primp your vanity"...paint and add new hardware.

#12  - "Don't pour money down the drain"...install new shower door, or refinish the tub.

#11 - "Whisk them away to a Spa"...buy new thick towels (display only) add spa products to add a air of pampering.

#10 - "Cook up your kitchen"

#9 - Kitchen cabinets need new hardware and paint.

#8 - Kitchen counter tops...update!

#7 - Appliances replace them!

#6 - "Open up the kitchen"  Knock down a wall or overhanging cabinets to open up the kitchen to create more of a great room.

....And...drum roll please....the number one "Selling Secret" is "Don't do nuthin' "!  Take the time to get your home Market Ready!  So a tip if you are thinking about selling your Seattle Home, be sure you are thinking of these things as well!

As I am always saying when you sell your car, you'd wash it, wax it, vacuum it, Armor-all it, change the oil, tune it up etc...so put in the same effort when you sell your home.  Remember, your home is worth much, much more!   

For more complete information on this list, HGTV will re-broadcast this on June 3rd at 5PM PST, so check it out.

Seattle Open House Surprise....

A few weeks ago I got a call from some Buyer Clients that they were back in Seattle and wanted to see the new listing I had emailed them Friday night.  Since it was Sunday, and the house just came on the Seattle Real Estate market late Friday, there was an Open House scheduled that afternoon.  The "Agent Only" remarks had posted that the Sellers were requesting no showings until the Open House so I arranged to meet my Buyer's at the house during the Open House.

The house was showing well and had lots of traffic; neighbors and potential buyers.  While I was examining the garage with my clients I opened up a storage closet door and found...a rifle!  There it was leaning against the wall....   

After quietly telling my Clients, I immediately went to inform the Listing Agent what I had found so that he could either secure the closet or the rifle and get in touch with his Sellers.   

This was an item that should have been locked up before the Open House for the safety of the people looking at the house, and to prevent the theft of the Seller's personal property.  Seller's Agents coach their Clients when listing their home, to lock up cash, prescription drugs, valuable jewelry, important documents/papers and of course weapons.   

When a home is listed for sale, all this type of personal property must be made secure to prevent it's possible theft.  While Buyer's Agents are escorting their clients throughout the residence, they may not be able to keep an eye on everyone at all times, and the Clients may be new to the Agent.

So Tip For Sellers:  When selling your home on the Seattle Real Estate market, lock up your valuable personal property!

Tip for Sellers - Make sure your agent posts great photos of your home on line.

Last Saturday, I was across the hall in another Seattle Real Estate Agent's office chatting about Seattle real estate (what else!) and I noticed on the screen of her laptop an article on MSN.  The article was on the ethics of using PhotoShop to "touch up" online photos used in marketing homes for sale.  This was a very interesting and engaging article, I really enjoyed it.  Ethically challenged people sure make life more interesting and complicated!

Well...of course then I wanted to air (okay...vent!) my opinion on BAD real estate photos.  Most Seattle real estate agents do a credible to fabulous job with the marketing photos as Listing Agents...then there are the ones who's cameras should be taken away!  It riles me up so much when I see a listing with poor photos, all I can think is poor, poor sellers. 

You have probably seen them online:  crooked photos (yikes an inebriated photographer!) dark photos (scary, who would want to live there?) photos of unlovely rooms (no photos of the "cooks kitchen" but one of the semi-finished basement?) poor choices of angle (nice ceiling, but what does the room look like?) and the real money loser, amazing Sound (Lake, City etc.) view and no photos or good ones to draw a buyers interest!

The home a friend of mine was leasing recently has been listed for sale.  On Lake Washington, it has wonderful views of the lake from almost all the rooms, so you can imagine the list price.  Well, at that price I would have thought the Seattle Listing Agent, (Marketing Agent) would have engaged the services of a professional photographer to capture the value of this house, but instead, the photos online barely show the views.  I wish I could share some examples with you, but unfortunately I would have to have the permission of the Seattle Listing Agent, and it's not likely they'd give it for a post like this. 

So next time you are on line looking at houses and condos, look at the photos, do they show an appealing home?  Does the written marketing celebrate a home's virtues but the photos tell a different story?   

So a Tip for Sellers, make sure you ask to see examples of your Seattle Listing Agent's Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) Listing or Marketing Photos, and ask to see the listings for similar types of homes and compare them.  Make sure your Seattle Realtor will truly market your home properly so that it appeals to as many potential buyers as possible.  You don't want to miss the opportunity to capture the eye of the buyer who is willing to pay the highest price for your home by having less than great photos posted on line.