Brigita's Blog: October 2007

You are considering selling your home, but are unsure at what price to list it.  A home a couple of blocks away sells for $325,000 and another one right down the block sold for $310,000.  So, you think to yourself, that maybe you can add $25,000 to the asking price because you did update the main bath a year ago and updated the kitchen recently.  If you ask $350,000 it would cover your costs and give you enough to purchase that newly constructed home you have your eye on.  Maybe you'll list it for $360,000 just so that it will give you room for bargaining with the buyer.  You feel the home is definitely worth it.

It's amazing how many sellers out there think this way.  And, because of this type of thought, the property ends up being overpriced and sits on the market for the longest time.  Plus, the seller will not budge because he feels he can get that price.  Even though the seller feels that the home is worth what he is asking, does NOT mean that that particular home is worth that amount on the market.

The best way to go about pricing a home is to get a Real Estate Agent to do a Comparative Market Analysis or CMA.  What the Agent will do is take recently SOLD homes within the same area, similar to the home he is doing an Analysis on, and will check to see the price they sold for.  Of course, no 2 homes are exactly alike, so some adjustments are made to determine the listing price.  What needs to be understood is the fact that the SOLD price may be different from the LISTING price.  They are not necessarily the same.  The listing price is just the asking price.  The comps are done strictly on the SOLD price and on homes in YOUR AREA, NOT to similar homes in another county or even in another state.  Also, a Market Analysis is NOT an appraisal.  Only a Certified Appraiser can give you an appraisal on your property.

What the agent may also do is figure out the price per square foot using the comps.  He will then apply that to your home.  Of course, if you have more property with the home the price will be higher, less property, price will be less.  It pretty much varies as to what exactly your home has. 

Market conditions have a lot to do with it also.  Just because the home down the street sold for $325,000 a year ago, does not mean that it will sell for the same amount now. 

Basically, many variables go into pricing a home, which must be considered.  A Real Estate Agent will give you a FREE Market Analysis for you, so you have a better idea at what price to list the home.  The agents are there to help you market and sell the home at the right price and in a reasonable amount of time.  You should listen to their advice because that is the area of their expertise.  Would you contradict a doctor's diagnosis?  Or argue with a lawyer's advice?  So why not listen to you real estate agent?  They do have the knowledge in their field just like doctors and lawyers do in theirs.  Have some trust in their suggestions.   

Picking up the newspaper this morning, the headline "Farmland preservation an empty promise?" caught my eye.  Underneath it stated "Easements offer little protection against public utilities, local government".  I started reading the article and it had a lot of interesting facts, which involved 2 preserved farms in the Lehigh Valley area in Pennsylvania.

One farm, located in Lower Macungie Township in Lehigh County, had been willed by the owner to remain as farmland.  Her dying wish was too keep it undisturbed forever.  On the other hand, the township leaders decided to use this old farm as the ideal spot for athletic fields.  Even though the owner had an easement placed on the land to keep it as a farm in perpetuity, the township supervisors could override the family's wishes through eminent domain.

The other farm, located in  Richland Township in Bucks County, eminent domain is being used for the utility company to have power lines cut through preserved farmland. 

My understanding of preserved farmland was that it was to remain as open space and be be kept undisturbed.  Wasn't this the purpose of preserving farmland?  If the government continues to abuse eminent domain and disregard the preservation placed on open spaces, will we ever have any open spaces left?  What good is farm preservation if the government will go ahead and take it when they want anyway? 

The people here are in an uproar and don't know where to turn.  How do you fight the government and so called "progress"?  Does this mean there will be no farms in the future?  Will this country turn into one huge city and all our food grown artificially?  I hope not.  It is time people realized that farms are just as important to society as development and progress.

Being a Real Estate Agent in Nazareth, PA, I am in the business of listing and selling homes.  I have dealt with many people who get very emotional when it comes time to sell their home.  Particularly, the elderly who have lived in their homes 30, 40 years and now must sell for whatever reason.  These homes hold very many memories for them from throughout all the years.  They remember the many events that their children went through and even their children's children.  It is a difficult time for them. 

I have even dealt with couples divorcing, that must sell their home.  So many memories and emotions involved.  I, too, went through this a few years ago.  I had a farm with my horses on it and I was going through my divorce.  I could not afford to keep the farm because I was just laid off from my part time job and had no way of paying the mortgage.  I had a hard enough time trying to support my children in college.  When it was time to put it on the market, I cried.  I remembered when my kids took their first ride on my horse.  The memory of walking them to the bus stop up the road for kindergarten.  The many times my kids practiced and got ready for their horse shows.  The different things both my children learned living on the farm and working with horses.  Even remembering the different experiences and different horses I have gone through over the years.  It hurt inside.

I think what hurt me the most, was a few months ago, I drove by my old place and saw that the home had been demolished.  I knew when the farm was sold that the new owner planned on knocking down the house and building a new one in it's place.  I wept after seeing the home as a pile of rubble.  At this point, it felt like all my memories were gone.  I never thought I would feel this way.  It felt like I lost a part of my past.  I realize the memories will never disappear, but that was just how I felt.  How can anyone destroy history?  It's like they don't care.

When I go out to a listing appointment, I feel exactly what the sellers are going through.   I feel their emotional pain.  I believe that since I have gone through this experience, I am better able to assist them in this emotional time in their lives.  No one knows the pain unless they have truly lived through it.

Here's one for all of you.  Has anyone ever gone through the experience where they are unable to find a listing?  It's listed on the MLS, but the office is unable to find anything on it.  This is what I am going through today.

I have a buyer that's interested in seeing a listing that is listed in the Lehigh Valley MLS and the property is located in Monroe County.  (My office is located in Northampton County.)  I call the office that is listed on the MLS to schedule an appointment for the next day.  (I do want to mention that I had e-mailed them with some questions about this same listing several days prior, but no one ever responded.)  They tell me they are unable to find that particular listing.  It is probably the other office's listing,  so they transfer me.  The other office is unable to find it, also.  They take the information on it and said they would call me back.

When they called back, they asked if there was another agent's name on it.  No.  Only one listing agent.  They then asked for seller's last name.  Once again, they said they will check with the other offices and get back to me.  This time the office I called originally returned the call and asked for more info.  They will check into it further and get back to me as soon as they find anything out.  How much more checking can you do??

About 10 minutes later I get a call from the original office.  It turns out that the home was sold and the agent never entered that into the MLS.  He forgot.  AARrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!  How do you forget to change the status of a listing in the MLS?  Especially, if it is SOLD?  It amazes me to see how some of these agents stay in business.   

My husband and I have been shopping around for property in the country with privacy.  We are both country people and enjoy watching the wildlife and having the horses outside our door.  Even though my horse is boarded at a friend's farm and is well taken care of, I still prefer having him with me.  I just like walking out the door to see him whenever I desire instead of getting in the car and driving over and using precious gas.  Plus, I find it relaxing watching the horses graze or mucking out the stalls.  (I know, some of you are probably saying to yourselves "YUCK" to mucking, but it does relieve stress and I do miss it.)

Anyway, we are having a tough time finding the right property.  We would like to live where there is no development and that is what is making our search difficult.  You see, we would like to have this as our last home.  Permanent for the rest of our lives. 

A couple of months ago, we came across a foreclosure.  It was a well constructed, brick home on 7 acres and it already had fencing and run in sheds for the horses.  Even though the fencing and sheds needed work, it was doable.  The property bordered Jacobsburg State Park, which made it perfect.  No development there.  We entered the home, and it had the strong smell of cat urine as soon as you walked in the door.  The doors needed to be replaced and some of the windows were broken.  Plus the house had been trashed and all the garbage was just laying in the house, rotting away.  Now this was during the summer, so you can imagine what it smelled like.  We saw the potential the home had.  My husband works in construction, so fixing it up would be no problem.  It meant a lot of work, but we thought it was worth it.  Getting the strong odor out would be the biggest job.  All the carpeting and subflooring would need to be replaced. 

The seller, a financial corporation from another area, was asking twice as much as the place was worth.  With the amount of work the place needed, it was worth about half of the listing price.  We placed an offer for what we thought was fair, and included a list of the improvements needed before it is inhabitable.  We even waived most of the inspections.  (My husband inspected it thoroughly.  We just needed the termite, water and sewage inspection.)  We were turned down without any explanation.

A couple of weeks later, we noticed that someone was working on the place.  My husband and I went to take another look.  Turned out that they removed all the trash, tore out the carpeting and disposed of all the contents in the home.  The odor was still in the home, but was not as strong.  We figured the urine had seeped into the subflooring and the cement in the garage and basement.  So the floor boards need replacing and the basement and garage a thorough cleaning before the odor is completely out of the home.  I found out someone else had put in an offer, slightly higher than ours, on the property, and they were rejected. 

So, here it is, 5 months down the line and the home is still on the market.  Only now, the fields and the fenced areas are overgrown and look awful from the outside.  The grounds have not been maintained.  And they are still asking a rediculously high price.  It will be interesting to see how long it will take them to sell it and for how much.