And why you need it to help the sale of your Orlando Area Home…

Let’s face it, the market is a Buyers Market!  You need do do something dramatic to gain the buyers attention as there are so many options on the market right now. 

There is something we need to talk about.  Buyers are not able to visualize living in your home if it full of clutter and personal stuff.  Just as they can’t always envision how a vacant house will look with furnishings.

So what can you do?  Stage your home!  Ok we all have heard the term, but what does it mean?  How can it benefit you the Orlando Area Seller?  First off Staging your home is getting it ready for showing to potential buyers.   By Staging your home you will make a better presentation and put your best foot forward in this competitive Orlando Market.

You can hire a professional stager to come in and stage your home, and we would be happy to assist you in finding that professional.  Most homes just need a few things done and we can work through the list together to make your home more appealing to potential buyers.  Things like:

• Removing personal photographs, from walls
• Pretty bedding on beds
• Neutral paint colors
• Less is more! 

Rich Dad Poor Dad a great book for Dad or try the Cashflow games there is still time to find the best gift!

Robert Kiyosaki was blessed to have two fathers, a rich dad and a poor dad.  His birth dad, was a role model, educator and disciplinarian. The second, while not Robert’s birth father, also played a key role in Robert’s life. This “dad” was also a role model, educator and disciplinarian, but in addition, a mentor.

People at Keller Williams Real Estate are also very familiar with the 4 quadrants and raising the financial IQ of our family and friends especially when it comes to real estate.

So you might ask what does this all have to do with Father’s day well there is a great book called Rich Dad Poor Dad that would make a terrific present but if your budget allows the Cashflow 101 game is a real eye opener and fun for the entire family.  There is also Cashflow for Kids that would be fun to play with dad too if you have a younger children.

Last weekend I was in North Carolina visiting my sister and brought a copy of this game to leave.  We had a great time and as usual after playing this game I always hear comments like wow wish I had played this alot earlier in my life!

The book alone Rich Dad Poor Dad is enough to get you asking questions and if you really want to get going I  recommend the game Cashflow 101.  Once you get more advanced there is 202 and you can even play online.  You can also find these games on ebay.

Even if real estate is not your game this can be an exciting widening your eyes experience.   Robert has said the best reason is to see your money work for you not you work for money and what dad wouldn’t like to learn how to do that!

Absorption Rate is an important Real Estate indicator…

All homes are not equal, nor is how they are priced equally well.  In a tough seller’s market it is important to understand the rate at which homes are selling and look at it from various angles.  For instance, we look at it at the county level, community breakdowns, by number of bedrooms, price and with/out pools.  

It helps us in understanding what is selling at at what rate.  When we understand what is happening we can take a look at the comparable listings in determining a listing price.

Absorption Rate helps us understand what is going on in the Real Estate Market.  The Orlando Avenue Top Team looks at these numbers monthly.

ABSORPTION RATE is the mathematical representation of the relationship between supply and demand.   To calculate Absorption Rate, if there is no sales in the prior month, there is no rate to look at:

If you have questions regarding Absorption Rate, or what is going on in the market in your area, please call our team today at (407) 288-0017.  

Market Report for Celebration Florida for May 2007.

Celebration Florida
Market Update – Single Family Homes
May 2007

Memorial Day weekend things to do and most of all veterans to remember.

Where does time go?  Memorial Day Weekend is already upon us and the official beginning of Summer here in the Greater Orlando Area!  Backyard BBQ’s with hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken grilled to perfection.  Potato salad, grilled corn on the cob, fruit salad are some of the great foods you might find at most BBQ this weekend!  But a weekend get together is not the meaning of this holiday.

It is an opportunity to remember those that have served our country in Military service and those currently doing so.  Some ways that you can pay tribute to that you might not think about are:

• Help our Troops Call Home with a prepaid calling card
• Let your kids take part – Kids Celebrate the Military
• Send a hand made card through Cards for Soldiers or Cards to Soldiers
• Soldiers overseas sometimes have down time and look for ways to fill that time.  Many military libraries are extreamly limited — Find out how you can help with Books for Soldiers
• Take books, magaizines, playing cards, board games, puzzles to a local Veteran’s Hospital
• Volunteer at the Orlando Veteran’s Hospital or check out some of the other Volunteer Opportunities

Here is a list of some things that you should think about when selling your Orlando area yourself:

Here is a list of some things that you should think about when selling your Orlando area yourself:

• How are you going to qualify a buyer who brings you an offer?
• When pricing your property it is not what someone else’s house sold for plus your credit card debt, moving expenses, and closing costs.   With market changes, a good realtor is abreast of the changes and what will affect your listing price.
• Remember buyers are well educated and they have access to public records and are not about to think your price is reasonable.   They do a considerable amount of research and will pass over an over priced listing.
• Get yourself a good attorney to handle the legal paperwork, make sure you have all the forms and disclosures you need.  How do you handle a deposit check?  Are you prepared to ensure that all deadlines are met?
• Are you prepared to do the negotiating with the buyers?   Sometimes there are personal emotions that get in the way – a good realtor is an excellent buffer for you.
• Be prepared to advertise your property on the Internet and in the newspapers and local publications and change those ads to gain attention of buyers.  Be prepared to send out just listed postcards to the neighborhood and produce brochures and distribute them to the Realtors in your community.  Realtors already have systems in place and ready to add any new property that they list into that system
• Depending on the area, it can be very expensive to put ads in the newspapers — even just the simple classified ads can be expensive.  Realtors usually have larger ads that they can divide the cost among several listings….  You will not have that luxury….
• You are at a disadvantage (especially in our Resort community) if you are not in the MLS and do not cooperate with Realtors.   Many of our buyers are from out of town and they rely on Realtor.com and our MLS to find their dream property.   You can’t be on Realtor.com if you are not on the MLS. 
• Many realtors have extreamly successful well viewed websites that listings get a lot of attention and exposure for their listings. 
• Are you providing lots of photos and visual tours on your website for your listing?  What is the page rank of your website?   In Google Searches is your website coming up on page one?  80% of buyers start their search on the Internet
• What compensation are you going to pay a realtor who brings you a buyer?   You need to be prepared with that, the market has shifted to a buyers market and you wouldn’t want to miss a well qualified buyer now would you?
• What about your personal security?   Strangers coming to your home going through and you have no idea who they are or if they are just looking for an easy target?
• If you do an open house, keep the front door locked, make them ring the bell to gain entry.  
• Make sure you are available for showings on a moments notice – with your property listed with a professional we have systems in place to ensure you won’t miss a showing!

Or the story of how it is easier to wrestle a Tiger to the Ground

We all realize how important showings are to the Successful Sale of your Orlando Area property.  We don’t know if it will be the first or the 100th showing that will result in an offer.  So EVERY showing is very important of your Orlando Florida home.  We need your help in this process, so always set the stage for the Orlando Showing Realtor:

• Place lights on, open shades to let sunlight in

• Turn on some soft music in the background
• Don’t go overboard with the air fresheners
• We live in Orlando Florida — Turn the air down to ensure the potential buyers are comfortable when viewing your home
• Make sure the beds are made and any clutter is put away
• Toilet seats down
• Don’t forget the refrigerator – no stuff on it and inside should be organized and not over stuffed. 
• Always remember — LESS IS MORE!
• Want to stand out?  Place some cookies or candy on the counter next to the flyers.  One client put an ice bucket with 3 bottle of water on ice for each showing
• Please let me know when you are down to your last 5 flyers
• Don’t be there – it makes buyers extremely uncomfortable, if you are there, apologize and leave quickly

• Realtor not leaving a card, or not turning the lights off as they leave
• Realtor forgetting to lock the door or taking the supra key with them
• Realtors leaving a sliding door ajar
• Realtors not showing up – it happens the client doesn’t want to go in based on the outside/neighborhood, I know I call the listing agent (that is why we have cell phones) but not every agent is good about it.
• If this happens, call us immediately!  We will do our best to rectify the situation immediately.

This is where wrestling a Tiger to the ground is sometimes easier — getting feedback!  Right now Orlando has a lot of properties on the market.  Buyers have lots of choices and they are looking at a lot of Orlando Florida properties.  Buyers and their Real Estate Professionals don’t always remember your Orlando area home if they don’t like it. 

We will make every effort possible to get it, but sometimes it is just not going to happen.  For what ever reason that person was not interested, we are going to focus on putting your property in front of those that might be interested.  We are successful in getting feedback about 50% of the time and our procedures in our office are: 

•      Someone in our office calls after the appointment
•      If there is no response in 24 hours, we follow up with an email
•      Still no response in 24 hours after the email – we call as a last effort

Remember to keep your Orlando Florida home ready to show and we will do our best to get you those showings so we can put a Sold sign on your property!  Have questions regarding the sale of your home?  Need to speak to a Realtor about listing your home?  Call the Orlando Avenue Top Team today at (407) 467-5155 or visit our website at www.OrlandoAvenue.com for more helpful hints!

This quiet community in Winter Garden offers a community pool and tennis courts for your enjoyment. Need a place to relax and enjoy a good book, this is the house for you! Enjoy quiet nights while swaying in your hammock overlooking Lake Apopka.

Resale prices in Orlando remain encouraging.

As home sizes in some of the new and more hi-end subdivisions grow larger to 4,000 and 5,000 square feet, resale asking prices in these markets grow accordingly larger, too.  The Orlando-Sentinel recently reported that sales of single-family existing homes priced over a million dollars in the Metro Orlando area soared 270 percent over the last three years.

Although $1 million-plus homes account for only a small fraction of houses sold on the market – less than 1 percent – the increase in resale price remains an encouragement for the greater Orlando market.

The Orlando Avenue Top Team keeps close tabs on all facets of the real estate market. Recently I checked with the Multiple Listing Service to see how many million dollar single family homes were for sale in the 34747 zip code of Celebration, Reunion, and Formosa Gardens and the 34786 zip code in the Windermere subdivisions. 

In the 34747 zip code, there are 66 million dollar homes for sale, with 8 of those being over $2 million and one being over $4 million.
 
In the Windermere subdivision F34786 zip code there are 151 single family homes for sale for over $1 million. Eighteen of these are between $3 million and $4 million, thirteen homes are more than $4 million and less than $5 million, one home is over $7 million, 3 homes are over $8 million.

The impact of 60 Minutes – Leslie Stahl’s piece on the Real Estate Industry

It is no wonder Realtors have a bad image with the media beating us up yet again.  Last night we all watched the anticipated 60 Minutes piece by Leslie Stahl on the Real Estate Industry.   Basically it was a focus on how with rising home prices that the percentage that Realtors charge is out of line.  The fact is that commissions are negotiable was completely glossed over.  The fact that when we take a listing we take all the Risk and only get paid at closing was forgotten. 

First off Realtors are restricted by RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) laws not to discuss commissions — that can be considered price fixing.  So why is it that the media can discuss it openly when our hands are tied? 

What the 60 Minutes piece highlighted was that Realtors are just raking in the money for a few hours of work is not common.   To provide the service that you deserve there is a lot that goes into providing that service.  Five hours from start to finish is not possible.  Discount doesn’t always mean you get the best deal.  It just means that they reduce their fees – somewhere in the process they have to cut their services. 

Yes technology is changing things and the internet is changing how we do business.  Dramatic changes have happened in the Travel Industry and Book Selling.  But not all the changes have streamlined and consolidated.  Just see what has happened in the Art World.  Earlier this year we shared about just this.  How in the Art World Galleries are gaining in popularity in what should have eliminated them might be something to think about.  And Galleries charge Artists between 40-60% for the sale of art.   Colleen Kulikowski pointed out the most important reason you want to work with a Professional Realtor best:

"Because the artist knows how to maximize their time and put it to the highest and best use.  Artists trust the experienced professional — Gallery Owners to sell their work.  They know that what they pay is for the value added–expertise!  The Gallery owner is an expert at putting the artwork in front of the proper audience and thus selling it faster and for more money than if the artist did it themself."

What the Internet has done for us has given us the ability to give the homes we represent greater exposure.  Like the Art World, Real Estate is an extremely personal highly subjective business.  When making such significant purchases it is important to have the right professional assisting you through the process.  We are here for you.