QOTD: Price

Another Quote of the Day from my daughter, Lucy, age 14.

Mom, I've decided that the most important price for a house is the first one.

Having a mother as a Realtor rubs off on a kid, I guess. We had been driving home from an open house; I bring one of my daughters along if I'm previewing properties or just staying on top of the market and I want some company. The house we had just seen had had a price reduction and she went on to say how, once the seller lowers the price, then buyers think they have even more chance to negotiate on price. She is a freshman in high school. She understands market conditions and negotiating position.

In a rising market with conditions more favorable to a seller (based on housing supply, interest rates, and other economic conditions), for the right property, "testing the waters" with a leading edge price might be a winning strategy. However, if minimum time on market, optimal contractual terms, and potential competition for your property are key success factors in the sale of your home, there are other "at market" or conservative pricing strategies to discuss with your real estate adviser and agent.

Let me help you match your goals with the right pricing, preparation, and promotion strategies for the sale of your house.

Backyards

There are grassy flat backyards, postage stamp sized neat tidy urban garden backyards, narrow corner lot backyards, picket fence with a gate to your neighbors' backyards, private fenced oasis backyards, and expansive impressive backyards. Any that accommodates a hammock between two old trees is ideal to me. What is the best feature of your backyard or other outdoor space?

On the Ground: Hyattsville, Maryland

I recently had the good fortune to help some lovely buyer clients purchase a terrific home in Hyattsville, Maryland.

The original owners of house, the Mosedales, built it in 1935 and their children sold the home in 2009 to the recent sellers. These sellers found tucked in the eaves of the unfinished attic three diplomas from the folks who first built the house, including this 1925 typing certificate of Mrs. Mosedale before she was married. Although a touch dusty, my clients, the happy new homeowners, will clean these up and display in their beautiful, original framing, once they finish that attic space into a fifth bedroom.

Also found was box of original tiles for the first floor bathroom which we think was added in the 50s or 60s. 

Although not part of the designated Historic District of the town, this home is just blocks away from classic four-squares and quite a few Queen Anne Victorian style homes built in the late 19th century. I also unearthed in my web research the Original City Charter for Hyattsville.

Areas like this are ripe for continued vitalization and discovery: inside the Beltway with a short commute into the District and to the University of Maryland, filled with character, charm, and history. More recent developments like the New Arts District and the continuous Green Line Metro that now goes all the way from West Hyattsville and Prince Georges Plaza stations through to Anacostia (stopping in the heart of downtown DC and the Navy Yard/Waterfront areas) are sure to make Hyattsville even more popular over time.

More on Real

Early in my blog's life, I had written about How Real Estate is Real to me, and to others. I found some more concepts jotted down in a lovely old notebook I found on my bookshelf today. I guess I was inspired to look through some past notes and files after my back-to-school school-supplies shopping trip with my daughters.

Real estate is real due to its immobility, it indestructibility, its uniqueness. True, one could technically move a house, usually for historic preservation purposes, but it is a rare occurrence. Also, houses can be sadly destroyed by fire or another horrible natural disaster, but outside of mining operations, the land part of the real property remains and cannot be destroyed, and most homes remain in use for generations. And even in the most banal cookie-cutter subdivisions, each piece of property and all its improvements maintain a unique combination of characteristics, especially over time.

Real estate is real because you can touch it, you can see it, you can drive by and circle the block, you can knock on the door, shimmy through the scrawl space or attic, photograph it, share it. And from a pure legal and taxation perspective, real estate is real because they know where to find you and it. Real estate is an asset, an investment, not just on paper but in tangible fact because you can use it. Its value does fluctuate with market forces, sometimes painfully so in a down market like this country experienced recently.

I love helping people with real estate transactions because real estate is home, enjoyment, family, perhaps income (if an investment property), comfort, shelter. Real estate is real and I appreciate and respect that.

Staying

A phrase I use to describe my real estate business is:

Organized, creative, intelligent real estate solutions

whether you are buying, selling or staying.

So one may wonder, "Why staying?" Well, I believe I can help people with any type of real estate decision and sometimes the best decision for them is to remain in their current home for the next 6 months or 5 years, or more. And to make that decision, they may need data on the real estate market or insights from a real estate professional who keeps tabs on real estate trends including typical buyer needs.

Let me give you a few examples. A couple months ago, my friend Anne emailed me asking about a planned addition to their home in Kensington, Maryland, an area I know well, professionally and personally. She described their second floor plans as adding two bedrooms and a hallway bathroom with just a shower and not a tub. The other full baths are one in the master bedroom on that same level, with a tub, and another on the main level of the home, also with a tub. Normally I'd say 2 tubs in a house are adequate. However, knowing this market so well, I've heard many buyers lament not having a designated kids' bathtub on the same level as their bedrooms, so I suggested if she had money and space to add the tub and shower combo. She appreciated the perspective and their addition is underway with the tub.

Mid-summer, my friend Cindy asked if I had input on how much of an addition and what features would be wise investments in their neighborhood in Bethesda, Maryland. I scheduled a time to go to her house and walk through with her as she discussed their needs and wants in a renovation including an addition. I gave her detailed input and suggestions to add to her current thinking and brought comparable sales in her neighborhood that supported the addition of square footage and the allocation of more kitchen and casual dining space.

As a last example, a client who recently bought a home wants to reconfigure and renovate the existing basement and to do so, would like to take out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) loan to finance the project. Before paying the $450 for the appraisal through their lender, they wanted my Comparable Market Analysis (CMA), similar to but not officially an appraisal, with analysis of likely range of values. The good news was that with recent sales in their Kensington neighborhood, they already had built equity above their purchase price by my analysis. Of course that is not always possible nor should it be expected, but in this case, they already had data to support their purchase investment and thus the loan to add value to their home.

Contact me today with your real estate questions, even if you plan to stay in your current home for the foreseeable future.

5 Things I Love About McEnearney Associates

Before I became a Realtor, I thought that the brokerage you chose was only where you stopped in occasionally to pick up mail and drop off transactional paperwork. Not so! With each transaction and after countless business meetings, I appreciate more each day how important the brokerage is to a real estate agent's success.  I am fortunate to be affiliated with a terrific local brokerage, McEnearney Associates. Here are the Top 5 things I love about working here, in the DC office.

1. McEnearney is LOCAL.  Our firm covers the greater Washington Metro area, the DMV, including offices in Old Town Alexandria (where the firm began), Arlington, McLean, DC, Kensington, Middleburg, Leesburg, and Bryce Mountain resort. Our agents and our brokers know this area and our markets. This allows us to really focus our efforts on what we know best.

2. McEnearney is a MID-SIZED FIRM. No one office is too big that the agents don't know each other.  Even across offices, there are many friendly, familiar faces. The firm is not so large that we are merely satellite branches in a broad empire. We have strong technology support and innovation, policies and procedures, and just the right level of support for business development and sales and rental transactions without needing to adhere to the bureaucracy of a much larger enterprise. That said, we're also not so small that there is no infrastructure or support staff.

3. McEnearney is FAMILY OWNED and operated. John McEnearney started our firm in 1980 with the goal to be the best. His family values of trust, empowerment, and support are strong and make each agent feel like their efforts are appreciated and that we help make the whole better because of the parts.

4. McEnearney has SUPERIOR AGENT SUPPORT. Our office team is professional, friendly, dedicated, creative, supportive, and hard working. They find ways to help each agent be successful as well as to make our office a pleasant, rewarding place to work. I gain insights and inspiration from their experiences and input and I am a more successful agent because of our team in the office.

5. McEnearney has a GLOBAL LUXURY AFFILIATION. While we focus our sales efforts in our local market, as indicated above, we have a strong affiliation with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and in particular, our clients benefit from the Luxury Portfolio brand for high end properties. This global luxury marketing reach could be crucial for certain sellers. And my ability to easily make introductions to other real estate professionals across the world helps me better serve my clients as well as friends and family who live or want to live elsewhere.

Our tag line supports all of these ideas: Built Around You. When you are selecting your Realtor, whether buying, selling, or leasing, ask them about where they work and see if the pride of brokerage affiliation goes beyond just being the biggest (or if they've even thought about it much at all).

QOTD: Building a Business

Yes, real estate is my business. I do make money when clients, who have hired me as their agent, buy and sell houses. This requires a set of skills and experiences (not to mention jurisdictional licenses) and, most of all, relationships.

Some particularly rewarding relationships that I've built over the last 2 months or so is with a small set of McEnearney Associates DC office colleagues through a group our broker Ned Rich calls Success Builders. It is extremely rewarding to freely share strategies and support each other with weekly conversations. We cheer each other's victories both big and small. By building our individual businesses one at a time, we collectively build a stronger brokerage community. We believe in our brand and in each other.

My quote of the day comes from one Success Builders colleague Brett about our meetings. It summarizes the secret to our success.

It is a weekly feast of ideas that work.