Real Estate

Archive for September, 2009

How Do We Sell In A Declining Market?

HOW DO WE SELL IN A TIGHT MARKET?

I hate to include this old response here but this question is asked every week. Nothing has changed! For the past twenty years we have been teaching that there are five main reasons why a property sells.

1. LOCATION You may not be able to change the location but the seller was once the buyer and chose that location at that time. A desirable location is often hard to get traffic to and an undesirable location is often highly visible. You must determine how to adjust your price and marketing accordingly.

2. PRICE Sellers sometimes think that price is based upon their needs or investment. This just isnt the case. Market value remains what a buyer and seller agree upon. The best indicator of market value is recent sales of like properties. Typically like or comparable properties are about the same size and age and are in close proximity to the property being sold.

3. TERMS Terms are negotiable once an offer has been received but the seller initially dictates the terms. The most critical terms are the rules for showing. In a market where buyers have a large inventory to pick over it is important to make your property readily accessible. If you have animals it is best to get them and their equipment off the property. Everyone loves their own animals but other peoples animals represent exposure that buyers do not like. If you cannot move the animals then do the best you can to minimize their impact on showing the property.

4. CONDITION OF PROPERTY Selling a property as is where is and with all faults and getting market value are parallel opposites and the two shall never meet. Some deferred maintenance items absolutely must be corrected. Those include any moisture intrusions and most safety items. If you cannot and do not make the repairs before putting a property on the market expect to reduce the price about double what those repairs would have actually cost.

5. THE AGENT YOU SELECT Your agent should be responsive to you have a proven marketing plan have good communication skills and the tools to get your property before the largest audience possible. If you plan to sell it yourself recognize that you are the agent you selected. You the seller control all five of these parameters. If your property does not get sold no matter the type of market then you do not understand are not able or decline to adjust one or more of these five parameters.

Contact the old realtor at :askcapitolarearealty.com if you would like to discuss this opinion..

About the writer:  Brian is a landlord real estate investor and regularly contributing writer for Nuwire Investor Ezine Articles Articles Base and EZ Landlord Forms Articles Database Real Estate Investing.

How Does A Decrease In The Federal Funds Rate Influence Your Ability To Purchase Real Estate In Denver?

Dr. Ben Bernake and the Federal Reserve have cut shortterm interest rates for the last two consecutive months by a total of .75 in an effort to prevent the U.S. economy from slipping into a looming recession. Since most consumers do not understand how shortterm interest rates actually impact their ability to borrow money these rate cuts often create a common misconception that a decrease in the Federal Funds Rate translates to an equal drop in mortgage interest rates when these cuts often cause the latter to rise.

There are two primary interest rates controlled by the Federal Reserve that dictate the overall cost of borrowing money on a shortterm basis: the Discount Rate and the Federal Funds Rate. The Discount Rate is the interest rate the Federal Reserve Bank charges member banks when these institutions borrow money from the government. The terms of these loans are usually no longer than 30 days and generally do not have a direct impact on the consumer. The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate that commercial banking institutions charge each other over night for the use of Federal funds to meet their individual reserve requirements. This interest rate tends to impact the individual consumer and the economy as a whole over time more directly.

Mortgage interest rates on the other hand are determined by the trading price of mortgagebacked securities and fluctuate based on the performance of the bond market. The 30 year fixed rate mortgage tracks the yield on the 10 year Treasury note and usually runs about two percentage points higher than the 10 year Treasury yield on any given day. In accordance with basic rules of supply and demand when investors purchase mortgage bonds the price of the securities increase causing yields and interest rates to drop. Conversely when investor appetite for mortgagebacked securities decreases bond yields and interest rates rise as the bond prices drop.

Over the last few months bonds have been favorable investments in light of the credit crisis caused by bad loans a weak labor market and a slow housing market and as a result these soft economic indicators longterm mortgage rates have seen steady declines. Since the Federal Reserve leverages rate cuts to stimulate economic growth there is a good possibility that investors will abandon conservative bonds and seek out more aggressive variable rate investments i.e. stocks as soon as recession fears pass causing bond prices to drop and mortgage interest rates to rise.

Our goal is to give you the tools necessary to be an educated buyer. Please contact us at infocoloradohousefinders.com if you have questions about this or any other topic related to the buying or selling real estate in Denver.

About the writer:  Damon Chavez is the cofounder of Colorado House Finders a fullservice online resource for real estate in Colorado. Damon’s dedication to customer service and knowledge of the Colorado real estate market make him the smart choice when thinking about a move to Colorado.

Highrises – Fact Fiction Fun And For Sale

Unlike the term “skyscraper” the term “highrise” has a fairly widely accepted definition though the definition DOES vary somewhat depending on the perspective of the definer. According to Emporis a real estate data firm headquartered in Germany a highrise is a multistoried building with a minimum of 12 floors OR reaching a height of at least 115 feet. While these are probably the most widely accepted requirements there are others.

The International Conference on Fire Safety in HighRise Buildings defines a highrise as “any structure where the height can have a serious impact on evacuation” while many in the construction industry consider anything between 75 491 feet a highrise and anything over 492 a skyscraper. Regardless of the minimum height the maximum height is going UP all the time so if living above the city or even above the clouds is you thing read on.

Highrise history goes back a long way back at least to the Romans who had buildings up to 8 stories high despite the fact that technology did not allow for water to be pumped up that far. Walled cities in the middle ages meant city space was limited giving “rise” to highrises from 11 to 14 stories in 16th century Britain. One of the big drawbacks about these historic highrises was the obvious lack of elevators forcing the unlucky residents to climb many many steps. The 202 foot London Monument completed in 1677 and still standing! has 311 steps winding up its spiral staircase while Toronto’s CN Tower completed in 1976 boasts a ridiculous 2579 stairs the tallest metal staircase in the world! Not surprisingly it was the invention of elevators along with water pumps steel and steelreinforced concrete that gave us the modern highrise.

Steel was very important in the development of the highrise. In 1884 Architect William Le Baron Jenney designed a building whose entire weight was supported by a steel frame. It was Chicago’s Home Insurance Building only ten stories high but the first of its kind: the world’s first skyscraper. At around this time England was also building towers and highrises including Shell Mex House which actually measured taller than the Home Insurance Building. A complaint from Queen Victoria soon put a stop to English highrises however but by this time Chicago’s attention had turned eastward to what would become the tallest city in America.

While Chicago has the tallest building in the U.S. the Sears Tower 1729 ft New York City has the most tall buildings a whopping 195 buildings OVER 492 feet. And while New York will be challenging Chicago’s tallest building title with the construction of Freedom Tower 1776 ft Chicago will trump that in 2010 with the construction of the Chicago Spire 2000 ft.. And on it goes. While Chicago and New York have the tallest and the best most North American cities have a couple of noteworthy skyscrapers. San Francisco has the regal Transamerica Pyramid Atlanta has the 1023 foot Bank of America Plaza Philadelphia has the new deco style One Liberty Place and Cleveland yes even Cleveland has the lofty Key Tower.

While the bigger skyscrapers have traditionally been built as a combination of office space and a massive symbol of a city’s economic power today many of the nation’s tallest buildings offer condominium and loft space. Some like Chicago’s Spire with 1200 luxury condos are completely residential others are a mix of condos hotel suites and retail space. Las Vegas’s City Center is a prime example of the latter type of real estate development: four unique and spectacular towers offering a range of luxurious condos atop 500000 square feet of retail space services and amenities. These are just some of the more extravagant examples of the types of amazing homes available today in America’s highrises.

About the writer:  Brian Enright is a representative of Highrises.com your first stop for Chicago Condos and Las Vegas Condos. Highrises.com provides customers with all the information they could ever need to find the perfect highrise condo.