As we progress through this challenging market, one of the glaring differences between successful selling agents and unsuccessful listing agents is how they are advising homeowners. There are plenty of real estate agents doing business like it was 2004 all over again. They are the agents who are telling homeowners anything they want to hear and promising just about anything to "get the listing".
The importance of appraisals will have a major impact on the long island real estate market moving forward into the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.
Why?
Simple. Appraisals are tightening up, much like the mortgage industry. Banks are not simply window shopping loans. Banks are now involved in the process of establishing appraised values on homes throughout the Long Island area.
The business of real estate sales has changed dramatically in the past 2 years. That's why the National Association of Realtors (NAR) lost over 100,000 members in the first three months of 2008. Understanding the business of real estate is an absolute requirement. The days of getting your license and slapping a sign on a piece of property, only to sell it 4 days later are gone and with those days, so are the people who got into this business without a clue as to how it really works.
Now, appraised values are increasingly difficult to determine. I am a very conservative market analyst. The numbers I provide my prospective home sellers are as accurate as possible and close to what I believe a home is truly worth - according to a bank - as possible. I am not a certified appraiser. I provide comprehensive market analyses of home values based on recent and pending sales.
Pricing a home for sale correctly can also help the buyer. If a buyer puts in an offer on a home that is overpriced, goes to contract and then finds out the home won't appraise for what they offered, they could find themselves in a predicament, depending on the contract stipulations (I think it's safe to say that a buyer, especially in this market, doesn't want to be paying more than fair market value).
So moving forward, it's important for homeowners to listen to an agent who gives them the goods on homes sold in the area as well as pending sales. What's more important is also a combination of events in the market, comparative data from last year given a matching time period, mortgage industry news and much, much more. Personally, my presentations may not be the prettiest thing going, but they are packed with information that's useful to helping a prospective seller price his/her home correctly to acheive maximum buyer interest and ultimately qualified and acceptable offers.
(c) Copyright 2008 www.tommcgiveron.com
By Tom McGiveron, Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
For a free comprehensive market analysis of the value of your home, please call me at 631.831.9048.
