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Part of the reason so many houses here in the Rocky Mount area stay on the market for so long is that many are overpriced.

There are many reasons why Realtors list homes that are overpriced but that's not the topic of this post. I want to stick with the benefits of pricing your home correctly from day one.

The bottom line is that pricing your home correctly on the first day it is listed should lead to a quicker sale at a higher price. How can this be you ask. Let me explain.

The first couple of weeks your home is on the market are the best time to sell it. Since it is newly listed it will enjoy the most exposure, existing buyers will want to see the new listings, and agents will search for new listings several times a week. If it is priced correctly you should receive serious offers fairly quickly.

What is a properly priced home? That is a home that has a justifiable price supported by comparable SOLD properties, a home's physical condition that supports the asking price, and the comparable location of the home as compared to the SOLD listings.

What happens if it is not properly priced on day one? For purposes of this discussion let's say the home is listed for $150,000 but should have been listed for $130,000.

First, a good buyer's agent will know it is overpriced and either not include it for showings or explain that it is overpriced thereby reducing the likelihood the buyer will want to see it.

Second, if the buyer is qualified for a loan amount of $120,000 and they have a $10,000  down payment that totals $130,000 to buy a house. Their Realtor will search for homes that meet their criteria within their price range and will never see the overpriced home even though it may be a great home. This situation typically results in few if any showings. It's awful hard to sell a home that isn't being shown.

Third, buyers who are looking in the $150,000 price range will find and look at the home. However, as it is overpriced by $20,000 and truly will not compare to the homes that are worth $150,000. Therefore, it will be rejected by these buyers. This situation typically results in several showings but no offers. It's awful hard to sell a home that doesn't receive any offers.

After months of being on the market Mr & Mrs seller are ready to reduce their price to a more justifiable price. The first problem is that the person who would have thought is was the perfect house for them has already bought another. Next, once you start down the reduction path potential buyers start to think something is wrong with the house. Why else would you be reducing the price right?

Another problem is that your house has been on the market now for months. Every buyer asks "How Long Has This House Been On The Market". Again, the longer the house has been on the market usually means two things for a potential buyer. Either something os wrong with it or the sellers are becoming desperate to sell. Neither of these assumptions may be true but both effect whether this buyer will want to look at the house and ultimately how much they will offer if they choose to do so.

All of this could have been avoided if the house had just been priced properly to begin with.

How can you avoid this from happening to you? Work with a Realtor who understands the market, knows how to properly price your house, and can justify and document their suggested list price.

If you are thinking about selling your home give me a call. We can schedule a no obligation consultation to discuss this important subject.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. *Price It Right>*

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Single Story For Sale in Old Carriage Farm

Situation
I received a call from a couple needing to sell their home fast. The husband was a Deputy Sheriff in Nash County and had started a new job as a Police Officer in Knighdale, NC.

He had a deadline of when he had to relocate to Knightdale or he would risk losing his job. They had already listed with another Realtor for 6 months and the listing had expired with one showing.

Critical Issue
They desperately needed to sell their house within 90 days. Otherwise, he would be forced to rent an apartment in Knightdale and continue to maintain the house in Bailey. This was something they couldn't afford to do.

Capabilities Needed
When they called they were looking for an aggressive Realtor that could sell their house quickly.

What I provided
I provided accurate and justifiable pricing, simple suggestions to help the home show better, and a custom marketing plan to maximize the exposure within the appropriate buyer group.

Result
The sellers received and accepted a full price offer on their home. This transaction closed in 75 days thereby meeting their financial and timing requirements.

They were very pleased and used my services to purchase a new home in Knightdale, NC. They have since referred friends to me trusting that I would take good care of them as well. I have taken care of them and to date have helped one sell their home in Bailey, I have a second home currently on the market in Nashville, and a third who just contacted me to help them find a home in the Knightdale area.

This is how I grow my business, one satisfied client at a time.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, All Rights Reserved.. *Client Story - Sellers Needing to Sell within 90 Days* Contact David C Recker for all your real estate needs.

There are many things that determine if and when a house sells. However, three things stand head and shoulders above the rest. They are price, condition, and marketing. Lets take a look at these:

Price - Your home must have a reasonable and justifiable price. A good buyer's agent will look at comparables to determine if your house is priced correctly. Therefore, it must be priced within the range that comparable homes have SOLD for (reasonable) and the condition and/or unique features must justify your specific price.

Price is controlled by the market.

Condition - The condition of the property must support the price. The higher you are within the selling price range the better condition your house should be in.

Condition is controlled by the seller(s).

Marketing - It takes more than a yard sign and an ad in the Sunday paper to sell a listing quickly and at top dollar. You need to cast the widest possible net to gain the widest possible exposure.

Marketing is controlled by the Realtor©.

Therefore, it is not surprising that analysis shows that fast sellers in a slow market have three common denominators:

• They're priced better than comparable listings.
• They show like model homes.
• They have a full force of marketing, including enticing Internet photos, behind them.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. *How To Get A Quick Sale In A Slow Market*

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The following are indicators of the Greater Rocky Mount Area Real Estate Market. These statistics were gathered from data contained in the Rocky Mount MLS system and predominately cover Nash and Edgecombe Counties in North Carolina.

Active residential listings totaled 1066 properties. This is a decrease of 32 properties, or 2.9%, from 1098 in October. Inventories typically rise in the fall as the number of buyers dwindle heading into the winter.  

Newly listed properties totaled 128. This is a decrease of 36 new listings, or 21.9%, from 164 last month.

Sold properties totaled 60. This is a decrease of 28, or 31.8%, from last month's total of 88 residential properties sold.

Pending sales totaled 62. This is a decrease of 53, or 46%, from last month's total of 115 properties pending settlement.

The Greater Rocky Mount Area currently has a 13.1 month housing supply based on the previous 12 month sales rate. This is a decrease from the 13.5 month supply in October 2008.

Overall the local real estate market in 2008 is down by 24% for the first 11 months of the year when compared to the same period in 2007.

What does all this mean? The last several months have been significantly slower than they should have been. The local real estate market is in its second year of decreased sales and the credit crisis has definitely had a negative impact.

The local housing market is very saturated with available housing. Therefore, we are still in a strong "Buyers" market and will be for the foreseeable future. What is a Buyers market? This is when conditions exist that allows buyers to obtain concessions from sellers that they would not receive in a balanced market.

What is considered a "Balanced" or "Normal" market? Typically this is when houses sell between 3 - 4 months.

If you are looking to buy, this market is for you. In this market buyers typically get more for their money and receive seller concessions regularly.

If you are a seller this is not a bad time to sell. You just need to have a realistic expectation of your homes value and need to work with a Realtor that will provide maximum exposure for your property.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, licensed in North Carolina. David works at RE/MAX Classic Realty and can be reached at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, All Rights Reserved. Rocky Mount, North Carolina Area - Market Statistics for November 2008.  Contact David C Recker for all your real estate needs.

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Last week I reported that the local Prudential Franchise went out of business. Unfortunately, it looks as though a second firm in as many weeks has been forced into memory.

This morning it was published that that Team One Real Estate has closed its doors. This was a highly productive and experienced local team that broke out a few years ago and opened their own office.

The economy, housing market, and credit freeze continues to take its toll on our business. I wish that the individual "Team One" members land on their feet.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. *Another Firm Disapears*

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The government continues to say that it has to address the problems in the housing market. According to news reports, the Treasury Department is considering a plan to drive down mortgage rates as low as 4.5% to help stimulate the housing market.  

"Treasury officials said that the [buydown] plan could be a more effective way to help home owners than focusing solely on borrowers who are struggling to meet their monthly payments," the Washington Post story says.

Under the Treasury plan, lenders would sell newly issued mortgage-backed securities to the government provided the interest-rate on the loans collateralizing the securities was no higher than 4.5 percent.

I think that lowering the interest rates are always a good idea. However, if they think this will bring buyers back into the housing market I think they have missed the boat. Interest rates are currently hovering around 5%. This is a historically low interest rate and still we lack enough buyers to impact the excess inventories.

Why? The banks are still not lending money. Until the lending institutions begin to loan money more freely we will not see a turnaround in the housing market.

We have all heard about the credit freeze for a couple of months now. Everybody in Washington is talking about ways to get our economy on track. But, I still haven't had a single buyer prospect qualify for a loan since September of this year.

I don't care if mortgage rates are at 4.5%. If the standards at the lending institutions are so high that credit worthy middle class Americans can't get a loan it isn't going to have any broad positive impact.

It's all about cash flow, not interest rates!

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. * Lowering The Mortgage Rates Isn't The Answer*

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I was reading the paper this morning, http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/slow-sales-close-prudential-franchise-276713.html, and saw that the local Prudential franchise, Prudential Ferrell Realty, has closed due to slow sales. The Prudential Ferrell Realty had offices in Rocky Mount and Tarboro.

The agents have been absorbed into the local Coldwell Banker and Century 21 franchises.

I want to extend my wish that all involved will recover and prosper in the near future.

Our local real estate market is suffering a perfect storm. The recession, a poor local economy, the credit crunch, constant bad news via news outlets, and low consumer confidence all combine to create a less than desirable environment.

Even though the government finally said we are in a recession this week we have all known this for some time. I hope our economy begins to recover sometime in 2009.

Locally we will continue to see agents take on part-time jobs, take full-time jobs waiting for better days, or simply leave real estate forever.

I continue to work real estate full-time. This is what I do and I'm good at it. I don't care how many hours I need to work, I will be here and available when people need to buy and/or sell. After all, there are always reasons why people need to move.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. *Local Real Estate Firm Closes*

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Bargain hunters and home owners who pulled their properties off the market hoping for better days down the road helped shrink the inventory of available homes in November for the second month in a row.

Total listing of homes for sale declined 2.9 percent in November compared to October, according to figures compiled from the Rocky Mount MLS.

Total listings at the end of November were less than one percent higher than they were in November 2007 in areas serviced by the Rocky Mount MLS.

Demand for housing slowed in November and pending sales were also down.  

Two months do not make a trend, but it's nice to see local inventories drop for the second month in a row.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Web Blog. All Rights Reserved.. *Local Inventories Improve*

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As a seller "Days on Market" are important. Not only do you want to sell your house as quick as possible, you also want the best price. Typically, the quicker you get an offer the better price you will receive.

How do you do this? First, you work with a Realtor© that understands how to market your property to the widest possible audience. Placing an ad in the Sunday paper is NOT marketing. Second, you ensure you have a reasonable and justifiable price for the type, location, size, and condition of the property.

Finally, if after 90 days or 10 showings you still haven't gone under contract then you and your Realtor© need to review the sales plan and make some needed adjustments.

Just this morning I showed a house and the first question the potential buyer had was, "How long has this house been on the market?" The number of days a particular home is on the market is an important factor when buyers are considering making an offer.

Buyers figure the longer a home has been on the market, the more eager a seller is to sell. If the seller is eager to sell, the seller might be willing to negotiate a much lower price.

 So, you can see how this piece of knowledge is used by buyers.

 A few things to consider, the slower a particular market is the higher the average days on market will be. Therefore, talk with your Realtor© to determine what the normal days on market is for your area and price range.

David C Recker, Associate Broker, Realtor ® licensed in North Carolina. Reach David at: 252-442-2687

Copyright © 2008 By David C Recker, NC Real Estate Now Blog, North Carolina Real Estate Now Blog, and Real Estate Now Blog, All Rights Reserved.. *Why Days on Market Matter*

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