May 2007 Article History

There are 18 articles published in May 2007. Here are the first 20:

This just in from Inman News: Home Staging AOL Real Estate: Before and After Home Staging One down, one to go! Loudoun Single Family Home Prices Remain Steady A spring real estate surge party but few RSVP's Conformity. What is it and why does it matter? Life's Biggest Pleasures (not necessarily real estate) Less is more (in most cases)

Living at the speed of light ... or do we? AOL Real Estate: Mortgage Tricks of the Trade 2 for 2 - We're Done! Fairfax County Homes For Sale (condos and more) 60 Minutes put our knickers in a twist. So what? Loudoun County Real Estate Activity April 2007 Fairfax County Real Estate Activity April 2007 The Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide Is Evolving What flavor loan is in your future? The Kiss of Death to A Real Estate Blog!

You will find a complete Index of Articles by Category in the History Archives.

May 25, 2007

The advances in personal technology in the last five to 10 years is phenomenal: high definition digital TV, cell phones with text messaging (and now picture messaging), digital cameras that rival film, broadband access to the Internet, go everywhere digital telephone and television (think FIOS) and virtually every new automobile is powered and controlled by computers. At the same time, information available to us is growing exponentially. Even in real estate I am constantly bombarded with solicitations to buy the next new thing that will instantly notify me of changes in the marketplace: an infinite variety of email alerts, text alerts on my cell phone or a telephone alert from a digital voice.

Are we in overload? I suspect we are. I'd guess much of society's anxiety comes from the "give me more and give it to me faster" habit. I have become so addicted to instant information that I worry about the cell phone reception and Internet access when planning a vacation! I just can't get away from pausing pressing that "send/receive" button on Outlook. I don't know why. 90% of my incoming messages go to the JUNK folder. I even look through those to be sure I didn't miss anything. Here is an interest article about the INBOX REVOLT:

E-Mail Reply to All: 'Leave Me Alone'

By Mike Musgrove
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 25, 2007; Page A01

Last month, venture capitalist Fred Wilson drew a lot of attention on the Internet when he declared a 21st century kind of bankruptcy. In a posting on his blog about technology, Wilson announced he was giving up on responding to all the e-mail piled up in his inbox.

"I am so far behind on e-mail that I am declaring bankruptcy," he wrote. "If you've sent me an e-mail (and you aren't my wife, partner, or colleague), you might want to send it again. I am starting over."

College professors have done the same thing, and a Silicon Valley chief executive followed Wilson's example the next day. Last September, the recording artist Moby sent an e-mail to all the contacts in his inbox announcing that he was taking a break from e-mail for the rest of the year.

The rest of the story ...

Then there was this article from I found through The Morning News, one of my favorite on-line news sources:

Why I decided to pull the plug on email

Tom Hodgkinson
Wednesday March 7, 2007
The Guardian

I've given up email. Well, almost. At the weekend I set up one of those auto-reply messages, informing my correspondents that I would no longer be checking my emails, and that instead they might like to call or write, as we used to in the olden days.

Over the past few months, I had found myself becoming wedded to my computer in a worrying fashion. Deleting 200 spams a day is a drag. And I was checking my email constantly, rather than getting on with my real work, which is reading and writing. Email was becoming a distraction, a burden rather than a liberation. I also wondered whether some of my business might have been more quickly and enjoyably sorted out with one phone call rather than five emails.

The rest of the story ...

Interesting stuff. Then there is text messaging on the cell phone ... My friends generally text me when we get close to a weekend ... "hang out tonight?" I text them back ... "where?" ... and so on. I fumble so badly on a 10 digit keypad that it takes me 10 times longer to send the reply than just calling to have a quick discussion of where and when.

Instant messaging anyone? I became a big IM user when the twins went off to college. That first semester was a killer. But, that's what they did, how they communicated to their friends, so Pam and I took it up in a big way. Our silly way of wanting to maintain contact during "empty nest" withdrawal. There was something about that short, cryptic (I mean really cryptic, I had to learn IM language) message coming back that made us feel confident that they were still alive and kicking. After several weeks of worry about their welfare (more likely: what are you really doing at college?) it slowly dwindled. Pam and I started to really enjoy each other and OUR new found freedom from daily "kid dependency." I haven't logged in to IM for at least three years, maybe a bit longer, and I don't miss it.

My real estate clients are mixed when it comes to "how do I best communicate with you?" Some prefer the personal call while others prefer email. I have to say there are pros and cons to both. If it is urgent, make the call. If not, email it. The best thing about email is that I can keep a historical record of all the conversations. I am probably the worst at keeping a phone log.

OK, enough of that ... Let's get back to the question: Living at the speed of light ... or do we? Here's another excerpt from "Why I decided to pull the plug on email" that answers it for me:

We have to wonder whether digital technology, rather than making it easier to communicate, is actually doing the opposite. We now sit alone at a keyboard, firing off zeros and ones into the ether. Offices are silent. "Everybody's talking, but no one says a word," as Lennon had it.

I've often thought that the generation of my children were going to mature into social misfits preferring "text, IM and email" as the norm and not learning how to interact with people on a personal level. I guess those fears have subsided because they both created long lasting friendships from college. Maybe three-to-a-room dorms weren't such a bad thing after all.

We live at the speed of light until we venture out onto our highway system during commute hours. Then, we travel at the speed of a snail. By the way, or BTW, today is Friday before a holiday weekend. Our local highways will be jammed with traffic from about 2:00 this afternoon through late night. There will be anxiety, road rage and general discourtesy to each other by countless thousands going somewhere to have personal contact with families and friends. What causes this bad behavior? Addiction to speed.

I'm going to stay home this weekend and email all my friends and family. I might even do some cell phone texting. It will be less stressful.

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May 23, 2007

The second of a series from AOL Real Estate. Here are excerpts:

A Mortgage Broker Reveals the Tricks of the Trade

Inside Stories From Today's Real Estate Market
Jason Walker, AOL Real Estate

"There's an old saying in the mortgage broker business: The biggest liar gets the deal," says one home loan broker who has been in the business for more than 15 years.

"When I price my loans, I price at the point where my buyer can't get a better loan anywhere else. That's how I sleep at night. But the other rule is to get as much from the borrower as they can before they notice. Most agents do the latter,"

...

A lot of loan brokers, "prey on the ignorance of the consumer. The consumer is like, 'Oh gosh, I'm getting a 1 percent or 2 percent loan.' They don't understand there are no free lunches. Every month, they are losing equity. These loans have been around since the early '80s, but it wasn't until recently that the loan values were 95 percent of a home's value, compared to tougher standards like 80 percent loan to value."

What's making matters worse now is that the people caught in these negative amortization loans are finding it tougher to refinance as banks have become more conservative with their lending practices and interest rates have gone up. "The agents that were really doing it a lot were people who just got into the business. These were new loan officers. It was easy to sell people on the monthly payment alone. They would never really go over the consequences down the road." also points out that many of the people who signed up for the negative amortization loans were not sub-prime borrowers, but people with good credit known as A-grade borrowers.

...

Sub-Prime Lending Equals Big Money
The real money to be made by loan agents is with sub-prime borrowers. These are people with collections, car repossessions and bankruptcies on their record. Because of their poor credit ratings, they can't qualify for prime interest rates. If the sub-prime borrower does get a loan, his or her interest rate will be above the prime rate. "A lot of inexperienced loan brokers rushed in to make quick money. The sub-prime guys can make anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 on a loan.

One Good Thing About Sub-Prime Loans
While most headlines of late have focused on the victims of sub-prime loans facing foreclosure because of adjustable rates, points out one positive of sub-prime lending. "The borrowers were given a means to buy a home. These people wouldn't have been able to get loans before, so it's good in that way." The problem now, of course, is when the loans adjust up and the borrower can't afford the new payments. They'll face a tough time getting another loan because the banks have tightened their lending practices.

What Tips Does Victor Have for Loan Seekers?
Read the rest of the story...

Published by permission from AOL Real Estate.

It is always good to hear from insiders in any industry and, every industry has its quick money participants. While sub-prime loans have helped many afford homes that otherwise could not, the victims that either didn't understand or who were duped are getting hit the hardest. Not getting good advice from a reputable mortgage banker, broker or a real estate agent spells trouble with a capital T. A legitimate professional will "tell it like it is" to a consumer even if it means not getting the business.

Beware of the "it is too good to be true" selling points from anyone that wants your business. The tips provided in this article are good ones (you have to click on the "Read the rest of the story link above"). And, if you have any doubts, get a second and even a third opinion. I always advise clients to "shop" loans from reputable brokers/lenders that have a local presence. I prefer banks that write their own mortgage loans and service them. You will simply get better service and straight advice.

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May 22, 2007

May 20, 2007

The second time in two weeks we witnessed a child emerge from college as an adult. Karen graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh this past Sunday. To say we were proud parents is an understatement.

Karen's graduates with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Degree. And, she was honored having her living art exhibit photo as the featured piece on the cover of the diploma ceremony agenda. The living art titled "The Temple of Science" depicted ancient scientific figures in an "art in context" project in her second year. The local news also covered the 2005 exhibit with a feature in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Here's the rendering on the cover of the ceremony agenda:

And finally, a soggy start but a fantastic finish. First, the main ceremony was outside. It rained for the 30 minutes or so before the start of the commencement ceremonies. The weather cleared and we all anticipated the arrival of, none other, Bill Cosby. He had the honor of giving the Keynote Address to the graduates, family and friends.
Or, I should say, we were honored to hear Cosby's message of "never underestimate who you are and never believe you are not good enough" through his entertaining personal experience as a young comedian.

And, we are done. We brought the twins into this world and we have done the best we could to prepare them for their own world. A world, we hope, that will be a better place than when they found it. Now, get a job! Save your money. Invest. Buy real estate (I'm looking forward to being their agent).

Note: all the above photos are clickable for a larger view.

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May 17, 2007

There was a Washington Post feature story in the Business Section yesterday titled The Bad News On Condos that provided some insights into how terrible the condo market is in the DC Metro area (see In The News). Since I collect daily data, I did a little sample of the Northern Virginia condo market and here is what I found:

Condos (May 16, 2007)	Resales			New Construction *
	Active	List Price	DOMP	Active	List Price	DOMP
Fairfax	1,382	$321K	76	83	$612K	111
Loudoun	342	$297K	103	41	$376K	148
Prince William	271	$300K	92	78	$351K	151
Arlington	377	$398K	71	61	$800K	85
Alexandria	455	$355K	97	22	$548K	115
Total	2,827			285
* New construction data is notoriously unreliable in the MLS

The Post is reporting a 3.4 year backlog of condos for sale in the entire region according to Delta Associates, an Alexandria real estate and consulting firm. Ouch!

While collecting data this morning, I found the following for Fairfax county:

Fairfax County (May 17, 2007)	Resales
	Active	List Price	DOMP
Single Family Detached	3,331	$823K	99
Single Family Attached	1,688	$452K	68
Condos	1.385	$320K	77
Total	6,404	$616K	86

Several of my readers have asked if I could break down the current aggregate data I collect by housing type and include the jurisdictions listed above (and more). I wish I could. It is just too time consuming. There are new monthly reports published by the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors® on their website that does a pretty good job presenting all the jurisdictions by housing type. The reports are usually available by the 15th of the month for the prior month activity. For Fairfax County in April, only 224 units were sold from an inventory of 1,436, about a 15% absorption rate. Fairfax County may be fairing a bit better than the region as a whole. If we had better new construction data from the MLS it may look much worse.

Comment on Fairfax County Homes For Sale (condos and more). Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Fairfax County Market News

May 15, 2007

I did not catch the 60 Minutes real estate saga Sunday night as I had my favorite "mother" out on a date. If I get time maybe I'll catch up. It really doesn't matter. There is enough buzz around the Internet for me to pick up on the general gist of the investigative analysis. Redfin got lots of time, NAR did not. The simple fact of the matter is that consumers are being educated by the big world wide web. Consumers are becoming more demanding and want to know what they are paying for in the real estate transaction. The current system is a bit less than transparent. There are a ton of full service brokers but, in reality, full service is what an agent gives or does not give his or her client.

New players in the industry are "experimenting" with different business models. Some will die a natural death, others will survive. Most of these challenge the status-quo of the real estate industry. In my mind, that is not a bad thing. Serious challenges in any industry will have one of three possible outcomes for the incumbent: 1) the incumbent chooses to change for the better and survives, 2) the incumbent digs their heels in, is defensive, ultimately made to look foolish and dies or, 3) all live to coexist and thrive based on the articulation a value proposition that consumers can understand and choose between. This may be somewhat of an over simplification but true. Happens all the time.

So, here are my conclusions:

1. 60 Minutes didn't want to here hear from NAR for whatever reason. Maybe they already heard too much. Maybe it was a David and the Goliath thing.
2. Where do we go in the media to get fair and balanced?
3. The "sacrosanct 6% commission" gets more viewers and higher ratings than "we found out NAR is doing a good job."
4. NAR should stop whining and encourage their members to embrace change instead of fighting it.
5. Regardless of any good intention, minimum service laws look like protectionism.
6. Virginia addressed minimum (or limited) service by requiring a disclosure of exactly what services are being provided and what services are not when it comes to limited service. The consumer gets to choose and lives with the consequence, good or bad. Seems logical to me.
7. New business models will be embraced by consumers until consumers get screwed. Those new businesses that don't screw consumers (as in really do a good job at whatever fee) will prosper and set a new benchmark for the industry. Assuming, of course, the new business model can actually turn a profit.
8. Consumers sometimes forget the law of Cheaper, Better, Faster, The law says you can't have all three simultaneously (example: McDonalds).
9. I got an email from NAR asking me to send a note to CBS to complain about the unfairness. Uhhh, what's the point?.
10. Consumers aren't dumb, they just look that way when we are losing their business.
11. We are looking pretty dumb too (well, I can't speak for all of us).
12. I have talked about transparency in the transaction ever since I started Blogging. Why don't we take this up as our "battle cry" and then practice it? Then, maybe we would look a bit smarter.

End of story. Fin. Finished. I have more important things to do.

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May 13, 2007

Loudoun Buyer Intensity
Red Bars: HOT (Sellers Market) Blue Bars: COLD (Buyers Market) Gray Bars: Balanced Market
[click for more detail]

Market commentary for Loudoun County, Virginia. Headings are links to historical charts.

INVENTORY:
Inventory of homes for sale are rising again, to 3,501 in April from 3,254 in March. New contracts are down 10% from last month. Inventory absorption rate (new contracts / total active inventory) remains a low 15%, down slightly from March. Actual closings (sold) are only up by 27 homes.

HOME PRICE APPRECIATION:
Average appreciation is down nearly 3% from March. The median price is also down month to month.

DAYS ON MARKET:
Average time it takes to sell is 114 days, down 15 days from last month. As of today (May 13), days on market for re-sale properties is 114 days (see Loudoun Daily Market Watch).

SOLD TO LIST PRICE RATIO:
The "negotiated" ratio is up 0.5 percentage points to 94.5%. Successful sellers that lowered their price are still giving buyers another 3 to 4% during negotiations (plus seller subsidies that are not "officially" reported).

NEW CONSTRUCTION:
Data not yet available.Sales of new construction remains in the doldrums. Huge incentives, price reductions, guaranteed home sale to get sellers to the closing table, and increasing incentives to agents bringing qualified buyers. For buyers: finished basements...sun rooms...closing costs...mortgage payments for the first year.

Comment on Loudoun County Real Estate Activity April 2007. Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Loudoun County Market News

Fairfax Buyer Intensity
Red Bars: HOT (Sellers Market) Blue Bars: COLD (Buyers Market) Gray Bars: Balanced Market
[click for more detail]

This is the continuation of a monthly series of commentary on the housing market in Fairfax County. See Fairfax County Market News and Daily Market Watch graphs. Headings are links to historical charts.

INVENTORY:
Inventory of homes for sale rose nearly 1,000 units again in April to 7,101. Net new listings for the month (new listings - new contracts) was 1,736 rose by almost 1,100 properties. About 17% of new listings are properties coming back on the market after expiring or being withdrawn.

HOME PRICE APPRECIATION:
Average home prices remain at the $530,000 level, flat since January. It still remains to be seen where prices are headed this spring.

DAYS ON MARKET DOMP:
Average time it takes to sell declined 20 days to 84 days. The Daily Market watch shows this measure is flat (81 days as of May 10th). Selling activity is up but, so are new listings.

SOLD TO LIST PRICE RATIO:
This ratio rose slightly to 96%. This may be due to sellers pricing their properties more realistically now.

NEW CONSTRUCTION (chart not yet available):
Data not available.

Comment on Fairfax County Real Estate Activity April 2007. Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Fairfax County Market News

Performed some minor re-arranging, added a bit of self promotion (I apologize in advance) and, here's the biggie: I added the capability to display ALL the Daily Market Watch tables by record or by date going all the way back to when we started saving the records, December 11, 2006. Here's what the controls look like:



View by specific date or simply go backward and forward one record at a time. How cool is this? I thought you might like it. I do. Although, the charts actually tell a better story.

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May 9, 2007

I haven't commented much about the current sub-prime mortgage mess except an article a few months ago about a friend that I believe was duped into an option ARM. Not only is the press rampant about the behavior of the sub-prime mortgage foreclosure rates, we also are beginning to read about the bad (also know as sleazy) behavior within the industry. Making easy money "selling" loans attracts many into the industry, the growth of the industry becomes Wall Street's darling, stockholders, investment banks as well as revenue and earnings growth requirements put pressure on executives, executives pressure the troops and dangle more commissions, the troops get commission greed and greed manifests bad behavior and perhaps, illegal activity.

There is an interesting piece in the Washington Post this morning focused on the vicious cycle of industries gone bad:

Industries Could Take Cues From Hollywood on Self-Control

By Steven Pearlstein
Wednesday, May 9, 2007; Page D01

Hardly a day goes by that you don't read another account of sleazy business practices among subprime mortgage bankers or student loan companies or the private health plans under Medicare.

You know, the stories about mortgage companies that pressured appraisers to approve loans for amounts in excess of house values, and Wall Street investment banks that demanded more and more mortgages to package even if it meant lowering underwriting standards.

And, this featured article from a couple of days ago (In The News, above):

Pressure at Mortgage Firm Led To Mass Approval of Bad Loans

By David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 7, 2007; Page A01

Maggie Hardiman cringed as she heard the salesmen knocking the sides of desks with a baseball bat as they walked through her office. Bang! Bang!

" 'You cut my [expletive] deal!' " she recalls one man yelling at her. " 'You can't do that.' " Bang! The bat whacked the top of her desk. As an appraiser for a company called New Century Financial, Hardiman was supposed to weed out bad mortgage applications. Most of the mortgage applications Hardiman reviewed had problems, she said.

Then there is the constant stream of spam solicitations coming across my FAX machine like the one pictured above. Not to mention email spam and Blog comment spam. The interesting aspect of the solicitation above is the block just below the center of the page:

• Debt Consolidation
• 100% Financing (actually I saw one a few days ago advertising 125% Financing)
• Bankruptcy OK
• Foreclosure OK
• UNLIMITED Cash Out
• No Income Verification (ie; a liar loan)

Desperate consumers might bite at this ad and many will be taken in. Desperate consumers generally have made poor financial decisions and ads like these appeal to more poor decision making. Do you want to do business with a company that does not identify itself? Red flag #1. Do you want to do business with a company that resorts to spam to get your attention Red Flag #2. Here's an interesting question: Do desperate consumers that have made poor financial decisions even own a FAX machine?

Where there is money there will be greed. Where there is greed there will be bad behavior and illegal, fraudulent activity. It doesnt discriminate by industry. They are all susceptible. Even real estate. When industries cannot regulate themselves, guess who will. And, the sooner the better.

Excuse me. I just received two more one-page faxes. I'd better go see what deals I am missing this morning.

Ahhh...Air Duct Cleaning (appealing to my sense of health) and the repeated FINAL NOTICE memo to All Corporate Employees RE: Employee Vacation Time.

Air Ducts: no. But, I do need a vacation...so...I'm calling right away! My next article is from Cancun.

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May 8, 2007

The folowing basis for Blogging is the perverbial "Kiss of Death!"

SPECIAL! SIGN UP FOR EMAIL ALERTS WHEN I POST SO I CAN TURN YOU INTO A LEAD.

I will DRIP MARKET you to my own death.

Turn Blogging Into A Lead Generation Tool
by Blanche Evans

"We truly believe that if a blog doesn't lead to more new business, then it's a waste of time," said Rusty Lindquist, vice president of broker and agent products for a la mode, Inc., a real estate technology company based in Oklahoma City. "If blog visitors aren't being treated as leads, then blogging is really a waste."

Read the full article here.

I love Blanche Evans. She writes great content and I have quoted her many times. BUT, she and a la mode have GOT IT WRONG! Let me ask my readers a question: If I took your email addresses and turned it into drip marketing (that's sending you a periodic email extolling the virtues of my services and encouraging you you contact me for your real estate business) or became a pest to you in other ways to get your business, would you want to continue being a participant or a reader of the Guide? Only YOU can answer that question. I think I know what the answer is.

I AGREE with the notion that if I spend time and resource doing something related to my business, I should be generating business from it or simply, not do it. I truly believe that if you get to know me and how I think via this Blog and my website and you want to explore a business relationship with me, you will, in your own time, on your terms, not mine. I don't need to push it into your face. In fact, if I did, I would be soon "out of business." And, this Blog would just become another DEAD real estate agent website.

I do get business from the Blog and I appreciate it immensely. Thank you to those that found me here.

Blanche, these guys have it all wrong. I'm sorry you got sucked into their garbage! Talk to some real Bloggers about their business.

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May 7, 2007

Timing is everything:

Get the most out of your home stager

Tips for a timely, profitable sale
Monday, May 07, 2007
By Dian Hymer

Waiting until the last minute to get your home ready to sell is bound to make your move more stressful. It could also result in a lower sale price if you forego properly preparing your home for sale.

The extent to which sellers put time and money into fix-up-for-sale work varies from one area to the next. In the San Francisco Bay Area, so many sellers stage their homes for sale that you could be at a disadvantage if your home is not staged. In other areas of the country, sellers do virtually nothing to ready their homes for sale.

...

The staging fee could be as minimal as $75 or $100 for a consultation on how to rearrange your furniture. Or it might run up to $10,000 or more to completely furnish and stage a vacant, 3,500-square-foot house.

My local experience is that a 2 hour consultation could be $200 to $250. A complete staging that includes re-arranging furniture and personal items could be as much as $750 to $1,000. If you can take direction and do the work yourself, many stagers will give you an itemized list of what needs to be done. The bottom line is it will be money well spent to get an objective opinion. Most of us selling our homes cannot be objective.

Note: The Inman article may be by subscription only.

Comment on This just in from Inman News: Home Staging. Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Property Presentation

I have written several articles about preparing your home for sale; from providing an attractive curb appeal to freshening the interior with paint and new carpets. Making your home more desirable to potential buyers in this market is essential to be competitive. Home staging has become a robust sub business to the real estate industry. Staging is NOT interior decorating. It is about using what you have and adding (perhaps) a dash of inexpensive decorator items to make you home more inviting and and appear to be more spacious. It is NOT about the way you and I would necessarily live in our homes. It is about making an emotional connection with the potential buyer. Here are some excerpts from AOL Real Estate's Stager Gallery providing a series of before and after pictures to drive home the point (titles are links): Can you guess what is in this container and what it may have to do with the shelving? → →

A Professional Home Stager at Work
What does it take to sell a home quickly these days? You might need something called home staging. The goal is to create a home interior that looks brighter, bigger and more inviting to potential buyers.

Browse these before and after shots and see how one professional stager uses simple techniques to enhance a home's appearance.

Unclutter a Messy Room
BEFORE STAGING: Big or small, messes make it difficult for buyers to imagine living there. Always leave your home spotless so buyers see your home at its best. When they view other houses with clutter, your place will stand out as the bright spot.

...and so on. There is a series of 18 pictures showing before and after each staging tip.

To some of us, staging is just using a little common sense with an artistic eye. For those of us that are artistically challenged (or common sense challenged for that matter), a professional, accredited stager can be hired to help us out. I know many agents that provide a quantity of staging help to their listing clients as part of their services. I include it as an option when designing a selling plan for my clients. Many new home builders are now offering home sale assistance (including staging and virtual tours for marketing) to their buyers that are having difficulty selling their homes to buy the new one.

Speaking of new home builders, model homes are lavishly decorated to make that emotional connection to buyers: I can live in this home, it's warm, cozy, friendly and inviting. Same principle with staging without the lavish expense.

My opinion of the AOL presentation
What I find helpful in this AOL presentation is the quality of the photos, the before and after shots and the short and to the point descriptions of the transformations. Great visual story. What is lacking is any conclusion about cost (or range of cost) or the return on investment. As a consumer, I am convinced that staging can be helpful but, I also want to know how it impacts my wallet. I'd also like to see references to real stagers that I could contact (could this be ad revenue?). The other thing that I believe is very distracting are the constant ads for home mortgages. I know AOL is shifting their business model to be ad revenue driven but, it is still distracting. I am probably tainted by real estate Blogs that don't have heavy advertising. I'd venture to say maybe 20 to 25% of the screen space are ads, 30% is the featured content and the remainder consists of a plethora of links to other AOL content. Lastly, this particular piece does not have a reference to an author that might add credibility to the staging proposition. Others we will feature do have named authors.

So there you have it. Our first AOL Real Estate presentation and my short critique. Visit the article on AOL and then come back and provide your comments.

Note: The reproduction of AOL copyright material is pre-approved by AOL.

After Thoughts:
Here are links to stagers I know:
We Prep Homes
StagedRite
and, more helpful references...
Design and Staging Directory
StagedHomes.com
six ELEMENTS
nest
Hart and Associates
HOLTmodern
Real Estaging
DEKORA

Comment on AOL Real Estate: Before and After Home Staging. Follow this article is off. More articles like this one filed in: Property Presentation

May 5, 2007
Four short years.
From teenager to young adult.
From high school to Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.
From dependant to dependable.
From learning to starting a career.
From taking to giving.
From wondering if he can really do it to immensely proud parents that he did and, he did it with gusto!
Many transformations seemingly occurred on the same day.

If you would like to consider hiring this fine young man, here's his resume.

I apologize in advance for the advertisement.

PS: Karen graduates May 20th!

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May 4, 2007

Sellers may gain some level of confidence from this chart as Loudoun single family home prices under $1,000,000 are holding up from the March positive bounce. But, it doesn't tell the whole story. We are still at over a 6 month supply and only contracting at a rate of 14% of the total inventor per month.

Keep watching.

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The Northern Virginia 2007 Spring Surge Gala appears to not be well attended. The Daily Market Watch is showing interest in the party starting in early January when inventory rose rapidly but, so was contracting activity. The averages for the last 30 days show contracting activity leveling off or even slightly declining. The good news for sellers that are getting contracts and actually closing is that prices appear to be holding up.

I wonder if we would get more interest if we relaxed the dress code?

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May 3, 2007

Conformity is an interesting concept and one that I have not seen talked about in the Blog world. Here's the basic definition as provided in "the Language of Real Estate" by John W Reilly:

Conformity

1. An appraisal principle of value based on the concept that the more a property or its components are in harmony with the surrounding properties or components, the greater the contributory value.

2. The concept that maximum value is realized when the four agents of production (labor, capital, management and land) are in economic balance.

We see this principle in action everywhere. That's what "planned" communities are all about and what justifies the existence of home owner associations (HOA's). Almost every new development is planned to be in harmony within its confines supplemented with community amenities such as common areas, parks, recreation facilities and, often times, compatible retail centers.

So, the question is: What happens when an economic event, such as the building of a non-conforming home within a community that is otherwise in balance? I found the following article a couple of months ago on the Inman News Website that pinpoints the answer. Here is an excerpt:

Future neighborhood construction may hurt resale value
Factors that could scare off buyers
Monday, February 12, 2007

By Dian Hymer
Inman News

It doesn't take much to throw a buyer off track. Prospective sellers should keep this in mind as they prepare their home for sale. It's easy to concentrate on making your home look good but overlook other factors that could impede the sale.

Fear of the unknown will send buyers running in the opposite direction. For example, you may take pride in the fact that your home is located next to a vacant lot. There's no building adjacent to yours to obstruct the view or the quality of light.

From a buyer's perspective, the feature you relish might be a serious drawback. What if someone builds a monstrosity next door that blocks the light and diminishes the view? Many buyers will pass on a house like this and keep looking, particularly if there are many other homes on the market. Buyers who aren't dissuaded might require a price concession to compensate for the expected loss of value once the house next door is built. (emphasis added)

As a buyer, it is important that you and your agent perform due diligence to ascertain what future plans may be and what the local rules are controlling development and how strictly they are followed. As an agent I have two perfect examples of when good intentions may have negative economic impact:

• Builder constructs custom home home for his own family. A community in a local area has large lots (greater than an acre), no HOA and no restrictions on building other than county requirements. Builder buys a 2 to 3 acre lot with some woods, builds a beautiful custom, three level home with about 6,500 square feet of finished space. The problem: the neighborhood is what I call very "eclectic." The surrounding homes range from 20 to 30 year old ranch style homes, log homes, to colonials and everything in between (including run down shacks).
  
  Now the subject of selling this home: In a planned community, It would probably list at greater than $1,000,000. Since it was in a "non-conforming" neighborhood, It was listed in the high $800,000's and eventually sold after 9 months in the high $600,000's. Reference the Inman article above: it took a considerable price concession to attract the right buyer. This situation was brought back into "economic balance." There was a price at which a buyer overlooked the non-conforming nature of the area and focused on the bargain to be attained. This may not have been bad for the builder in this case because he minimized development costs by building it himself. Did he maximize value? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on his original objectives and motives.
• Conforming neighborhood with an undeveloped private lot. This neighborhood consists of colonials on 1 to 1 1/2 acre lots with surrounding open space, views of the local hillsides and abundant wildlife. The existing homes in a subsection of the development (not completely built out) range from about 3,000 square feet on two levels to the largest at a bit over 5,000 square feet on two levels. The homes in this subsection were built in the mid 1990's and incorporate architectural style of the area and building designs of the time. A range of home sizes but, conforming nonetheless.
  
  The empty lot, purchased from the original developer as an investment, was sold to a private, boutique, custom home builder. The builder proceeds to construct an 11,000 square foot home (on three levels) of an architectural style that does not fit the neighborhood. Blatantly non-conforming. Homes in this neighborhood sell for $600,000 to slightly over $1,000,000. The new home is listed at over $2,000,000. What's wrong with this picture?
  
  It makes absolutely no logical or economic sense. The builder in this case has every legal right to build what the county will allow. But, the consequences, perhaps unintended, could be devastating on the community. Does a $2M home in a neighborhood of homes with values averaging less than a million bring up the value of the whole. I think not. In fact, it may have the opposite effect. Could the HOA representing this neighborhood have a say in what could have been built on this lot? It could. Unfortunately, the HOA is not yet controlled by the homeowners. It is still controlled by the original developer. Somehow the county should have had a say besides zoning and building code. The original developer of the community should have had a say as they controlled the HOA and this had to pass "architectural review." The builder of this home needed to look at his plans, look around the immediate neighborhood and come to the responsible conclusion that his plan was economically "out of balance." No wonder builders have such a poor reputation in general. I suspect that economic balance will be achieved and somebody is going to be financially disadvantaged.

In the first case of a non-conforming area, the individual builder is totally responsible for his own decisions and the financial consequences.

The real question in the second case is: Should there be and can there be strict oversight and control of building in planned, conforming neighborhoods? In my mind, there should be better controls because the actions of one has a potential economic impact on many. I'm not sure it can be (or could be in this case) because ordinary citizens were not involved nor had responsibility to review the actions that impact their living environment. Counties and towns go to great lengths to protect the character of its "historic districts" and rely on significant oversight of proposed expansion and redevelopment within those areas. The same principle should be applied to planned, conforming developments as well. Maybe this is just a one off case that got out of hand because of the circumstance. So be it. The bottom line, as I see it, is no one used any common sense in allowing this to happen and the individual was not exercising any social awareness or consideration of his actions on others. I am not an advocate of legislating to protect an individual from making poor choices. I would advocate protecting the many from the impact of individuals making poor choices.

There are cases where very old neighborhoods go through redevelopment because the land value far exceeds the improved value of existing homes. In these cases, redevelopment can have a positive economic impact on existing owners. The theory here is highest and best use. More about this in a future article.

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May 2, 2007

I am the proudest Dad! I have twins graduating from college this month. My son, Chris, is a Finance major at Radford University in Southwest Virginia and my daughter, Karen, is an art major at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. They both did it in four (yes 4) years! Ahem!

What's really cool is that at 22 years of age they really are young adults and rethinking LAC (life after college). One of my biggest thrills is that Chris sent me a draft resume and actually asked for my advice. Of course I gave it to him and, I have to say so myself, he will have a killer resume. Heck, I'd hire the dude.

It's fun to watch these people mature. They actually like each other again after several years before college thinking the other was not very cool. Evidence? Karen has a final art presentation to do Friday, the day we will be motoring to Radford. Her brother's graduation was so important to her, she arranged to fly to the nearest airport from Pittsburgh so that she could attend the ceremonies. And, Chris has arranged to be in Pittsburgh for hers in a couple of weeks.

Twins are said to have special bonds. We observed it through about age 11. Lost it for several years and now it's back. I suspect they will be friends for life, always looking out for each other. AHHHHH...young adults....refreshing. By the way, another good thing about all this? We get a big raise! No more college fees...I think. Will there be? I hope not. It's time to get jobs, apartments, be responsible. From another perspective, we have two more future real estate clients. OK. It's payback time.

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On many occasion (in this Blog and to those starting a blog) I have said that you don't have to write essay after essay to become an effective Blogger. Well folks...I got stymied by not heeding my own advice. I have a least 3 to 4 articles that are drafted but not published and/or ideas for articles that I believe would be meaningful to consumers. So, why haven't I published them? Because they are turning into intellectual ESSAYS! It is frustrating to say the least. What the $%& am I thinking? Just do it I tell myself.

In the meantime, I have received a couple of interesting requests (actually one request of me and one request by me). First, AOL Real Estate asked if I would feature a series they are running called "Inside Stories of..." on this Blog. Here is the exact email message I received:

Dear Choice Realty Team,
I’m a Promotions Manager for AOL Real Estate, and have read your NOVA real estate blog, being a Loudoun County resident myself. Your insights are thought provoking and often times right on the money. I would love to get your opinion about an “Inside Stories of…” series we are currently running. We interviewed various players in the real estate process for candid (some harsh) realities of the business. I know you’ve posted about such subjects, and thought you could take a look at what we’ve done, and offer a fascinating perspective; good, bad, or ugly.

I’ve included our entire lineup for this original series. If you decide to blog and need more info from me, please feel free to contact me anytime. Thanks for your time.

~Stephanie Heese
Promotions Manager
AOL Marketplace

So, I have taken them up on their offer (I am flattered actually) and will publish one of their articles at least weekly along with my critique, comments and advice. I would also appreciate your perspective on these articles by giving your comments.

Next, I recently met Kyle Cascioli who has real estate related articles published by Inman News and by his local Realtor Association in Colorado. Kyle has been in the real estate business most all his career, is the broker-owner of Barrett Associates and is an adjunct Professor of Real Estate at the University of Denver. He is also the Manager of Real Estate Services at HomePoint.com, Kyle has given me permission to republish a number of his articles here and I, of course, will add my commentary and you can too...

Which brings me full circle...if I can't get MY ESSAYS published on my own Blog, use OP's (other people's). Seriously, I'm looking forward to getting these started and your feedback. I'll continue to update all the tables and charts on a daily basis and/or when the public data is available. AND, I will work on my essays as well as some short snippets to satisfy your real estate appetites.

This turned into an ESSAY of sorts...AARRRGG...or is it ARRRRRG!

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