Real Estate with Kate

Buyers Market and Sellers Market Explained

Kate — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:13:19 +0000

Have you ever wondered if people are making these words up? Are they just buzzwords? “Buyers Market” and “Sellers Market” are often used subjectively. However, they are objective terms which when used appropriately can help you understand people’s behavior within a market.

Here are a few terms explained:

Absorption rate: the average number of homes people have bought per month.
Supply: the number of homes that are on the market divided by the absorption rate.
Sellers Market: when there is less than a six month supply of homes on the market. Sellers tend to have the advantage in pricing and negotiations.
Buyers Market: when there is greater than a six month supply. Buyers have more choices and thus more negotiating power.

Is one kind of market better than the other? The answer depends on whether you are buying or selling. When it is time to sell your home, the numbers to know are the absorption rate and supply for your neighborhood and price range. This level of analysis will help you to place yourself ahead of your competition, in any type of market.

Landscaping: Curb Appeal and Beyond

Kate — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:00:36 +0000

A great-looking yard completes the picture your home creates. Not only does it help the key feaure “curb appeal.” It also makes your home and yard feel livable and complete.

As an investment, a rule of thumb to keep your landscape in line with your home is to budget about 10% of the home’s value for landscaping. This includes hardscapes such as retaining walls, walkways, and patios or decks. The actual amount spent can be reduced by providing all or some of one’s own labor.

Fall is a great time to plant trees. Even though saplings are small, they most often grow large. Before planting is the best time to note how large they will eventually become and plant in a large enough space. Fall is also a great time to plant grass, bulbs, pansies and shrubs. It’s my favorite time for getting my vegetable garden ready for summer and spring.

This summer I moved to a new home with almost no landscaping. Looking at my own yard has me thinking about what goes into good landscaping.

Make the Green Power Switch in Tennessee

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:29:04 +0000

Green Power is energy derived from renewable resources such as wind, methane gas, and the sun. You can buy it from TVA in 150-kilowatt blocks for $4.

The money you pay is an investment in renewable energy.
To have the same impact as buying two blocks of green power for a year you can: plant an acre of trees, recycle 15,322 aluminum cans, or recycle 1,766 pounds of newspaper.
In 2010 the Green Power Switch is celebrating its tenth birthday. It has over 12,000 residential customers.

4 Simple Ways to Get Your Home Ready for Showings

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:13:36 +0000

Before listing a house I help clients make a list of everything that needs to be done to prepare their home for showings. Here are 4 simple ways to start your own checklist.

Pack up half your stuff and put it in storage. This will allow potential Buyers to see the space and not just imagine it.
Put a fresh coat of paint (or stain) on all of your doors and trim. This serves as a manicure for your home.
Trim bushes, pull weeds, and mulch everything! Landscaping is where Buyers make their first impressions.
Walk through your home as if you were seeing it for the first time for more ideas.

Whole Grain Building Materials

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:19:37 +0000

Whole grain, organic brick will be the building material of the future. Like they help people, whole grains help houses live longer and feel better. The use of whole grains instead of clay and dirt should give a boost to American farmers. World food experts are worried this will exacerbate the global food crisis that ethanol production helped create. Lobbyists for the agriculture industry have launched an ad campaign to help assure everyone that this will not happen. Glazes to make these taste unappealing have been tested on rodents but not yet on goats.

Generation Y Remakes Collective Living

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:16:45 +0000

As housing costs increase and well-paying jobs are harder to find, Generation Y is reaching back into its collective conscious and living like many of their parents once did. Baby Boomers made communes famous. Now their grown children would rather live with each other than move back into their parents basements, or worse, the living rooms of their new condos. Many members of Gen Y loved living on campus. Now they can recreate the drama and the fun-without the restrictions.

One major change Generation Y has made from their parents’ living arrangements is to not make them communes or collective in the way their parents did. Sure they split their cable bills—part of the reason they’re living together is so they can afford all the technology their generation craves. No one is going without wireless cable internet. They may compost, but indoor plumbing is not up for discussion, either. Those with an entrepreneurial spirit have even bought the homes for their friends to rent because this generation saw all the trouble their parents went through to pry themselves loose from truly collective living.

Trend Spotter: Remove Interior Doors for a Quick Remodel

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:13:15 +0000

A recent trend among homebuyers is to want homes without interior doors. This is to ease communication among family members and allow for easier traffic flows when entertaining. This follows the ever-popular “open” floorplans. New home builders are quickly shifting to target these “no-door” homebuyers. Says Gotta Hammer, “It saves money and trouble for me while giving the homeowners what they want.” Instead of a new kitchen, maybe door removal is for you.

Grass is Always Greener

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:10:37 +0000

In an effort to compete with condominiums, where homeowners do not have to worry about yardwork, many Sellers have begun offering “worry-free” yards. The idea is that living plants take care and maintenance, while false foliage takes nothing at all. With today’s technology, there is only a slight difference in appearance between real grass and grass alternatives. Trees, shrubs, and flowers can all be chosen from a catalog. Once a landscaping company installs them, there is nothing left to do. Blooms and greenery stay pretty year round. An added benefit is that homeowners have 12 month curb appeal.

Sleepover as the New Test Drive

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:08:18 +0000

Sometimes 15 to 30 minutes just isn’t long enough for people to know whether or not they would like to buy a home. A creative agent in Dallas began arranging sleepovers so that prospective Buyers could “test-drive” a potential home. This idea is spreading across the nation. Said one seasoned home-shopper, Prix Approved, “I really felt at home during my Preview Night. It made the decision to buy so simple.” Some concerns have arisen over broken dishes and loose pets, but these are being worked out as Sellers see what a useful tool this is in the marketing of their properties.

Planned Obsolescence Reaches the Housing Market

Kate — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:05:22 +0000

Homebuilders have taken a cue from car and appliance makers and begun incorporating the principles of planned obsolescence in new home builds. Unsatisfied with homes that last a hundred or more years, the new generation of houses are built to last twenty years with cosmetic problems appearing after five. To further their chances that homeowners will just say, “Doze it and start over,” builders are also using completely new architectural plans so that today’s new homes will definitely be “dated” in twenty, if not ten, years.