Neutral and nice:  The Pottery Barn “revolution”

This week I saw two properties, newly listed, described as “pottery barn style”–and I’ve seen this description often in MLS listings.. I scrolled down to see the photos.  What did they mean by “pottery barn style”?  I didn’t see the white-washed, farmhouse pieces with coordinating, neutral upholstery.  Or–this year anyway– the vibrant, colorful pillows. Indeed, in one of the houses, the living room was filled with oversized brown leather couches and chairs!  This is not what I usually think of as “pottery barn style”.  I get the catalogs and I know they often feature leather sofas, etc. But this wasn’t it. You may have your own sense of what those words mean and I’d love to hear your comments.   But, again, this is an example of a description meant to attract buyers.  In the end it’s likely to disappoint when the buyer actually visits the home. I suspect the words were meant to suggest a neutral decor.  So say that!

Sensible Staging

Last month I had a request from a real estate colleague to help stage one of her listings.  The home was listed for over $1 million and, in our increasingly hot market, was not selling.  She thought that the homeowner’s furnishings (eclectic, some travel mementos) and wall color choices were negatively impacting the sale.  I took a look at the property photos online.  First of all, it never ceases to amaze me that images included in a presentation are  often poorly photographed (I’m including the wide-angle stuff that distorts the size of the room) or poorly chosen.  I wasn’t impressed with the photos. But I wasn’t turned off by the interiors shown either. And I doubt that the typical buyer would be. I didn’t think new pieces of furniture should be added or more contemporary art hung.  I didn’t think the owner should repaint the walls in various rooms–although one more red dining room will be one too many!!  Yes, some of the decor was not to everyone’s taste. Perhaps a couple of pieces of furniture could be stored.  But this home was essentially okay as is. It was okay to show. Because although some buyers can’t picture their own furniture in someone else’s home,  more can.  And besides, you can paint the walls!

Good Design

There is no question that Pottery Barn has delivered up a simple, sophisticated design statement that has really changed the American aesthetic.  In her Slate article, Karen Lehrman points to the influence of Crate and Barrel, Ikea and Pottery Barn in defining contemporary American style and in making home furnishings interesting and available to a lot of people. Much as I hate all the catalogs, I really do enjoy paging through them. They are, in fact, full of ideas that can be utilized in most room design– a color, a shape, a texture. Still, when marketing your home, you don’t have to undertake a Pottery Barn transformation of your space.  I have been in countless homes that look great, reflect the owner’s tastes and sell well without too many dramatic alterations.

NOT POTTERY BARN STYLE!

You’re selling your house.  You’d like to make money.  Be careful what you spend in the process. An experienced Realtor® understands the kinds of changes that make sense without breaking the bank.  And an experienced stager/designer can make those changes happen.  RG-Homes provides both under one roof.  And we can maximize what happens under yours!  Contact us.

An estate sale–three versions

SELL ME!

If you think it means the sale of a mansion–that is usually not what those words mean in the context of a real estate sale. Parenthetically, the sale of a home like this, would be well-served by my marketing skills and strategy.

And as another aside, sales of this type of inventory (eg. those over $1.5 million) were down the last quarter in the Boston area and do, in general, take more time to sell. There are not that many millionaires as it turns out!

HELP!

And although you see ads for estate sales all the time, those frequently refer to the sale of the contents of a house. The owner manages the sale herself or engages a company especially knowledgeable in pricing items and attracting interested buyers–for a fee. Usually a percentage of the revenues. I used a professional to sell the contents of a house in Brookline and it went very well.  Anything remaining unsold after the sale–and there wasn’t much–was donated to charity.

Sometimes the words, “estate sale” or “subject to a license to sell” appear in an MLS listing. Both terms refer to the fact that  the probate court will ultimately decide whether the sale goes through or not. Even if buyer and seller have agreed to a sales price and other important terms governing the sale, the probate court is the final arbiter here.

When the sale of a house is an “estate” sale

In an estate sale, the property owner is deceased and the heir or heirs are undertaking the sale according to the directives of a will.  For a buyer this means a couple of things.

First, if there are many heirs, they have to come to consensus on a price. Sometimes this is a longer process than is typical.  They may be living in different parts of the country, in different time zones.  They may not understand the current market realities and are stuck in old scenarios which might not apply–they haven’t seen the house in years and don’t know that it might be considerably less “turnkey” than when they were children.

THE DECIDER!

Second, the probate court can conclude that the price offered is too low.  A buyer could conceivably have gone through the entire purchase process (P&S, mortgage application) only to have their transaction nullified or changed by the court. In a market such as ours, I think the court is unlikely to revise the selling price–we are in somewhat uncertain and volatile times and the court would defer to the expertise of real estate professionals. Nevertheless it’s important for buyers to understand the potential issues that may arise in this type of sale. A buyers’s agent will be with you, informing you of what to expect throughout.  

Contact us. We’re happy to answer all your questions and concerns.

Bidding Wars

In the gym yesterday one of my friends mentioned her recent home-buying experience.  She and her husband were bidding on a house on Cape Cod.  As is increasingly the case in our neck of the woods, they found themselves in a bidding war. They were not the lucky winners in this “war”. They ended up feeling  exploited by the listing agent to help drive the price up.  And they felt the process was somehow contaminated, the whole experience leaving them extremely disappointed. In many ways it confirmed their opinion of real estate agents where something kind of disreputable happened over which they had no control.

The fact is, the brokerage process is one in which both sellers and buyers cannot and do not have total control.  Neither do real estate agents.  It’s why you have to trust the people you are working with. It’s why conforming to the ethical standards established by the National Association of Realtors professionalizes this business and offers clients the best guarantee that all of us in the real estate industry are working for them, for their best interests. How does this play out?

The fact is–obviously the seller benefits when there is more than one offer. The more the better. The price does almost always go up and other terms, favorable to the seller, also emerge.  The agent representing the seller is supposed to encourage this process. So, if you’re a buyer, in this kind of scenario, you are at a disadvantage; you may have to offer a price that is higher than you planned in order to get that particular home.  And it may not be high enough in the end. There is no getting around this.

Ethical Principles and the Bidding War

But there are real limits on what the seller’s agent is supposed to do in conducting a multiple bid situation. The seller’s agent must not reveal what the other offers are to any of the bidders in the process.  The buyers cannot be told what number they have to beat because that really does contaminate the process–the price, in that case, is being decided by the agent. The process is supposed to operate without such interference. Candidly, I have been in situations where the seller’s agent has offered information on the status of other offers–where they are at, what the highest existing offer is, etc.  And I’ve been asked to reveal information about offers I receive. I don’t do it. It’s unethical. Pure and simple. Clearly it happens and it’s not good for anyone.

It bothers me when people I encounter in the course of my work automatically assume I am someone to be wary of, that I will try to sell them, that I cannot be trusted to tell the truth, that I will conceal important facts and on and on. Given the nature of real estate brokerage–confidences are shared (e.g. a seller’s financial needs, a buyer’s highest purchase figure), intentions must be relayed in an accurate  way to other parties, and those other parties are expected to be similarly concerned with their ethical obligations–there is a good deal here that is not visible as the process plays out. Making it all the more important that you work with someone who you absolutely know will be working in your best interests--whether you are a seller or a buyer.  A lot of money is involved. Not to mention important life decisions and plans.  Don’t fly solo!  At RG-Homes, we don’t try to sell you.  We assume your intelligence and we provide you the resources and services that will help you make sound real estate moves. That’s what we do. It’s as simple as that.

YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS: BRING A PARTNER!

Information that bewilders

You were saying??

Did you know that goats ba-a-a in different dialects.  Who’d have thought?  But it was on the radio the other day. And apparently this is important to know because it will help uncover the ways in which human communication evolved.  I don’t think that’s exactly unimportant.  Just another bit of information we need to store somewhere.

In a recent edition of Kitchen and Bath Design News, a report showed that the major activity that people do in the kitchen is–wait for it–cooking and eating!  It’s true that over the years the kitchen (like human communication) has evolved to embrace a range of activities. But, the use to which we put our kitchens is now common knoweldge.  We didn’t need a research study to illustrate this, did we?

And how do we process all the varied real estate news we are regularly bombarded with?  The latest Case-Shiller index on home sales activity reports that prices are down for the last quarter.   The National Association of Realtors reports that sales volume is up.  Prices down (fractionally in some communities in Greater Boston). Volume up.  The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) reports that their Business Confidence Index is up. Consumer confidence was down in January, but was up in February. Alot. Foreclosures are up in Massachusetts in January.  I’m holding my breath on what the February numbers will look like–not really. Massachusetts Realtors®, an optimistic lot, predict that inventories will rise and the market will improve.

Information that enlightens

INFORMATION OVERLOAD!!

So how do we use this information.? How do we make personal decisions, plans, purchases based on this stuff?  Most of us don’t use this information in any but the most casual of ways.  We hear it–sort of.

I’m always amazed when a buyer comes to see a property, takes notes the entire time and really never looks up.  How do you buy a home that way?  Even commercial buyers have to look up, imagine how to renovate in a way that appeals to people/buyers. The graphs, the numbers, the predictions are not nearly as valuable as checking in with your own vibe.

Inventory is down in the Boston area and typically this means that prices will tick up.  Multiple bid situations are increasngly common. Mortgage rates are super-low.  An experienced Realtor® can provide you the meaningful resources you need to learn about the your market, factoring in your criteria and your financial reality.  Contact us for knowledgeable and useful help in your search. We’re not interested on selling you.  We’re interested in adding value to your real estate search with tools and information you can use.

An experienced Realtor® learns from her client

I’ve been selling real estate in Greater Boston and Metrowest for…well, a long time.  That, combined with earlier professional training and practice, has, clearly, kept me attuned to the market and the people in it.  The state licensing board requires that agents and brokers continue their educations in order to stay licensed.  But, working with a relocating client has given me new insight into all the parts and pieces that go into make a real estate decision and finding a home. And it’s reminded me that if you think you know everything, have seen everything in this field or others..well, think again!

What I know…

I know about home values.  I know the inventory in a various communities.  I now about the schools, the proximity to town amenities and public transportation.  I know how to market a home and how to buy one.  And many of my colleagues know all this as well.   I especially pride myself on keen intuitive skills and an understanding of the ways consumers approach the very personal and often expensive process of buying or selling a home.  But, I don’t know everything.  And to deliver a meaningful service, I need to acknowledge that.

Back in the Boston area

IS THIS HOME?

My new buyers are relocating from abroad with a young family.  Although they are originally from the Boston area, they return here in an entirely new life situation. They ‘re not just looking for 3 bedrooms, a playroom and a backyard.  They ‘re looking for the intangibles too.  And only they can identify those. Is this house or that one really in a neighborhood? Do they trade off proximity to public transportation in order to get a real neighborhood “feel” or a bigger house?  Are they comfortable becoming a two-car family?  Indeed, are they comfortable with a suburban lifestyle where driving is just the way it is?  Our search has so far taken us through five communties, all very different, all with different kinds of appeal. It will take a while to sort through the variables and find the right home.  As experienced as I am, I need to go where my buyers are and view the process through their eyes.

OR THIS?

A good agent keeps on learning

It’s no surprise that 60% of new agents quit real estate in the first year.  90% leave within 5 years.  They want the magic.  The quick return.  And, trust me, it’s not like that.  You need to go through your paces and keep learning. You need to provide the experience and resources that buyers need. You need to respect their intellligence and allow their unique process to move along.  It’s what we do.  Contact us.

No basement?  Just dig one out!

Believe it or not, they are doing just this in London.  Real estate prices in London are among the highest in the world.  Much of the inventory is old or very old, built at a time when there were no basements.  The housing stock is built smack onto the ground–which explains why it’s so hard to heat those homes; the damp and cold just comes up from the floor. Many homeowners are apparently adding basements to solve their needs for more space by digging into the ground under existing construction.  The addition of these basement areas in attached houses is even more amazing.  And I saw this happening on a recent trip to London.

This construction involves careful excavation under the home, reinforcing the brick pillars at each end (this clearly impacts the adjacent houses and the contractor better know what he/she is doing), and removing rock and dirt with conveyor belts. The additonal space is added under the entire length of the house.  Very ambitious and increasingly common.  The project requires the approval of the local Council.  In a recent case, residents from adjacent streets worried that with an underground river and new railway tunnel, “digging out” a basement would cause flooding to surrounding homes.  The Council found no issue and gave the go-ahead.

MOVING DIRT

If you remodel….

When you remodel your bathroom or kitchen, you usually don’t have to worry about the neighbor’s house falling down!  But you will, of course, need proper permitting and approvals and you may need a contractor certified to renovate property built before 1978 (new EPA regulations for homes built before 1978).  You’ll have to assess your needs for more space or updated space, current market conditions and the impact any renovation will have on your home’s value.  Remodel or buy?  Not necessarily an easy question to answer. Our combined expertise in residential real estate and renovation/design makes RG-Homes uniquely positioned to help you work through some of these issues. Contact us.

The Way We Were

Truth is, I started this blog when there was not a snowflake to be seen.  And I, for one, was feeling a bit nostalgic for a winter landscape. Last year, Massachusetts had a snow bonanza! Virtually flake-less this season, some of us were looking back at previous winters with more than a little nostalgia. A light blanket of snow to cover the gray-brown surfaces and barren trees would resonate with our usual winter expecations. And for those of us accustomed to the four seasons, the December warmth (January’s too), the snowless landscape was, well, kind of wierd.  Well, it’s happened.  Just enough and I’m cured!

Those of us still looking back to the high-flying days in real estate when many towns and cities in our state saw nothing but double-digit appreciation with no end in sight, when you listed your property and “they came”, when your home was better than your stock portfolio and you could use it to fund your retirement–well, as we all know, those days are over. It’s going to snow hard again. It has already started. But those good ole days in real estate are probably never to return. And we need to be cured of expectations that don’t lead to profitable decision-making.

Massachusetts Real Estate–The Good News Is…

Some categories of real estate have adjusted enough so that profits can be made.  For developers, multi-families in an increasing number of cases are low enough now that the cost of acquiring them, fixing them up and selling the renovated spaces does, in fact, yield a profit. Good news. Many sellers are factoring in market realities and pricing their properties so that the time on market is reduced and multi-bid scenarios are encouraged.  More good news.  And what can you say about mortgage rates! Unprecedented.  Fixed rates around 4%. How long do you really think that’s going to last? One year?  Two?  Five?  I bought a house in Brookline in 1985 and the mortgage rate was 12%.  And that was good, considering they had been in the 17%-18% range only a few years earlier.  So these are incredibly awesome times for financing a home.

 Still Looking for a Deal?

Here’s a deal for buyers.  Real estate companies thrive on referrals.  Referrals are, simply put, the heart of the business. I’m pleased to offer $500 to anyone who refers a buyer or seller to RG-Homes–when the deal closes. And this is a deal with no expiration date.

And for sellers… did you know that all real estate commissions are not the same?  It’s against the law for members of any industry to agree on a set fee.  And this applies to the real estate industry as well. So when interviewing prospective companies for selling your property make sure you understand that commissions are negotiable.  Our fees at RG-Homes are not set by any corporate entity. Talk to us. We offer innovative, sound marketing strategies for selling your home.  Talk to us about our commission fees, our plan for your sale.

Home and Hearth

In his book, Inquiry by Design, John Zeisel discusses our hard-wired needs–for hearth, nature, sociability, safety, food and light.  No surprise there, right? We all just finished decking our halls in a collective display that affirms the importance of each of these needs. We’re pretty fortunate in this country and the West in general, that we can seek out and successfully acquire many, if not all, of these elements.

What Homeowners and Home Buyers Want

I have spent much of my professional life working to enhance the experience of home and hearth. It’s my passion. And it resulted in the natural integration of both real estate sales and design into one business model. I approach the real estate component of  RG-Homes with an eye toward making your home search, not just sensible and productive, but a meaningful merger of your finances and yours and your family’s spatial needs.

In the renovation and design business we are specifically charged with transforming our clients’ space in ways that meet the very needs highlighted above. The whole evolution of home buyer wishlists to include the kitchen as a gathering place–so different from the turn of the century when the kitchen was often a dark and cavernous space–is a reflection of the push to meet those hard-wired needs in contemporary ways.  Everyone wants the  ”open plan” and designers are asked to create spaces that enhance sociability, allow natural light, and evoke the hearth. And it’s work I love.

Missing a Home

Against this backdrop of fine-tuning our needs for home and hearth, is the astonishing reality of people for whom meeting those needs has been impossible.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to lack the minimal protection of four walls. Never mind the provision of ergonomically pleasing space or access to nature and light. When I think of the time I have spent trying to create spaces with “soft geometries”, color palettes that cool or comfort, environments that welcome the interaction of the generations–all important and rewarding work–when some among us are without the whole package. It is simply stunning.

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance

So here is group that not only advocates for those without homes, but has the research to show how permanent homes make a difference to people and communities in powerful ways. Not the least of which is savings, actual money saved when we focus on ending homelessness and not just managing it.  I am so looking forward to adding my support to this work.  Talk about rewarding!  This is part and parcel of everything that moves me.

SNOW HAPPENS!

Check out the Massachusetts Housing Alliance at  www.mhsa.net and learn more about them at www.rg-homes.com

We all want to come in out of the cold.

Image via CrunchBase

It just boils down to product over profit.

Let’s be real–Apple made a profit.  An enormous profit.  But, from everything we know about Steve Jobs (from Walter Isaacson’s biography of him anyway), this man was exquisitely, painfully detail-oriented. While he may not have been Thomas Edison in terms of creating something completely new out of whole cloth (and I’ll bet this is debatable), his ability to take existing technology and innovate and invent–well he is every bit a giant.

Attention to detail in real estate and design

In my company and in my conduct details count.  A review of my blogs highlights how a small real estate company and a committed Realtor® focus on offering expert, custom attention. Everything that comes out of my office–my site design, my stationery, my business cards–has been done with care and deliberation.

Every real estate transaction or design project receives a level of attention-to-detail that’s not typically found in either industry. I can’t work any other way.  Simultaneously, this works for my clientele too.

Small details sell houses

It's in the Details

We all know how important staging is in any marketing plan. But small details sell homes.  (Pictures).  These are the kinds of details that should be included in MLS listings and all other media used for advertising. We don’t need to see a picture of a toilet–unless it was designed by Steve Jobs! And, believe it or not, many, many images of toilets appear in MLS listings.

Someone said it was good to use a lot of photos, but, honestly, it doesn’t mean a photo of everything! On the other hand, important architectural or construction vignettes speak to the unique properties of a home or renovation. And they are persuasive to buyers.

Details make a difference and they would find a place in my marketing plan.  We can’t all be visionaries, but we can work seriously with craft and commitment to our client’s needs and in their best interests.

Understanding the Metrowest Boston Real Estate Market

I really don’t want to talk about  content that is readily available in the news and in commonly used real estate sites.  That’s why I haven’t shared sales statistics –quarterly or otherwise.  You can get it elsewhere.  And how do people use that information anyway?  For many buyers in many places, it certainly hasn’t supplied that critical incentive to buy, even with historically low mortgage interest rates. Real estate market trends that are identified are often undone by the next quarter’s data.  And the sum total of national indices are just plain bleak.  A good deal of the time.  The fact is Boston area home values are holding up better than national statistics.

You Still Can’t Beat Location

Not a day goes by when I’m not asked  when the home seller’s market will return.  Or when I’m told by a home buyer that they are going to make a lowball offer because it’s a buyer’s market. Or when people empathize with me as a Realtor® because they automatically assume I must be depressed by market conditions. Hmm.  If you listen to the grim drum beat coming out of the worst hit states (Nevada, California, Florida) or the latest projections from this or that homebuilder group, you are likely to conclude that this is a home buyer’s market. Well, it depends on which communities you’re talking about. You can’t generalize because, to use a cliche, in real estate it’s still all about “location, location, location”.

Newton, Brookline and Cambridge MA Real Estate

I was recently at a group showing in Newton MA. A single-family home in a lovely neighborhood that needed complete renovation.  There were cars parked on both sides of the street and more cruising, looking for a place to park.  There must have been 100+ people–agents and their clients–at this showing. Multiple offers were submitted.  I just put a two-family in Cambridge MA under agreement; there were 6 offers on this property.  The bid that was accepted was over the asking price. And my listings for two, newly renovated condominiums in Brookline’s Washington Square neighborhood sold in less than 24 hours–one at asking, one above.  If you are working in these markets, you are likely to conclude that things are pretty good. And the way you go about home buying or home selling is contingent on what communities you’re operating in.  It’s not a one-size fits-all proposition. The media clamor about curent real estate market conditions is not helpful. Figure this out with a skilled and experienced real estate professional.  Contact Roz at RG-Homes.