Recently, I had a prospect ask me for a referral to a listing agent in Tuscon, AZ.  I went to my handy dandy real estate agent network and asked for some names to start checking out on their behalf.  While I waited for some names, I decided to put my money where my big mouth is and look at real estate agent marketing photos for listings.  I started looking at images of homes in their potential price range for my potential client (’cause y’all know that luxury homes always have professional photographers, right?).    I looked for clean, uncluttered images that have good to excellent quality that aren’t over processed.   We all know that over saturating a photo and making the grass neon green or cabinets orange…not so good looking.  Overly sharp images just look strange and aren’t visually appealing.

As I flipped through photo after photo, I realized how hard it must be for consumers to find a good agent.  It was mind numbing to look through all of the bad images, and I was intrigued by the agent that thought a picture of a beach ball in the pool was a good marketing shot,  as well as the picture of the dowel rod in the closet.  I guess they were trying to do the ol’ Jedi mind trick telepathing (yeah, I just made up that word) all the great family memories you’d spend in the pool hitting the ball back and forth and how fun shopaholics would spend on clothes to hang in the closet?  I know I wasn’t buying it. Apparently, I am immune to Jedi mind tricks.  Cool.

After 45 excruciating minutes, my eyes rolled to the back of my head, drool started to roll down my chin…oh wait, I wasn’t supposed to share that part, I ended up with three names of agents that consistently did good marketing and a trip to my closet for a new t-shirt. Interestingly, all the agents were from the same company.  What that tells me is that the owner of that company actually cares about the quality of the marketing put out by their agents, which generally means they care about their clients.

I found several that did a pretty good job, but if I was going to refer, I wanted to do it to someone that did excellent marketing.  So dear sellers…as you start chatting with listing agents and thinking about listing your home take the time to go through photos.   Luxury home listings typically look good, but you want is the agent that makes an effort for all listings.  Not all homes are remodeled and easy to shoot and you want the same effort on less expensive homes too.  Photos should be realistic, properly processed, and decluttered.   Anything else…just keep on flipping through images until you find an agent that does that.  Anyone can make a decked out house look good.  It’s harder to make regular homes look their best.

All I know is that taking my advice was harder than I thought.

Now I do video tours for my listings, but I was curious about how many local homes for sale in  Salem Oregon specifically, had a virtual tour or video tour as part of their marketing.  In this day and age, I have to say I was surprised.  As of today 17% of homes on the MLS have a virtual or video tour.  17%…that’s it.  Now I can bet that most of those are just the slide-show virtual tours, and not an actual video tour, but I’d literally have to flip through all of them to see those stats and well…that’s not going to happen.

I’m guessing that John Kirk and I are some of the few agents in town that do an actual video tour. I’ve been messing around with different formats for my video tours, and have been enjoying adding that aspect into my marketing.  I do use a professional cameraman to shoot my videos since my tiny camera can’t handle the lighting differences.

So, when you are thinking about selling your home in Salem Oregon and you are looking at marketing plans think about this…

According to the 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 63% of home buyers found virtual and video tours helpful, and 26% somewhat useful.  89% of buyers found some use out of virtual tours, yet only 17% of local agents are using them.  Are you using an agent that is missing the boat?  The buyers like them.  Compare that to the 84% of buyers who found newspaper ads not useful at all. Is your listing agent marketing to the consumer.

Seriously.

If you are getting ready to hire an agent to sell your home and you think the 8 page Sunday spread sounds like great marketing…think again.  The buyers of your home are telling you what THEY want.  The only question that remains is are you hiring an agent to sell your home that is listening.

Some time ago, I was chatting with another agent about one of my homes for sale in Salem Oregon.  Her client had made an offer and things were not  going well for a bunch of reasons…reasons that I couldn’t tell her about.   The agent was frustrated with me and said “well we haven’t even talked about why your seller is selling.”  My response, “You know I can’t tell you that because it violates the law.”  Yes, telling another agent WHY you are selling your home violates Oregon law.  Confidentiality is one of our fiduciary duties to our clients.  This is outlined in the Oregon Revised Statues starting with 696.800.  I handled the situation by calling my client and asking permission to disclose what was happening that was causing problems with the offer.

Lisa Heindel, a really great West Bank  New Orleans real estate agent, wrote a post about a similar situation on an MLS listing.   You can read her post about an agent violating their fiduciary duties to their seller, but the general gist was that on the MLS an agent disclosed that her clients were getting a divorce and must sell now.  Now, it is possible in the situation that Lisa outlined in her post that the sellers were aware and okay with the disclosure. If that is the case, then the agent’s actions are legal, if not, then they violated their fiduciary duties to their clients.

One of the challenges of real estate is “the deal.”  Most real estate agents don’t get paid until we “close the deal.”  This system generally works well for buyers and sellers since most don’t have funds to pay for services outside of closing.  The problem with the system is that it is really easy to overstep those fiduciary bounds for the sake of the deal.   In my situation that I mentioned above, the agent was clearly bothered that I wasn’t sharing what she felt she needed to know “to bring the parties closer together.”    What was clear from her tone was that this was a common conversation she had and was surprised that I wouldn’t share:  I wasn’t being “friendly” because if I was friendly I would have shared that information.

If you are a home seller in the Salem Oregon area, I encourage you to chat with your agent at the time of the listing about what they will and won’t say about your motivations for selling.  Honestly sometimes disclosing things can really help a sale along, but this is an important conversation for you to have with your real estate agent.     Personally I think I am friendly while maintaining my fiduciary duties to my clients.   I know that this frustrates other local agents who don’t see it that way, but unless you say it’s okay to disclose…it’s not okay.  Some agent value friendly over fiduciary, to the detriment of their clients.

Most often, when I recommend staging, I recommend that we use sellers existing furniture, we just position it differently to give things a cleaner look.  Things like floral printed couches don’t photograph well, but a simple slip cover can make a HUGE difference.  Your stuff, just cleaned up for photos.
Some things that need to be done to homes are obvious.  If your home looks like this photo, then there is no way for anyone sitting at their computer in Illinois to have any idea what the room actually looks like.  They would just know that you all have a lot of stuff.  I’m not sure that is the message you want to sent to people when you are trying to sell a product…your house.

Here is a recent staging redesign that Margaret Oscilia with Creative Concepts and Contracting did for one of my clients.  Now it might look like we used different furniture, but she just flip flopped the furniture in the family room and living room. Still the seller’s stuff, just cleaned up.

This seller had many beautiful items, but they just weren’t arranged in a way that would look good in a photograph.

So Margaret came in and worked her magic.  Taking his items and rearranging them and then adding a few accents here and there.  What we got, was a much cleaner, easier to photograph living room.  The fact is that most people don’t have that decorator’s touch. It’s not a personal insult that your home doesn’t look like an HGTV show.  Most people don’t have picture perfect homes.  This is your home and you want to be comfortable in it.

If you are looking to sell a home in the Salem Oregon metro area, I highly recommend, at minimum, a staging consult with Margaret Oscilia which runs around $100 or so.  She will come in and tell you what YOU can do to make your home look better for photos.   A staging redesign is around $200+ depending on the size of the house and what is needed. It is money well spent and chances are you have furniture that will work just fine.  Let her help you rearrange it so that your Salem Oregon real estate agent…which would be me by the way (okay, okay, shameless plug)…can help take good photos for your marketing materials. One of the most important things listing agents should do for clients is help you prepare your home for the real estate market place.

If pictures speak 1000 words, then I think the words buyers will be uttering are crystal clear…  “I want that house.”

It’s always hard when you are honest with people and they choose to go with someone that isn’t as clear about what needs to be done to bring the house to market as you. It happens.  She kept in contact with me because her house didn’t sell with this other Salem Oregon real estate agent.  We talked a lot about staging and she met with a local stager.  After meeting with her, she called and talked about how wonderful the stager was and what a difference it made in her house.

This seller said:  She worked with our existing furnishings and recommended purchasing a small number of items for a nominal cost,  less than $50.  The experience was enjoyable and fascinating as she involves the homeowner in trying out different arrangements, explaining what she is doing and what outcome she is looking for.  The change was dramatic and it’s hard to believe that our home could look this much better.

All she did was help her rearrange her furniture and put accents around her home.  Our home is our personal place to relax.  Turning your home into a product can seem like you are always having to be “on”, which is exactly what selling your house is about these days.

The fact is that how we live in most cases means that our house is not ready as a product for the market. As I look at the piles of laundry in my laundry room, I am sitting here writing a post instead. My house is not up for sale so I don’t have to try and appeal to anyone…except my own sanity…and today, the laundry is getting backed up.  Home sellers don’t have this luxury that I have.

The fact is that often times stagers can use your own furniture to make your home look better as a product.  It can be as simple as putting a slip cover on a floral printed couch to mute the colors in the room; reorganizing the mantle; or add that final touch to make it photograph well.

So for those of you that are worried to have someone come in your house and rearrange your stuff, just realize that staging…it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Stay tuned for my next post on staging with some before and after shots!

I just wanted to give my .005 cents worth about that article.

1) “Your open house is really just a networking party for me.”  Is the number one thing that agents won’t tell you about selling your home.  What I find interesting is that a real estate agent is the one saying they don’t work.  So an agent is saying they don’t work, but agents won’t tell you they don’t work?  Not really following the article’s logic there…BUT honestly, they really don’t work here in Salem Oregon all that well.  Real estate agents do them because clients expect them, and yes it is a GREAT way for agents to gain new clients.  For the record, I told you that in May of 2008...Apparently SmartMoney does not consider me a real estate agent.

2) “My fees are negotiable.”  Consumer reports did an entire article about fees and who was most likely to negotiate.  I have a fee-for-service structure, so I am by nature negotiable, but it’s long been known that agents are negotiable.  (Told you that in August 2008)

3) “Think you’ve had no offers? Actually, there’ve been several.” In Oregon it violates the law to not present an offer.  Sometimes agents encourage sellers to not respond to an offer, if another one is potentially coming in, but most agents here locally do indeed present offers.

4) “I’m not obligated to keep my mouth shut for you.” Unfortunately this one has some truth to it.  Agents, even our local Salem Oregon area agents, are not always on top of talking about agency relationships.  Some time ago, I listed a house where the seller interviewed 5 agents.  He told me after he hired me that I was one of two that went over agency relationships with him.  Ouch.

5) “Sometimes I forget whose side I’m on.”  I don’t practice dual agency because I don’t like it.  I’m not a fan of it, and in fact Colorado has banned it.   While they argue that agent’s might not negotiate hard for a good deal because they are paid on commissions, but I don’t know any agent that wants to lose future referral business over $500 in a lower commission offering.

6) “I know zilch about zoning.”  Oregon has some strict zoning laws.  I personally have found our local city zoning folks very helpful when it comes to what a buyer can and can’t do with a property.  I do agree that you should be asking county folks what you can and can’t do and in fact, the contracts state it is the buyer’s responsibility to do any due diligence regarding zoning issues.

7) “I won’t let termites — or pesky inspectors — kill a deal.”  It’s unfortunate that the author of this article presents it like all agents are in cahoots with home inspectors.   I wrote a post called “Why I love my deal killer and you should too” back in July 2008.   There is at least one local company that I am aware of that allows home inspectors to pay to be on their preferred list, but most agents I know recommend inspectors because they think they are good at what they do.
“I sometimes forget I’m not a lawyer.” I have seen, on occasion, a poorly written addendum that needs some clarification, but honestly our Salem Oregon real estate agents for the most part, have average to excellent skills when it comes to paperwork.  I think part of that is that the OREF contract we use is really good.  Kudos to the attorneys for that.  We don’t have to deviate too much. Personally, I don’t think this complaint is all that true here.

9) “My website is a dead end.” Personally, I think this is an odd one.   Either you are hiring a tech savvy agent or you aren’t.  Some prospects quivver when I start talking about property websites and mention the words Zillow or Trulia…when their eyes glaze over that is not the time to mention that my website is on page 1 of Google.  They aren’t going to understand why that is important. You can’t talk tech with a client that doesn’t get tech.  I think the author of the article was running out of things to say…

10) “You can probably do this without me.”  Shhh…I told you what you can do to sell your Salem Oregon home yourself in May 2008.

So maybe I don’t count as a real estate agent? ‘Cause I’m thinking I have talked about at least 5 of these things on my blog in 2008.    Maybe the authors of that SmartMoney article should spend a wee bit more time doing some research before they start generalizing about what real estate brokers tell their clients.

Bottom line folks…work with someone that you feel comfortable with, and if you don’t like them find someone you like better.

Their 2nd quarter sales volume has remained fairly steady through this recession.  If you look at the 2nd quarter data for the decade you can see the nice bump during the bubble time.  Now it looks deceptive, but Aumsville is so small that when a subdivision like Highberger Meadows goes in, it makes a huge difference in the real estate market.  The new construction homes sold fairly well in this quarter.  The prices are great for the size and amenities AND Aumsville qualifies for the USDA loans which is one of the very few 100% financing programs.  Close to Salem, qualifies for 100% financing, has a nice new subdivision…what’s not to like and buyers seems to think so as well.

Unlike the Salem Oregon real estate market, the Aumsville market has been hovering around 6 months of inventory for a while.  This plunge in inventory is a little bit of a surprise, but not totally unexpected.   Not sure it will stay in a seller’s market for the whole year, but probably a neutral market.   If you want to see homes that are currently on the Aumsville real estate market, you can search for homes here.

If you ever wondered what a real estate bubble looks like, just look at the 2nd quarter sales for Silverton Oregon.  Can’t miss the ol’ bubble effect there. The other good news beside the drop in inventory and price, is that unlike the Salem Oregon real estate market, Silverton has returned to a normal sales volume.    Hopefully that trend will continue as home prices here return to more reachable levels for buyers.

Overall, these are good solid changes for the Silverton real estate market heading into the summer season.

Now a few home inspectors kill deals due to incompetence, but that is not what this post is about. This is about why you WANT to hire a deal killer.  Really you do.

For Salem Oregon buyers, the reasons for loving a deal killer are obvious.  No home is perfect (seriously all homes have defects, even nice new ones) because they are built by human beings on earth that moves. Nature doesn’t stand still for us and our homes, which means that all homes need some repair at some point.  Solid building and engineering can minimize this, but it always exists.

Deal killers will point out all of those issues big and small to you.  Each state has a slightly different practice when it comes to home inspections and repairs.  In the  Salem Oregon area we have as-is contracts.  The point of the home inspection is for the buyer to satisfy themselves of the condition of the property. It is not to negotiate repairs, but that is often a consequence of it. Some things are really obvious when you walk into a home, that you can take into account when you write an offer.  The rest is for an inspector to help buyers sort through.

For Salem Oregon sellers, the reasons should be obvious why you want a deal killer to inspect your house, but most seller’s don’t see it that way.

Last year I closed on a listing where the buyer was unrepresented (I don’t practice dual agency).  They had asked who I refer people to:  “Jim Allhiser,” I said. “He’s fantastic.”

After the buyer got the report they called me to ask why I referred Jim to them.  “I figured you wanted someone good.”

“Weren’t you worried that they would kill the deal?” they asked.

“No.  I’m protecting my sellers,” I replied.

Yes, I was protecting my sellers.  Let’s face it.  Misrepresentation is a huge source of lawsuits in real estate.  Deal killers protect all parties including agents, which is why you should love them. A home inspection is a snapshot, but an important snapshot.

For example, a buyer hires a deal killer who notes the 1/2″ piece of deteriorating siding, the slightly leaky hose bib, and the one dead outlet in the house.  Six months later the house has mold and the buyer thinks the seller knew about it.  The buyer wants to sue.  In my opinion, deal killing home inspection reports help to protect sellers from future litigation.

Why do I love deal killers?  They protect me, my buyers,  and my sellers.      It’s that whole misrepresentation and failure to disclose thing.  Sellers, you know who you are,  sometimes do those special DIY projects that are ”custom carpentry work.”   Let’s face it, sellers sometimes do “weird fixes” to their home that make sense to the seller, but not to anyone else.    Seller’s often forget about these fixes since they did them ten years ago and so they forget to put them on the disclosure form.  It’s not their intent to misrepresent, they just forget. Deal killers can find these special gems, and start a dialogue between both sides.

Now a home inspection is a snapshot in time of the home.  I have had listings where garage door openers and thermostats worked during the home inspection and went kaput the next week.  A home inspection can’t protect against these things, but a really good thorough home inspection can help to prevent future lawsuits for buyers, sellers, and agents alike.

Me, I say bring on the deal killer and you should too.

Sellers have had to test for nitrates and coliform bacterias for some time now, and this bill will add arsenic to the list of required tests. The bill also allows DHS some leeway in ordering other tests for contaminants for specific areas.  This makes sense for areas such as Lebanon Oregon, where it is known that there are chemical pollutants in some wells. It makes sense to require wells in that area be tested for those chemicals to ensure the safety of the water.

I have long added arsenic and lead to the water testing requests that my buyers make of sellers during a real estate transaction. I’m not sure how many buyers know to test for arsenic so this is a good thing for consumers. It is an additional expense for sellers but it is fairly inexpensive.

A home with a well that has arsenic in it, is not a reason to panic.  Arsenic is a naturally occurring element, and water can be purified typically with a reverse osmosis pump,  There is a connection between internal organ cancers and consuming low levels of arsenic over time, so it is important to test for arsenic.  I also encourage parents that have children or families that want to have children to test the water for lead. Lead exposure in children has long been known to cause neurological damage.

The bill is off to the house and hopefully this will get passed.  Buyers of acreage properties in the Salem Oregon area should be testing their water to know exactly what they are getting.  Buyers remember though, that testing doesn’t stop after you purchase the property. You should be testing your water annually.

Remember it is your health.