Thursday, October 22, 2009

Harvest of Homes 2009

 
 

Sent to you by Bren via Google Reader:

 
 

via Bren Tatro's Blog by brentatro on 10/16/09

Are you thinking of purchasing a new home or would you like to tour some new homes and see the latest trends in interior paint? Well, I for one will be at The Crossing at Skiatook this weekend. The floor plans all start with 3 bed/2 bath/2 car garage and the starting model is 1142 [...]

 
 

Things you can do from here:

 
 

Saturday, October 17, 2009

What to look for in a Realtor

Here is a list of things to consider when trying to decide on a Realtor.

1) Someone local. BEFORE you choose a Realtor, ask them where they operate their business. I am licensed in the State of Oklahoma and technically, I can help you buy and sell anywhere within this state. But just because I can, does not mean that I am an expert of every inch of every county. And just because someone offices from one location does not mean that they are not an expert in another location nearby. Ask, you may be surprised by how much your Realtor really does know about the community.

2) Someone you are comfortable with. Remember, you may be working with this person for several months.

3) Someone who doesn't have a billion clients to serve besides you. We all want to get our questions answered in a timely fashion, but if your Realtor is running around trying to serve too many people, how much time are they going to have to dedicate to your needs?

4) Someone who will communicate well with you. Find a Realtor you can contact in several different ways. Email, text messaging, phone calls, etc. There are just too many different ways to get your needs met and your Realtor should be able to meet those needs. Just remember, Realtors are people too. Please don't call after 8pm unless it's an emergency or you have an appointment. Realtors have families, personal responsibilities, errands and hobbies too.

5) Someone who is tech savvy. Top Realtors utilize technology to help them stay informed and to communicate with their clients. E-mail, smart phones, electronic newsletters, websites, digital photography and video allow agents to share properties that they’ve previewed, provide feedback and keep clients updated on developments.

6) Someone with character, has integrity, rapport, and is trustworthy! Remember, you may be working with this person for some time and you want to be compatible. Choose someone with passion, creativity, enthusiasm. Talk to more than one Realtor. You may like more than one but choose the one that you think will do the best job for your money.

Purchasing a home or selling your home should be about you. As personable as your Realtor may be, they are providing a service for you. Choose wisely.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Who gets all that commission anyway?

Not me. Don't get me wrong, I get some of it, but not nearly as much as you might think.

Are you thinking of selling your house and you just can't get past the amount of money that you'll have to pay a Realtor to do it? Without getting on my soapbox about the value of a Realtor and why it really is foolish not to hire one, I'd like to share with you why sometimes being in the real estate business really is a noble cause.

Here's how that 6-7% of your selling price breaks down. These numbers are just commission, mind you, and do not reflect all the closing costs of title companies, attorneys, local and state governments (taxes and such), or any of the other fees and charges associated with closing on your home. We're only talking about the commission. That money typically gets split four ways:

1) the listing Realtor

2) the listing Realtor's broker

3) the selling Realtor

4) yep, you guessed it, the selling Realtor's broker

Now, all parts are not exactly divided equally here either. So, for simple numbers, lets say I sell your home for $200,000 and charge a 6% commission and I say that I will split the commission with the selling Realtor for 3%.

$200,000 Sales Price x 6% Total Commission = $12,000

Now divide that in half between the Realtors. I get $6,000 and the selling Realtor gets $6,000. But we forgot the brokers. Their take comes right off the top before I ever get to see a check with my name on it. Most brokers will take anywhere from 25-50% of the commission, based on the Realtors experience and profit share of the total business the office does. So we'll say that both the listing broker and the selling broker are taking half, since this is pretty typical unless you are the office rock star and we won't get into that as their businesses are managed very differently than the typical Realtor. So now my check is $3,000.

But wait, there's more. Now uncle Sam want's his part, so lets take another third off and I'm down to $2,000. And then there's the office fees, the licensing fees, the professional memberships (National Association of Realtors, State Associations and Local Associations), continuing education that is required and the gas to get us where we need to go.

After all that, then we get to feed our family and pay the bills.