So, whose market is it anyway?  Is it a buyer’s market?  Or, is it a seller’s market?  I’ve been saying it for 4 years now, it’s neither.  It’s a bank’s market.  This is not to say that banks are coming out rosy in real estate transactions.  Many banks are still losing money on individual transactions., even if their reported earnings include profits.  However, in a market that consists mostly of short sales and foreclosures, banks have the upper and.  On the selling end banks set the price they will accept for the sale and on the buying end banks order the appraisals and decide if the property is a good investment.  With the majority of the transaction in the bank’s hands, it’s a bank’s market. 

If banks have so much power, how much can you negotiate when trying to purchase a home?  I’m going to go ahead and lay this out there, this country has lost the fine art of negotiation.  Most consumers are looking for a “win.”  Very few consumers know how to pinpoint their breaking point when it comes to purchasing and even fewer can determine the seller’s breaking point.  Without these skills, negotiations can go south fast. 

The first step in negotiating real estate is figuring out, as the buyer, how much you want the property.  Your desire to obtain the property will determine your starting point. 

The second step is determining what comparable properties are selling for in the neighborhood and area.  Some real estate agents will price a property well under comparable sales in hopes of obtaining multiple offers.  When in a multiple offer situation, be wary of relying on being the highest offer.  The home will still need to appraise.  Highest is not always best.  On the flip side, if a home is priced much higher than comparables, it may be signalling an unreasonable seller. 

The third step is investigating the other conditions you will be including in your offer.  If you want a home inspection and expect repairs to be made, you may want to consider offering closer to market value.  If the property is sold “as-is” you need to weigh how many apparent repairs are needed in to your offer price.  Many “as-is” properties are priced with needed repairs taken in to account.  It is also important to remember that “as-is” means “as-is.”  The more conditions/ contingencies a seller sees, be it a bank or consumer, the less likely they are to favor your offer. 

After compiling all of this data, make an educated offer.  Real estate is not a game, especially if you really want the property.  If you treat it as a game, you may come out on the losng end more times than not.  It’s much harder to resubmit an offer once a seller rejects an initial offer or is offended by an original offer.  I’m not saying give the seller exactly what they want, but if their listing makes sense, make sure your offer makes sense, too.

October was none too shabby.  Low interest rates are fueling the market right now.  It will be interesting to see what happens to the market as banks release more of their foreclosure inventory.  The REO properties are coming.  The market inventory should increase after the holidays and we could see prices dip to stay competitive.  We are definitely not out of the woods yet and should expect at least another 4 cycles of foreclosures before we can see teh hint of light at the end of the tunnel.   

Fredericksburg City

• 79 days on market – this is 38 days less than in October 2010
• Sellers received, on average, 90.5% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 5.8 months of inventory on the market
• 18 homes sold in October 2011 – this is 3 more than October 2010.
• The most popular price range was $200,000-$299,999.
• The median sold price was $210,250, compared to $219,000 in October 2010.
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 4, FHA – 2, VA – 4, Cash – 7, Other – 1

Orange County

• 121 days on market – this is 33 days more than in October 2010
• Sellers received, on average, 91.1% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 12.84 months of inventory on the market
• 25 homes sold in October 2011 – this is 5 more than in October 2010
• The most popular price ranges were $150,000-$199,999.
• The median sold price was $153,000, compared to $183,255 in October 2010 
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 3, FHA – 8, VA –2, Cash –8, Other – 4

Spotsylvania County

• 82 days on market – this is 15 more than October 2010
• Sellers received, on average, 92.8% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 4.87 months inventory on the market
• 126 homes sold in October 2011 – this is 5 less than in October 2010 
• The most popular price range was $150,000-$199,999
• The median sold price was $178,000, compared to $184000 in October 2010 
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 32, FHA – 36, VA – 24, Cash – 25, Other – 9

Stafford County

• 63 days on market – this is 7 less than October 2010
• Sellers received, on average, 95.3% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 4.04 months inventory on the market
• 123 homes sold in October 2011 - this is 9 more than in October 2010 
• The most popular price range was $200,000-$299,999
• The median sold price was $246,000, compared to $263,550 in October 2010 
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 28, FHA – 31, VA – 43, Cash – 17, Other – 4

Prince William County

• 54 days on market – this is 11 more than October 2010 
• Sellers received, on average, 96.4% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 3.58 months inventory on the market
• 394 homes sold in October 2011 - this is 53 less than in October 2010
• The most popular price range was $200,000-$299,999
• The median sold price was $244,500, compared to $250,000 in October 2010
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 101, FHA – 153, VA – 77, Cash – 56, Other – 7

Caroline County

• 121 days on market – this is 33 more than October 2010 
• Sellers received, on average, 89.1% of their list price when the home sold
• There is 6.25 months inventory on the market
• 32 homes sold in October 2011 - this is 2 less than in October 2010
• The most popular price range was under $100,000-$149,999
• The median sold price was $137,500, compared to $150,950 in October 2010
• Financing Terms:  Conventional – 12, FHA –10, VA – 2, Cash – 4, Other – 4

All data provided by MRIS.

Just a few days ago, Redfin unveiled it’s newest, latest, greatest thing in real estate – The Scouting Report.  The Scouting Report ignited a firestorm in the real estate community almost immediately.  What seemed to be designed to help consumers evaluate turned out to have alot of bugs and inaccuracies.  Redfin admitted, a day after launching The Scouting Report, that there were at least 12 bugs with the program.  The quirks in the system weren’t the only problems with the program.  It appears that Redfin was also indexing agents’ names. This means that if a consumer searched for an agent through Google, then Redfin would pop up in their search as one of the top options.  If the agent is not a Redfin agent this can cause some problems.  The brokerage disclosures for each agent were not readily apparent to the sites’ readers.  This directed internet traffic away from the agent’s brokerage and to Redfin.  This practice is frowned upon in the real estate industry because of the way information was presented to the public.  Many agents expressed that they do not mind their sales statistics being available to consumers; they just want that data to be accurate. 

How Would You Rate Your Last Agent?

What I think it boils down to is that statistics don’t tell the whole story.  The Scouting Report reported information on average days on market for an agent’s listings, average number of listings that had price drops, average sales price and sales price range, etc.  While Redfin now acknowledges that there were “bugs” in the days on market data; seeing an accurate number of days doesn’t tell you if an agent is good or not.  There are a variety of reasons why a home sells quickly or languishes on the market.  Many consumers would think that less days on market would be a good thing.  However, less days on market may be due to under pricing, or having a specific buyer in mind when a property is listed.  A lengthy time on market may mean that the seller has set a list price that is higher than what the market will bare.  Or, the property is very unique and requires a unique buyer.  The numbers mean nothing without context.  This is just ine example of why a rating system, such as this one, is not what it may seem on the surface. 

After many complaints and several Multiple Listing Services pulling their agent information from Redfin all together, The Scouting Report 1.0 has been taken offthe Redfin site.  The Northern Virginia MLS  (MRIS) was one of the mls’s that took this action.  It seems that The Scouting Report is a good idea in theory, but there are just too many variables in real estate transactions to make it work effectively and accurately.  MLS data relies on mls members (agents) to inport accurate data.  Let’s face it, mistakes are made.  If any rating system pulls human-imported data, then there is a great chance that errors will be reported as accuracies.  Redfin’s reference to their report being a 1.0 tells me that they may try to relaunch at a later date.  It will be interesting to see if that system will also be an “opt-out” instead of a “opt-in.” 

So, what’s the best way to evaulate a agent before you hire them?  It’s simple.  Ask questions.  If sales stats are important to you, have the agents you interview bring their sales stats with them.  Every agent knows how many deals they have successfully completed.  It shouldn’t be hard for them to answer questions about them.  You can also check the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation for any state regulation violations.  You will need the agent’s full name to look up this data.  See if the agent has a Facebook profile, Facebook business page, and/ or Twitter account.  You can learn alot about a person by how they interact online.  The important thing to remember is that any agent rating system will be flawed.  Be prepared to seek out those flaws and do your own research.