I for one am a supporter of Colorado’s decision to do away with Entry Only Listings. Entry Only Listings put real estate brokers and homeowners in bad positions. This is exactly why Congress Realty has always made themselves available to receive and present offers to our clients, well before Colorado’s decision. Other Flat Fee companies who refuse to make themselves available to other brokers to receive offers are officially out of business. Every broker, regardless of service level must present any offer received per the state of Colorado.

Difference b/w Entry only versus Congress Realty’s Flat Fee Listing:

Entry Only – Broker inputs the listing into the MLS and then disappears forever. (what most flat fee broker’s still try to get away with)

Congress Realty – Once we input the listing, we are available to answer questions from the seller. In the event an offer is presented, a broker or buyer can fax or email the offer to our office and we will fwd the offer to the seller as a PDF attachment within minutes of receiving the offer.

We take every precaution to ensure we stay in compliance with Colorado’s new operating procedures.

The MLS is the single best method to find a tenant for your residential rental property. I would challenge anyone to dispute this claim and provide evidence to the contrary.

Why?
With the changing resale market, the rental market has strengthened across the country. Not only are rental prices up but the time it takes to rent a property is down. Look at it this way, people need a place to live. If you default on your home and lose the property to the bank, you still need a place to live.

How does it work?
The MLS has sep sections for residential sales, rentals, commercial, etc… The rental listings appear just as a for sale listing would appear.  (price and commission are of course listed differently)

Rather than waste your money with the local newspaper, consider placing a rental ad in the MLS. I can almost guarantee you will see more activity from the MLS for your rental than any other advertising outlet.

It is always best to add photos to your MLS listing before the listing goes active on the MLS. The reason for this is that the longer you wait to add photos, the more likely your photos will not appear on various 3rd party websites. By adding your photos from the very start, all 3rd party sites should pick up the photos.

How do I ensure Congress Realty has my photos? Prior to faxing or emailing your MLS documents to us, add your photos to our pre listing manager or email the photos to info@congressrealty.com.

What to do if you choose to add your photos at a later time after the listing is active? Email the photos to info@congressrealty.com or add them to the private client area. Do not add them to the prelisting mang after the listing is active.

Should the seller be present during the final walk through and inspection? The truth is that 99% of inspectors, agents, and buyers do not want the owner present during either the walk through or inspection. If the owners presence is needed, one of the three will notify the owner ahead of time. As a general rule, I typically recommend sellers  not be present, however, dropping by unexpectedly during the inspection or walk through is perfectly acceptable. (Following the inspector around the property for 2 hours is not acceptable.)

Why would a seller not want to be present during the inspection? An inspector is going to note anything he/she finds during the inspection. Any information the seller provides the inspector during the inspection is not going to change the report. If anything, it will annoy the inspector. As a seller, the last person you want to bother is the individual responsible for finding every small detail that could possibly be perceived as an imperfection. Instead, step back, let the inspector do his/her job, and let the property speak for itself.

Electronic lockboxes – What are they and how do they work?

Electronic lockboxes are lockboxes that track showing activity. There are two types of Electronic boxes used, Supra and Sentrilock. Both boxes perform the same basic function, which is allow Realtors(R) access to the property while logging the day/time/individual who showed the property.

What purpose do these lockboxes serve? Many sellers want the data that Electronic Lockboxes produce for a number of reasons. The top reason is feedback. By tracking who goes in and out of the property through the box, a seller can contact the showing agent for feedback after the showing. This is especially useful on vacant properties. Secondly, many sellers like the boxes because they convey a sense of professionalism. Almost all 6% listing brokers use  Electronic boxes on their listings. Many of our sellers like to give agents the same showing access as they would receive with competing listings. Electronic boxes accomplish an important goal that we try to stress to our sellers… Make your property as easy to show as possible.

Most agents agree the key to selling your home is pricing the property correctly from the get go. The idea behind this is that properties fresh on the market see the bulk of their traffic within the first 1-6 weeks of listing. A property that is priced too high will not benefit from this traffic and will eventually net less in the long run compared to a property that is priced correctly from the start.

How do I price my property? The best method for pricing your home is to use comparable sales in your subdivision or immediate area. Essentially, what this means is that you are looking for properties in your neighborhood that have sold within the last 6 months. Ideally, you want to find properties that have similar sq ft, views, bed/baths, lot size, upgrades, etc….

How do I take into account short sales and REO’s? This is tricky. Some sellers completely disregard them, others give them too much weight. Most short sales you can throw out simply based upon the fact that less than 10% of every short sale listed will ever close escrow. REO’s are a different story. REO’s that are in good condition should be considered in pricing your property. The reason for this is that you are competing against this property for a buyer. While you may not give the REO equal weight, they should be considered.

If you need help running a CMA (Comparable Market Anyalysis) for your property, give us a call. We can run a CMA for you at no cost anytime you wish.

Are rents sincerely on the rise? The answer is that it really depends on where you are and what you are considering renting. I have yet to see any real evidence that SFR residences are renting at higher monthly rates than this time last year.  On the flip side, apartment rents do appear to be rising in select markets and this eventually could be good news for the market as a whole. However, lets look at this more realistically. When you read or hear about the cost of renting verus buying, consider that the cost of buying is decreasing as values continue to drop.  Thus, in markets like Southern California where values have dropped upwards of 40%, the cost of buying has dropped substantially. As a result, even if rents drop in 2011 in Southern California, there is no guarantee the cost of buying still may not be cheaper than renting. Thus, if you utilize a ”buy versus rent calculator”, factor in potential market appreciation or depreciation to more accurately distinguish between the two.

Wells Fargo announced they will provide 2 billion worth of loan modifications to nearly 15,000 homeowners. In addition, Wells Fargo will be paying out nearly 32 million to homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure. The Loan Mods and 32 million in payouts are directed at homeowners  who had adjustable rate loans that resulted in much higher payments than they could afford.

Nevada and Arizona are set to sue Bank of American over Loan Mods. BofA is accused of providing false assurances to struggling homeowners that they wouldn’t lose their homes while their loan modification request were pending. Bank of America announced today they will begin resuming foreclosures after a holiday suspension.

This trend has been developing for a few weeks now, thus, I wanted to break down the #’s in Las Vegas as they have been reported for today.

As of early afternoon, the Las Vegas MLS is reporting the following:

34 new listings
29 contingent listings
20 pending listings

What this actually means:
Of the 29 properties marked contingent today, approximately 25 were either short sales or pre REO properties. As a result, we can reasonably assume all 29 will not close escrow. Typically about 35%-50% of short sales and pre REO’s actually close escrow once they go under contract. On the flip side, of the 20 pending properties, it is likely that 70%-80# of these properties will close escrow. Properties marked pending are typically resales and do not include short sales or other distressed related sales.

Why this is positive:
Anytime pending and contingent properties out number new active properties on the market, that is a positive trend for sellers. The end results needs to be closed sales. The ultimate goal is for closed sales each day to exceed the number of new active properties listed that  same day. Las Vegas certainly hasn’t reached that point… but they are beginning to trend in the right direction.

Central TX MLS has partnered up with CSS to allow CSS to handle showings for Central TX sellers. Central TX MLS covers New Braunfels, San Marcos, and the surrounding areas. CSS is a showing service that allows local agents to not only schedule showings easily, but also supply feedback very quickly and efficiently. One of the advantages of CSS is that they are in constant contact with the seller in a number of ways. While CSS can schedule appointments via phone with the owner, they also provide email communication with the owner regarding future showings and past showing feedback from other Realtors.(R)