I am asked constantly whether it’s a good idea to add a Realtor on to a new home contract. Is it a good idea or will a homebuilder penalize you by holding back on available incentives. Let’s discuss a few basic truths to answer that question.

SET INCENTIVES AMOUNT

The sales person in a new home model has a set dollar amount that they are allowed to use to discount the home in an effort to close the sale. That dollar amount changes month to month based on sales needs but there is rarely an opportunity to get more off on the home. Some weak sales people will give that money away the second you walk in the door. The good sales person will hold back and offer a little off the price to see where you stand and then offer just enough more to close the sale. This tactic makes you believe you got a better deal by negotiating them down when in fact they were playing on your emotions. They typically hold back on some of the money for later in the homebuilding process if something goes wrong and they need to offer money or free appliances to make the problem go away. Here is where a Good Realtor can make sure you get the full discount or more.

REALTOR COMMISSION BUILT IN

Close to 80% of all new home contracts are brought to the new home builder by Realtors. Due to this fact, the majority of new home builders place a 3% padding into the sales price to cover a Realtor’s commission. If a home buyer does not have a Realtor, that 3% goes to the builder’s bottom line and is rarely ever given to the home buyer. The sales person does not have the ability to give it away without the corporate office’s approval. It’s corporates job to increase margins not give money away. It has been my experience, both as a Realtor and as a New Home Sales Person for many years that having a Realtor on the contract does NOT hurt the deal. In fact, 9 times out of 10, a GOOD Realtor can get you a larger price reduction than the set discount amount using past new home sales and negotiating the price per square foot, etc.

OTHER BENEFITS TO HAVING A GOOD REALTOR

• A GOOD Realtor will know the new home builders and can assist you in choosing the right one based on quality and customer service, not just attractive floorplans.
• A GOOD Realtor will know which new home communities will not only fit your needs but will also provide you the best investment and resale in the future.
• A GOOD Realtor will be able to negotiate the best deal for you and help you keep your costs lower by suggesting which upgrades are really worth it and which ones can be done later at a huge savings. Builder upgrades are where they make most of their margins and usually upcharge over 100% on the actual cost. $500 in crown moulding will cost over $1,000 as an upgrade.
• A GOOD Realtor will be able to assist you during the home building process to identify real vs. superficial problems and help you make sure these issues are addressed and corrected.
• A GOOD Realtor will be able to identify whether using the homebuiler’s mortgage company is a good deal or if it’s better to use an outside lender. Often times, a builder will add incentives if you use their mortgage company. Nothing is free, their interest rate is usually higher (not always) which is why they can give the extra incentive money. Unless you plan to sell the home in less than 4 years (which is not wise unless the community is closed out), it’s almost always better to go with the lower interest rate.

Notice I said, “A GOOD Realtor”. Not every Realtor is going to know the ins and outs of the homebuilding business and ensure that you will get the very best deal. If you are in the market for a new home or simply have questions, please email me or call me at 800-326-9011 and I will be happy to help.

RESEARCH NEW HOME BUILDERS IN DALLAS FORT WORTH
Highland Homes
David Weekley Homes
Darling Homes
Huntington Homes
New Lineage Custom Homes

If you are thinking about selling your home in the Dallas Real Estate market, you will be happy to know that the Dallas area has one of the lowest average sales times in the country. According to research conducted my Altos Research Co., only Denver has a faster average sales time than Dallas. The report estimates that it takes about 80 days to sell a home in Dallas, compared to 110 days for the other cities surveyed. So, how do you beat the market average?

THERE ARE 3 WAYS TO SELL YOUR HOME QUICKLY!

1. Price your home to sell! If you prepare a truly accurate Market Analysis, then you will have a good idea of what price your home should sell for if it sells in the average sales time. If you want to sell faster than 80 days, then consider coming down on the price by $3,000 to $4,000. Anything more (on an average priced home) and buyers may think the price is too good to be true and worry. This will help your home stand out to a buyer’s agent and encourage the buyer to jump on a good deal. Research has shown that the average Dallas home, priced $4,000 below average market sales price, sold in significantly less time.
2. Stage your home to show! Have you ever wondered why new home builders stage their model homes the way they do? Simply put, homebuyers usually buy based on emotion, not logic. They have a hard time seeing past the clutter to image themselves living there. If you don’t have time to organize and unclutter, then simply stick everything in boxes and move it out of the house (temporary). Also, try rearranging the furniture to improve the flow of the house. Remember, less is more in staging a home. You show me a home that sold for top dollar quickly and I will show you a staged home!
3. Marketing, marketing, marketing! It is important, when interviewing Realtors, to know how they plan to market your home. Most Realtors have little or no marketing budget and merely list your home on the MLS. It is important to list your home in as many places as possible to make sure your home is in front of the right buyer at the right time. The Internet is not the only place to sell your home but it is an amazing sales tool. If you are going to take full advantage of this tool, the make sure you list your home with as many photos as humanly possible. Make sure you stage your home first as this will make your home look more appealing in the pictures. I would also suggest paying a hundred dollars and have a Virtual Tour done. Some Realtors will help cover the cost or pay for it themselves.

Also read, “Use Technology To Sell Your Home”

When listing your home online and on the MLS, your home should be listed with as many photos as possible. It amazes me when an agent (even very experienced agents) lists your home on the MLS without photos. Sure, they will eventually get the photos online but wow, what a missed opportunity! Hundreds of thousands of homebuyers subscribe to “just-listed” listings. Do you want the first impression of your home to be merely text? Do you think anyone will call to see your home? Nope! The MLS only allows a few photos but there are free services like Picasa that allow you to create a slideshow with virtually unlimited photos. Plus you can use the link to the Slideshow in the MLS which feeds to Realtor.com.

If you are interested in selling your home in the Dallas Fort Worth area and would like to speak with me, I would love the opportunity to show you how we can help sell your home quickly and for top dollar. We have a Real Estate office in McKinney and Flower Mound. Call us at 800-326-9011 or email us today!

Many people ask me whether they should try to sell their home by owner rather than paying a REALTOR to sell it for them. That is a relatively easy question to answer but a hard one for many home sellers to swallow. It’s always hard to give up part of your hard earned equity and unfortunately, many Realtors fail to truly earn their commission making it even harder to let go.

If you pull up the real estate stats for the North Dallas area like McKinney, Frisco and Plano or even some of the Tarrant county areas like Keller and Flower Mound, you will find that over 80% of the home sellers that list their home as for sale by owner eventually enlist a REALTOR to sell their home for them. For the other 20%, more than half say they would never do it again. Of the other half, 7% sold their home to someone they knew so really, less than 13% of FSBO sellers actually stuck it out and weathered the storm.

Why is that so many home sellers turned to a REALTOR? Below are three reasons found during a homer seller survey performed by NAR:

Eighteen percent of FSBO sellers indicated that preparing the home for sale was the most difficult task when selling without the assistance of an agent, followed closely by understanding and performing paperwork (16 percent) and selling within their desired time frame (15 percent).
From NAR’s 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

As it turns out, FSBOs don’t always come out with more money. The numbers always tell the truth.

Homes sold with the help of a real estate professional in 2006 sold on average for 32 percent more than FSBO sales. The median FSBO selling price in 2006 was $187,200, compared with $247,000 for agent-assisted transactions.
From NAR’s 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers

There are many reasons that a home would sell for more with an Agent but I think the biggest reason is exposure. What does a home seller do when a home has been on the market for a very long time? They reduce the price again and again until it sells. The more exposure you have, the less likely you will need to reduce the price as you have a better chance at exposing that home to the right home buyer at the right time.

• A good REALTOR will have a feel for the market and will be able to help you price your home to sell quickly. If it is priced too high, you will get fewer visitors and have greater competition and if you price too low, people will wonder if something is wrong and it may sound too good to be true.
• Buyers feels more comfortable and willing to spend more time looking around your home when you are not there which is very important.
• REALTORS spend a lot more money marketing your home than the typical homeowner spends on their home.
• A REALTOR has many more avenues to get the word out about your home and word of mouth is the greatest sales tool.
• Most home buyers contact a REALTOR before searching for homes and those agents usually do not search FSBO listings except as a last result. The reason for this is that many FSBO sellers have a “No REALTORS Welcome” attitude.
• 85% of all home buyers begin their home search online and the vast majority is through Realtor websites that only show homes on the MLS.

If you are still interested in selling your home as For Sale By Owner in the Dallas Fort Worth area, we offer the ability to list your home on our website for free. No hidden costs even if someone contacts you from our site and buys your home. We will even offer a free For Sale By Owner sign to place in your yard. All we ask is that if you ever decide to use a REALTOR, you will give us the opportunity to sit down with you and show you what we can do for you and how we will market your home to sell quickly and for top dollar.

God bless and good luck in selling your home.

Purchasing a home is probably one of the most important investments of your life. This involves additional responsibilities and major decisions which can generate stress and anxiety. It is important to ensure you make the most informed, intelligent decisions possible in regards to the details of your next home. Below are just a few of the many myths that we wanted to dispel.

Buyer’s Myth: A seller will reduce the sales price to compensate for a buyer not using a Realtor.

Buyer’s Reality: A seller will generally take this opportunity to pocket more money and not want to give that up. Statistics show that sales prices are lower when a Realtor is involved, not higher.

Buyer’s Myth: A smart buyer will always know when a sales price sounds like a good value.

Buyer’s Reality: There is a calculation involved when determining the price per square feet plus the individual amenities in a home. Then the numbers of comparable sales in the area must be factored in and so on. This expertise takes a lot of experience to really understand the market and values. List price and sales price can end up being very different.

Buyer’s Myth: I can examine a house as well as a Realtor and discover potential problems that need to be addressed in the initial offer.

Buyer’s Reality: Texas Real Estate agents have experience in determining whether potential issues are cosmetic items, or whether they need to be negotiated. A Realtor introduces their Buyer to a qualified Home Inspector who has invaluable knowledge in detected true problems. A great agent then negotiates the sales price with the help of the home inspector’s report.

A licensed REALTOR in Texas can be a great asset and their services are completely free to the buyer. Why take a chance on your own when you can have a team helping you make the right decision for you and your family?