June 5th, 2007 Bob
That’s the opinion of many consumers out there in regards to real estate agents. And I can’t say that I blame them for their opinion. We’ve seen a lot of questioning of Realtor’s standard 6% commission rate of late. Check out this 60 Minutes piece on commission rates if you’ve not already seen it. It’s really worth watching.
Our Colorado real estate programs are actually a little better than the company profiled in this 60 Minutes segment, but if you’re reading this blog then you probably already know that.
We happen to agree with most consumers in that the 6% commission rate doesn’t make sense. I don’t even agree with companies like Assist-2-Sell because they charge a sliding scale fee (it goes up depending on how expensive your home is) and then they don’t even put your home on the MLS.
We don’t think there should be a difference in fees to sell some Denver real estate that costs 300k, or some Boulder area home that costs 800k. An agent needs to do the same thing to sell both properties, so why should he charge more on one and not the other? It just doesn’t make sense.
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Posted in Colorado Real Estate | 1 Comment »
June 4th, 2007 Bob
Driving around town this weekend looking at some Boulder real estate I noticed that these Prius hybrids are everywhere. I’m pretty sure that those other drivers are having much the same experience with their hybrids that I am. Namely, I’m loving it.
Toyota has really knocked the ball out of the park with the 07′ Prius. The interior continues to surprise me and my clients with it’s roominess and comfort…I don’t even like driving my wife’s Acura any more because I’ve gotten spoiled by the ergonomics of the Prius.
The guys at Mountain States Toyota told me not to really start paying attention to the gas mileage until the car was fully broken in–sometime around 5k. But over the first 2200 miles I’ve put on this car I’m getting 48.5 mpg. And it keeps going up week by week. I’m going to reset the odometer at 3k and see what I’m really getting for mileage.
When I saw the movies Too Hot Not To Handle, and then Who Killed The Electric Car, I knew I wanted to do my little part for our environment by creating a company that conserves on every level possible. The decision to go with a hybrid for our official company car was an easy choice given the enormity of the problem we face, but I never expected to really enjoy driving the thing.
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Posted in Boulder, CO | No Comments »
June 1st, 2007 Bob
As a follow up on a blog post I did a few days ago about making low-ball offers I’d like to offer these Denver real estate stats from the local Denver MLS, Metrolist:
Denver Real Estate Market Activity
| MLS |
Number |
Under |
Number |
Avg List |
Avg Sale |
|
|
|
|
|
| Area |
Actives |
Contract |
Sold |
Price |
Price |
%SP-LP |
|
Expired |
 |
| DNE |
1438 |
437 |
2472 |
$239,775 |
$235,788 |
98.3 |
|
|
|
63 |
| DNW |
468 |
188 |
1238 |
$258,892 |
$254,392 |
98.3 |
|
|
|
16 |
| DSE |
1496 |
447 |
3089 |
$490,112 |
$476,357 |
97.2 |
|
|
|
41 |
| DSW |
1108 |
293 |
1944 |
$170,404 |
$167,141 |
98.1 |
|
|
|
56 |
| DTD |
8 |
3 |
6 |
$1,102,900 |
$1,044,500 |
94.7 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
| Total |
4518 |
1368 |
8749 |
$316,044 |
$308,659 |
97.66 |
|
|
|
177 |
The 3-letter codes to the left simply represent different Denver neighborhoods.
You can see that the average difference of List vs. Sold Price in the Denver real estate market is almost 98%. So, on average, a buyer should expect to go under contract for around 3% below the list price. Again, these are just the Denver averages. So you can understand why I was arguing that most extreme low-ball offers will not be entertained even in a buyer’s market.
If the agent on the receiving end of a low-ball offer is knowledgeable they will know all about the latest Denver real estate trends, and will certainly have read the current Denver market stats posted above.
Now I know that not every agent out there is perfectly competent- but that’s true for any profession. And I always like to assume that I’m working with someone who is smarter and more competent than me, which keeps me on my toes for negotiations.
The point is: you need to do your homework before writing an offer or listing your home at a certain price. And don’t listen to the national media’s constant griping about how bad things are for the Denver real estate market, and then automatically assume that this means it’s time to write a low-ball offer. It certainly might be time to write a low offer, but there has to be some justification for your price. Maybe the house has sat on the market for a long time, maybe it’s in pre-foreclosure, maybe there are expensive repairs needed…but there should really be some justification for a low-ball offer or you are just fishing for desperation. And that usually ends up being a waste of everyone’s time.
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