Mastery of the process

The real estate brokerage industry has gone through some dramatic changes in the seven years that I've been privledged to particpate in it. And quite often, the acceptance of these changes could be marked by the industry-wide kicking and screaming as we struggled to accept, innovate, and keep up. Yet nothing has had more dramatic an effect on the way we do business as the advancement of technology. In the early 1990's, only 10-15% of buyers started using the internet as a primary search tool. And my industry was shaking in its pants! After all, we were the keepers of the information. If you wanted to know anything about what homes were on the market, when they sold, what they sold for, or even to get access to them; you had to come to us. Then all of a sudden.....OMG! If the consumer now had access to all of this information, then what did they need us for? Even though I wasn't a Realtor a the time, I distictly remember op-eds talking about the end of the real estate brokerage industry as we knew it. Needless to say, these gloom and doom scenarios never materialized. But,we don't even have to go back that far. The transaction itself is quickly turning into a paperless affair. For example, Coldwell Banker's Homebase system takes the entire transaction online giving all parties online access to all pertinent informaton and documents. And as expected, some agents are balking at having to turn over pertinent paperwork and/or information about about their clients.

Reality check: We will never again be the keepers of the information. And our value to the public that we're so priviledged to serve lies not in some fictitional proprietary claim to John Does' phone number and email address.

Our value is derived from the mastery of the process!

sell the large home now...the net effect

Our present economic environment has created a discernible paradigm shift in the psyche of the American populous. The signs are everywhere, that bigger is no longer necessarily better. For example, luxury car brands are now offering compact cars, and many home builders are now rolling out increasingly smaller models.

I feel a bit compelled to write about this trend because I'm presently speaking with a prospective home seller of a large home, and he's considering down-sizing (surprise surprise!), yet this homeowner is hesitant to bring their home to market because my assessment of the property's market value is somewhat lower than his. Could this possibly be you?

If you live in a large home and are thinking about selling it for whatever reason, here are just three reasons why selling now is better than later.
1. The trend amongst affluent buyers is to buy a home that's smaller, smarter, and more energy efficient. Simply put, the demand for large homes is decreasing, and so are the selling prices.
2. Jumbo Loans are becoming scarcer and harder to qualify for. Coincidentally speaking, the FHA loan limit for Jumbos has been reduced in many areas. So even if the buyer pool for larger homes is still be ready and willing, will they be able to buy?
3. Reason #3 is in my opinion the most compelling. Presently, in Miami-Dade County the months of inventory of homes under 3000 sq. ft. is 7.1, while the months on inventory of homes over 3000 sq.ft. is 12.3 months! The effect of this difference in months of inventory is that your large home will continue to depreciate for a longer period of time than the the smaller one that you'd like to buy. To mitigate this situation, consider selling your large home now, and you'll be much more likely to have more money to take with you towards the smaller home home because you will be both selling and buying in the same market cycle. The possible peril of waiting to sell is that one runs the very real risk of selling on the downside of the market cycle while then buying on the appreciating side. So instead of having $10.00 to apply towards your next home, you could conceivably end up with only $7.00.

So if you don't want to miss out on those three bucks, sell the large home now!