5 Tips for Choosing a Realtor

After 8 years of working in real estate, I've worked with some great agents and some not-so-great agents. Here are 5 tips for finding an agent that will help you navigate your home purchase, instead of causing you headaches.

1. Ask around. The first place to start looking for a buyer's agent is by asking friends and family. Did they like their agent? How was their experience? Recommendations are a good place to start, but don't feel pressured to use a referral either. Go through the rest of the tips before deciding.

2. Check credentials. Is their license current or are there any complaints registered about them? Do they have advanced accreditation, such as ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative) or CRS (Certified Residential Specialist), or are they members of their local real estate board or the National Association of REALTORS®? Designations aren't everything, but they do show commitment to the profession. Don't hesitate to ask to see their sales volume or references. An agent who is active and recommended must be doing something right.

3. Have a trial period. If he or she doesn't mention it first, ask to sign a buyer's contract for the day so that you can see how you work together. Think of it as dating — you didn't marry the first person who asked you to dinner. Did the agent understand what you were looking for and is that represented in the day's showings? They'll get paid if you decide to purchase any of the properties they show you, and you're not stuck with them if you can't stand to be in the same car by the end of the day.

4. Trust your gut. If after your day out with your potential agent, something doesn't feel right, listen to your intuition. You should like your agent and know that they have your best interests in mind. You could be working with them for a year or more, so if there's a personality clash or a trust issue, find someone else.

5. Sign a contract. A buyer representative contract protects both you and your agent. If you don't have a contract, your real estate agent is legally a facilitator of the transaction and doesn't represent your interests. The buyer fee is always paid by the seller, anyway, so it doesn't cost you any money to use a buyer's agent.

Hopefully these tips help your real estate transaction go smoothly. Happy house hunting!


How did you find your real estate agent? What tips would you add?

Simple Inexpensive Touches to Make Your Home Stand Out on the Market

If you are trying to sell your home in this market then you know the competition is tough. There are short sales and foreclosures galore - all competing with you for a handful of buyers.

What can you do to stand out? Buyers in this market are looking for the best deal. That means your property really has to look its best to attract buyers who would be willing to pay a little more because they feel like they are really getting a better product.

Here are some inexpensive things you can do to make your property stand out:

1. Lighting. Make sure rooms are well lit. Get higher wattage bulbs if possible. Make sure all the lights work. I can't tell you how many times I walk into a home with a buyer and the lights don't work. Gloomy spaces don't make buyers want to hang around.

2. De-clutter. Get rid othe clutter and personal trinkets. Remember you are trying to sell the house. People need to see the space and feel themselves in that space. If a space has too much stuff in it or has family pictures that make it seem like someone else's space, they can't picture themselves in the home.

3. Freshen up the paint. Neutral, natural tones. This is especially true in kids rooms. Don't show the house with kids colors in the kids rooms. Buyers will not pay top dollar for a house Also, take a look at your trim - does it need touching up too. Also, look at the exterior. Does the siding need freshening up. What about the front door? Does it stand out and look inviting? These are small paint jobs that can make the home present really well.

4. Smells. If you have pets, especially. Invest in some room deodorizers. Bueyrs want to feel like a home is fresh, not stale. Try to air your home out some as we enter spring. Also, if your house is going to be shown that day, try not to cook anything whose smell may linger during the showing.

National Real Estate Trends and How They will Affect Our Local Markets

2012 seems to be bringing a much more stable real estate market. Prices are low and will continue to be low, and demand is there. This all leads to market trends emerging and those trends seem to pointing in the direction that markets will develop for many years to come.

The financial markets have made it more difficult to obtain financing, which means more money down, making homeownership more difficult for working families, singles, and first time home buyers. The new generation of home buyers is lookig at small-scale, affordable, walkable, urban communities. This is at the same time that baby-boomers are looking to down-size and also move to smaller scale, and more walkable communities. Both groups of buyers want smaller, higher quality, lower-maintenance homes in settings in which they easily know their neighbors.

This trend is evident in the direction that many developers and architects are taking as they design new developments. The communities are higher-quality and walkable with housing that requires less maintenace and is more energy efficient.

The dialoge of smart growth and issues around food supply and organic gardening are collectivley pushing toward these unique projects that orient toward collective parkspace or a shared garden with walkablity and community as key elements.

How will these trends affect Jacksonville's local markets? Outside of the urban core, new developments will be smaller and designed to mimic properties of urban core development: walkablity, park and shared garden space, small-scale. Many of Jacksonville's intown communities were developed prior to the automobile and are already walkable with parkland woven in. Community gardens have been popping up and will continue. There is also a srong push for urban ag policies, which many cities have already adopted. Buyer demand will remain strong here as long as affordablity remains low. The interest in energy-efficiency will continue to grow and could give certain properties an edge, as long as costs remain reasonable too (building green and building smart are often the same thing and can save a lot of money).

Looking to the future, our intown neighborhoods can only grow stronger if we push our communities to develop more progressive policies toward sustainable development, supporting local food movements, and to remain affordable with mixed use. This is what the next several years of buyers want and we can provide that.

First House in Jax to Receive Mothballing COA OPEN HOUSE

The legislation that created a Mothballing COA is a huge win for Jacksonville's historic districts. The COA allows owners a way to properly board and secure vacant homes that they cannot afford to renovate at this time. If properly boarded and secured, these homes can last many years until the market comes back.

Previously code enforcement was declaring these structures unsafe and having them torn down - yes, in National Historic Districts. Many of these homes were not structurally unsound as code enforcement claimed and many engineers were brought in to counter code enforcements claims (code enforcement officers are not engineers).

The house on Walnut was structurally sound. In fact the owner was meticulously restoring it. He salvaged all the doors and had taken the house down to the studs and removed ALL the nails - NOT an easy task as wood that old tends to begin petirfying. He had taken all the trim off and marked each one so that he could put it back in the right spot. This attention to detail isn't something that can de done overnight and code had given him half a mil. in fines. Restoring the house no longer made economic sense and code was going to force him to have the house torn down - even though it was in a National Historic District and structually sound.

So, he donated the house. The new owners applied for the first mothballing COA under the new legislation. They are going to hold an open house on January 8, from 3-4:40. Please stop by, the house in on Walnut Court. Just off of Walnut Street between 7th and 8th. There will be wine and cheese and you can take a look at what one of these old beauties looks like inside when it is well cared for and before it has been renovated.

Exploring the Historic Districts During the Hoidays

This weekend kicks off the Holiday Home Tours season in Jacksonville's historic districts. This Saturday and Sunday will be the 21st Holiday Tour of Homes in San Marco. With up to 9 stops and a luminaria, it is always a lot of fun. If you go on Sunday, I will be at one of the houses on River Road. More information can be found here

The Springfield Christmas Home Tour is the next weekend, December 9th and 10th. On the 10th, there will also be a neighborhood Springfield luminaria. You can find more information here

If you are a runner, a fun 5K is the Holiday Magic and Festival of Lights Run on December 10th. It is an evening run and the route is lit up by luminarias - a different and fun way to do a 5K.

This year marks the 28th anniversary of Riverside Avondale’s beloved Luminaria celebration. The traditional lighting of the lanterns at sundown will occur Sunday, December 18th. The ever-popular Luminaria Bike Ride will leave from City Cycle on Park Street at 6 pm near European Street. More information can be found here

Whatever your fancy, there's lots to do to kick off the holidays

Thank God for the Fall Real Estate Season

I always come out of the summer real estate season worried and anxious. Summer is the slow season for real estate intown. I have seen sales drop consistently the 8 years I have been in real estate during the summer months. But then there is always Fall. Things pick up again and are pretty steady into Spring.

Going into this Fall I was concerned about general market conditions and would it pick up like it always does? It did. In a crazy way. This November has been my most productive month ever. Ever. I have been analyzing the stats all month trying to figure it out. I think it is an indication that the intown real estate markets maybe hitting bottom? Dare I say it? I certainly hope so.

If buyer demand continues and we don't get a new surplus of supply (i.e foreclousres) then supply and demand may actually meet each other.

Of course, only time will tell, but I am certainly hoping so.

Welcome back from a Thanksgiving weekend. Here are the latest real estate headlines to start your week!

Welcome back from your Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Football Overload weekend. It’s Cyber Monday and the start of the last week in November. The holidays are almost upon us and to add to your festive spirits, here are some real estate headlines for this week:
•KCM Blog shares some research on the age old question Rent or Buy?
•The Wall Street Journal reports on the strong conditions for luring home buyers, but warns of some obstacles.
•Realty Times takes a stab at answering the timely question, should I take my home off the market for the holidays? •And finally, Curbed.com has one of the most unique properties I’ve seen in a while. It’s a home located at the top of a volcano and inspired by a nuclear power plant.