These are two of the best strategies you can implement for saving on your utility bills as well as making your home more competitive in the resale market.

Buyers will be looking for energy efficiency. About 40% of all current new construction is being built to Energy Star standards and the new building code is incorporating requirements that will ensure efficiency at 15% higher than the previous standard. That means, quite literally, that if you don’t plan to sell for five years, you will be competing against Energy Star homes.  As long as there is land to build on in North Carolina, and we have a ton to go, your resale will need to illustrate its ability to stand up to the new inventory if you want to maximize your profit at sale. So upgrading IS a good idea; I have blogged on this many times before.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/print-edition/2011/07/08/home-builders-in-nc-must-meet.html

So how does one choose one’s contractor and equipment?

First, let’s see a) how far you are going with your remodel b) are you open to very cutting edge technologies such as geothermal air conditioning?(will depend on your lot size) and c) what fuel and heating system are you currently operating on to heat your home? Natural gas? Propane gas? Oil? Electricity only? Here is North Carolina as I suspect other parts of the country, both natural gas and electric heat are far cheaper than propane gas driven heat. You’ll want to be sure your contractor is knowledgeable in Energy Star version 3.0 strategies for saving energy. Heating and Air Conditioning contractors (HVAC) are soon to be certified for this purpose since Energy Star 3.0 guidelines are rolling out but the list is not yet available. However you can read all about it on the Energy Star site with tips for picking your contractor: 

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=find_a_product.

Look for heating and air and then 10 tips for choosing a contractor.

There is also a more up-to-date site for credits that expired in 2011 or changed for 2012:

http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US43F

The brand of unit you pick is something you should discuss with your qualified contractor, since local fuel rates vary in different parts of the country. A geothermal unit may or may not be possible.  They are VERY expensive up front, but there is a 30% Federal Tax credit with no ceiling in place for a Geothermal unit, and the energy efficiency achievable is amazing.  We have a Geothermal in our Energy Star home and, for instance, we increased the home size from 2400 sq ft to 4200 sq ft and the utility bill stayed even simply because we went with geothermal heat and air in the remodel. Windows should DEFINITELY be Low-E – these contain an argon gas that helps prevent heat loss in winter and sun-heat gain in summer. Make sure all the windows are thoroughly caulked and also use a qualified contractor.All these strategies, besides saving on utilities and making your home more competitive, will reduce your consumption of fossil fuels thereby reducing your greenhouse gas emissions, and don’t you feel good about doing your part to help save the planet? I hope this gets you all  off to a good start!

It’s 2012, Happy New Year!

They say New Year’s Resolutions are a waste of time, a passing fad and soon forgotten, but what about your long range real estate plan? As part of your 2012 strategic planning, will you stay the course in your real estate story?

It is of ultimate importance to have a plan, a dream, and to design the real estate path that will get you there. The New Year is a great time to write down that long range plan, commit to it and refer back to it often to be sure you stay on track. Like anything else, committing your plan to writing makes you accountable to your own destiny. Don’t we all want to someday retire comfortably to the beach, mountains or a far off countryside? Staying on course is important even in these tough economic times when it seems you may be forced to live in your current home forever. Take heart, the economy is as fluid as an amoeba and WILL change; your situation WILL improve, and by the time it does you may have missed out on some great real estate opportunities if you haven’t committed to a plan.

First, summarize your long range plan in a single paragraph or two. Write your real estate story; affirm the goal of where you want to be in five or ten years, confirm it with family and spouse, and make it an expectation rather than a hope.

Next, break the plan down into many baby steps. Here is the secret of all good planning. Folks often are looking so clearly over the forest to the horizon that they miss the trees. It is not enough to dream, to envision, to imagine the big picture. The most successful people know that once the plan is designed, one must commit to putting one foot forward at a time; commit to a timeline in which to accomplish baby steps. The is the proactive approach to your dream. Think of each step as a microcosm slice of the long range plan and that plan becomes the real estate story that YOU write. Understand the importance of accomplishing each baby step and focus on only the current one right now.

This is the example of Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe: They live in a home built in the 1990′s, and it is their second home. They have always envisioned selling it to move into a larger home and ultimately selling that to move to the mountains with a comfortable retirement when the kids are gone. So their long range goal is to use their real estate turnover to help supplement their retirement nest egg and it is a 10 year plan. Sometimes the plan seems hopeless because their home is almost under water based on the last appraisal and their retirement nest egg took a 50% hit when the market crashed and hasn’t quite recovered though it’s on the rebound. They are still making good household income, paying all their bills, have reasonable debt and no problems servicing that debt. The kids are paying their own way through college.

They have just finished putting their Christmas decorations away into an oh-so-overflowing attic and of course this has set the stage for tension. So they decide to write down a few paragraphs about their long range plans and start to wring their hands over the loss of house value, the hit to the portfolio, the face that the landscaping is now overgrown and needs attention, the driveway is cracked, the fixtures are looking dated and the house is too cluttered to show very well. This makes them more depressed and they begin to argue about what the house is worth and when they should sell it, and how are they ever going to pay for their daughter’s wedding never mind retire to the mountains .

Does any of this sound familiar? As they argue, the dream drifts further and further away; feelings of hopelessness are making them less and less motivated to take any action at all. Now, I am not a psychologist nor marriage counselor but it seems to me that they could halt this downward spiral by breaking the long range plan down into some very manageable steps — the microcosm approach.

They might begin a list that looks like this:

1. January: Purge everything in the attic right now while it is top of mind and you have just looked at a number of things that you might be able to toss or give away. If you haven’t touched it in two Christmases, toss it or offer it for free upon pickup to your contact list. Don’t try to make any money off these items unless they are antiques. I promise you, you will waste more dollars of your time and money prepping it, posting it, packaging it and letting strangers into your house than this process is worth. Think quick purge. Deadline, end of January.

2. February: Start changing hardware, one room at a time, to update it to current buyer preferences — just one room at a time. Again, give away the old fixtures unless they are rare or very valuable. Do this step until early spring when it’s time to trim all the landscaping!

3. March: Trim all the landscaping way, way down. Most evergreens, knockout roses, privets and hollies can handle a hard cutback. I’ve gone down to 14 inches and they spring back much more beautiful. Confirm with a gardener before you trim. Plan to remulch your yard at this same time.

Now I could give you 9 more steps that would be microcosms of what Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe need to be doing right now in order to stay on track with a 2012 real estate strategy that will help them work toward their long range goals, but it is time for me to stop and explain why I am choosing these steps.

First of all, cleaning, purging, trimming and updating are extremely satisfying – they are their own reward. Besides involving some good old-fashioned fresh air and exercise, which is good for the psyche, they are also slowly adding equity back to their home. In tiny degrees they are preparing it for that ultimate sale. The sale is critical to the balance of the long range plan! If your home is unable to complete with current new inventory in its look, style, bells and whistles, you could have trouble pulling out the equity you need for the plan. Furthermore, as long as there is still land in the Carolinas to build on (and there’s a ton) there will be a need for resellers to compete with that market, to provide compelling evidence to the buyer that their home is as fine in look and lifestyle, but has the edge of being tried and true!

Because Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe are SO down in the dumps, they might just cover up the entire list EXCEPT the January goal. Don’t jump around. Concentrate on doing the one month task and doing it well. The focus is very rewarding. Both spouses need to contribute to the month’s target task. I promise you will stay on track if you approach your plan very deliberately in this fashion. As always, if you want help evaluating the condition or readiness of YOUR home, call me 919-795-5973 and I will help you with that list. Don’t try to rush it, the market is still not ripe for your resale. You have at least a full year to make the home sparkle!

Remember, Baby Steps! And Happy New Year again, make 2012 count as one more chapter of your real estate story!

Warmly,

Meg

Saturday, November 26, 2011
Giving Thanks for the Little Things

Typically I am asked by my buyers what in my opinion is the best time of year to buy a home? Though there are many factors that affect this, there are certain seasonal conditions that could weigh in your favor if you are still looking in November. So, this is not such a little thing, but those of you who haven’t yet found your dream home can be thankful that the buyer’s rush, at least for 2011, is behind us!

First, consider that most sellers are advised to put their homes on the market in very early spring. In that part of the year, many buyers are out enjoying the gorgeous early spring of the Carolinas providing much visibility and opportunity for sellers. The problem with NOT buying in that same time frame is that you might lose the perfect home, the dream home you have had your eyes on, if you don’t move rather quickly. Granted, there is competition among buyers in spring. On the other hand, sellers are very motivated to spruce up their homes and stage them properly in a season where they can expect many buyers. So, for the greatest choice of inventory and the most attractive inventory, one might say that spring is as good a season for buyers as it is for sellers.

But, hold on, isn’t this blog about buyers in November? Well, yes, I’m getting to that!

If you are fortunate enough to have seen many homes that suit your taste and buying criteria, and price is really now the most critical factor, you could be in very good shape in autumn. By autumn, many homebuyers, especially those with children of school age, have already bought and settled in. By the end of October, the excitement of the Parade of Homes has waned, and anyone who was waiting patiently for the Parade inventory is writing up an offer. Left behind are the homes and townhomes that may have been very appealing except for price. It is true that some sellers, even some builders, need to get to a point where the home has been on the market 8 months before they consider a price reduction, and, in this economy, price is the entire and only reason these homes don’t sell. It’s not lack of marketing or agent talent and is usually not related to condition, though more about this in another blog. EVERY home will sell at the right price even in a thin buyer’s market.

This is GREAT news for our buyers who haven’t yet made a decision provided that decision is due to having TOO many good choices. Now, in November, sellers will offer considerable price reductions and attractive incentives including closing costs and a greater willingness to make changes and repairs than possibly any other season, hoping to attract the buyer who wants to be home “For the Holidays.”

So keep this in mind as you browse the landscape and remember you can make an offer a few percentage points off listing, or negotiate for appliances, closing costs or small changes. This is the time of year to do just that. Call me for professional guidance – we hire only the best agents with YOUR best interests in mind. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Shopping Sprees! Be safe!

Contrarian in the the Luxury Market and Beyond:

I was wrapping up my day and getting ready to make a few client calls when I get this quick note from a lender colleague about my video, Why I Don’t Want Your Listing – Remodel to Sell. It struck me right then how several colleagues would surely think that I’ve finally lost my marbles once they see the video! Not an unfair assessment if you knew how I’ve been working through nights on some marketing for my Women’s Business EXPO, but that’s a good story for ANOTHER blog.

C’est la vie and on with my story. I decide I need to write this quick note called, “The Contrarian Realtor,” and each week I will give my friends a hint of a different perspective from someone who has seen it all, or at least most of it And it would hopefully explain the contrarian position I take with regard to listings in 2011.

In money management, the word contrarian is used to describe investment strategies that really go against the tide of market and analyst sentiment. If the analysts say, “Buy, buy, buy,” because this stock is at a great price and value, the contrarian will mostly likely sell it, and if the analyst says, “Sell, sell, sell, (any similarity to Jim Kramer is purely coincidental as I really think he is a contrarian at heart)” due to bad news on the horizon, the contrarian, if it’s still a healthy balance sheet, will most likely buy it. Well, there IS a lot more that goes into it, but that’s the gist of it, and that mindset has almost made the contrarian strategy mainstream in recent years!

So, it’s time for a contrarian approach to real estate. A listing agent walks in and tells you why it’s a great time to list your house with all the usual sound bites, “The buyers are really out in spring, I’m going to do some amazing marketing for you, you have a truly unique home, it’s only going to cost you blah percent and then you can buy one of these beautiful new homes in abc subdivision at an an amazingly low price when you sell!” Well, hello, what makes you think you are going to get enough money to get that amazingly low-priced new inventory on which there are so many builder incentives right now? If buyers are out trying to bottom-fish, what makes your house so special that it is insulated against that cruel and exhausting negotiation where, eventually, one side feels simply defeated (usually the seller)? I am not exaggerating here, nor am I drawing this picture in your mind for the sheer drama of it. This type of thing is STILL happening all over the Triangle and I have been here long enough to know it won’t last. This is one more phase in one more cycle.

So, I come in and tell you, “I don’t want your listing.” Surprised? Don’t be. Even if you have NO mortgage and just feel like a move, I will tell you to hold on rather than leave money on the table. I know the next Realtor will NOT give you the same advice, and I know someone will eventually take your listing, and I will have walked away from a commission, but I can sleep at night knowing I am living by my own principles — one of which is that it is LESS important for me to take your money right now than it is to help safeguard the pricing structure of WHOLE communities by telling you NOT to sell right now.

I would imagine most Realtors are not looking at the forest for the trees. Each home, each listing presentation, represents X dollars in their minds, and pockets. For me, helping to preserve Triangle pricing and homeowner equity and therefore mitigating the freefall of prices (or at least contributing even one degree toward preventing that freefall) is for me SO much more important – it’s leaps and bounds ahead of making that one commission because client loyalty and a future housing recovery will be their own reward, both personally and financially for me.

So, call me crazy, or call me a Cat of a Different Color! But call me! Meow!