7 HOMES SOLD WITH HOMEOWNERS CONCEPT!

We  found out during our first sale that their agents sell a lot of homes, many more than your average broker. That is a great advantage to have when you need representation. We have listed 7 homes and condos with Homeowners Concept in the last 22 years and have saved thousands of dollars on each sale! Plus they don't charge any extra fees other brokers tack on. Each transaction with Homeowners Concept allowed us to "move up the real estate ladder" buying a more expensive home.
Our 2 agents have been highly skilled as you would expect. When we sold a home in Whitefish Bay our agent ironed out a number of issues with the inspection and occupancy. This saved us valuable time during the peak market season. When we had a cash buyer for a condo we owned in Pewaukee our agent got a bank letter to verify the buyer’s funds. Again, we did not turn other buyers away if this buyer was not qualified. Their agents know how to move fast and efficiently so that sellers can close quickly.

Since buying and selling with Homeowners Concept, we have saved tens of thousands of dollars that would have been paid in realtor fees. Why get burned twice in this current real estate market? You will get burned the first time by the poor market and you will get burned twice with the high 6% commission typical of other realtors.

We are now in our dream home but, when it is time to sell again you can bet we will be on the phone calling Homeowners Concept.

Barbara and Dr. Bob C.

Another Glowing Testimonial

I have done four real estate transactions over the last several years. I have had outstanding service with Homeowners Concept. The process of listing, showing, selling and purchasing were made so easy for me to understand. The education that was provided to me at no charge and the knowledge that was bestowed upon me was beyond impressive. I initially chose Homeowners Concept because I just didn't want to give away the profits of my first home sale to the Real Estate Agent in big commissions. I was charged far less than the 6% companies. I have recommended Homeowners Concept to many of my friends and all have been pleased with their experience. I will continue using Homeowners Concept for any and all of my future transactions. Thank you for your expertise and saving me a bundle.
Sincerely,

Stefani Miller

NOT a smart move...

This property at 242 N. 112th st in Wauwatosa had been for sale with us for a few months. The listing agent knew and the comments by buyers viewing this property confirmed the fact that it needed a lot of updates for the money (it was an estate sale). The sellers did bring the price down to $169,900 but refused to go any lower. Part of the problem was that another home on the same block had received an Accepted Offer and it was priced in the $160's. Never mind that the interiors were completely different, in the sellers' mind it had to be the "Realtor". When the time came to the expiration of the listing contract these sellers acted upon the idea that another broker would somehow produce different buyers that would indeed like the interior for $169,900.

So after a few days off the market the home reappeared on the market with the Realtor that had the home down the street. BUT the price was dropped to $155,000; $15,000 LESS than they had it priced with us AND now the sellers were paying thousands more in commission PLUS hundreds more in closing costs! Hah?

So all along the sellers were blaming us for not selling the home when in fact the sellers didn't give us a shot at selling the home at the right price. The smart thing would have been for the seller to stay with us and reduce the price by the $15,000 and go on to save thousands in commissions at the end.

Bottom line is that if a home doesn't sell with our company with the vast marketing and expertise we offer, the price needs to be adjusted. Look, no matter what the selling price ends up being, one can always count on saving thousands in commissions AND closing costs.

Selecting an Agent Based on Highest Recommended Price is a Mistake

You are planning to sell your home and interviewing a few potential real estate agents to help you with the process. Each agent describes their services and offers up a pricing recommendation based on their knowledge of the local market. Often agents with the highest recommended prices ooze with confidence and say “I can get you $50k more than the other guy.” Of course sellers want to maximize the amount that they receive for their home, so time and time again, we see sellers making their selection based on the agent who promises the highest price. Choosing your agent based solely on the fact that they recommended the highest list price is one of the biggest mistakes that a home seller can make as evidenced by the daily high rate of reductions (typically, 130-150 homes get a price reduction each and every day). Let’s look at why.

There's No Place Like Home

1. Inflate the price to get the listing – This is one of the oldest tricks employed by real estate agents to get your business. Listing contracts are lengthy and exclusive to the listing agent. By luring you in with false hopes of a higher price, they know that once they have the listing, they have a few months to work on you to whittle down the price until the point that it sells. When competing with other agents for your listing, there are plenty of agents out there who will outright lie about the market value of your home to get the deal.

2. Ignoring negative features of the house – Just because a neighbor’s similar house sold for a certain amount does not automatically mean you will receive the same. Maybe your house hasn’t been maintained or updated like your neighbor’s home or the floor plan is not quite as desirable. Sellers often ignore such factors in hopes of getting a higher price, or maybe some negative factors simply don’t bother them after years of living in a house. The agent who ignores such negative factors when pricing a home is doing the seller a huge disservice. Even if these negative factors do not bother you as the seller, they will impact the amount that buyers are willing to pay for your home.

3. Real estate agents cannot guarantee a price – Real estate agents are not able to tell you how much your home will sell for. That is a sales pitch perpetrated by aggressive agents. Agents who start the sentence with “I can get you $XXX…” should be viewed with skepticism. An agent can only provide you an estimate of what they think the house will sell for based on recent sales and current supply and demand in your neighborhood (this is where expertise plays a huge role).

4. The market determines value, not your agent – The actual market value of your home is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Supply and demand changes periodically and your home needs to be priced to entice buyers to choose your house over your competition. If there are fewer buyers in the market or higher than normal inventories (as is the case now), your price needs to be more enticing to attract a buyer.

5. Free advertising for the agent – You may find this hard to believe, but it may not matter to your agent if your overpriced listing doesn’t sell. Having a sign in your yard, your listing on their website, and hosting open houses can all be ways that the agent will attract new clients.

6. Shorter market times produce the best financial results – Sellers who took the bait of a higher suggested price often grind away on the market for months or years at a time with repeated price drops. When the home finally sells, it ends up at a more realistic price that was originally suggested by the more conservative agents. Had you taken their advice initially, the home would have sold much quicker for the same net result.

7. The comparables don’t lie – Does the data really support the higher list price that an agent is suggesting? Are the recent sales truly similar in age, size, configuration and location to yours? Don’t be duped by a set of comparable properties that are listed at higher prices unless you have evidence that properties are actually selling in your neighborhood at those price points. Looking only at unsold listings can be misleading, as there are certainly a fair share of overpriced properties on the market. List prices do not necessarily equal market value.

8. There is both art and science to determining home prices – There is a wealth of information and market data available online these days, and a rigorous analysis of that data will help you to arrive at a realistic price for your home. However, an agent who offers data analysis without looking at a range of properties in person is being lazy. Every piece of real estate is unique, and a proper pricing analysis does involve in-person analysis of the home, competing homes and the surrounding neighborhood.

9. A reputable agent will turn down an overpriced listing – The list price for a home is ultimately a seller’s decision. However, an ethical agent will turn away a listing that is clearly not going to sell at the proposed price. It can be a waste of effort for the agent, and it does a disservice to the seller with long market times and sub-optimal financial results.

10. The second agent will save the day – The best agent to be in this scenario is the second agent that comes on board after the first agent’s listing expires. The first agent promised a sky-high price, but after 6 months on the market and numerous price drops, sellers often become frustrated and will switch agents. As the second agent, the home is likely queued up at a much more reasonable price, and with a fresh listing and a bit more marketing, the house finally sells. The replacement agent looks like a hero to the seller, but in hindsight, the seller could have achieved the same result months earlier by not falling for the promise of an overinflated price.

As a Company, we end up losing multiple listings every month because we are “outbid” by agents who claim to be able to get a higher price than us. For the past 2 years we can say with confidence that ALL of those potential listings did have to drop in price at or below the price we suggested. It does neither us nor a seller any good to overpromise on a price that clearly won’t work, especially in today's real estate environment

BBB honors Homeowners Concept.

Today Homeowners Concept was recognized by the Better Business Bureau during the annual Torch Award luncheon, for 25+ continuous years of great service and an A+ rating. Homeowners Concept Realty is the only large real estate company to have 25+ years of an A+ rating with the BBB in metro Milwaukee.

This award is a testament to our deep desire to not only provide thousands of dollars in commission savings but to do so with uncompromising quality of service. We're extremely proud of this achievement. If you want to deal with a superior company that's filled with superior agents, Homeowners Concept is that company.

WE'RE NOT A FLAT FEE COMPANY & DO NOT CHARGE AN UPFRONT FEE!

In 2009, Homeowners Concept switched from being a flat fee company to charging just 1.5% of sales price. Our flat fee before was around 1.5% anyhow as it was a tiered fee, so there is very little impact to any of our clients. The primary reason behind the switch though, was the fact that we HAD to disassociate ourselves from the other Flat Fee/Limited Service companies which have popped up in the last few years and are now showing histories of very low success rates (60-70% of their listings DO NOT sell) while charging the sellers a hefty upfront fee of around $500. Most of these outfits are doing just MLS data entry, and they could care less whether the home sells (they got paid upfront!). They do not provide marketing or any professional and ongoing expertise. The sellers that list with flat fee companies are pretty much on their own. Thousands of sellers have fallen victim to paying the hundreds of dollars upfront, wasting months or years on the market and having to turn to another broker (or to Homeowners Concept) to eventually sell.

Homeowners Concept on the other hand is a FULL service company which offers more marketing and more experience for less commission due to innovative and efficient systems and has been around since 1984. We have a vested interest in making sure the home gets maximum exposure (percentage wise we spend the most amount of money advertising properties of any company) and bringing expertise to get the home sold. That entails advice on staging, getting feedback from buyers, properly negotiating the contract and subsequent issues with inspection, financing, closing, occupancy, etc. We have also earned an A+ BBB rating - one of only two large companies to have this! We actually work very hard for the money and we DO want the homes to sell.

The flat fee outfits are usually one or two person shops because it is such easy money for little work with NO pressure to sell the homes. The proliferation of these is reminiscent of the online FSBO websites that were started as internet became mainstream. Hundreds of them have shut down in recent years as consumers wised up that spending hundreds of dollars upfront to be on "somebody's" website that received virtually no hits, was indeed useless. We feel the same fate awaits the MLS only/limited service companies.

Effect of the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

This morning the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales in July plunged 27.2%.

Not surprisingly, the end of the homebuyer tax credit caused these sales to fall off a cliff. People just didn't realize how high that cliff was.

In case there was any doubt that it made a difference, this chart from Waverly Advisors shades in the period of the tax credit. Home sales started rising immediately, and have fallen off immediately with the tax credit's expiration. The July numbers to the far right are the lowest in the last 10 years.

As we move away from the distortion that the tax credit caused, we expect sales to rebound to levels witnessed early in this decade, especially with mortgage rates at around 4%.

Getting the right selling strategy.

Metro Milwaukee home values appear to have stabilized despite a daunting inventory of homes for sale. Although this is certainly good news for anyone trying to sell their home, it can prove to be quite tricky when it comes to developing a pricing strategy.

If you are unsure about the changes in home values, and how this may affect your pricing strategy, you’re not alone. Most sellers want to price their homes aggressively, and also price them to reflect the changes in buyer habits; but they also don’t want to price themselves right out of the market.

How to Develop an Accurate Pricing Strategy:

• Hire a qualified, seasoned real estate agent – This is one area of selling your home that you don’t want to skimp on. Find a top-notch agent who understands the market and will advise you on how best to present your property to the buyers. Such an agent sells a lot of properties (far more than the average), works full time and is a veteran in real estate. As many of you know, all of Homeowners Concept agents fit these requirements.
  
• Price it right – Although this may seem like a no-brainer, many sellers, absolutely sure of their ability to sell their home at a higher rate than other comparables in the area, find themselves sitting on their property without an offer in sight. The bottom line is that your pricing strategy should accurately reflect neighborhood home values, not your idea of what you think your home is worth.
• Develop a realistic sales strategy – Decide upon your sales strategy beforehand so that your game plan is put in place. More importantly, however, make sure your sales strategy is flexible so that you can react according to the market and according to home values.
• Make it ready to sell – Most buyers of today are looking for turn-key properties, so make sure your home is in excellent condition before you list it for sale. It is important to realize that all the pricing strategizing in the world can’t make up for a home that doesn’t compare to other homes in the neighborhood. Clear out the clutter, stage it to sell, and perform any repairs or upgrades that will allow it to compete with other homes for sale in the neighborhood.

Rent With the Option to Buy

We closed on yet another home that was rented with the option to buy. The sale was completed in less time than was allotted in the contract, as the buyers were able to qualify sooner and get the low rates of today. During the time of the Rent to Own contract was in effect, the seller was able to cover the mortgage while the buyer worked on getting the downpayment and bringing the credit score to a level that they could qualify. Increasingly this is an option that sellers turn to to sell their property, especially if the property is vacant.

The way the Rent to Own program works is as follows: Buyer agrees to rent the property until such time (usually up to a year - but can be extended) that the buyer can get a loan. The buyer cannot qualify for a mortgage upfront due to credit, length of time on the job, sufficient downpayment or other reasons. Buyer would pay an upfront "option premium" which would not be refundable (usually around 1 to 2% of sales price ). In addition any amount above and beyond an average rent for a similar property can be credited toward the downpayment of the buyer.

From the standpoint of the seller, the Rent to Own provides a temporary tenant that could look after the property and help with the mortgage. The buyer on the other hand gets into a property they can call their future home. As a result they can make improvements with the blessing of the seller. Most times the sellers agree to the improvements/updates since it makes their property more valuable. At the point in time that the buyer can get a mortgage the property can go to closing and seller can transfer title. Homeowners Concept has done hundreds of Rent with the Option to Buy contracts since 1984, as a result we are very familiar on how to negotiate and structure the contract so that the property does eventually close.