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FOUR TIPS TO GET THE BEST FROM YOUR LISTING AGENT

 

Aside from selling their houses in the shortest time and for the most money, many first-time sellers really aren’t sure what to expect, from their listing agent! The truth is, what you can expect are the very things that a good agent is uniquely qualified to deliver. Focus on these four areas, to get the best from your agent.

Need For Speed One of the most important attributes when selling your home is closing the deal within a specific time frame. This is as true today as it was back in 2011 or 2012, based on a survey of real estate consumers conducted by The National Association of Realtors®. The need for speed is apparent in most transactions and usually presents a delicate situation for sellers, as timing is largely dependent on price. Experienced agents will communicate your sales proposition to potential buyers, without compromising the opportunity: “Do you want to sell quickly? Or do you want to sell for the best price possible?” With solid market knowledge, sales experience and networking, a good agent will know how to balance the two and work the deal to your advantage.

Beefier Marketing As a seller, marketing your property to the maximum number of qualified sellers is an important requirement, as it opens up the opportunity exponentially. Even though an improving housing market is speeding up home sales over past years, it is still no easy task to sell your single-family home, multi-family home or apartment without the right marketing plan. And as a first-time seller, the perfect plan may not be in your reach.

Good agents are experts at varying the depth and breadth of the marketing efforts required to get the result expected by the seller. If you feel the proposed plan looks skinny, task your agent with a beefier marketing plan to ensure your property gets the widest and most targeted exposure possible. Ask your agent to share the listing presentation with you and ensure go it goes beyond the basics of listing on the MLS, with specific marketing tactics targeting specific demographics of potential buyers.

Pricing To Win The most challenging part of the listing presentation is establishing what your house is worth on the market as the list price (or even a price range) can make or break your chance at getting the best deal. As a seller you will have conducted your own research on homes for sale in the neighborhood but should still expect this magical number from your agent! Experienced agents know the home buying-selling landscape well and are more in touch with buyers’ expectations. They can greatly simplify the process of coming to agreement with the buyer about the best. price. Ask your agent to benchmark a sale price for a neighboring property and spend some time researching and validating the price to get more comfortable with your agent’s way of working.

 Finding The Buyer As a first- time homeowner, you may have big expectations but not enough knowledge of the home- selling process. For example, you may think it makes little sense to widen the marketing efforts to other agents when it just be focused to the public at large. Despite what you may have read up on or been advised, it is the agent who usually finds the buyer, and sometimes that can be another agent, who will bring in the buyer…. hence the need to go beyond the search for individual buyers! Despite a killer presentation, full-on property marketing and individual sales effort, finding the buyer is what your agent can do best for you.

 Pricing your property, knowing buyers’ expectations, meeting those expectations and following through successfully is what you can expect from a good listing agent. Use these tips to get the best out of yours.

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HOW TO SPOT A WIN: WIN RENTAL PROPERTY

If you want to build up your property portfolio on the assumption that any rental property will fit the bill – you could be in for a shock! There are various factors to consider when investing in a specific rental property and you must move forward only after ticking all the boxes. Lucrative as some rental properties may seem at first glance, only after taking ownership will the realities surface. You will spend time dealing with property and tenant issues nonstop. They will present problems throughout the tenure of ownership and impact your bottom line, even as you try to liquidate them eventually. Buying the discount property a few towns over from where you live will no longer be the good idea it seemed at the time.

But the right rental property can completely change all that, generating handsome returns over the long-term. Use our tips to spot a winning proposition.

The difference between Deals and good deals A rental deal may look great when presented to you on paper but the realities could be very different. With rentals, Rentability is the first thing to consider, leading to the type of tenants the property will attract. A rental in a poor market will invariably generate poor tenants. A better property in a better area will get you the desired rental. Know the difference and be prepared to pay a little more if you need to.

 Negotiate the lowest purchase price Every dollar on a rental deal is important. Contrary to what some investors believe, purchase price is just as important on a rental property as on a rehab deal. If you will finance your purchase with a bank loan or mortgage, a higher purchase price will increase your monthly outgoings and lower your cash flow. If on the other hand, you can negotiate the price 5% lower than the market value, you will reduce not just your capital requirement but also your cash flow. Don’t cheap out on a good deal, but at the same time, try to negotiate the lowest purchase price.

Focus on rentals dollars Always shortlist properties with the maximum cash flow potential. With a flip, all you need is one interested buyer to make an offer, based on the property’s evaluation – and it is done. But it is a different ball game when it comes to rentals. A new kitchen or updated flooring may make the property look great but it may not convince prospective tenants to pay more than fair market value.  200 lost rental dollars every month will hit your cash flow by 12,000 dollars in 5 years! That could amount to 15% loss on a 100,000-dollar home.

Saleability Before making a decision, you need to consider where the property will be a few years down the road. Simply basing your decision on current market trends and sales trends is a risky way of going about building your portfolio. Against a backdrop of ever-fluctuating real estate trends, it is hard to predict when the bottom will suddenly drop out. What happens then? Are you going to be in a position to sell for a higher amount? Or atleast break even on your investment? Location, commercial development and overall land values will affect your property’s market value, but without upgrades your property won’t rent or sell for top dollar. Traditional home buyers will consider the same probabilities when evaluating your property, as potential renters. Budget the cost of maintenance and upgrades to your property in the interest of saleability.

Have an exit strategy Most buyers don’t think about the worst-case scenario but truth being told, the best of rental properties eventually run their course. Despite best intentions, you may face a situation where you may have to cash out on your property. Hopefully you will never get to that stage, but if your property is limited in its appeal to find the right buyer, a quick sale is highly unlikely. You will have limited rent flexibility and if you decide to sell, the market won’t allow you to get top dollar. Always have Plan B in place, based on the worst-case scenario.

All rental properties are not created equal, but knowing the difference makes all the difference!

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IS THERE A “RIGHT TIME” TO INVEST IN REAL ESTATE?

One can argue, times are tougher today, in the real estate business. At least tougher than what they were a few years ago, in a seller’s market. The real estate market has and continues to present its own unique set of challenges to investors, but let’s face it – there’s still money to be made in this business. If you are one of the fence-sitters in real estate investing, thinking about “the right time,” you need to think again! Because there really is no “Right time”! There are hidden opportunities in every market scenario and with the right approach, you can make a tidy profit from real estate investing.

Opportunities galore. Today, real estate investors can benefit from a greater number of opportunities than at any other time in the past. Why? Because there are a number of factors that has come together in creating these opportunities. Low mortgage rates, and interest rates mean it is still easy to find affordable financing. The inventory of homes is growing in single-family homes, duplex and multiplex homes, apartments, condos and investment properties. The buyer/seller interest remains robust across all these property scenarios. Add to that the home foreclosure rate, and it really is a good time to start investing.

 There’s no perfect time. The savvy investor will tell you, there really is “No perfect time” to get into real estate investing! Real estate investing, just like any other form of investment, comes with its own risks and no guarantees. Trying to time the market can create longer than necessary delays, as you wait for the right cues. And once you do invest against the backdrop of “Perfect” cues, other non-controllable factors can mar your investment plans. Stock markets, interest rates, global property trends and local developments all shape the market. Before taking the plunge, you need to know the market, evaluate the risk/reward scenario, be prepared to take a risk and complete your due diligence – these aspects go a long way in generating positive investment returns.

Investment income. Unlike fixed income, passive income takes time to accumulate, and the sooner one starts investing in real estate, the closer one gets to building up passive income through asset appreciation and related capital gains. The good thing is that you don’t even need to put more capital into a property that you have bought, other periodic funding for property management requirements. And the rental income it generates for you over time, contributes towards your passive income. Over time, this income can cover the initial outlay for a second property, helping to move closer to your goal of building up a sustainable and profitable property portfolio.

Depending on the nature of your real estate investment, you can generate a strong return on investment over time. Having said that, there are many a case, where a rushed decision brought about by lack of due diligence, legal issues, insufficient market research or poor investment advice has led to huge losses and erosion of capital. So, if have made the decision to enter this investment asset class, don’t wait for the magical “right time” to start. Do your research, take the services of experienced and qualified real estate agents, realtors, property managers, investment houses and housing professionals in seeking out the right opportunity for you.

Most importantly – get started today!

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