traditionally is the best time to buy and sell real estate, even through the
downturn.
Issues of tight credit linger, and median home prices continue
to decline, though more slowly. Yet there appear to be enough positive
indicators to push once-reluctant sellers into the market.
Among those pluses: record-low fixed interest rates for mortgages and the highest
affordability levels since record-keeping began in the 1970s.
For sellers, it is time for real estate theater. The house is the star. The cast
includes agents and brokers, home inspectors, title people, mortgage companies,
lenders, underwriters, and, obviously, buyers.
What is the seller’s role,
and how big is their part?
That varies, said Diane Williams of Weichert Realtors in Blue Bell, Pa.: Some sellers’ personalities make them very
“hands-on”; others consider the agent “the professional with great experience –
‘you handle the transaction, I am too busy to worry about the day-to-day.’”
Some sellers proofread entries in the multiple-listing service and brochures about their properties “with a microscope,” Williams said.
Others won’t even bother to look at their listing.
Paul Leiser of Avalon Real Estate at the New Jersey shore said he believes the Internet has “empowered
both sellers and buyers with more data than they have ever had access to
before.” While “we are dealing with more informed involvement on the part of
both the buyers and sellers, it still requires the Realtor to analyze all that
data and summarize it in a way that provides useful information that can be
utilized,” Leiser said.
Confrontation can be minimized, he said, if an agent keeps the seller informed every step of the way.
“Sellers get particularly ‘brainy’ in terms of the value of their home, but the reality is
that they may not be aware of all recent comparable sales, or been inside those
comparables, to really pinpoint value,” said Mark Wade of Prudential Fox &
Roach in Philadelphia.
These days, said Art Herling of Long & Foster
Real Estate in Blue Bell, houses are sold twice: once when the sales agreement
is signed, and the second time during negotiation over the home
inspection.
“Communication with the seller during the process is always
important,” he said.
Broker Craig Lerch Jr. of Lerch & Associates in
Abington, Pa., said sellers needed to know that there were two “wars that you
need to win: the beauty pageant and the price war. Once both are in line, the
house should sell.”
Sellers seem open to what he and his agents suggest,
Lerch said. First is to have the house professionally staged, rather than have
an agent tell them how to do it.
Sellers are “changing colors that are
too bold by having them repainted,” he said. Some are having their houses tested
for radon, inspected, and even appraised before they hit the market.
“A savvy and engaged seller looks at comparable sales with an open mind, rather
than a ‘This is what I want or need’ approach,” said Joanne Davidow of
Prudential Fox & Roach in Philadelphia.
“A seller who thinks he or she knows it all may be left with an unsold house and a disappointing outcome,”
she said. “They often move on to the next agent and sometimes the next, but at
the end of the day, the house sells for less.”
Sellers should make their houses available for showings, said John Duffy of Duffy Real Estate in the
Philadelphia area. The seller should not, however, enter into conversation with
the potential buyer or his or her agent, or the appraiser or home inspector,
“for any reason.”
Noelle Barbone of Weichert Realtors in Media, Pa., said
a seller’s presence at a showing not only makes buyers uncomfortable, “but makes
it hard for them to visualize what it would be like living there.”
Cherry Hill, N.J.-based home inspector Harris Gross said sellers “interpose themselves”
in one of every 50 inspections.
Sometimes, the seller perceives the inspection as a reflection of their maintenance habits or “they are there to
defend each point raised during the inspection with the goal of saying their
home has no defects and the issues raised are without basis,” Gross
said.
“I typically try to tactfully discourage this type of seller behavior when these situations arise,” he said.
Sellers seem to be intervening a bit more in this market because they’re aware of the competition –
and recognize that it might be a while before another prospective buyer shows
up, said Kristin Keller, of Key Building Inspections in Kimberton, Pa.
Having the seller present can make the buyer feel “awkward and
intimidated about asking questions, Keller said. “The objective of the home
inspection is for the buyer to understand the condition of their purchase. It’s
an education process.”
Still, said Marilou Buffum of Prudential Fox &
Roach in Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood, she understands the
emotional reaction of sellers who “have lived in and love their
house.”
“Our job as their agents is to advise and to educate them as to
the present climate and conditions,” Buffum said. “We cannot make decisions for
our clients. We only advise and represent.”
Copyright © 2012 The
Philadelphia Inquirer