Columbus-Area Home Sales Remain Strong Heading Into Fall

It was a busy summer for home sales! There were 3,116 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of August, a 4.8% increase over the previous year. This was the highest number of closed sales for the month of August ever recorded and the second highest month for 2016, according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.

“Central Ohio home buyers are still being very aggressive in their decisions to purchase homes" said 2016 Columbus REALTORS® President John Royer. “Since demand for homes continues to be so high, potential sellers are encouraged to get their home on the market – they don’t have anything to lose!"

The average sales price of a home in central Ohio during the month of August was $204,629, a 3.3% increase over August 2015. During the month of August, central Ohio homes and condos spent an average of 34 days on the market, which is 29.2% (14 days) shorter than last year and just one day longer than July.

“Inventory and new listings are beginning to taper, but this is to be expected as we head into the fall selling season" Royer said. “However, it’s still a terrific time to list your home as buyers remain eager for inventory and home values remain high.”

According to the latest Housing Market Confidence Index by the Ohio Association of REALTORS®, 98% of central Ohio REALTORS® would describe the current housing market as moderate to strong. When asked what the single most important factor that they believed limited their buyers from purchasing a property so far this year, 92% said difficulty finding the right property because of low inventory.

“Homes are continuing to fly off the market, even as inventory begins to dwindle,” Royer said.”

Zillow to Buy Trulia for 3.5 Billion

If you've bought a home in the past decade, you're probably familiar with Zillow and Trulia. Both are residential real estate online databases founded in 2005 that list information on homes available for sale and rent. While this information is free to the public, real estate agents must pay to advertise their listings, and have the option of paying more in order for their listings to show up toward the top of search results. This is made evident by Zillow's "Premiere Agent" program.

The two sites currently account for 48% of listings web traffic (excluding local sites), and have the potential to control over 70% of online real estate searches. Both sites are already industry leaders. In June,  Zillow and Truila together had 68.4 million unique users. ComScore reports that Zillow-Trulia traffic is 3.5 times greater than Realtor.com traffic. However, Realtor.com is known for more accurate prices than both Zillow and Truilia, because it is run by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and thus can access the multiple listing service (MLS).

The deal was announced Monday, July 28th and is set to close next year. Zillow's cheif executive officer, Spencer Rascoff, maintains that both sites will retain their separate brands and web presences. Investors are happy and consumers are not yet drastically impacted; however, agents have another story.

While many agents accept these online sites, others do not support them. For example, some agents disagree with Zillow's "Zestimates," claiming that they inaccurately portray home values. However, the merger leaves little bargaining power for disgruntled agents. Bradley Safalow, Founder of PAA Research in New York, warns against Zillow increasing agent advertising costs, noting that some brokers may take their listings off of third party sites all together in an attempt to increase traffic to their own webpages and reduce advertising expenses. Indeed, gaining a larger advertising share is the primary motive behind this acquisition--Los Angeles Times cites that $12 billion is spent on real estate advertising each year. Sissy Lappin, founder of ListingDoor.com, claims that Zillow seeks only to buy out its competition, not improve information accuracy. While neither Zillow nor Truila is profitable yet, Zillow hopes to save $100 million annually by cutting repetitive costs. It will be interesting for all parties involved to see how this deal changes the real estate playing field.

TV Shows For Real Estate Fanatics

Real estate is not just a business--for some, it's a general interest. Today, many magazines and TV shows cater toward people who are interested in homes and real estate, even with no plans to buy or sell in the near future.

Magazines such as House & Home focus on decorating, while Better Homes & Gardens and Good Housekeeping take a more holistic approach on entertaining, cooking, and staying healthy. Others focus on architecture (Architectural Digest) or a specific lifestyle (Southern Living, Romanic Home, Real Simple, and Country Living). Click here to briefly read about each of these magazines, along with a few others.

HGTV also has a magazine that features decorating ideas, articles, and every day home solutions. You can subscribe to the magazine here. However, HGTV is better known for its television shows that deal with varying aspects of home ownership, renovation, and decor. You can read a summary of some of the channel's most popular shows, below:

House Hunters-This show follows home buyers and renters as they tour three different properties. Viewers get a full tour of each home, as well as information on price, size, age, and amenities.  Next, viewers watch the homebuyers as they debate which of the three homes to buy or rent, based on their wish list and budget. Tune in on weekdays at 10p/9c. Variations of the show include House Hunter International, House Hunters Renovation, House Hunters on Vacation, House Hunters: Million Dollar Homes, House Hunters' Guide to House Hunting, and House Hunters: Where are They Now?

Property Brothers-Join brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott as they help couples find, buy, and transform fixer-uppers into their dream homes all within a specified budget and certain amount of time. Tune in on weekdays at 9p/8c.

Love it or List it: These hour long episodes show homeowners' struggles when they must decide to either renovate their home ('love it") or sell their home ("list it"). The show pits Realtor David Visentin and designer Hilary Farr against one another as David tries to convince homeowners to sell their current home and buy one of the three properties he shows them and Hilary tries to convince them to keep their home after she renovates and redecorates it given the family's budget. Tune in on Mondays at 9p/8c

HGTV Design Star-this reality TV show documents the competition for one designer to win his or her own show, similar to The Next Food Network Star. Contestants partake in weekly interior design challenges, sometimes alone and sometimes in teams, with one competitor being eliminated each week until only the winner remains.  Contestants are given both time and budget restraints. Season eight premiered last summer and, unfortunately, new episodes are not yet showing.

For a complete HGTV program guide, click here.

Going Mobile: Real Estate Apps for iPhones, Androids, and iPads

In the real estate market, demand continues to trump supply. Homes in Central Ohio are changing hands quicker and, on average, sitting on the market for less than three months. That’s why it’s so important that you have easily accessible tools to help you stay up-to-date in your home search. For those of you who have used Realtor.com in your home search, good news—Realtor.com also has apps for iPhones, Androids, and iPads.

iPhone Users: Realtor.com’s iPhone app is free to download and has many of the same capabilities as the website itself. You can customize price range, size, age of home, and even school district among other things. The app also has a feature for open houses and foreclosures. If you’re renting a home, no problem. Realtor.com’s Rentals app allows you to take photos and notes while touring a rental.  It also notifies you when you’re near a rental you’ve saved.

Android Users: Similar to the iPhone apps, Realtor.com has Android apps that serve both buyers and renters. The apps have many of the same features, such as a price change alerts on saved listings and the ability to highlight the area in which you want to search. The Rentals app allows you to tailor your search based on what is most important to you, such as pet and parking policies. It too allows user to take and share their personal pictures and notes.

iPad Users: Realtor.com’s iPad app gives you access to the largest and most frequently updated set of real estate listings available. It offers even more search criteria as well as larger images.

Of course, nothing compares to the guidance you receive when you work with an agent one-on-one. I would love to have the opportunity to earn your business; contact me to see how I can be of help!

Watch a brief tutorial of Realtor.com's iPhone app, above.

Why You Need a Realtor to Sell Your Home

Some sellers try to save on commission by listing their home "for sale by owner." Instead of the listing being entered in the MLS, which requires an agent and feeds to more than 900 internet sites such as Realtor.com, for-sale-by-owners (FSBO) market their home using yard signs, alternative websites, and word of mouth through friends, relatives, and neighbors. 31% of FSBOs don't actively market their home at all. Because 90% of homebuyers search the internet for potential homes, and 87% use a real estate agent to gain information, FSBOs are at a severe disadvantage. 

The result? The average FSBO home sold for $174,900 in 2012, while the average agent-assisted home sold for $215,000. The for-sale-by-owner thus would likely have gained more money using an agent, even after commission. Perhaps this is why FSBOs accounted for only 9% of home sales in 2012. After all, why would a buyer be willing to take the time and effort to buy a house directly from a seller when the buyer could get much more help from a licensee?

FSBOs usually don't sell their homes for many reasons. It's difficult for FSBOs to show the property. Homes with nicer interiors than exteriors will miss out on home buyers who drive by the home and are not told of the home's great interior features. If someone does come to the door and ask to see the home, the owner takes a great security risk. Agents accompany buyers in all home showings. Moreover, any time the seller is not home, the house is off the market and cannot be showed. When you work with an agent, the property is constantly on the market, because the buyer will have a licensee to provide requested information at any time. 

FSBOs face financing issues. Buyers may want help in deciding where to go for a home mortgage and may not understand the process. Oral negotiation is also a problem. A licensee will put an offer in writing and ask for a good faith deposit so that the seller only needs to sign an offer if the offered price is acceptable. FSBOs, and even general attorneys, often cannot properly and promptly fill out a contract form. Agents are expert negotiators, and written contracts ensure the buyer doesn't back out or try to buy the house for a lower-than-agreed-upon price. An agent's educational training allows him or her to draft a valid contract that will not end up in court. 

Real estate agents ensure that enough time is devoted to a seller's home. Agents can help sellers fix up their home for sale, attract potential buyers, understand and preform paperwork, help buyers obtain financing, and, most importantly, get the right price within the planned length of time. Looking for an agent? Contact me to see how I can help. I've lived in Central Ohio all my life so I know today's market very well, and as a full-time agent, I'm 100% dedicated to my clients. Visit my website here.  

What is a CMA?

Overview:

"CMA" stands for comparative market analysis. This service can be prepared by licensed real estate agents, and it commonly used to price a home for sale. 

 How it works:

An agent gathers and analyzes property characteristics of homes currently for sale, homes recently sold, and listed homes that did not sell. These demonstrate what buyers actually pay in the marketplace, what owners of similar properties are asking, and the resistance level of buyers to overpriced listings, respectively. A CMA compares the subject property (property being appraised) and comparable properties--similar properties in the same market area that can be used to help estimate the value of the subject property. Agents adjust for differences between the subject property and each comparable property. Adjustments are always made to the comparable property. Adjustments are subtracted from the comparable property if the comparable is bigger or better, and added if the comparable is smaller or less desirable. Finally, the values given to each property are reconcilled. The property most similar to the subject will be most heavily weighted.

Example:

If a comparable property has one more bedroom than the subject, and a bedroom is valued at $10,000, then $10,000 will be deducted from the comparable property. Note: it may have cost more or less than $10,000 to build this room--a CMA considers value (what buyers and sellers believe a certain feature to be worth) rather than cost. This is illustrated when homeowners build pools: they often spend more on the pool than they can resonably expect to get out of it in resale. The value of the pool is, therefore, less than its cost. 

What it will cost you:

Nothing. I provide free, no obligation consultations to help you know what will help your home sell quickly and for the most money. Call, text, or email me to set a convenient time to meet.  

JackCurtis@kw.com / 614-893-8337.
Visit my website here.