"The market" delivers a lot, lately mainly excuses. For Brokers who are unable to move a property because they are not working hard enough and/or are unwilling to invest and for sellers who are unwilling to sell for what the property is worth. Now: this is strictly for our market here in Corvallis, OR. I understand that there are markets where nothing is moving under any circumstances. But that is not the truth here in Corvallis. So if it is not "the market" to blame for not selling a house, what is it? presentation: Imagine two plates with good food. On one you have a beautiful arrangement of a steak, a nice salad, maybe a rice pilaf, all well arranged, maybe with an edible flower and other pretty garnishing on a modern, interesting plate, placed on a well arranged table, a clean table... 11/08/2011

You wonder if and how people are finding your listings? Easy enough answered, walk in their shoes aka search the internet like they would do. It is an eye opening experience. Which webpages pop up first? When you click on them do you easily find your listing entering common search criteria? When you found your listing, is the data correct? Are the the right photos there? Is the price current? is the virtual tour posted? Zillow has this annoying thing that they all of a sudden display "address undisclosed". No way to correct that unless you delete the whole listing and re-post. And then you change the price, check 48hrs later if that new price is everywhere, more often than not it is not. Go through all pictures and see if the right ones are there, in correct order. Use Postlets to ensur... 11/07/2011

You are on the fence? Have been thinking about buying but are insecure about all this buzz about the RE market? Would you loose money when you buy? Here is a checklist that will help you make a decision: 1: Job security. Are you reasonably sure (there is not thing as 100% sure and life has risks you simply have to live with) that you will have the work you currently have in 2-3 years, or are you reasonably sure (not delusional) that you would get new work soon if you lost the job you have right now. Is there a 2nd income or could there potentially be one Will you stay where you are or is it highly likely that you will move in the next 5-7 years? 2: Part of your income that ALWAYS will go into accomodations How much do you spend and will always at least spend on accommodation? 3: Do you ... 11/05/2011

As usual, the devil (or your success or failure) is in the details. It starts with preparation, preparation, preparation, and the more prep you do, the smoother and more successful the Open House will be. Advertising: If you ask visitors at Open Houses how they found their way to you, there are three categories: Signage Newspaper Internet In my experience they are all mentioned often enough not to neglect any single one. So put an add in the local paper, make it VISIBLE and style it well. If your office advertises for you, even better. Then have signs up, riders on your sign a few days upfront and on the day directionals, best with ballons to catch peoples eyes Make sure that the Open House is advertised on all major webpages, Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, Facebook, whatever brings traff... 10/29/2011

What is a luxury home? Luxury homes are defined by price and by lifestyle. There are various formulas for defining a luxury home: Take the average sale price and triple it. For example, an average sale price of $250,000 would define a luxury home as being $750,000 or above. Price falls in the top 10% of an area's market $500,000 or higher Luxury homes are tied to specific areas and communities with special features and amenities for living. A luxury home is not just a home, but a lifestyle which the home offers.   Who buys a luxury home?   Luxury home customers know what they want, and they want the professionals they work with to hear what they have to say. There is a tendency to think in terms of requirements the property must have in order to be a proper reflection of who the home o... 10/28/2011

10/28/2011

10/28/2011

Corvallis           Price Range Active Listings as of10/28/2011 Sold Listings Last 6 Mos. Average Sold Per Month Months of Inventory Av. Days on Market Solds $0 - $99,999 2 2 0.33 6.00 101 $100,000 - $149,999 8 7 1.17 6.86 108 $150,000 - $199,999  20 33 5.50 3.64 118 $200,000 - $249,999 49 94 15.67 3.13 93 $250,000 - $299,999 33 62 10.33 3.19 125 $300,000 - $349,999 22 32 5.33 4.13 144 $350,000 - $399,999 33 26 4.33 7.62 133 $400,000 - $449,999 9 8 1.33 6.75 113 $450,000 - $499,999 14 5 0.83 16.80 120 $500,000 - $599,999 4 5 0.83 4.80 295 $600,000 - $699,999 4 2 0.33 12.00 200 $700,000 + 6 2 0.33 18.00 172   204 278   4.40 144 10/28/2011

Whether you currently live in Corvallis, Oregon or are considering relocating to the area, you might find this vision statement approved by the city to be an interesting statement. This is a great place to live, and the leadership which shapes the community is deliberate. Approved by Corvallis City Council June 9, 1997We envision that in 2020 Corvallis will be... a compact, medium-sized city (population range: 57,500 to 63,500) nestled in a beautiful natural setting; the historic, civic, cultural and commercial heart of Benton County; an economically strong and well-integrated city, fostering local businesses, regional cooperation and clean industry; a university town, a regional medical center, a riverfront city; an environmentally-aware community with distinctive open space and natura... 10/27/2011

An Interesting Correction & Explanation: In an earlier blog, we explained who the three members of Results Realty are, outlining the strengths of Peggy Lorence, Susan Reed and Will Parker based on our group interview with a consultant. One thing that stands to be corrected is that Will, our property management consultant as well as real estate broker was actually a titled Counterintelligence Agent. The skills involved in that kind of work are mind boggling. No wonder he has a strong grasp on the big picture while understanding necessary technical information, and it makes sense that he is an apt problem solver. Look at his past experience! For those enough in the know to understand the difference in Will's status as a veteran, they may want to know his job title as a Counterintelligence... 10/26/2011

I just read a blog from somebody looking for a good agent for her first time home buying niece. The comments and advice from agents and lenders were plentiful and surely supportive but they did not cover this part: The title offices know the back ground best.   The title office is where the transaction comes together and closes. Therefore the title officer knows which agents are easy to work with which agents are beloved by their clients all teh way to the end which agents have a great background support in their offices which agents get things done in dicey situation which agents close the deal which agents have continuous business, crisis or not which agents get their business from referrals, the best indicator for happy clients which agents have their things in orderand close on time... 10/26/2011

Isn't it interesting how different signage can be? small or big, brand new and groomed or rusty and old, faded or glorious, with extra information or totally plain and bare. What kind of sign do you use when you have a new listing? Rummaging through your brokerages' pile? Finding the first halfway decent and take it? Or do you keep a stock pile of good signs, take good care and invest in them? What do you think the sign in front of a house does for the house? Don't you agree that it should attach value to the marketing you do? Should it have a matching flyer box? Should it be clean and well visible or does it really not matter? According to NAR most people find a new property over the internet so your web approach is paramount. But what comes in 2nd place after the internet? THE YARD SI... 10/25/2011

Business is brisk. I took two offers on listings yesterday, am working with two buyers, have 5 active listings, 2 deals closed yesterday, I need to get photos, video and staging done, write ads, create virtual tours.... Next to that of course the usual stuff you have in the afternoons with two active boys, a house hold, laundry, the family financials,etc etc. And of course all always comes at the same time, there is no even amount of work in this business. So from when on do I need somebody who takes care of the routine stuff? How much is too much and how many clients can I serve well at the same time? From when on do I need to hire somebody or let business go? After going through a few of these "work bouts" I now know that I can serve 12 deals at the same time provided that one of them... 10/22/2011

Concentration is what happens when the pool of providers for a service shrinks. I for my part notice a lot of concentration going on lately. In former times the rule of thumb was, that 20 % of agents are doing 80% of the business. If I look at who is doing business right now and has during the last 12-18 months I clearly see a concentration and now 10% of the agents are doing 90% of the business. Conclusion: a)the "part timers", agents who got their license in the boom times when my dog could sell houses, have withdrawn, in fact our MLS seems to have about 20-25% less agents now compared to 2007 b) of the remaining agents the ones that were top producers in the boom times are at least as busy if not far busier c) the ones that are not well earning sink to the bottom much faster since th... 10/20/2011

The Magic Barrel, A Reading to Fight Hunger10/21/2011 location:Corvallis High School Theater1400 NW Buchanan AveCorvallis, Oregon 97330541-757-5871541-737-9560 time:7:00 p.m. features:Local live music; autographed books; food by local eateries; readings by local, award-winning authors; all proceeds to LB Food Share. price: $7 or give what you canparking: Street Parkinggreat attraction for: Families, Art Appreciation   The Mid-Willamette Valley’s premier literary event, The Magic Barrel: A Reading to Fight Hunger, is held every fall in Corvallis, Oregon, to raise funds for Linn-Benton Food Share. The unique event is named after Bernard Malamud’s short story collection, The Magic Barrel, and features approximately eight writers from the Willamette Valley who share their fiction, poems, an... 10/19/2011

The following biographical profiles are unique (and we think more accurate) because they were developed in a group interview. Each broker’s description of expertise was the result of frank comments generated by the other two members of Results Realty. Who knows your work style and personality better than those you work beside on a daily basis?   Peggy Peggy specializes in short sales and bank owned (REO) properties. She knows the process, and just as importantly, she understands what it means to be discrete. Peggy says that people are sometimes embarrassed to go through a short sale and end up in foreclosure. She would like to help people avoid this because the consequences of a foreclosure are more damaging by far than going through a short sale. In addition to caring for the feelings ... 10/19/2011

When listing a home accessibility is of premier importance. The harder it is to show your home the less likely it is that you are getting showings and are selling. Of course a big part of this are the sellers themselves. If you as a seller expect the world to circle around you and your schedule, think again. There are plenty of homes on the market. If the agent needs to jumps through 10 hoops to show your house they might very well move on and do not show it at all. The same applies to the buyer. Most people want to see homes on the weekend, if you are not willing to show Sundays you WILL miss out!. But that is the name if the game I personally experienced how difficult it is, especially with small children, to have a house showing ready at the spur of the moment. But that is the name o... 10/15/2011

But when it’s approaching the time to buy, refi or even rent a home, relatively small credit score differences can stop you from getting your dream home, and can cost (or save) you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan.If you’re at a time in your life where it makes sense to invest some time and effort into optimizing your credit score, here are five SO NOT TRUE BELIEFS we’d like to help you get over without further ado:#1:  Having lots of cash, a great income, or tons of equity, makes your FICO score less relevant.  The Truth:  No matter how much cash you have, if you want a mortgage, you must meet the lender’s FICO score guidelines.  Of course, if you’re flush with cash, it should be relatively easy to make your monthly payments on time.  But if you have come int... 10/13/2011

10/13/2011

Sharing with everybody who suffers from the frustration of a very slow internet connection and has a wireless router: My connection was so slow that I voluntarily started to go to the office to do my work (Really am preferring to work from home..). Printing was agonizing, the process stopped for literally hours, showing "flattening" on the screen, printing jobs were interrupted, huge waste of material and most important, of my time! Tried everything, rebooting the modem, dis- and reconnecting the router.... nothing. Used www.speedtest.net, it shows you your download speed, mine was abysmal. I then connected the modem and computer directly, oh, the joy, it worked like a dream, so the culprit was - the router. Bought a new router, a Belkin for $69 and my life is back to normal, great spee... 10/08/2011