For Home Sellers

Most home buyers are smarter than smart home technology

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Many of us use “smart home” technology. For example, I have a thermostat that is on the internet and can be controlled with my phone. Same with thescreen print from Kasa app washer and dryer. I am interested in getting some smart locks so that I can lock the backdoor from anywhere or maybe just check to see if it is locked.

Some of our light bulbs are smart bulbs that I have on timers and I have some smart electrical outlets that are on schedules. One of them controls some lights that come on at sunset.

There is a camera in my office that is also on the network. I can control it with my phone and I can see what is going on in my office from anywhere. Several of my neighbors have “Ring” doorbells so they can watch the packages being stolen from their front porch from anywhere or just replay it when after they notice the packages missing.

In the standard Minnesota purchase agreement used by Realtors, it says that the homeowner has to give the home buyer the passwords and control of smart home technology.

I recently read an article about how a homeowner in another state could not control the devices in his home. I think it was one of those stories based on an idea a reporter had and he found someone to go along with it. I can see so many workarounds including removing the offending device.

For one thing, as soon as these devices are off of wifi they can not be controlled. Once they are on new wifi the owner should be able to reprogram or find someone who can.

Most homeowners do not leave active Wifi behind.  Thermostats can usually be controlled at the thermostat. They can also be reset completely. Once they are offline they can not be remotely controlled.

Light bulbs are not that smart. It is probably best for the homeowner to replace them with dumb bulbs and take the smart bulbs when they leave. It is the same with smart outlets. Once they are unplugged they are stupid. I have two different types and they all have reset buttons.

If for some reason a homeowner comes in possession of smart home devices that are out of control there is always help online through the manufacturer. They know even more than your Facebook friends or the not-always-friendly folks on Nextdoor.  There are also numerous free guides on the internet that are actually pretty good.

It is nice though to have passwords so that devices do not need to be completely reset. Having the code to the garage door opener is nice too but they can also be reset.

If I bought a home that had smart devices I would ask for the passwords as a condition of closing. I would also reset those passwords as soon as I took possession of the house. I would remove any device that I could not control or reset. Problem solved.

The relationship between clicks and offers

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

We have a lot of data these days. Much more than we had when I started in real estate 21 years ago. We can find out how many times someone clicked on one of our listings on any of the major real estate portal websites.

On some sites, we can see if our listings got more visits than similar listings.

We can also see if the listing was “favorited” by a buyer and if that buyer has a local agent we get that information too through “reverse prospecting”. When someone shares one of our listings with a friend we can see that it was shared.

The information is interesting but I have yet to see a correlation between clicks and offers.

It is true that people who are not planning to buy a house anytime soon will spend hours looking at them online. That is a good thing because those future buyers become more familiar with the housing market.

house in winter

In the end, to sell a house we need one good offer. Only one person can buy it. If a lot of people are looking at it online we know that it is being well advertised and that the type of property and maybe even the price appeals to a large group of people.

I sometimes look at historic houses online because I like historic houses. I also get ideas for staging by looking at homes that are for sale. Looking at real estate photography has helped me to perfect my own real estate photography.

How many times does a home get shared, viewed, or saved before it gets an offer? Is the number a constant or does it vary by neighborhood and price range?  Sometimes the offer comes the day the house goes on the market because someone saw a for-sale sign.

I have also found that some housing styles get more attention online yet they take longer to sell. Lofts are an example of that most of the time.

Don’t get me wrong it is nice to have all of that data but sometimes I think people attach more meaning to it than they should. We do know that people look at n average of 6 to 12 houses before they buy one but that doesn’t include time spent looking at pictures online.

I use analytics on this site which will turn 18 later this year. I know from experience that when the traffic goes up we usually see an increase in real estate buying and selling activity six weeks later.

Sevice has changed

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
Turret collage
Turrets

The meaning of the word service has changed. It used to be all about helping clients and responding to client or customer needs.

I don’t believe that giving clients a questionnaire prior to meeting with them is a service. They do that before medical appointments so the doctor can set the tone and show how little they care about patients as humans.

I think that asking questions that are tailored to the situation is a much better use of my client’s time. Asking each question once should suffice.

I never ask anyone to download an app onto their phone so that they can work with me. For people who want to work with an app, I can make that happen but it isn’t required.

Customer satisfaction surveys are crap. Many businesses state that they are performing a great service when they ask us to fill out a satisfaction survey. The surveys often miss the point or fail to allow us to highlight our extreme dissatisfaction, or are so ridiculously long that I feel as though people should be paid for their time.

There are aspects of customer service that can be automated, like voice mail and autoresponders for email. They both help small companies like mine. I can not always answer the phone or an email immediately but it doesn’t take me long to get back to the people who contact me.

Sometimes I think that businesses believe that they will appear to be more professional if they use a lot of forms and processes. Often when people call with a question the very first thing they get is a series of questions. The processes create unnecessary friction that makes it harder for people to use a service or buy a product.

Nothing says I don’t care about you or have any empathy for your situation like a generic questionnaire. I think that is why doctors’ offices use them so much.

Customer service isn’t about putting people on hold and letting them know that their call may be recorded for quality purposes.

I don’t have any generic clients. Each one is unique and so is each property that I represent or sell.  You can call or write and I’ll do my best to provide professional help with your real estate needs.

The spring market for 2023 starts today

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
Lilac
Lilac

There are a lot of misconceptions about the real estate market. One of them is that June is the month that the real estate season peaks with the highest prices and the largest inventory of homes for sale.

Most homebuyers prefer to buy in Spring even though waiting until summer usually means some savings and better service.

Last March was a very challenging time for home buyers. There were multiple offers on houses before anyone was even allowed to tour the house. Even with higher interest rates, I expect the same this year because the demand for houses is still higher than the supply.

In fact, it may even be worse this year as homeowners decide not to sell because they won’t be able to get the low-interest rate they have today.

Usually, we see the peak in home sales in April which means that offers are being made in February and March.  Homeowners still have to get their houses on the market in time for the seasonal peak in mid-March.

This is the week to interview Realtors and to have repairs made and any painting that needs to be done. The ideal time to put the house on the market is sometime in February, which at this point is next month.

Houses can be bought or sold any time of the year but the spring season starts today.

The high price of waiting for perfection

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

porchI am never going to say that “now” is a good time to buy a home or to sell one. There just isn’t one “now” that is best for everyone. However, over the years I have observed how much it can cost to wait for the perfect time, price and house.

Holding out for that perfect house in the perfect location that is a bargain can mean an extra decade of paying rent, as it rises each year while trying to save for a downpayment and missing out on building equity.

People who bought houses when interest rates were high generally paid less and refinanced later on. There are no guarantees when it comes to buying a house but most people need a place to live and in the long run, people who own real estate are able to build more wealth than those who do not own real estate.

There isn’t ever a perfect time to buy a house or to sell one.