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Dear Hamptons NY Home Seller: Your Open Listing Isn’t Working For You.

March 7th, 2011 category: SellersNo Comments »

Dear Hamptons (Southampton, Wainscott, Amagansett, Bridgehampton, Sagaponack, East Hampton, Water Mill, Sag Harbor, and Montauk) Home Seller,

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YOUR OPEN LISTING ISN’T WORKING FOR YOU.

While it might have seemed a smart idea to engage several listing companies to promote your property in an “open listing” scenario, you are losing prospective home buyers for your home.

Why?

Your listing agents do not provide access to your contact number when a call is placed to their company, requesting further information, and an appointment.
When a cooperating broker is involved (a Realtor with a buyer), there is no incentive for any of the dozen or so real estate agents “promoting” your home to facilitate contact with you. They DON’T GET PAID if a cooperating broker with a buyer has interest in your house.

So, while your property might appear in several venues, Realtors with ready, willing and able buyers ARE NOT PROVIDED WITH THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO MAKE CONTACT AND SET UP A SHOWING. This is the sad reality of the service home sellers often encounter in an “open listing” set up.

1290582_sport_seatsPicNik It is also why open listings went away years ago in most areas- it simply doesn’t benefit the home seller, or create an efficient showing process. It’s simple: real estate agents taking open listings are not generally willing to go to expense in order to provide sufficient exposure, because there is no guarantee of payment.

A possible scenario: expense to promote the listing is provided; a buyer sees an ad and, with their own real estate agent, seeks to look at the property. This leaves the adverti$ing real estate agent out. Out of the contract process, and out the money.

Your house is not being promoted well in an open listing situation. When our buyers request to see a home that they’ve found online, or driven by, and get us the number on the sign (or, the internet number), when it’s an open listing, the real estate agent does not provide your contact number.

When your property is listed with one (good, ethical) broker, the contact number is right there, the appointment is facilitated with ease, and buyers are able to view a home.

Your home is offering potential buyer calls to those real estate agents accepting the limitations of open listings, but loyalty to you, as a seller, is present only with the certainty of a commission check.

If you simply don’t want to commit to a listing broker long term, you’re better off seeking a short term listing agreement- rather than signing up with a company for a year, try it for three months. If the listing agent is satisfactory, you can always extend it.

544231_calendar_series_3PicNik Better to give three months to a committed listing agent than offer your property to ten listing companies who know that their odds of a protected sale, with payment, is a long shot, so…why expend energy and money?

Our buyers will thank you, but more importantly, have the ability to view your home with ease.
We can eventually find you, if our buyers haven’t found something else in the meantime...and in this market with an abundance of properties for sale, finding something else is entirely possible.

Refinish or Replace? North fork, Long Island Home Selling Tip

January 31st, 2011 category: SellersNo Comments »

If you’ve decided to list your home for sale on the East end of Long Island (Hamptons, North fork), the following article relating to the value of hardwood floors caught our attention, so we thought it might be helpful for home sellers.

With so many homes possibly hiding a fabulous floor beneath carpet that might be in need of replacement, what is the upside of refinishing, vs. replacing carpet?

The post can be found by clicking here- http://activerain.com/blogsview/2099081/i-have-hardwood-flooring-underneath-my-carpet-should-i-refinish-the-hardwood-or-recarpet-

My vote? Refinish that hidden gem of a wood floor!

The author of the article is Debbie Gartner of Westchester Flooring. Debbie can be reached at 914-937-2950. Her company works with customers in the Westchester area, along with parts of Connecticut.

That’s What Friends Are For…

January 23rd, 2011 category: SellersNo Comments »

Thinking about selling your home on the East End (Hamptons, North fork) of Long Island?

For many, the idea of strangers entering your home and providing an assessment is daunting- concerns abound over the impression that your home will make.

A great way to get a head start is to rely on an honest friend.

Set a time to get together, pen and paper in hand, and invite a good friend over to help you understand the true perception that your home will provide for potential buyers.

Beginning at the front door, make notes- is paint needed? Is the porch welcoming and clutter free? and move to the inside…

Is your home free enough of personal items that your friend can imagine her own furniture and special touches? What impression does the living room provide? Is it sit down friendly, or formal cold?

Is the kitchen one in which a potential buyer can envision their own creative cooking, with clean counter space inviting thoughts of permanence?

Are the bedrooms palates from which to improve with minor change (paint), or do the bedrooms have too much personality, so thoughts are on the person living there, rather than the person who would like to live there?

Does your friend like the flow of the house, or is the use of a stager a good approach?

Sometimes, easing into the decision to sell is a process.

Your good friends will wish success in all of your endeavors- why not have a fun afternoon getting terrific input, and maybe enjoying a happy hour as you discuss the results?

To view homes for sale on the North fork and Hamptons, click here.
To view east end reo properties for sale (North fork and Hamptons foreclosures) click here.

How Do New York Real Estate Agents Get Paid?

January 17th, 2011 category: Buyers, Real Estate News, Real Estate Philosophy, Sellers2 Comments »

A question that seems to come up now and then, most often from a home buyer, is “how do real estate agents get paid?”….

Nationally, and in New York, it is typical for the real estate agents fee to be paid by the seller. When a seller sits down to establish a price with their listing company, comparable properties sold are pulled and compared, and the seller and their Realtor determine a price. The price arrived at includes the real estate fee to be paid by the seller to the listing company.

Also discussed is the amount of the total fee paid by the seller to the listing company that will be offered to cooperating brokers- those bringing a buyer.

So, the total purchase price of a home typically includes the real estate fee for both the listing agent, and the selling agent.

This method has become standard largely due to the understanding on the part of home sellers that limiting out-of-pocket costs for buyers is an effective way to increase the percentage of buyers able to purchase their home. Closing costs, lawyer fees, and miscellaneous expenses are out of pocket expenses for buyers; that the fee can be financed is an advantage to sellers.

The fee is paid when the property closes.

It can be argued that while the seller is providing the check at closing, the buyer of the property is also paying the fee- if it’s included in the purchase price, they are either financing the fee, or including it in a cash offer.

If you are a buyer seeking buyer agency, the majority of listings in New York pay your buyers agent. While there are less evolved companies that lack understanding regarding buyer agency, your Realtor will let you know if a property does not include the fee.

As a buyer, just as you might request that a seller pay a percent toward closing costs, it is also possible to request of a seller that they provide the fee for your buyers agent, in situations where you are dealing with a listing that does not provide payment to a buyer’s agent.

Unless agreed to in writing beforehand, Realtors are paid when- and only when- the property closes.

Types of cooperative fees paid in New York:

Sellers agent: while still popular in areas of the Hamptons, most areas have abandoned this compensation for a cooperating Realtor bringing a buyer, because per New York State, the seller can be held liable for any intentional misrepresentations made by the selling agent.

Brokers agent: in use, this allows the cooperating broker with a buyer to work for the listing company, representing the seller, while bringing the buyer. Liability for misrepresentation on the part of the selling agent falls to the listing company.

Buyers agent: in use, this allows the buyer to have representation, and eliminates vicarious liability for both the seller, and the listing company.

For buyers seeking representation, it’s important to understand the agency offerings. For sellers, the same applies. It is the responsibility of the listing company for the seller to clarify each offering, and the buyers agent to make clear the distinction for a buyer.

A real estate transaction is a meeting of the minds between a seller and a buyer, with Realtors working to bring the two together. Real estate transactions have always had and will always have, opposing agendas from a seller perspective, and a buyer perspective, yet as long as sellers are willing to offer compensation to a buyers agent, and buyers are willing to provide a realistic price for a home, the result is the same.

For sellers: understand the agency offerings that you are deducting at closing from your net proceeds, and insist on exposure that will provide your home with cooperating brokers- every offer counts, and an MLS is viewed by all MLSLI Realtors seeking homes for their buyers.

To view the required New York agency disclosure, click here. The disclosure also covers dual agency, which may occur when a buyer views a property listed by the selling agent’s brokerage.

To view east end of Long Island (Hamptons, North fork) homes for sale on the Multiple Listing service of Long Island, click here.

To view east end reo/foreclosure homes for sale, click here.

The Buyers Didn’t Believe Me!

December 8th, 2010 category: Buyers, Real Estate News, Real Estate Philosophy, SellersNo Comments »

While slow change is occurring, a persistent “bump” is the relationship that east end of Long Island buyers have with the Realtor that shows them homes, and the seeming acceptance on the buyers part that a major real estate purchase is without issue when they engage in a real estate agent that represents the seller.

Untitled With fiduciary to the seller.

I am not talking about a buyer that might call on a sign, and engage with the listing company (although I have wondered, being out of touch here, if the “double end” is re-emerging in areas that used to have a savvy buyer who understood the obvious pitfalls of this move).

What is perplexing to me is the Realtor who elects to engage a buyer, and represent the seller with ALL properties shown, irrespective of the agency providing the listing- in other words, the clear choice of the Realtor to take buyers around, and disclose that they will be representing the SELLER on any choice made by the buyer- no exceptions. Elective SUB AGENCY.

This has me constantly wondering. I guess I wonder because the simplicity of entering into a MAJOR purchase alongside a buyer would kick off the good angel/bad angel sitting on shoulders, and (with the presence of buyer agency- no contract neccessary) eliminate the choice that I will engage a buyers time, their confidence and their most important purchase…while required by LAW (NY agency law) to take any indicators that benefit the seller, and share that info IMMEDIATELY with the seller…as required by NY state agency laws.

Untitled 2 png Sub agency, where it exists, is a detriment to both buyers and sellers (vicarious liability)- yet, there you have it- it’s not dead yet.

Odd, with a fiduciary requirement to the seller, that a listing company would even offer payment for sub agency to a cooperating broker.

I must be missing something, and am fine with enlightenment- but when engaging buyers, there is something really FUN and comfortable with ease and trust, which is offered with buyer agency in New York, and in many, many places.

Honesty/integrity/disclosure/confidentiality with the home buying person that PAYS me (yes, yes, the seller cuts the check, but the FEE is in the price of the house) seemed so natural in my old state, and anything else is just, well…UNNATURAL.

THERE MUST BE A WAY TO GET THE WORD OUT TO NEW YORK BUYERS THAT “THEIR” TIME HAS COME… I wonder how everywhere else got their buyers and sellers CLEAR.

POST 12-7-10 I like happy transactions…with buyers that felt happily covered, and sellers who reached their own goal of a sale…home is a big deal.

Recent buyers, when buyer agency was explained, responded that they simply didn’t believe that a Realtor that would take up their own time finding the best home, and a buyers time finding the best home, would engage in sub agency.

To search available homes for sale on the North Fork / East End Long Island or condos on the North Fork of Long Island, click “north fork homes”, enter your area of interest and any parameters, and click “go”- properties for sale include Riverhead, Aquebogue, Baiting Hollow, Calverton, Jamesport, Laurel, Mattituck, Cutchogue, Peconic, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, Orient, Orient Point, Westhampton Beach, Hampton Bays, Flanders, Southampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Montauk, NY.

Showing Homes for Sale on Long Island

September 5th, 2010 category: Buyers, Real Estate Philosophy, SellersNo Comments »

With many buyers making decisions to jump into today’s real estate market, we’ve found ourselves out increasingly, viewing your home.

We arrive…we are warmly greeted by you, the seller, and we proceed with the tour.

Having operated for many years in an area where the presence of a seller was not normal practice, and strongly discouraged, it seems worthy of exploring this phenomenon.

Pro: for you, the seller, you are aware of the people looking through your property; you see us, and while you generally keep a distance, your presence is known. It’s your house, and you provide a very real reminder of that.

The problem with this scenario is that the whole basis for looking is for the buyer to find their home- while you may have created a lovely space, the reminder that, “it’s mine” is magnified when you are within earshot of each comment, whether good or bad. While that may not seem problematic on the surface, it can be a problem- particularly if the buyers have found a home that they like.

Buying a home is a stressful endeavor, and making a commitment to making it “mine” is often an anxious process, particularly in an uncertain market. When a seller is present, our visit is not going to be prolonged. There is a sense of intrusion that is unavoidable.

Here’s an example of what can happen when you are NOT present: when looking at a home recently, it was clear that the size of the yard was not in line with expectations. Because we had a commitment to view the home, we proceeded anyway.

Once inside, the layout was very workable, and we took our time seeking out those things that elicited positive dialogue- there was little not to like. Despite a number of positive elements, the yard remained an issue- low maintenance was the objective, and this yard was enormous.

Copy of IMG_2251 As we stopped back into the kitchen to chat, thinking ahead and discussing several other homes that were scheduled, it was noted that the size of the kitchen was pretty wonderful. While I spoke with the wife, the husband was looking out the back window. Between the trees, he noticed that there was a neighbor with a ride on lawnmower taking care of the grass. He walked out onto the deck, as we continued to chat in the kitchen, and the next thing we knew, he was talking with the neighbor. Who better to provide management of a large yard than the neighbor, who was making it look a whole lot less negative to all of us?

Here is the thing: had you been there as a seller, that obligatory, “in and out” underlying urgency would have stopped us from wandering into the kitchen and settling there for a few moments.
When a property isn’t “perfect” (and rare is the house without an issue), time needs to be taken to work through those issues. Better in the house, right there, than in a car on the way to the next candidate.

I’m not sure how it is that this practice in certain areas of Long Island became normal. It just isn’t done in most places, and the reason is simple: you are opening your home for the purpose of allowing it to “belong” to someone else, just as you havelikely discovered your own new place to live.
Isn’t that the objective?

Another problem with an insistence to be present is that your listing agent is not likely to appear in your place, should you be too busy to show your home to buyers. Once on a buyers list, and then scratched off, another attempt to show it might not happen- there are too many homes on the market to go through scheduling issues with sellers. Having the listing agent present is often equally off putting to buyers- they generally prefer to get a feel for the way they’d live in the home, and have no interest in being “sold” by a stranger when first viewing a home. If they have questions, it’s our job to get answers from your listing agent, and we’re happy to do it.

First, a buyer needs to feel “right” in your home.

A lock box on the house is essential. A key on the premises for entry is a very basic requirement, so that you don’t miss out on potential showings (it only takes one) and create difficulty for buyers seeking to view your home. Any impediment to the meeting of the right buyer, to the right home, should be avoided. If your key is located in an office miles away, instead of on the property, you might just miss a showing- logistics come into play when setting up showings for a buyer with a time frame..

Cooperating Realtors bringing buyers understand the importance of taking good care of your home, and we are well aware that leaving your home in the condition in which it was found (doors locked, lights off, if requested) is important- antagonizing a prospective seller is simply not on the agenda. If a Realtor accompanied buyer wants your home, it is understood that good will from the onset is essential.

Removing items of value is common sense, and should be done in the event of all showings- accompanied by the seller, listing agent or cooperating Realtor- doesn’t matter.

So, what is it about parts of Long Island that engage in this odd practice of the seller being present for home showings? While I am quite certain that rare issues arise, the vast majority of showings without the seller or listing agent, are without issue (as evidence of it being standard procedure just about everywhere else)- so I must be missing something.

East End, Long Island Home Sales Articles of Interest

July 15th, 2009 category: East End LI Foreclosures, Real Estate News, SellersNo Comments »

Erasing the thought that we’re experiencing a market “blip”, and encountering a situation that requires diligent attention on the part of real estate agents, home sellers and home buyers, is a recent Wall Street Journal update on East End, Long Island home sales that we found interesting:

Hamptons Home Sales Plunge as Wall Street Cuts Jobs

Wishful thinking won’t sell homes; correctly priced properties are the only solution.

Now, for some GOOD news from a source that provides real numbers, specific to East End Long Island Real Estate, with a realistic approach to data:

Long Island Home Sales Median Price Rises by 3.29% in Second Quarter

News, and more news…we tend to be data-oriented, so hope that assimilating provided sources offers some insight into a very perplexing market!

If you are looking for a home for sale on the North Fork / East End of Long Island, please fill out the form below.

An Interesting Alternative to Selling a Home

June 18th, 2009 category: Real Estate News, Sellers2 Comments »

We found this interesting. While I’ve heard of this method before, we’re going to follow this story to see how the homeowners fare. Click here for a novel way to sell a home.

For more traditional methods to sell a home on the North fork / East end of Long Island, we’re happy to offer input. To view homes for sale on the North fork /east end of long island, click here.

If you are looking for a home for sale on the North Fork / East End of Long Island, please fill out the form below.

De-Niggling

May 26th, 2009 category: Buyers, Real Estate Philosophy, SellersNo Comments »

Click on the image below to link to the original post at Active Rain.

While many areas don’t permit dual agency and sub agency, some areas do, and it’s widely used, and perfectly legal in NY.

For some Realtors, this tradition of “neutrality” comes naturally, and there will be (always) strong defense that “I can do it- my deals always work out fine.”

While I believe that most deals work out “fine” (as in, close), what I don’t believe is that the interaction with consumers is not without some “niggling”- that uneasy tweak- throughout the transaction. Who wouldn’t be scared on a tightrope (presuming that full disclosure has been offered, with a full understanding of agency laws)? Even the New York Department of State offers the verbiage, “enter this agency with caution” to consumers.

How to eliminate the “tweak” might be to explain to buyers, when they view a property, that you represent the seller (at that juncture) but that as buyers, they have available to them buyer agency.

This is required stuff anyway; just eliminating the niggles.

If, as might occur (at least, it does out our way) the buyer says, “I hate Realtors, and I don’t want one”, then it’s possible to put in writing that you represent the seller ONLY- and that as a buyer, he/she has no representation. That eliminates a “niggle” in a big way- make absolutely certain that their lawyer has reviewed the agency agreement and signs off. Have your own provide verbiage.

If, as a buyer, they respond to the full agency explanation (each agency reviewed) with a desire to get their own Realtor/fiduciary, so what? More opinionated: GREAT!

If, as a listing agent, your list price is without commission paid, it could truly be considered the seller’s expense in its entirety. Absent that, if it’s in the listed price, the buyer is picking it up- in a diplomatic effort, they are paying 1/2. Some argue that sellers pay it all; some insist that the buyer pays it all. It’s math- I lean toward the latter (but was never good at math).

Going with the theory that a buyer is paying 1/2, frankly, I don’t like to see money wasted, and anything short of representation is wasted money on their part in a dual agency situation. They’ll figure it out; why not unearth it for them, with a 30 year financial commitment looming? It seems the respectful thing to do.

We received a really nice email from a client recently (operating under buyer agency) and it occurred to me, as I reviewed dialogue back and forth, that much of what was shared leaned in their favor, so would have been unacceptable under any other agency. Likewise, the seller of the property was receiving equally competent representation from their own agent.

What seems apparent is that full commitment to ONE party offers a whole lot more in way of job satisfaction than a tightrope walk- an opportunity to invest ourselves FULLY in the transaction on behalf of our clients. It’s makes the job fun. It engenders loyalty from our buyers/sellers. At the end of the day, we did everything we could think of, much as if it were our own purchase. No froo froo- just facts.

A thought: dual agency elevates the “deal” to a level above the participants.

It may be that I don’t like money as much as I like my job with clients. No customers.

Ditto the selling side- there’s something about finishing a transaction as if it were your own sale that makes this job more rewarding. But then, like I said, I am happy to PAY to stay off of a tightrope.

Some states have eliminated the fiduciary verbiage; that will probably be an eventuality in NY. Until then, it’s really a matter of self-policing our own motivations with dual agency, and our own willingness to leave fiduciary by the wayside.

I hate heights, so that abandonment just doesn’t work.

To get more specific local North Fork or East End & Hamptons real estate information, fill out the form below with your questions/comments. We know how to find properties coming on the market, and available. If you’re looking for a foreclosure on any part of Long Island, we’ll help you find it.

Selling Your East End / North Fork of Long Island Home

May 14th, 2009 category: Buyers, SellersNo Comments »

With a market presenting challenges to sellers of homes on the east end (Hamptons, North fork) of Long Island, the more information, the better.

The following link provides ways to improve the home selling experience, with tips on how to view the current market in a way that will offer advantages; the message is clear: DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY!

Here is a sampling from the article…

Amid falling home prices, near-record-low mortgage rates and even an $8,000 tax perk from Uncle Sam, prospective buyers have plenty of reasons to dive into the real-estate market.

Despite some encouraging housing data, buyers will continue to have the upper hand in this home-selling season. But that doesn’t mean your house won’t sell; it just means you’ll have to make smarter moves to land a buyer. With the help of several experts, U.S. News & World Report compiled a list of seven home-selling moves to avoid this spring.

Buyers are not going to ignore a statistical inundation- they are aware that this is “their” market, to the extent that negotiation is an expectation.

Rather than viewing offers as an insult, it would behoove sellers to take a more clinical posture, while maintaining their own parameters- in other words, if you get an offer that doesn’t work, a counter offer is far more productive than a dismissive attitude.