Listing

We Love Photography

September 13, 2016 By Rick Jarvis

I think that deep down inside, each Realtor is part frustrated architect and part frustrated photographer (ok, this Realtor is) and thus my obsession with extremely well done photography. Nothing quite lends itself to powerful photography quite like people, nature and architecture.

Being lucky enough to work in a city with architecture dating back centuries, unique shots are everywhere. And being lucky enough to work with some really talented artists (yes they are artists) only makes our job easier.

Here are some of our favorites.

I am a Housing Critic

September 13, 2016 By Rick Jarvis

I am a housing critic.

I go into houses each and every day and I am asked to pass my opinion. I am asked about colors and layouts and light and quality and location and fences and appliances and utilities and fireplaces and flooring and ceiling heights and roofing and basements and — well you get the picture.

We all have opinions about housing — each of us. Buyers, sellers, agents, appraisers, Zillow, the assessors office, decorators, inspectors and the stereotypical nosy neighbors. And you know what else? They all have value, if you understand what each opinion means.

Here are some lessons to help you navigate this critic-based industry.

Listen to the Topic, Not the Tone

Phil Sims, former Super Bowl winning QB (and MVP of the Super Bowl) used to talk about how his coach, Bill Parcells used to deliver his critiques in a manner that ranged between humbling (on a good day) and downright humiliating the rest of the time. Sims said that once he learned to listen to the message that his coach was delivering not the way in which is was delivered, he became a much better player.

We tend to take things personally and hear an insult when we should be hearing a suggestion

I think everyone in the process — agents, buyers, sellers — we tend to take things personally and hear an insult when we should be learning a lesson. When a buyer does not like a house because of a particular feature or characteristic and delivers what was intended to be constructive criticism, more often than not, the seller feels rejected, hurt or otherwise offended and loses the ability to draw any lesson from the message.

Learning to listen to these criticisms at their most basic level allows you to glean important information about market preferences and not become bogged down in the tone of the message.

Qualify the Criticism

Some criticism can be incredibly useful while some can be ignored completely — knowing how to tell the difference is key. And it is the agent’s job to figure out how much importance to attach to the message.

Unqualified criticism carries little value.

Imagine yourself as a seller of a small townhome on a crowded city block and you receive criticism from a buyer who is from out of town, on their first day out and is looking at townhomes, land in the country, a new homes on a cul-de-sac in suburbia — how much credence should you give the criticism? On the other hand, how seriously should you take the criticism from a buyer who looked at 5 townhomes in your neighborhood and bought the one down the street?

Unqualified criticism carries little value. Qualifying the criticism allows us to either gain insightful knowledge about the market we are competing in or brush off a message that may have otherwise caused us anxiety.

‘One is Data Point, Two is a Trend’

You hear this statement uttered quite often at One South, especially when it comes to seller feedback. At its core, it means ‘be patient and don’t overreact.’

You can’t please everyone and you would be wasting your time and money to try — not everyone who comes through your home is going to love it. That being said, if you begin to notice trends in complaints (3 people think the yard it too small and the kitchen is too far from the great room), you would be remiss to continue to ignore them.

Pay attention to what people are saying — if you hear a critique once, it’s likely just a personal preference that may not reflect the market expectations as a whole. But if you start to hear the same critique come up showing after showing, it’s probably in your best interest to go ahead and fix the problem or adjust the price accordingly.

Price is the Ultimate Criticism

Non-specific negative feedback, for me, is the worst type of feedback to receive. When you receive criticism that is obviously negative but doesn’t point to an issue (or issues), it makes it hard to develop a strategy. That said, even nebulous or vague feedback can have value, too.

Listen to when feedback begins to change in tone from openly negative to balanced

Price drives buyer expectations, and buyer expectations have the biggest influence on the types of criticism you may receive regarding your home. If your home is grossly overpriced, criticism will be largely negative because individuals have come in with an expectation that reflects a price higher than what you have delivered. On the other hand, if your home delivers above and beyond what buyers expect at its listing price, you may hear nothing but rave reviews and high levels of interest and intrigue. The key is finding the spot in the middle – where your price matches what the market demands in terms of features, size, location, etc. Paying close attention to the tone of the criticism you receive will give you great insight into the quality of your home matches (or does not match) with price at which you are offering it.

The lesson (and this is especially important when you drop price) — listen to when the feedback begins to change in tone from openly negative to balanced. Remember, you want some criticism (otherwise you probably have under-priced the home!), but a fair balance of of positive and negative comments — the kind of balanced feedback that suggests your home is priced well and can be competitive in the market.

Summary

Despite the fact that housing, like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, rare automobiles or foreign currency, is just an asset, it is a personal one and the criticism we receive on housing somehow seems to carry more bite to our egos when it is rejected — it shouldn’t.

We try to tell our clients that their homes are worth what the market says they are worth, not what the owners say, nor the agents say, nor Zillow, nor the appraiser. The market is never kind, but it is always correct, and will tell you everything you need to know if you are willing to listen. That said, it is amazing the number of people who choose to hear feedback, but draw the incorrect conclusion from the message.

Remember, be objective, don’t take it personally, and pay attention to trends. If you can do those things, the criticism you receive will be constructive and you will maximize the value of your home.

The Making of an American Farmhouse — Walnut Hill, Rockville VA

September 5, 2016 By Rick Jarvis

Periodically, you get smitten with a neighborhood, and Walnut Hill in the Rockville area of Western Hanover County tends to have that effect on people.

Walnut Hill is pretty close to what most are envisioning when they imagine a classic neighborhood in a rural setting. With extremely large lot sizes (most are between 8 and 25 acres) and the kind of gently rolling topography that brings to mind the picturesque farmland in the foothills of Western VA, the Walnut Hill neighborhood perfectly captures the imagery of what rural Americana should be.

Walnut Hill

If you have not been to Walnut Hill, you should go.

The neighborhood is a testament to the developer – they resisted the urge to take the path of least resistance and try to wedge as many lots as possible onto the site. By NOT trying to create maximum density, they ended up creating incredible spacing throughout the community that allows differing architectural styles to coexist peacefully with one another.

Walnut Hill does not ‘demand’ a specific style or size. Rather, it lets the land dictate the home. Within the neighborhood as it stands today, you see mostly traditional residential architectural forms (variations on colonial styles along with some ‘craftsman’ influences) and generally a quality material palette ensuring enduring physical structures. I think that any good design is cognizant of its surroundings and should compliment the existing homes.

Creating the Home on Paper

Deep within every Realtor is both a frustrated architect and would-be builder.

So when we were presented with the chance to work with a builder with decades of Richmond home building expertise, WB Garrett, on conceiving a home in Walnut Hill, we jumped at the opportunity. Being involved from such an early stage is every agent’s dream, and one we wanted to make sure we took seriously.

Effectively, we were engaged with the ultimate question of ‘what should we build?’ Not just from a price and size standpoint, but in all facets — from architectural style and aesthetic to features to materials.

Several ideas were tossed about, mostly relating to style, but the concept of the ‘New American Farmhouse,’ seemed to speak to each of us. Rather quickly, we all agreed that should be the direction. We recognized that even within traditional forms were variations and departures that could work, especially in such a bucolic rural setting, and thus we chose to craft a modern version of the American Farmhouse to pay respect to the setting as well as the surrounding homes, while still introducing what the market demands.

Walnut_Hill_Leasing_Plan_pdf__page_1_of_2_

[ Download the Walnut Hill ‘Amercian Farmhouse’ Plan ]

So the team of home builder Bill Garrett of WB Garrett, Peter Fraser of 37 Ideas and Rick Jarvis, with One South Realty sat down and discussed the features and materials for such a home and with a little hope from our friend and film colleague, Kent Eanes, we were able to document the creation of the plan in such a way that will give the marketplace a peek behind the curtain of how homes go from ideas and concepts to paper and plans.

Using ‘Currency’ to Your Advantage

May 10, 2016 By Rick Jarvis

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘currency’?

Cash? Bitcoin? Dineros? Dollars? Sawbucks? Moolah? Dead Presidents? Pesos? C Notes? Shekels? Or my personal favorite, wampum?

Currency is nothing more than a form of value that can be exchanged between parties. And while we generally associate currency with cash, currency can take on many forms. Time, risk, certainty, labor or other more conceptual versions of value can also be used as currency by a shrewd buyer or seller.

… often times, each side misses the opportunity to strengthen the deal for themselves by introducing other forms of ‘currency’ into the negotiations

So when I hear people talk about negotiating for a home, piece of land or other property, I almost exclusively hear them talking about price. It is unfortunate, as often times, each side misses the opportunity to strengthen the deal for themselves by introducing other forms of ‘currency’ into the negotiations.

So what do I mean by ‘other forms of currency’ in a real estate transaction? Lets discuss.

Time

The first and most obvious most universally accepted form of currency is time. Our beloved bespectacled founding fatherly figure Ben Franklin once said (or so my 3rd grade teacher said he did) that ‘Time is money.’ Time IS money — provided it is leveraged correctly.

It amazes me when I see or hear one side of a transaction digging in on a time issue when they don’t have to. Typically, when a seller is trying to simultaneously sell their home and move to a new one, they have a time issue. And when an apartment dweller or someone else with time flexibility is trying to purchase and is inflexible on the possession date, they are costing themselves money and/or possibly even the chance to secure the home for themselves.

Figure out what currency you can offer cheaply that the other side values dearly, and you will come out ahead.

Offering a time-constrained seller the luxury an early settlement with some form of possession post-closing can mean the difference between winning a competitive bid and losing it. Similarly, accelerating inspection schedules (other contingency deadlines) to create a fully ratified contract or offering a floating closing date — this things help aid the seller in finding the home of their wishes — and everyone wins.

A buyer can can either help or hinder the seller’s next purchase and the lesson is that while cash means the same to each of us, often times 30 days may mean a great deal more to one side than the other. Figure out what currency you can offer cheaply that the other side values dearly, and you will come out ahead.

Risk

Hand in hand with time, as a form of currency, is risk.

Real estate is typically a two-sided transaction. While it is easy to focus on only one side of the transaction, they are almost always related as selling one means buying another or moving out of one home means moving into another.

The younger crowd may not remember the epic board game, Risk ... — The younger crowd may not remember the epic board game, Risk …

So anytime there is a two-sided transaction (which is most transactions), each side carries varying degrees of potentially negative outcome if the transaction fails to consummate. A buyer spends money on inspections, loan fees, title searches, deposits and other items that are paid for well before the transaction closes. No closing = sunk costs. Similarly, a seller also experiences many of the same costs, especially if they are also buying and again (if the transaction does not close) they are left with not only the loss of any fees, but potentially subject to legal action for failure to perform under the terms of their contract to purchase the next home.

Needless to say, both sides carry risk, but often in different forms and quantity. So when one party who can potentially absorb risk (think of a tenant who can stay month to month) refuses to mitigate the risk for other side of the transaction, I see an opportunity lost to really strengthen a deal.

Paying attention to the Days on Market of a specific segment can lend guidance on how to best structure offers.

Comparing Offers

Imagine yourself as a owner who has a home under contract with a builder that will be ready in ‘about 90 days.’ Your current home is older, but in good (although not great) shape and probably needs some work. You put the sign in the yard and within a week, you have three offers, all from buyers who are currently renting an apartment:

Offer One — Full price with the seller putting 5% down, pre-approved by a local lender, who wants you to respond by tomorrow at 5 p.m. and wants to close in 60 days.
Offer Two — Full price with the seller putting 20% down. They have been pre-qualified by Quicken Loans, and want to close in 90 days, but needs 3 weeks for inspections due to travel. They have given you two days to respond.
Offer Three — Is for $10,000 less than full price, but will close in 30 days and offer you a rent back for up to 120 days if you need to. They are pre-approved by a local lender and putting 10% down. They have given you two days to respond. Additionally, they will inspect the home within 7 days AND absorb the first $5,000 any inspection items found.

Which one would you choose? I know which one I would recommend to my seller to accept. While offering a marginally lower price, the third offer contains the most time-friendly and flexible terms to the seller (that they TOTALLY needed) while still mitigating risk for both sides. Whatever agent recommended that final contract structure is a true pro and odds are wins a lot of bids for their clients (ok, that was how we structured a winning offer for our client in a competitive bid situation earlier this year, sorry to brag …)

‘Win-Win’ is Not Just a Cliche

‘Win-Win’ may sound cliche, but really provides the most durable framework for contracts.

In a prior post, we talk about how a typical real estate contract is made up of 20 pages with only one paragraph dedicated to price. The remainder of the contract discusses terms ranging from timing to contingencies to inspections to personal property to title — each one of these clauses can and should be used to strike a deal that benefits both parties. ‘Win-Win’ may sound cliche, but really provides the most durable framework for contracts.

Think each deal through, strive to understand what currency each side can offer the other one — and don’t solely focus on price. While price is obvious important, don’t ignore the other terms. Your deal will be stronger, your risk lower and the likelihood of your transaction closing on time and as written and will skyrocket.

Deal Killers

March 27, 2016 By Rick Jarvis

Client: ‘Sorry, the _________ is a deal killer.’
Agent: ‘Yep, we could tell.’

As agents, we have all seen it before; a client walks into the front door of a home and simply refuses to engage. You can see it in their body language — there is no way your client is buying the home. And even more frustrating, you know that the home suits their needs well and it deserves serious consideration.

Do you what else? There is absolutely nothing that you can say or do to change their minds.

Something about the way the home was presented killed the deal.

What is a Deal Killer?

Now when I say ‘killing deals,’ what I am really saying is a home will have to be discounted well below its market value to sell it. If the correct buyer walks through your home and does not buy it because of a fixable issue, then you have cost yourself money unnecessarily.

The math is simple — if the discount you have to take to get the home sold is greater than the cost to cure the issue, then fix the issue — otherwise you are engaging in a deal killing activity. Don’t do it.

Remember, buyers don’t really want to do work harder than they have to and they generally have difficulty imagining anything other than what is readily apparent. If you, as a seller, feel that the people who are walking through your house will see its potential or that they will look beyond the flaws, you will end up selling for less than you should.

Here are some of the most common errors that sellers make:

Smells

Not everyone is a dog lover. Sorry ... — Not everyone is a dog lover. Sorry …

I am not saying you have to bake cookies before every showing, but please, spend as much time on the olfactory as you do on the visual.

Smells such as wet dog, litter box, pile of shoes, damp basement and chain smoker are the most common offenders — but the unidentified ‘what-the-heck-is-that-smell’ which hits you the minute you walk in can kill a deal as quick as anything.

People cannot get over any strange odor and no matter what you say as an agent, will assume that the smell that greets them in the foyer will never go away … it is impossible to convince anyone otherwise.

If you think you have a smell, call your mother (she can smell anything,) neighbor or best (or worst) friend and ask them to come over and take a big deep whiff. Get their opinion as other people will smell things you don’t. If they mention anything at all, figure out what it is and get rid of it.

And for goodness sake, don’t cook pungent foods an hour before a showing. Show me a stinky home and I will show you one that trades as a disproportionate discount to where it should.

Pets

When someone is looking at your home, they don’t want to be there with your pets … sorry.

This is no exaggeration, I once showed a home where the owners kept a crow in a birdcage. The bird was furious and let us know in no uncertain terms. — This is no exaggeration — I once showed a home where the owners kept a crow in a birdcage. The bird was furious and let us know in no uncertain terms. It was wholly unnerving.

I know Fido is a big ball of love and just wants to say hello, but please, get him out of the home. And by out of the home, I don’t mean in a crate, in the guest bedroom, in the garage, in the back yard or behind a baby gate … I mean out of the home. As long as the pet is there, your potential buyers are unable to fully explore the property.

Listen, no one wants to see any animal in a crate and at the same time, no one wants to be licked, followed, sniffed or otherwise engaged by your pet when they are trying to look at your home. One, it is a distraction and two, it can also be a liability. You think you know your pet but in reality, pets don’t always react to strangers the way you think they will. Please make the necessary arrangements.

And worst of all, no agent wants to notice the ‘Please Don’t Let the Cat Out’ sign just as a streak of orange fur goes flying by your leg as you walk in the front door …

The Dirty ‘____’

The aforementioned smells go hand-in-hand with the (lack of) cleanliness discussion and ‘we will have it spotless by closing,’ is not an acceptable strategy.

Dirty carpet, crusty vents, dusty corners, smudgy windows, a messy garage, disorganized closets, a jam packed shed … all are giving the buyer clues that the maintenance history of the home has been less than stellar.

If your carpet is 10+ years old and stained, just go ahead replace it. No amount of shampooing will work.
If your garage is filled with decades of stuff, hire a dude with a pickup truck to clean it out and take the junk away.
If you actually change your air filters, then make sure to clean the return grates as well.
If your baseboard trim has an inch of dusty funk on it, wash it and touch up the paint.
If your hand railings are the color of your car’s tire, get out the Murphy’s Oil Soap and go to work.
If you cannot walk into your attic, get a ‘Pod’ and clean the attic out.
If you have to lean on the closet door to close it, then you might need to spend a little time cleaning that out, too.

And after you think you have cleaned everything in your home as well as humanly possible, hire cleaning crew to come in behind you and REALLY clean it. It is a great investment and will pay you back in spades.

Wallpaper

In 1997, my wife bought up a fixer-upper that had not been updated since 1958. We (naively) took on the chore of removing the wallpaper that covered probably 70% of the home. It is safe to say that I will N-E-V-E-R do that again.

I am sure it is beautiful, but odds are, the buyers dont want it. — I am sure it is beautiful wallpaper, but odds are, the buyers don’t want it and are scared of the effort to take it down.

The people who installed the wallpaper must have used a military grade adhesive that DuPont created in their secret underground test lab … nothing we tried would break the bond. It took us several weeks (not days) to get it all down and we did so much damage to the underlying sheet rock, we would have been better off to just rip the walls down on Day 1. Oh well, lesson learned.

So when I look in MLS and see homes covered in 1980’s wall paper, I get a nervous tic and immediately scroll to the next home. And while not everyone feels the same way, most do, and will avoid any home with more than one room of wallpaper.

Seller Present

You know your home is being shown at 2 p.m. so go ahead and get out before they get there.

Leave.
Don’t wait for them to get there.
Disappear.
Don’t try to show.
Don’t try to help.
Don’t cut the grass while they’re there.
Don’t walk over to the neighbor’s house and hang out.
Don’t sit outside on your porch and read a book.
Don’t be there.
Don’t drive by and check on the showing.
Don’t be there when they leave and ask them what they thought.

Get out, get away and disappear.

I don’t care that you wrote the Sales Training Manual for IBM and taught Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins and Mark McCormack everything they know, you are not the correct person to sell your own home. Get far away from your house when it is being shown. Your presence, or even your perceived presence, is preventing the buyer from feeling comfortable and costing you money.

People aren’t buying a house, they are buying a home. They are not buying a thing, they are buying a feeling. If you are there (or even if they buyer feels like you are,) then the home is still your home and the buyer will not feel as if it can ever be their home.

Which leads to …

Personal Items

Please, please, please, please de-personalize your home. Do not make it sterile and austere, but don’t make it so ‘you’ that it can never be ‘them.’

Too many photos, too many personal effects, controversial art, political statements, shrines to loved ones past and present and/or anything that draws attention away from, in lieu of complimenting, the home — should be minimized, if not removed. You never know who is coming to view your home and you have no idea of their political affiliations, religious preferences, personal beliefs, lifestyle choices or if their children are going to be viewing the home as well.

True Story – I once was previewing homes and had my 7 year old daughter with me (yes, it is what Realtors do with their kids.) The tour was going well until we walked into the living room only to find two full-sized anatomically correct ‘sculptures’ facing one another. While I can laugh about it now, at the time, it was not nearly as funny.

I agree that art is meant to spur thought and start conversation … just not while your home is on the market. You would be amazed at some of the suggestive (ok, pornographic) pieces of art or extremely revealing photographs and/or portraits I have seen while showing homes. And yes, I know you are proud of your ‘________ Party’ membership, but your buyer is a card carrying member of the other party and is now angrily talking about the presidential race and no longer paying any attention to your home …

Again, people are trying to feel themselves in the home and the more difficult you make it, the less likely a buyer is to feel the way you want them to feel in your home.

Hard to Show

If you are going to put your home on the market, be prepared to show it a moment’s notice and be able to respond to a showing request promptly. And don’t get annoyed when buyer’s don’t give you enough notice. Everyone is busy and just trying to get through the day … don’t fault them for not giving you 48 hours notice.

When your listing agent gets a request to show, don’t take 3 hours to call or text them back and then ask if the buyers can come through in the afternoon instead of the morning. When an agent is trying to set up the showing on your home, it is at the buyer’s request for that particular time window and odds are, your home is part of a 3 – 4 home tour schedule that is geographically sequenced. Try to move the time and the buyer’s agent will say something like ‘we will get it next time.’ And you know what, there rarely is a next time.

Listen, sometimes you have a sick kid and sometimes you have guests in town, but even then, do your best to accommodate. I know that having your home on the market is a pain, but the pain of keeping your home in show ready condition for months is a far bigger pain than pricing it correctly, allowing appropriate access and selling it quickly … especially if you have kid’s practice schedules to keep up with and dogs that need to be removed from the home every time it is shown.

If you are going to sell your home, make it easy to show.

Summary

I get it — selling your home is disruptive — so don’t prolong the agony. Do what you need to do to get it sold and get it sold quickly.

If you are going to go through the effort to put your home on the market and live through the interruptions and annoyances that accompany the process, then don’t make unnecessary mistakes that not only drive up the marketing time but drive down the price. Consult your agent and treat all of their advice with objective detachment. The suggestions made are in an effort to increase your bottom line and decrease the effort required to get it sold.

We Love Photography