Sarah Jarvis Team at One South Realty

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Most Superior Awesome Peerless Pinnacle Realty

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Elite Pinnacle Moon Realty has a nice ring to it...
‘Above Everyone on the Moon Realty’ has a nice ring to it…

We (Realtors) try way too hard.

Our industry, at some point in our past, quit naming real estate brokerages after the founders of the company (or their market location) and began using adjectives and adverbs implying increasing levels of superiority. Glance at any roster of companies in any MLS Board and you will see a list of names suggesting perfection, self-actualization and/or rapture.

I can only assume that there are more than a handful of clients who have experienced less than an ‘elite’ or ‘superior’ experience (or worse) from ‘Super-Duper Elite Realty’ or ‘Awesome Real Estate’ (I actually found a company branding under ‘Awesome Real Estate‘ in Florida!)

Put down the Thesaurus now and step away.

_____ Realty

If we really wanted to name our companies accurately, we should try giving them names like:

  • Consistently 20 Minutes Late Real Estate
  • Never Returned Your Call Properties
  • Probably Should Wash My Car if I am Going to Show Property Today Realty
  • Ill-Prepared Associates

I know I could go on creating names for quite a while and I am sure the public could, too.

Focus on Service

The practice of naming a company after an action verb or superlative term which rarely describes the level of service provided only calls attention to the lack of connection between the promised and delivered results. It hurts us all.

So maybe, instead of trying to outdo ourselves with names that ring extremely hollow, notably arrogant and often just plain ole dumb, maybe we should be focusing on providing what the public wants … knowledge, insight, analysis, value, transparency. Focusing on what our clients want seems so obvious but for some unknown reason, we call ourselves ‘elite’ when our service levle is the exact opposite.

Portals or Agents?

The big news in our industry is the increasingly powerful impact of the online portals of Trulia, Zillow and some ‘yet to be named’ company currently in its beta test somewhere in a garage in Silicon Valley. As we spend our time trying to create a name that makes us appear more important than we actually are, these behemoths, stocked with drawerfuls filled with cash and workstations filled with Stanford graduates, are currently in the process of creating REAL value for the client. And guess what, they are doing it (or at least the public feels that way.)

At One South, we are attempting to do the same thing (adding value, not renaming our company to Superior Elite Best Thing Ever Realty.)  By using the data provided to us by our MLS, applying advanced analysis AND local knowledge (something Trulia and Zillow’s computers in California and Washington will never have), we provide our clients with true insight into the marketplace.

For now, we will keep our boring name and focus on providing our clients with the intelligence and analysis they need to make informed decisions.

 

 

Citizen 6 New Homes in Richmond VA

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I have long held the belief that the best real estate developments are ‘about something.’  The Citizen 6 Project is certainly ‘about something.’

A development can be about location, design, size, views, layouts, schools, neighborhood, proximity, affordability, exclusivity, history or any other number of reasons. The best ones appeal to a specific segment of the market very powerfully and the poor ones do not. Those which hold value the longest are also the ones who appeal to their market in a superlative way.

The Citizen 6 project is a group of six new homes built along Floyd Avenue in the Fan district of Richmond VA. Located along the 2600 block of Floyd, near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Carytown, Citizen 6 offers its owners an amazing combination of attributes sure to make this powerful contributor to Richmond’s real estate landscape for decades.

< Download the Brochure here >

The first thing you notice is the look of the homes. Professionally designed with a decidedly modern aesthetic, the homes of Citizen 6 will be recognizable by all. Richmond’s architecture, especially in our older neighborhoods, is generally traditional period architecture. One of Richmond’s most talented architects was enlisted to ensure that Citizen 6’s striking and sleek exterior envelope will both contrast and compliment the existing housing stock of such an important Richmond neighborhood.

For developers, it is hard to find opportunities to develop in neighborhoods where development is not pioneering. Most redevelopment occurs in areas where redevelopment is needed due to blight or obsolescence. For Citizen 6, this is exactly the opposite. The site was underutilized and replacing a vacant parking lot and small ‘non-period’ office building with 6 new homes was a far higher use of the property. The fact that this site is located a mere 4 blocks from both Carytown and The VMFA, as well as so many other amenities inherent in the Fan means that the new residents will be met with one of Richmond’s most pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods on the day they move in, not years or decades later.

Lastly, the ability to own a new home, with the latest technologies and materials is many’s dream. It is rare to find new construction in a neighborhood whose average home is approximately 100 years old. Citizen 6 offers precisely that – the best in materials and techniques in and amongst the best amenities a century old neighborhood can provide.

While the reasons listed above are important, there are other reasons why Citizen 6 is important. The appeal of the modern design, the open and flowing interiors, the first and floor master suites, off street parking, the potential for Floyd Avenue to become a ‘Bicycle Boulevard’ and the responsible/green building methods are some others.

We are pretty excited to be a part of the project.

Pushing Back

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iStock_000001117222SmallWhile every purchase or sale situation and deal is different, at some point in the offer/counter-offer process one of the three following statements is uttered:

  • “What should we offer?”
  • “Should we take it or should we push back?”
  • “Tell them to take it or leave it!”

When to Push Back

Having a sense for whether or not to push back one (or more) times in an attempt to maximize your yield is hard.  No matter what the scenario, having more information is better than having less.  Knowing where you stand relative to the market is critical in capturing that last several thousand dollars.

While there are many ways to analyze your place in the market, one of my favorite charts to help offer guidance is below.  The chart shows the percentage of the home’s asking price that a seller received (sometimes called the Ask/Bid Spread).  When inventory levels tighten or demand increases typically, the higher the percentage.  You will also see the ‘Days on Market’ statistic move in concert with the Ask/Bid as when demand increases, buyers will act more quickly and thus tend to pay prices closer to asking prices in order to secure the right to purchase the home.

You can toggle on or off the individual zip codes (click the dots below the chart) to compare how one is preforming relative to another.

Numbers Never Lie, Right?

“So we should follow the chart above, correct?”

Not necessarily.

All statistics contain some ‘noise’ which can skew results and/or give less than accurate guidance.  And while each individual MLS handles their statistical packages differently, all MLS’s should offer some sort of package to help both agents and the public make some sense of the data.

So when looking at the charts above, please keep in mind the following:

  • Most statistics packages use Zip Codes, not MLS Zones, so some zips may encompass radically different neighborhoods. This more typical in the urban zips.
  • New Homes are typically entered into MLS at 100% (or more) of asking price so zip codes with larger numbers of New Homes may have slightly higher percentages than the market is really dictating.  Conversely, resale homes in new home neighborhoods may be in weaker bargaining positions than the chart would indicate.
  • 23220/23221/23226 have a smaller data size so the percentages will bounce around more.  Smaller data sets are also more more skewed by an extreme individual sale.

Dig in, Move or Accept?

So should you dig in and fight for that last little bit when selling your home?  Simply put, it depends.

Remember, there is no magic formula as each purchase/sale event is unique.  We wrote a post about using COMPS exclusively in the analysis which discusses the issue of looking backwards to predict future events.  We also wrote a post about understanding the difference between the many different interpretations of value.  But just know that those who know how interpret data will always come out ahead.

Ask your agent about the stats and see what they say…

The Elevator Speech

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Closed elevatorOK, we are on an elevator and you ask me what I do.

The following article is, more or less, a directory of the different 1 minute ‘elevator speeches’ for many of the common questions that I get asked.  The articles that you can click through go into more detail about the different topics that anyone thinking about buying or selling real estate in this market should understand.

There are several other articles that are could serve as starting points such as ‘Spending $1MM‘ and ‘The Floors Tell the Story‘ and ‘Tell Me About Flipping Houses‘ but they are a bit more specific…would probably need to go from the Penthouse to Parking Level 8 and back again to really delve fully into those.

See you on the elevator.

Million Dollar Homes For Sale in Richmond VA

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No matter where you go in the US, one million dollars is a measurement by which salaries and homes are compared.

[ listings in excess of $1MM are below ]

Each market in the US (and the world) has their own inputs that drive values and specifically, what drives values to $1,000,000.  For some it is proximity, for some it is history and for some it is space.

Regardless of the reason that a home can justify an asking price in excess of $1MM, in Richmond and surrounding areas, the $1MM threshold is not an easy one to crack.

What makes you worth 7 (or more) digits in Richmond?

The first and most important factor in getting to the $1MM mark is involvement with water….specifically, the James River.  The condos on the upper floors of the Vistas, Rocketts Landing and the homes in both the City and Henrico, Goochland and Chesterfield that have expansive River views, can command that price.  While I am sure that some of the properties that front smaller lakes or other smaller rivers or creeks (South Anna) can ask a premium, having property along the James drives a large portion of value.

History also plays a role.  Monument Avenue, Seminary Avenue and Cary Street Road all have enough historic currency to command the $1MM+ number.  Richmond’s powerful (and oft divisive) history is highly valued by many.  Additionally, those who own some of Richmond’s most iconic properties along these avenues feel a responsibility to steward these properties from one generation to the next.

While size matters, simply being big does not necessarily mean expensive.  While there are certainly homes whose scale (and thus, cost) generates a price over the $1MM mark, often times, size without another element (river, history, estate setting) will not necessarily mean ‘a mil’ (or more) is the value.

Lastly, there is a geographic component to value.  There are more areas in Henrico that can command the price than Chesterfield.  There are more areas in Goochland than in Hanover and Powhatan and so on.  Owning a million dollar home in Chesterfield is likely only in very specific  neighborhoods.  Henrico offers more spots where 7 digit home prices are justified.

Overall, Richmond is not really a $1MM city quite yet.

What does a million dollars buy you in (and around) Richmond?

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