RE: Re: realtors and markets | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Rob Sandelin (floriferousmsn.com) | |
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 16:24:11 -0600 (MDT) |
We had a foreclosure once upon a time and the property ended up in the hands of a loan shark type person, who put it up on the market, at a market inflated price, with a traditional realtor who was outright unfriendly towards the community. Since the community owns the common elements, we put a brochure board right in front of the house for sale detailing the community aspects. It drove away all the buyers this realtor came up with and after 3 months, the realtor dropped the contract. The second realtor was very friendly, offered to split the commission if we found a buyer. Two weeks later we did. The second and more recent experience with a realtor was not successful for the owner. The realtor apparently did understand the community aspect involved in the house, and found no interest, at the original asking price, which the realtor based upon an appraisal. The owner dropped the contract and has been trying to sell on his own ever since, dropping the price three time now. Another house came up for sale a couple weeks ago, and sold already. It has been interesting to watch how things have gone here recently. Real estate appraisers have come in with some amazing values here, but they are not supported by the actual market. One seller, who tried to sell and then rented instead was given an appraisal of $400,000, but could not find a buyer at $325,000. They decided to not sell the house at this time because they could not get what the house was worth. Same deal for the house currently on the market, the appraisal was very high, the market has not supported the price. And of course, high appraisals would mean high profits for owners, which they become attached to. The house that sold quickly, sold at almost $100,000 below the appraised value. The owners were smart enough to recognize that appraisals do not account for the community limitations in the marketplace but are based upon outside market conditions. They also did not have inflated ideas about how much profit they could get, and instead sold at a very modest mark up (10% more than they paid for it five years ago). There is an interesting dynamic going on with this, unique I think to Sharingwood. Since we are custom family homes on lots, the "market" is booming and prices for such homes outside of community are high. The logic then extends value beyond appraisal because of community amenities are value added in theory. However, relative to the overall housing market, few people are in the market for community living, and there are lots of cohousing homes for sale in the Seattle area. Since we are very expensive, and located well outside the city, and have a rural feel and look, we are finding that competition from other cohousing units is keeping interest here low. It has also been interesting (and disappointing) that apparently since we are so different, other groups trying to sell units have discouraged people from even coming out to see us. One woman who came on a tour, told me two days ago that she was told not to come out to Sharingwood, we were "not a cohousing community, and that we were all rich people living in isolated mansions". An interesting perspective, but not one supported by reality. Obviously this kind of message from another cohousing group does not help us. So between unrealistic owner desires for high housing equity profits, low demand, and high competition, we are not selling units, or even finding renters for rental spaces that were once extremely competitive. As more homes come up for sale in the future, it will be interesting to see how owners grapple with a reality of value and market. It will also be interesting to see the effect of not being able to sell at high prices does to buyers, who come in with the notion of free markets and discover that buying a high priced house here may mean they later might have to sell later at no profit, or even (gasp!) a loss. One of the economic fears about cohousing for buyers is: can I sell this place I live in if it does not work out or I have to move? The reality here now seems to be, yes, but don't expect a huge profit. Rob Sandelin Sharingwood two places for rent, one for sale www.sharingwood.org -----Original Message----- From: cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org [mailto:cohousing-l-admin [at] cohousing.org]On Behalf Of Lynn Nadeau Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 3:12 PM To: cohousing L Subject: [C-L]_Re: realtors In Port Townsend Washington we have a local title company that has handled all the paperwork for both project-to-first-owner sales, and owner-to-buyer direct resales. Plus the buyers did their own arrangements with financing. It has seemed to work fine. Some resales have used realtors. Observations: House #1 was sold some years back via realtor on behalf of an estate. This led to problems. The family thought elderly mom was a kook and disapproved of her. After she died, the family members padlocked the house and then later sold it overnight, at a dropped price, via a realtor who knew nothing about cohousing. Though the RoseWind documents are attached to the deed, the buyer had not come to us seeking community and hadn't met any of us personally. She gave it a try, but it was not a good match. After a period of nonparticipation and upsets, she re-sold, using the same realtor, who once again wasn't being told how wonderful cohousing was. Again, the realtor majorly downplayed the cohousing aspect. Fortunately, we got lucky and the next buyer tried us out and is now an active participant. Lesson: Those who are selling are sometimes the least likely to extoll what a great experience cohousing is, and some realtors want to sell and it matters not to whom. House # 3 is for sale currently. The owner was not unhappy, just wanted to move to a farm with horses, which she did. The realtor is someone who is more familiar with RoseWind and thinks it's great. The owner made a deal with the realtor that if a contact came via cohousing connections, we would get a cut of the commission. I have noted, however, that even when dealing with people we sent her, the realtor has shown them a bunch of other properties in town, as well. If they come directly to us, we only show them what's here. House # 4 is the second one for sale currently. The sellers chose - for unrelated reasons - the same realtor who sold house #1. Even with these sellers, who have good things to say about cohousing, the realtor's publicity rather downplays it. We do of course meet and greet and orient potential buyers, whether they show up via realtors or personal or cohousing connections. Some of those who come via realtors ask questions like, "They don't tell you what to do, do they?" "What's the minimum amount of participation?" I do my best to cheerfully tell them it's wonderful, but a lot of work, and that though we don't require participation, we definitely *expect that each person will pitch in with some regularity. And that to join *despite the community aspect would be paying extra for no useful purpose. Other houses and lots have been sold via our own Outreach team, matching inquirers with properties that are, or become available. So the jury's still out here, on using realtors, but we've seen some drawbacks. _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.332 / Virus Database: 186 - Release Date: 3/6/02 _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
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Re: realtors Lynn Nadeau, September 3 2002
- RE: Re: realtors and markets Rob Sandelin, September 6 2002
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