When should you lower your asking price?

Obviously, home sellers want to make as much money as they can when selling their homes. The issue is finding out what price will do that. 

Here are key issues to consider:

Determine the best listing price. A good real estate agent will conduct a comprehensive market survey to assess the best listing price based on sales of similar homes in your area and the agent's expertise. How much you want to make from the sale of your home has nothing to do with the listing price. Market drives the price. See other factors that go into setting the listing price. 

The market price is the price at which a seller and buyer will agree. Your real estate agent should be able to give you a range of value, usually known as market value. Your market price will be somewhere within that range of value. If you choose to list your home at a price higher than the market value range, the house will most likely not sell. 

Be realistic with the timing. Just as the market determines price, the market often dictates how long it will take to sell your home. Your agent can tell you the average number of days comparable homes in your area were on the market before they sold. Homes listed for more than a million dollars are likely to take considerably longer than lower-priced homes. Factor this in before deciding to lower your price. 

Sometimes, you can't wait. If you are being transferred and cannot buy a new home until your current home sells, a proactive strategy on pricing may be in your best interest. Some people say you can't really under-price a home—the market will always correct the price up or down. 

Assess and adjust. Pay attention to how many showings your home is getting. If several buyers have toured your home in the past month and no offers have been made, the price may be too high for the market. 

Good agents request feedback from agents who show or preview your home. They may offer insights into other reasons buyers are walking away from your home. Sometimes, an odor or a water spot on the ceiling may be souring people on your home. In that case, it may be best to take your home off the market, make improvements and then re-list. That way, you reset your days-on-the-market meter and start anew.

Homes are not like cars. Every house is different. Ideally, you'll have an agent who knows the market well, provides good advice about the best listing price and works with you to get the most from the sale of your home.

The best inheritance: A succession plan for family real estate

You had the foresight to invest in real estate. But have you had the fortitude to plan for its future?

Most real estate and legal experts will tell you that a plan for family-owned property is essential—for the family and the value of the investment. Often, it is not an easy conversation to have with family members. That’s where the fortitude comes in. Whether transitioning to a new owner or an outright sale, these five steps should be part of your discussion.  

1. Plan for real estate tax liability. You don’t want your family to be forced to sell the property to pay real estate tax debt. Planning gives your heirs more options.
2. Consider tax-friendly ways to transfer assets. Gifts and trusts are among the tools that offer owners significant tax benefits.
3. Tell heirs your plan and don’t wait to resolve any issues that arise. Let them know how you arrived at your decisions and share your vision. This conversation can help preserve the relationship between the children or grandchildren, and it gives them an opportunity to ask you questions and for your advice
4. Revisit the plan regularly. Some tools require more regular monitoring than others.
5. Introduce your heirs to your advisers. Let them know who you trust for financial, tax and legal advice.

The recurring mantra is: It’s never too early to plan for when you can no longer make the decisions regarding the family’s assets. The biggest gift you can leave your family may be a legal document on how you give it.

Why Do You Need a Realtor?

Of course, as real estate agents, we think a realtor on your side can make your real estate transaction more successful in terms of money, time and headaches. An increasing number of home buyers agree. About 88% of home buyers purchase their home through a real estate agent or broker—a share that has steadily increased from 69% in 2001, according to the National Association of REALTOR®’s 2013 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. 

Here are just a few of the ways a realtor can help you:

• Save you time in searching for the right home.

• Help you identify and eliminate properties that are not worth pursuing.

• Find homes that are not yet on the market.

• Help you find a neighborhood that suits your needs.

• Refer you to the best lenders in the area and help you get pre-qualified for a loan.

• Help you figure out how much home you can afford. 

• Guide you on the best price to list your home.

• Detail all of the costs involved in buying or selling a home.

The terms
You may find it helpful to know some of the industry terms.  To sell real estate in Missouri, you must be at least 18, pass the real estate examination and have a real estate agent or broker license. Agents have to work for brokers. Murney Associates is the broker for The Stenger Group. You can check to see whether any disciplinary actions have be recorded against your agent or broker through Missouri's real estate commission.

If an agent uses Realtor with a big "R," that means he or she is a member of the National Association of REALTORS. The main advantage to you is that this means they have agreed to abide by a code of ethics. 

Whether buying your first home, downsizing or building your investment portfolio, a good real estate will provide expertise and guidance all through the process. 

The Many Dangers of Overpricing Your Home

All of the home sellers we’ve worked with wanted to get the most they could out of their homes. No big shock there. And for many, time was also a factor. They didn’t want their homes to sit on the market for months, which often decreases how much you can get for your home as well.

Our goal is to help you set a list price that will get you the best price, quickly and with minimum hassle. If your home is listed at a price that is above market value, you will miss out on prospective buyers who would otherwise be prime candidates to purchase your home. (See the chart.) If you list at a price that is below market value, you lose out on potential profit and diminish the value of your home. 

More buyers purchase their properties at market value than they purchase above market value. The percentage increases as the price falls even further below market value. Therefore, by pricing your property at market value, you expose it to a much greater percentage of prospective buyers. This increases your chances for a sale while ensuring a final sale price that properly reflects the market value of your home.

Timing is of the essence

Another critical factor to keep in mind when pricing your home is timing. A property attracts the most attention, excitement, and interest from the real estate community

and potential buyers when it is first listed on the market. If your home is improperly priced initially, it can miss out on its peak interest period, which could cause it to languish on the market. This may lead to a below market value sale price or, even worse, no sale at all. 

Your home has the highest chances for a successful sale when it is new on the market and priced reasonably. This is where we can help. We can give you up-to-date information on what is happening in the marketplace and the price, financing, terms, and condition of competing properties. With these analyses and our experience, well help you find the right price for your home.

Source: Murney Associates, Realtors

Simple (and Inexpensive) Ways to Spruce Up Your Home

Realtor.com recently posted this great article, "6 Sneaky Ways to Make Your Home Look Expensive." It is worth reading. The tips are:

1. Declutter.
2. Eliminate grunge.
3. Add—or rearrange—lighting.
4. Upgrade your hardware.
5. Repaint.
6. Focus on the devil in the (decor) details.

We agree with these tips and are huge proponents of decluttering. It has shown up in several of our other blog posts. And we also tell our clients that painting is one of the least expensive and easiest ways to change the look of your home.

Another worthwhile tip not included here is repainting or restaining your front door. Holly just painted her door black. She said it really helped it pop and provided a nice change.

Holly recently repainted her front door,
shutters, and garage black.

Stacey liked the darker staining of her front
door and garage.

For Stacey, restaining her front door (and shutters) provided the face-lift her home needed. "I really struggled with the decision," she says. "But I ended up going darker and love it."

We would love to hear about any other ways you've spruced up your home. Feel free to post a comment.

5 Ways Buyers Can Make the Most Out of Open Houses

Open houses are a great entrée into the home-buying process. They help you figure out what features are important to you in a home. Finding out what you don't like is just as important. Here's how to make the most of your time spent visiting open houses.

We have three open houses this Sunday.
Make sure they are on your route!
Here's info on the first one
at 3934 Eaglescliffe.

1. Figure out your price range. If you are visiting open houses with an eye toward buying eventually, it really helps to figure out how much home you can afford. Of course, it is always fun to visit homes you hope to have one day. But you want your expectations to be in line with your budget. Check out this blog post for tips on finding how much home you can afford.
2. Plan your route. Consider focusing on a neighborhood or section of town that interests you each Sunday. You can go to this website to get an overview of popular subdivisions in the Springfield area. Open houses are posted here at 4 p.m. on Thursday for the upcoming Sunday. Zillow also compiles open houses each week. Murney's mobile app will give you the location of homes for sell based on your geographical location. Very handy!
3. Talk to the real estate agent hosting the open house. Use the agent as a resource. Ask any questions you may have and see what he or she thinks are the strengths of the home. It's also a great way to "interview" agents if you are looking for an agent to represent you. 
4. Weigh the home against your needs. No home is going to meet all of your needs. But you do want it to meet your most important needs. Think about whether this home does that, whether those needs involve the floor plan, a big backyard for kids to play in, a large kitchen or a hobby space. 
5. Experience the neighborhood. Find out as much as you can about what it is like to live there. The people create the neighborhood's personality. Are people out in their yards? Are they approachable? Do you like that? Would you prefer a more anonymous feel in your neighborhood? Do people take care of their homes? Look at the community amenities within the neighborhood and nearby. Again, evaluate the amenities according to what you think is important or would like to have nearby. Other neighborhood considerations include traffic amount and patterns, smells and home owners associations' involvement.

5229 S. Stonehaven in Highland Springs

310 N. Marie St. in Nixa

What Determines Your Credit Score?

We all know that a good credit score is important, especially if you’re looking to buy a house. But how is your credit score determined? How do you improve your credit score, and what matters the most when it comes to maintaining a good credit score?

Your credit score is made up of five different factors. Generally, a good credit score is in the mid-700s and higher. Here are the factors that determine your credit score in the order of their weight and importance (these are approximations):

35% Payment history. Payments more than 30 days late can negatively affect your score.

30% Amount owed. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t borrow. But if you’re in a lot of debt, it shows you’re overextended financially. To prevent this category from being a negative factor in your score, make sure you don’t charge over half the limit on all of your credit cards.

15% Length of credit history. A long payment history is important for showing lenders you have paid your bills on time. Don’t cancel old credit cards because that deletes all of your credit history with that card.

10% New credit. Opening numerous accounts in a short amount of time can be seen as risky, particularly if you have a short credit history. Each application for a credit card is an inquiry on your credit report and too many in a short amount of time can negatively affect your overall score.

10% Types of credit in use. Make sure your debt is spread out between different types of loans. For example, it’s better to have some debt in credit cards and the rest in a mortgage, car loan and student loans, than it is to have all of your debt in credit cards.

First, find out what your score is. You are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) once every 12 months. See where you stand. Then decide which of these factors you can change to raise your score.



Source: Murney Associates, Realtors