Real Estate Information Archive

We get a lot of questions from Sellers right now about how to WIN in this market--and winning means being the house that actually SELLS when houses around you fail to do so.

Pricing your home to actually SUCCEED in selling is a lot like training for the Olympics.  Right now, every Seller wants to sell their home . . . just like every athlete wants to win the Gold in Vancouver.

But this is like going to the local gym and asking the guy in the grey sweats huffing away on the treadmill, "Suppose you wanted to get serious and make it to the Olympics . . . how would you train?"  And he would likely give us some answer such as, "Well, I guess I'd have to run a little faster and a little longer."  But really, how much weight do you put in his advice?  He's not much different than you.  It's more wishful thinking than anything.

Or suppose you went to Vancouver a week before the Olympics started and mingled with all the athletes as they arrive in town.  And you asked all of them, “How do you have to train to win the gold?”  Every one of them would give you an answer. 

But when it comes down to it, the only person whose answer we REALLY care about is the one who has already WON the gold medal--past tense.  We should really be following the people who SUCCEEDED in their goal.  It wasn't about luck, it was about strategy, and it was about following the right example.  So when a medal winner is sitting down doing an interview AFTER they've succeeded in beating their competition, that's when we really ought to lean forward and take note.  What did they do differently to succeed against such great odds?
 
Take your advice from the people that have actually succeeded--not from others that are still in pursuit of their goal.  Price your home based on actual CLOSED transactions in a neighborhood. 

In real estate, the problem is that we can get advice from so many places and while it's all well intentioned, most of it is off base.  When we're looking to sell a home, it's common to get advice from other homes that are also on the journey trying to sell.  But they can be just like the guy on the treadmill.  None of them has ever succeeded--we're all just on the journey together. 

So who are we?  We're The Dailey Group and hopefully we're like your Olympic Training Coach--trying to help you achieve your goals.  There are plenty of people who want to win the Olympics, but the example to follow is the people who have actually done it.  When we help you set a list price for your home, we'll help you interview the right people--the SOLD homes that have SUCCEEDED.

Committed to your success,

Seth & Alyce

Want to win a Flip video camera?!  Here's the scoop on our latest contest which was announced at our Frosty Party just a few weeks ago. . .

If you were at the Frosty Party, you received a blue, environmentally friendly tote bag with the new Dailey Group logo on it.  (Like it?!)

All you have to do now is to take pictures with your new bag in different places around town--or wherever you want!  The person who submits the MOST NUMBER of pictures wins the coveted prize.  It's as easy as that! 

Simply email your your pictures to contest@thedaileygroup.com.  If you don't yet have your tote bag, you can give us a call and we'll make arrangements for you to get one.  Their pretty cool . . . you wouldn't want to be without one anyway!

Winner will be announced at our next big client party, which is TBD, so keep watching for details on that.  But until then, starting sending in your pictures!  We'll be sure to post the best ones on our blog and website!

Any questions?  Just ask!

Click your heels three times and repeat after me . . . "There's snow place like home, there's snow place like home, there's snow place like home . . ."

Yes, it's true, the Vancouver Olympics really should be held here in Baltimore.  How much more can we take?!

In the midst of the madness, real estate is STILL moving!  Seth was out just last Monday with some great clients who are relocating here from the west coast. They waded through three feet of snow to get into homes and found a great one.  They wrote an offer and had it accepted by Tuesday--just as the flakes were falling before the second blizzard!

Buying real estate when others are afraid to trudge through the blah weather is a smart move.  It's quite an opportunity to snatch up a great deal! 

Just wanted to remind you to Save the Date for our annual Frosty Party !  It will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2010.  More details to come!

The U.S. Treasury Department released a plan yesterday to speed up and encourage Short Sales as a means to help families avoid foreclosure. Although the new guidelines aren't everything we were hoping for, they do represent a significant improvement over the current situation.

Short Sales have been difficult to close, and these new measures are a huge step in the right direction. One major highlight: A lender must give a yes or no answer to an offer within 10 days. Also included: a moving allowance, incentives for sellers and lenders, commission rules, and a stipulation that releases sellers from debt liabilities.

For more short sale information, click here.  

Here's an initial Reuters news story outlining the new policies:  http://bit.ly/5IsOD9

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.

It doesn't take hanging around us very long to realize that we love people and we love parties! It's quite honestly our whole business model. That's why we're having ANOTHER ONE! SAVE THE DATE for our client appreciation party AT THE MOVIES on Saturday, December 12th.