Ask The Realtor

Friday, May 20, 2016

Should I get a radon test for my new home?

Dear Joan,

We are buying a new home and although we are very excited, we have been consistently surprised with new costs that we had not taken into account. Now that we are near to closing on the home, the builder said we don’t need to pay for a home inspector’s services since we will do a punch list and all of the new appliances and systems are under warranty. That was the one expense we had planned on, including getting a radon test.

The builder has indicated that there should not be a radon problem because it is new construction. What do you recommend? We wouldn’t mind saving the money, but we don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish. Thanks.

Dear Soon to be Brand-New Home Owner,

Your builder is correct about the appliance warranties. You should also have a builder warranty, and the sub-contractors should warrant their work for a period of time. You can verify all of this in writing with your builder. However, it might be a good idea to touch base with a professional inspector regardless and see what he or she would recommend.

Concerning the decision about the radon test, I would definitely recommend having a test done, as we have found substantial amounts of radon in new construction in the valley in the past. Radon presence is not necessarily about new or old construction.

According to Janet Wickell, a home buying and selling expert, “Radon gas is a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas that’s formed during the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water. Radon exits in the ground and can seep into your home through cracks and holes in the foundation.

Health officials have determined that radon gas is a carcinogen that can cause lung cancer. Studies show that radon is more of a risk to smokers, but nonsmokers have a slightly elevated chance of developing lung cancer when radon levels in the home are high.”

RADON MISCONCEPTIONS

Besides the myth that new homes can’t have radon issues, there are several other misconceptions that exist around radon presence. One is that if you don’t have a basement, then you can’t have radon issues.

According to Pillar to Post in the latest Residential Specialists magazine, “owners of a home that is built on a slab or crawl space actually spend more time in closer proximity to the soil from which the gas originates than homes with a basement.”

Also, according to the same source, homes should be tested every two years even if they have a radon mitigation system installed. This article also said they have found excessive levels of radon in condominiums on upper levels. The good news is that elevated radon levels can usually be fairly easily mitigated. The important issue is knowing about it in time to take care of you and your family’s health. Go ahead with your test so that you can enjoy your beautiful new home.

Joan Harned is an owner and broker for Keller Williams Mountain Properties and heads up Team Black Bear, her own real estate team. Harned has been selling real estate in Eagle County for 27 years, is a past chairman of the Vail Board of Realtors, past Realtor of the Year, past director on the Great Outdoors Colorado Board and a member of the Luxury and Land Institutes. Contact Harned with your real estate questions at Joan@TeamBlackBear.com, 970-337-7777 andwww.SkiAndTeeHomes.com.

Friday, May 13, 2016

How do you find help when seeking a home?

Dear Joan,

We are looking for a second home in the valley and we are in the process of choosing a Realtor. Actually, I am the one looking for a Realtor as my husband won’t help because he said all salespeople are alike and he doesn’t trust any of them to do anything but try to get a commission. He wants to talk to the listing agent on each home. I am sure that there are some agents that fit his description, but I also believe that I can find one that will actually try to help us find what we want and need. How can I identify a person that will look out for us and help us get the best property at the best price?

Dear Searching,

Your husband is creating his own self-fulfilling prophecy. If he only talks to listing agents, and makes it plain that he will only work with the listing agent on their listing, then of course the listing agent will work very hard to sell him that one property because that is their only opportunity with your husband. Then it would not matter to the agent if it fit your needs or not. If you and your husband would instead choose an honest, hardworking, knowledgeable Realtor and sign a buyer agency agreement with them, then that Realtor would feel safe to tell you and your husband of every property on the market that might fit your criteria. Plus, they would be able to look for properties that are not even listed since they would be secure in knowing they would be paid on any sale with you.

If your husband is concerned with finding the right Realtor, then I am happy to give you criteria to help you with your selection. I think the best way to go about it is to sign the buyer agency agreement for a short period of time so that you can cancel if you are not happy with your agent’s service or knowledge. And, of course you can extend it if things start to go well for you. I would stay or cancel based on the attention and availability the agent gives to you, as well as quality of service and information provided.

The agent should have an in-depth conversation with you at first to discover all your wants and needs and what factors are most important and what would be nice to have. Establishing a comfortable price range for you is important as well. Now, it is a sign of a good agent if they present you with properties that are just a bit outside the price parameters and chosen features on the original list. However, if they only email and show you properties that are twice the price you want to pay, it might be time to look for someone else. You can sign a buyer agency agreement for as short of time as a day, but I would suggest at least a month to give them time to do the research they need to do. I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Friday, May 6, 2016

Does exterior of home need 'staging'?

Dear Joan,

I know you have talked about staging a house before and I don’t believe that we need to do that to sell our home. As we consider choosing a Realtor to list our home, we have been wondering what we should do on the exterior. Our house is about 12 years old. My wife says it doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t look good either. I am worried that if we spend a lot of money dressing it up, then we will never get it back when we sell the house. She said I should ask you what to do.

Dear Doubter,

I think you should select a bright, professional Realtor first, who will give you a list of things you could do to improve your house and hopefully benefit financially from the investment. Each neighborhood and home is different, so it is hard to say exactly what would be best for your home, but I can give you the general guidelines from the elite Realtor members of the Council of Residential Specialists. I have scheduled showings and have had clients reluctant to enter houses because they did not like the exterior.

The basics that are usually done on a home or duplex to increase the appeal are:

• Clean up and trim all of the landscaping.

• Power wash the exterior of the home, walkways and driveway.

• Wash all windows — inside and outside.

• Repaint or stain the front door and make the entry inviting.

• Repair or replace siding or stone work.

• Repaint exterior or garage doors if applicable and needed.

According to the 2015 remodeling cost and value report, produced by Remodeling magazine with the National Association of Realtors and Realtor Magazine, here are the percentages you can expect to get back directly from the following four improvements:

• 101.8 percent for replacement of your entry door.

• 92.2 percent for replacement of stone veneer.

• 88.5 percent for a mid-range new garage door.

• 84.3 percent for siding replacement.

If you do the clean-up and can afford to enhance your curb appeal, you could sell your home up to three times faster, according to some Realtors. Buyers simply have a better attitude when they enter a well-kept, spruced-up home and will expect to like the interior, rather than fear that the deferred maintenance outside will be seen again on the inside. You definitely want it done before they come take the professional photographs. Good luck.

Originally published 5/6/16 and can be seen here.

Friday, April 29, 2016

What are housing trends like?

Dear Joan,

I keep hearing conflicting stories about how our local real estate market is doing. I read the paper, listen to hearsay and, of course, talk to various Realtors in the valley and I seem to get different information from each source.

I am trying to make some decisions on investment properties that I own and on some that I am thinking of acquiring. Is there any source I can visit that will give me a good feel of what is happening and what the trends are for the future?

Dear Market Confused,

If you figure out a fool-proof system for predicting the future of real estate in this valley, then please call right away and we will both be billionaires. I am not trying to diminish the importance of your question. What you have discovered is the rest of the old adage that “the price of real estate is about three things — location, location and location.” The rest of that saying is that real estate prices and demand are very specific to each local area.

Although we are one small valley with a relatively small population, we have many different markets within our sphere. Therefore, the confusion comes with the fact that probably everything you heard was true, to a different degree, depending on the location about which the entity spoke.

For instance, the Vail Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service provides us with information showing trends that can be narrowed down to specific areas and specific price ranges.

For the sake of brevity, I will use price ranges to provide an example. If you compare January through March for 2015 to January through March for 2016 for all homes in all price ranges, we have slightly less inventory for sale (-0.2 percent) but we have 10.5 percent more completed sales and 22.6 percent more homes under contract than the year before.

So one could say the market is getting better for sellers. Now if you look at homes in the whole valley for more than $1 million, then there are 7.8 percent more homes available now than the first quarter of last year and 26.5 percent less sold this year than last year.

Most Realtors understand that some of the homes priced at more than $1 million have languished on the market. However, if you look further, then you can see that the homes that are currently under contract, waiting to close, are up 17 percent in the over $1 million price range. That is great news for a lot of sellers and Realtors.

And briefly, homes under $500,000 are holding steady on availability and have increased 39.7 percent in sales and 37.2 percent in under contract this year.

From this information, I would say the market here, in general, is trending up. As far as predicting the future, whether or not this trend will continue and for how long ... I have no concrete evidence of the direction. I have my own opinions, based on the information I study and compile, but it is far from fact.

I hope this helps you understand the situation a little better. I would suggest you contact your local, knowledgeable Realtor to help you sort through the facts to make the best calculated decisions and predictions for the future. Best of luck to you.

Originally published 4/29/16 and can be viewed here.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Should non-golfers live in a golf course community?

Dear Joan,

My spouse has been bitten by the golf bug again this spring. As usual, he wants to move to a golf course community after selling our home in the valley. I have always associated higher fees and stuffy country club members with living on a golf course. And I don’t play golf, so I would feel like an outcast or at least a second-class citizen. Tell me if I am off base or right on, please.

Dear non-golfer,

I am afraid I am in your spouse’s camp this time. I am a golfer, but I feel we have many gorgeous golf course communities in our valley providing much more than a place to play the game. They provide many social interaction opportunities and can provide protection for your property value. The courses are beautiful and usually provide dedicated open space that will secure your views to the mountains into the future. I would say that probably well more than half of the friends and clients I know that live on golf courses up and down our valley do not play golf. My suggestion would be to find a competent and knowledgeable Realtor and have a look at not only the homes in several golf course communities, but also the clubhouses and amenities offered and ask the people there how they like living there. Best of luck.

Originally published in The Vail Daily newspaper on 04/22/2016 and can be seen here as published.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Who's the non-resort buyer?

Dear Joan,

If I don’t have a home in the resort areas of Vail Valley, where will my buyer come from? I have a nice home in Eagle County, but it is definitely not in one of our ski resorts. I figure my best time to put it on the market is late June, when most of the area school years are completed and families may be thinking about moving within the valley.

I don’t want to wait too long, but I also don’t want to have it sitting on the market if there aren’t any buyers looking right now. Am I right, that families waiting for the school year to end are my best bet? What other buyers are there for non-resort properties?

Dear Just One Prospect Seller,

Luckily for me, and my fellow Realtors in the valley, you are not correct. Yes, there are some families that set their timing for a move with the ending of the school year, but most of those are working on selling and buying prior to the actual end of the term. More importantly, there are many more reasons our clients are buying at this time of year in the non-resort areas, as you would call them. I do have to mention living in Eagle County on a golf course, small or large acreage or even a property with view, feels like living in a resort to a large segment of the population coming from big-city living.

Now, on to the other reasons we have many buyers looking right now:

• Rentals in this valley are very hard to find and sometimes as expensive as buying, so renters turn into first-time homebuyers.

• Interest rates are still at a low price, making properties, in general, amazingly affordable.

• Changing family sizes due to marriage or divorce, children being born or moving out or back.

• Aging parents moving in or necessitating the children to move closer to them.

• Job changes that bring new buyers in or out.

• Buyers who had lost their homes around 2009 and now, after 7 years have passed, have credit that will allow them to buy again.

• Investors who can once again make sense of buying rentals with the increased rent income and rising equity.

• Second home owners that have had small ski condos and now can buy something larger because they are retiring and moving to our area full time.

There are many, many more scenarios that we see all the time. I have learned to take a broad approach to marketing just because we hear new reasons for moving quite frequently. Therefore, my advice stays the same — if you want to sell, then find a great Realtor and let them put your property up for sale just as soon as they can complete their marketing packet that will give you the best exposure. If you wait until late June, not only might you miss the perfect buyer who is looking now, but the competition of more homes coming on the market that are using your end of school year theory will not be an advantage to you. Best of luck with your decision.

Joan Harned is an owner and broker for Keller Williams Mountain Properties and heads up Team Black Bear. Harned has been selling real estate in Eagle County for 27 years, is a past chairman of the Vail Board of Realtors, past Realtor of the Year, past director on the Great Outdoors Colorado Board and a member of the Luxury and Land Institutes. Contact Harned with real estate questions atJoan@TeamBlackBear.com, 970-337-7777 and www.SkiAndTeeHomes.com.

Friday, April 8, 2016

Are open houses useful for sellers?

Dear Joan,

I have my home listed locally and my listing agent has asked me if I will let them have an open house at my home. I am not very anxious to have a bunch of “looky Lous” wandering around my house. Plus, I have heard the statistics that very seldom does an open house sell a home; rather, it brings possible clients for the Realtor holding the open house. Is that true? Am I missing an opportunity I should be considering? My wife has said I need to consider what the Realtor wants to do. What do you think? Thanks.

Dear Open-House Aversion,

This has been debated for the many years I have been in real estate. To answer your concern of having strangers walking through your home, you will need to have an understanding with your Realtor, as well as a mindset change. Visit with your Realtor and have a serious conversation about what kind of open house she wants to have and how she will hold it.

There are two different kinds of open houses. One is for other Realtors and these can be very effective. If you calculate that every Realtor has at least 250 people in his or her network, and you get 10 or more brokers to come to your open house, then there should be at least 2,500 opportunities for a Realtor to contact a client they know if they think the home might be a good fit. The more brokers that actually tour your property, the better.

The second kind of open house is a public open house, which you were describing in your question. You are correct by saying that the percentages are low for one of the open house visitors to end up buying your property. However, there is still a chance that one visitor might turn into a client and buy the property. More importantly, however, activity breeds more activity. When neighbors and the public start to see people looking at the property, they have no idea if everyone who goes in wants to purchase the home or if they are just filling their Saturday afternoon. Often the momentum and activity simply creates the synergy to bring the right party to purchase.

Your broker needs to discuss with you how long she will be there and insist that everyone sign in, and make sure she has enough help to keep every party accompanied through the home so that your property is protected. She will also tell you to please put any small valuables away to remove any temptation as well.

I think you need to be open to a frank discussion with your listing agent and together you can make some informed decisions on who and when and how you could get some open house exposure and still feel comfortable. Good luck!

View as originally published here.

Friday, April 1, 2016

What is a Realtor 'team'?

Dear Joan,

I have recently been interviewing Realtors to list my home in the resort and I have a question for you. The term “team” has come up and I am not sure how that works or if it is an advantage for me as a seller. Can you please enlighten me? Thank you.

Dear Soon-to-be Seller,

That is a good question as the word “team” is used often these days, with many varied meanings. The concept of a team working for you can be an excellent choice, if it is a true, hard working, successful team. The benefits can be numerous because it is difficult for one agent to be and do everything — not impossible, but challenging. A strong team can list your property, order professional pictures, accompany the photographer, write ad copy and create online brochures, place your property on hundreds of domestic and international websites and notify everyone in their databases that may be interested in your property in about 24 to 48 hours (once the pictures are done). In the meantime, the team may be showing the property and bringing buyers that inquired about their other listings, to preview yours as well. Now this is possible for an individual agent to do, and is done. You might like the special attention of one single agent, and there can be synergy from one listing to the next in the buzz around a busy team.

Another definition of a team is an individual agent who has the backing of his or her whole office. Some offices have a culture of cooperation and mutual assistance that allows the individual agent to have the support they need in busy times. The culture of the office can be very supportive and helpful and can make it possible for the individual agent to perform at a much higher level. I am always surprised when I get a call from another company asking if we could accompany their buyers to see our listing because they are out of town. Since we are working for our sellers, we do not turn down the showing, of course. However, I always wonder why no one in their own office would offer to help them out and show their clients when they are gone. Simply saying you have a team does not necessarily mean you have an effective cooperative group with skills in all departments to cover all of your needs.

Often Realtors make the mistake of teaming up with someone they like who has very similar in characteristics. In the grand scheme of things, you pick a team that has many different skills so that they complement each other which allows your team to provide full service in every area. Hopefully, this information will give you some questions to ask in your interviews. We have some great teams and great individual Realtors in this valley, so I am sure you will find the right one.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Do people retire to the Rocky Mountains?

Dear Joan,

My husband and I have been planning and dreaming about retiring someday in the Vail Valley. We have been coming here for more than 20 years and have many friends here now, not to mention that our children and grandchildren love to visit us when we are in Vail. We have told several friends where we live and about our plans and they think we are nuts and that we should look around in Florida, Arizona and, heaven forbid, California. We have been told we need to look for lower cost of living, lower taxes and convenient health care services. I guess most people do retire to Sun Belt areas, and maybe life is easier in a warm, and often oppressively hot climate. Are we crazy? Does anyone else think about retiring to the Rocky Mountains resort areas?

Dear Not Crazy,

I believe you are not only sane, but wise. Actually, Anya Kamenetz wrote an article in the business section of the Denver Post last Sunday that totally supports my theory of choosing the best location for your retirement. Although there are a lot of supposedly standard reasons that a person should use when they are choosing where to retire, she states that “the state where you have (or see) the most family and friends should be among your top picks for retirement. Social capital, literally wealth in friendship, is a chief indicator of health, happiness and longevity.” The article went on to say that many more retirees are choosing mountain states over Sun Belt states for a wide variety of reasons.

Tied in with those retirement choices is the factor of health. My father always said that without your health, you have nothing. It did not matter how much you had saved or acquired, you need to be healthy to enjoy it. We take healthy people for granted in this valley and that energetic vitality seems to permeate all of our lives.

We are an outdoors, sports-oriented society. Many of our second-home owners originally bought properties here because of skiing and they loved the area and their family loved to gather here. Just like you, they easily made friends and discovered they had hundreds of friends who like to visit them in the mountains.

Ultimately, you will have to make your own decision on where to retire and the only thing that matters is that you feel good about it. When it feels right, you will know you have made the right decision. My husband and I love it here and will probably never leave our great friends, but we do have a second home in Destin, Florida. You might, too, if your one son blessed you with nine grandchildren there. Family and friends make the difference for a healthy happy life and retirement. Best of luck to you.

Friday, March 18, 2016

How can I become a Realtor?

Dear Joan,

I have always thought, in the back of my mind, that I would love to sell real estate. Now I see you are offering classes locally at your office. Can you tell me what you have to do to become a Realtor? Are these classes just for your company? How much time does it take to be able to get your license? Can I keep my present job? How long does it typically take to be able to make a living in real estate? I guess I have a million questions so just tell me what I should know. Thank you

Dear Potential New Realtor,

We are equally excited about bringing a state certified licensing program to the valley that combines self-study and online testing with live instruction once a week for review and questions. Anyone can sign up, pay and take the classes. Our company is certainly looking for talent, as are most growing companies in the valley, but there is no obligation to join our company or any company, for that matter. You must take 168 hours of education to become licensed to sell real estate in Colorado. You can go to Denver and take a live class for the entire 168 hours or you can take the class totally online. The class you are asking about takes six weeks and is a combination of both. Make no mistake, you have to do a lot of reading in books and taking quizzes online, but you also come to a class from 5 to 9 p.m. once a week for six weeks and get live instruction, review and a chance to ask questions.

We are running the class continuously for the next five months and we are very pleased with the caliber of students and their enthusiasm of working together. It is highly encouraged to take the test within 10 days of completing the six-week class, since close to 80 percent of what you learn is to pass the test and will not fall into use in the real world of selling and may not stay in your memory. This schedule has fit with most everyone that has a current job. As far as keeping your job once you have passed the test, there are a lot of ways that can be worked out with good coaching from your real estate company of choice. Now the real tricky question is how much money will you make. My answer is that sky is the limit on what you can earn. That is the wonderful thing about real estate sales. If you are willing to work hard, get in a program that teaches you how to sell, constantly work on increasing your knowledge, embrace being coached, be willing to get out of your comfort zone and genuinely care about your clients, then you can build your business literally forever. We have many new agents that are doing the things I listed and far surpassing seasoned agents in the valley, just because they have great models and systems and are willing to work. Good luck following your dream.