buyers are liars
my first week in the residential real estate business i overheard a grizzled veteran colleague in the office remark to a fellow agent that "buyers are liars" and i thought to myself "wow, that's cold!"
in this case, dave’s colleague was the liar, and his agent made the sale by listening carefully to his concern, but not listening so closely to his proposed solution. if she had believed him, she would probably never have sold him anything.
i am often reminded of this lesson when i hear clients describe the features they would like to have in a property. even if i find a property with exactly the features they say they want, they may not be satisfied. the problem is that while clients may be experts in terms of their needs and desires and in understanding problems in their environment that they need solved, they aren't necessarily experts in developing solutions to those problems.
how then do you deal with this contradiction when on the one hand, "the customer is always right," while on the other hand, "buyers are liars?" one compromise is to assume that they are right about their own needs and desires, but don't assume that they've necessarily conceived of the best possible solution.
when a client requests a feature, i believe it's important to dig deeper and ask lots of questions. exactly why is this feature important to you? how were you planning to use this feature? are there other alternative substitute features that you have considered that might meet your needs? if done with tact and perseverance, i believe that this kind of interaction can lead to much better solutions than if either clients or agents simply specified the feature on their own.
initially a buyer may be adamant that they what they are looking for is a large farm-style home on acreage until they come to the realization that they can actually purchase a cozy waterfront bungalow with a dock for about the same price. life is after all a compromise, so while a buyer may end up purchasing something akin to what they had preconceived, they may not. fortunately, one of the attractions of bainbridge island is that we are blessed with quite a diversity of unique and special properties.
in my opinion then, it is one of a buyer agent's responsibilities to expand the prospective buyers' horizons. as a long time island resident i can serve as a discrete, honest, and candid sounding board regarding neighborhoods, property features, amenities, and property values.
definitions and clarifications of some real estate terms
one of the statistics that i report in my monthly bainbridge island real estate market statistics update email distribution is a ratio of listings currently under contract/current listings for each of three property categories: residential, condominium, and land. this statistic is an attempt to capture a glimpse of more current market activity rather than having to extrapolate from historical sales data. i also maintain these statistics historically as well as for various price ranges within each property category.
for example, as of december 1, 2008 the number of current bainbridge island listings under contract divided by the total number of current bainbridge island listings for each category was:
residential 27/238 = 0.11
condominium 2/111 = 0.02
land 4/83 = 0.05
i have received inquiries from a number of people on my monthly update email distribution list requesting some clarifications and definitions of terms. as in any industry, we often become so familiar with our industry specific terms, jargon, and acronyms that we just assume the world shares our familiarity.
so, first of all i should clarify that the source for all of the data that i report in the "how's the market?" (bainbridge island real estate market statistics) section of my web site is the northwest multiple listing service (nwmls), an association of regional real estate brokers that collects, monitors, shares, and reports data on real estate listings and sales be they single family residences, undeveloped land, condominiums, rentals, or other. as such, it does not represent all closed real estate transactions in an area or region (commonly referred to as sales or closed transactions i. e., real estate purchase and sale agreement contracts that have been completed in the sense that title to the property has transferred and funds have been exchanged). for example, a sale of real property directly between two parties in which there was no real estate agent or broker involved and/or the real property was not listed with or reported as sold through the nwmls would not be reflected in the data that i report. in my opinion the nwmls data represent the vast majority of closed real estate transactions in the nwmls reporting areas including kitsap county and bainbridge island as a subset thereof. further, the nwmls data is, in my opinion, the most accurate, timely, and complete (subject to the prior caveat) source of real estate transaction data that i am aware of and that are conveniently available to me. i do not have current information on the number of real estate sales reported by the nwmls relative to the total number of real estate sales in any nwmls area or region. with that in mind, let me attempt to define some terms.
the nwmls data categorizes real estate listings (properties listed for sale by the property owner through a broker member of the nwmls) in a number of status categories as follows:
active - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls. such a property is offered and available for a prospective buyer to purchase or write and submit to the seller a contract offer to purchase.
contingent - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls and for which a buyer has written a contract offer to purchase and for which the contract offer the has been agreed to by the seller and which contract offer is contingent upon the sale or contract for sale of another property currently owned by the prospective buyer, most commonly the prospective buyers current home or residence.
pending inspection - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls and for which a buyer has written a contract offer to purchase and for which the contract offer has been agreed to by the seller and which contract offer is contingent upon an inspection or inspections of the property by the prospective buyer to the prospective buyers satisfaction. most common in residential and condominium real estate transactions.
pending feasibility - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls and for which a buyer has written a contract offer to purchase the and for which the contract offer has been agreed to by the seller and which contract offer is contingent upon a feasibility study regarding some aspect of the property by the prospective buyer to the prospective buyers satisfaction. most common in undeveloped land real estate transactions.
pending bu requested (pending back-up offers requested) - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls and for which a buyer has written a contract offer to purchase and for which the contract offer has been agreed to by the seller and for which the seller has requested that the sellers real estate agent solicit back-up offers which are contract offers from other prospective buyers that would back-up the currently existing contract offer in the event that contract offer should fail to close.
pending - a property that is currently listed for sale by an owner through a broker member of the nwmls and for which a buyer has written a contract offer to purchase and for which the contract offer has been agreed to by the seller and which contract offer is either a) contingent upon the prospective buyer being approved for a loan to purchase the property or b) is awaiting the mutually agreed upon closing date to close (which would be the case if, for example, the prospective buyer had agreed to purchase the property for cash).
given these definitions then, in the vernacular that i use in my monthly updates:
current listings includes all of the above, i. e., all current listings in a region or area that are reported by the nwmls in the following status categories: active or contingent or pending inspection or pending feasibility or pending bu requested or pending. essentially all the current listings in a region or area that are available in the sense that they have been offered for sale but have not yet sold or closed.
listings currently under contract includes all of the above except active listings, i. e., all current listings in a region or area that are reported by the nwmls in the following status categories: contingent or pending inspection or pending feasibility or pending bu requested or pending. essentially, all the current listings in a region or area that are spoken for in the sense that they have some sort of mutually agreed upon contract offer currently in place.
i hope that helps. if not, or should you have specific questions or concerns, please let me know and i will attempt to clarify further.
how washington state property tax works
in light of the current real estate market and recent property tax assessments on bainbridge island i have received a number of inquiries from bainbridge island property owners trying to reconcile the relationships among recent sales prices, current market value, recent assessed value, and current property tax. following are links to six pdf files that combine to serve as a good primer on how property tax works in
the six individual pdf file links are accessible on my web site via the following link: scroll to the bottom of the page and click on a line of text, each of which is an individual link.
http://bainbridgeislandferrytails.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&page=48792
alternatively, links directly to each individual pdf file follow:
how
appealing your
kitsap county assessor from the assessor: http://bainbridgeislandferrytails.com/docs/Kitsap%20County%20Assessor%20-%20From%20the%20Assessor.pdf
kitsap county assessor frequently asked questions: http://bainbridgeislandferrytails.com/docs/Kitsap%20County%20Assessor%20-%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions.pdf
kitsap county assessor sales price versus assessed value comparison: http://bainbridgeislandferrytails.com/docs/Kitsap%20County%20Assessor%20-%20Kitsap%20County%20Sales%20Data.pdf
