FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR LAS VEGAS REAL ESTATE AGENTS
This is a list that hasn’t changed much since Hannibal first considered getting a larger place for his elephants. He decided that the Roman Empire would be a fine choice (but history tells us that the move didn’t work out). If Hannibal had consulted a knowledgeable Roman real estate agent, he might have chosen a more suitable property, and history would be different. Hiring the right agent can be pretty important—and choosing the right agent means asking some good questions. Here’s a list of five questions to pose when interviewing Las Vegas, real estate agents. It doesn’t come with a crib sheet because there aren’t any perfectly correct answers. If there were such a thing, sooner or later all the interviewees would know them. Instead, this list is intended to provide a simple way to compare the candidates’ responses—at the same time, providing some essential information about the current state of the Las Vegas real estate market. Along the way, you should get a chance to sample how well you and each agent communicate. Was your question understood? Was the answer clear? It’s vital that you and your representative stay on the same wavelength. Here’s the list: 1. How long have you worked in real estate—and how long in Las Vegas? Knowing the nooks and crannies of our Las Vegas’s real estate market is one of the most important qualities a REALTOR® can bring to the effort. Experience in the industry is the surest way to head off technical hitches before they can cause trouble. 2. What’s your best guess about how long it will take to sell my property? The current average DOM (Days On the Market) for Las Vegas homes in your category are only a general guide for what to expect—and a canny real estate agent will explain that as part of the answer. If the topic of the asking price becomes a part of the discussion, you’re on the right track: one is closely related to the other. 3. How will you go about marketing my home? The advertising media should include web and print initiatives. If the candidate has brought recent samples to show you, it displays good professionalism. 4. Will you take professional photographs of the property? Quality photography is essential to any serious campaign, so letting potential real estate agents know that you understand its importance does double service. The agent will be on notice that you prioritize this aspect of sale preparation, and will also know that you will be diligent in readying the property for a good shoot. 5. How successful have you been over the past year? Knowing how many homes an agent has sold recently is important, as is a follow-up question like: “How many didn’t sell?” If the agent has cogent reasons why they didn’t sell or offers how a different approach might have helped, those too can be relevant indicators. An agent who is analytical and open to new ideas can be a good partner. It’s always good practice to interview more than one Las Vegas real estate agent before settling on your final choice. I hope you plan to include me in the mix!
LAS VEGAS OPEN HOUSES ARE ONE WAY TO BRING BUYERS TO THE DOOR
It looks as if the debate about the effectiveness of Las Vegas open houses as selling tools isn’t going to be settled any time soon. Part of the reason is the difficulty of getting accurate feedback about prospective buyers’ actual behavior as opposed to their intentions. Pollsters do their best, but you have to question the answers they come up with. A good example was a couple of surveys that tried to pin down how future buyers intended to find their next home. The major online web giant Trulia found that more than 90% of folks who were in the market said they planned to attend open houses as part of their home search! And 62% of U.S. home buyers “reported using/planning to use online sites to find open houses.” If true, that should end the debate. If nearly two out of three buyers are heading to the web to find open houses, when you add in the number who would undoubtedly see street signs or other notices, what Las Vegas home seller would choose to ignore what amounts to the majority of potential buyers? The problem is that a similar study done for the National Association of REALTORS® came up with very different results. The NAR found that 44% of buyers used open houses as an ‘information source’—less than half the number Trulia reported. Which survey is more accurate? There’s no telling. But there’s not much question that open houses can benefit prospective buyers. Although the Las Vegas internet listings provide an efficient way to survey and compare descriptions of what’s currently out there, being able to casually pop in and out of several open houses on a Sunday afternoon is a convenient way to get a more in-depth feel for what’s available in various neighborhoods. The downside for sellers is usual: the inconvenience involved in getting the property in top condition, making sure that pilferable objects are securely out of reach and having to vacate the premises for the duration. On the other hand, opening the property to prospects who might not yet be as committed to buying as those who seek showings through their real estate agents is a way to widen the field of possible buyers—especially true for some Las Vegas properties which don’t photograph as well as they show in the flesh. And it’s a marketing plus—a foolproof way to bring wide attention to the fact that yes, the house is seriously up for sale! When the subject comes up, neighbors and passers-by are more apt to make a mental note of the house over on the next street that I remember is for sale. More than one home has been sold because a friend of a neighbor has an aunt who’s been looking for a place… An open house can be one useful marketing tactic—but like all others, whether or not to use it is the client’s choice. If you are contemplating marketing your Las Vegas home or are soon to be in the market to buy, don’t hesitate to give me a call!
NEW HOUSING TRENDS MAY NOT SURPRISE LAS VEGAS RESIDENTS
A lot of what Las Vegas readers and TV viewers see and hear can leave them with the definite impression that the nation is headed for rough sledding. Most of us do understand that the “news” is selected to get our attention…and that often results in a steady stream of headline-grabbing accidents, malfeasances, and international catastrophes of every stripe. It could make anyone feel pessimistic about the future. When it comes to how we plan for our own personal prospects, issues like a rising national debt and stymied income levels could lead any Las Vegas resident to envision a future of gradually diminishing living standards. When people fear a storm coming, they prepare. Pull in their horns. Cut back. Economize. But apparently if our futures are to bring the kind of storm clouds hinted at in the nightly news, few of us believe it. The evidence for that conclusion comes from no less an authority than the United States Census Bureau. It issues an annual report called The Characteristics of New Housing. Reading the latest, which summarizes new housing built last year, yields some surprising information. This, too, is news. It may not have reached any of the news outlets Las Vegas readers would have seen, but I think it deserves a headline or two. The first new housing surprise was that of the 620,000 single family homes completed in 2014, 565,000 were built with air conditioning. That’s 91% of them. I’d expect that kind of statistic for the Sunbelt states, but not nationwide. Clearly, the day of swamp coolers or toughing it out during September heatwaves are over. The era of relying on good cross-ventilation in a home has apparently gone the way of automobiles sold without radios (or, come to think of it, without A/C!). More significantly, 64,000 of the more than half million homes were completed with two bedrooms or less. That may not surprise—there are many two-bedroom Las Vegas homes, and some of them are elegant. What’s surprising is that 282,000 had four bedrooms or more. 4-to-1 over what used to be the U.S. standard of two bedrooms. If hard times are ahead, clearly the new housing buyers plan to weather them with elbow room to spare. The rest of the Census Bureau’s survey is similar and points to American homes with physical plants that are pretty opulent by historical standards. Only 25,000 had 1 ½ bathrooms or less, but nine times that many (221,000) were designed with three or more bathrooms. If we’re headed for a new Great Depression, at least we’ll meet it freshly bathed. The median size of a single-family home completed last year was 2,453 square feet. When you consider that it was about 1,600 in 1973—and that the average number of persons per household has gone from 3 to 2.5 during the same period—you see why the American Enterprise Institute says that the living space per person has nearly doubled. Las Vegas residents with long memories have probably noted that the average household does seem a lot roomier in 2015 than in decades past, but probably less so the extent of the difference. For anyone looking to expand their own family’s elbow room, this fall’s Las Vegas listings provide a terrific lineup of candidate properties. Give me a call if you’d like to take a close look at some of them!
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