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A New Way Of Thinking



Have you heard the news? Everyone is saying that it’s a bad real estate market. At Coldwell Banker, we wish to challenge that thinking. In fact, we invite you to a new way of thinking about the real estate market that will show you how to still get top dollar for your house in today’s real estate environment. For too long, real estate has been viewed as a product, but in fact, it’s a commodity. With a commodity, prices go up when there’s more than one buyer. It’s the price point which creates positive and negative energy about the commodity. Common perceptions are that when there’s fewer buyers in the marketplace, it’s a buyer’s market. Conversely, when there’s more buyers in the marketplace, it’s a seller’s market. But the reality is that the buyer pool remains relatively constant. It’s the prices that go up and down! We can always tell whether the market is going up or down by measuring the amount of inventory coming on and going off the market. If inventory is going off the market faster than it’s coming on – then prices have to go up. If inventory is coming on the market faster than it is going off, the prices have to down. Hiring a broker to market your home should be a business decision, and it should be driven by hiring someone who indeed understands these business principles of today’s real estate market. At www.anewwayofthinking.net, you’ll find out why Coldwell Banker Real Estate is the company that not only understands them, but puts them to your best use to get your home sold.



Realty Viewpoint: Soft Market Conditions to Improve Mid-Year


Pittsburgh Still Poised As Positive About Real Estate in 2008


Real Estate Question Of The Week


Pricing Success Stories



Search For Properties With A Re-Positioned Price



Schedule A Free Guest Speaker For Your Group



Request Our Free “New Way Of Thinking” E-Newsletter





Realty Viewpoint: Soft Market Conditions to Improve Mid-Year




The National Association of Realtors expects soft market conditions to continue across much of the country but there's also plenty of reason to be hopeful that homebuying will pick up again by mid-year if not sooner.


The latest pending sales index, based on contracts signed in December slipped 1.5 percent from November, and was 24.2 percent below December's pending sales in 2006.


That has NAR economist Lawrence Yun seeing a pattern of "skimming along the bottom of the cycle" where sales could ease further, but "modestly."


Why? Buying conditions have improved.


Mortgage interest rates have dropped to near record-low levels and held under six percent almost the entire month of January and into February, which should put pending sales for January back into positive territory.


Also, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) loan limits have been temporarily increased, which will allow hundreds of thousands of borrowers to get into conventional loans.


But Yun still raises the caution flag.


Household formation, the most critical number to impact housing units, was half what it should have been in 2007, which indicates pent-up demand for homebuying.


What's unknown, is how much longer renters, 40 percent of first-time homebuyers, will stay in their apartments, or how many grown children will remain in their parents' basements.


If mortgage interest rates remain below 6 percent as the NAR expects them to for the remainder of 2008, then home sales should improve by the second half of the year


But a lot of that depends on lenders. If their reluctance to loan can be offset by higher conventional loan limits which takes the risk out of the equation for banks, then housing should improve.


Another X factor is what people will do with their economic stimulus checks. Will they pay down debt, save their money, or add it to their downpayment on a new home?

Article courtesy of Blanche Evans, realtytimes.com


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Pittsburgh Still Poised As Positive About Real Estate in 2008


As Marc Louargand, president of the American Real Estate Society, put it in an article in the Post Gazette: "Pittsburgh doesn't have a hangover because it wasn't at the party”.

Louagrand was referring to Pittsburgh’s apparent immunity from the steep decline in real estate sales across the country. In fact, a report in November showed that median sales prices for single-family homes in Pittsburgh increased 6.1 percent from 2006, while some cities in Florida and California posted double-digit declines. With that momentum, Coldwell Banker Real Estate seems particularly positive about 2008 and wants both buyers and sellers alike to know that the company and its agents stand ready to help them.

"I just had my best year ever," said George Hackett, president of Pittsburgh-area Coldwell Banker offices. "We can use more listings. Things are selling as fast as they come on the market." Hackett was quoted in recent editions of the Post Gazette and remains as confident as ever.


Another positive sign for the market is continuing declines in mortgage rates -- down to the lowest levels we've seen in nearly two years. This should brighten the outlook for anyone interested in buying or selling real estate.


You may recall that rates topped 6.8 percent briefly late last summer, so the cost of money for real estate purchases and refinancing is now more than a full percentage point cheaper than it was barely five months ago!


Nobody can tell you with certainty how this will play out, but now seems to be the time to make the most of what we've got -- the lowest interest rates and best home prices we've seen in years in most markets.


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Real Estate Question of the Week


“I’m selling my house for less than I expected. Now I can’t buy what I wanted. What should I do?”


The market is the market. Your home is only worth what today’s buyer will pay for it. They will make their decision based on current conditions and their perception of value. While you may not be getting as much for your home as you expected, if you are purchasing another property, it too will have decreased by the same margin. Simply put, if your current home has decreased by 10%, then your next purchase will have decreased by that same percentage (or more if you were planning on moving up) if you are planning a move within your general market area. You should judge a good deal versus a bad one on two transactions not one.



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Pricing Success Stories


Creating energy and excitement around real estate commodities with a newly positioned price will generate activity in any real estate market. Here’s a list of properties that sold within two weeks after having a re-positioned price.



PROPERTIES

1919 Hampstead Drive
4028 Ludwick
109 Stockton Ridge
2830 Clearview Road
3905 Mt. Troy Road
723 Hollycrest Drive
5535 Centre Avenue #1
2729 Steiner Street
7012 Ohio River Blvd.

689 Olive

2035 Westmont

10 Hawthorne Road
242 W. Vincent Street

118 Overlook Drive

411 Sherwood Drive

724 Surfside Drive
3415 Delaware

184 Grove

3 Fairview Avenue

20 Amherst Avenue

2537 Lindenwood Drive

120 Pinehurst Road

322 Onyx Avenue

851 Neely Heights Road

4906 Point Circle

1163 Cornell Avenue

110 Barrett Drive

310 Albert Street

1134 Church Street

330 Elizabeth Avenue


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My group wants to hear about “A New Way of Thinking!”


Does your business group, company, nonprofit association or other organization have an upcoming meeting at which you and your members like to learn more about today’s real estate market? Coldwell Banker Real Estate has free guest speakers who can discuss today market conditions, our approach of “A New Way of Thinking” and many other real estate topics. This is a free service. All you have to do is ask! Click here to complete a request form and we’ll find a speaker for your group.



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Want to know more?


If you want to learn how a new way of thinking about today’s market can net you top dollar for your home in the current real estate environment or would simply like to receive our free “New Way of Thinking” e-newsletter, click here.



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