The chief complaint I hear from homebuyers and home sellers who were dissatisfied with their previous Realtor, is that the agent failed to properly communicate throughout the real estate transaction.

Case in point from a conversation I had with a women calling on a listing:

Caller: “I would like additional information on property X in Highlands Ranch”

Me: “Great, this home is a….” (Information rattled off until I mention the half bath on the main floor.)

Caller: “Stop, I need a full bath on the main floor so this clearly is not going to work.”

Me: “Shall I pull up the Denver MLS listings that might be a better fit?”

Caller: “No, I don’t like you guys.” (i.e. Realtors)

Me: (Refraining from busting out laughing) “Oh, I’m sorry as it sounds like you have had some negative experiences with agents – Do you mind if I ask you why you don’t like Realtors?”

Caller: “You guys don’t know how to communicate.” Click.

This women was straight-up and I appreciated her honesty.  So, how does one communicate with a Realtor?

In the event your agent doesn’t address your preferred methods of communication right out of the gate – don’t be shy about letting her know your expectations.  Do you like to correspond via text, e-mail, phone, face to face, through Facebook or all of the above?

Next, how soon do you expect a response from your real estate agent – two minutes, two hours, two days?

Finally, how much information do you want?  If you are listing your home – do you want to know of all available feedback, tracking’s from Truilia, Zillow, MLS …or is this information overload?  If you are buying a home do you want scads of potential home matches or do you want the crème of the crop listings that are truly the best fit (and therefore cutting down numerous listings?) Some folks are not only comfortable and rightly expect copious amounts of information while other folks simply feel overwhelmed.

What should not be open for communication?

If you are a buyer ready to submit an offer – your Realtor should get this in as soon as humanly possible.  The same goes for home sellers- when an offer on your property comes in, your agent should get it to you ASAP.

Clearly defined communication preferences as well as the amount of information expected from your Realtor can make all the difference in completing a smooth real estate transaction.

Michelle A. Potter

While showing a home to a buyer in the Baker neighborhood of Denver, we were greeted by an animated, bouncy Yellow Lab in the backyard.  The dog went bounding around the side of the home, returning with a dead squirrel that he proudly dropped at my buyer’s feet.  My buyer was a great sport and found this dog’s show of endearment amusing. Dog lovers or not, most home buyers prefer that the home sellers find an alternate arrangement to leaving the pup in the house, backyard or basement during showings.

Your dog may be the perfect host to guests while he is at home with you. However, all bets are off when intruders are barging through her front door with you gone.  Case in point: My videographer met me to do a shoot for a listing while the homeowners were not home.  This otherwise mild mannered Chocolate Lab – backed up the video guy and growled until I raced to the pantry to return with a treat.

One of my Standard Poodles, who is the quintessential gentle giant, will growl and corner my eldest son’s friends in the laundry room when they get the bright idea of entering without knocking.

Okay, so your dog would never do any of the above – think about:

Some home buyers are just plain terrified of dogs and will refuse to enter your home when a dog is present.  On the flipside, dog lovers can get flat out distracted from actually seeing your homes wonderful features as they are playing with your pooch.

Next, think about your dog’s safety:

Dogs, especially little ones, intuitively know that the stars perfectly align for an escape the second the Realtor goes for the lock box to secure your home.  On more than one occasion I have chased a dog through a yard to get them safely returned to their home.

Please just make arrangements with a neighbor to remove the dogs during showings or put them in doggy daycare.  It is safest for all involved.

By the way – I offer proof over my love of dogs in a former post: Portuguese water dogs.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

RE/MAX Professionals

Barbara Corcoran, real estate contributor for the Today Show, dishes up sage advice for staging your home before you put it on the market. We are fortunate in Denver Colorado to have 300 days of sunshine, making the lighting tip noted in the video, slightly less of an issue…

For additional tips on getting your home ready for the market, visit:  prepare a home to sell and stage a home to sell.  If you are considering listing your Denver-metro home, please know that I offer a complimentary initial staging session for my home sellers.

Michelle A. Potter
Denver Realtor
RE/MAX Professionals
303-489-4035

I recently had a posting on Craigslist for a beautiful home for sale in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood.

Scammers decided to hijack my Craigslist “Home for Sale” advertisement and repost it as a rental property – oh, and they advertised it at a ridiculously low rental rate for the home and for the neighborhood.  You see, they were missionaries looking for someone to care for their home while they were doing good deeds across the globe…just wire your hard earned money to X as a deposit and the home will be yours for the year. Heavy sarcasm on the last sentence…

Coincidentally, I held an open house on this property, which must have been minutes after the scammers, reposted the listing as a home for rent.  In this instance, I had not advertised the open house.

The good folks of Denver, who showed up at the home and saw the home for sale yard sign as well as me holding it open, recognized immediately that this was a scam.  This was an amazing testimony to the goodness of Denverites – they started flagging the posting as fraudulent on their PDAs.  They came into the open house to let me know something was rotten in Denmark.  This continued for days – Denverites tracked down my cell phone and alerted me to the scam.

So, what to do?  As a listing agent I use this lesson to educate home sellers as to the possible risk of posting on Craigslist.  It is a tough decision as Craigslist does drive traffic to home listings and to open houses.  On the other hand, think about renters showing up at your door ready to move-in who are unaware that they are victims of a scam.

One more caveat:  If you are searching Denver rentals on Craigslist (or anywhere) be warned and do your homework on rental rates for the area.  Meet the folks renting the property in person and don’t wire anything until you are positive as to the authenticity of their right to rent.

Technology is a beautiful tool when selling homes – don’t let opportunists ruin these tools – just keep your eyes wide open.  Interested in additional real estate scams? Check this out: Can you name this Denver real estate scam?

Please feel to contact me with any of your Denver real estate questions.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

RE/MAX Professionals

My tech savvy, 89 year old grandmother uses Linked-In and Facebook to stay connected with her friends and relatives. When she wants to access product information, she frequents Google.  While according to “The New Media Consumer Report: 2009”, by Edison Research/Arbitron Inc., my grandma may be an anomaly among people in her age bracket, Americans of all ages are embracing “social media” as a means of keeping connected with their contact groups.

Why does this matter and what does it have to do with your Realtor? Allow me to highlight a few findings of the Edison Research/Arbitron report for you…

Almost 9 in 10 Americans have Internet Access: This coincides with the National Real Estate Association’s report that indicates over 80 percent of home buyer’s start their search on-line.  Does your Realtor have an up-to-date website and, equally important, can it be quickly and easily found via search engines?  The better an agent’s website visibility, the more exposure your home’s listing will get.

Internet Access Trends: Approximately 69 million Americans watched a video on the internet in the week preceding the Edison Research/Arbitron report.  Does your Realtor offer on-line video tours of you home? You Tube is a premier video sharing platform that your real estate agent can use to garner more broad exposure for your home and to get it sold more quickly.

Blogging: Of the Americans sampled for the Edison Research/Arbitron survey, 58 percent were familiar with blogging platforms, which reflected a 16% increase from the previous year.  Homebuyer’s want local information, photos, neighborhood profiles and other important information about the neighborhood they are considering for relocation.  Home buyers, as well as sellers, also want educational pieces on the ever-changing real estate market. There’s no better way to share such information than a real estate blog. Does your agent produce one?

Social Networking:

According to the Edison Research/Arbitron report, 34% of Americans have a profile on a social networking site such as Linked-In, Facebook, Twitter and/or My Space, which reflects a 10% increase since 2008. Creating and maintaining a presence on social media sites is another way Realtors can connect and stay current with Home buyer, sellers and other real estate professionals which, ultimately increases the exposure of your home to potential buyers.

It is obvious that my grandmother, who has never shied away from trying something new, “gets it.” She clearly understands that using social media is the cutting-edge means for staying connected with her audience, whether it is her friends, children, grand or great-grand children.

Does your Realtor use social network marketing?  Realtors who fail to stay abreast of and utilize social media marketing strategies and internet technology to promote the interests of and inform their clientele – are clearly doing them a disservice. Make sure your Realtor is incorporating the use of social media in their representation of you to ensure that you are connected with your audience of homebuyers or sellers.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

ReMax Professionals

I, and probably every other Realtor across the country, spend many late nights camped out on Teresa Boardman’s St. Paul Real Estate Blog. She is the ambassador to St. Paul MN- her ability to digitally capture the magic of the City extends beyond real estate – she actually captures the pulse of St. Paul through her stunning imagery.

That got me thinking.  My second late night past time is watching repeats of CSI Miami.  Most of the characters on the show are obnoxious and the plots are mediocre. Yet I continue to dial-in to see the interesting architectural angles; and the vibrant, captivating, breathtaking shots of Miami captured in the shows cinematography.

So where is this going?  This might be unceremonious following this build-up. And for the record, I am in no way comparing my photos to either of the masters – Teresa Boardman or the cinematographers of CSI Miami.  They are just my inspiration for improving my photography.

In my quest for better photography – I uncovered a process to enhance home interiors and exteriors and reduce that overall dreary, flat, and boring look typically seen in MLS.  I shot my first listing in this process this week – using, High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography.

Unfortunately I deleted the normally exposed photos for comparing to the HDR pictures. So, to demonstrate the before and after photos, I just shot the kitchen nook in my home so you can see the differences:

Normal Exposure:

HDR Photo:

As you can see, the HDR picture is a bit richer in detail, slightly edgier, and plain out looks more appealing.  Even it lousy light conditions, it still creates that WOW factor essential to home buyers.

Here’s how I did it (using a Canon Rebel on a tri-pod):  I shot 3 RAW images using an over exposed, under exposed and normal exposure.  Next, I uploaded the photos to a program called Photmatrix.  After fiddling with the Photomatrix controls, I hit “process” and voila – an HDR photo!

Thank goodness there are Realtors like Teresa Boardman who raise the bar for the rest of us masses.  I will continue to visit her site for further inspiration on my ongoing mission to improve my photography.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

ReMax Professionals

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was implemented on May 1^st and requires new methods for conducting home appraisals. This three month old code is clearly creating challenges for Denver home sellers, buyers, and parties involved in the real estate transaction.

At present, HVCC affects real estate deals (purchase and refinance on 1-4 single family loans) that involve a conventional Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loan product. Federal Home Bank Loans, FHA, and VA loans are currently exempt from the code.

Home Valuation Code of Conduct was designed to prevent practices of collusion between unscrupulous lenders and appraisers who were attempting to artificially inflate property values.

Instigated as a result of a lawsuit:

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued an appraisal subsidiary division of First American Corp for allegedly colluding with Washington Mutual to push home values.   http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0143151620071101

In short, and in an effort to ensure an independent appraisal by a non-vested third party with no financial stakes to the transaction, limits were placed on the lender/appraisal relationship.

As a result, appraisal management companies (AMC) were introduced to create a “level playing field”.  This is generating additional barriers and time delays on the under-contract to close process for home sellers and home buyers.

While commendable on paper, in real estate practice this is biggest obstacle facing home sellers:

Appraisers who are chosen randomly through the appraisal management company may be called in from outside their geographic territories.  Unfortunately, these appraisers are sent to neighborhoods in which they are completely unfamiliar.  While this might sound insignificant it is clearly negatively affecting home values.

Even in a fairly homogenized community like Highlands Ranch a simple street boundary can make a considerable difference when considering comparable homes.

I live in a sub-area of only 300 homes yet there are three subtle pockets of this neighborhood that impact price in as much as $100,000 or more.  An appraiser from Loveland coming to Highlands Ranch is unlikely to appreciate these pricing nuances.

The fall-out in this new process is that homes are coming in well under appraisal.

Proactive measures for sellers who are concerned about appraisal:

There is a misconception that real estate agents are not allowed to meet the appraiser.  We can.  While there are no guarantees in this new appraisal frontier – make sure your listing agent attends the appraisal and is armed with the following:

1). A list of comparable homes recently sold in your actual neighborhood taken from the local Metrolist (MLS) service.

2). A list of all improvements, upgrades, location differences or anything else that supports the purchase price.

3). All available interior, exterior or virtual tours of recently sold homes.

Clear communication between the listing agent and the appraiser along with thorough supporting data can certainly reduce the chances of a surprisingly ugly appraisal.

Read more on the how the HVCC is impacting Denver home sellers and buyers at: http://www.realtor.org/research/economists_outlook/commentaries/appraisals0709

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

Re/Max Professionals

A fellow Denver Realtor shared a dire warning with me today about holding open houses.  Apparently, while holding an open house in an upper-middle class neighborhood in Highlands Ranch, it was discovered that an open house attendee emptied a full prescription bottle of medicine in his/her pocket.

The agent noted that all of the open house attendees on that day were clean- cut and well-presented.  Of course, this means nothing as addicts come in all flavors from all walks of life.

Realtors do indeed warn home sellers to remove all valuables and pharmaceuticals prior to any showings or open houses.  Sometimes the stress of selling a home gets in the way, and home sellers forget to adhere to these cautions.  And yes, it is a sad commentary that these measures need to be taken.

What to do?  While my intent is not to intrude on prospective buyers who are interested in seeing a home while I am holding an open house, my job is to shield the home owner to any extent that is possible.

I am seriously considering requiring potential home buyers attending my open houses to show me their Colorado Driver’s license and jotting down the ID # for safe measure. Simply requesting a Denver buyer to sign-in won’t work if their intentions are ill-devised.

Are these draconian measures?  Maybe.  Hopefully buyers attending Denver open houses will understand that this decision stems from a few miscreants ruining the process for everyone.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

Re/Max Professionals

Wondering how to sell your home in any market?  Why not give this brutally honest guide for selling your home a try?

#1 Sight

Visit the pending (under contract) homes in your immediate neighborhood with your Realtor.  Pay close attention to the homes condition, upgrades and location. Take photos, use a checklist, make notes or do whatever is necessary to realistically compare the positive and the negative attributes between properties. 

While the final sale price of the under-contract properties will not be available until they actually close, your agent can track this information for you and this will provide the best glimpse of your actual home value. 

Next, thoroughly review the recent (hopefully for the previous 3 months) sold properties with your agent.  While it will be unlikely to physically enter the sold properties, the MLS details, floor plans, location… should provide valuable insight on key similarities and differences between your property and the homes that are selling. 

Have your agent explain the absorption rate in your area so you have a general idea of what your neighborhood’s present rate of sales.

Incidentally -be aware of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) that went in to effect May 1, 2009 and understand how this is impacting home sellers during the appraisal process. 

In a nutshell – out-of-area appraisers, who know nothing about your neighborhood, are missing the mark on appraisals and coming in at under market value.  While this only applies to buyer’s using conventional Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage products, this is a huge piece of the buyer pool. 

Make sure, once your home goes under contract, that your agent shows up armed with accurate comparables, a list of upgrades, location nuances … and meets and effectively communicates this information with the appraiser.  And yes, agents can still meet the appraisers and provide information; it is the mortgage brokers who are prohibited from this activity.  Read more here: http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/pdf/122308_valuationcodeofconduct.pdf

Okay, so you and your Realtor have done your homework so the question to ask becomes- how does your home visually stack up against homes that area actually selling?  

If your home measures up, disregard this section and proceed to the next. 

If your home doesn’t make the grade when comparing it to the recent sold homes, consider:

1). Whip into to shape with paint, new carpet, slab-granite counter-tops, refinish the hardwood floor, install new cabinets – correct anything that isn’t measuring up against the comparables.

2). If you have a floor-plan that is less than desirable, pull in a home-stager who can do wonders by artfully and strategically arranging the furniture to showcase the floor-plan in its best light.

3). Make the home picture perfect prior to having marketing or MLS photos taken.

4). Finally, set the stage for showings with mood lighting.  Turn on the floor lamps to create an inviting ambiance.  Open the blinds, draperies or shutters and let the light soak through the home.  In colder weather, turn on the electric fireplace. 

It’s all About Exposure:

Home buyers want photos, and lots of them.  I get calls and e-mail requests from out-of-town buyers who want additional pictures on homes.  This is something I just don’t get (not enough photos) unless it is a distressed property, but I won’t vent here.  Put the maximum allowed photos in your MLS and additional shots in syndicated sites such as Trulia. Few photos beg the question, “what is this home-seller hiding.”

Buyers like and expect virtual or video tours of your home if it is priced over 250K.  This is an easy way to create and excitement about your home’s best features.

Buyers also want to know about your neighborhood.  Have neighborhood information readily available on-line and in the outside sign box.  And, speaking of the sign-box, make sure it is loaded with full-color photos. 

Finally, likes attract.  Why not produce a simple video chatting about why you love your home and area and post it on youtube? 

#2 Smell:

This comes in second after sight in the home-selling importance department.  The time to pan-fry tilapia, steam broccoli, or deep-fry chicken is not while you are selling your house. Unfortunately, the odor from these yummy culprits takes forever to dissipate. Weather permitting; why not grill outside or otherwise pick less intense food choices for dinner?

Next – the touchy subject of pets.  As a critter lover who has three dogs, I understand how important pets are to people.  When showing to prospective buyers I can safely tell you they don’t want to see or smell any pet odors whatsoever.  Last week, I was showing a home (non-distressed property by the way) and could smell cats before I had the lock-box open.  Guess how long our visit to that home lasted?  Keep the pets washed frequently, litter-boxes clean and if possible take them with you when your home is being shown.

Finally, if there is an odor problem aside from cooking or pets, trace the source and eliminate it.  Trying to cover it up with those plug-ins in every room is a huge tip-off that you are trying to hide something.  Many home buyers are also sensitive to these products so again it reduces the time spent of viewing your home.  Mild smelling candles, odor neutralizers and eucalyptus – used sparingly, add a nice touch.  Fresh air does wonders.

#3 Hearing:

Classical music is always a nice touch for buyers when showing homes.  If you live on a busy road, consider hiring a contractor to install a soothing water feature.  If you have a home theater center, go ahead and have it on during showings as long as the selective movie is not offensive to buyers and not too loud.  Finally, if you have neighbors with barking dogs, beg, plead or bribe them to keep the dogs inside during showings.

#4 Touch:

Give the buyer a take-away – A beautiful brochure filled with color photos that captures the essence and spirit of your home and neighborhood.  It gives buyers something to hold on to and remember your home above the zillions of other properties they have seen.

#5 Taste:

Yes this is passé, yet I have never met a buyer who did not enjoy cookies left by the seller.  It is a fabulous touch and people enjoy a treat during a long day of showing.

Michelle A. Potter

Denver Realtor

RE/MAX Professionals