Get Legal Assistance Before You Offer to Pay Someone Else’s Mortgage

[Published July 26, 2012, in the Denver Post and in four Jeffco weeklies]

Last week I touched on the subject of real estate scams, prompting one reader to tell me what had happened to her.  A fellow church member had made a deal with her: “You can live in my house if you help me pay the mortgage. Later you can buy it.”

So this reader did just that, moving into the person’s house and providing the money to cover the mortgage payments.  The only problem was that the fellow church member pocketed the money and didn’t pay the mortgage. Now the bank is about to foreclose on the home and evict her.

Are you paying someone else’s mortgage under such an agreement?  If so, there’s a better way to do it.  One of my previous columns, published on June 9, 2011, was about such arrangements and included a link with advice from a lawyer on how to do it so that both parties are properly protected.  You can find that article and that link at http://www.JimSmithColumns.com.

“Wraps,” as such arrangements are called, can, when done properly, be a win/win for the seller who can’t sell (because he’d have to bring money to the table) and the buyer who can’t get a mortgage (because of a low credit score).  With proper legal agreements in place, the seller can move on without incurring a hit on his credit due to a short sale or foreclosure, and the buyer can have a house to live in while he works on improving his credit enough to get a mortgage.  Read that article and that link and call me if you have questions.

The key is that legal documents have to be drawn up. It may sound expensive because lawyers are involved, but the fee to the lawyers (I was given a quote of $1,500) is likely less than the points and fees you’d incur to get a mortgage.

If you are a seller who can’t sell or a buyer who can’t buy, call me and I’ll put the two of you together

How Can One Be Scammed in Real Estate? Help Me Count the Ways!

[Published July 19, 2012, in the Denver Post and the Jeffco weeklies]

I say “help me” instead of “let me”, because I’d like to hear — and share — other ways in which low-life scammers cheat honest and trusting people out of their money. I have posted this column on my blog to facilitate that sharing.

The lowliest form of scamming is the victimization of elderly people. I personally am familiar with a now-deceased man with Alzheimers whose neighbor befriended him and convinced him to sign a will naming her sole beneficiary. She also had him sign a durable power of attorney, so when a caring neighbor took him to the hospital, she was able to take him home to die.  She had him add her as a signatory on his bank accounts and drained over $30,000 from them even before he died. When an out-of-state relative was alerted to the situation and got the court to name her as the man’s conservator, the neighbor’s scum-bag attorney helped to reverse that decision on a technicality and she inherited the house and sold it.

Another elderly person who walks to the public library (he has no car) to use its computer for email asked me to show him a $4 million home. He explained that he had inherited $24 million from his birth father who had been a miner in Nigeria. (He didn’t know who his birth father was until he was alerted by an email from a scammer in Nigeria.)  This man had been wiring his entire Social Security income to his Nigerian “lawyer” for over two years to pay for one fee after another. I personally took him to a meeting with two assistant district attorneys who specialize in fraud and they, like me, couldn’t convince him to stop sending $700 to Nigeria each month.  He firmly believes that his credit union will start receiving $10,000 every 10 minutes after just one more legal fee is paid. So far, he has sent over $15,000 to his scammer.

A lesser scam I’ve written about before involves advertising a home for rent on craigslist that the scammer does not own. So many of my own listings have been the subject of this scam that I have printed up a sign to put on those listings the minute I hear it has been advertised for rent on craigslist.  The sign says “NOT FOR RENT — Beware of Internet Scams.”

There are many other scams — more than space allows me to describe. Share your stories as comments to this blog post.

Why I Love My Chevy Volt

          For years I have loved my Lexus hybrid and my wife's Camry hybrid.  The increase in miles per gallon wasn't spectacular (about 10-20%), but I loved the hybrid technology.

          On June 11th, however, my values shifted when I took delivery of my 2012 Chevrolet Volt.  Six weeks later, I have driven it 1,500 miles and used only 8.5 gallons of gasoline, but it is not just the economy of the vehicle that has won me over, it is, again, the technology behind it and, more than that, it's a damn fine automobile!

 

          Every night, when I come home, I plug the car into a standard 110-volt outlet in my garage, and the next morning it is fully charged, ready to deliver 40 miles of gasoline-free performance.  Since I average about 15,000 miles per year in my real estate practice, or just over 40 miles per day, I am probably the perfect prospect for this automobile.  Even if I travel twice that between charges, however, the gasoline "range extender" engine gives me up to 40 miles per gallon, so I end the day traveling 80 miles on a gallon of gas (plus ten kilowatt-hours of electricity).

          My first thought when I heard about plug-in electric cars was that, unless I generate my electricity with solar panels,  all I'm doing is switching from gas power to coal power, since Xcel Energy generates most of its electricity from coal.  Once my 9.7-kW solar PV system is installed, I will be using solar-generated electricity for my Volt, but what I didn't realize until recently was the relative efficiency of electric-powered transportation.

          Here's the math for you.  A full charge consumes a little more than 10 kWH of electricity, which costs just over one dollar from Xcel Energy.  On that one dollar of electricity I can travel 40 miles.  That's 2.5 cents per mile.  Even my wife's 35-mpg Camry Hybrid consumed about $4 of gasoline to go that distance -- that's 10 cents per mile at today's gas prices.  My Lexus hybrid costs me about 14 cents per mile for gas, and my colleague's 14-mpg truck costs him 25 cents per mile for gas.  That is a huge differential in fuel cost.  So, forget about waiting to generate electricity from the sun; I feel great paying 10 cents per kWH to Xcel Energy!

          Looking deeper into the technological differences between electric and gasoline propulsion, I begin to understand why electric vehicles are so much more efficient.  Gasoline engines, when used to propel a vehicle, are not highly efficient.  A lot of their energy is wasted generating heat.  (One side benefit I like is that the car doesn't heat up my garage when I pull in at night!  Feel my hood - it's not hot.) Gasoline-powered automobiles expend additional energy in their complex drive train and in transporting all that steel.

          In my Volt, the gasoline engine is not connected to the wheels -- it only generates electricity.  The car's only "drive train" is between the electric engine and the two front wheels.  There is no transmission, no wasted heat generated, and maybe one oil change every 24 months since the gasoline engine runs so seldom. 

          In a standard automobile, energy in the form of friction-generated heat is wasted in braking.  My Volt has all-wheel disc brakes, but most of the braking is done electronically to generate electricity.  For example, when I drove recently from my Golden home to a client atop Lookout Mountain, it took 4.3 kWH off my lithium-ion battery to get there, but by the time I was down the hill again, I had added back over 1 kWH to the car's battery.  I used my brakes, of course, but only now and then did my braking cause any wear on the car's brake pads.  It's expected that I will go over 100,000 miles without a brake job.

          The Volt's electric propulsion system and battery pack are guaranteed by Chevrolet for 8 years or 100,000 miles.  The battery itself is actually 288 separate lithium-ion cells which can be individually diagnosed and replaced.  Even if I have to spend a couple thousand dollars on repairs after 150,000 miles, I will have saved at least $20,000 in fuel costs by then compared to driving my Lexus hybrid the same distance.   This doesn't count the savings in transmission work, brake jobs, oil changes, tune-ups, air filters, etc. 

          One criticism of the Volt has been that if you use the air conditioning, it reduces your 40-mile range.  I haven't observed that, and I drove the car through the entire heat spell from June 11th to present.  To put a number on this topic, I left the car "running" for over 90 minutes one hot day with the A/C on and it used under one kilowatt-hour, decreasing my range by about four miles.   That kilowatt hour cost me 10 cents.  How much gas would your car consume if you were able to leave it idling for an hour?  (It probably would overheat.)  And how much pollution would you create? 

          Initially, I figured that I would want to install a 240-volt charging station in my garage, which could fully charge the car in 4 hours instead of the 10 hours it takes on 110 volts, but before I ordered it, I realized that was silly.  After all, I'm always home overnight, so what's the rush?  Instead, I ordered the 240-volt charging station for my office, so that I can top off my charge when I'm at my desk.  After that charging station is installed, I'll burn even less gas than the 8.5 gallons I burned in my first 1,500 miles.  My friend Steve Stevens has driven his Volt 2,500 miles and used only 3 gallons of gas.

          You're probably curious how my $45,000 "golf cart" performs.  (Base price is much lower, but my Volt is "loaded" with many features my Lexus doesn’t have.)  You'd be amazed.  I can literally peal out if I want, and the "normal" acceleration is superb.  It's far better than my Lexus or Rita's Camry, and even better than the Lexus LS 460 which Rita now drives (a full-size V-8 masterpiece).  The car's responsiveness to "flooring it" is stunning, since there's no down-shifting delay as in a gas-engine car.  

          The car is slightly smaller than a Camry, but bigger than a Prius. With its hatch-back and fold-down rear seating, I can carry everything I need to carry in my real estate business, including my 7-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide sign posts and my parrot Flower's large day cage.  I can also carry 3 passengers in reasonable comfort.  (I like to let them drive!)  I thought I was going to keep my Lexus SUV for showing homes in comfort and for its carrying capacity, but I've hardly touched it in the last 6 weeks and now have it for sale.  Any takers?  It gets 25 miles per gallon, which is impressive when you don't compare it to my Volt's 185-mpg lifetime average. 

          The possibilities from widespread adoption of this technology are considerable -- and it should be noted that other major manufacturers are only months away from introducing their own EV's (electric vehicles).  There is actually an oversupply of lithium-ion batteries right now, waiting for auto makers to catch up.   When the Volt was introduced as a concept car in 2007, the lithium-ion batteries didn't yet exist to power it. 

          Given that 80% of Americans drive less than 40 miles per day, full adoption of this technology could seriously reduce our dependence on foreign and even domestic oil.  It would, in turn, reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions we currently tolerate.

          Our state and federal governments want to encourage adoption of the technology.  I'm told that next April I can look forward to a $13,000 tax credit -- half on my federal return, half on my state return -- as my reward for purchasing the Volt.   (Note, these tax credits expire after a certain number of Volts have sold, so don't wait.)  And Chevrolet made my purchase easier by offering 72 months no-interest financing (which requires good credit).  I literally have not yet paid a dime for the car, since my first payment isn't until July 27th.  

          Not to be overlooked, widespread conversion from gas-powered to electric-powered automobiles will exacerbate the underfunding crisis of American highways, since that funding comes almost entirely from the per-gallon tax on gasoline.  With my Chevy Volt, I am basically a freeloader -- using our highways without paying to build or maintain them.  This is a crisis we already need to deal with, and I'm happy to do my part in forcing legislators and voters to confront it.

South Golden Home With Legal Rental Unit

[Featured with my column on July 12, 2012, in the Denver Post]

I’m featuring this home again because two weeks ago it carried a much higher price. At the current new price of $395,000, it is a terrific deal and should attract the attention it deserves. The address is 419 Scenic Court, although it fronts on East Street, just north of where East Street meets South Golden Road and just a few blocks from our office. What sets this house apart is that it has a 922- sq.-ft. one-bedroom/one bath rental or “accessory dwelling” unit in addition to the 1,552-sq.-ft. main house. Live in either part and rent out the other. To fully appreciate this home, take the video tour on its website, www.SouthGoldenHome.com. Full details can be found at http://details.SouthGoldenHome.com.

What Are the Buyer & Seller Costs Associated With Buying or Selling a Home?

[Published July 12, 2012, in the Denver Post]

Here in Colorado, we’re blessed with relatively low costs of buying and selling real estate. Aside from the commissions paid to real estate professionals, the only major cost to a seller is title insurance, which can run $1,000 or more, but is reduced by up to 50% if there was a title insurance policy issued on the same property in the prior three to six years. Title One of Colorado offers a 50% discount up to six years after the prior title policy was issued.

Here in the Front Range, at least, there are no transfer or sales taxes on the sale of homes, unlike in many states, just a 0.01% recording fee.

Other costs to a seller are minimal. One of the largest might be the fee paid to the HOA management company for a status letter and HOA documents and for transferring the home on their records. I have complained about these fees in the past, which can run up to $500 and are thoroughly unjustified. Hopefully the legislature will outlaw such fees someday.

There are other deductions for the seller at closing, but they aren’t costs of selling.  The biggest, aside from the mortgage, is the property tax pro-rated to the date of closing. There is also a water escrow to pay the water bill.

Lastly, there is the fee paid to the title company for closing the transaction — typically about $350, split 50/50 between buyer and seller.  The lowest fee I’ve seen is from Ascendant Title, which charges only $125 — $62.50 per side. If there’s a loan to pay off, there will be a fee charged for delivering that payoff to the lender, and another fee (typically $40) for assuring that the lien is released by the public trustee.

That’s about it. In other states you might pay for legal representation to buy or sell a home, but that is unusual here in Colorado, where licensed real estate professionals are granted limited legal authority to interpret and explain the state-approved forms used in real estate transactions.

On the buyer side, you pay no real estate commissions or title insurance or HOA transfer fees (unless specified in the contract, which I’ve never seen). Your only significant expenses are related to any mortgage you get, but if you pay cash, you pay almost no fees at all other than your half of that closing fee, which could be as little as $62.50 at Ascendant Title. Of course, you will have paid for inspecting the home (say, $350) and getting an appraisal (say, $400), and maybe a sewer scope (say, $100) or radon test (say, $150), but not much else — except those loan-related costs, which amount to 2% or so of the loan amount, more if it’s an FHA loan or you borrow more than 80% of the purchase price..

Here's How Our Local Real Estate Statistics Compare with National Stats

[Published July 5, 2012, in the Denver Post]

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reminds us in its national advertising that “all real estate is local” but omits that reminder when it  releases its national sales statistics each month.

So I thought it would be useful to take the statistics released last week for May 2012 and compare them with the statistics reported by Metrolist, IRES and PPAR, the three MLS’s serving Colorado’s Front Range.

NAR reports that existing home sales in May declined by 1.5% over April, but rose by 9.6% from May 2011. However, here on the Front Range, sales for May increased by 19.2% over April and by 58.6% over May 2011. (In Jefferson County, existing home sales rose 4.4% in May over April and 34.8% over May 2011.)

NAR reports a 6.6-month supply of homes in May, up from 6.5 months in April but down from 9.1 months’ supply in May 2011. The peak supply was 12.1 months in July 2010.  In contrast, we had a 2.3-month supply in May 2012, down from 2.6 months in April 2012 and 4.8 months in May 2011. In July 2010, our supply was 7.2 months.

NAR reports that 25% of May sales were “distressed” (foreclosures or short sales), down from 31% a year ago, but here in the Front Range that percentage was 14%, down from 28.5% a year ago.

NAR reports that 28% of May sales were for cash, but here only 12.3% were for cash.  (A lower percentage of cash sales suggests that more home purchases are by owner occupants rather than investors.)

Altogether, these dramatically different statistics for our area demonstrate what we have already been observing for months — that the national real estate market may be recovering slowly, but our local real estate market is recovering dramatically.

Here’s another measure of how healthy our real estate market is: Of the 11,921 homes or condos entered on the MLS during the month of June, 3,713 or 31.1% are already under contract or sold. The number of days on market is plummeting, and new listings are often attracting multiple competing offers. I have put six buyers under contract in the last month, half of them against competing buyers.

Two days ago, I have posted on my blog my monthly analysis showing the percentage of listings currently under contract by area and price range. [See post below.]  Although these percentages have leveled off or even declined slightly, they are still remarkably high. For example, 49.7% of non-foothills Jeffco listings are under contract.

Buyer Activity Has Leveled Off and Possibly Peaked

Doing my end-of-month analysis for June, I find that we still have an extraordinarily high percentage of listings under contract throughout the Front Range and in every price range, but that the percentages have stopped rising for the most part and are sinking slightly.  Here's my June 30 report by county or MLS area:

And here is the report by price range, showing prior month figures in gray:

What happens at a real estate closing? Answers to Common Questions

[Published June 28, 2012, in the Denver Post]

I witness between 30 and 50 real estate closings each year, but I realize that even a sophisticated buyer or seller can wonder what is expected of them, how utilities are transferred, how funds should be brought or taken, etc. This week I’ll answer some of those questions which I hear most frequently.

Do you need a lawyer? In some states, there can be as many as four lawyers involved in each closing, but in Colorado, I rarely see a lawyer involved in a real estate transaction. You’ll sign listing agreements and transaction documents containing a warning to consult a lawyer (and tax advisor), but it doesn’t happen much. Here in Colorado, real estate licensees are granted by statute “limited legal authority” to interpret the state approved real estate forms. We can tell you what the various terms and conditions mean without engaging in the practice of law, which would be illegal (unless your agent is also a lawyer admitted to the state bar).

What do you need to bring to closing? Just your driver’s license or photo ID, since you’ll be signing documents in front of a Notary, and the Notary requires such identification. Until you’re at the closing table, you will not need the services of a Notary except for signing a Power of Attorney granting someone else the power to sign documents for you, if applicable.

What utilities should you notify? You’ll want to notify the gas & electric utility just prior to closing so they can take final meter readings. They will not turn off their services, but merely wait for the buyer to identify himself, at which point your final readings becomes their initial readings.  You do not notify the water and sewer utilities. That is handled by the title company, which will escrow money from the seller at closing and send the seller a check for what’s left over after paying the bill.  The title company handles water & sewer because an unpaid water bill can become a lien against the property and they are insuring for the buyer that they are getting clear title to the property. By the way, in Colorado, unlike many states, the seller pays for the owner’s title insurance policy, which can be a major closing cost.

Of course, you also notify your telephone, cable and trash providers to terminate service. The buyer will have to order new service. It’s great that nowadays you can keep your existing landline phone number if you move within the same area code, although most people seem to be dispensing with landlines. (They’re not required for DSL broadband service.)

I’d be happy to answer your real estate closing questions, too.

In a Seller's Market, It's Tempting to Try to Sell Your Home Without an Agent

[Published June 21, 2012, in the Jeffco editions of the Denver Post]

Now that homes are selling quicker, I’m seeing more sellers who think that all they need is to get the home on the MLS for a flat fee (what is called a “Limited Service” listing), offer a 2.8% commission to the buyer’s agent and save 3% or more paid to a listing agent.

One of the homes I showed to a buyer this Monday was such a listing.  It was in the MLS, and the number to call for the showing was the seller’s cell phone.  He answered and said he’d be home — “just ring the doorbell.”  I seized the opportunity to interview him later about the “by owner” process.

This seller said he had gone to a “by owner” website which offers a free listing with one picture but also offers various upgrades including MLS listing—six months for $395 or one year for $495.  The seller didn't get to select his  listing agent, and, although he was able to write his own paragraph describing his house, he wasn’t given an MLS data sheet to fill in the non-mandatory data fields such as room dimensions and location, so those were blank on the MLS.

This seller is offering 2.8% co-op commission to the buyer’s broker, but he was told by the listing agent that this was negotiable, which is not entirely true. Technically, the buyer's agent is paid by the listing agent and the MLS listing is a promise of compensation which the listing agent can’t get out of.  The seller may indeed negotiate a lower commission than what was listed in the MLS, but after the closing the buyer’s agent could demand the compensation promised in the MLS at the time the contract was presented.  (This could come back to bite the listing agent, but not the seller.)

For pictures, the seller told the listor to use the pictures from the previous listing when the seller bought the house. This is not allowed without the previous listing agent’s permission, which, in this case, was not sought.

Currently, in Jefferson County there are 51 active “limited service” listings on Metrolist’s single-family database.  (I'm not including about 15 listings by home builders who pay agents to put one or more of their homes on the MLS, but have their own sales people with whom buyers must negotiate.) Most of the 51 non-builder listings are probably “by owner” listings where the seller paid a flat fee (usually $400 to $500) to be listed on the MLS.  Under Real Estate Commission rules, any offer must be presented to the listing agent, who then presents it to the seller.  Sometimes there are additional fees for negotiating the contract, the inspection notice and whatever else arises.

I checked on several of the listings and most were on realtor.com, which means the agents were Realtors.  Most of these listings, however, were not enhanced on realtor.com, and I didn’t find any with virtual tours.  All but 11 of the listings offered 2.8% or 3% commission to the buyer’s agent. One offered a penny, and two offered $1. 

But do those listing offering virtually no commission sell?  I checked the 103  “limited service” single-family sales in Jeffco for 2012 and only eight of them closed paying less than 2.8% and only two of those less paid than 2.4%.

To put it in perspective, then, sellers should realize that they’re only likely to save a little over 2% on commissions by going this route, since the average listing commission is reported by NAR to be just over 5% (of which most goes to the buyer's agent) and the seller is still paying various fees for service.

I’m sure "limited service" makes sense in the seller’s mind, but what is the seller giving up in return for saving 2%?

Mostly, one gives up marketing services — enhancement on realtor.com, advertising such I do with this column when I feature a new listing, syndication to consumer websites, virtual tours, video tours, color brochures, open houses, signage, free moving truck, etc. 

Of those 51 current "limited service" Jeffco listings mentioned above, only 16 had a showing service to handle showings, and most of the others had the seller’s phone number for setting showings. Two had no phone number. With a showing service comes the feedback process which can be quite useful, since the seller received no advice on pricing, etc.

Is "by owner" for you?  I suggest you interview one or more agents before making that decision.

Tasks I Perform to Market a New Listing

[Adapted from a much shorter column printed in the Denver Post on June 14, 2012]

One of my broker associates asked me to list all the things I do when I put a new listing on the market, so I decided to make that the topic of this week’s column.

1) After completing the listing agreement and the different disclosure forms, I consult with the seller to make sure the MLS data entry is complete and accurate. I don’t leave any data fields blank. Before shooting the pictures, I arrange for one of my broker associates, Karon Hesse, to provide a staging consultation. (She’s really good at this.) This helps the house to show its best.

2) I shoot the still photos myself (with a Nikon D3100), and then the video tour (with a wide-angle Sony HD digital Handycam). I then create the virtual tour (a slideshow with music) from the stills, and edit the video for uploading to YouTube.  I upload two versions of the video tour — the unbranded one required by the MLS, and one in which I provide my contact information for other websites. (In exchange for her staging consultation on my listings, I also shoot the pix and video tours for Karon’s listings.)

3) I create a web page for the new listing under “Our Listings” at www.GoldenRealEstate.com.  In addition to a lengthy description of the listing, I provide links to the YouTube video tour, the virtual tour, and to a printable PDF of the 2-sided flyer. On that web page I also promote the free use of our moving truck, even when the buyer has his own agent. If the buyer doesn’t have an agent, we promise free labor and gas, too, which has helped us “double-end” many of our listings. Since I discount my commission if I don’t have to pay a buyer’s agent, this is a win/win for the seller, the buyer and me.

4) I purchase a web URL from godaddy.com especially for each listing (for example, www.NorthGoldenHome.com), or I use one I already own, and I order the decal for a sign rider with that URL on it.  (Golden Real Estate currently owns over 60 URLs.)  The URL can’t be displayed on the MLS, but I can and do promote it on other websites.  I link the URL to the branded YouTube video tour and create a sub-domain (for example, http://details.NorthGoldenHome.com) that forwards to the listing’s web page on www.GoldenRealEstate.com.

5) I only enter the listing on the MLS when I have all the pictures to upload, and I write captions for all photos and put them in a logical order. If the seller has agreed to it, I order the home warranty from Colorado Home Warranty, and I promote it on the MLS and other websites, as well as on the listing flyer. When the home goes under contract, I alert the warranty company so they can provide the warranty policy to the buyer after closing.

6) I enter the showing instructions on the Centralized Showing Service website. I arrange for the seller to receive showing feedbacks as soon as I get them, and I provide the seller with a login on the showing service website so he/she can change showing instructions and review feedback. When an agent has not supplied feedback despite three email requests for feedback, I email or call the agent personally and obtain that feedback, which I then forward to the seller.

7) From the virtual tour software I create a flyer.  On the back of each flyer, I provide the full MLS print-out.  I print 30 or more two-sided color copies for the brochure box.

8) From the same software I create an html craigslist posting. I adapt that html code into an eflyer which I send to 7,000 other agents using eflyermarketing.com. .

9) I put a lockbox on the house and a sign in the ground, using a wooden yard-arm post (which my handyman Mark and I personally build) with a solar powered light fixture atop it. Instead of digging a post hole in the yard for this wooden post, I use a 24-inch spike which leaves no mark in the grass when the sign is removed after closing.  Below the main sign, I hang a "sign rider" promoting the URL for the listing’s YouTube video -- for example, "Tour This Home Online At www.NorthGoldenHome.com -- and another rider promoting the free moving truck and free moving boxes.  When appropriate, a third sign-rider promotes the open house.  I also mount a brochure box for the 2-sided flyer I have created. When appropriate, I also put one or two “Home for Sale” arrow signs with brochure boxes at nearby intersections.

10) I enhance the listing on realtor.com, trulia.com and zillow.com.  It costs Golden Real Estate about $1,500 per year to enhance all our listings on realtor.com, but it's well worth it.  It costs less on Trulia and Zillow. On realtor.com I have to upload the video tour.  On other websites, I simply link to the branded video tour on YouTube.

11) I order a jumbo “Just Listed” postcard mailed to 100 neighbors by Top Marketer.

12) I promote the listing in my weekly YourHub column, usually noting that the listing will be open on Saturday, 1-4 pm.  I then post that column on this blog, and I archive a PDF of the column to www.JimSmithColumns.com.

13) I hold that featured open house myself, or enlist a broker associate or unlicensed person, such as mortgage broker Daniel Raffield.  I promote each open house on the listing’s webpage, realtor.com, recolorado.com, trulia.com and zillow.com.

14) For many listings, when appropriate, I print up several "wall notes" -- like Post-Its that I stick around the house, alerting visitors to special features that may not be obvious to the casual observer.

__________

What you have read above is just the list of tasks related to putting a home on the market. Once a contract is received from a buyer or buyer’s agent, there’s a whole new list of tasks to be performed by the listing agent to produce a successful closing. If there is no closing, the agent gets no payment for the tasks performed, many of which required an outlay of money.

I have heard sellers complain that agents are overpaid because they put their listing on the MLS and do little else.  Perhaps there are some agents like that, but I hope, dear reader, that this list of tasks performed gives you an appreciation of the fact that this Realtor, at least, earns the commission which he is paid at closing.

It’s a Seller’s Market, as Buyers Put Half of Non-Foothills Listings Under Contract

[Published June 7, 2012, in the Denver Post -- expanded here]

My latest end-of-month statistical analysis shows that the buying spree in Jeffco and metro-wide has not slowed down as much as it has leveled off.  Here is my analysis by county or area.

At the end of April, exactly 50% of Jeffco’s non-foothills listings were under contract, and at the end of May, that percentage was basically unchanged at 50.4%.  Two other metro counties showed slight increases, although the percentage for the entire MLS showed it first decline since I started tracking this statistic in October.  With mortgage rates staying at record lows, buyers know that the time to wait is over.

Here is the breakdown by price range:

Last week I featured two new listings in this space. The one listed for $449,000 went under contract above asking price before we could hold the first open house, and the one for $399,000 went under contract to the first visitor at its first open house.  Other agents are witnessing the same phenomenon.

I have updated the “Buyer Needs” page on our website (www.GoldenRealEstate.com) and, like many other agents, have resorted to sending letters to homeowners asking if they’d be interested in selling to a buyer who is looking for a home like theirs.

Uncertainty in the Euro zone is reportedly contributing to keeping interest rates low in the United States, but, whatever the reason, buyers are definitely taking advantage of the increased affordability on homes in every price range due to low interest rates.

Here Are My Favorite Easy Improvements When Moving Into a New Home

[Published May 31, 2012, in the Denver Post]

I recently moved into a wonderful new (actually 10-year old) home in Stonebridge at Eagle Ridge.  It backs to Lookout Mountain open space, and Rita and I both love it.

Of course, a home is never perfect, so I undertook a number of quick, relatively easy improvements that I’d like to share with you.

First and favorite was to have my plumber install a hot water recirculation line so that I would have instant hot water at the farthest (kitchen) faucet and every faucet between it and the water heater. Now, when I turn on the kitchen hot water, it’s hot after drawing 1/2 cup water. In the master bathroom, I have to draw a bit more before it’s hot.  Cost: $500.

While the plumber was here I had him install a hot and cold water faucet in the garage.  $200.

I installed a photocell on my porch light so that my porch and driveway are always lit up when it’s dark.  $10 (part cost only).

I ordered a 9.75 kW solar system, as described in last week’s column. $11,000 upon installation to get free electricity forever.

My furnace needed replacing anyway, so I bought a Carrier Lightspeed air-source heat pump with matching gas furnace which will only fire up when it’s below 20 degrees outside. This way I’ll heat my home with my free electricity except on really cold days.  Not cheap, but a great investment: $15,000.

My driveway has that terrible “mountable curb” which is so typical of subdivisions. For $2,400 it will be removed and a smooth driveway entry will be installed.

My garage has no natural light, so I’m having a Solatube installed there and in a dark interior hallway. $500 each, including installation.

What are YOUR favorite home improvements?