Simply Junior

Current Market

Nowadays, the US economy is facing one of the biggest recessions of all time. The real estate market is in a slump as well. But, like everything, it is not permanent too – there is nothing permanent except change.

Even in this condition, there are many areas where the property business does not have any bad impact as such. Though, now market is a buyer’s market, but you can still sell and buy properties and earn a very good profit. It is important to understand that prime location properties are always in demand.

In this cutthroat competition, you have to be alert and act quickly as a good opportunity would not last longer – there are thousands of agents waiting for good opportunities in the market.

What businessman wants?

Every good businessman wants to buy a property at a low price and wants to sell it at a high price. This is the ideal time to buy good properties as their prices are low – a buyer can get very good profits once the recession period is over.

Look around for Properties

Always look around for those properties which are in the market for some time as usually their sellers are tired of waiting and ready to sell them at a negotiated or low price. Don’t buy or recommend those properties that require a lot of maintenance work.

Moreover, if a house needs some minor repairs, get it done before calling the potential buyers for visits; always make the house as presentable as possible.

Nevertheless, you can buy or recommend a property that requires some maintenance work – in such cases, you can get the work done on your own in only a few hundred dollar, on the other hand, you can get a good discount from the seller.

Research is Key

Always do research about the neighborhood properties prices; it would help you in calculating the price of the property you are planning to buy. In addition, preference should be given in buying well-to-do neighborhoods. If you buy a property in run-down neighborhood, you might have to bear the loss – don’t invest money in the run-down neighborhood.

Keep researching about the home you want to sell. Ask the owner about the history of the home – it might give you some good points that will help you in designing the sales pitch of the home.

Regardless of your working style, whether you are working as a part-time or a full-time real estate agent always try to attend seminar and conventions so that you can gain the knowledge of the current market trends and interact with other agents – you might get some customers over there too.

Make yourself as vocally expressive as possible. You should be a people friendly person. Never brag in front of your customers as it creates a negative effect – people are not mad these days, in fact, they are very well aware of the market.

‘House for Sale’ board is not ENOUGH

Remember! Only posting a board with the wordings like “House for Sale” does not do the job effectively. Always complete the paper work of the home so that it would not delay the selling process – it would also help you in improving your image as the customers don’t want delays.

In the end, we can say that if you follow the aforementioned tips, you will certainly improve your impression among other real estate agents and potential customers; and eventually, you would be able to do more business.

The real estate market in Phoenix, Arizona, while being alive and active, has been hit hard by the sub-prime home loan crisis and subsequent recession. At the present moment, however, the market seems to have hit its lowest and is on its way back to a recovery. However, if you are expecting to see the high values that the Phoenix market held just about a year back, you will be disappointed.

The most important statistic, which is the best indicator of the present market conditions in the Phoenix area, is the average price of homes sold in the area. The price today is hovering around $135,000 as opposed to this time last year when it was about $207,000. This extremely sharp drop in prices is the impact of a receding market. Present prices are almost the cheapest real estate prices the area has experienced in quite a long time. Houses for sale in Phoenix, AZ are therefore a great deal for interested buyers at their present value. This reflects in the fact that there were about 1,750 completed house sales in the phoenix region last month itself. This is a significant jump in numbers. However, the inventory has reduced substantially from what it was last year at the same time, meaning that there are only about 8,700 current listings in the Phoenix, Arizona real estate market as opposed to over 14,000 a year ago.

The average number of days on the market for a property in Phoenix today is 62 days. While this is not too low, it is not too high either. In fact, the figure is much lower than most other locations hit hard by the recession. As a result, even though the prices have bottomed out, a flip sale is still possible in the market and there is some activity on the seller’s part in the market. However, make no mistake, with the present prices Phoenix, Arizona is still very much a buyer’s market.

The prices and market activity in Phoenix has largely been governed by another factor as well. This is the fact that there have been a significant number of properties in the area, which have been foreclosed or short sold due to lack of means to repay a housing loan. These properties are often sold at a bargain price and have resulted in a lot of buyer activity in the recent past.

The whole world has been facing one the worst recessions of all time. Japanese giants like Toyota and Sony have already declared heavy financial losses in 2008 – the first ever for Toyota since its inception. Lately, Microsoft and Caterpillar have also announced job cuts – 5,000 and 20,000 respectively.

The United States of America is also included in the list of the severely affected countries. Every sector and industry of the country is badly disturbed due the ailing economy; the real estate industry is included in the most affected industries of the country.

The pay freeze practice has been deployed by several firms including the white house – after the instructions of Barack Obama. This recession has brought 2.8 million jobs cut in 2008.

Today, the unemployment rate is 7.2%, which is the highest in the last 17 years. Financial analysts believe that the number of layoffs will continue to grown in 2009 as well.

People are suffering from heavy financial crises and are unable to pay mortgage installments. The number of foreclosures has been increased significantly. In some areas, the mortgage balance amount is more than a home’s real worth – an upside down situation.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were already down due to the recession – these two institutions own around $5.4 trillion of the nation’s debt – almost half of the overall national home debt.

The home prices decline is unprecedented since the Great Depression of 1930. Consequently, the real estate market has become a true buyer’s market. If people can afford a home, they can buy it with 30-40% or even less price which they could have to pay in the non-recession time. For example, in California, the median home price decrease is 38% (between December 2007 and December 2008).

It is recommended that don’t take any home buying decision in haste as the home prices in the most areas of the country are likely to be stagnant or go down further. Experts believe that these home prices would not get any upward momentum until the mid of the next decade.

Thinking of buying a piece of real estate or perhaps selling your existing home? The real estate scene has experienced some record setting fluctuations. The rapid price increases of a few years ago have slid down, just as surprisingly. The average home buyer or seller may be scratching their heads right now.

Here are some tips for negotiating the choppy waters of the real estate world.

1. It’s still a buyer’s market. Due to the problems within the mortgage industry as well as a less than cheery employment picture, there are still a stockpile of foreclosures.The low cost of foreclosures spills into the traditional resale market, making homes more affordable than they have been in many years.

2. First time buyers are especially in luck, as there are still government first-time tax credits to be had. This helps those trying to sell their homes, as well, because more buyers will be shopping for a home.

3. Interest rates on real estate are still at a decent rate. The low rates will enable more people to qualify for a mortgage, which is good news for both buyers and sellers. Owners will want to look into refinancing, if they have an adjustable rate mortgage.

4. Homes on the lower end of the price scale are the most popular right now. Many investors are grabbing them up for cash. If a home buyer is interested in the low cost homes, they should be prepared to pay full price and to have a bit of competition. It’s not a reason to give up, just a reason to be prepared to work a bit to gain your inexpensive first home.

5. Home sellers must realize that they can’t price their homes as competitively as the short sales and foreclosures. Short sales are arrangements with lenders to take less money than the belly-up loan, but these often take months to complete. Foreclosed homes are often in dreadful cosmetic shape. A smart home seller will make their house’s sale as quick and painless as possible in order to gain momentum on the short sale market, and spruce up their dwelling to make it outshine the foreclosures.

6. If a seller can hold out another couple of years, it would be a wise choice. Even now, prices are at an all time low. Once the stockpile of foreclosures has been run through, the price-tag on resale homes will begin to climb.

The real estate market may be bumpy, but it can still be successfully maneuvered with a bit of gumption and perseverance. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

While it’s true that the real estate market isn’t in the best shape right now, a successful real estate agent can still earn a handsome income buying and selling property. True, certain real estate markets are in a slump right now, but prime land and properties are always in demand. Here are a few success secrets to maximize business in real estate.

Get to know the market. Right now it’s a buyer’s market, which means that sellers are having to unload their properties at prices that are under traditional market value. To be a successful real estate agent in a buyer’s market you have to act quickly when an opportunity arises to grab a piece of prime real estate. The key to maximizing your profits in any business is to buy low and sell high. And with real estate prices being especially low right now, it’s a perfect time to make those deals that will pay off once the market rebounds, which it always does.

Pay attention. When the real estate market is slow, as it is right now, many outstanding properties sit on the market because people are afraid to buy. Take a look around and see which properties may have been on the market for a long time. Usually, the seller is tired of waiting, and will be more open to any reasonable offer. Being a successful real estate agent means seeing opportunities where others don’t. But you can’t find these opportunities if you’re not out looking for them.

Look for fixer-upper opportunities. Traditionally, properties that require a lot of work don’t sell well simply because most buyers prefer to have a home that’s ready to move right into. It’s the same reason most people don’t buy cars that don’t run right. However, there are some amazing deals to be made for someone who can buy a property that needs work at a low price, put a few bucks into it and then turn it around for huge profits. If you’ve ever seen the hit show Flip This House then you know that there’s money to be made doing this. Just be careful; you won’t make money trying to flip a home in a run-down neighborhood – in fact, you’ll probably lose your shirt. If you take a look around there are plenty of properties in well-to-do neighborhoods that need more work than most buyers are willing to put in. Target these and you’ll reap the rewards.

There are many more success secrets to maximize business in real estate that can be explored. Simply put: The reason that so many people choose real estate to build wealth is because property is always in demand. It’s a market that will fluctuate like any other, but will never go away.