What will sell your house in 2012?

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Looking Back at 2011

We had a great year at Lappin Properties.  Every home that we listed, sold. We worked very hard the week between Christmas and New Years!

The question is: why is this happening during what is widely considered to be one of the toughest real estate markets in recent history? Many real estate agents have quit the business.  Some statistics say the number of real estate agents has dropped approximately 30% in the last 4 years. Despite the statistics, our business has been great.

I spend a lot of time analyzing this. I like to think we have great customer service, but realistically, it is a lot more than that. I’ve identified two main reasons.

FIRST: we market our listings with an individual marketing plan, not a mass marketing plan.  Our marketing brochures have our name and contact information featured in small print, so that our name is not the dominating feature of the brochure.  We feel if we do a good job marketing your home, people will notice and use us. We don’t use our clients’ homes to help us advertise. We respect and honor our clients’ decision to hire us.

As a result, we have an 80% referral rate when the industry has a 20%.

SECOND: we know that people want the truth and we work accordingly. For real estate agents, the changes in our industry do not always work in our favor.  Buyers are extremely educated.  I joke that they are on the Internet more than I am looking for homes. When they come to me, they already know the market.   

Some real estate firms teach their agents to take listings at a high price and walk the client down later, once they’re locked in. So don’t let an agent’s high number give you an unrealistic idea about value. Even if they list your house at an incredibly high price, they’ll often accept a low offer for you and tell you it’s the smartest move you could make. It’s fun to dream sometimes, but this market is not the time for dreaming. If your house is overpriced, all you're doing is providing a marketing tool to help your neighbors sell their more realistically priced home.

True story: a doctor once called me to list his home.  I told him $1.6 and the other real estate agent came in and told him that was way too low and it needed to be listed for $1.9.  So guess who he went with? But 16 months later his home sold for $1.55.  If your real estate agent is requiring a 12 month listing agreement, I would question the price they have put on your home.

MLS data shows it time and again. Homes priced on the market sell within 4% of their asking price.  Overpriced homes come down to the market price and sell within 9% of the price.  Overpricing costs you big!

THE BOTTOM LINE:

2 things sell houses: individualized marketing and a realistic pricing. These two worked for selling in 2011 and I'm guessing it will work in 2012.

2012: inventory

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What we need for 2012:

Inventory- many of you who know me can attest, I am a research junkie when it comes to
real estate. Although many realtors do not usually hold open
houses in December, I do. Why would I do this? Well, I wanted to get an idea of who would be the buyers in 2012.


This is what I learned: I met people who took a while to sell their homes and
were a bit skittish to buy right away. People who lived in rental homes, who felt the holidays were not the same with many sentimental holiday belongings in stuck in storage.


Another group of buyers I met fit into the category of ex-pats being transferred to Houston. They have kids and they need good schools. Yippee for Memorial and their amazing schools. These wonderful buyers have greatly depleted Memorial's inventory.


I've also met a large group of buyers who are coming from private schools and moving to Memorial. Their kids have gone to private school since kindergarten, and they want a change. Memorial High School graduates have great success getting into some of the nation's top colleges and universities.


If you are thinking of selling your home, don’t let the doom and gloom on the
evening news discourage you. Many of us have had record-breaking years.


Homes are selling !!!!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are you an independent Real Estate Broker? a.k.a: Doesn’t anyone want to hire you?

I’ve been in the business for over 28 years, which means that I’ve experienced two recessions and two bubbles. Throughout everything I have been a one-woman operation, just a helping hand for friends (that’s what my clients become) that want to buy and sell their homes. I don’t waste people’s time; not my clients’ time nor my own. I believe in getting things done in a timely and cost effective way.

Although I’ve been on my own for most of this time, I’ve stayed in touch with my industry. After all, I started out at a big firm and even then I quickly saw that I couldn’t deal with the inefficiency. I felt like the real estate agents were creating busy work for themselves so they could justify their beloved high commissions. Firms are known for their flamboyant culture, and agents want to keep driving their BMWs and Mercedes convertibles and attending society-page benefits.

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You want to know something? Most of the heads of these big firms haven’t sold a home since the Internet was invented. When it’s time for these big wigs to solve a problem they pour superfluous amounts of money into a system that is not currently working. That is like putting more and more quarters into a pay phone when what you really need is a smart phone.

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Several people at the big firms told me I would fail working on my own, and when I succeeded they said it was a fluke. I suppose it was one of those three-decade flukes! Now many firms are trying to negotiate their way out of their leases because they can’t compete with the fact that people can do their work in front of their laptop at Starbucks now. I can only laugh when I think about how they told me I was unprofessional for saving my clients money by refusing to operate out of a fancy “store front” office!

This whole time, big firm owners have made it clear to me that if I ever wanted to come on board with them I could. They’d give me 2 assistants and a higher commission split. I could live a luxury life! I could be in the society pages! I am not interested and have never been interested. I don’t want to spend wildly. I want to do my job.

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My husband is a tech guy, and he’s astonished at the way that real estate firms maintain entire departments for something that could be handled by a few people working on contract from home. Real estate firms still have teams of people making newspaper ads; they have sales meetings, appointment desks, and tons of unused office space. That would all be fine if the customer weren’t forced to pay for it. I believe competition is for the competent and it is time for some real competition.

How big is your company?

When I tell them, one person, often I get, “that’s nice”.  It is meant to be polite but not a as a compliment. Why is that.  Why do we think bigger is better.  I have a 80% referral rate when the industry average is 20%.

Why is it we perceive the firm with the most overhead or employees as the most successful?  One thing is for sure, once you get your overhead up, it’s hard to cut it. I have never understood this “bigger is better” thinking.  Let’s be honest. It’s all about the egos.

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What DO YOU LIKE about today’s MARKET?

I love that a person with a desk and a laptop can do anything. Sustainability and profitability is success to me.

Meet the Smiths

Several years ago I was introduced to the Reggie and Leigh Smith. Reggie, a partner with King and Spalding Law Firm, was referred to me by a friend from Atlanta. The family was relocating to Houston  to open a a new firm and needed to find a place. Three houses and many years later, the Smiths have created a beautiful River Oaks haven.

I am absolutely blown away by their home. Reggie and Leigh have taken a traditional Southern home and splashed it with some of the most incredible art. I have to confess my ignorance; I know absolutely nothing about contemporary art! But, I do know that I love the overall aesthetic their pieces create for a room. I also love the way Reggie and Leigh embrace antiques and traditional architecture and make them seem completely new.  

Leigh's taste for design is only matched by her dynamic personality. She has a charming southern accent where she can turn a 1 syllable word like "book" into a 3 syllable word,"BOO-OO-UHK." She's not pretentious at all, instead of cruising around in a fancy Mercedes, she drives an adorable mini cooper! I feel like her decorating taste reflects her free-spirited and distinctive character. The home exemplifies how contemporary and southern can be beautifully and uniquely melded. The decorating by Terry Prather is breath-taking and inspiring. Enjoy. 

They are featured in this article  featured on papercitymag.com. 

{all photos by:Jack Thompson}

Your sofa is from IKEA? Really?

I get ecstatic when you find a great piece of furniture at a bargain price. Although I didn’t exactly find this bargain myself - Two of my favorite decorating bloggers did! {Both are local Houston gals.} To say these women have a great sense of style would be an understatement.  I was impressed to find each blog featuring great decorating advice using a sofa at a price tag of $399.00. How can you go wrong?  The Ektorp white linen sofa featured in both blogs comes from the Swedish Mecca of cheap furniture, IKEA!

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I love a business/decorator that can think in an innovative and economical way. I found Cote de Texas author/decorating genius, Joni Wise’s use of the sofa for her college daughter’s new digs charming. And Morning T blogger’s home re-do was nicely complemented by the inexpensive piece. Featured on Cote de Texas, Bemz is a company where you can order chic slipcovers for the IKEA Ektorp line. I am loving all the options the designer fabric's at Bemz can supply.

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 I am still completely blown away with the luxury and comfort of this reasonably priced sofa. The simplicity is unparalleled and the decorating possibilities endless. All I have to say is my couch is getting replaced this weekend!!!

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When I die, spread my ashes at Chateau Domingue

My friend Ruth Gay opened a small shop a few years ago and man has she taken it to a whole new level. The place is huge now.  She is very hush-hush about her clientele, but I will tell you, I was in there when I spotted the person I would leave my husband of 28 years for. (sorry Mark) Don Henley of the Eagles!!!   I was shocked when he gave Ruth a big hug and knew her on a first name basis. How could my good friend be holding out on me!!!

Ruth has amazing taste.  You might ask yourself, “Wouldn’t someone with an amazing sense of style and innovation go to France or at least somewhere in Europe to buy a unique mantel or interesting flooring?”  Where the answer once was, “yes.” it is now, “not anymore."

I met-up with Ruth in France for only a few days while I was on vacation, but I needed a vacation after spending just 3 days with her.  This girl wakes up at 5:00 am to be the first at the markets. Every vendor knows Ruth. Her ability to communicate with them in their native French makes it simple for her to negate the often- overwhelming market scene. Ruth painstakingly selects every piece that goes to Chateau Domingue as if it were going into her own house.  For five hours she makes her way through a field of rubble that is actually a stone yard all while sweating in 95-degree weather and that was only one of the several visits.

{Ruth and I way to early in the morning and she's got a boot on! Nothing slows her down.}

 

 

She can instantly distinguish what is quality and what is not.  She can look at a mantel and recognize authenticity. That is why her clients and designers trust her. They know their product is unique. They will not see it in another home and it is what she says it is. She is often contacted before the architectural elements are even removed in most countries in Europe.  I have seen her fly to Europe for 3 days to look over flooring and fly back and go straight to work and then do it again in 2 weeks.

What I love most about Ruth and Chateau Domingue is how she takes just as much time with the customer who may be buying only a few tiles for a kitchen back splash as she did with Don Henley.

{ all images taken from traditionalhomes.com }

Chateau Domingue is an architectural boutique carrying distinctive, impeccably curated, antique found objects. You can learn more here.

To Cabo, or not to Cabo?

Ever since taking my daughter on her senior-spring-break trip to Cabo I have debated whether or not to embark on the wild excursion again. Recently this has been a huge point of debate and discussion in my household. Enjoying a thousand-dollar vacation should be turmoil and stress-free, but this trip is anything but.  The trip is considered to be a right of passage, but a passage to where/what???

I did the senior trip 2 years ago with my daughter and it was quite an experience!!!  I will never forget the quiet plane ride home where none of the parents were talking to their senior, including me.

First of all, let me share with you the particulars. The hotel catering to the senior trip is the Pueblo Bonito. It is not a bad hotel but definitely photo shopped to an unrealistic perfection. The photos made it look like paradise on a Greek Island with beautiful cool blue water. In reality, it was at best a 3 star hotel, but someone very generous gave it 5 stars.  I think the hotel might have done some self-rating. Continental / United must have a special calendar with an alert on all the spring break vacations because what is normally a $400-$500 ticket jets up to an $800 ticket that week. The 5-star hotel is around $250 per night and you definitely need to do “The All Inclusive”.  Not because you will be eating every meal there, but because the bar bill when you go to check-out is more than the actual hotel bill.

I knew my daughter wanted to do something fun and adventurous. I was always so proud of my sweet, angelic, unknowing, naïve, and perfect daughter. These were adjectives I once believed to describe her! After Cabo I realized just how well she new how to navigate the party scene!

I imagined snorkeling and long walks up and down white-sand beaches, not long walks up and down the sleazy nightlife scene. Have you ever seen the advertisement for Girls gone Wild and thought, “where did those parents go wrong?”  Well, you’ll realize you’ve become one of those parents when you visit the popular bar, El Squid Roe! I would even go as far as to say that this trip is the audition for GIRLS GONE WILD. Every value you have taught your child is long-gone out the window- I kept thinking why did we ever go to Sunday school!!! With signs all over the place like “Poke smot !” (the tricky slang version of saying “smoke pot”) The whole place was basically one big grinding-convention with glow-in-the-dark jello-shots as the tapas!!

Despite all of this craziness there was some structure. One of the more experienced parents  (thank you John Walker) set up some boundaries indicating that the kids had to be at the door by 1:00 am to leave or you did not get to go out with the group the next night.  I could not figure out why the parents from the previous years did not think the clubs were that bad and then I realized they did not go to El Squid Roe every night. Let this be a message for you.  “Just say no to El Squid Roe!”

During the day sitting out by the pool was entertaining and enjoyable, but to my dismay there was also a wet t-shirt contest every afternoon. The Kids would race down the beach to decide the winners and sometimes participate. On the beach they sell these cute sunglasses with two cupcakes for the frames. I bought a pair for my friend’s birthday only to find out that the cupcakes were not cupcakes, but actually boobs!! I should’ve known better having bought them from a vendor right by the wet t-shirt contest. I was just relieved that my child didn’t enter and win the contest. Every year, someone knows one of the girls that wins! Does this go on their college resume under “Honors and Rewards??”

I was determined not to go back on this trip not because I did not enjoy the days by the pool but the nights almost killed me! 2 of the nights I had to take home sick girls (who’s mothers stayed back at the hotel) and the 3^rd night I saw 2 teenagers having sex on the stairs at El Squid Roe. One. Word. PURELL!!!!

Now, much to my own surprise and disappointment, I have caved-in and I am letting my son have his “right of passage” to Cabo.

This time I have rules for the trip:

• Have a set time to meet at the door of the club.
• Only take your child, do not volunteer to take another’s child, even if they are staying at the same hotel.  (You don’t want to end up in my situation where the child the parent sent you with, gets sick and you have to take them home and leave your own child to fend for themself and get home safely.  The sick child has vomited and is sober by the time you get them back to the hotel meanwhile the mother has enjoyed a relaxing evening reading her book back at the hotel!! )

Parents-we are all in this together, there are no chosen ones who get to call this a vacation-it is work!