It’s been a while since I’ve pulled foreclosure statistics for Greensboro. Frankly, I’ve gotten rather busy – listing foreclosures, ironically. These, along with the ‘civilian’ buyers and sellers with whom I work, have kept me hopping. But it has seemed over the last few weeks that the foreclosure has slowed a bit. This got me wondering about foreclosure listings in general in Greensboro. So, back to my data mining and spreadsheets I went.

Here’s what I found:

In the last couple of months, foreclosure listings in Greensboro have indeed slowed up. The number of foreclosures listed in the 9 residential Greensboro codes over the last 12 weeks has been 91. That is LOW compared to what’s been going on since I started tracking this data in 2008. Really low.

The same week last year the 12 week running total was 160. The year before that, 131.

The downward trend has been fairly steady since Spring, witnessed by this graphic:

And the listings are down not only by raw numbers but also by the percentage of overall listings. For some time the percentage of foreclosures in relation to all listings has been about 12% – 15% at any given time. The last six weeks the percentage has averaged  7%.

The week ending July 31, 2001 had only 2 foreclosure listings. Two?! That’s awesome.

Right?

Being a generally optimistic person, my recent receipt of a button that reads “Moody Bitch” notwithstanding, I’d like to think our trip on this awful roller coaster ride is coming to a close. But being optimistic doesn’t mean being naive. Almost certainly we’re going to to have another wave of foreclosed properties coming on the market.

A quick check of tax records show that there have been 15 foreclosures posted in these zips in just the last 4 weeks that aren’t on the market yet. And that isn’t including properties where “notices of default” have been filed but where foreclosures haven’t been finalized.

The numbers may be down due to several factors, the least of which is that the sheer volume of properties has overwhelmed the banks. There are only so many reps to handle the process – now that the robo signers have been laid off…

Still, a breather from the grim parade of distressed properties is welcome.

Here are the rest of the graphics. I guess you’ll be able to tell when foreclosure listings pick back up when I don’t have time to post about foreclosure listings!

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as of October 30, 2010,  and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.

The other day I met with a woman who will be moving out of the area, starting an exciting job in another state. She’s ambivalent about the change. She’s thrilled at the chance to sink her teeth into what will surely be a challenging and high profile job, but she likes Greensboro and has many friends here.

And she likes her home. She’ll be listing it for sale, and she’s paid me the compliment of allowing me to be her agent.

When I met with her to start the process – it’ll be a few weeks before we put the place on the market since now she’s dividing her time between cities – she gave me her keys. They were in a medicine bottle with my name on it.

Of course, this is because the woman is very organized as well as a recycling fiend.

But as we talked about the circumstances of the listing it occurred to me that the curious way she made the keys ready for me was a bit of a metaphor for how she feels about the idea of turning her home over to someone not only for marketing, but for safe keeping.

She told me in a matter of fact way that the idea of being away from her home, and in this case away from most of her possessions (she’s leaving the bulk of her furniture for time being) was pretty hard for her and that she felt she’s putting them in my hands. The very great compliment was when she told me that knowing I’d be keeping an eye on things put her mind at ease. Kind of like taking a anti-anxiety pill.

I had not looked at the roll of a real estate agent in quite that way before. The overriding goal of listing one’s house is to sell it. But in the interim, you’re opening it to the eyes an opinions of strangers. And, particularly if a home will be quasi-vacant, having someone stop by regularly to make sure all is well is a service that comes with the job.

At least, it should. And most professional agents approach it that way.

Selling a home is a very, very stressful thing. Frankly, it’s a big drag. And there are aspects of the process that can be borne only by the seller. But if I can relieve stress or alleviate concerns or bring clarity to a confusing situation, I’m thrilled to do so.

Frankly, it’s my job to do so. It’s what makes the difference between a nameless entity who enters a property into the MLS from five area codes away and an agent with a fiduciary, ethical and even personal responsibility to the client.

It humbled me that this very accomplished, intelligent and independent woman looked to me to help make her transition easier.

And, for the record, those are indeed jars of M&Ms in the background of the photo above, sorted by color. We all have or own unique medicinal tools, right?

When I’m contacted by a new customer about seeing property, there are two questions I always ask:

“Are you currently working with an agent”?

and

“Have you spoken with a mortgage lender”?

If the answer to the first is ‘yes’, I respectfully direct them to contact said agent. I have no desire to interfere with the relationship established between the buyer and one of my peers.

If the answer to the second question is ‘no’, then it’s time for a little educating. And this has been the case for as long as I’ve been a real estate agent. (Yikes. That’s 24 years now. Someone around here’s getting old!)

The thing is, most buyers really want to look at houses. And that’s obviously a key to finding your home. Duh. But, while going into houses and mentally decorating and placing your furniture in house after house can be fun, if you haven’t lined up your financing, you’re doing things bass-ackwards. Really. I promise.

I get resistance from some buyers when I ask them about the loan thing. And when I demur showing them properties until they have spoken with a reputable lender, it seems they think it’s some kind of gimmick or scheme on my part. Like I get paid extra if I show houses to buyers with approval letters in hand.

I don’t get paid extra. And it’s not a scheme. It’s pragmatic. And pragmatic for both the buyer and for me.

Let’s face it, jumping to show houses to a buyer who may be unable to afford them is unfair to the sellers – they shouldn’t vacate their homes for an hour so that eager but unqualified lookers check out the place – and unfair to the buyer who may fall in love with a house that’s out of reach and, not for nothing, is a waste of my time.

Harsh? Maybe. True? On all counts.

The truth is, there’s no downside to getting approved – yes, approved (not just ‘pre-qualified’) for a loan at the beginning of the process. It doesn’t cost more to do so than when you’re ready to make an offer. Approvals are generally good for some time, perhaps with a just a fresh credit check done if enough time has elapsed. Ask your lender about the details of their approvals.

Perhaps more importantly,with North Carolina now being a ‘due diligence’ state in regards to our Offer to Purchase, it’s imperative that buyers have their loan nailed down at the time an offer is made. No more loan shopping if one place turns you down while the seller waits on the sidelines, their house essentially off the market. You can read about the due diligence thing in this post.

It’s understandable that buyers, particularly first time buyers, are squeamish about talking to a lender. It’s akin to stepping on a scale if you’ve been avoiding doing so and the holidays just ended and your daughter is a great baker and your husband is a fantastic cook and it was too cold to get out and exercise and …. ahem… excuse me. That hit a bit close to home.

Back to borrowers. Have no fear. A good lender will tell you where you stand. If that happens to be in a place $20K less than you thought, better to find out now. If it happens to be in a place $30K more than you thought – mazel tov! And if you’re told that this isn’t the time for you to buy, that same good lender can give you a roadmap for how to get where you want to be.

So, I used a lot of words to answer the question posed in the title of this post but it boils down to two words: The loan.

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

OK, a quickie post here. With thanks to my son-in-law, Patrick Beeson, for passing this link along to me. (I usually hear these reports myself on NPR in the mornings as I start my daily routine, but missed this one)

This is a story that goes under the “it could always be worse” category.

Take a couple of minutes to listen. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Then read my take on this below…

Waiting…..waiting….*whistle*…..waiting….

Alrighty. Welcome back…

Sheesh! Those Spaniards are rough. I think I saw an episode of “The Sopranos” where Tony and Pauly Walnuts did roughly the same thing when a sporting goods store owner couldn’t pay his gambling debt…..

[For the record, the reason banks here can't do you the way banks in some other countries can is because mortgages here are debts secured by the property. That is, in exchange for putting your house up for colateral, the bank loans you money. You don't pay, they get the house. But NOT your grandmother's jewelry, for crying out loud.]

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Over the last couple of years I’ve been tracking foreclosure activity in Greensboro. At first, foreclosures were, while not unheard of in Greensboro, were rather few and far between. As a matter of fact, up until late 2008, our MLS didn’t have a designation for when a property was listed as a foreclosure sale. I, along with everyone else, had hoped that the real estate market and economy was experiencing a momentary, if jarring, correction.

Well, if hopes were calorie-free pizza, we’d all be skinnier.

Not only are foreclosed properties and the impact that have on communities and the real estate market here for a while, they’re becoming commonplace. Over the last twelve weeks in Greensboro, about 18% of all properties listed have been foreclosures.* That’s a lot.

Comparing the numbers to a year ago and even two years ago shows that the trend isn’t improving. It’s actually going in the wrong direction. For instance, this week last year there were 6 new foreclosure listings in Greensboro. The year before that, 12.

This year there were 16.

And the rolling 12-week totals, what I believe to be a better indicator of things, doesn’t provide a rosier picture. There were in deed many more foreclosures listed in the 12 weeks leading up to this time in 2009 (293) than this year (178) but this is more than last year (166). And it must be remembered that in 2009, these properties were just beginning to hit the market. In the early and last quarter 2010, there were halts to new listings while either the banks were trying to catch their breath or, later, trying to get their ducks in a row. All indications are that foreclosures are going to be coming online steadily for the next couple of years.

Alas, hoping things were different won’t make them so. Hunkering down is about all we can do.

Although pizza can sometimes help.

More graphs for those who can't get enough of them:

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as of September 29, 2010,  and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.

A few weeks ago I wrote that changes are coming for the Offer to Purchase and Contract used by real estate agents in North Carolina.

Well, the time is nearly upon us.

As of January 1st, 2011, this document (PDF) will used when a buyer wants to buy and a seller wants to sell. It will be at once longer and more straightforward.

While there have been tweaks over the years to our forms (which are a product of joint efforts between the NC Association of Realtors® and the NC Bar Association) this represents several major changes for both parties in a real estate transaction.

Personally, I’m all in favor of the changes. It makes pretty clear what the responsibilities of the parties are and reduces what has been a long list of target dates down to three – effective date, due diligence date and settlement date. It makes clear there are responsibilities that both parties have. In short, it removes any doubt that this is not a game. It makes the idea of “fishing expeditions” by either sellers or buyers much harder to pull off because everyone will have some skin in the game.

But I’ve written about all that before. For now, feel free to look over the form and ask questions. To be clear: This is not a form a consumer gets and fills in themselves. It is what agents use in facilitating a transaction between parties. Just sayin’.

Sample Offer to Purchase (PDF)

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

I don’t usually write about the ‘behind the scenes’ aspect of real estate. It doesn’t much matter to you, the reader/consumer about how agents handle business. Nor should it. The transaction is about the client, not the agent.

But as things have changed around us all, so have the tools of the real estate trade.

I, for one, tend to dig all the new gadgets and programs that make the transmission of information immediate to clients or other agents. Some of us are slower to embrace the changes. And that’s totally fine.

Believe me, there are very good, professional agents who’ve never seen the need to get a home computer, forget about home wi-fi or smart phones. (Of course, I really don’t see how they function as humans without DVR or Netflix instant streaming, but that’s just me.)

But as I sat at my usual spot early this morning – that spot being my ‘office away from office’ or more to the point, my kitchen counter – I realized I’m surrounded by Old School and New School tools to help me get my day under control.

• My latest favorite thing in the world is the Droid X. With scary accuracy it navigates me from address to address, wrangles all 5 of the email addresses I use and yesterday allowed me to access showing instructions for a property whose combination I had forgotten.
• The laptop, of course, is where I live, inside this lovely aluminum box. I’m a Mac (even though most of the real estate programs in the world are PCs – ugh). It is from the MacBook that all things flow.
• My legal pad inside a zippered binder. There is a certain joy scratching out item after item of a hand-written to do list.
• An iPod whispers tunes into my ears and helps focus me.
• Coffee. No explanation necessary

Of course, all the nifty things I have to get real estate information are available to everyone else. Back in the day, when I first got in the business, agents got huge MLS books every two weeks. They were about as thick as the Greensboro phone book. Really. Each page had 6 listings with a photo and vital stats. We were the keepers of the data. Those books held all the listings and buyers pretty  much needed to hook up with an agent to find out what was available and for how much.

Now there are literally dozens of online sites were anyone interested in knowing can find out what that house on Starmount Drive is listed at, how many bedrooms, when it was built, what type of heat it has and what school district it’s in

So, who needs an agent when everyone can get at the data?

The thing is, although it may have seemed that the information was the holy grail in a real estate transaction, it wasn’t. Let’s face it, once you got in a house you could see all the details, tax records show how much the present owner paid for it and the Guilford County Schools will tell you exactly what the schools are.

I’m not fearful technology will make me obsolete because my value has always been helping people think about what’s not immediately obvious. I ask them questions to help put their choices in order. I can be objective when real estate transactions are full of drama for the principals involved.

A good agent doesn’t just spew facts about a property but rather gives guidance. The answers given should be more about ‘how’, not necessarily ‘what’.

So I’ll return to my super-duper plugged in morning, reply to emails, schedule showing appointments, chat online with my son-in-law, listen to Annie Lenox and a scratch through “write blog post” off my to do list.

And get another cup of coffee.

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Yesterday I, along with about 140 or so of my peers, were informed of a substantial change in our professional lives. The real estate firm with whom we work – some of us for decades – was bought the night before by Prudential.

To say there weren’t tears would be a lie. There were. Not because of the Prudential part but because we all pretty much love working with three of the classiest and most generous men around: Eddie Yost, Dean Little and Mark Yost. There is good news though. And the first piece is that all three will remain in charge and their philosophy will continue to be the guide by which things are done. The new entity is Prudential Yost & Little. (The existing Prudential Carolinas office at Friendly Center is now Prudential Yost & Little as well.)

Prudential is part of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Yes, that Berkshire Hathaway. The one run by Warren Buffet.

The real estate market has been unbelievably tough. It has been hard on sellers, challenging for buyers who only a couple of years ago could have breezed through the loan approval process and, frankly, it’s been truly difficult for those of us who make a living in it. For all my glib remarks on this site (“good thing the windows on this building don’t open”,”some of us have gone from full-time agents to full-time drinkers”, etc.,) it really has been hard.

The combining of the Prudential and Yost & Little will be a powerhouse in Greensboro. And I mean a powerhouse. We immediately, with the stroke of a pen, became the big dog in town. I believe our listings now account for nearly 25% of all listings in Guilford County. Over the next couple of weeks, there will be about 1000 yard signs swapped out with the new ones. (A THOUSAND. Yikes!)

So, if there’s strength in numbers, they don’t get much stronger that that.

If you are currently a client of a Yost & Little agent, all that will change for you is that you now have even more agents who represent you.

I won’t lie. I’m a bit sad. I’ve loved where I work. But Dean & Mark will still be down the hall from my little office. It’s just nostalgia that keeps me from being 100% giddy. And that will pass.

And, hey, Warren Buffet may decide he really needs a middle-aged woman with one fake breast and an attitude to help him run things. Who knows?

Things are changing all the time.

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

I haven’t posted recently about Greensboro’s housing inventory because there hasn’t been too much new to report. Over the last few months, the number of properties listed in the nine residential zip codes in Greensboro has fluctuated a bit, week to week, but has always been higher than same week numbers from 2009. So the case could be made that, even if inventory was lower in week “x” compared to the previous week, it was still higher that last year. Sometimes by as much as about 20%.

Until now.

I’ve double checked these figures more than once and it appears that for the first time in a very, very long time, the number of homes on the market is lower now than this week last year*. To me, this is pretty important.

For one thing, too much inventory in real estate puts downward pressure on prices just as much as it does with any other commodity. More supply than demand and sellers have trouble finding a price low enough to attract buyers.

For another, it’s just a relief finally have some statistic that indicates we may be righting this wayward housing ship. (And I had to be careful typing the word “ship” because as similar word is what I was really thinking…)

Add to this the fact that the average list price on houses in Greensboro has remained pretty flat for the last several months – indicating sellers have enjoyed all they can stand of “just reduced” banners on their yard signs – and maybe there really is a trend here.

Things may be different next week or next month or next quarter. And foreclosures are still looming out there, also contributing to pricing woes. But I’ll take 3% less inventory against 20% more any day.

Below are some more stats. Enjoy:

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If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as of October 30, 2010,  and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.