The Real Estate Marketplace for buyers and sellers of single family residential property can be daunting. The single biggest problem is the lack of total market information, for both buyers and sellers, and by the REALTORS themselves. (Did you know there are in excess of 4,000+ REALTOR firms in the Greater Houston Area alone?). Some individuals possess a portion of the facts, but ONLY RDI has all the information. We call that information:
"THE VIEW FROM THE TOP."
ONLY RDI has the facts regarding performance of all the subdivisions and sections for Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Brazoria and Montgomery counties for the 10 year period from 1989 to current, in addition to volumes of other information for you, the homeowner or prospective homeowner.
What exactly does this mean? Ask a REALTOR to provide you a list of the 10 best and 10 worst performing subdivisions and sections based upon investment return for purchasers of single family residences.
THEY DO NOT HAVE THAT INFORMATION BUT RDI DOES
Ask them to tell you how the five counties in the Greater Houston marketplace fared.which county, on average, has the best overall rate of return in the subdivision? What are the facts? How do recent subdivision sections, beyond section 1 initial build-outs, fare in all subdivisions as to rate of return? Why is this important?
It is important because as additional sections are added to a subdivision, more people reside there, and most prices become fixed within a small range, depending upon gross living area (GLA) and square-footage prices. Large numbers of sections indicate an aged subdivision since typically only 1 new section is added every 1-2 years. A subdivision/section within a large master-planned community may be 10 to 20 years old if it has more than 8 sections. How does this affect the REALTOR Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) upon which the homeowner predicates the listing price, and lenders and appraisers determine soundness?
Because CMA's are almost always done by a REALTOR for listing purposes using similar properties in the subdivision/section, a "follow-the-leader" re-sale price market tends to occur. The "curb-appeal" of a total subdivision/section that is partially built-out is usually less appealing than a stable, mature subdivision with no additional sections under construction. Likewise, new home prices in these new sections tend to reflect the current labor and material costs, not the larger subdivision/section re-sale market. Having your own CMA's and sales for a subdivision may support a higher resale value than the one suggested by the REALTOR.
Additionally, school districts typically react to population growth after the fact, resulting in crowded classrooms, and commercial build-out drawing professional services such as physicians, dentists, supermarkets, etc., also lagging new home development This leads to a changing, non-stable tax base, rising monthly mortgage costs and usually delays obtaining local professional and shopping sources. Choosing your subdivision/section requires careful assessment of the facts which only RDI can provide.
What about new home sales by builders? Don't the REALTOR'S or your "Comparable Market Analysis" also use these? In most cases the answer is no. The local Boards of REALTOR'S do not generally have access to this information, particularly in non-disclosure states such as Texas; the builders have their own sales force and do not report their sales to the local REALTOR boards This lack of crucial information works against an informed purchasing decision of either a new home, or a re-sale of an existing home, at the individual level.
Equally interesting are the following questions: Which new homebuilders offer the best value per square-foot price in any subdivision/section? Who are the builders in your chosen subdivision/section? What are their price ranges? How active is their overall new home construction in the selected subdivision/section?
As subdivision sections increase in number, new home prices tend to reflect building construction costs, and are not necessarily related to the virtually stabilized re-sale prices of existing homes. You see the builder's advertisements in the newspapers-how can you determine if a new home price in a subdivision/section is supportable by the historical general re-sale prices in that subdivision, and NOT new construction costs for labor and materials? How can you ascertain the potential appreciation of the home?. What is the RATIO between similar GLA re-sale prices and new home prices?
This ratio is important because homeowners nationally, particularly the younger ones with school-aged children, move every 5-7 years. Obtaining the best return on your home investment is of primary concern. Given that 10 year overall trends for Harris County, for all subdivisions and sections, is a mere 2.5617 % OVER 10 YEARS, to make your home purchase from among the best-performing subdivisions/sections in the county of your choice, you will need the most complete information available.
ONLY RDI HAS THIS INFORMATION
The subject of residential REALTORS raises still further questions.. For example, who are the Top10 in terms of Listings, Sales, and percentage of time that the Listing REALTOR is also the Selling REALTOR for either the whole county, or for a specific subdivision/section? How does one REALTOR compare in terms of days on market until a sale against all REALTOR'S listing/selling in the same subdivision/section? How does one compare to another as to obtaining a selling price at or above the listing price? (Typically the chances that your listing is also the selling REALTOR is less than 1 in 7).
Listing REALTOR'S must network utilizing the primary vehicle of OPEN HOUSES in order to sell a house. Since the listing REALTOR receives 50% of the sales commission and the selling REALTOR the remaining 50%, the REALTOR business is predicated upon listings, and the open house networking concept. This information is your key. (Of course the MLS Listing also helps).
To the home seller, listing your property with a top producing REALTOR firm is crucial, but how do you locate these companies? From REALTOR mail outs and storefront neighborhood locations? Wouldn't you rather make a choice based on over 10 years of sales history by REALTOR company for every subdivision/section in the Greater Houston area? RDI HAS THIS INFORMATION.
1. When you list your home for sale, be certain to write in the LISTING AGREEMENT that the listing REALTOR will HOST and CONDUCT at least ONE OPEN HOUSE PER MONTH FOR THE TERM OF THE LISTING AGREEMENT. Remember, the process of networking is critical because there is only a 1 in 17 chance that the Listing REALTOR will also be the Selling REALTOR. Makes sense doesn't it?
2. Be sure to specify the ADVERTISING THAT WILL BE DONE such as newspapers and mail-outs, phone calls, etc. to other REALTOR'S IN ADDITION to the MLS listing in your LISTING AGREEMENT. You can negotiate this when you sign the listing agreement.
3. Before you sign a listing agreement, ask to see PROPERTY DETAILS OF ALL PROPERTIES SOLD in your subdivision/section for the LAST YEAR, NOT MERELY THE ONES PROVIDED BY THE REALTOR CMA. Need another source for sales and property detail? Need to perform your own CMA with an expert system selecting the BEST comparables? .
4. OBTAIN FROM THE OPEN HOUSE A LIST OF ALL ATTENDEES NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS. If your listing should expire, then you know of other REALTOR'S who operate in your specific subdivision/section from which to choose another listing REALTOR. WRITE THIS CONDITION INTO ALL YOUR LISTING AGREEMENTS ALSO.
5. "Dual Agency" exists when the listing REALTOR may also be the selling REALTOR. This is an extremely bad idea; two entirely opposing sets of interest cannot be mediated by another interest, that of the REALTOR, despite claims of "just being a messenger", etc. between the two parties. CROSS OFF DUAL AGENCY ON THE LISTING AGREEMENT.
6. Very often, when there is no activity (offers) on your home, but WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE LISTING AGREEMENT EXPIRATION DATE, the listing REALTOR will "advise" you to "lower the price". Resist this. After all, the REALTOR has already determined the "fair market value" of your home from COMPARABLE re-sale prices for SIMILAR homes in your subdivision/section. Ask yourself whose interest is really being served by a reduction in price. If Your RDI Facts Support Your Price, Don't Lower It. Never be afraid to lose the REALTOR - there are plenty to go around only too happy to take your listing.
7.Your listing REALTOR's perceived status among the REALTOR community actually determines the "foot traffic" for successful open houses. REMEMBER, IT'S ALL ABOUT NETWORKING AND PEER-GROUP STATUS. Be certain to contact both types of REALTOR'S based on your RDI information and check to see that your listing REALTOR has contacted those selling REALTOR'S. Follow-up with a minimum of one call per week to your listing REALTOR.
Sound too adversarial? Then LOOK TO RDI for the most complete information available to assist in your selection of the best-performing subdivision/section, the best-performing LISTING REALTOR'S for that subdivision/section, and the best-performing SELLING REALTOR'S for that subdivision/section,. LOOK TO RDI for an Expert System based CMA and Value Analysis using over 750,000 historical sales prices. Access the same information that the Greater Houston REALTOR'S, Builders, Lenders, and Appraisers utilize.
INFORMATION FROM THE VIEW FROM THE TOP IS AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HOUSTON. INFORMATION WHICH ANSWERS ALL THE QUESTIONS RAISED CAN BE OBTAINED FROM RDI, INCLUDING CMA'S, PROPERTY DETAILS, SALES, REALTOR PERFORMANCE AND MUCH MORE. MAKE THE MOST INFORMED CHOICES AVAILABLE IN THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA BY USING RDI.
