Category Archives: Western NC Mountain Communities

First Step for Choosing the Right Sapphire Real Estate Agent

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When interviewed following the successful close of their home’s sale, a convincing majority of homeowners say that one of the most decisive factors came early on: choosing the right real estate agent. The reasons given go further than simply chaperoning the business transaction. The right agent does more than pare down the stress level that can creep into the process at any moment; does more than handle the numerous contractual issues that need to be addressed before a sale can reach a tidy conclusion.

The right agent lets you rest easy, knowing that your listing is getting the full energy and professional attention it deserves. When the choice is the right one, you know that your property is on display 24-7—being presented to the potential buyers most likely to buy.

Unless you inherited the property, you probably have clear memories of the Sapphire agent who was there when you originally bought. If it’s a positive image of a friendly, knowledgeable professional who tackled the details with skill and energy—and who seemed to make everything somehow easier than you expected—then that someone is sure to have the inside track.

If that’s not the case (or if enough time has passed that he or she is no longer available), you’ve got to choose your agent. But rather than letting the impending task loom as an arduous undertaking, take heart! Consider that you are in the proverbial catbird seat (whatever that is). Just look at it from my perspective, as a real estate agent in Sapphire.

Every Sapphire real estate agent is engaged in a sort of retail business. The homes for sale are our “products” on the shelf. Now, although it’s true that every real estate agent in the area is able to expose their buyer clients to the entire “inventory”—including the other Sapphire agents’ homes for sale—it’s much more desirable when our own “shelves” are stocked with great properties.

That means that your home is in strong demand among Sapphire real estate agents, and most of them will do their best to make hiring them as painless as possible. If you have some direct questions you’d like to ask (but would normally be too polite to do so), you needn’t hesitate. “What homes weren’t you able to sell last year…and why not?” is a good one. So is, “Can you give me the contact information for three recent clients?”

The right real estate agent—the one you want—won’t make you feel as if you’ve posed an awkward question. A great agent will be able put you at ease in any situation. If he or she fails to do so, that’s not the right agent! (and finding that out means your interview succeeded).

Selecting the right Sapphire real estate agent to sell your property is the logical first step because it makes all the following steps so much easier. I hope you’ll include me on your list of the most likely candidates…and give me a call to prove why you should!

Home Prices in Highlands Reflect Remodeling Choices

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Here’s an instant spot quiz— (see what comes to mind within a second or two):

If you decide to sell your Highlands home, if you had a crystal ball, what’s the most important detail about the sale result? Quick! Answer!

If you’re like seven out of ten people, you were curious about the bottom line: “what price did it sell for?” Some people come up with “how long did it take?”—but usually, that’s the second or third choice (“what were the buyers like?” is another contender).

It’s hardly surprising that the closer they get to putting their own house up for sale, home prices are foremost in people’s minds. Yet most homeowners assume that the ultimate sale price will be determined by market forces outside their control. That’s sort of true, but not entirely so. Home prices aren’t set in stone. Homeowners do have a degree of control over what their property will bring—if they choose to exercise it. One key to seizing that control is the smart application of remodeling dollars to areas that pay off.

For Highlands homeowners who plan to continue living in their homes for the foreseeable future, it’s less of an issue. They can be comfortable putting their remodeling project dollars in the directions that make the home more comfortable and agreeable to their own family lifestyles. They can safely follow their own priorities without worrying too much about where current tastes and trends are heading, unless you are someone who just enjoys being counted in the fashion vanguard.

But if you’re fairly certain that you will list your Highlands home sometime soon, you should remember that a property’s salability can be greatly affected by the remodeling direction that’s taken. Rather than making those decisions guided solely by your personal preferences, it makes good sense to take into account what buyers consider valuable, if for no other reason than the likelihood that those dollars will come back! There are three areas that deserve consideration:

Kitchens always seem to get the most attention when it comes to boosting home prices. A homeowner may prefer a warm, comfortingly cozy space for the center of family activity that the kitchen usually becomes—but many prospective buyers go the other way. Light and bright is vastly preferred over cramped and dark for buyers who are comparing kitchens—and the resulting home prices offered usually reflect it. If your property will be among the Highlands listings anytime soon, think about directing some remodeling energy there.

The master bedroom is growing in importance, too. Many buyers who in earlier eras may have valued a formal dining room, now forego it altogether—preferring an attractive master as a sanctuary from the stresses of the outside world.

Living rooms can also add to the bottom line a home winds up fetching. An open, bright multi-purpose area that’s easily envisioned as a center for family entertainment and social gatherings can give a strong boost to perceived value. Simple renovation ideas like removing dated window coverings or replacing worn carpet can be dollars well spent.

If selling is anywhere on your horizon, it won’t be long before keeping tabs on trends in Highlands home prices becomes a new personal priority. Whether early-on or last-minute, calling me for a no-obligation consultation can make a big difference for maximizing your sale’s result!

Heads-Up! Sapphire’s Spring Selling Season is Here!

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Sapphire’s spring selling season is underway!

Okay—it’s understandable if that seems like a somewhat premature announcement, but it is verifiable from any number of sources. Never mind that this year, spring doesn’t officially arrive in Sapphire until March 20…but that’s only what astronomers say (and they can’t even decide whether Pluto is a planet). Meteorologists take issue with them, anyway. It’s always March 1 as far as meteorologists are concerned. But this year’s Godzilla El Niño has made everything they say subject to revision. And anyway, we’re talking about real estate—and when it comes to real estate, spring is here already!

Now, it may be true that if you look on one of those bank calendars you got in the mail last December, it’s likely to tell you that we’re weeks away from the change in seasons. And depending on what the latest weather seems to be doing, winter may seem to be hanging on for a while longer.

But nimble Sapphire real estate watchers know they can’t believe everything they read (or see happening outside in the garden). Cherry blossoms can’t call the shots when it comes to announcing Sapphire’s spring selling season, any more than tulips can. And that groundhog can stay in his den, for all the difference it makes to home sales.

This is fact: according to the real estate industry’s calendar, the spring selling season—in Sapphire and everywhere else across the nation—has definitely sprung!

Supporting evidence has flooded in from everywhere. For example:

⦁ Home Depot just announced it is hiring 80,000 workers for spring. These are the folks who work the cash registers [nowadays, shouldn’t they be called “plastic card registers?”] and help us wander up and down the aisles, looking for things we can’t describe exactly. Without them, spring wouldn’t be the same. With them, spring is clearly underway.
⦁ Internet real estate behemoth Zillow came out advising that everybody who is thinking about taking advantage of the spring selling season should start preparing their property “NOW”—and that was two weeks ago!
⦁ CNBC put it in real time: “Spring housing season kicks off with record short supply” was their headline. If CNBC says so, who could argue?
⦁ Baseball teams have hightailed it into camp. That should end the discussion…

These harbingers of the spring selling season should certainly mean more than robins hopping across lawns or yellow and pink Peeps appearing on grocery store shelves. And even for any overly cautious souls who decide to wait for the bank calendars’ say-so, taking full advantage of the spring selling season in Sapphire necessarily calls for advance preparation. A strong way to start is by giving me a call!

Highlands Tenants Benefit from Professional Property Management

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Everyone who owns a rental property in Highlands makes a continuing management decision concerning how much of the day-to-day operational responsibility to outsource. Some are inclined to tackle the nuts and bolts of tenant management, while others are content to leave it to one of Highlands’s professional property managers.

If the main motive for acquiring the rental was for its value as a long term real estate investment, there is an increased likelihood that one of Highlands’s professional property management firms will get the nod. Beyond the dollars-and-cents dimension—which can boil down to a calculation on how you value your own time—there can be personal elements behind the decision. Do you enjoy keeping a close watch on all your business dealings? Or is minimizing the hassle factor a higher priority? Those are tradeoffs only you can calculate, or recalculate if your initial decision doesn’t work out.

Another factor can come into play—one that’s seldom mentioned or written about. It has to do with another party in the business arrangement that is being created: the tenants!

When all is said and done, setting up the way a rental property is to be managed is identical to creating the operations blueprint for any ongoing business enterprise. Both involve a customer relations element. As landlord, you are the proprietor, and the tenants are the customers. Every business that hopes to maximize its return on operations soon experiences why taking customer satisfaction into account pays dividends (at least, the more successful ones do)!

By that yardstick, the decision on whether to choose professional property management is not only about a landlord’s willingness to expend the time and effort their personal involvement will require. That choice should also take the tenant’s satisfaction into account…and on that score, the years of experience that come with a veteran Highlands professional property management firm can tilt the scales in its favor.

Having a proven system for handling trouble calls in a timely manner is one obvious advantage—as is being able to tap the talent of professionals whose full-time job it is to take those inevitable situations in stride.

Locating and helping you acquire choice Highlands investment properties is one way I help my clients. Another is to provide a solid resource for new owners as they go about organizing their ongoing tenant-handling arrangements. Call me anytime to discuss today’s great current array of available investment properties—and the best ways you can make the most of them!

Homeowner Tax Deductions: Real Estate’s Ace in the Hole

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Sure, even the idea of homeownership is appealing for all of the traditional emotional and lifestyle reasons. Having proprietary control over your family’s center of operations is a goal for most Sapphire residents—just as most of us would consider it a necessary evil if professional obligations make frequent moves unavoidable. Travel may be broadening, but most rolling stones (no matter how moss-less) eventually hanker to settle down.

But aside from the lifestyle aspects, another major advantage to settling down and owning your home gets its turn in the limelight at least once a year. This advantage is anything other than abstract. The time of year is April 15, when the concrete financial benefits are tallied up in the very welcome form of Sapphire homeowner tax deductions.

Tax advice is not my specialty—for that, you should always defer to your qualified financial advisor, whose full time job it is to do all that’s humanly possible to keep track of the ever-changing Federal Tax Code. But even non-specialists know that some of the most beneficial provisions in the Code’s 75,000 pages do relate to the range of significant homeowner tax deductions.

In the National Association of Realtors’ periodical houselogic, writer Dona DeZube recently surveyed some of the major ones—tax tips that deserve to be investigated by any Sapphire homeowner who will soon be charting out their own mid-April strategies.

The list was headed by the most obvious one, the mortgage interest deduction, which applies to interest paid on a loan secured by the place you live in. That doesn’t have to be a house—it could also be a trailer or a boat. As long as you sleep and cook in it, if it also has toilet facilities, interest paid for its purchase falls into the category.

Likewise, there is the prepaid interest deduction. Prepaid interest (aka “points”) you pay in when you take out a mortgage or refi can usually be deducted in the year it is originated. An exception is when you refinance and use the proceeds for other than home improvements, in which case the deduction is spread out over the life of the loan. If you refinance again, it gets a little more complicated (may be time to ring up that qualified advisor again).

Another hefty deduction is the one for Sapphire property taxes you have paid. If your mortgage lender required you to insure repayment through private mortgage insurance (PMI), if your income is less than a set amount, the premiums may be fully deductible (otherwise, a reduced deduction will apply). Even more complicated rules apply to government insurance premiums (qualified advisor time).

More homeowner tax deductions can be applicable, too, with varying degrees of complication—particularly those which relate to Sapphire vacation homes. And there are also tax credits for things like energy-efficient home systems.

The bottom line deductibility of many aspects of homeownership can be a major reason why April 15 gets many Sapphire renters to do some serious examination of their residential futures. I’m here to help with any of your own real estate plans!

Today, Highlands Homes for Sale have Two Levels of ‘Curb Appeal’

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The way the ‘curb appeal’ phenomenon applies to a Highlands home for sale is explained simply enough. Like the packaging on a store shelf item, its mission is to break through the competition—to strike a responsive chord with potential buyers.

That is the goal, but no Highlands home that’s up for sale can possibly ‘bat a thousand’ when it comes to curb appeal, since buyers start out with differing mental images of what constitutes an ideal home. For some, it’s a well-kept colonial; for others, a clean-lined contemporary. Today, most house hunting begins with the online Highlands listings. Each offering is introduced via its exterior glamor shot…making it possible to form quick impressions of the whole gamut of properties for sale in Highlands. Those pictures comprise today’s first pass at curb appeal—the photographic kind. For homes that pass that first hurdle, the next test is the three-dimensional, pull-up-to-the-curb experience. Making the most of that first impression can shape all that ensues.

A survey of hundreds of landscaping and photography “tips” for maximizing curb appeal for the most part confirms what common sense would tell us anyway: cut the grass; plant more flowers or shrubbery; keep everything neat and clean…and one even recommended “planting more shade trees—certainly the least practical ‘tip’!

Of course, as showings become imminent, every homeowner will hose off the walkway, sweep the porch, broom out the cobwebs. But before that stage—before the listing photography is done, it’s a worthwhile exercise to step back and take in the overall impression that first-time visitors are going to get. Step out front—then take the same walk your visitors will be making, but seeing it the way they will.

If the siding isn’t really fresh-looking, it’s worth considering whether a professional power wash or exterior paint touchup might make a substantial improvement. Getting rid of even traces of grime can subtly turn an ‘okay’ impression into a strongly positive one. A fresh doormat is a simple addition; likewise, scouring or replacing tarnished or pitted hardware (like address numerals, doorknobs, locks and door knockers) can subtly transform many a first impression.

When you allow yourself to abandon your everyday perspective, fresh ideas and energy have a way of materializing. Putting your house up for sale is also infinitely easier when you have an experienced Highlands real estate professional helping out from the very start—giving me a call early on is the first step!

In Sapphire, Location, Location, Location! Remains Important

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“Location, location, location!” is one of the few proclamations which needs no verb, no adjective, no preposition to fully communicate its message. Everyone in Sapphire understands—and usually agrees with—its meaning: The location [of something] is all-important.

In the commercial context, it used to mean “your store better be situated somewhere that gets a lot of the right kind of traffic.” Today, in the same context, that “traffic” can be clicks on the web rather than auto or foot traffic. Either way, location, location, location! stands for a truism that’s inarguably valid.

What’s interesting about the Sapphire location, location, location! axiom when it’s invoked in a residential real estate context is how true it remains—though for different reasons. When it comes to buying or selling a Sapphire home, location isn’t vitally important because of its being visible or easy for prospective buyers to find. This meaning of “location” points to a property being more or less desirable for a variety of reasons:

⦁ Accessibility—offers easy access to Sapphire places of business, recreation points, etc.
⦁ Inaccessibility—provides an oasis of privacy
⦁ Position—offers superior orientation: for instance, receives more (or less) sunshine.
⦁ Geography—takes advantage of superior land features: for instance, is on a hilltop, by a stream, etc.
⦁ Exclusivity—it’s in a respected, physically safe neighborhood, home to successful families
⦁ Community—offers desirable schools, lower tax rates, well-kept parklands and the like. The Brookings Institution finds that living near a high-scoring school can increase a home’s value by $100,000—or more!

Needless to say, another facet of location, location, location! in Sapphire is how important it can be in dollars and cents. It isn’t just that houses are listed for different prices depending greatly on their neighborhoods and even locations within the same neighborhoods, but the ease of buying and selling can also be location-dependent. The “comps”—estimated values assigned by reports of sales of similar properties—are assembled taking into account how near or far they are, as well as the characteristics of their neighborhoods.

For the most part, people tend to agree on the value of those location, location, location! characteristics—but in case you aren’t one of the crowd, the financial repercussions can be noteworthy. If, for instance, your ideal degree of privacy makes you value a home that’s considered to be too far out of town for most people, the asking price could be at a considerable discount from the same house closer in. If you prefer cool, shady backyards over more open and sunny ones, your offer might be accepted by an eager owner who’s not had many other takers.

Location, location, location! may be a cliché, but it’s been around forever for a reason. When you are house hunting—especially if you are new to Sapphire — it’s important to give special attention to local neighborhood characteristics that may not be obvious at first glance. In Sapphire, it’s another good reason to count on a knowledgeable local real estate specialist…like yours truly!

Highlands Homeowners Can Save via Today’s HELOC Option

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2-23-16-helocIt’s hard to imagine anyone in Highlands who hasn’t been hearing worried Wall Street commentators discussing the latest news. Starting with the worst January performance on record, even people without a lot of affected investments are aware of how ripples from that part of the finance world tend to reach almost everyone’s doorsteps.

Highlands homeowners can feel at least partially insulated—at least to the extent that the value of their homes constitutes a ‘real’ investment in ‘real’ property. That remains one of the principal attractions of owning your home. If a high-flying tech stock falls off the end of the world, investors can be left with a piece of paper and little else. They can’t live in it (and passing it on to their kids wouldn’t mean much).

The major investment drawback to home ownership is that it lacks liquidity. If you want to turn the investment into cash, it takes time to find a buyer—a lot more time than calling up your stock broker and telling him to sell. But that is such a universal need, there are several ways to solve it.

One increasingly popular ‘fix’ for the liquidity problem is the HELOC—the Home Equity Line of Credit. Using a local residence as collateral, a Highlands HELOC is a flexible way to free part of the underlying value of the investment without losing access to the home. After such a line of credit is established which reflects a portion of the net value of the property, the homeowner has the option of drawing on that account whenever he or she wishes. The amount used becomes an interest-bearing loan, to be repaid under the terms of the line of credit.

The popularity of HELOCs in Highlands has much to do with its built-in flexibility. The Wall Street Journal points out that, as housing prices continue to creep upward, “high-end homeowners looking for something bigger and better may find it cheaper to renovate than to relocate.” A HELOC is made-to-order for just such a purpose, because individual withdrawals can be made to coincide with expenses as they are encountered. In that way, a Highlands HELOC can prove considerably less costly than a traditional second mortgage, where interest builds up on the entire loan amount whether or not it is spent at once.

HELOCs may be offered on an adjustable interest rate basis, which usually comes in at a lower rate than for comparable fixed rate second mortgages. There can be some difference in the way the rate is calculated. HELOC rates are typically pegged to the Federal Reserve’s short-term rate, whereas mortgage rates tend to reflect 10-year Treasury note yields (the short-term rates rise more quickly).

Some banks report that demand for HELOCs has grown 25% to 30% for each of the past two years—even though credit requirements have risen, as well. Every lender has its own guidelines, but the industry standard is a maximum of 85% of loan-to-appraised-value (and at least a 640 credit score). Another positive note is that there is general industry agreement that those tapping their home’s equity via today’s HELOCs tend to do so more cautiously than heretofore. Considering that the interest on up to $100,000 of a home-equity loan can be considered tax deductible, it can provide considerable financial flexibility.

I make sure all my clients are aware of the many options that can go into planning their smartest real estate strategy. Please feel free to call me anytime to discuss your own plans!

Expectations for Joining the Sapphire Listings in February

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Especially this time of year—and even more especially when Sapphire’s weather turns grisly—common sense would seem to lead any homeowner planning to sell their Sapphire home this year to hold off for the moment…at least until Punxutawney Phil’s forecast starts to come true (the venerable groundhog said that winter 2016 will be a short one). A quick peek at Sapphire listings in most Februarys usually confirms the notion that most people decide to wait. As a rule, the ranks of the Sapphire listings in February are a good deal thinner than will be the case a few months later.

Delaying isn’t necessarily the most convenient answer for every homeowner—which gives rise to questioning whether that particular piece of common sense is always as sensible as it seems. At least one writer thinks not.

Just over a year ago, Kenneth Harney authored an account describing some contrary evidence. Writing in The Washington Post, he reported on national sales results “that suggest it’s not necessarily the case” that spring or early summer are the most favorable times to launch listings. In fact, a winter launch (this year, from December 22 through March 20) can prove “surprisingly advantageous.”

The most compelling evidence for that claim comes from an online brokerage firm whose two-year study of asking and selling prices led it to conclude that listings launched in December through March actually yielded the best chance of resulting in above-asking price sales: 17%! The evidence was similar for those hoping to sell quickly. Listings debuting in February turned out to be champs: an average 66% of February listings sold within 90 days, making it “historically the best month to list.”

We might be led to believe that these are reasons enough to hurry up and rush to enter the Sapphire listings immediately. Of course not all by itself—but for properties already in showable condition, it might be a reason to consider it. Logically, leaner Sapphire listings mean less competition. Since it’s common for those whose homes did not move last summer to withdraw them until the spring, homeowners who list before then stand to get a jump on the market. And yes, since many corporations tend to transfer employees and hire new ones early in the year, some of those newcomers will have found their new Sapphire homes before the spring real estate rush begins.

Harney’s article does ultimately undermine the notion that correctly choosing a good listing month automatically guarantees a quick sale at a higher-than-asking price. The giveaway comes from one quoted source who mentions that owners of properties that hadn’t attracted serious offers during the warmer months “get more realistic at this time of year.” This therefore makes winter also a good time for “smart shoppers.” My experience with my own clients (all of whom are definitely smart shoppers) suggests they seldom are itching to make higher-than-asking offers—certainly not right off the bat. The inescapable truth is that, like most other factors, the results garnered by any Sapphire listing depend on a whole galaxy of factors in addition to the season.

If your own plans include listing or house hunting any time this year, I hope you’ll give me a call. I’ll be delighted to provide you with my totally confidential, no-obligation consultation, including an up-to-the-moment Sapphire market situation report.

Thinking about Highlands Homes for Sale in an Election Year

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This one was news to me. The Wall Street Journal had it buried in a ‘spread sheet’ section of their online Real Estate section: “Why It’s Harder to Sell Your Home in an Election Year.” If you are like me—never having had an inkling that Highlands homes for sale have rough sledding in an election year (like this one)—you’d have to read the details.

“The uncertainty of a looming election can cause a dip in home sales,” it detailed, “especially if the race is close.” The article was illustrated by a cartoon showing a neighborhood street whose every lawn was graced by alternate “vote!” signs and homes for sale signs. The underlying thesis was that in close elections, house hunters are reluctant to buy if an uncertain political future makes them unsure about their own financial fortunes.

This might sound reasonable from a logic perspective, but as you read further into the factual basis for the idea, you’re likely to start losing confidence.

The whole basis for the article is a political science paper published in 2014.

In the British Journal of Political Science.

Based on housing sales back in 1999-2006.

In 73 elections.

Most of us would begin to worry about why this couldn’t make the grade in a United States journal of political science, since it centered on U.S. elections. Perhaps a research quality issue? Then there’s the fact that those dates are 10-17 years old. There is also the puzzling notion that there have been 73 elections in the past couple of decades…but it turns out that they are dealing with gubernatorial elections from a select number of states. Perhaps our average house hunter checking out homes for sale in Highlands actually does hang their financial fortunes on who the next Governor is going to be…but I wouldn’t bet on it.

As for Presidential elections, the article mentions a separate analysis that “uncovered a similar effect.” But, on closer reading, not really. This analysis was by someone who studied California sales only, and determined that in the Golden State, home prices rose by an average of about 1% less during election years. But they still rose by 4.5% in those years. If that means they were “harder to sell,” you’d have to explain why…

This is only a guess, but if you were trying to determine if it will be easier or harder to find buyers for Highlands homes for sale in Election Year 2016, it seems more logical to look for factors that directly affect the buyers—such as today’s historically low mortgage interest rates. When buyers do the arithmetic showing how low monthly payments have become, I’m willing to bet that overshadows errant thoughts about who the next Governor is going to be.

If you are readying to buy or sell a Highlands home, you probably don’t really need to worry about who will occupy the Statehouse as much as who will be helping you navigate the market. I hope you’ll elect me for the job!