Stix ‘n Brix

No matter which way the housing market is moving, the most successful sellers are always at the front of the trend.

When real estate prices were rising fast, it paid sellers to price their homes at the very top of the market or even beyond. The last home to sell in a neighborhood generally made the most profit. With a glut of homes on the market and buyers scarce, today’s smart sellers are taking the opposite approach.

With prices flat or falling it’s better to price low for a quick sale because as time goes by the chances of finding a buyer at or near the original asking price decreases. Many market declines begin quietly, then snowball as sellers who have held on too long in the hope of a fast reversal begin to panic.

If your local area is experiencing an increase in the number of homes for sale and a stagnant or decreasing rate of actual closed transactions, now is the time to cash out, even if it’s not for as much as you’d hoped.

It’s no secret that children don’t like to move. And why should they? Moving means leaving friends and familiar places for the unknown. For a child, who controls very little of their life as things are, the unknown is very, very scary.

You can help your children become willing, even enthusiastic participants in your move, but it takes preparation and a willingness to give them a little bit of well-defined authority.

Prepare Them
Prepare your children well in advance for the possibility of a move. Talk to them honestly about the reasons why you’re moving. Don’t sugar-coat things. The better they understand your decision, the more secure they’ll feel. Let them know what will be happening and when so that they have time to prepare. Show them their new home area on a map, and point out some of the attractions and benefits to living there, as a child’s eyes would see them. Reassure them that they’ll be encouraged to keep in touch with their old friends by phone and/or online. If return visits will be feasible, discuss if and how frequently they might occur.

Motivate Them
Involve your children in finding a new home, but don’t give them veto power. They must understand that the move is going forward no matter what. You should grant them limited input in things like selecting the décor for their room, but not which neighborhood or home you’ll be moving into.

As moving day approaches, let them help you pack your things. Do this before any of their own things are packed. Helping put your things in boxes will act like a magnet, drawing them to the idea of packing their own belongings.

Reward Them
Make sure that there’s a reward to be enjoyed after the move is complete, but keep it realistic and related to the new home. Perhaps a new bike to explore the neighborhood, or a day canoeing on a river near to the new town. If you’re moving from Florida to New York, a trip to Yellowstone is both too grand and irrelevant to the move.

Finally, keep your promises small, but keep your promises. Your children will be especially sensitive to any disappointments during this period. Better to deliver a pleasant surprise than to fail to fulfill a promise.

You’ve seen their ads on TV, in magazines, and on the web. They’re everywhere, promising to tell you with just a click or a phone call what your house will sell for. Are they any good? What’s the catch?

For the most part, they’re pretty good. The catch is that to get an accurate market value for your home, you’re going to have to meet with a real estate agent.

Home valuation sites are either agent-driven or fully automated. Agent-driven sites like HouseValues.com  and HomeGain.com don’t actually perform any home valuations. They sell your request as a “lead” to one or more of their subscribing agents, and the agent does the estimate. That’s why you’ll see, if you look closely enough, a disclaimer that “you agree to be contacted by a real estate agent” or something to that effect.

The accuracy of the home valuation you’ll get through these sites will depend of how market-savvy the agent is, and how much information about your house you’re willing to share, but you can get a very accurate assessment of your home’s probable selling price tailored to current market conditions. The agent will probably put you on what’s called a “drip marketing” status, which means that you’ll get occasional “just keeping in touch” emails or calls, but you can stop those just by telling the agent to stop them. No harm, no foul.

Zillow.com is the first fully-automated home valuation site. Zillow has married online mapping technology and property tax records to identify selling prices of homes in your area. From that information they generate an estimate of your homes value. You don’t have to talk to an agent, but the quality of your “Zestimate” can range from decent to terrible. Zillow’s weakness is that it is based on tax records, which may be several months out of date. In a fast-moving market that can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars. Tax records also don’t take into account other marketing features like roof condition, curb appeal, interior condition or appliances.

Of course, you could also just call up a local real estate agent and ask them to do a market analysis for you. Here, it pays to be honest with the agent. If you’re just curious about prices or want the value because you’re thinking about taking out a home equity loan, tell the agent up front. They’ll appreciate your candor and, since they know that you’re not really ready to sell, they won’t waste their time hounding you after the market analysis is done. Most agents will do your market analysis for free.