Tips for your open house in a down market

If you've listed your home in today's real estate market, you probably know by now how hard it is to compete with a depressed market. But there are a few things you can do to spruce up your home and prep it for an open house:

1. Clean up and de-clutter: Buyers won't overlook your clutter. Empty your closets, make your beds, and give potential buyers the opportunity to see your house's potential.
2. Curb appeal: Attracting buyers doesn't have to cost a lot of money - plant some flowers outside, sweep the driveway, and make sure the roof is clean. Make sure it says, "come look at this house!"
3. Take a hike: Buyers can feel uncomfortable and won't ask the right questions if the owner is there at their own open house. Since you've hired an agent, let them handle the open house while you get some fresh air.
4. Remove distractions: That includes dogs and children! Distractions can keep a potential buyer from focusing on the house, that includes your pets and kids, no matter how well behaved.
5. Create a "neutral" feel by removing personal items: Putting away the family photos and religious items can give potential buyers the opportunity to envision themselves in your house. That includes the Budweiser girls poster in the garage!
6. Keep every room open for viewing: It's off-putting for potential buyers if you keep them out of a room or even a closet, no matter how messy. If you've followed step one and de-cluttered the house, you shouldn't have a problem with this item!

Make sure to follow these simple rules when selling your home in this market.

Thinking about selling? Contact us for more information!

h/t bankrate.com

Fitch: Timing and Method of REO Disposition Matters

Citing data from Lender Processing Services estimating more than 2 million properties in some state of foreclosure, Fitch Ratings stated in a press release Tuesday that REOsales – both single-property and bulk sales – will be an integral component of the housing market over the next two years. However, "[t]he timing and method of their disposition has significant implications for home prices," according to Fitch, because distressed properties generally sell at a substantial discount, further exacerbated by the presence of excess inventory.

While the government has been considering a range of disposition strategies to diminish some of the inventory on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Authority’s books, Fitch offered its take in Tuesday’s press release.

According to Fitch, allowing foreclosed homeowners to stay in their homes as rental tenants "would help reduce the inventory of distressed properties for sale and also allow the borrowers to avoid the disruption of moving."

This method would be most beneficial in areas with high concentrations of distressed properties, such as Florida, Michigan, and Ohio. Fitch estimates 10 percent of homes in these three states are in foreclosure or REO.

The market has five more years to stabilize, says Fannie Mae

While consumer sentiment indicates a more positive outlook when it comes to the course of housing prices in 2012, there's still a lot of work to be done in the housing market. According to a DSNews article published today, Fannie Mae says we're only halfway through a "10-year adjustment process," during which the market is still reacting and adjusting to constantly changing policy. Fannie Mae foresees regulatory changes taking another couple of years, after which the mortgage market will take some more time to adjust. Because policy directly affects the mortgage market, investors won't enter the market until policy is more stable.

And despite the report by Fannie May that consumer outlook is more positive with housing prices, economic recovery has yet to provide any actual benefits - most Americans don't actually expect their personal financial situations to improve in the next year.

On the positive side of things, after those five years Fannie Mae expects the housing market to be solid, and the trend of homeownership will remain strong.

Shadow inventory continues to decrease

Last week, we wrote about decline of foreclosure inventory in some areas of the county, which resulted in realtors calling for an acceleration of foreclosure processing to meet the demand for lower priced properties. As it turns out, that inventory of foreclosures has indeed gotten smaller, as reflected in S&P's recent third-quarter update - shadow inventory (where borrowers are 90 days or more delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO) has declined every quarter since mid-2010.

“We believe this points to a continued drop in the amount of time it will take to clear this ‘shadow inventory’ over the next year assuming national liquidation rates do not decline abruptly,” said the S&P report (quote via DSnews.com).

S&P estimates it will take 45 months to clear the supply of shadow inventory in the market.