Some people believe they can sell their own home, keep more of the profit, and have the best salesperson possible. However, selling a home is really a full time job.

Market conditions change and a good Realtor will see that before the average seller. Buyers also look for convenient times to see the property. Realtors get physically and mentally invested in the process to research, market and finally sell the property. You can check out the Realtor.com piece on the services that Realtors offer.

Once you find a Realtor with whom you are comfortable, stick with him. When you call the real estate office, ask for that Realtor by name, otherwise you will be given the agent on duty. Your Realtor will keep you up to date on appropriate new listings based on your criteria.

Residential Properties has the ability to set up instant new listing notifications through our web site. If you see an ad in the paper or you see a house on the internet, call your Realtor. Your agent has access to all listings through the use of extensive databases and can tell you more about it. If you are driving by a home that displays the company sign of your Realtor or any other Real Estate Company, again call your Realtor. An appointment can be made to see the property. There usually is cooperation between companies on the showing of the home. Carry your Realtor’s business card with you. If you go into Open Houses on your own, it will help to identify the fact that you are working with someone to find that perfect home. Other agents will honor other Realtor’s clients if they are aware upfront.

If you see a home for sale by owner, let your Realtor know. He or she can make contact with the owner. A professional approach will generally produce better results, and you will be represented in negotiations. Moreover, your Realtor can provide a wide range of services from educating you about neighborhoods, communities, property values, tax and zoning information, assisting with contract negotiations, arranging showings of properties of interest, providing the necessary forms, attending inspections, and preparing and attending the closing.

Next time, we’ll review the assistance you can get from the company and the national organization.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) continues a lobbying push for an 18-month moratorium on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, arguing that they produce deal-killing appraisals and encourage the use of appraisers unfamiliar with local conditions. Adopted to curtail corrupt appraisal practices, it has caused quite a bit of problems as well.

Under the HVCC, neither a mortgage broker nor a Real Estate agent may select an appraiser. A lender may select the appraiser, but the person who does the selecting can have nothing to do with the loan production staff.  Many have opted to enlist a third party Appraisal Management Company (AMC).  An AMC receives a request from a lender and then assigns an appraiser from its approved list of appraisers. Too often the appraiser does not live in the area of the subject property; he or she may not be a member of the local MLS and does not have access to relevant comparable information.  If all real estate is local, how does it make sense to use an appraiser who does not have specific local-market knowledge?

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it would not implement the HVCC for its mortgage insurance programs.  Although they are currently reviewing its appraisal policies and may adopt changes that take HVCC into account.

The Pending Home Sales Index, rose for the third month in a row 6.7 % from March, and is 3.2% above April 2008. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. The $8,000 tax credit is beginning to impact the market, since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.

In the Northeast pending sales rose 32.6 % in April and is 0.8 % above a year ago. The total number of existing-home sales is expected to improve but it is subject to greater variability: Mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment.

NAR’s Housing Affordability Index also rose in April from March, and was the second highest monthly reading after January of this year. A family earning $60,900 could afford a home costing $296,800 in April with 20% down assuming 25% of gross income is devoted to mortgage principal and interest. The affordable price was well above the median existing single-family home price in April, which was $169,800.

Lawrence Yun discusses with Realtor Magazine

This weekend, the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living will host The 8th Annual RI Sustainable Living Festival and Clean Energy Expo.  Held this Saturday & Sunday, June 6th & 7th, the event will include musical performances, vendors, kids’ activities and 80+ workshops on everything from renewable energy to organic gardening.  Musical performances include Dar Williams, Crooked Still, Patty Larkin, The Low Anthem and more.  Children under 12 are free!

This announcement comes at a great time as Danielle North and I have just received our Green Designations!  As National Association of Realtors (NAR) Green professionals, we are now equipped with the resources and ongoing education that will help us to market green properties and to help buyers to find properties that will help them to conserve energy and other resources.  Check out the website for Ministerial Farms, a development of 5-star energy rated homes with geo-thermal heating that I am currently marketing.

Visit GreenResourceCouncil.org for more information on NAR’s Green Designation.

Spring is finally here and most of my agents, myself included, are seeing signs of life in the Real Estate market.  The latest figures are confirming what we have been seeing, and a visit from NAR’s top economist last week gave us all a little hope that we are finally starting to work through the excess inventory that is bogging down the market.

Bucking the national trend in home sales, The Rhode Island Association of Realtors (RIAR) showed a 12.4 % increase in sales from March 2008 to March 2009, and existing home sales increased 21.5% from February 09 to March 09. National Association of Realtors data showed a nationwide 7.1% decrease in sales during the same twelve months.  RIAR statistics include Rhode Island sales only, while NAR data includes the Fall River and New Bedford metropolitan areas. NAR reported that distressed sales accounted for just over half the sales in March virtually the same as in Rhode Island.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist was in Rhode Island last Wednesday speaking at a RIAR conference.  He feels the national housing market “has returned to its normal balance after a buying frenzy in the first part of this decade led to a collapse last year, that can set the stage for buyers to return to the market and house prices to stabilize.  A median-priced house is as affordable as it was in 1998, before the run-up in housing prices.”

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

You can take it from me, or you can listen to these two economists, Yun believes conditions are right for recovery to begin in Providence. “The buyer should be coming back, Providence will be the first housing market in the Northeast to emerge from the housing slump, and  University of Rhode Island  economist Len Lardaro agreed with Yun, saying “Now would not be a bad time to buy real estate – at the right price.”I’d be thinking about buying a house.”