In my opinion as a real estate agent, Zillow.com can be a helpful tool for consumers for ball-park property valuation but should not be relied upon to provide exact opinions of value. Read the small print on Zillow.com and they will tell you the same thing. Check out their FAQ page.

The reason zillow is unreliable for property valuation is that no algorithms or mathematical formula can accurately predict a property’s value especially in a mountain community such as Estes Park where properties can vary tremendously. For instance, it is impossible to compensate consistently for many factors that influence property value including quality of construction, quality of materials used, views, privacy, neighbor quality, neighbors pets, nieghbors recreation habits, paint color, sun exposure, bright or dark interiors, smells, future events, room flow, landscaping, pests, and more.

Zillow.com discloses these variances on their website in specific markets. Unfortunately, they do not disclose the variance for communities as small as Estes Park, Colorado. In Denver, in a location where the majority of homes are in subdivisions with consistent values, the zestimate (zillow’s estimate of value) was off more than 10% of the actual selling price more than 55% of the time. Over all, zestimates have a history of having an 11.6% margin of error in Denver. See this page on zillow.com talking about accuracy.

As a real estate agent, I wouldn’t be in business very long if I estimated property values with an 11.6 percent average margin of error. Do yourself a favor and get the opinion of a local real estate agent or appraiser to establish market value. Otherwise, you run the risk of making very important decisions based on inaccurate data.

In a real estate market where demand for home sales has slowed considerably and inventory is rising, selling your home can be an emotionally exhausting experience. It is easy to blame others for why your home is not selling and most times, that blame falls on the real estate agent.

In the current Estes Park Real Estate market, I have seen many listings sit and wait for months with no action. Some listings expire, a few are withdrawn, and some drop their prices to try to gain more attention.

Many of these listings change hands from one agent to the next assuming the next agent will be more effective at selling their home.

There are two ways to look at this change in real estate agents. Getting a fresh agent to represent you and your property can sometimes be a positive change in scenery. New pictures, an updated content description and fresh excitement from the new realtor’s attitude sometimes results in the property selling soon after the change.

On the flip side, all the hard work and effort the first realtor put into the listing will go down the drain. There is nothing worse for a real estate agent than to see their expired listing come back on the market with another realtor at a price they recommended to the seller in the first place.

If you are going to switch real estate agents be sure that you are doing so for the right reasons. I’ve heard stories of agents being dropped because the seller just needed a “change of scenery.” Be sure to look at things objectively to find out if the problem may be outside of the agent’s control. Also be cautious of unreasonable promises from other agents trying to gain your business. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Selling real estate in this market is a tough business, especially in Estes Park, Colorado.

A new addition has been placed in the sidebar to the right that connects you to my Facebook Fan Page for Real Estate in Estes Park.

Click on the facebook button in the sidebar on my blog. Otherwise you can get there just as easy by going to http://Sambasel.com. On the page, be sure to click the “Become a Fan” link!

This new page on Facebook will allow you to get an inside look into Estes Park Real Estate right in your Facebook News Feed. On the page, you can interact with me and other fans sharing stories, asking questions, and following along with interesting tidbits about Real Estate in Estes Park and the reasons people choose to live here.

I hope to see you on Facebook soon!

Here are the 5 Myths:

1. Sellers today are desperate
2. Don’t buy before prices have bottomed
3. You can’t buy a home unless you have 20% down
4. Now’s the absolute worst time to sell
5. Before you refinance, shop around

Does this apply to real estate in Estes Park?

I am definintly seeing these myths permeating the attitudes of buyers and sellers the local Estes Park real estate market.

1. The majority of sellers in Estes Park are not desperate. In the video, Barbara Corcoran mentions the ratio that 1 in 10 Sellers are “desparate.” However, I would venture to say the ratio is more like 1 in 20 (or more) Sellers in Estes Park because of the large presence of 2nd home and vacation home owners. These people are usually financially capable of waiting for their price. Of course, there are properties available that are more desperate than others. (As a side note, I do keep a running list of distressed homes for sale. Contact me for more details.)
2. Prices in Estes Park are not declining as you can see in my market statistics commentary on this blog. In Estes Park, we are seeing a decrease in demand because people are fearful of prices dropping due to all the negative hype in other markets. I believe there is a lot of pent up demand waiting to buy property. As soon as demand starts to pick up again, I think we are going to see a huge jump in the number of homes sold in the next couple of years.
3. This is also true for Estes Park. While you may get the most favorable terms with 20% down, having less to put down does not eliminate you from buying a home. My recommendation is to talk to a mortgage broker and/or your bank about what programs you may qualify for before ruling out a home purchase.
4. While it may be difficult to sell a property in Estes Park right now, it is not impossible. Buyers are still buying property but they are only looking at property where they know they are “getting a good deal.” The most important thing in this market is to be a better value than your competition. In other words, price your property correctly or you may be waiting a very long time to sell. You need to be the most attractive home at the best price to get any attention from buyers.
5. My opinion is to go ahead and shop around but don’t forget about your current bank when considering a refinance. Be sure to weigh all costs involved including closing costs and other fees. Also be careful about how many inquiries you make that may count against your credit score.

Thanks to Ines Hegedus-Garcia of Miamism.com and Agent Genius Fame for the video. See her original post here.

Establishing market value of real estate in Estes Park, Colorado is not an easy task. I’ve talked about this matter before in The Art of Pricing Your Home To Sell. Market Value is defined by what a willing and informed buyer and a willing and informed seller agree upon. There are many factors that influence true market value and unfortunately, homeowners can easily be swayed into thinking their house is worth more than it is.

Remember, true market value is NOT influenced by:

• Previous Sale Price
• How much you owe against a property
• The number of visiters coming to Estes Park each summer and how much they spend
• Time on the market
• County assessed value
• Number of elk or deer that frequent your yard
• The amount of money spent making improvements
• The stock market
• Gas prices
• Your Texas cousin’s opinion (even if they are a real estate professional)

If you are looking to see what the market value of your property in Estes Park is, read this blog post and then contact me and I’ll walk you through it.

Pricing a property accurately is more often an art form than an exact science. Finding the market value for your home can be tricky in a buyers market.

What is Market Value?

Market value is determined by the price at which a potential buyer and seller agree to sell the property. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as easy as it sounds.

1. No two buyers have the same life situations or preferences. A 2nd home market like Estes Park can magnify this issue because the people who buy homes here come from all over the world.
2. No two properties share the exact same features. There are multiple intangible and unquantifiable factors that influence buyer’s perceptions of value.

Homeowners, Realtors, and appraisers are often stuck trying to put an objective value on a subjective reality. Online appraisal web sites like Zillow and others may give you a good ballpark price, but they are faced with the same hurdle of intangible factors influencing price.

How then do we establish a price?

We must look at your property from the perspective of those who you are trying to attract.

• Buyers regard value as most important. They will only pursue properties that have the most perceived value at the lowest price. Over 50% of properties within a buyers price range may NEVER EVEN BE CONSIDERED.
• Realtors heavily influence buyer’s decisions and sometimes will determine if a buyer even knows about the property or not. Typically, Realtors don’t get truly excited about a property unless it is the “best of the best.”
• Lenders and Appraisers can be just as tough to please. Even if a buyer likes the property enough to pay full price, a property priced over its comparable sold properties is in danger of not appraising. Without a good appraisal, a bank will not fund the loan and therefore the property will only sell to cash buyers willing to pay above appraised value. Most people who have enough money to buy real estate with cash most likely didn’t accumulate that cash by paying over appraised value on ANYTHING.

3 Simple Steps to Pricing your Property:

1. Check the online appraisal services to get a general ballpark of your home’s value.
2. Ask a competent local Realtor to verify the information you have with comparable sold properties.
3. Search for similar properties online as if you were a buyer looking for a home to buy. Establish a price where your home provides more value than 75% of the competition. (Your Realtor should be able to help you with this as well.)

Of course, if no one knows your home is for sale, having your home priced well isn’t going to do you any good. The best way to get the word out is to hire a competent Realtor to market your property. That is a topic for another post. Stay Tuned.

Why use Sam as your Realtor?

I am not a Real Estate salesman. I am a client advocate in the pursuit of matching buyers and sellers in Estes Park through serving my clients’ best interests at all times. I understand that most people buying and selling real estate in Estes Park are intelligent people. These people are not looking for a sales pitch. They are looking for a professional who knows Estes Park and can add value to the real estate transaction.

Being technologically savvy means more than being able to send and receive emails. I know how to utilize the power of the internet to distribute your property to buyers in the locations they look at first. Buyers have options available to contact me in the way they feel is most comfortable to them.

Real Estate is not a part time hobby or a second job for me. I am fully immersed in the market and have a habit of matching new properties to clients’ preferences and sending them out before most other agents realize the property is available.

Customer service boils down to serving my clients passionately to the best of my ability establishing their needs as the reason I do business. I want to provide more value than promised and deliver that value before my client realizes they have a need.

I am honest and ethical not because I belong to an organization that has a code of ethics, but because it’s the right thing to do.

Participating in continuing education is essential to improving the services I provide. I enjoy going to classes, conferences, reading books, or networking with other Realtors. I don’t participate just because it is required.

Please contact me to learn more

Search ALL Homes, Condos, and Vacant Land in Estes Park, Colorado

Our market is experiencing a very slow summer in comparison to the past two years. The number of sales in June and July in all categories were way below previous years as you can see on the stats page of HomesInEstes.com

So where did all the buyers go?

I don’t think they went anywhere at all. If you have driven downtown Estes Park lately, you’ll see that there isn’t much of a decrease in the number of people in town. The difference is in the mindset of these people coming to town.

I have a large number of buyers who are just “waiting” to see what the stock market does or to see when the national real estate market rebounds. According to conversations with other local realtors, just about everyone has a few buyers just sitting around waiting for the “perfect” property to come up.  A lot of these potential buyers have the mindset that since property values are dropping back home, Estes Park will probably do the same.

On the flip side, people who are selling their homes are extremely reluctant to take low offers or reduce their prices because they know that eventually prices will appreciate again. They have no reason to sell at a discounted price since the neighbor property sold last year for a premium. They might as well wait it out and see   The trick is how long are they willing to wait?

So how do we get the buyers off the fence?

The easiest and quickest way to find a buyer is to price your property correctly to start with. If you don’t get enough showings or you get a lot of showings and no offers, its probably time to adjust your price. One way that is extremely effective is to drop your price every 30 days until it sells.

At the current rate at which property is being sold, we have about 18-24 months of available inventory (also called Absorption Rate). Thats a lot of inventory. In order for your property to be noticed, the potential buyer has to decide that your property is the best value before they will make an offer. With 24 months of inventory as your competition, your home has to be the best value for the money or it will sit “on the shelf” with the rest of the listings.

The only way to continue the Estes Park real estate market’s impressive growth in property values is for more buyers and sellers to come together on price. My opinion is that the ball is in the seller’s court. They hold the key to stimulating this market once again.

When searching for a real estate agent to represent you in a home purchase or selling your home, using an agent who serves your area specifically will result in a much better experience.

You need an agent that knows the local inventory and the area better than you do. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as there are TONS of web sites out there offering real estate listings and information. I’m sure you’ve been to a few. You can be sure that an ACTIVE local agent will know the whole scoop about what is going on in the area.

Local agents may know which homes have better views or locations just by the street address. That is information you can’t find online. Photos may only tell half the story.

Also, Local agents tend to “hear” about new listings much faster about what homes may be coming on the market in the near future – especially in a small town.

A local agent will be a far better resource for recommending which local service providers provide the most value and can get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. The cheapest service may not be the best service to choose in all situations.

Using a local agency most likely won’t cost any more or less money, but they will provide you with better service. Why not go local?

Pricing a property accurately is the most important factor in determining whether a property will sell or not in a reasonable time frame. In the Estes Park real estate market, I would say it is much more of an art form than an exact science…although your banker may disagree with me.

The market value of a property is determined by the price at which a potential buyer and current seller agree to transfer ownership of a property. Typically and traditionally, market value is heavily influenced by recent similar properties that have sold in the area. However, there are many other influential factors to true market value that have nothing to do with what other similar properties have sold for.

Both buyers and sellers each have their unique situations including emotional attachments, life changes, personal preferences, and justifications even if they seem somewhat whimsical at times.

In addition, no two properties share the exact same features – especially in Estes Park. Two homes sitting right next to each other may have completely different views and therefore carry completely different values.

The result is that Realtors, bankers, and appraisers are all stuck trying to put an objective value on a subjective reality. This is why I don’t envy Real Estate Appraisers.

So, how then do you establish a price?

You must look at your property from the perspective of those who you are trying to attract. There are three groups of people you have to convince you have priced your property well before it will sell.

1. Buyers regard value as most important. When a buyer comes into town, either they or the realtor sorts out a list of properties according to price range and then go to see their top favorites. From those top favorites, they decide which one has the most features that they are looking for and that is already priced well. They will only pursue properties that have the most value at the lowest price. Again, a lot of the intangibles come into play here but you can see how only the best priced properties will get any attention.
2. Most buyers that will be aware that your home will be for sale will most likely come through a Realtor. Realtors heavily influence buyer’s decisions and sometimes will determine if a buyer even sees the property or not. Typically, Realtors don’t get excited about a property unless it is the “best of the best.” Realtors see tons of homes – it’s their job – so when they see a property that is priced right all of their clients will know about it.
3. Banks and Appraisers are the toughest to please, especially in today’s financial market. Even if a buyer likes the property enough to pay full price (market value as established above), a property priced higher than comparable sold properties may not get approved for funding because of a failed appraisal.

In summary, finding a price at which a property will sell is not easy but it can be done if you look through the eyes of who you are trying to attract.