The Housechick Blog

In the past month, I’ve either used or referred:

• a landscape clean up crew
• weed control services
• pool service guys
• carpet and tile guys
• concrete floors and countertop guys
• countertop and cabinet providers
• termite services
• pest and packrat control services
• painters
• roofers
• electricians
• plumbers
• sewer camera inspections
• home inspectors
• home cleaning services
• handymen
• licensed contractors
• dumpster providers
• property managers
• wall and fence builders
• window and glass replacement

After being in the business for a while, and having remodeled a couple of homes on my own, it’s amazing the number of quality resources that one accumulates.  Most of those folks know me by name, and I know that I can send them to a client’s house, and the job will be done impeccably, that they’ll show up on time, do what they say they’ll do, and clean up afterwards.

You need a dumpster?  Jack’s your man. 

Weeds need to be pulled, and the plants trimmed?  Alberto and Iscela do the best work I’ve ever seen in that department.  Send in Ron afterwards to make sure those weeds don’t come back.

Plumbing gone askew?  You need Wayne.

Feeling good about picking a Realtor who can help you with the house after the sale?  Well… maybe not priceless, but pretty darn close.

I found a quiz that is bizarre, meaningless — and incredibly frustrating as I have yet to complete it correctly.  I’ve set strict limits that I can only play 5 times per day, as otherwise it would take over my life.  Can you get through it all?  It’s a long download, be patient.

In the meantime, check out the progress of development in Downtown Tucson by checking out the September issue of the Downtown Tucsonan. 

From the issue:

• The old MLK building renovation and conversion should be starting soon, to be called One North Fifth, with 11 affordable units for lower income residents, and 85 studios and 1 bedroom units, targeted to young upscale professionals (think rooftop common area with ramada).  Construction should begin September, Octoberish of this year, completing end of third quarter 2008.
• The Mercado District at Menlo Park is already underway, with streets and 20 houses finished or under construction.  Some builders say they sold out their inventory in days.
• Bourn Partners says they need a couple more sales at The Post to trigger construction, hoping to get construction started by end of the year.
• The Greyhound Bus station needs to move again, as their original site is now a dirt lot, and the lot they occupy now is slated for a new arena.  Sounds like they need to be out and into a new building by October 2008.  Project design is moving along for a new location off of 6th and Toole.

(I’m up to the mid-70s on the quiz.  Let me know if you need help!)

I always want to do what will help my Sellers sell their house for the most money, most quickly.  Are Virtual Tours a part of that?

Well, I’ll admit they aren’t in my marketing plan.  My personal preference is to have a good set of professional pictures that will entice a buyer to want to see the house in person - where they can have a physical, emotional, visceral reaction and want to buy it.  I’ve always thought virtual tours would cut down on potential buyer traffic.  If someone can see online that they don’t really like the living/dining room setup, then they may never visit the house.  But - I know that if I can get a person into the house, once they get there, they might like everything else so much that they’ll decide to deal with some other feature they may not have liked initially.

But I’m a numbers geek.  So what does the history of Virtual Tours in MLS tell us in relation to sales time and price?  At least for single family homes?

From January 2006 to today, 23% of all sold listings had a Virtual Tour. 

Okay, so roughly a quarter of the agents out there are buying Virtual Tours for their listings.

The Average Sales Price for a House with a Virtual Tour was $397,049.  Average Sales Price for those without a Tour was $273,891.

Did having the Virtual Tour really increase sales price or does having a higher priced listing just increase the marketing budget, allowing for more money to be spent on things like a Virtual Tour?  I’m guessing the latter.

In fact, when I broke the numbers down by area of town, the highest priced region, the North, had the highest percentage of sold listings with Virtual Tours, at nearly 39%, with an average sales price in the mid $600s.  The lowest priced area, the South, and the smallest percentage of listings with Virtual Tours, at 9%, and an average single family home sale price of about $180,000.

Here’s what really caught my eye though:

The Average Days on Market for all sold homes with Virtual Tours was 62 days.  For those without Virtual Tours?  50 days.

Can’t be true, I said.  When I broke numbers down by area, every single area had a lower days on market for listings without Virtual Tours compared to those that do.

Then I calculated Days on Market for all of the solds, regardless of Virtual Tour: 53 days.  So listings without Virtual Tours were selling faster than average, even.

I came up with two potential reasons the result could be false.  One, it might take higher priced listings longer to sell, and since Virtual Tours are normally associated with higher priced listings, it might make sense that Days on Market would be higher for listings with Virtual Tours.

Second - I’m making an assumption here.  I know DOM isn’t a favorite comparative figure, but I’m considering withdrawing and relisting at a new price, or with new agent, to be a clean start, a clean slate.  And that listings both with, or without, Virtual Tours are withdrawn and relisted at proportionally the same rate, at least among those houses that actually sell.

So then I looked at the data broken down into price range.

The percentage of listings with Virtual Tours rises in direct proportion to the sales price.

Just more confirmation here, right?  Bigger sales price = bigger marketing budget.  However, if Virtual Tours really really really sold houses, wouldn’t the cheaper listings have it done too?  It doesn’t cost all that much more than a newspaper ad anymore.

Yet another kicker though:

For every $100,000 price bracket up to $600k, the days on market for listings without Virtual Tours was less than that of the listings with Virtual Tours.  By an average of roughly a week.

In sale prices between $600-900k, days on market for homes with Virtual Tours was less than those without, by a week on average.  Above $900k, they either performed the same, or the listings without Virtual Tours sold quicker.

So are Virtual Tours only really effective in higher, but not the highest, price ranges?

Something to ponder.  Not at all what I was expecting.

Thought - If I look at the number of listings with Virtual Tours that didn’t sell, and compare that to the number of homes overall that didn’t sell, am I gleaning anything significant?  I’d like to compare successfully marketed and sold homes.  If I consider homes that don’t sell, I’m including those with no pictures, wrong information, possibly crazy prices…  Let’s stick to just the solds for now, in an effort to compare apples with apples.

I ran into an old friend and client the other day at a housewarming party.  They’ve had to make some life adjustments due to health issues, and are wanting to sell their house, buy something smaller with a smaller payment, and do a lot more traveling and spending time with friends and family.

I had visited their house maybe a month ago, to see their progress on the updates and changes that are a continuous part of their home, and make recommendations that might help their home sell faster and for more money.  The Mr. is always working on several home projects at once, and wanted some guidance as to what improvements and changes would really add value.

We also discussed potential pricing at that time, had the house measured to get an accurate size, and settled on a potential range for a list price.

So I run into him at a party the other day, and he proudly announces that he has refinanced, and the appraisal came in at an amount that was about $20k higher than the sale price we had discussed.  His list price and net just made a huge jump in his mind.

When he finally sells that house for much less than his refi “appraised value,” it’s going to break his heart.  He’s going to feel like he’s lost that money - although it was money he never had, never was going to get, money that never existed.

Oh, and he has a spectacular house.  The workmanship is such high quality, the finishes, everything is just beautiful.  Except the neighborhood, which is why he’s not going to get that extra $20k.  And the number of competing, similar homes, in better areas - that’s why he’s not going to get that extra $20k.  And the fact that you need a buyer AND a seller to determine market value, not an appraisal for a refi - that’s why he’s not going to get that extra $20k.

Lucky me, I get to have a long talk with him about that.  I’m not looking forward to it.

I had a mini-rant about appraisers a couple weeks ago, but I promise, I’m not an appraiser-hater.  I just keep running into the perception of appraisers as gods, as final authorities, especially with homeowners with appraisals in hand for which they aren’t even the intended user!  (See?  I learned some new lingo from the nice appraisers that commented.)  The seller’s hopes are high, and now I have to dash them.  Fun stuff.

Number Seven in our Series: Fire Protection and Fire Districts

Tucson is deceptive in some ways.  The actual City of Tucson is maybe only half of what most people consider to be “Tucson.”  There’s Oro Valley, and Marana, and Vail, and the foothills, and other rural areas that technically aren’t within city limits, but are considered the Greater Tucson area.

Outside of city limits, the Tucson Fire Department probably isn’t going to be the one to come put out the fires at your house.  So who do you call?

Depends on where you live!

 Many areas have fire districts, in which residents are levied a secondary tax with their property taxes to pay for fire protection - actually, every Pima County homeowner will pay a fire district assistance tax, but those living in the fire districts pay a higher amount for their specific fire district.  Other areas are protected by an annual subscription with fire protection service providers.

• Rural Metro is a big provider for the Northwest and in the foothills in the North - but be careful!  Some of those areas your fire protection is included in your taxes and some you have to pay for an annual subscription.  You can check your zip code at the Rural Metro website.
• There’s also the Northwest Fire District, in the, duh, Northwest…
• Drexel Heights Fire District is in the Southwest
• Golder Ranch Fire District is up Northwest too, and is taking over coverage of Oro Valley in a phased approach
• In the Far South and the Southeast is the Corona de Tucson Fire District
• Also in the Vail area is the Rincon Valley Fire District
• Far West would be Picture Rocks Fire District, who doesn’t appear to have a website, but I found a mailing address, so you can send a postcard to them after your house burns down, I guess.

There are 17-some fire districts in the area.  Those are the larger ones, and some districts are just Rural Metro under a group subscription name. 

Hopefully, the fire trucks don’t come to your house on tow trucks, like this one.

Found this hidden in my drafts this morning. I had this set to publish the day that First Magnus announced they were closing, so this post got pushed back in favor of more pressing issues! Without further ado…

American Home Mortgage is Alive and Well in Tucson

Well, the local one anyway…

Following the implosion of the national firm named American Home Mortgage, our local American Home Mortgage has given notice that they are NOT associated with the national firm, and are alive and kicking, thankyouverymuch.

American Home Mortgage in Tucson is locally owned and operated, and has been serving Tucson and Southern Arizona for 10 years, with 5 offices and over 90 employees.

Unfortunate naming, perhaps, but local American Home Mortgage in Tucson is just fine.

Have a good Labor Day Weekend!