Michelle DeRepentigny's Discussions

@Realist, "DebtsNMesses" I love working with well educated buyers, be they "dooomers" or not, at least they know what they are getting into versus the 1st time buyer with stars in their eyes who think they will live on macaroni and beans until the next pay raise and then they fainlly crave a steak and wind up in foreclosure.    "we see the negatives but are too polite to say so" - understand from our position we are just trying to get you to point them out so that we can report to the seller - x number of visitors says your home smells like pets, smoke, or whatever the negatives are.  It's not that we are so dumb that we don't see the negatives and that we don't tell our sellers - it's just that often times they need reinforcement for the "market".

How old is the appraisal?  Remember that an appraisal is a historical document, the market changes daily and hopefully you are in an area where it it is moving to the positive side.  As an appraiser and agent I would recommend pricing at just higher than appraisal, and being willing to accept an offer at or above the previously appraised value.

You stated that 13 out of the last 20 sales in your immediate market area were foreclosures.  Unfortunately, it appears that you have reached the "tipping point".  When performing an appraisal in an area where the market area has been significantly affected by foreclosure, the REO sales do become the comparables sales although they are not truly "arms length".  With over 50% of the recent sales being foreclosures, any appraiser or real estate agent performing a comparable market analysis for a potential purchaser is going to have to consider the negative affect of the foreclosures in your area.  Hopefully the affect will be temporary and true arms length sales will occur that postively affect the ratio allowing appraisers and others to discount the REO sales. 

Be very careful about using nationwide flat fee companies.  I recently spoke with a seller who had listed thir house with a large, well know company only to find out later that the large company was not a member of the "local" mls.  They put the house on a large mls that primarily serves an area about 60 miles away and the seller didn't realize they were getting almost no local exposure whatsoever.  They complained, but were out of luck, so after pay over $1000 they really got nothing for their money.

Mom, in my humble opinion you should be jumping up and down and thankful that your REALTOR utilizes Zillow - you have chosen an agent to represent your marketing who is steps ahead of many!  You have won in the lottery - they know what Zillow is and remember it is a cooperative effort between you, if there is something specific in the marketing that concerns you, just let them know.  Congratulations on a great choice!

I ran 3 when they first started and had 6 to 17 clicks.  I just ran another one (1500+ impressions) and only had 2 clicks.  I think they function better for individual listings than they do promo ads.

I have several and am a contibutor to Bloodhound Blog, as well. I think the reason many agents do not have them is that they do take a commitment of time & energy.  We recently held a lunch and learn at our local association of REALTORS and I was asked "how much time do youspend a week blogging?".  The mouths dropped open when I said 10 to12 hours a week - usually between 11pm and 3am. :)