Against the Grain. A Sioux Falls Realtor thought.

Against the Grain.

Have you ever seen furniture or a guitar made of quarter sawn oak or maple? The grains are tighter and there are these little ribbons of pattern that burst sporatically throughout the surface of the wood. It’s really quite amazing and the name for those ribbon like patterns is kind of spectacular too. They are called medullary rays. (possible rock band name?)

These natural patterns/rays can't be seen or admired from wood that’s just cut the typical plain old way. It reveals something exciting and interesting that is hidden beneath the surface. This is achieved because the cut of the log was done by “going against the grain.” And that is EXACTYLY why I can appreciate it. It becomes an allegory for a lot of what I believe in.

If told, Do something. I will reply “I will.” If told, Do something different. I will kick back my chair, hop on the counter, hold up the rocker finger horns and belt out “R-R-R-Right On!”

Give something new.
Don’t let fear stop you.

The concert in my mind repeats these kind of lines like the chorus of a heavy metal ballad. Hey, it's my path to encouragement :)

I believe in innovation and more than anything I appreciate it when others believe in it too. I love it. I admire it. It simply ROCKS!

If you are going to do something, look to the leaders of those who have done it before you. Find out how they operate. Find out what systems they used to put on their show. Mimic these things that make their work easier, better, smoother. Then take that last bit, the piece (of the furniture, or song if you will) that everyone sees and turn it. Mix it up. Blast something that is unique for the whole world to hear!

I try to do that with my real estate career. I try to see what the leaders in my field are doing to systematize and I work on that. Then I add my own style.

 I can tell you that sometimes an idea will flop. Other times it will work. Sometimes people will ‘get it’ and other times they won’t. But I know that the right idea for each unique home or buyer at the right time can make a plain old situation turn into ribbons and patterns of coolness! I hope one day to be able to pack a stadium with past clients.

Now, how can I form a rock band and convince them to market my real estate biz for me?....

Guess What? This Home is Worth.....

When Buying, Selling or Fixing Up Your Home, How Much Does a 'Guess' Cost?

How much is your home worth? Did putting in that privacy fence increase its value?

If you plan on doing improvements to your property, wouldn't you want to know what the current market return on your dollar investment is? Is it worth adding a 4^th bedroom? Should you spend $8k on new windows? Will you get your money back? A real estate agent SHOULD be able to answer this for you.

An agent can find an answer by asking a colleague or review numbers that an appraiser gave them a couple of years ago. In most cases, this can be a good enough solution. But it's still just a guess.

If you're okay with guessing, then I guess that's okay. But when investing in your home or selling it, guesses shouldn't be good enough. You need an agent who will put some research into it.

Figuring out the over-all value of a home is tricky business. Seems easy enough, but what if your house is a Ranch style home in a neighborhood of Split Foyers? Or what if your lawn has in-ground sprinklers and no one else in your neighborhood does? What 'value' can you place on these differences? 

Every agent has at their fingertips a vast database of information. It's called the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). An expert agent knows how to run data through this system to isolate the current values of everything from toilet stalls to garage stalls.

As an example:

An average can be obtained for sold prices of homes similar to each other that have one full bathroom and no more.  Let's say the average sold price is $150,000. Then the same analysis can be performed for homes with two full bathrooms (no more, no less).  Let's say the average sold price now is $152,500. By comparing the two average sold prices, we can confidently determine that the value of adding an additional bath is $2,500. 

This same procedure can be done on any number of other factors, additions or improvements.

This process can help home buyers as well as home sellers and even help home improvers! If you plan on buying, selling or doing some work on your place, don't guess at value, call an expert agent to help.

-John Maurer
THE AGENT

Snapshot: The STATE of Sioux Falls, SD Real Estate

What's going on in the Sioux Falls housing market?  For anyone asking, here's a quick snapshot of our market today (May 18, 2011):

There are 1,126 homes for sale on the market in Sioux Falls
Nearly 50% of these homes are priced at $150,000 OR LESS
161 of these homes are priced at or BELOW $100,000 OR LESS
There are currently 337 Homes with ACCEPTED offers on them right now.
Since the first of the year, 611 Homes have sold in Sioux Falls.
Nearly HALF of these sales have occurred since April 1st!

My perspective:
We are teetering on a shift in the seasonal market here. There are some good indications that the Buyer and Seller markets are reaching an equilibrium.  Historically this should shift a bit towards a Seller's market within the upcoming weeks.  The numbers above show an even stronger potential for the shift.

Consider that within the last month and a half over 600 homes have sold or are under contract and there are fewer than 1200 homes available.  This means a quickly shrinking availability of homes compared to home shoppers. This equals potential higher demand and therefore higher bargaining power for the Sellers out there!

If you are a Buyer, don't fret yet.  Great rates and programs are available to give you more power than ever.  Plus home prices have still been held low for now after coming off of the last couple of years, so you still have purchase strength for your dollar!