Spokanebyowner.com Blog

Hey everybody! This is Deanna and I work in the office here at Spokanebyowner. I field a ton of questions and listen to worn out homesellers. Selling your home can be so tiring if you're not ready for choices you have to make. I opened Yahoo today and the main article (other than the one about pumpkin eating hippos???) was "Home prices plunge by most in 35 years". http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy Now, how credible is a news source that lumps an article projecting a potential national recession due to real estate with pumpkin eating hippos?... well, that's an entry for some other blog. Anyway, the problem is that houses aren't selling like they were last year. Now the key to that last sentence is, "...like they were last year". Houses are still selling. The problem is that you only get to choose one: quick market time or high selling price. Of course everybody wants to sell their home for top dollar in one week, but our experience here says that, without divine intervention, you either get to sell your home quickly at a lower price (at the lower end of your appraised value range) or you'll have to wait awhile for a specific buyer who is willing to pay a higher price because your house is "the one". With average market times getting longer, buyers have a lot more time to consider your home and make sure there isn't another one just like yours for a lower price.

Hey everybody! This is Deanna and I work in the office here at Spokanebyowner. I field a ton of questions and listen to worn out homesellers. Selling your home can be so tiring if you're not ready for choices you have to make. I opened Yahoo today and the main article (other than the one about pumpkin eating hippos???) was "Home prices plunge by most in 35 years". http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy Now, how credible is a news source that lumps an article projecting a potential national recession due to real estate with pumpkin eating hippos?... well, that's an entry for some other blog. Anyway, the problem is that houses aren't selling like they were last year. Now the key to that last sentence is, "...like they were last year". Houses are still selling. The problem is that you only get to choose one: quick market time or high selling price. Of course everybody wants to sell their home for top dollar in one week, but our experience here says that, without divine intervention, you either get to sell your home quickly at a lower price (at the lower end of your appraised value range) or you'll have to wait awhile for a specific buyer who is willing to pay a higher price because your house is "the one". With average market times getting longer, buyers have a lot more time to consider your home and make sure there isn't another one just like yours for a lower price. That's my take. Do you have any ideas about speeding up a home sale?

Hi everyone, this is Ron McIntire, the President of spokanebyowner.com. I am excited to write the first blog associated with our web site and the services of spokanebyowner.com By starting this blog I am hoping to accomplish open discussion about the process of selling a home by owner, the benefits of selling a home by owner, and the issues surrounding selling a home. I am also a real estate investor so I plan to use this blog as a means to monitor and convey the factual status of the real estate market in Spokane without the slanted opinions which may come from various special interests. This week, I would like to begin the discussion on the topic of pricing a home. How do you go about getting a "fair" asking price on a home that is going to bring you a qualified offer within your given time frame? When an agent tells you how much they would price your home at, is that something you can really trust as accurate? Is it wise to ask more for the house than it is really worth, expecting a buyer to offer you less money? Can you get as much for your property as a real estate agent would? Can you sell it as quickly using your own for sale by owner marketing as an agent could? I have some definite "opinions" on these questions and more, but first let's see what you think. If you have some more questions or points to ponder, please post them and everyone interested in this discussion is welcome to participate. But first, one rule, I would like to implement for this forum and that is, the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. With that said, I look forward to hearing from everyone, and hope that this undertaking of beginning a blog is beneficial to all home sellers, home purchasers, real estate investors, our employees, and the customers of spokanebyowner.com. Ron