The 100th Post: Real Estate at the close of 2009

The Dennis Stroll is going on today, a wonderful day sponsored by Northside businesses, and a steady rain has moved in. While it’s been seasonably cold of late, it’s milder now and subject to the weather off the water.  The recent blue skies have welcomed friends and family to our home, and strolls on the winter beach have been bracing yet fun.  The “why” of a place is as important as any “how,” and why we live on Cape Cod is different and precious to each person, especially to those who experience all four seasons here in succession.  So although Maine claimed the moniker, Cape Cod can constitute “vacationland” 365 days if you remember to watch the sunset in Welfleet as you pick your child up from yoga, or eat your lunch in your truck at Corporation beach between jobs as a builder friend does.  I imagine wherever one lives, be it San Diego or Paris or anyplace considered by others to be a vacation spot you have to be a tourist in your own town every day to keep the magic going.

So who is coming to Cape Cod, and how much are they paying to do it?  Once again my pseudoscientific observations show these characteristics of sales for the past 14 days in Barnstable county:  there were 142 sales of single family homes.  Of these, 90 were under $400,000.  OK, that included 2 mobile homes.  A whopping 23 of the 142 sold at asking price or above ( 11) , as much as 150% above asking. Remember that this is measured from the last asking price, not the original price.  One of these, selling at 104.35% of asking price, was a cash transaction for $2,400,000 and 10 days on the market.  A second transaction, in Orleans, was a cash deal for $ 3,850,000 after only 49 days on the market.  In fact, purchases from that high to $885k, $825k, $746k and $770k were all cash in the past two weeks alone.  I had two multi-million dollar cash sales lately.  Since I make my money as a Realtor and not a statistician I can only guess that folks with wealth are tired of seeing it drained away by weak or unstable markets and are putting it into real estate, and second homes at that.

The number of homesellers entering the market has slowed a bit this month, which is understandable. You want to put your tree up and not hold an open house. But get ready for January to be a great time for all parties as inventory will enter the market and rates remain incredible low, in case you aren’t paying $3.8m in cash.

Warmth and comfort at this time to all of you and yours, and many thanks to all of you who have stayed along for 100 posts.

Lisa Morales, Realtor, Accredited Staging Professional 508-221-2286

Moving House in Zen Fashion

Yes, there are Realtors and real estate agents who are clueless about the moving angst of their clients. Not me. I do everything possible, including delivering moving boxes and rolling up my sleeves.  Here’s a post about bringing the move down to a manageable stress level.

This is a guest post from Annabel Candy of Get In the Hot Spot via Zenhabits. Annabel’s remarks dovetail with your home Staging as a seller, too.

Did you know that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in your life? It’s right up there with losing your job, divorce or the death of a loved one, as one of the biggest causes of stress. I’ve been there. In 2007 my husband and I sold our house along with most of our belongings and moved from New Zealand to Panama with our three young kids. We ended up spending 18 months in Central America and lived in Costa Rica for over a year during which time we moved house three times. Moving house was easier in Costa Rica, because by then we’d got rid of most of our possessions and had less to cart around with us. We got good at giving things away, selling them or just chucking out all that rubbish that clutters up our lives. Moving out of our home in New Zealand was the big one. I certainly felt the stress could come but managed to change that pressure into a buzz so I could enjoy the excitement of change and new beginnings. In the end moving house and countries was a fun way to declutter our lives. Tips for a stress free move: 1. Get organised in advance. If you leave everything until the last minute it will be stressful. We sold our house five months before we left and then rented it back from the new owner. That way we could relax with the cash in our bank account and not worry about how we were going to finance the move.

2. Start selling non-essential items three months before you leave. Clutter and things you don’t use much build up in any house, especially if you have kids. You’ll find that there are plenty of things you can off-load two or three months before your move. Stuff like toys, tools, kitchen equipment, many clothes and everything that’s broken, or that you never use but have been saving for a rainy day.

3. Organise your personal belongings and paperwork. Get a concertina folder for essential documents like passports, birth certificates, and other certificates and keep them all together. Sort out your personal photos – put them in albums and chuck out all the blurred and boring ones. Give all the kids a memory box – a shoe box will be about the right size for them to keep all their school reports, photos, pictures and keep sakes in. Keep the box small – they will fill it!

4. Maximise this opportunity to minimalise. There’s no point in keeping too much stuff if you’re making a big move. Sending it overseas may cost more than replacing it and this is the ideal time to become more minimalist and get rid of all the possessions that are compromising your freedom. Make a list of everything you want to sell but need to keep until you leave: furniture and big electrical items such as the fridge, washing machine, stereo and dryer. Write an email with title, description and price. Just sell everything for half what you bought it for. Remember, you want to get rid of it. Now email this to all friends and colleagues who live nearby. I predict a feeding frenzy. Print out the email, ask people to commit to buying something and add their name by the item. Ask them to swing by on moving day and pick it up. Simple yet effective and your friends will be delighted.

5. Have a huge garage sale for smaller items. Think of it as being paid to clean out your house and declutter your life. Again, remember to sell everything for a low price because your main aim is to get rid of stuff. If you’re not comfortable making money from selling your old clothes, toys, crockery and books then mention in the garage sale ad that all proceeds will go to a worthy cause, like Guampedia or your favourite charity. By now your house, cupboards and garage should be looking nice and empty which will make cleaning easier. Don’t pack or store any breakables unless they have sentimental value or are not replaceable. Things like crockery and glasses can be picked up when you get there.

6. Packing. You can start packing up things you’re taking early too. Buy a big roll of bubble wrap, masking tape, cardboard corners for pictures and some tea-chests from removal company then pack a few things each night or blitz the lot in one day. Give the kids one small box each for toys they want to keep. This will focus them on not over-packing and on getting rid of everything they don’t need any more. Tell them you’ll use some of the proceeds from selling their old stuff to fund a great family outing from your new home.

7. Moving day. When your friends come round to collect all the stuff they bought offer them all the crockery and glasses you needed until the last moment. If they don’t want it ask them to drop it off at a charity shop for you. They’ll be so pleased with the great deals they got from you they’ll be happy to oblige. Finally have a good clean up or use some of your garage sale money to hire a cleaner. Boom! You’re out of there. With less clutter tying you down, the world is your oyster. Just imagine if you were really good and got rid of it all, you’d be free as a bird. If you’re like me you’ll enjoy the process of clearing out and moving house. Plus, it’s great knowing that your friends will think of you every time they open that beautiful old trunk you spent weeks restoring. So you thought moving would be stressful? No way. Just adopt these zen habits before making a move and debunk the myth that moving house is stressful forever.

Renovations that sizzle – The Boston Globe

Renovations that sizzle – The Boston Globe

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Think you know about Cape Cod-style Architecture?

Architecture Coach discusses Cape Cod homes. While about 80% of homes here are, I estimate, cottage, Cape or ranch style, there are some other interesting looks too. “From authentic vintage examples to more modern inspirations, Capes are still giving families a comfortable and attractive place to call home.” What does your ultimate Cape home look like?

How the Cape Housing Market Did in Sept. 2009 and YTD

Preliminary CC&IMLS Statistics for September 2009 compared with September 2008:
Total number of transactions is down 13%

Total dollar volume is down 7%

Single family sales are down 11% and median price is $329,000

Condominium sales are down 8% and median price is $235,000

 Pending sales for September 2009 (445) are higher than they were in September 2008 (367) and higher than they were in August 2009 (367)! ( So October closing numbers will be good.)

 

Preliminary CC&IMLS Statistics for Year to Date 01/01/09-09/30/09 compared with same period 2008:
 
Total number of transactions is down 18%

Total dollar volume is down 30%

Median single family sale price is $318,000

Median condo price is $225,000

Of all sales, 74% were cooperative and 26% were in-house: This means that the agent made their own sale 26% of the time, and companies had 2 agents in the sale 26% of the time.

(as reported by CCIAOR President Lynnette Helms)