Comments on: What Your House is NOT Worth.

By: Cyndee McClain

Cyndee McClain — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:10:36 +0000

I think you may be my cousin???? Was your dad named Maynard?? My dad is Richard Lefebvre and lives in California. If so, hello!! just noted your name in a search, saw your website and thought I’d say “hello”. If you are not my cousin, sorry to bother you. Cyndee

By: To Listing Agents: How To Win Friends and Influence Appraisers | Real Estate Radio USA

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:09:19 +0000

[...] bring a copy of the P&S. As I mentioned in my last post, a house is only worth what an educated buyer in the market is willing to pay for it, and a signed [...]

By: To Listing Agents: How To Win Friends and Influence Appraisers | Real Estate Radio USA

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:09:19 +0000

[...] bring a copy of the P&S. As I mentioned in my last post, a house is only worth what an educated buyer in the market is willing to pay for it, and a signed [...]

By: To Listing Agents: How To Win Friends and Influence Appraisers | Real Estate Radio USA

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:09:19 +0000

[...] bring a copy of the P&S. As I mentioned in my last post, a house is only worth what an educated buyer in the market is willing to pay for it, and a signed [...]

By: Mike Lefebvre

Mike Lefebvre — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:31:21 +0000

Cyndee,
Thanks for the thumbs up! Please use it however you’d like. It’s not rocket science, but sometimes a simple message bears repeating. Send me a link if you quote me, so I can check it out.

See you online,
Mike

@RealtorLefebvre

PS- New post coming very shortly here….

By: Mike Lefebvre

Mike Lefebvre — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:16:03 +0000

Thanks Ben! Yes, we have eerily similar credentials! I actually use the 1,500 number for my inspections as well! Glad you liked the post. You’ll get a kick out of the one I’m working on for tomorrow. Sounds like you run into some similar circumstances in the Minneapolis area. BTW, LOVE your website (http://www.thegoheens.com). I haven’t dug in too deep, but based on aesthetics alone, you and Stacia have NAILED it. Thanks for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it!

By: Ben Goheen

Ben Goheen — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:09:17 +0000

Great article Mike! I have nearly the same credentials – Realtor and Certified Residential Appraiser, 7 years and over 1500 inspections – and am just starting to see homeowners come back to reality. It’s hard for many people to grasp the concept of their home actually declining in value because it hasn’t happened for such a long time.

The comment about Zestimates made me laugh. In my area, they are based mostly on tax assessed values, and every now and again a recent sale. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

By: Mike Lefebvre

Mike Lefebvre — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:46:44 +0000

Thanks for the kind words Gene and it’s always good to know of another professional industry that I have the potential ability to drive nuts. Thanks for reading. New post coming soon from me….

By: Gene Audette, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Burnet

Gene Audette, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Burnet — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:38:31 +0000

Great article that’s worth quoting from or at least paraphrasing from with anxious sellers, especially clients who haven’t sold a house in 40 yrs, or even 10 or maybe even 5. Mike’s insights would drive an accountant nuts…nothing’s numerically stable or formulaic.

By: Cyndee Haydon

Cyndee Haydon — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:28:57 +0000

Mike – what a great article – I’d love to talk to you about using it on my blog – our local sellers can’t hear this enough! Looking forward to reading more from you!!

By: Mike Lefebvre

Mike Lefebvre — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:12:34 +0000

Wayne,
Thanks for posting my first official comment here on the Real Estate Radio USA Blog! I have officially arrived. : )

I agree, it can be very frustrating explaining this concept to non-receptive sellers. But as long as you’re doing all the appropriate marketing activities and the showing activity is healthy, if there are no offers coming in, it can only be one thing, right?

With my appraisal background I might have a slight edge on judging which comps the bank or lender will view as the “most appropriate and comparable.” Banks have pretty strict criteria when evaluating comparable sales and real estate agents rarely abide by these rules. They find the comps that support their story, whether they’re 8 months old, 35% larger or backing up to active railroad tracks. Our office had two deals fall apart last month because the appraisals came in below the agreed upon purchase price. Now THAT’S frustrating!

The one thing I would disagree with you on is that “no one’s right and no one’s wrong.” The buyers who put in the offer that is ultimately accepted are right.

Knowing that CT can go either way (Yanks/Sox), I’m glad to hear you’ve chosen to keep your allegiance at Fenway!

Thanks again for the comment. I’m relatively new to this forum and appreciate the support!

Take care,
Mike

By: The Harriman Team

The Harriman Team — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:40:44 +0000

Nice post, Mike! A similar post was written by CAAR President Judy Savage and posted by Dave Phillips over at CAAR Blog about a month ago. Yours is a bit more fleshed out and there are a few on Judy's list that aren't on yours and vice versa, but they both get the point across. The things that is most frustrating is that you can explain all these points to a seller until you're blue in the face, if they're not receptive to you and have the attitude that they know what their house is worth better than you do, most likely the listing will sit on the MLS until it expires, sometimes more than once. And even agents will differ on what the house is worth; the listing agent might use a half dozen or so comps that they think are well suited to the property, but the buyer's agent might have used a totally different half dozen and advised the buyer to offer $xxx,xxx based on those. Of course, their agendas are polar opposites (get the most money possible for the seller, save as much money as possible for the buyer), but what are ya gonna do? Even if, by some strange alignment of the solar system, you get the sellers to list their house at a price that no one could refuse, you STILL might get offers far below that magical price. It just looks like a big guessing game where no one's right and no one's wrong, but never the twain shall meet (well, at least not until after a lot of negotiating!). Is that an accurate assessment? Be kind, I'm a Red Sox fanatic going on 40 years now!

By: The Uncommon Agent Hits the National Stage! « The Uncommon Agent

The Uncommon Agent Hits the National Stage! « The Uncommon Agent — Sat, 24 May 2008 20:00:29 +0000

[...] the chance to get the word out to a bigger audience. My maiden post on that blog can be found here. If you don’t want to miss an article, subscribe to the RSS feed here. Please take a look and [...]