Market Update – Has Consumer Sentiment Turned the Corner?

According to MSNBC News article ”Neither cold nor snow nor rain could keep crowds of shoppers from swarming malls in search of ‘Black Friday’ deals on everything from apparel to electronics to toys.”

Has the tide of consumer sentiment turned?

If consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. economy as the MSNBC News article suggests, then a strong showing on Black Friday, November 26th 2010 could indicate consumers have more confidence in the economy than we think.  More confidence could translate into a great holiday retail season.  Let’s hope so.

What does the shift from blue to red in the last election suggest?

The shift from blue to red during the November 2nd 2010 mid-term election suggests that voter sentiment has shifted as well.  The strong showing by Republicans candidates suggests that change is in store for the 2012 election cycle ahead.  It’s possible that President Obama could be a one-term Democrat president!  He has less than two years to prove to the U.S. that he’s on top of the economic situation.  His one-term legacy may only be that of reforming Health Care, when he really needed to have solved current the economic problems as we approach 2011.

Have home buyers had similar shift in confidence?

Last weekend there was a burst of buyer activity in the local real estate market.  For the first time since I can remember, I a) had back-to-back buyer appointments and b) ran into agents showing homes back-to-back.  It’s been a while since I’ve had to wait out front of a home to show it to a buyer, waiting on another agent to finish up so that we could get in, or had agents waiting out front to get in behind the buyers I was working with.

What motivates the buyers?

Price motivates the buyer pool.  It doesn’t matter whether its television or smart phones, townhomes or single family homes.  Sellers who want to get their home sold must properly price position their home to energize the buyer pool.  In Anne Arundel County the Year-Over-Year Median Sold Price was up 5.25% in October to $299,950.  While the number of sales closed each month has trended down since 2006, a shift in consumer sentiment in the retail sector could mean we’re at the market bottom.

Inventory Still Exceeds Buyer Demand

There are still many more sellers than there are buyers.  Months of Inventory (“MOI”) is the numbers of months it would take to sell all the homes on the market when divided by the number of homes sold in the last 30 days.  Economist like to see about a six month supply of homes on the market to call the market in balance.  While the real estate market is never “in balance”, MOI in October 2010 was 11.7 months – nearly double the ideal supply of homes.

Jobs Are Still Key To An Improving Economy

Jobs – having one or getting one – are still the key to improving the current economic situation.  If consumers are spending they may be less worried about loosing their jobs and more confident that come spring they’ll still have their jobs.  While unemployment remains high, private sector hiring will be the next indicator of improving economic conditions.

In Summary

Sellers that properly price position their homes compared to their competition can easily attract ready, willing and able buyers no matter what time of year.  Finding the sweet spot at which a home will attract multiple buyers is simply a matter of repositioning the property at different price points until traffic through the front door picks up.  Price repositioning should be done about every three to four weeks.  It’s a rather simple program, no showings means the home is over priced, showings and no offers suggests that the home is market priced, heavy traffic and lots of showings indicates that the home is action priced.  When action priced, sellers should see heavy traffic, one or more offers, and a quick sale.  Buyers know exactly where homes fit in the marketplace.  And, it’s not uncommon for sellers have multiple offers in this market and for those offers to be within a narrow range – even be the same.

Quick Response Codes – Mobile Tagging – What’s It All About

Quick Response Codes (or QR Codes) are catching on quickly to link mobile shoppers with everything from Ralph Lauren clothing to real estate websites.  What is a QR Code?  It’s a fancy bar code that you can take a picture of with the camera on your Smart Phone and in connection with a mobile application it will link you to a website for more information.

Your Smart Phone may already have a QR Code Reader installed.  If not, follow this link to read more about Readers and find a Reader for your phone.  If you’re ready try it right now, visit www.i-nigma.mobi using your Smart Phone’s browser and their website will identify your phone’s model and suggest the matching app to download and install on your Smart Phone.  After installation, you’ll be able to scan QR Codes and link directly to the website for more information.  Here’s one for 10 Thorton Spring Lane, Lothian, Maryland 20711.

Below is what you’ll see after you’ve snapped a picture of the Quick Response Code.  That’s my BlackBerry (below) with an actual image of the mobile application where you’ll find more information, pictures, and contact information for the property at 10 Thorton Spring Lane in Lothian Maryland.  The mobile application is interactive and allows you to click on the tab to get more information.

So, just to be clear … you can take a picture of the QR Code with your phone or a webcam to access additional information.   You can even take a picture of the code below right off your computer screen to capture my contact information.  Go ahead and try it!!!

With mobile tagging a picture now links you to a thousand words and images!!!

Quick Response Codes – Have You Seen A Mobile Tag Yet?

Have you seen a QR Code on a product, brochure, in an newspaper advertisement?  Do you know what Mobile Tagging or a Quick Response Code is?  Chances are you’ve seen a Mobile Tag but don’t know what it is or even how to use it.  Below is an example of a Quick Response Code.

You should start seeing bar codes everywhere you look.  You are going to find them on everything and anything upon which a QR Code can be printed.

If you have a Smart Phone (and who doesn’t these days?) you use a QR-Code Reader to take picture of the bar code with your phone’s built-in camera (“a ha” you say, now something finally to do with my phone’s camera) and a mobile application will direct you to a website where you can access more information.

So why do you care about this?

Let me share with you a perfect example.  Let’s say you’re on a three day mini-vacation in Sarasota, Florida and you’ve just finished a lunch of 1905 Salad and Black Bean Soup at Columbia Restaurant on Saint Armands Circle.  I know, I know … a shameless plug … but lunch really was very good!  So after lunch, you walk off some of the extra calories by strolling around the Circle visiting various shops and stumble upon Coldwell Banker’s office on the Circle in Sarasota.  Since you are ”window shopping” (wink, wink) anyway, you stop and check out the local real estate.  Suddenly you notice that all the property pictures in the window have a Quick Response Code printed on them.  You start snapping away, and, your QR-Code Reader detects a code despite the glare on the window and bingo! you get the full listing sheet for the property including multiple pictures on your Smart Phone (I was using my Blackberry Storm II to capture images).

A Real Example

Below is a QR Code that I snapped a picture of standing in front of the window at Coldwell Banker’s office on Saint Armands Circle.  If you’ve got your Smart Phone on you, go ahead and take your own picture of the code below (that’s right, snap a picture of the code in the image below right from your computer screen or the one above … they both work) and see what happens if you have a reader on your phone.  If you don’t have a reader already installed, go to http://get.beetagg.com on your Smart Phone to get download a free reader.  Once you’ve downloaded the app, run the install so you can access the app, then snap the picture of the code to be connected with the info!!!

Ok, so you don’t have your phone on you, or you’re just lazy, so just click on the image above and you should end up at the online listing for 5966 Midnight Pass Road #G-17, Sarasota, Florida, 34242 which is a two bedroom, two bath condominium directly on Siesta Key Beach, the second best beach in the world (I’m not the listing agent, but the property is listed by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage) offered at $899,000 (and I thought waterfront property was expensive in Annapolis, Maryland).

A picture is now worth a thousand words!!!  Well OK, it’s worth only 20 to 80 characters that link you, your Smart Phone and a mobile website together equaling about a 1,000 words and lots more pictures!!!

So, expect to start seeing more Mobile Tagging related to real estate, on real estate signs, on property flyers and brochures and in real estate advertising.

Do you want to know more about how Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage can help get your home exposed to more buyers, get more information into the hands of those prospects, helping buyers find the home of their dreams and sellers to sell their home for the best price in the shortest time?  Then ask me how I use mobile tagging to help give your home the more content rich exposure than the competition.   It’s just one more way in which Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is changing the way in which homes are sold.

Over pricing means missed opportunities.

The seller sets the asking price, buyers set the value, the difference is the real estate market.  Sellers should never over price their home and scare buyers away, nor should they under price their home and give it away.

If the home is over price, there will be few, if any, showings.  If the home is priced to market, there will be showings and maybe one offer.  If the home is action price, there will be lots of foot traffic and multiple offers.  Proper price positioning is the key to generating showings – foot traffic – and foot traffice will result in an offer.

Power pricing and positioning a home for sale means selling the home at the best price – which could be more or less than the asking price – in the shortest period of time.  What to know more about power pricing and positioning?  Just ask and I will share with you how to implement this program in the sale of your home.