MichaelPennisi's Blog: All Categories

What makes a home more valuable?

Price – I labeled price as the most important aspect regarding a buyer’s perceived value of a home because for the right price anything will sell. The problem is that the right price for the seller may not be the right price for a buyer. Since many sellers either want or need a predetermined net return on their home and refuse to sell for anything less then their own perceived value, price is not always the most desirable option for sellers.

The Home’s Floor Plan, Structure, and Location – The second aspect crucial to a buyer’s perceived value is the floor plan, structure, and location. How many rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc does the home have? What features does the home offer? Where is the home located? Is the floor…

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How Realtors and Sellers Face the Same Issue: Competition 

As a Summit, NJ Realtor I work in an extremely competitive market. Every person I meet seems to be a real estate agent or is at least contemplating getting their real estate license. Although this may be intimidating to many people in my profession I feel this competition is crucial to my success. Without competition individuals become complacent with their current status. This complacency is what drives laziness and distracts us from showing our true potential.

By now many of you may be asking how any of this pertains to staging a home. Ironically enough every aspect of competition I face with other real estate agents is paralleled by the struggles I know many sellers deal with.

In my…

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Investing in Summit, NJ real estate is more then just buying a home. It transcends your needs for shelter into an investment vehicle unlike no other. When it comes to real estate, appreciation is inevitable, yet the rate of appreciation is truly the vital question. Consistently Summit, NJ’s real estate market appreciates faster then its surrounding area. In fact Summit’s appreciation is always above the national and state averages no matter what type of real estate market trends are being seen.

Since we now know that Summit, as a whole, is one of the most lucrative real estate investments in the country; what are the best locations within Summit? Summit, NJ is broken down into a number of unofficial subdivisions or sections. Each of these sections seem…

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In the past week I have been asked about six times what my website, http://www.michaelpennisi.com, offers that may be of interest to check out. It just so happens that one of my blogs, “The Buying Process Part 1″ was selected to be featured on Realtor.com’s Let’s Talk Real Estate Section. Just in case your interested the link is “The Buying Process Part 1″ .

This feature not only inspired an immediate increase in traffic to my site, but has also caused a number of clients, co-workers, and friends to gain an interest in what I have to offer through my website in addition to my real estate blog. Depending on the individual I answered different things and each topic seemed to spark an interesting conversation about various different aspects of my… Read Full Post

During a recent appointment with one of my clients I was asked to explain the buying process. This client, a first time buyer unfamiliar with the process, explained that every step after the initial offer was a mystery. Consequently, I explained the process in detail offering examples where I felt they were necessary. Slowly it began to make sense and I watched as my client began to feel a bit more at eased. 

Helping a client feel more comfortable and relieving stress is always a positive aspect to my profession, yet I was not completely satisfied with how the situation was resolved. I realize that this client’s immediate curiosity was quenched; however, I deemed my actions insufficient. My shortcomings were not due to my answer. In fact I felt confident…

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The Four Components to a Successful Offer  

 

1. Questions for the Seller- Is there any other interest on the property? Have any offers been made? Are any offers currently being considered? Have any offers been accepted? If yes, what happened to the contract? These are all examples of questions your realtor should be asking the listing agent because each is crucial to writing offer. Does the listing agent have to answer these questions? No, but the majority of these agents will. Below are a couple of examples why these questions are imperative to making a good offer and gaining acceptance.

Example: You are a buyer trying to purchase a two million dollar home that you need to have. This is the home of your dreams and you immediately go back to your…

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3. Personal Motivation - In real estate motivation is the key to every transaction. How motivated the seller is will dictate the listing price. How motivated a buyer is will dictate how much money they would be willing to spend on a home. Before writing an offer to purchase a buyer should always consider his/her motivation because the offer should reflect that motivation.

 

If a buyer is extremely motivated in buying a home he/she may consider offering a higher offer from the start. Why risk losing a home you love because of a conservative offer?  Basically regardless of what the statistics read and what other offers are on the table you sometimes need to ask yourself the question, “How would I feel if I lost this house to someone who paid one…

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Real estate professionals assist their clients in buying or selling the biggest investment of their lives. Many of these transactions are more financially crucial to a client’s investment future then those dealings handled by stock brokers, bankers, or even attorneys. You would think that a profession accountable for such an important task would be considered a prestigious occupation.

Real estate agents, however, have acquired a label much less positive then their tasks would suggest. Much of the general public feel that agents are incompetent or even unprofessional. In fact even many real estate professionals consider themselves inferior, offering discounted commissions and inflated listing prices to gain business. Could you imagine an unskilled doctor…

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