Supply follows demand. So true, now and forevermore and since time began.

A British comedian named Peter Serafinowicz captures an all too real situation in this video – the pushy real estate agent…creating demand. Watch:

I find this funny, but I’ve always been a madcap zany from the Benny Hill and Monty Python school of sledgehammering, rhetorical comedy…call me if I’m losing you.

I can’t say that I’ve found the recent months, after declining recent real estate sales months, since June 2007 to be very funny, but sometimes, humor gets me through.

More importantly, the following statements from Steve Palm, our FMLS numbers guru, get me through and I expect that some of you will like what he has to say in his May 21, 2009 letter.

Encouraging unless you are a condo, loft or townhome buyer, or seller:

“…The average closed sale price for single family attached in April was $144,164. This is a decline of 21.5% from the same year ago period and the lowest average monthly closed sale price since January 2000. There may be a lot of new construction condo units going to auction in 2009, putting additional pressure on condo prices to decline…”

On a more positive note, he does state this prediction:

“…May is now a key month, as I am expecting to see our first year-to-year increase in homes going under contract, which we have not seen in a very long time…”

So buyers – just don’t go out like a sucker, because the pusherman is out there, waiting for the uninformed, and the easily led real estate buyer.

Don’t let the Pusherman get you!

So, are some of you out there wondering if the Realtor that you recently hired knows what they are doing?

Have you fired your Realtor?

Did you do everything that you needed to do to fire that agent?

I just encountered this situation – someone called me and stated that they want to work with me because their Realtor did not “know Intown Atlanta.” This is the third time that this has happened this year, so I’m starting to feel like a specialist! Here’s what I just wrote in an email to a potential new client:

In order to help you move things along and to help you be as forthright as is needed with the termination of your previous Buyer Brokerage Agreement, I want to copy and paste an important part of the agreement that you sign when you “hire a real estate agent in Georgia.”

Unless you agree to some other form of paying an agent, it is customary that the “Buyer’s agent” is paid from seller funds at closing and that the seller and/or “listing broker” advertise the commission amount – 3.0% of the sales price is quite common.

That being said, the commission agreement has a “protected period” of an agreed upon amount of days. Read this:

Protected Period and Commission.

In the event that during the Protected Period, as that term is defined below, following termination or expiration of this Brokerage Agreement, Buyer purchases, contracts to purchase or exchange, leases or lease purchases any property which during the term of this Agreement was submitted to, identified or shown to Buyer by Broker or for which Broker provided information about to Buyer, then Buyer shall pay Broker at closing or the commencement of any lease, if applicable, the commission or commissions set forth above. The term “Protected Period” shall refer to the ____________ day period following the earlier of either: (a) the expiration of this Agreement; or (b) the date that the Agreement is terminated upon the mutual, written consent of the Broker and Buyer. In addition, if this Agreement is terminated by Buyer without the express, written consent of Broker, the Protected Period shall be the time period referenced above plus the number of days remaining on the term of the Agreement at the time it was terminated early without the express written consent of Broker. In such event, the Protected Period shall commence from the date this Agreement was terminated early without the express, written consent of Broker. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “Buyer” shall include Buyer, all members of the Buyer’s immediate family, any legal entity in which Buyer or any member of Buyer’s immediate family owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 10% of the shares or interests therein, and any third party who is acting under the direction or control of any of the above parties. The commission rights and obligations set forth herein shall survive the termination or expiration of this Agreement.

Alright? Heavy stuff. Very controlling. Regardless, most of the time, there are no disputes…

In my experience, this means that my team and I will not be able to help you buy property that you have already seen with the other agent.

Therefore, the best way to move on is with a written termination notice, dated and signed as of today or whenever. From there, faxing that notice and getting a confirmation is the best way to manage the slight contingency that this may cause with your next “agency relationship.”

I hope that this helps someone else out there in Internet land, and please know that I am happy to speak with you about your particular situation. Call me and we’ll get you back on track!

“If I say that a mosquito can pull a plow, don’t ask how, hitch him up!”

May all of us be this inspired and this remarkable. In spite of incredible odds against us in 2009, I hope that you wake up in the morning inspired to make a difference and to be positive. If you don’t, then watch this video every night before you go to bed for the next few weeks, OK?

View Larger Map

I have a “BFF” in Valdosta, GA and he and his family want to move to Atlanta for a number of reasons.

They are a Seller with decent equity – they are questioning whether they should wait until next year to make their move, maybe starting in February 2010 – he’s coming up to start a business, and they both have family synergies in Atlanta, so there is a lot of upside to leaving Valdosta, including a better wealth building opportunity in Atlanta and a better work/life balance.

Here’s what I recommended to them today – maybe you are in a similar situation, Mr. or Mrs. Intown Atlanta Seller.

I hope that this helps someone…

Just price it under everything else and move.

Real estate values are not going to rise at any time “soon.”

Three years or more before we see consistent, annual 2-3% rises in some markets. Some markets…make that some submarkets.

Many submarkets will continue to decline or remain flat for more than a decade, dragging all American real estate downward, and keeping some down for more years than others.

It’s like a gravitational pull caused by the lower priced housing that would have sold for $100K just five years ago now sells for $50K or even less. That price range hurts your price range indirectly.

Foreclosure activity is over 37% of Atlanta’s RE market. Over 50% of the market under $200K is foreclosures.

Sell your house as soon as y’all are good and ready, but why not be here for schools in the Fall as a goal? Just be glad that you guys have plenty of money, and that your Valdosta real estate is still going to net a profit even if you dump it for less than the sale down the street.

It’s about the value of your lifestyle not your real estate in Valdosta. And conditions for a real estate purchase that improves your lifestyle have never been more favorable.

Luvya,

LT

1Q 2009 sales were down by -20% compared to 1Q 2008, which was down by -29% compared to 1Q 2007

Market slowing has been relentless and significant during the last three years, hasn’t it?

Segmenting sales by price range shows that sales decreased in all price ranges except the lowest range (<$200K), which increased slightly. Is that something to celebrate? I think so! Stability is the first step toward long term success.

Stability must happen in the lower price ranges in order to halt the gravitational pull downward that starts with houses that just a few years ago would have sold for $50,000 – $100,000 yet are now selling for $5000 – $25,000. That’s deep…

We all know that sales of foreclosed properties were strongest in the lower price ranges. Check this chart out – I’ll show you in tomorrow’s post that foreclosures represent 37% of the entire market, and more than 50% of all sales under $200,000.

You think that we have a gravitational pull downward or what? Those of you who are trying to sell in the $400′s and UP are feeling this effect, aren’t you?

My Keller Williams Realty team Leader, Steve Kout, sent me the “5 Stages of Seller Grief” last week and here they are, with a slight twist on the psychiatric graph above…

Denial –My house is different.

Anger –My agent does not know what they are talking about.

Bargaining –Let’s try it at my price and see what happens.

Depression –My price did not work and my agent should have talked me out of it.

Acceptance –My value has gone down, and I need to just do whatever it takes.

There’s always a slight twist with real estate matters, so in the case of the most common form of Seller Grief, after the anger at an agent subsides, they are driven to bargain and chase the market, fueled by hope as the primary sales strategy…all of this sturm und drang prior to eventual depression.

I just read an old Tibetan Proverb – “YOU CAN NOT DISCOVER NEW OCEANS, UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE SITE OF THE SHORE…” I found it as this web site – goodgrief.org, because I decided to google search for the term “good grief.”

That’s what Charlie Brown always said when he was forlorn or disappointed, so “good grief” must exist. There must be some good, in grief.

I suggest that any Seller who wants to discover new horizons and to open new destinies in their life, must be willing to go through some grief. Getting to acceptance with a grounded, informed approach is the only way out!