Homes of Huntsville, Huntsville MLS

Market value and homes of Huntsville listings troubleshooting
August 16th, 2012 10:58 AM



We market our listings through the MLS and an online marketing company based in Nashville. Our website is the first or one of the first that shows on Google searches and we also advertise in the local real estate magazines. I post on Craig's List and You Tube myself. There are key things to consider in listings. Good photography is important. There are lots of competing listings and we need to be able to catch a buyers eye. Most buyers quickly scan the photos before reading the listing. We do subscribe to virtual tours but they are slow to load and I prefer using You Tube slide shows. They load much faster. Our website provider just added a very cool interactive floor plan that I'm looking forward to learning. We can link the MLS listing to the floor plan. http://www.alamode.com/agent/gold/marketing/toursketch/ On the huntsville mls listing we need to make sure all the information is correct for the search filters. The MLS has limited space for narration but we can attach additional information under the photos section and reference it in the description. I was thinking of scanning your notes to a PDF file and attaching it to the listing. Over 90% of real estate sales are a result of the MLS with one realtor listing a property that is a match for another realtor's buyer. The key is properly pricing a property when it first goes on the market, making sure the listing is eye catching and making sure it shows well. I think your house was probably listed for too much when it first went on market in April. I expect to see one or more showings per week on average. If we consistently have fewer showings the first item to review is the price. Given the current soft market many owners are leasing their homes until the market recovers. If you have a potential buyer we can exclude the buyer from the listing agreement. We would like to have the listing for at least 60 - 90 days but if you are dissatisfied with what we are doing to market and sell the house we can release you from the listing. A large portion of our business is from referrals and I would rather terminate a listing than cause ill will. I set aside time each Friday to review both my for sale and rental listings. If I think we need to make adjustments to the listing based on showing activity and feedback I contact the owners. We can set up automatic notification to owners of showings. When the lock box is opened our system can send an email to us and to the owner. Again tracking showing activity is key to knowing if we are properly priced. At the point that we do get an offer or actionable feedback we will communicate as needed. The link below is to a summary of MLS activity in the neighborhood since 08/01/11. The average sold price was $91 per square foot with a range of $78 to $98 per square foot. All of the sales were Adams Homes. The average list price is $93 per square foot. The active listings have been on market since 03/12/12, 07/08/12, 10/22/10 and 04/06/12 respectively. http://nalmls.com/NALMLSReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=7116198216 7111 HORSE HOLLOW DRIVE listed at at $93 per square foot since 07/08/12 and 7022 THORNWOOD LANE at $96 per square foot listed since 04/06/12 are the best comparable homes. Looking outside the immediate neighborhood for homes of huntsville but within Hampton Cove I found the recent sales at the link below. 2766 DEFORD MILL ROAD is probably best comparison. It sold at $97 per square foot in just 26 days but is in a neighborhood where homes sell in the $100+ per square foot range. The sales of Adams Homes in your neighborhood tend to keep the prices of the other home depressed. http://nalmls.com/NALMLSReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=7116198232 The link below is to the 22 active listings in Hampton Cove in the $220,000 to $250,000 range. http://nalmls.com/NALMLSReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=7116198239 In all of Madison County there are 292 listings in that price range. http://nalmls.com/NALMLSReports/ListitLib/show_report.aspx?ID=7116198243 After reviewing the data I don't think that $249,900 is too much to ask for the house. There is however a lot of competing inventory including new and newer construction. Since we are reaching the end of the peak selling season, selling might take a little longer. We might also considering offering the house as a lease purchase to set it apart from the competing listings. There are inherent risks in any rental and we do have to structure the agreement so it's easy to disentangle if the purchase falls though but it can be an effective marketing tool. Given what you have in the house you might consider holding it as an investment property for 2 - 3 years in hopes of the market recovering.