Pending home sales rose in February in all parts of the U.S. except for the Northeast. The National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales rose 2.1% to 90.8 in February, the first increase in three months. The index is based on sales contracts on existing homes.
Yep. Those figures may be correct. Here in KC, home sales went from 1,307 in January to 1,336 a 2.2% increase, in February; a numerical increase in an amount of 29 homes. There are over 26,000 homes for sale in the KCRAR region.
Wow. Impressive increase. Geesh.
March is becoming a HUGE month for me in Southern, NJ. This is after a total of 3 in all of Jan. and Feb.
According to my local Board of Realtors, sales are still a good 40% down in my area. But I am still performing more home inspections then usual. There is a lot of junk homes still sitting on the market, and the well maintained houses are selling as soon as they are listed.
This is exactly opposite of an article I read today. I also read an article last week that said the NAR has been fudging their numbers.
One article says that only 3% of foreclosures are on the market. Foreclosures available for sale are 30 times greater than foreclosure sales. 13% of homes for sale are vacant on average per state. So what this tells me that there are millions of vacant homes that are bank-owned, and have yet to reach the market. 6.8 million mortgages are considered “non-current”.
Good for us in the long term, but there are very few buyers. Most young people today cannot afford a home, let alone their new cell phone.
Things are not always what they seem.
That information accurately reflects how my business has been this month. Income for March 2011 will go down as the best single-month in the history of my business.
Nice Jeff!
It can’t be just the market. If you had to pick one thing, what would you say it is,… that you are doing right?
Customer service - hands down. The feedback I get from clients (past and pending) and agents is that I am completely accessible (phone, email or text) and respond quickly, whether it’s to book/schedule an appointment, discuss an inspection/report, speak to contractors or address a potential issue/dispute.
I lost a duplex inspection today because I did not answer my phone while on another inspection. Buyer left a VM, and I called back in 35 minutes. She hired someone else. I told her good luck.
My business is up from February, but still much lower from Jan-March this year compared to 2010 same months. Being a CMI has hurt, IMO, as most other agents suggest licensed, basic inspectors who have been in the business under two years. As I mentioned to the customer above who called me last night, I told her about being a CMI, and differences in being licensed and being qualified, etc. I bet her agent had something to do with the situation.
Thanks Jeff.
James writes:
It can’t be just the market. If you had to pick one thing, what would you say it is,… that you are doing right James?
Nick, I do believe it is the market in my case. The only thing I do differently is multiple websites that are geared to five or six keyword cities each. I have had top search engine rankings for the last six to eight months. Most of my calls are coming from my sites since I only have one or two agents that I work with.
When March rolled around home, commercial, mold, radon, everything just went crazy and hasn’t stopped. I feel its mine to mess up now. I know several competitors are still sitting home.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42323042/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/
Here is another article out today. It seems that some associations are fighting the negative data with data of their own. It is surprising that “192,000 new jobs were created in February, up from January” when over 5,000 baby boomers retire every day. That alone is supposed to create 150,000 jobs a month, but most companies just absorb the loss of people retiring, and just make their employees work harder.
IMHO, it is all just a smoke screen. Four years of lousy business, and counting.
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Jeff, if this is too personal of a question, don’t answer it, but… can you tell us roughly what a good month for you is in terms of gross revenue? Also, how many assistants do you have?
Since you’re getting personal, ask Jeff how being married to a Realtor affects his business success.
I have zero assistants. I’d rather not post numbers in a public section.
Honestly, it doesn’t hurt, but you should remember, I was an inspector long before she became licensed. Most of my business comes from agents who knew me before she started.
It seems to me these days that to get any business, you have to be involved with conflicts of interest. Sad for our industry as a whole.
That would be a sad thing, if it were accurate. I can’t speak for your area, but that statement certainly doesn’t apply to SoCal.
Here in Kansas, there are many people who are doing home inspections and home checks who are exempt from home inspection laws. Appraisers are reporting home defects to lenders. Engineers are doing home inspections and do not have to abide by any rules, laws, or regulations. RE’s, along with their contractor buddies, are doing home “checks” for free. Insurance agents are checking homes for insurability and reporting the findings to home buyers. All who are exempt from Kansas home inspection laws. If you are a home inspector and a real estate agent, you are exempt from any home inspection law, rule, or regulation. Anytime you have a relative within the family who refers you to do a home inspection, good luck in a court of law.
Since home inspection laws were implemented, business for me has fallen dramatically. Sure some of it is due to the economy, but RE’s pushed and got these laws in play. Now they themselves can report home conditions. They wanted, and got, laws that allow for basic, limited inspection reporting. When they tell buyers this, buyers no longer trust us, and use whomever their agent suggests. Sad for us veterans, and especially CMI’s.
And the same laws are coming to Missouri. These examples are ways that the RE’s wanted us out of the way of reporting on sub-par properties for unsuspecting home buyers.