I have just hung up the phone and wish I had never answered the ring! All of us get those pesky sales people that sneak through the no-call list. Realtors are no exception. They offer us names of people that will surely guarantee huge commissions; web site magic that will draw absolutely everyone to www.lindamiller.com; special gifts to give to clients so they will love me more than ever; and motivational sessions that will keep me working less and making more money!

Of course, I make every effort to say no kindly. I don’t have time right now – I’m actually with a client – I’m taking a break from teaching an all day class – I just happen to be sitting at my computer trying to finish mass amounts of email. Then there’s the tactic that Jim and Mike are asking that I not use any more – let me give you name and number of the person in my business that handles the web site and/or finances. Now it starts to get really funny… the pushy assertions that I must not want to be successful… and it goes on from there. Until I say good-by.

Why would I share this with all of you that read this blog? I only want to help you, and offer to help you, when you need my help. If you don’t want my newsletters, just say so. If I have called you at a bad time, tell me. Many Realtors have regular calling schedules asking for referrals and business. I have always been uncomfortable thinking I might be taking your precious time. Just know this, I want to be helpful. I earn my living helping others with their real estate needs. I know I am good at what I do and I love my chosen profession. Call me… I promise to be nice!

For those who aren’t on my mailing list or if you just prefer to view things online, the new spring newsletter is now available. Topics include:

2009 Online Survey Results
We sent an invitation to everyone on my mailing list to participate in our survey. We have listed a few of the items that you might find interesting and will certainly help us serve you better.

Home Valuation
What are the things that make one home more valuable than another? If you are buying or selling a home, here are some things to think about.

Home Upgrade: The Mudroom
One of the more useful upgrades you can make to your home could be the lowly mudroom. Here are some ideas on how to make the best use of the space.

Download: Linda Miller Spring 2009 Newsletter (1MB PDF)

I had the opportunity to speak to and share a few of my ideas with a business women’s lunch group yesterday. It’s always encouraging to see people excited about business enterprises. I have focused on ethical issues and personal character development for many years, and I fear that some days I think and talk a little outside of what others have stopped to consider about our lives. Speaking seriously about how we make decisions, why we respond with certain behaviors, and how it impacts our future is rather heavy stuff!

I’m looking inside myself this morning – of all my priorities – my desire is to be respected for my willingness to be held accountable in all areas of my life – business and personal. By no means am I perfect. Jim and I sat this morning commenting on the aging and growth process – why do we still do things that in hindsight, we wish we hadn’t?  Some might refer to it as the human experience. But as we serve in the business community we grow. Every opportunity I have to serve others is a blessing. We are blessed.

It is a fact – buyers are anxious to take advantage of low interest rates, the $8000 tax credit for first time purchasers, and affordable properties. That makes it a good time to sell.

I have been to several real estate forums, attended classes, read articles and talked to my fellow Realtors and this is what I have learned: Spokane is still one of the most affordable housing markets, one of the most stable, one of the least affected by foreclosure, and we continue to be blessed with a relatively good economy. What do we really struggle with? SNOW! Our market always reflects our seasons and that is why we know spring is here. Yippee!

Property listings are down slightly from this time last year. February home sales were up nearly 70% from last month and all my Realtor friends are reporting working with several different buyers and their listings are getting showings. We are a unique area and data displayed by the media does not reflect individual markets. I am not a Pollyanna – we have been through a period of time that caused values to decrease and sellers must be realistic about price in order to be competitive.

Jim and I have been through these housing cycles before – take a deep breath – they don’t last. Spring is here with new potholes and buyers looking at houses.

Today my thoughts are going to marketing my newest listings. It’s the time of year when we all anticipate seeing dirt again – and not just on top of the huge piles of snow! Also, it’s when the sellers in our community anticipate our busiest real estate season – March, April, and May.

With that said, I want everyone to know that I also work for buyers. Let’s open the eyes of the sellers by looking at properties the way a buyer sees them. Here’s the process: we meet with the buyers – going over legal representation issues, listening to their needs and wants, discussing how to obtain financing (or maybe how to make a cash offer) and then we begin.

The Internet has changed the buying process in that we don’t go get in the car together and take a look at what is in the buyer’s price range and might fit the necessary criteria. Most of the time a buyer has been looking at homes on the Internet and is very savvy about what is available. What do they see? Pictures and words. That’s it. Sure, the location is important, but that has usually already been established.

When I take a look at homes on the Internet with buyers it is not uncommon for them to bypass what might be a great home, only because the pictures are terrible. Lighting bad, angles not showing the rooms to best advantage, and who needs to see a shot of the toilet in a bathroom? Every bathroom has ‘em! I could go on and on about the buyers’ comments: “not that one, next!” There are plenty of homes available, in all price ranges, and as sellers you want your property displayed and described to present the very best overall picture.

I want you to know my photographer is the best. All the shots are well planned, tell a thorough story, and will entice buyers. Mike is a professional photographer – the fact that he’s “family” is, of course, irrelevant. Take a look at the pictures on the web site. You will be impressed – because buyers are.

Let’s put a little effort into the thought process… haven’t we seen economic cycles before? Hasn’t the American spirit shone each and every time to reach new heights? Can’t we believe in ourselves? Of course. Here are a few statistics that will brighten your day.

Wait, isn’t that the aroma of sweet, fresh and beautiful roses in our future? The Federal Housing Finance Agency published statistics – results of the last 5 years (based on Third Quarter 2008.) Spokane was in the top twelve stable marketplaces – ranking number nine! The United States rate of appreciation, on average for the last five years, was 28.78%. Spokane was 62.03%. Considering the backward trend of recent months: national was an average of -4% (remember, that was also considering places like California and Arizona with huge losses.) How encouraging it is to look at our community with a decline of only 0.70%?

Yes, we have had an abundance of homes on the market, yes it has been more difficult for buyers to secure loans but there are still buyers and sellers in the marketplace. Where are the roses? It’s time to invest. Interest rates are low and there are good properties available.

I heard Donald Trump interviewed this last week and the question was asked of him “what are you doing, Donald?” His reply, “buying”. The quote from author and speaker Denis Waitley sums it up “Success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but from playing a poor hand well.” Do you smell those roses yet?

Certainly the last thing we need is more troubling news when it comes to the economy. Everyone appears to have made it through the elections with some portion of sanity, so let’s be strong once again and talk money!

On November 13th I attended the 2008 Economic Forecast at the Convention Center. Aren’t economists delightful folk? The two very qualified economists provided information to enlighten, encourage, discourage, frighten and even totally dull one’s senses. But let me give you the run down: our Pacific Northwest is faring much better than areas like California, Arizona, and Nevada. While we are seeing slow downs, none of the charts showed us falling off the world! Here are a few statements that caught my attention: “every recession that we have ever had has ended”; and “we always tend to underestimate the resilience of the U.S. economy”.

Both of these distinguished men had a great sense of humor and Dr. Forsyth started out with these epiphanies: 1) Gosh, I’m Broke, 2) A positive net worth is for wimps and elitists, and 3) I’m glad I’m not President. Dr. Mitchell was also a poet and it was a nice chuckle as he ended his presentation with his own rendition of the economy. I choose to take the positive side of most news so I haven’t given you all the doom and gloom detail.

In case you are interested you can find the presentation in slide form at GreaterSpokane.org. The link is on the front page–enjoy the graphs! I also met personally with two bankers this week–there are good loans available for buyers–and there are good buyers for those loans. Keep smiling… we’re building character. I am still helping clients buy and sell homes, so something is going right!

Statistics are sometimes cold and meaningless. The inevitable question I am asked is “how’s the market?” I could give you all the statistics but numbers on a page don’t tell you what is really happening with Spokane area real estate.

Here’s my insight based on the professional chatter and my daily experiences:

• Appropriately priced properties under $200,000 are selling to local buyers.
• Acreage properties in outlaying areas are not finding buyers willing to spend gas money to get home.
• Recreational property sales have all but stopped.
• We are in a very typical Spokane cycle of appreciation vs. sales. It is not unusual to experience a 10-12 year cycle in Spokane – one that usually doesn’t dip as seriously as some markets, and does not appreciate as rapidly either.

In spite of all the negative media coverage of real estate, this has been a fairly busy year for me. I have represented both buyers and sellers – buyers finding great buys, and most sellers finding buyers without the discomfort of long listing periods. The exception is the price range above $200,000. My heart is always heavy when families are anxious to move on to new goals, and all the marketing in the world can’t create buyers! The answer to how to sell in a buyer’s market lies in only one thing – price! Surprised?

My final thought is this: variables are many when discussing real estate markets – mortgage ups and downs, local financial stability, inventory and national concerns. A discussion for another day!

The bottom line: it’s time to buy houses at bargain prices!

The incredible world of blogging…….Jim has been telling me how much fun it is to read other Realtor blogs. Some are funny, some serious with market facts, some opinion based. While I love a good laugh, I have a tendency to be quite serious. Opinion? You probably won’t know my opinion unless I am bribed, coerced or caught off-guard! Perhaps this will be my turning point…..an opinion or two just might squeak free from my blogging fingers.

Spokane’s market has been most interesting. If you have watched my listing  web pages you will note that I have good properties for sale. Differing price ranges-none that would be categorized as “jumbo”.  Here’s my opinion-the houses that sell quickly are priced just under their neighboring competitors, and they are clean. No clutter, good condition top to bottom. What this means is that there are buyers making good purchases. They either have already secured a loan (this means no surprises after an offer has been presented) or they are cash buyers. To my surprise there have been multitple offers on some very nice homes. Here’s the theory: pricing just below the competition means that the offers will be presented early in the marketing process. Buyers usually do not make ridiculous low offers when a property is new on the market. It is a risky move to offend a seller. A property that has been marketed for a longer period of time tells a buyer that the seller just might be getting worn down and will appreciate any offer. Using that theory: a property priced appropriately with get quicker offers, better offers and will not have to be categorized as “worn”. Worn properties sell for an amount less than what they could have sold for in the beginning if they had been priced right to start with! That was a mouthful…..but it’s my opinion!

Blogging is not my favorite thing to do! What I cherish, however, is being able to communicate with my clients and friends on subjects that are relevant to our everyday lives. AND, real estate is an important part of my life—and yours. Life changes—and how we adapt to every aspect of societal adjustments will foretell our happiness, success and peaceful existence. We look around us and many circumstances are foreign to our nature—wouldn’t my grandmother be astonished to find that I live in a house with a waterfall in the backyard. She would think I was rich—but no, it’s very common. And gas prices, the incredible fresh vegetable choices at the grocery store, the video player my grandchildren watch when they are taking a car trip, the Dollar Store with the vast array of fun “junk”. What does not change is human nature.

Studying how we make decisions, grow in character, and seek satisfaction has been an on-going professional focus for me. Teaching ethics classes (beginning in the mid-1990’s) has helped me understand not only myself, but other Realtors. Each of us comes from different backgrounds, and has a variety of goals. I am amazed that any professional can simply focus on earning a commission. The needs of families who are approaching a move are extreme, traumatic and various. Developing a “servant’s heart” was taught to me very early in my career—and I am grateful for that guidance. I want to pass that on to other Realtors with whom I have transactions; and, I want my clients to experience the seriousness I place on their situation.

Much too serious a topic. However, it is the way I have approached my work. But here’s the question: why do people choose their agent based on lies, puffed up values, and promises that are never going to be fulfilled? Beats the socks off of me. I know I can’t relate to everyone, and I don’t want to. But with so many new Realtors entering our marketplace, and I know that the statistics aren’t in their favor for long term success, how can the good Realtors really serve the consumer? What do you want?