Video-How's The Omaha Housing Market Doing? Heeran Workman RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty

By Heeran Workman

From friends, family, and prospective clients, the most common question they ask me every day is “how’s the market?”  Then that is followed up with them saying “I heard we have little to no inventory and that it’s a hot seller’s market.”  Or, “I waited a couple years until the market bounced back to sell my home.  Do you think I can sell it for this price?”  Or, “If I wait a couple more years, do you think I can get $20,000 more?” 

For those of you who are analytical and want to see hard numbers, here it is. 

Omaha Metro Area (5 Year Statistical Comparison)
Category	2013	2012	2011		2010		2009	2008	2007
Total Res. Closed	12,405	11,177	9538		9295		10,655	9226	10,750
Active Listings	3403	3621	4324		4918		4345	4678	5409
Average DOM	54	65	72		68		67	72	68
Average Sale Price	$ 177,734	$ 170,502	$ 163,268		$ 164,357		$ 158,616	$ 166,216	$ 172,251
Median Sale Price	$ 149,000	$ 142,000	$ 137,000		$ 138,000		$ 135,000	$ 137,500	$ 140,000
Absorption Rate (Dec.)	4.3	6.5	6.6		10.1		8.3	7.7	9.4
Total New Construction	1509	1166	975		1163		1223	1058	1487
Average Sale Price NC	$ 275,552	$ 259,326	$ 248,038		$ 239,760		$ 236,958	$ 283,957	$ 272,901
Average sale Price Exist	$ 164,188	$ 160,186	$ 153,479		$ 153,566		$ 148,335	$ 150,961	$ 155,763
# Bank Owned Foreclosures Sold	1200	1442	1686		1379		*986	NA	NA
# Sold over $500,000	247	208	182		157		157	188	219
# sold over $1,000,000	22	17	17		8		14	21	15
Percentage sold increase from 2012 to 2013				10%
Inventory decrease from 2012 to 2013				6%
New construction increase from 2012 to 2013				23%

Over the last 7 years, 2013 was a record breaking year in terms of closings.  It will be interesting to see how the Omaha Metro Area markets performs for the remainder of the year but currently, 2014 has been slower than the previous year.  Last year, the market peaked the first half of the year.  Consumer confidence came back, the fear of falling values subsided, and we had amazingly low interest rates.  Then as we approached fall, there were variables that affected the market slowing down.  These variables included the rates rising 1%, school starting, government shutdown, holidays, and Obamacare rolling out.  From fall of last year to now, total sales are down about 8%.

Overall for the last several years in a row, it’s taking shorter and shorter time to get a contract on the table.  But this still doesn’t mean that every seller gets a contract.  Over-pricing your home will turn off buyers and they will go down the street and purchase a better priced home.  The absorption rate of 4.3 tells us that at the end of December of 2013, if no other houses came on the market for sale, the Omaha Metro Area had enough real estate listings to supply buyers for the next 4.3 months.  The lower the supply, the better it is for sellers.  Last year’s absorption rate is very similar to what the market was experiencing about 10-11 years ago.  So for the seller’s out there who are waiting and waiting to sell your house until the market continues to improve, there is no need to wait.  The time is now. 

New construction sales are up considerably at a whopping 23% increase from the previous year.  For the sellers listing their homes, they really need to think about the other competing listings out there as well as new construction.  For example, if you’re a seller and you have a 10 year old home that you want to sell, the buyers in the marketplace will consider spending an extra 30 to 40 thousand dollars to build.  For the purchasers, now they are more willing to have the confidence to spend a bit more and get the house to their exact specifications and taste.  There are still lots available in some of the established neighborhoods and we have a few new brand new developments where you can have cherry pickings on the lots.  We have a new construction specialist Heeran’s Home Team so if you are thinking about building, please call me.

The bank owned foreclosures have decreased from the last couple of years but these types of listings will always be in the marketplace.  Yes, they do affect the neighborhoods to some degree, but they only account for 1 to 2 percent of the market.

In all of 2013, 247 homes priced over $500,000 sold.  22 sold over $1million.  There’s not as many buyers for this price range so these sellers need to have more patience, time, and hire a Realtor with an aggressive home marketing plan.

So generally:

1.     Yes, the market is better. Considerably from 2010 but not from the previous year.

2.     No it’s not a HOT seller’s market.  Buyer confidence has gotten stronger over the last several years but buyer’s are smart and want the best home for the money they are willing to spend.  You will sell your house for fair market value for today.

3.     No, if you wait another couple years, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will get $20,000 more for your home.  As long as the home marketing plan is good and buyers an buyer’s agents know your home is for sale, you home will sell for fair market value for the condition and location of your home.  Even when times were good for example in 2005, the appreciation rate in Omaha was only 2-3 percent.  Trust me, I started my career as a real estate investor so I paid very close attention to this.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the next 3-6 months, please call our office to schedule a private home buying or selling consultation.  We would love to be your Omaha Metra Area’s real estate source for information.  Take care until next time!

Heeran Workman, MBA

(402) 707-7878

WWW.HeeransHomeTeam.com
Heeran@heeranshometeam.com

Discount Commission Real Estate and Realtors Omaha Nebraska

By Heeran Workman

Have you wondered if you'll really saving money by using a discount commission real estate agent / Realtor when selling your home in the Omaha Metro area?  How do the services differ between the two types of listings.  Discount brokers say you'll save money on commission putting more money in your pocket.  Is that really true?  Let's analyze for a second.  

Listing Agents/Realtors have 3 primary jobs:
1.  Market the home for sale
2.  Negotiate the contract for the seller
3.  Manage the closing process

Market the home for sale
If buyers and buyers agents do not know that your home is available for sale, you will not get a contract because of lack of visibility.  The multiple listing service has between 3,000-6,000 listings at any given time.  A listed home is lost in the shuffle.  It's like a resume that lands on a human resource manager's desk.  Out of 100 resumes, the manager has to pick the 5 best candidates.  Out of three to six thousand listings, a buyer's agent has to select the top 5-8 listings to show their buyer.  Being listed in the MLS is not enough.  A great full service agent who believes in the power of marketing will do the following to have the listing command attention:

1.  Professional high-def photography so that the photos POP and catch buyers' eyes
2.  Manual process for social media blitzs
3.  Put you in the Real Estate Magazine (over 20,000 people view this every month) 
4.  Spend money to put you as a featured listing in top real estate websites like Trulia & Zillow
5.  Spend time doing direct agent to agent prospecting
6.  Put together awesome open houses with signs, internet postings, social media, & more!
7.  Invest in an online task management system so that nothing gets missed
8.  Invest in a showline service so that buyer's agents don't randomly show up at your door
9.  Put together non-syndicated ads such as Craigslist
10. Utilize search engine optimization to place you manually on the web so that you can actually be found

Do discount agents have the funds and time to do all this?  Absolutely not!!!  If every home that was listed got sold, the market wouldn't have 25%-40% listings expiring every year.  The agent that you hire will determine the success of your listing.

Negotiate the contract for the seller
Discount Realtors talk about the money you'll save on the commission.  First of all, the way the industry works, there will most likely be a buyer's agent involved which means you have to pay the buyer side commission which is between 2.4% to 2.8% of the sales price anyways.  A listing agent's job is to negotiate the highest price possible for their sellers.  If a discount agent can't negotiate a normal listing commission for themselves, what do you think they are going to do when negotiating on your behalf.  Wouldn't it make sense that they would give away your money faster than they just gave away their own?  You should hire the toughest negotiator in the business to protect you.  It's like going into a courtroom and hiring a lawyer.  Do you want the toughest lawyer who will win the case or the lawyer who charges less and you'll ultimately lose?  Worry about the net money you'll walk away with and not the listing side of the commission.  Not paying attention to this will cost you big in the long run.  The agent that you hire directly affects how much you'll walk away with at closing.

Manage the closing process
It's inevitable that during the closing process, something or things will go wrong.  I have a dedicated closing specialist and her only job in the office is to take care of closing issues so that we get past them and make it to closing.  Does a discount Realtor who has to sell double the listings to get the same commission a normal Realtor would make have the time to handle everything?  We all only have 24 hrs in a day.  Alot of discount Realtors also have other jobs during the day.  They work their full-time job doing something else and sell real estate on the side to make extra money.  Is this the type of agent you want working for you?  Have you heard of part-time doctors- part-time financial analysts?  No!  We're talking about one of your biggest assets!  Your money is on the line!  Legal liabilities are on the line!  Hire the best to represent you.  What's the point of listing your home if you can't make it to closing?

For a free private home selling consultation, call Heeran's Home Team at RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty at (402) 707-7878. 

How To Sell Your Home For Sale By Owner In The Omaha Nebraska Metro Area

By Heeran Workman, MBA

Realtor With RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty, Omaha Nebraska
Phone: (402) 707-7878
Email:  heeran@heeranshometeam.com

1.   1.  Do your homework and research about the local housing market

There are many legal and financial implications regarding selling real estate mortgages, contracts, disclosure forms, contingencies, inspections, chain of title, title defects, title insurance, escrow, deeds, and most importantly negotiations.  When selling for sale by owner, you will not have a real estate professional to lean on when you or your buyers have questions about the home selling and closing process so be familiar with the process, paperwork, issues that could cause hiccups, and lending guidelines so that you can accomplish the sale.  Read a book or two on the home selling process.  Research the internet.  Buyers are very nervous about buying a home and if you and the buyers are sitting there wondering what the next step of the process is, you may not have a successful transaction.  Finally, consider how you want to structure the deal. Will you want to offer such incentives as owner-financing and determine if you will sell to only conventional buyers or also include the FHA/VA market.

2. Prepare your home for sale

Curb appeal matters-First impressions make a difference.  Cut overgrown bushes, get a green plush lawn, get rid of chipping paint, and paint the exterior of the home.  If you can't get people in the door, you're not going to sell the home. Repair all of the to do items that you've been meaning to do for months.   Stage the house. Staging involves deeply cleaning, decluttering, depersonalizing and arranging furnishings to make your house as appealing as possible. People buy logically and emotionally.  They will use all their senses to determine if the house works for them.

3. Price The Home To Sell Instead Of To Sit Stale

The biggest mistake a for sale by owner will make is to price the home too high for the market.  It will scare off potential buyers and make the house look stale.  Trust me, the last thing you want buyers to wonder is “What’s wrong with this home?”  Price it right and you won’t have this problem.  To find a general value on your home and neighborhood, you can start by entering your address on Zillow and Trulia to find your estimated home value and nearby sales within the past six months. If you want a true market analysis of your neighborhood and your style of home, you can contact a Realtor to run the true and detailed analysis out of the Multiple Listing Service.  Take into account the upgrades and special features of your home but don't be unrealistic about the value of them.  You should not expect to capture 100% of the upgrade cost.  If you factor in capturing about 70-75%, that is a better estimate.  Your advantage as a FSBO seller is that you can afford to offer a more competitive price than sellers using Realtors.  Buyers know that you are saving on the commission and it’s natural that they want “IN” on it by getting a better deal on the home. They will expect a 2 to 3% discount off of competing homes. 

4. Market the home

Putting up a for sale sign in the yard won’t do much good.  The FSBO’s who are successful believe in the power of marketing and allocate a certain budget and time to do it.  Write great ads for the internet such as Zillow and Craigslist.  Hire a professional photographer to take great photos.  First impressions make a difference.  If buyers don’t like what they see in photos, they won’t call you to schedule a showing.  A great photographer in the Omaha Metro Area is Min Chu Yi.  His website is http://omaharep.com/.  If you love talking with people over the phone, feel great about them coming over to show the house, and don’t mind doing open houses, you may have a lot of fun with the for sale by owner process.  Make sure the buyers tell you they are preapproved for a loan before scheduling the showing.  When a home is listed, each showing is a privately scheduled showing with an agent and the buyers are already preapproved.  You won’t have this luxury as a for sale by owner seller.  Also, spread the word on social networking sites, people at work, and anyone and everyone who may need to know that you have a home for sale by owner.  If you consider how long some houses stay on the market even when they are listed, it generally takes much longer to complete a for sale by owner transaction because you are dealing with many more dreamers than buyers. You have to filter through a lot more people who do not have the ability to purchase.

5. Negotiating

Sellers who are successful in for sale by owner transactions often love the negotiations process and are prepared for the offer and counteroffer process.  Everything in the world of real estate is negotiable.  But not everything in the world of real estate will pass the lender’s underwriting.  Make sure that the type of loan the buyer can get matches up with the type of home you are selling.  Otherwise, you might be paying thousands if your house doesn’t pass VA/FHA insurable guidelines. 

6. Closing the home sale transaction

Remember, as a for sale by owner, you do not have a Realtor to be the facilitator and guide you through the home inspection, radon inspection, termite inspection, appraisal process, underwriting process, and dealing with the escrow company to close.  You have to act as your own general contractor in this case.  Be prepared for obstacles and delays along the way because most of the time, there will be problems resulting from  inspections, appraisals, and underwriting.  These people are there to do a job regardless of what you and the buyer really want.

Heeran’s Home Team offers a 1% For Sale By Owner Facilitation Service to assist savvy Omaha Metro Area home sellers who wish to embark on selling their home “For Sale By Owner" for only 1% of the sales price. We're here to help with your FSBO home sale.

You'll receive:

1.  Market Analysis – Correctly price your Omaha Metro Area Home

2.  Contracts and Forms - Legal documents you need to complete your entire transaction and contingency releases

3.  Home Inspection Walkthrough-  We will attend the buyer’s home inspection walk-through.  The inspector is paid hundreds of dollars to find things that are wrong with the home.  We will be there to calm the buyer’s nerves and to explain how to move forward with the transaction.

4.  Additional Resources & Management – To manage the entire home selling and closing process from beginning to end. There are many legal and financial implications regarding selling real estate. We can help with all the resources your transaction needs including: mortgages, contracts, disclosure forms,contingencies, inspections, chain of title, title defects, title insurance, escrow, and deeds.

5.  Option to list your home on the MLS with the ability to still sell For Sale By Owner (FSBO).  For Sale By Owner Sellers only reach 10-15% of the buyer market.  Together, we can reach 100% of the market at the same time.

If you would like a detailed explanation on how Heeran's Home Team can work with you to sell your property For Sale By Owner, contact us today by calling (402) 707-7878!  Visit our website at http://WWW.HeeransHomeTeam.com or email Heeran@heeranshometeam.com

What's My Home Worth?

By Heeran Workman

Are you considering selling your home in the Omaha Metro area?  If so, one of the most crucial item you will need to find out is what your home is worth in the market.  Understanding what your home is worth can help you decide whether or not to sell, how to price your home when hitting the market, and whether the buyers and the buyer's agents are likely to schedule a home showing.  There are so many real estate listings to choose from-Pricing is the biggest factor when deciding which homes to look at in person.

To find a general value on your home and neighborhood, you can start by entering your address on Zillow and Trulia to find your estimated home value and nearby sales within the past six months. If you want a true market analysis of your neighborhood and your style of home, you can contact a Realtor like myself to run the true and detailed analysis out of the Multiple Listing Service.  Take into account the upgrades and special features of your home but don't be unrealistic about the value of them.  You should not expect to capture 100% of the upgrade cost.  If you factor in capturing about 70-75%, that is a better estimate.

If you are a highly analytical person and want to get as close to the value as a real estate professional can give you, you can hire an appraiser to appraise the home.  

You may have an old appraisal from when you bought the home or the last time you refinanced the property.  Keep in mind that the values that matter are the recent sales data sold over the last 6 months.  Just because you had an appraised value of $300,000 2 years or even 1 year ago doesn't mean you can sell the home for that value today.  Overprice your home when it goes on the market and you will not only lose valuable time, the buyers who may have been interested if the price was better to begin with will be gone by the time you correct the price.

Property value, or market value, depends on many so many different factors and these factors play little or high emphasis depending on the buyer.  Community, neighborhood, school system, amenities, easy access to major streets, commerce, zoning, what the neighbor's houses look like, what the actual home looks like, etc. are all factors that will determine what your home will sell for.

If you are thinking of listing and selling your home in Omaha, Bellevue, Elkhorn, Papillion, La Vista, Bennington, Fremont, Ralston, or Gretna, please call me to get a free comparative market analysis of your home, call Heeran Workman at (402) 707-7878 or email me at hHeeran@heeranshometeam.com.

http://WWW.HeeransHomeTeam.com

List And Sell My Omaha Home

By Heeran Workman

1.  Curb appeal matters-First impressions make a difference.  Cut overgrown bushes, get a green plush lawn, get rid of chipping paint, and paint the exterior of the home.  If you can't get people in the door, you're not going to sell the home.

2.  Repair all of the to do items that you've been meaning to do for months. 

3.  Stage the house. Staging involves deeply cleaning, decluttering, depersonalizing and arranging furnishings to make your house as appealing as possible. People buy logically and emotionally.  They will use all their senses to determine if the house works for them.

4.  Set the price right. Fair market value is where you want to be.  Buyers are quick to learn the market value of the homes they are trying to purchase.  No buyer wants to over pay for a home and no buyer's agent wants to spend the time showing homes that they don't have a good chance of selling.

5. The Home Marketing Plan Needs To Be Super Aggressive

Realtors / real estate agents are independent contractors.  We are typically not wage earners at the brokerages.  The Realtor that you hire will highly determine whether or not you get the exposure that you need, whether or not you get a contract, and when you do get a sales contract, how much you'll walk away with depending on their negotiations style.  Heeran's Home Team at RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty believes in the power of marketing and has a highly aggressive home marketing plan for luxury homes that is second to none.  From featured listings in the top premier real estate websites, social media blitz's, traditional marketing, real estate magazine, direct agent prospecting, and more, Heeran's Home Team is in the top 1% nationwide.  By using online, print, and bleeding edge marketing strategies, your home will get the level of exposure required to bring in buyers. 

Heeran Workman, MBA

(402) 707-7878

WWW.HeeransHomeTeam.com
Heeran@heeranshometeam.com
RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty

Omaha Real Estate Listings

By Heeran Workman

If you are searching for homes for sale in the Omaha Metro Area or homes for sale in Bellevue Nebraska, look no further because Heeran's Home Team with RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty has access to thousands and thousands of real estate listings through the Great Plains MLS (Multiple Listing Service) Real Estate.  Find real estate listings, homes for sale, property history and school information.  

Reasons To Hire A Realtor When Purchasing or Building A Home:

1. Buyer Representation In The Omaha Metro Area Is Free!
2. Realtors are experienced professionals - You don't have to know everything about the process.  We're here to help you.
3. Realtors have more detailed information about each neighborhood that you are considering
4. A Realtor can guide you on price-Aren't you worried about overpaying for a home?  Don't take chances, let a Realtor complete a market analysis before you make an offer.
5. Professional References-Over time, Realtors develop a list of their favorite plumbers, HVAC contractors, carpet cleaners, etc.  Let us help you with the people you need to make your life a little easier.
6. Legal paperwork is scary!  Do you really want to deal with contracts, addendums, releases, and clauses?  And that's if everything runs smoothly.  What will you do when there are hickups?
7. Negotiations-The Realtor you select or not select, will determine how much you pay for a house and whether or not the terms are good for you.  You wouldn't head into a courtroom without an attorney.  Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.  Make the right choice and hire a Realtor to represent you.

Heeran Workman is the top real estate agent at RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty and in the top 1% of the industry. We sell over 100 homes a year. Her team consist of the best Realtors in the Omaha, NE metro area selling residential real estate in Douglas and Sarpy counties of Nebraska including Omaha, Bellevue, Elkhorn, Gretna, Papillion, Ralston, La Vista, Fremont, Millard, Bennington, and Offutt Air Force Base. Call today to find the home of your dreams or list your home for sale at (402) 707-7878.
WWW.HeeransHomeTeam.com

RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty Omaha

By Heeran Workman

RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty is a full service real estate company, established in 1993 that is dedicated to providing the highest level of service for all of your real estate needs. Our associates are highly trained and have the knowledge, dedication and experience to help their clients' real estate transactions go smoothly. Whether you are buying or selling your home, pursuing a commercial transaction, or have a leasing need, our associates can guide you through the process.  Heeran Workman is the top producing Realtor at Deeb Realty for 2013 and 2014.

As one of the largest real estate firms in the Omaha area, we have the tools and resources to get the job done right, while maintaining the personalized service you expect. We empower our agents by giving them the flexibility to provide services to accommodate the unique needs of each client.

We are a very honest common-sense thinking company that has a created an environment not only of very knowledgeable, service-oriented REALTORS®, but also of just really good people. We want to earn your business, not just now, but in the future. Our success is based on the happiness of our clients.

With all this in mind, we know you have many choices when it comes to real estate services, but we sure hope you choose us!

More About DEEB Realty

• DEEB Realty is a locally owned, full service real estate company.
• DEEB Realty was named by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce as one of Omaha's top 25 fastest growing companies.
• We sell homes fast! Each year since 2004, DEEB Realty has sold its listings faster than the top five producing companies in the Omaha area. Based on average market time statistics taken from the Great Plains Multiple Listing Service.
• With approximately 300 REALTORS®, DEEB Realty is the third largest company in Omaha.
• DEEB Realty has the single largest real estate office (in terms of number of agents) in the State of Nebraska.
• DEEB Realty has not only grown rapidly in number of agents, but we have increased our market share over 750% since 2000.
• DEEB Realty consistently closes over 2000 transactions per year.
• DEEB Realty has experts in just about every aspect of real estate including existing residential home sales, new construction, relocation, commercial sales and leasing, foreclosures, multi-unit properties, and more.
• DEEB Realty offers approximately 250 training classes for our associates each year.
• DEEB Realty offers over 100 different class topics related to real estate to our associates. This ensures our REALTORS® have the up-to-date information they need to serve their clients with the utmost professionalism.
• DEEB Realty was started by Van Deeb out of his home in 1993.
• DEEB Realty was sold to Andy and Jennifer Alloway in January of 2009.
• We have been listed on the Better Business Bureau's honor roll for several consecutive years
• Readers' Magazine - Readers' Choice award of "Reader's Recommend" in the category of Best Realty Company

Professional Organization Membership

• 
• Better Business Bureau
• Nebraska REALTORS® Association
• National Association of REALTORS®
• Great Plains Multiple Listing Service
• Lincoln REALTORS® Association - MLS member
• Southwest Iowa Association of REALTORS® - MLS member
• International Council of Shopping Centers
• Building Owners and Managers Association
• Omaha Area Board of REALTORS® - Board of Directors and Executive Committee
• Great Plains Multiple Listing Service - Board of Directors and Executive Committee
• Nebraska REALTORS® Association - Board of Directors and Executive Committee
• Women's Council of REALTORS® - President and VP of membership
• Nebraska Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Various other committee/Task force positions held in the OABR & NRA
• Several members (including the past President) of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association are REALTORS®/employees of DEEB Realty
• These are just some of the organizations and positions in which RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty and our associates belong.

Community Involvement

• RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty has been a huge contributor to charitable organizations since its inception in 1993. The majority of our contributions of money and time go to local organizations.
• Organizations that RE/MAX PLATINUM Realty has supported recently include:
  • The Shelter Fund - Benefitting local homeless Charities in Omaha including The Open Door Mission, Sienna Francis House, and Project Homeless Connect Omaha
  • After school programs for all 56 elementary schools in the Omaha Public School System
  • Longest running sponsor for summer legion baseball (Millard North HS)
  • Omaha Central Legion Baseball, Omaha North Legion Baseball
  • Various youth sporting camps at Millard North High School
  • Bryan High School cross country
  • Bellevue Youth Recreation programs
  • Victory Boxing Club
  • The Stephen Center (homeless shelter)
  • The V Foundation - Cancer Research
  • KJ's Carts for Kids - supporting youth dealing with traumatic life changing events
  • Muscular Dystrophy Association
  • Ted E. Bear Hollow - supports kids that are coping with the death of a parent
  • The Food Bank
  • Special Olympics
  • Operation Others - providing food for underprivileged during the holiday season
  • Omaha Children's Museum
  • American SIDS Foundation
  • Habitat for Humanity