Foreclosures in Downtown Memphis

Luckily, there has hardly been any foreclosure activity on the Island. Why? Well, the fact is that most of the people who buy a home on the Island are people of means. Many of the homes that were built by Lenox Homes that lie to the north of Harbor Town are purchased by fairly wealthy parents who want to furnish their child a nice, safe place to stay while they attend college to become dentists or optometrists or do their residency at one of the local hospitals. These people don't wind up in foreclosure- they have options.

The people of Harbor Town proper are an anomaly in Memphis. They come from all over the globe. They are the people who have been brought in from other parts of the world to be the movers and shakers of our society. The human resource head hunters found them and they, luckily, found Harbor Town. They are not going to stop paying their house notes. They are not going to get foreclosed on. In the past 5 years or so of this "media made economic crisis" there have only been a scant few foreclosures and almost all of them can be attributed to a divorce or some other personal crisis.

There are a few condos in foreclosure on the south end of downtown. I had the opportunity to show three of them today. These, folks, are amazing opportunities for the savvy investor.  There is a 3 story townhouse in State Place, hardwood floors through out, granite and stainless in the kitchen and a one car garage for $134,900. Unbelievable! This unit sold for $225,000 in May of 2007! As far as the second and  third property goes- never mind- they are no longer available- I sold them!

If you want to grab a bargain to live in, flip or add to your portfolio- email me at ksoro@comcast.net and I will send you information. We are living in historic times! Make the most of it!!!

BACK to the Future

BACK TO THE FUTURE

By Karen Soro

The more things change the more we wish they would stay the same.

My idyllic little community of Harbor Town had a Christmas Parade the other day. There were horse drawn carriages, decorated golf carts, dogs is costumes, a former beauty queen (who was an old dog who had won a prize at the dog show in years past), kids running around hither and tither, antique cars, elves and of course Santa.

Neighbors lined the streets to watch the spectacle and catch candy canes that were thrown from the floats. We all followed the parade to Christmas Tree Park where a switch was thrown to light the huge old cedar. Santa and his elves held court for the children, and meanwhile, the citizens of Harbor Town roamed around the park, chatting and laughing with each other and enjoying refreshments that the neighborhood shops had donated. As for me, I worked the wine tent- where for a donation to the Humane Society you could have a glass of wine, the kids could get a grab-bag and you could enter a raffle, we raised over $1000...For two solid hours you would have sworn you were in a scene of ”Its a Wonderful Life”. 

I get all choked up and tingly just talking about it. Really ! And I am not the only one! Tears of joy were just below all of those huge smiles that evening because we know how special we are. We realize that this kind of human interaction is what is missing in most peoples lives and we know what an amazing place we have created together. 

Merry Christmas Harbor Town, I LOVE you!

P.S. -And for those of you who thought that abandoning the human race in favor of those anonymous suburbs was a good idea- it’s not too late to come back to the future!

Silly LOW Offers

Silly LOW Offers

By Karen Soro

The Sharp-Soro Team

Henry Turley Realtors

Specializing in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, USA

901-338-4444

So, here is the scenario - you are going to put your home on the market to sell. You have done everything your realtor has told you to do. You have de-cluttered the entire house, installed granite countertops in the kitchen, put in new carpet, put on  a fresh coat of neutral paint, pressure washed the outside and planted flowers in the flower beds. Heck, you have even had the interior decorator come by and “tweak” the house. You have a nice floor plan, it sits in a nice location and the home has been well maintained. The place is looking awesome.

You live in a sought after neighborhood (oh, yes, there are such things!). It’s a lovely place. The homes around you are selling and you should be no exception.

You have had me come over to your house and we have gone over the comparable sales in the neighborhood. I tell you that, unfortunately, the prices have dipped a bit because everyone has been watching too much “news” on TV and they think they should- so they have- it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. There it is in black and white. We analyze the prices and days on the market. We look at your amenities as compared to your neighbors. We carefully put together a price that reflects the current market conditions. You price it to sell. You have “CONSIDERED THE MARKET.”

After a few weeks an offer comes in. It is 30% off your asking price. REALLY? REALLY? Your knee jerk reaction is to categorically refuse the offer. Your are mad, you can’t help it, it’s insulting. It’s a SILLY LOW OFFER!

What you have to do now- is stay calm. You should counter the offer with one that would be acceptable to you. Pretend like they are bonafide buyers that really DO want your house. You will soon see if they are serious- or if they were just looking well beyond their means. If the second offer stays ridiculously low- shut down the negotiations and hold tight. At this point one of two things will happen, they will either step up to the plate and make a decent offer or they will leave. If they leave, let them go- you may be surprised- they may decide to come back and meet your terms at a later date. 

I am not really sure why people think that they should make a silly LOW offer. Is it because they think everyone is desperate?Is it because they think everything is in foreclosure? Well, the tactic certainly does not work well when people deal with foreclosures. The banks seem to be expecting full price. In fact, almost every foreclosure that I have been involved with DID sell for full price or MORE! And fast! So, what else could it be? Do they think that people have NOT considered the market? Well, generally, they have, and if they haven’t then they are not going to suddenly decide they want to give their house away anyway.

When you make a silly LOW offer the only thing you really accomplish is to set up a contentious relationship between you and the seller. It will cause the seller to raise their hackles and, maybe, decide they don’t want to deal with you, period. And quite frankly they may decide that they don’t want you EVER living in their house. People get emotional about the place they call home! Don’t start out by insulting them! That is really a BAD plan. 

A much better plan is to make a reasonable offer. In our market a reasonable offer would be one that is more like 5-6% off the asking price. That way, the seller will want to deal with you. You will set up “goodwill” and you will probably get the home for a better price than you would have by coming in with a silly LOW offer. 

Why would you EVER consider under pricing your house?

In Memphis, under pricing your home is a hard sell, but in other parts of the world that is exactly what they do- and it works.

Take Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island in Canada for instance. ( I also have my real estate license there). When a home comes on the market, often times the realtor first figures out what price the property is realistically going to sell for, then they price it under that- and wait. Now, things are different there. Property is expensive and certain neighborhoods are greatly in demand. Sometimes the land the home is sitting on is worth as much as the home itself. I heard about one realtor who listed a home that had been built in the 1950’s that sat in a quiet cul-de-sac in Oak Bay- a very nice district. They figured the house and lot were worth about $600,000, so they priced it at $575,000 and waited for 10 days before they opened the bids that were coming in. They sold it for $625,000. Pretty good, huh?

Now I know that this will NOT translate well in most parts of Memphis. Some of the suburbs lack the pent up demand needed to pull this idea off- they are too generic and there is already a lot of competition out there. But in sought after places like Harbor Town or a spectacular condo unit with an amazing view- it probably will work. And it is certainly worth some consideration. 

Case and point- we had a client in Harbor Town who wanted to buy a home directly across the street from the one he was living in. In order to make this happen he was going to have to act fast. I went over and looked at the home he was going to sell- it was REALLY nice with an updated kitchen and baths, a great floor plan and a corner lot. We discussed price and determined that the probable selling price of the home was going to be $375,000. So he could have priced it at $399,900 and waited for an offer, which is what most people would do- but instead he said “lets list it for $374,900”. Good  call! Within 2 weeks we have 2 full price offers- he just had to chose which one he liked more! The deal was done and -voila- he was able to buy the home he wanted !

Another case and point was the condo that my husband, Tim, and I bought earlier this year in the River Tower building. Now, the thing that sets these units apart are the view that you can get from some of them- if they are facing north and are above the 5th floor they have unobstructed views of the Mississippi River and the entire city! Jaw dropping! 

This one was one of those units. There were several units like it that have been on the market for a long time- they were all priced over $200,000. So, after analyzing that fact- we decided that the probable selling price was about $170,000. We priced it at $169,900, got multiple offers and sold it for $ $180,000. 

So, it probably comes down to confidence . If you are sure that people want your home then you may want to play the game.....

The Importance of REAL ART

There is something about ART that touches the human soul. It resonates. It rings true. It is hard to actually put into words but almost every one knows about this on a subconscious level.

I mean REAL art. Original ART. Prints do not have the same effect.

As with everything in life there is good art and bad art. I am talking about the GOOD, original art in this article.

A nice art collection, properly displayed will boost your property values more than just about anything else.
Okay, it may not be able to completely compensate for say a terrible location or a dreadful floor plan...but if you have a mediocre home, art can push it to the top of the heap.

Real Estate is psychology. Period. If you can see yourself living in a home, enjoying the lifestyle that is presented, you are generally on board with buying it. Staging your home with art and unique pieces of furniture make it look like a person with taste lives there. Perhaps a well traveled person. An interesting person. And everyone wants to be well traveled and interesting! So in my opinion, a good art collection is an investment that will not only make living in your home much more enjoyable for you but pay dividends when you sell.

You should not "cheap out" when buying your home

Hello from Downtown Memphis! We have been unbelievably busy! Everyone wants to live in Downtown Memphis!

I have been working with a lot of buyers lately and I thought I would blog about something that I see every now and then.

Occasionally I run into a buyer who only cares about getting a bargain. That's it. That's what they want, a bargain. And invariably they make a mistake and buy a house that , in the long run, is no bargain.

Think about it. Homes that are wonderful sell quickly and for a high price. Homes that have something wrong  with them tend to sit on the market. The only way you will ever get a bargain is to buy a home that everyone else has picked over. Usually there is a problem with location, the property has a bad view, an awkward floor plan or really bad decorating. And while you may be able to go in and update a kitchen or bath for a reasonable amount of money- if you have to go in a start ripping out the flooring and changing up the floor plan you are going to run into spending some serious money.

I think, when it come to the place that you are going to live, you should just get the home that you LOVE.
Sure, everyone needs to stay with in their budget but once you have determined what that is, then go out and find the house that calls your name. Most people have "that moment" when they know they have found their new home. It usually happens within 2 minutes of stepping inside. You don't have to convince yourself of anything- you will just KNOW that you have found it.

Usually it is the men who are prone to only looking at the numbers and want to "cheap out"when buying their house. If there is a woman involved they are much more likely to buy from their heart and in doing so, they don't make a mistake and they wind up with a HOME.

Maybe bargain shopping is best to do in outlet malls.

Memphis- 3rd Soberest City (?)

So Memphis has been declared the third "Soberest City" in the United States....in fact the top three cities are all in Tennessee. Bristol being number one and Nashville being number two------REALLY? Does anyone else have a problem believing this? I have lived in Nashville and Memphis and can attest that both cities know how to party.
Downtown attracts many people from all over the world. And while some folks are tea-totelers, most have an affinity for enjoying themselves. In fact, I have often said that moving to Harbor Town is like moving back to the dorm- only you don't have to study! South Bluffs too! Heck, all of downtown knows how to party!
I am not saying that there are a bunch of drunks hanging around everywhere but these people DO know how to have a good time.
Maybe downtown Memphis just goes against all of the official data? Worlds fattest city? NOT downtown Memphis. You will find people jogging, walking and riding bikes all over the place. U.S.'s most violent city? NOT downtown Memphis- 38103 is the the safest zip code anywhere near here. In fact we are a real COMMUNITY- meaning that we all know each other and we take care of each other. If there is someone who doesn't belong here we question it.

When you move to Memphis- Make downtown Memphis your desination. You will have a really good time!