Due to a minor trademark issue, we have decided to change the name of our business to Hive Realty, LLC. But don't worry, all of our great deals and service will remain the same as always!
August MLS Statistics Are Now Available
In an effort to give our customers and clients (and prospects, as well) as much information as we can about the local market, we've recently decided to post the monthly sales statistics directly from the Greenville MLS to our website. The monthly stats may be found under the Search for Real Estate tab or can be accessed here.
Hopefully, this will be a case of you can never provide too much information or transparency to your client. But if any of you guys have questions about the stats, please let us know. We'd be more than happy to talk to you!
A Little Publicity Never Hurts!
Nest Realty made it on the front page of the Greenville News today! Please click the link to read about commuting to work on bike.
The Internet is Dead, Long Live Mobile!
If you needed any more proof that mobile is the way of the future in real estate, please see the attached article from Inman News regarding May's site visit results for real estate portals. Move and Redfin now have more unique visitors from apps than the internet and the gap for Zillow and Trulia is closing quickly. The internet may not be dying but it's obvious that buyers and sellers want mobility as a part of their real estate experience.
Zillow Mortgages App
Also, please check out our link to the Zillow Mortgages App, available for both iPhones and Android. You can use this app to help figure out just how much house you can afford.
It can be found under the Search for Real Estate tab on the top of every page or you can access it directly here.
A Good App for Taking Pictures of Your Home
Ok, so your favorite realtors at Nest Realty will be participating in a special photography focused workshop tomorrow morning to learn how to take amazing shots with our phones! Many of our seller clients especially have questions about this very topic. For now, we've been provided with a link to a highly recommended app compatible with both iPhones and Android called VSCO, which I've cut and pasted below. We'll let you all know if we pick up any helpful tips tomorrow morning!
Source: http://vsco.co/vscocam
How Healthy is the Real Estate Market?
Presented with little comment are the two following links, one a Bloomberg video and the other a post on the infamous Zerohedge blog.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-22/all-wrong-us-housing-market-one-chart
Just imagine if mortgage rates keep increasing (3.15% a year ago v. 4.14% today)...
The Importance of Mobile in Real Estate Searches
If you didn't understand before, now you know why Redfin has been objecting to the way Zillow presents listings, especially via mobile (see http://www.inman.com/2014/04/03/redfin-challenges-zillow-on-home-listings/). Of the 91.6 million unique visitors to real estate sites in the month of March, 53.1 million originated from the Zillow family of portals (zillow.com, AOL real estate, Yahoo real estate, etc.) Furthermore, 48.8 million unique visitors originated from mobile compared to 53.5 million from desktop. Is SEO now officially dead?
Does Staging Increase a Property's Sales Price?
According to a study co-authored by a professor of real estate and finance at the College of William and Mary, a survey of 820 homebuyers found that, contrary to conventional wisdome, staging a home doesn't impact its sales price. In the survey, the homebuyers were shown virtual tours of 6 different homes, including one without furniture, the same home with "ugly" furniture, and the same home with "pretty" furniture. In addition, the home had variations in wall colors from a "neutral" beige to a less attractive purple. The results of the survey indicate that neither the furniture nor the wall color had any impact whatsoever on the amount the homebuyers were willing to bid for the property. The takeaway from the survey - that buyers are savvy these days and they know that cosmetic changes can be done at relatively little cost. Traditional realtors balked at the results of the survey and argue that even if staging has no impact on sales price, it still helps a property stand out, which can lead to a decrease in the days a property is on the market. My opinion is that while fundamentals (square footage, number of bedrooms, neighborhood, etc.) may drive a buyer's decision, it certainly doesn't hurt to make a great first impression!
The Latest Update on Greenville's Real Estate Market
It looks like the local Greenville real estate market is still going strong, with some locations, such as downtown, experiencing multiple offer situations. Are we seeing a seller's market developing? Quite possibly, but it may be too early to tell for sure. One thing we can be sure of: by using the Nest Realty, LLC Commission Rebate Program, buyers are able to more attractively position their offers to compete against others due to the rebate they receive at closing. Please keep our service in mind the next time you're in the market so we can help put you in the home of your dreams!
Read moreThe Five Biggest Turnoffs for Homebuyers
On a slightly less esoteric level, please check out the link below on tips for sellers. Most of these are common sense (keep your home tidy and make sure it's in good shape), but we think it's always beneficial to give our friends as many tips and resources as we can.
Is Growth a Ponzi Scheme?
So I found this website posting last night (although it appears to be several years old) and thought I would share it with our friends. Essentially, the author argues that growth in cities is a ponzi scheme in that governments can only support the necessary infrastructure improvements with an increase in tax receipts but that eventually maintenance and replacement costs (and their corresponding long term liabilities) will greatly exceed those receipts to the point that additional new tax receipts will be necessary to support the existing infrastructure (ok, I know I'm not doing such a great job of explaining this concept very clearly).
Having come from a development background and having studied smart growth concepts in college and law school, I find the author's post insightful. Well, to be honest, I think it's completely honest which is refreshing. We in Greenville are fortunate to have forward-thinking leaders that have invested in smart infrastructure improvements (I'm a huge fan of the Swamp Rabbit Trail, for example). However, we also have one of the highest sprawl per capita ratios in the entire country so we need to be cognizant of potential future funding issues.
What can be done to help combat this impending crisis nationwide? Well, I'm not nearly as smart as the author so take a look at his additional posts on transportation issues and decide for yourself. And as always, keep thinking critically.
Rethinking the Traditional Brokerage Model
For my very first blog post, I wanted to start a frank discussion on the ongoing efforts to revolutionize the "traditional" real estate business model. No doubt many of you are already aware of the large national websites that attempt to facilitate the purchase process, such as Trulia and Zillow. Many of you may not be aware, though, of Redfin (or is that Redefine?), a discount real estate brokerage based out of Seattle, WA, with offices here in our neighborhood in Charlotte and Atlanta. As you will see from the attached article, Redfin has struggled in fighting not only the status quo of the traditional brokers but the full-service needs of its clients, while Zillow and Trulia have thrived in not fighting against the machine.
We at Nest Realty, LLC, do not aim to revolutionize the real estate industry. We simply wish to minimize our expenses by using the latest technology so that we can pass down the savings to our clients while maintaining their desire for full-service attention. But more importantly, we strive to empower our clients with tools that they can operate on their own while taking the decades of professional experience of the Nest Realty, LLC professionals to make the most informed, best decisions for themselves.
As for our seller clients, we provide three different levels of service to ensure that we're meeting all of our clients needs, from the most independent to those that require more assistance in the sales process.
We feel that we provide our clients not only with lower fees but also greater service than many of the traditional real estate agents out there. But give us a chance on your own and let us know about your experiences and how we can always be improving ourselves for you.
And thanks again for taking the time to check us out. Feel free to drop us a line or a quick email if you have any questions!