Longview Washington Business Directory Blog

Archive for the ‘Longview Washington Real Estate Agent's and Agencies’ Category

Home sales are rebounding according to the article written by Andre Stepanowsky in the Longview Daily News in last Sundays paper. This was coincided with a firm offer my fiance received on Friday. Vicki has been trying to get her “extra” home sold for over a year with no results till she listed it with Coldwell Banker, Flaskerud Realty. The Real Estate Agent she has been using is Liesel Filkowski. She has had the listing for only a few months.

According to article in the Daily News the median price of homes that sold in Cowlitz County rose to $199,425.00. This was a rise of about $4,000.00 over homes sold last year at this time. Real Estate sales are still lagging behind last years numbers. the surplus of homes on the market is still large. There are not a lot of buyers out there. Homes in the higher price range see to be moving faster. According to the listing service 64 homes sold in July in Cowlitz County. Down about 30% from last year at this time. This year 419 Homes have been sold so far, down significantly over the numbers of 2007 when 614 Homes were sold through July.

For the article in The Daily News here is a direct link: http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/08/10/area_news/doc489f12d0f2271300429521.txt

For the home page link to The Daily News: http://www.tdn.com/

Longview Washington Real Estate Agents have a tough time of it now with the economy and the housing market the way it is now. After interviewing a few Real Estate Agents in the Kelso and Longview Washington area, I thought it would be informative to give a quick synopsis as to the daily life in the job of Real Estate Agents trying to sell our homes or find our next dream house. From the outside it may look like all they do is sit at a desk and do paperwork or drive around showing homes. But with a inside look at the hours and endless searches Real Estate Agents put into their jobs, I can attest they earn their commission.

There is a lot of time spent behind the scenes that no one ever sees when you are a Real Estate Agent. When you list a home the prospective seller needs to know how much their home is worth. They do what is commonly known as comparisons. Agents look up the homes that have sold in the area which your home is in. Then the Agent does a comparison of homes that have the same statistics as yours taking into account the square footage, age of the home, the number of bedrooms, baths, special amenities such as pools or shops. When this is all calculated into the equation the Real Estate Agent comes up with a good idea what your home will bring on the market. With that in hand they will discuss with you what your asking price will be.

Once an Agent and you come up with the asking price the Real estate Agent will usually have a meeting with the Real Estate Broker to come up with a game plan as to how your house will be marketed. Some of the options that are available are Newspaper ads, magazine ads, and online advertising options. Most of the time it will have a Real Estate Agent only tour, to show the house to other Agents so they have a feel for the home and what it offers to their clients that may be looking for a home like yours. Then there is of course Open House Showings we all see. They are usually on the weekend as this is when people seem to have the time to go look for a home.

Once your home is listed and advertised by a Longview Real Estate Agent, offers may come in and you will be contacted. A Real Estate Agents job is to advise you if the offer is a good one or not. You as the seller of the home have the right to refuse the offer or counter offer. Your Agent will be doing all the paperwork involved with the negotiations. There will be conversations between both your Agent and the other Real Estate Agent involved in buying your home. Sometimes counter offers are refused and you will be starting from scratch. Keep in mind the Real Estate Agent and the Real Estate Broker are not getting paid any extra for this, it is just part of the job. Sometimes a home is on the market for a few months and is involved with many showings and negotiations before a home is sold.

When you are purchasing a home and using the services of a Real Estate Agent here in Longview Washington or elsewhere, their job is a little different as they will then be looking for a home for you. Once they find you a home you are interested in they perform a comparison of the homes that meet the same criteria as the home you are interested in to see what a realistic offer would be. The negotiations begin when a formal offer is submitted to the selling agent. As we discussed in the preceding paragraphs, your offer may be refused or a counter offer could come back through your Agent. When your offer is accepted the job is not over for them. Many times they are directly involved with getting you financing. They may be involved with getting repairs done to your satisfaction that may be part of the offer. They do all the paperwork to get your home in the titling process. They also make sure all the special terms of the contract are met prior to closing. Real Estate Agents also make sure all the mandated laws governing Real Estate Sales are met such as environmental issues, inspections, and that all the piles of paperwork are done, and done correctly.

Your licensed Longview Washington Real Estate Agent must have a state issued licence by which most Agents go to school for. They must also stay on top of the new laws that come down the pike. Washington has rules and laws that govern the practice of being a Real Estate Agent in this state. Most states have very similar rules and laws but there are differences and it is important that they stay on top of them.

On top of all that think of all the questions you may have pertaining to a home you may be looking at, school systems, public transportation, crime rate, shopping, neighborhood specific questions. You name it a good Real Estate Agent has to be a source of information to their clients.

A Real Estate Agent usually is self employed being associated with a Real Estate Broker who is responsible for all the transactions that go through their Agency. In Washington a Agent has to be in the industry for a period of time before they can become a Real Estate Broker. Real Estate Brokers in Longview Washington usually own the Agency they work out of.

This is just a quick overview of the Life of a Real Estate Agent in Longview Washington and does not represent itself to be all inclusive! Any Agents who may have something to add feel free to add a comment as it is encouraged. There are several Posts related to Real Estate in this Longview Washington Business Blog

 Some other  Real Estate Blogs for Information is  http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/07/coldwell-banker-real-estate-agent/  http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/07/our-government-to-help-out-the-real-estate-situation/