Sunday, December 10, 2006

Market vs Marketing - Words do matter

A Very Good story in the LA Times Real Estate section today. About the words selected to reach the public. Marketing the property with "Motivated Seller" etc. is a dead giveaway that the price is negotiable. The Words used do matter.

See "Maybe it's locution, locution, locution" on LATimes.com

Yup even though the studies for the story were from Texas and Canada the basics hold true. And more importantly they describe the underlying conditions of the property in its relation to the market in general.

If a listing says "gourmet kitchen" it will denote that the previous owner or the speck builder who just fixed it up did care about the nicer things in life. So the property deserves a premium over the other items in the market place. Not just the words getting the premium price, the property warranting it.

I could say a lot about that... For example. Was the market really down or was it just that most of the westside home sales of Quarter number 2 of 2006 were of the dilapidated sort. Then the owners fix themselves or they were professionals and Fixed to Flip. So what was it ... Down trend on the market of westside homes or was it a series of shabbier homes getting sold.

I think that for a bit those were the ones being sold at that time for some areas.

Those of us out pounding the pavement saw that to a large degree.

Those numbers affect the statistics but the price to square foot is not adjusted to quality or condition on statistical reviews. The MLS and DataQuick can not do that.

Therefore the average investor and homebuyer needs a really knowledgeable local representative to help him/her get the best info on the local area.

If you are looking in west Los Angeles,
I can help you. Keith Lambert
1-310-398-3272