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SPRINGTIME HOME SELLING - NOW OR NEVER?

Posted by Bill Cherry on Friday, March 21, 2008 11:27:49 AM

SPRINGTIME HOME SELLING -- SOMETIMES IT MEANS IT'S NOW OR NEVER! 

By Dallas Realtor-Broker Bill Cherry

BILL CHERRY REALTORS

Our 43rd Year Selling Homes for Texans

I want to speak with you today - home sellers and Realtors - about spring time and home sales.

Irrespective of the other blips in the real estate market that come throughout the year, the season that always brings the most bounty is the spring.  It's when buyers and sellers are, for the most part, more amenable about making a deal and moving forward.  It's when sellers are more likely to get higher prices for their homes.

There is no need for me to list the reasons here because you all know them.  But this year, it is reasonable to believe that the market is going be more cautious, although there is really no need to be.  Nevertheless, you must address the reality.  This time it is especially important for your home to be comparable to the excitement of a shiny new car with its new car smell.

In the southern part of the country, and most certainly the Dallas area, grass is preparing to become green again, trees are beginning to add new leaves, and shrubby and flowers want to move from the nursery to your yard.

Addressing those events of nature is very important to home marketing.  Now - right now - is the time to add fertilizer to your yard, turn and mulch your flowerbeds, and to beginning adding new shrubs and flowering plants.  And then make certain that all is maintained on no less than a weekly basis.

As far as the interior is concerned, do two things:  Listen and follow the advice of your Realtor, and immediately have your home staged by a professional stager.  The stager part can become a bit tricky since currently apparently anyone can call themselves a stager whether they have talent or not.  But by investigating a stager's previous work and talking to several of the clients, you'll be able to zero-in on the right choice.

Finally, the price your home eventually brings on the market will be determined in exactly the same way it did when you were the home buyer.  Pricing a home too high, not properly preparing it to look sparkling and not keeping it that way, will not normally bring a quick sale.

So let's recap.  Follow your Realtors professional advice, get your grass green, flower beds colorful, house clean and uncluttered, and staged.  Your check will be there shortly.

I've been selling homes for a very long time - this is my 43rd-year.  And boy have I learned a lot about how to get the job done, very often when a prior agent was unable to.  Call me, and I'll send you the valuable CD of the radio program I did as a guest of Dr. W. Neil Gallagher, Dallas' famous "Money Doctor," titled "A Realtor's Secret Weapons."  It's free and without any obligation whatsoever.

If you're selling a home in Dallas, I think you'll find I'm your man.  If you're selling a home elsewhere in the U.S. or Canada, this CD will go along way in helping you pick the perfect Realtor.  And remember,

GOD Blesses!

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

SERVING DALLAS, TEXAS

OUR 43RD YEAR SELLING HOMES FOR TEXANS

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry

All Rights Reserved

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IT'S HARD TO BREAK OLD HABITS -- ESPECIALLY HOW YOU PICK A REALTOR

Posted by Bill Cherry on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 12:36:37 AM

OLD HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK -- ESPECIALLY HOW YOU PICK YOUR REALTOR 

Old habits are frequently hard to break.  One that often shows up is the idea that one or two real estate companies or one or two real estate agents have all of the clients for a particular neighborhood.

So rather than intellectually evaluate what they have to offer and how well it will benefit a prospective seller, the seller will default to "they sell all of the property around here," then list with one of them.

If you're getting ready to go down that road, or if you already have and your home is sitting there unsold, you might get better results if you considered breaking that habit.  Interview several agents.  Pick the one who's enthusiastic about representing you, and who does not personally have a long portfolio of listings.  This is how you get the attention you'll need in this rather lax market.  Chances are you'll get a quicker sale and a higher return.

I have a CD that addresses the subject of how to list a home and how to pick the agent to do it.  It's a copy of an hour-long radio program interview I did a few months back for KAAM-AM's "The Money Doctor," W. Neil Gallagher, Ph.D.

I'll send you one free -- I'll even pay the postage -- if you live anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.  Just email your name and address and tell me you want the CD "A Realtor's Secret Weapons."  You'll learn a good deal of what I learned to provide my clients over my 43 years as a Realtor.

GOD Blesses!

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS, TEXAS

214 503-8563

My 43rd Year Selling Texas

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry, Ph.D.

 
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ONCE HE HAD REASONED SOMETHING OUT...

Posted by Bill Cherry on Monday, March 17, 2008 10:11:15 AM

By Dallas Realtor, Bill Cherry

Our 44th Year Selling Texas

http://www.billcherrybroker.com

214 503-8563

  My daddy, W.W. Cherry, was a thinker.  And interestingly, once he had reasoned something out, he was comfortable with his conclusion, and he was no longer afraid of the unknown.  That method was one he followed and taught to all who would listen. 

Most of us never seem to be able to teach our minds to not automatically race toward a negative, albeit, fatal conclusion when we are unable to assure ourselves what answer the passage of time will provide.

That one frailty makes us miserable when we don't have to be.

Claire called me last week.  Charlie passed away last year, and for the first time she's been left to make most decisions by herself.  And she's very scared.  Fortunately if she picks the "My decision is to continue the status quo," as her answer, her financial and comfort risks are as close to zero as even Warren Buffett could formulate.

But she's still afraid.  She's afraid because people are reenforcing her fear.  The political candidates are talking about how bad things are now and how their plan will correct them.  The newspapers and magazines and the Internet and the commentators on the radio and TV news and talk shows blab more and more, and that reinforced her uneasiness.

So I said to her, "Claire, do you remember Daddy?"  Of course she did, she told me.  She worked for him from the day she graduated from high school until he retired.

"What would he tell you?" 

She started a nervous laugh, "He'd tell me that I haven't lost money or made money until I actually sell."

"That's right," I said, "And he'd also ask you how many people do you know who have their homes for sale right now, and you'd say what?"

"One," she said in a somewhat weak voice.

"And do they or you have to sell now if you don't want to?

One more weak voice reply, "No."

"Well, you and your friend are like a huge majority of the homeowners throughout the United States.  You've been living in your home for a number of years, you like where you live, and there's no reason that you have to move now."

Let me assure you that like they are for Claire and her friend, the chances are there is no real estate crisis for you or anyone you know, and there probably won't be. 

The status quo remains your answer just like it is for Claire.  Before Robert Young played the part of Jim Anderson, I had already learned that Father knows best.

GOD Blesses!

Copyright 2008 - William S. Cherry

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NEW ORLEANS - HATEFUL EMAILS AND OTHER SOURCES OF OPINIONS

Posted by Bill Cherry on Friday, March 14, 2008 1:19:43 PM

NEW ORLEANS & KATRINA - MEAN SPIRITED OPINIONS (edit/delete)

IF YOU LEFT NEW ORLEANS BY FOOT BEFORE AUGUST 29, 2005, YOU HAD TO GET ACROSS THIS BRIDGE TO GET TO THE MAINLAND FOR SAFETY

Almost from August 30, 2005, I have been receiving emails opining that the black residents of New Orleans were somehow responsible for the outrageous prediciments that resulted to themselves and to the city as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  August 30th was the day after Katrina struck the gulf coast.

I am very familiar with New Orleans, its people and its culture.  Not only have I visited many times over the past sixty years with my family, but I lived there for awhile as a student at Tulane University, and I worked there as a radio personality.

The latest tretise I received is a very mean spirited piece that is attributed to the authorship of a "The Rev. Jesse Lee Patterson." In my view, it is appalling.

Like the others -- in 100% of the cases -- the opinions are broad brush stuff that can't be supported in specifics by factual evidence. 

Here's what we do know.  The hurricane landed just two days before many people's payday.  Let's say you're poor and/or you're just about out of money.  Payday is two days away.

Or let's say you depend on public transportation to get places, which a huge portion of New Orleans people do.  You either don't have a car or the one you have isn't reliable.

How are you going to leave? 

Start walking and pushing grandma in her wheelchair on your way to no safe destination? 

Assuming you are able to walk the distance from your home across a bridge to the mainland, is your plan to knock on strangers' doors until you find someone willing to take you and grandma in to ride out the storm?  Look at that picture at the top of the page and tell me how you're going to do that?

But let's say that works out.  The hurricane arrives and the town received major destruction, you luck out because your home is saved.  But jobs evaporated on August 29th.  Yours is one of them.  Now what?

The primary problem probably was that no one had ever prepared for anything like this to happen; consequently, there was no plan of action in place to 1) get people out 2) get people situated after the storm, in places where life could resume (including employment) and 3) get the fiscal assets of the town back to normal as quickly as possible.

I have a number of friends who went over there to help after the hurricane.  Some were members of the Dallas Rotary Club.  Others were members of my church.  None...not a one... came back with the opinion that The Rev. Patterson has.  They couldn't believe their eyes that something like this had happened in America...not the hurricane, but the lack of preparedness and lack of compassion that followed.  I can't either.

Please, no more hateful emails about these Americans.

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THE PLAYBOY LIFESTYLE -- DID I MAKE A WRONG TURN?

Posted by Bill Cherry on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:19:10 PM

THE PLAYBOY LIFESTYLE - DID I MAKE A WRONG TURN?

By Dallas Realtor Bill Cherry

 

 

It was in the days of bachelor pads and Christa Speck...the most beautiful Playmate ever.  The cool jazz of Ella, Sinatra, Mathis and the Count with Johnny Rivers and Maynard thrown in every once in a while.  The apartment in a complex with as many airline stewardess neighbors as possible.  Chevis and waters by the pool.  Trying not to look drunk when you were totally blatto.  Hoping to scope out ittsy bittsy, teeny weenie, yellow polka dot bikinied chicks if you stayed by the pool long enough,  and even though you had a strange colored tan with dark orange hands, elbows and kneecaps compliments of a five buck bottle of Man Tan.

Trying to cook from the recipes of Playboy chef Thomas Mario (who, although I never saw a picture of him, I know was far cooler and more urbane than Emeril), smoke a pipe and basically live like Hugh Hefner said we should.  And to be sure we knew how, he told us every month in the Playboy Philosophy and the Playboy Advisor columns.

And I never doubted for a second this was the real Me.  I just had a different name and was shorter than Hef.  And I lived in Denton, Texas and he lived in Chicago.  How could that really matter?  I knew they were nothing more than minor obstructions to Playboy bachelor justice.

So on my limited college budget I decorated my apartment with Danish Modern furniture on top of a turquoise and orange shag carpet, had Ella and the Count playing on the Gerrard record changer, puffed on my pipe and invited the airline stewardesses by for cocktails and a bit of my interpretation of the Playboy philosophy (which they hardly ever bought). 

And I made sure my turquoise and orange shag had been freshly raked before the cocktail hour.

For future reference, I saved every Playboy Magazine.  I've got them from July 1962 through December 1971.  And I had them all professionally bound just like good books.  Leatherette covers with gold lettering on the spines and fronts, sewn and glued...the whole nine yards. 

And then after all of that Playboy lifestyle concentration, wouldn't you know, I fell in love and got married.  (No, not to an airline stewardess. And she's never once worn an ittsy, bittsy, yellow polka dot bikini)

So, I've been toting these volumes around for years.  Now I know it's time for me to accept the fact that my Playboy days are over.  My wife says that at 67 it's time to stop dreaming.  It ain't gonna happen for you, she told me. 

But can it be that your Playboy days aren't over? 

Or maybe you still think there is time for you to be one?

Or perhaps you've unintentionally moved into an apartment building loaded with airline flight attendants who'll watch Kendra, Holly and Bridget on"The Girls Next Door" with you on your huge plasma with the surround sound.

These handsome bound Playboy volumes would go a long way in validating that Playboy You for all of your visitors.  And you'll also be able to see so many of the beautiful "Girls Next Door" who posed sans bras before there were implants, piercings and tatts.  There are even a few of my dear Christa.

And then try to tell me if Christa Speck wasn't the most beautiful of all.  And to think, she wasn't an airline stewardess and she was never my real life girlfriend, and now I know that she never will be. 

My God, it's totally cruel that I'm being forced to face these realities!

Oy vey, please buy these 19 Bound Volumes (14 Magazines ) - best offer over $1,000.00 - and put me out of my misery.
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My Subdivision's Real Estate Mystery - By Dallas Realtor Bill Cherry

Posted by Bill Cherry on Monday, March 10, 2008 12:55:49 AM

MY SUBDIVISION'S REAL ESTATE MYSTERY

One of my competitors attracted a listing in my subdivision several months back.  I can't help but look at this package when I drive in and out.  As the listing has ticked along, a homemade lattice baffle around the air condition compressor has blown over.  Day after day, it lies on the ground.  It's been just like that for more than a month.

For periods of a week or more at a time, the agent's sign will sit with tall grass and weeds growing up the stakes.  Either he doesn't check or personally show his listing, or he doesn't see the need to spiff things up.  Could that be a reason the house remains unsold?

About three months after he listed this house, I'll be darned if a neighbor a few doors down didn't list his home with him.  It, too, has joined the ranks of the unsold, day in and day out, weekend after weekend.

Now here's the real kicker.  While all of this has been going on, a guy across the street was spending a month or more trying his hand at FSBO, even tacking illegal signs on utility poles and having Sunday open houses.  

Apparently it didn't work. 

I noticed this afternoon that he has now listed his home with the same fellow who has been unsuccessful in marketing either of the neighbor's houses.  Yes, you heard me!  He listed it with Mr. Unsuccessful!

One can only wonder what rational any one of these three listing clients used to pick this guy out of the some 15,000 Realtors who work the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Among my blogs is a list of 50 Questions one should ask an agent when you interview him or her to determine if they should represent you.  If you or one of your friends is planning to list your home for sale, use the list.  Click here and print it out.

I also have available for you a forty-five minute interview the KAAM-AM "Money Doctor," W. Neil Gallagher, Ph.D. did with me.  It's titled "A Realtor's Secret Weapons."  Your totally free copy is waiting for you, whether you live in Dallas or anywhere else in the U.S. or Canada.  Just email me your name and address.  (cherrysells@aol.com) You'll be glad you did.

Meanwhile, I'd love to personally market your Dallas home, or to help you find an agent in your own hometown who abides by my personal standards.  My phone number is 214 503-8563.  My email address, again, is cherrysells@aol.com.

 

 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas

214 503-8563

Meet me on the web

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MR/MIZ REAL ESTATE AGENT: WHERE'D YOU LEARN THIS BAD BEHAVIOR?

Posted by Bill Cherry on Saturday, March 08, 2008 8:14:51 AM
I have a serious question.  Where did this bunch of real estate agents get the idea that it’s OK and proper
to begin negotiations from their client without anything in writing and no money being put on the line?

 

Or how about this one?  “How much do you think they’ll take for it?” Why would they ask me that? 
How can I possibly serve my clients if I know the answer, much less if I were to reveal it?

 

This is sleazy stuff.  I absolutely refuse to be a part of it.  And if you’re a prospective seller or buyer and
your real estate agent has participated in discussions like these on your behalf, regardless of which side,
you ought to fire him on the spot.
 
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS, DALLAS
Our 43rd Year Serving Texaas
972 380-7347

 

Tags: real estate  
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Current Real Estate Sales for HIghland Park, Texas

Posted by Bill Cherry on Sunday, March 02, 2008 9:09:55 PM

HIGHLAND PARK SALES REPORT: DECEMBER 1, 2007 THROUGH FEBRUARY 29, 2008 (edit/delete)

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

OUR 43RD YEAR SELLING TEXAS

214 503-8563 

 

COMPARATIVE SALES ANALYSIS

HIGHLAND PARK, TEXAS

DECEMBER 1, 2007 THROUGH FEBRUARY 29, 2008

 

DATA: Av. Sq Ft: 4,177;  Av. Price: $2,000,375;  Av. Days on Market: 193; 

Av. Price/Sq Ft. $472.19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BR

Bth

Gar/
Cp/TCP

SqFt

 

Blt

 

CDOM

List Price

SP %LP

Sold Date

$/ SqFt

Sale Price

3 

2.1 

0/0/0 

2,492 

 

1941 

 

63 

750,000  

98 

2/08/2008 

294.94 

735,000  

3 

3.1 

1/0/1 

2,412 

 

1929 

 

26 

819,000  

97 

1/16/2008 

330.00 

795,950  

4 

3.0 

2/0/2 

3,216 

 

1995 

 

638 

825,000  

96 

1/15/2008 

247.20 

795,000  

4 

3.0 

0/1/1 

2,904 

 

1917 

 

375 

949,000  

95 

1/15/2008 

309.92 

900,000  

4 

3.0 

2/0/2 

2,916 

 

1945 

 

77 

964,500  

96 

2/15/2008 

318.93 

930,000  

4 

3.2 

2/0/2 

4,334 

 

2007 

 

534 

1,199,000  

100 

12/28/2007 

275.67 

1,194,750  

4 

3.1 

2/0/2 

3,320 

 

1936 

 

12 

1,250,000  

100 

12/11/2007 

376.51 

1,250,000  

4 

3.1 

2/0/2 

4,108 

 

1980 

 

228 

1,275,000  

97 

12/13/2007 

300.00 

1,232,400  

4 

3.1 

1/0/1 

3,024 

 

1928 

 

4 

1,349,000  

99 

1/14/2008 

441.14 

1,334,000  

4 

3.1 

3/2/5 

3,804 

 

1939 

 

381 

1,375,000  

98 

12/17/2007 

354.89 

1,350,000  

4 

3.1 

2/2/2 

3,518 

 

1937 

 

71 

1,489,000  

100 

1/15/2008 

423.25 

1,489,000  

4 

4.1 

2/0/2 

4,844 

 

1936 

 

739 

1,595,000  

88 

2/26/2008 

289.02 

1,400,000  

4 

5.1 

2/0/2 

5,400 

 

1984 

 

48 

1,595,000  

100 

2/27/2008 

295.37 

1,595,000  

0 

0.0 

4/0/4 

0 

 

9999 

 

32 

1,875,000  

100 

1/15/2008 

0.00 

1,875,000  

5 

3.1 

2/0/2 

4,354 

 

1924 

 

38 

1,950,000  

97 

12/21/2007 

436.38 

1,900,000  

4 

3.0 

2/0/2 

2,694 

 

1941 

 

7 

1,995,000  

99 

2/15/2008 

733.11 

1,975,000  

2 

1.1 

2/0/2 

2,328 

 

1925 

 

4 

2,200,000  

100 

12/17/2007 

945.02 

2,200,000  

4 

4.1 

2/0/2 

3,979 

 

1935 

 

161 

2,325,000  

99 

1/11/2008 

578.03 

2,300,000  

5 

6.1 

2/0/2 

5,600 

 

1924 

 

72 

2,595,000  

96 

12/31/2007 

446.43 

2,500,000  

4 

5.0 

3/0/3 

5,200 

 

1982 

 

0 

2,699,500  

98 

12/31/2007 

509.62 

2,650,000  

4 

4.0 

1/2/3 

4,810 

 

1927 

 

197 

3,295,000  

100 

2/25/2008 

685.03 

3,295,000  

5 

5.3 

3/0/3 

7,082 

 

2007 

 

316 

3,995,000  

100 

12/21/2007 

564.11 

3,995,000  

5 

5.2 

3/0/3 

6,155 

 

1995 

 

137 

4,650,000  

100 

12/13/2007 

755.48 

4,650,000  

5 

5.2 

2/0/2 

7,572 

 

1936 

 

276 

4,995,000  

100 

12/31/2007 

659.67 

4,995,000

Tags: real estate  
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Dallas' "Madam President" Gerry Hunter

Posted by Bill Cherry on Sunday, March 02, 2008 8:14:20 PM

Over the years, she's gained the nickname of Madam President.  Her true name is Gerry Hunter, and while she's an octogenarian, I promise you'd never guess it if you saw her.

Madam President got her name because she's devoted two rooms in her home to a collection of memorbelia celebrating the lives and presidency of every U.S. president, beginning with George Washington.  She has other collections throughout her home as well.

Teachers, Sunday school classes, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Campfire girls, and just moms and dads and grandparents bring children by to see these exhibits.  And Madam President always has her special homemade cookies waiting for them, hot from the oven.

Gerry's home is in Richardson, one of the big next door suburbs of Dallas.  Visiting her and her Presidential Rooms is free.  You just need to call and make an appointment a week or so in advance.  Her number is 972 234-3645.

 

 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas

214 503-8563

 
Tags: gerryhunter  
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