5 Tips to Choosing the Best Comparables

If you are in the market to sell, or perhaps buy a home, you will soon come face-to-face with comparables, or “comps” as they are known. Comps are regarded as the single-best tool in determining a home’s value since they compare criteria from similar, recently sold properties in a neighborhood, such as sale price, age of house, size, and square footage. Real estate professionals use comps to prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for their clients and comparables are also used in formulating Zillow’s Zestimate® home value.

Here are 5 tips for choosing the best comps for your home:

1. Location, location, location

Select comps as close to your address as possible. Ideally, you want comps within a half-mile radius, but there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, a comp within a block or two of yours might not be a good comp because it sits higher on the hill and has phenomenal views, or it’s closer to a main arterial or freeway. Likewise, a house similar to yours could be a mile away, but still is part of the same market area since neighborhoods are not always carved out in neat, rectangular-shaped boundaries. This is a good comp, even though it’s farther away.

Also, homes in developments should be compared against comps from the same development since these homes were all built together at a specific time, by the same builder/developer.

2. Apples to apples

Choose homes that are as similar to yours as possible in terms of style, construction, age, square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, total room count, amenities, lot size, etc. For example, if you live in a ranch-style home, you would ideally choose other ranch-style homes that are similar in age and size. Likewise, if you live in a one-bedroom condo, you need to choose condos of similar age and size — not single-family homes. The more similarities you can find between two homes, the better the comp. Choose anywhere from 3 to 5 comps to gain a good understanding of your home’s value.

3. Select recent sales

Ideally, the most recently sold homes will have the strongest bearing on what your home will bring, but in slower markets, you might not have that luxury. Rule of thumb: Getting recently sold homes from the previous 3-4 months is ideal, but if not, then look back 6-8 months. In some cases, transactions that occurred two years ago are still considered comparable depending on the market and uniqueness of your home. Some appraisers and real estate professionals will even consider homes that are under contract and free of home inspection snafus as part of their comparable selection process.

4. Price per square foot

Price per square foot is a time-honored method of real estate valuation. However, it doesn’t account for a choice location, a move-in-ready home or personal criteria. You should also factor in how the property was measured and whether the square footage includes the garage or other detached buildings on the property.

5. Fuzzy stuff

You have your data, you’ve compared the numbers, but here come the individual characteristics. These things are more difficult to quantify, but could boost or detract from a home’s value. In order to be comparing apples to apples, you need to consider these “soft” features when pulling together your comp list. For example, consider:

    * Curb appeal — The house sits on the “nice” side of the street; it’s neatly landscaped and has sidewalks
    * Condition of exterior — Visually make notes of the condition of the roof, paint, chimney, driveway, fences, etc.
    * Nearby amenities — Walking distance to cafes, shops and restaurants
    * Neighborhood — Is the house well-kept but all others around it falling apart?
    * Traffic/noise — Is it located on a busy street or near a noisy freeway?
    * Schools — Is it in a good school district? Whether you have kids or not, owning a home in a top school district adds tremendous value to a home.
Read more-http://www.zillow.com/blog/5-tips-to-choosing-the-best-comparables-2/2010/11/16/

Property Investments - A Permanent And Safe Investment

Property investments are nothing new. Before the advent of stocks and foreign exchange, people used to invest their money largely in land or some sort of property. It is only recently that people after looking at the stock markets and the like and with the lure of instant money have begun to stay away from property investments. But, the lack of popularity in no way mitigates or reduces the benefit or safety of these investments. If you invest wisely and choose a piece of property after consulting all the right factions, the results will definitely surprise you. A property investment is something that just incurs a one-time expenditure of the down payment. If you play your cards well and have been doing so, the cash flow of profit will start immediately.

Getting Property Investment Knowledge

Many people sometimes suffer losses and discourage other people from making a good investment. This is because those people perhaps did not take a measured decision or perhaps did not seek proper expert advice. When you are considering a property investment, you should always make sure to take the help of good property consultants.

These people have been in the business for years and if you find a trustworthy consultant, you will get excellent advice. They can properly guide you into excellent deals that on your own you would have been unable to find or would have been unavailable for you in the open market.

They can also get you the best mortgage deals and advise you on the further course to make your investment in property self-sufficient by putting it out on rent. They will also negotiate all the deals and take care of all the bothering and vast amount of paperwork that is part and parcel of investing in property in the UK.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adams_Noyes

Fundamental Improvements Mean Good News For US Industrial Market

The Purchasing Managers Index continues to show month-over-month improvement. Recent reports indicate that companies are beginning to restock their shelves and build their inventories. Imports and exports are picking up. Many companies reported stronger earnings at mid-year 2010.
This all reflects positive direction for key fundamentals impacting United States industrial real estate performance. Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.'s mid-year research findings show an increase in leasing and user sales, which indicates that industrial users are, once again, focusing on their real estate needs and reinforces the position that we have begun to climb out of the depths of this recession.
In fact, leasing transactions totaled 126.6 million square feet during the first six months of the year, 25.6 percent higher than at mid-year 2009. Perhaps more importantly, the overall vacancy rate for the United States industrial market declined for the first time in 11 quarters, to 10.6 percent. This marks what could be the start of a significant trend toward market equilibrium.
The sales market has improved considerably from last year as well, thanks to the return of financing that is enabling both users and investors to take advantage of lower pricing. User sales total 33.6 million square feet year-to-date - double the amount sold during the first six months of 2009. Investment sales, totaling 33.3 million square feet, reflect an increase of 32.3 percent from last year.
At the same time, we have seen such a buildup of vacant inventory that we likely are facing another 12 to 18 months of struggle on this upward trajectory before we see absorption reach a point that will drive rents higher.
The country's largest industrial markets - Los Angeles, Atlanta, New Jersey, Chicago and Dallas - account for some 30 to 40 percent of our total industrial inventory. These five "mega markets" all need to show healthy increases before the upturn can be classified as in full swing. But only two of these regions are experiencing what can be considered strong activity: Los Angeles saw a 6.7 million-square-foot, year-over-year leasing increase, while Atlanta saw a 2.0 million-square-foot, year-over-year increase.
This volatile time has generated a catch-22 for some sectors, especially factories. This highly capital-intensive industry is seeing increased demand to fill orders. Yet after scaling back on labor and equipment investments, they face the hard decision of whether to rehire, reinvest and restructure in order to benefit from this shift. Doing so would be a leap of faith, albeit one that could have a huge payoff. The dynamics are interesting, to say the least.
Looking ahead, we are cautiously optimistic for the remainder of 2010. The fact remains that the industrial real estate market and all of the fundamentals that guide it are fragile. Everything gets trumped by jobs, and the latest reports continue to show weak employment data. Still, we are moving in the right direction, with increased demand, little new product coming online and the historical backing that all down cycles do come to an end.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Dieter

Essential Apartment Finding Knowledge

When you're on the hunt for a good apartment you need to be savvy with some essential apartment finding knowledge. These essentials are not difficult but it's important to ensure you do them or you could miss out or worse get ripped off with your apartment finding efforts.
1. Start off with a business mindset. You going to be parting with some hard earned money so treat the matter professionally in both conduct and appearance.
2. Be prepared with knowledge of what you want. Do your home work and list what are essential requirements for your apartment and what extra amenities you would like.
3. Be realistic and willing to let go of desires that are outside your price range. As you climb life's ladder of success you may be able to have them later.
4. Determine the location you want before you start out apartment finding. Take into consideration what you will need in your location such as schools, churches, shops, parks, night life or anything else to suit your particular lifestyle and culture. Remember that the wrong location can cost you dearly in money and time with the cost and time of commuting and also friendship if you move to far away.
5. Determine what arrangements are required regarding pets and other tenants. You need to know what you are solely responsible for and whether you are permitted to take in borders to help cover the costs.
6. When you find the place of your dreams you will need to be decisive, quick and prepared. If you fail to be quick and decisive you may find it will become unavailable while you spend time thinking it over. If you're not the decisive type it may pay you to have a friend or family member with you when you view apartments. If you're not prepared you may lose out while you run around trying to get the needed papers or whatever maybe required.
7. Always checked ahead of time as to what will be needed from you before you go apartment finding. Some of the things generally required by all persons entering into the agreement include;
1. A valid ID. This should be a government issue with a photo on it such as a passport or drivers license.
2. Proof of income. You maybe a person of your word, but these days some form of written proof will be required and verified. It is recommended you have at least 3 copies of an income statement and one of those should be for the last or current month.
3. Have a record of your living placement history. Include everything from regular renting to holiday accommodation to staying with family or friends.
4. Current contact information.
5. Your Social Security Number.
6. The Make, Model and year of each of your cars.
7. The money to pay the financial arrangement required.
Be prepared to negotiate the price or any other arrangement regarding the apartment. Depending on the strength of the economy and availability of apartments you may be able to negotiate a better deal for yourself. We hope you have found this, 'essential apartment finding knowledge' list useful and have success in your search.
This article taken from- http://ezinearticles.com/?Essential-Apartment-Finding-Knowledge&id=5320433