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Realtors to the Rescue
By Senitra Horbrook
Realtor Melanie McLane remembers working with an 85-year-old
widow selling her home that kept saying to her “when my husband
and I bought this house, nobody helped us.” McLane’s client
ultimately sold her house, but in a deal that netted her less
money because she wouldn’t take the previous
offer that had included a seller assist.
“One of the things some seniors have a hard time getting their
mind wrapped around is a seller assist, which is when a seller
pays closing costs or does something else to help the buyer,”
said McLane, of The
Melanie Group in Jersey Shore, Pa.
McLane’s client is one example of a senior who is not abreast of
all of the changes in the real estate market over the past 20 to
40 years since she and her husband
last purchased a home. “Most of them (seniors) probably bought
in a time when realtors generally only represented the seller.
No one represented the buyer,” McLane said. “We have buyer
representation now and
that’s huge.”
McLane has the SRES designation, which means she is a senior
real estate specialist. She is also an instructor who teaches
other real estate agents how to deal with the senior market.
“The SRES designation means that the realtor has taken a two-day
course dealing with the senior market. It covers issues that are
very important to seniors,” she said. “Topics are reverse
mortgages, downsizing, etc., so they’ve got specialized
training.”
Thirty years ago, the process to buy or sell a home was very
simple; the real estate contract consisted of one page. McLane
said that the contract in Pennsylvania is now twenty-one pages
long. Also, many states have adopted the use of the Seller’s
Disclosure, which has come along in recent years and protects
the buyer. In addition to all of these changes, financing
has also evolved greatly.
So what should a senior do if they’re looking to buy? “The key
is to get an agent knowledgeable in your area. I like to assure
my senior clients that I will do everything for them that I can
do,” McLane said. “For a lot of them, it’s a real emotional
thing. You’re selling a house you’ve been in for forty years,
and you raised your family there. You’re giving
up a big chunk of memories.”
Al Cloak, a senior specialist at Century 21 Hughes-Riggs in
Mullica Hill, NJ, takes a similar approach.
“It’s a partnership in buying and selling. It’s especially
stressful when you’re buying and selling at the same time.
I do as much as they give me the authority to do,” Cloak said.
“You can’t force them either. It is an expense
to sell.”
However, in spite of the expense, many seniors still
come out on top as a result of downsizing. “If you’re moving
from a high-end area to a mid-area, there’s usually a plus cash
flow,” Cloak said. “Most of the time
people walk away with money in their pocket.”
Cloak has noticed that the widening use of technology is one of
the biggest changes to the market. Properties are listed on the
internet, marketed not only with photos, but also with a digital
tour. The combination of traditional advertising with modern
technology works best to reach
the biggest potential market.”
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