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Gnumeric

Convincing sellers to NOT overprice their homes by making graphs

October 2, 2014 By Ryan Lundquist 12 Comments

The market is overpriced. So if you are a real estate agent trying to communicate with sellers, how do you get someone who wants to test the market at $500K to realize a more reasonable price is $375K? There are surely many strategies, but today I want to mention the power of graphing neighborhood sales. I don’t mean to beat the dead horse by bringing this up again, but knowing how to graph will help you communicate effectively, stand out from other industry professionals, and seize your role as a market trend expert instead of letting Zillow have all the glory. Sure, you can show your client a graph of city or zip code trends by using Trendvision, but it’s hard to argue with neighborhood-specific data.

making graphs - image purchased by sacramento appraisal blog

A letterhead to give your sellers: Before we dig in, here is a letter I wrote for sellers about things to consider when pricing in this market. This letterhead is based on a post I wrote recently, but I tweaked a few things. See the image below and DOWNLOAD here (PDF). Feel free to email or use as you see fit. Obviously the letter does not address a specific property. If you need a letterhead for your specific property, let’s talk about some consulting.

letterhead

Excel Tutorial: I know, you don’t use Excel because it’s only for nerds. But let me break it down for you below so you can join the club. Previously I shared a tutorial on how to graph with Gnumeric, but I had a few requests for using Excel instead since that’s what most people already have on their computers.

land park two-bedroom graph example by sacramento appraisal blog

This graph shows the range of similar-sized neighborhood sales is between $300-375K for the most part (instead of $500K). This can be a very powerful visual, especially when you begin to show the sales at $375K have been remodeled.

A tutorial on how to show the market: I recommend watching the tutorial below and then pulling up some MLS data for a neighborhood you are working in so you can create a graph by following the steps I took. This is perfect for Sacramento MLS, but as long as you can export data from your MLS system, you should be okay too. You may need to pause my video several times or rewind at moments. Whenever we do something new, it takes a while to catch on. If you don’t have Microsoft Paint to paste the graph like I did, you can use a different photo editing program, or maybe use a snipping tool on your computer. Additionally, you can open up Paint and simply start a new file, and then paste your graph (as opposed to opening an existing photo like I did). Watch below (or here if it’s too small below).

Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope this was helpful. Perhaps this will spur on a new skill set for you that can make a difference in your business.

Questions: Was the tutorial helpful? Anything you need clarity on?

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Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: appraisers, convince sellers of price, Excel, Gnumeric, how to, how to make a scatter graph, how to make real estate graphs, Land Park, overpriced market, Real Estate Appraiser, sacramento market, tutorial

How to make a graph using new and old MLS data

October 3, 2012 By Ryan Lundquist Leave a Comment

I wanted to show you how to make graphs by exporting current and historic MLS data. Sounds exciting, right? I used a screencast below to give a brief tutorial. I show some examples of graphs in the beginning of the video, but you can also click market trends to scroll through more.

Why does this matter? Knowing how to work with numbers is very powerful. Making graphs can help you understand the market more deeply and assist clients to see what you are seeing. Both agents and appraisers can visually show things like a decade of sales in a particular neighborhood, all sales of a certain size or bedroom count, or even compare multiple tiers of data in a neighborhood (as I show you in the second tutorial below). This can be very convincing to quickly illustrate value trends and even help establish a list price (plus it makes you look smart in the eyes of your clients). You may want to check out a beginner’s tutorial I did for making scatter graphs in MLS and download Gnumeric for free here.

Tea or Lunch: If you’re an agent and want to sit down in person, just buy me a tea or lunch and I’m glad to teach you how to do this.

Coventry Neighborhood Elk Grove

Tutorial on how to use new and old data in MLS (watch below or here):

Tutorial on how to use multiple segments of data: (view below or here – examples include REO vs Traditional Sales, 2-bed vs. 3-bed, model match sales vs. entire neighborhood, etc…)

How might making graphs be relevant for your business?

If you have any questions or Sacramento home appraisal or property tax appeal needs, let’s connect by phone 916-595-3735, email, Twitter, subscribe to posts by email (or RSS) or “like” my page on Facebook

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Filed Under: Appraisal Stuff, Market Trends, Resources Tagged With: appraiser in Sacramento, Gnumeric, historical data in MLS, Home Appraiser, House Appraiser, how to export data to Gnumeric, how to export MLS data, how to make a scatter graph, Sacramento Metrolist, Sacramento MLS, screencast for how to make graph in MLS, tips for appraisers, tips for real estate agents, visually showing the market

How do you make a scatter graph with Sacramento MLS data?

October 5, 2010 By Ryan Lundquist 8 Comments

One of the tools in my real estate utility belt is making trend graphs. Why is this important? I find that being able to visually display all sales or listings on a graph is a very convincing resource. For example, when a home owner hires me to do an appraisal for bankruptcy or any other reason, and I include graphs of historic sales over the past three years, sales over the last twelve months, and then other graphs showing sales for 3-bedroom units, and properties similar in size to the owner’s house, it’s easy to begin to get a picture of what is happening in the real estate market. The great thing too is that you can graph so many different facets, whether square footage, age, date, bed-count, days on market, short sales vs. REOs vs typical sales, etc…

You can see some examples of trend graphs here if you wish. For now, I made a brief video tutorial to help local Realtors and real estate professionals in the Sacramento area export and work with data from our local MLS. It’s a huge benfit to be able to share things like this with clients, and once you have a little practice, you can crank out graphs very quickly. And don’t worry, if you don’t have Excel on your computer, simply download Gnumeric for free.

If you have any questions, let me know, particularly if you are a local Realtor. Call me at 916.595.3735 or connect with me on Facebook.

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Filed Under: Appraisal Stuff, Market Trends, Resources, Videos Tagged With: Excel, Gnumeric, how to make a trend graph, Lundquist Appraisal Company, Sacramento Appraisal, Sacramento Appraiser, Sacramento Metrolist, Sacramento Real Estate, trend graphs, Trendgraphix, video tutorial for Realtors

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First off, thank you for being here. Now let's get into the fine print. The material and information contained on this website is the copyrighted property of Ryan Lundquist and Lundquist Appraisal Company. Content on this website may not be reproduced or republished without prior written permission from Ryan Lundquist.

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The information on this website is meant entirely for educational purposes and is not intended in any way to support an opinion of value for your appraisal needs or any sort of value conclusion for a loan, litigation, tax appeal or any other potential real estate or non-real estate purpose. The material found on this website is meant for casual reading only and is not intended for use in a court of law or any other legal use. Ryan will not appear in court in any capacity based on any information posted here. For more detailed market analysis to be used for an appraisal report or any appraisal-related purpose or valuation consulting, please contact Ryan at 916-595-3735 for more information.

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