TURN

Leland’s Mom: “Who was on third?”
Jeff & Leland: “Nobody.”
Leland’s Mom:  “Well, who should he have been covering?”
Jeff & Leland: “Sheets”.
Leland’s Mom:  “The bedcovering?”
Jeff & Leland: “No, not the bedcovering!”
Leland’s Mom: “But who was there?”
Jeff & Leland: “Nobody.”
Leland’s Mom: “Jeez, you are guys are testy. What’s eaten you?”
Jeff & Leland: “Burger! “
Leland’s Mom: “Huh?”

Last weekend I took my Little, Leland, in the Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) program I am part of, to his first baseball game. The Miami Marlins versus my Chicago White Sox.  The Sox were up 4-1 but then the 9th inning came. A balk, nobody covering third base, Gavin Sheets didn’t cover the bag, a crashing into the left field wall dropped fly ball that fumbled a chance to finish the Marlins off and Jake Burger hit the game winning home run with 2 outs in the 9th. Things turned around in a Hollywood scripted ending for Miami. Trying to explain what happened to Leland’s Mom over the phone was real confusing!  It’s good to be the team Realtor for the White Sox as individual job security for a team with a 27-68 record will result in massive trades and moving to new cities!

Nobody (not who is covering third) thinks about “turn” when purchasing a home. Turn is not a statistic, but it should be.  Turn, also varies. Some homes it affects a little and others it affects a lot.  In a complete Seller’s market, it matters less. In a Buyer’s market, turn can be the reason why a home doesn’t sell. Lots of potential sellers we talked in the Covid Seller’s market thought that the easy selling was never to going to end. Homes with bad turn depreciate more and take longer to sell in a Buyers’ market. You must think about turn when buying and selling. There are 2 parts to turn. The first is the lot location and the second is the home itself. Today I’m just going to talk about lot location. Here are 7 things to look for when purchasing and to be aware of when selling regarding turn.

1. Exposure

North, South, East, West.  All have different attributes.  A Southern exposure is the most desirable as there is good light that comes in through windows and plenty of sun on the pool. Eastern and western exposures have +/-. Eastern exposures have the morning sun but no sun on the backyard during the day.  Western exposures have beautiful sunsets and sun on the pool in the afternoon, but get hot. Northern exposures are the weakest. Each home and location are different though. I’ve seen northern exposure homes with windows placed at strategic positions and the pool far enough back that it gets 100% sun all day long. However, on average, a southern exposure means faster turn.

2. Cul-De-Sac

If you are in a family neighborhood, a home in a cul-de-sac is very desirable. I’ve had plenty of clients who will only shop for a home that is placed on a cul-de-sac do to safety reasons.

3. View

I’m still waiting for someone to say, “I’d like a view of a concrete wall. No birds, lakes or trees. Nature shmature!”  In a complete sellers market, the ugly views have better turn.  But once the market turns, the turn gets slow. The only caveat is that with landscaping, you can create a beautiful view. That is why I have always pushed clients to put money into landscaping, such as fountains, sculptures, and strategic placement of flowers and trees galore.  Look out each window in a home. If you can change the view, landscaping affects both looking at it from the inside and from the outside.

4. Power Lines and unsightly objects

I know folks who eliminate homes with power lines in their backyard despite what environmental studies show. People don’t want to see cell towers or water plants either.

5. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Just writing that makes me miss John Candy after all these years. Here is a little Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Moley Russel’s Wart if you need a good laugh. But there’s not much you can do if you are in the line of an airport, have a train close by, and road noise in the backyard.  Fountains and chimes can drown it out a little. If you are listing the house, you can try to show at more strategic times. However, feedback for a seller can be like a broken record when there are lots of choices of competing homes without noise.

6. HOA fees and Restrictions & Assessments

Large ongoing costs and future special assessments can scare away a buyer who can’t handle the costs. Pet restrictions that don’t exclude your precious cat, Moo Moo or rental restrictions, or if you can’t paint your door blue – restrictions have an impact on the pool of buyers who will purchase.

7. Amenities

Lack of neighborhood amenities can limit buyers. No pickleball courts, sidewalks, beautiful landscaping, dated clubhouses or very “eh” entrance signs all have an impact on the pool of purchasers.

I’d add an 8^th Wonder of Turn which is Crazy neighbors (another Candy classic scene classic). Those will scare away buyers although there isn’t much you can do about them.  Hopefully their home has good “turn” and a new nice neighbor replaces them. And if that doesn’t work, raise a White Sox fan flag outside of your home. They may just move away out of embarrassment.

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Jeff Lichtenstein, originally from Chicago, got his start in the home furnishings textile business where he traveled over 35 weeks a year selling fabrics. After the family business was sold, Jeff moved to Florida and became a real estate agent. Today he is the owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury residential brokerage voted best brokerage of the year. Jeff manages a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model. Echo has 80 agents, an average of one million dollars per transaction and over 500 million in annual sales. Between traveling for work and annual family trips to national parks with his wife and 2 now adult children, Jeff has visited 49 states. He is also one of the few Chicago White Sox fans you’ll ever meet.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Author of business & leadership book How Making a Sandwich Can Change Your World –  The Amazing Success of the PB&J Strategy – Available to Buy Now!

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com including a complementary  valuation of your home.