Brian Lessard appointed to
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Delaware State News DOVER, By Andrew West

Carole Kisner’s quote already appeared in Wednesday’s Delaware State News.

But it’s worth repeating as we let her elaborate here on the promise of a healthy real estate market in our area.

“You’ve heard all the gloom and doom,” said Mrs. Kisner. “But, baby, we’re coming back!”

Speaking as the new president of the Kent County Association of Realtors, Mrs. Kisner wanted to send an upbeat message at a Tuesday break fast gathering for the unveiling of the 2010 Kent County Profile magazine.

Consider, she said, that Kent County homes sold in December were on the market for an average of 126 days. In November, the average was 105 days.

Pending sales have continued to increase over the past eight months and the highest since 2006, she said. Meanwhile, inventory is down about 1 percent from six months ago.

“That means things are selling,” said Mrs. Kisner.

But Realtors need to be on top of the game, she said.

The Kent County Association of Realtors now boasts of a membership of 410, down in numbers from just a few years ago.

“I’ve been in it 20 years,” said Mrs. Kisner. “We are where we used to be. You can’t just sit and wait for the phone to ring. You have to call all of your past clients, and talk to people. You know, you have to work a little bit.”

For home buyers, the competition has created a different climate from just a few years ago when homes went quickly.

“Buyers have more inventory now,” she said, “so they can take their time a little bit more.

“Sellers are pricing homes more com petitively. They realize they can’t do what they did a few years ago — there won’t be people fighting over the house, and the ap praiser won’t give them $40,000 more than it’s worth.”

One of the big challenges, however, remains tighter lending regulations that are holding up some buyers.

Mrs. Kisner said new construction is starting to pick up, too.

She said she will be listing homes and lots for a new development, Lessard Builders’ Dickinson Creek, west of Frederica. Prices will start around $211,000, she said.

Drives along Del. 12 and Carpenter Bridge Road west of Frederica reveal quite a bit of potential new home construction in the coming year.

Regular DSN contributor Cynthia Witt also shared some positives with us earlier this month when she sent in her monthly statistical report.

For October through December, home sales in 2009 outpaced the previous year, 564-455. The average price was just over $204,000, about 20 percent less than a year ago. Buyers are going for more townhouses and smaller homes, she said.

And, she noted that new homes are out selling older ones.

“I always tell people $350,000 and up, you’re going to be on the market longer than most anybody,” said Mrs. Kisner. “But I find that between $225 and $275,000, those seem to be moving along pretty well. And, of course, the lower range, they always move.”

About 45 percent of the buyers right now are first-time home buyers, Mrs. Kisner said.

The Kent County Association of Realtors has made helping first-time buyers a priority.

The organization recently received a $16,000 grant from the national Association of Realtors that will help 30-some families this year with fees and mortgage applications.

Sussex and New Castle counties also received $16,000 grants for first-time buyers.

When asked if there was something that government could do to help the area real estate climate right now, Mrs. Kisner said waiving transfer taxes to first-time buyers — 3 percent, 1.5 percent each for buyer and seller — would be a big thing right now.

Not all local governments already do this now, she said.

The Kent association also will be using grant money to help Realtors with training and education on short sales and working with banks.

When Mrs. Kisner was installed as the association’s new president this month, she said she wanted to issue a challenge to members to become more involved — not only in the association, but also in the com munity.

“My priority is for us to get more involved with the public,” Mrs. Kisner said.

She mentioned that she is hoping there is a good crowd for the association-hosted Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce mixer at the end of March.

“I want everyone to come in and meet us and greet us,” she said. “I’m a volunteer for my community, for the SPCA, Delaware Hospice, things like that. I want the public to get to know Realtors, not just to think, ‘Oh we’re out there just to buy or sell houses.’” She also has donated time to MS Bike to the Bay, holding events to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, volunteers with the Hartly Volunteer Fire Co. Ladies Auxiliary and makes donations during the holidays to the Salvation Army and Home of the Brave.

Already, she has had some success in in volving people in the Kent County Association of Realtors. She said she had just one rejection when she called on people to take on certain roles for the association.

“We have new people participating,” she said. “Some organizations have the same people all the time and they get tired. We have a lot of new people this year and new ideas. I told them, ‘Step outside the box, we don’t need to do the same thing over and over. Let’s do something different.’” The Kent association has been active in the community for some time.

It hosts an annual golf tournament that raises money for scholarships. A battle of the bands type of event last year netted $25,000 as a fundraiser for Central Delaware Habitat for Humanity.

Mrs. Kisner, a Delaware native and Dover High graduate, has been a Realtor for 20 years.

“When I started the interest rate was 18 percent and when you got a buyer, you got a good buyer,” she said with a laugh.

As a quick aside, her career in real estate started with a casual back porch conversation she was having with her husband, Richard.

“I asked him if he ever had a dream of anything he wanted to do,” she recalled. “He says, ‘I don’t know. How about you?’ I said, ‘Well I’ve always wanted to be in real estate.’” So that was it. She quit the accounting work she was doing and followed her dream.

“I love people,” Mrs. Kisner said. “I love meeting and greeting people. And, when they are sitting at the settlement table and they get those keys, I love to see the looks on their faces. Sometimes there are tears. It’s just so rewarding.

“I had one young lady who was 23, the first member in her family to ever own a home,” she said. “I told her, ‘I am so proud of you because you’ve worked so hard.’ When she got her keys, it was like the dam bust loose. She just cried and hugged everybody.”