Real Estate Report memo

  • 160 Berrywood Dr, Severna Park, MD 21146 ( This is my top recommendation house for both clients)
  • 540 A Dr, Severna Park, MD 21146.

(3) 636 Arleigh Rd, Severna Park, MD 21146.

 Additional notes

The first paragraph/ Intro of the memo should summarize why I am writing this memo and the thesis be about why I specifically chose “160 Berrywood Dr, Severna Park, MD 21146” to be my top recommendation for the clients. Also, in the intro talk about your top choices houses and why you choose them for example, these houses are great for this and this and that but that is why this one is my top recommendation. Another example, If I am choosing this house for XYZ (location, price, facilities around it) in my intro paragraph my body paragraphs should talk more in details about XYZ. It’s more of an argument paper, I am arguing why I chose these three houses and why I chose “160 Berrywood Dr, Severna Park, MD 21146” to be my top house compared to the other two houses. Read the rest of the document for additional details that must be included in this assignment.

Evaluative Report – Real Estate Report Assignment

Task

For your second writing assignment, you will evaluate the needs of a real estate buyer and recommend a house meeting those needs; then you will write a recommendation report to your internship supervisor and deliver an oral presentation of that information.  You will first be asked to complete a draft of this report by ___________________. You may struggle and feel confused when working on this writing assignment while you use the assignment instructions to write the best report first draft you can. You will revise this assignment draft after we further discuss business writing principles and specific business writing skills in class. You will revise the report further and submit the document to me for feedback. After receiving feedback from me, you will submit a document for a final grade.

Audience: Internship advisor

  Scenario

As a newly minted intern at ______________________ Realty, your manager, ______________________, wants to test your ability to evaluate properties for potential clients—a large part of the support role you will be accepting as an intern. For this task, your manager has provided you with a client profile; using this profile along with readily available online resources, you are to recommend an ideal home for the client, while also providing a summary of (1) alternative house that MUST meet the same criteria. You will then draft an evaluative memo and prepare a 3-minute oral presentation pitch for the selection you have made.

 

Client Profile – The ______________ Family

The ___________________ Family is currently planning on moving from their home in 9411 Granite Hill Rd, Columbia, MD 21046 due to a new job opportunity for _________Parent #1_____________________ at the _________________________. Ideally, the family wants to move to a new home within 30 minutes of commuting between their jobs. Additionally, they hope to find a minimum (4-bedroom home) that cannot exceed 30% of their monthly take-home pay (after taxes) of $13, 680 per month ($4,100). Other considerations are school rankings and additional amenities such as recreation and shopping. The family is very active, and they expressed a preference for outdoor activities that are appropriate for the whole family.

Table 1. Client Profile

Name Age Occupation Income
Parent #1   Professor of Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland $112,000
Parent #2   Director of Finance, Exelon Building, 1310 Point St, Baltimore, MD 21231 (That is where parent two works, so do the home have to be 30 minutes away from both parents’ jobs ?)

Parent#1 job location is not determent yet?

 $126,000
Child #1 12   N/A
Child #2 7   N/A
Child #3 3   N/A

 

Criteria for Selection

For your selection process, your manager is requiring you to use the following standard criteria—

  • Location – Must be within a 30-minute commute for both Parent #1 and Parent #2; and within in a suburban community (preferably in a neighborhood that has families with school aged children).

 

  • Size – A comfortably sized house with a minimum 4-bedrooms, 5 bath. The home size should average 675 sq ft. per person (Does that mean that the home size should be at least equal to 3,375?). The home should be on a minimum 1/3-acre lot. Additionally, both Parent #1 and Parent #2 enjoy having a home office to work from on the occasions that they need to work from home; they’d love to have a play space for the kids, and they also entertain their large extended family for holidays and summer barbeques.

 

  • Price – Monthly mortgage (including real estate taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and HOA if applicable) cannot exceed 30% of take-home per month or $4100. In your calculation, assume that the family currently has $140,000 in equity to use as a down payment on their new home, and they will qualify for a 30- year fixed 3.25% interest rate on the mortgage.

 

  • Comparable Properties – Similar homes within the neighborhood must be priced within 10-20% of the home’s value. (The recommended home price must be in-line with comparable properties).

 

  • Schools—Public schools ideally should be in the top 20% of rankings or in the top 80+ percentile. Well ranked schools are very important for this family. Student should review the National Association of Realtors (NAR) guidance in Appendix to determine what types of educational information and recommendations are allowed.

 

  • Additional Amenities—recreation, shopping, etc.

 

To Make a Valid Claim You Must Evaluate Evidence Using a Warrant

To make an argument, you must—

  1. Address the Issue
  2. Make a Valid Claim Based on the Issue
  3. Provide Credible Evidence
  4. Interpret the Evidence Using a Warrant

Address the Issue

The issue for the assignment is that your boss wants you to recommend a home based on the client profile that she provided, while also providing 2-3 alternates.

 

Make a Valid Claim Based on the Issue

Once you have analyzed (evaluated) your choices, you are to recommend an ideal home based on the criteria provided in the client profile.

Provide Credible Evidence

To prove that your claim is valid, you will need to provide evidence (data). Hence, you will be required to conduct some research. As such, you will need to research homes using readily available real estate databases, e.g. Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, etc. Additionally, you will need to also have to use other resources to evaluate home price, schools, and amenities.

Interpret the Evidence Using a Warrant

To evaluate your evidence, you will first need to understand the warrant that you will be using for interpretation—you are defining how the data supports the claim. In this case, the warrant uses a criterion as grounding (also known as a standard). A standard tells us how things ought to be. In other words, it defines what ought to be.

Location of the home must be within a 30-minute commute. Your home selection must be within an average of a 30-minute commute. You will need to provide an estimation and a rationale for how you determined that the home falls within this criterion.

Size of the home must average 675 sq ft per person. For the size of the home, must average 675 sq feet per person (3300 square feet). More, the family hopes to have a minimum of four-bed rooms.  Additionally, the home should be on a minimum 1/3-acre lot within a suburban community.

Price of the home cannot exceed 30% of take-home. In terms of price, the mortgage payment cannot exceed 30% of take-home pay per-month. The family income is $13,680 net, which leaves them with a budget of $4100 per month. You will need to research the price of the home along with the monthly mortgage rates, property tax rates (by county), and insurance to determine if you meet the standard. Additionally, assume that the family currently has $140,000 in equity to use as a down payment on their new home. For this assignment, you are to provide an estimate based on the available resources. There are multiple tax and insurance calculators available online—with your estimate, please describe all assumptions that you have made in your calculation.

Value of the home must fall within comparable prices. Compare the size and price of the home along with upgrades that add value. Select two (2) homes within one (1) mile of the home to compare prices. For comparable, you are trying to determine the best value for the price. To provide an apt comparison, research the price per square foot of each home.

Schools must be highly ranked. Education is especially important to your clients. Ideally, the schools near the home that you selected must be within the top-third in the county. To research this criterion, review ranking sites such as Smarter, GreatSchools, etc. When evaluating schools using these tools, try to ensure that that they are in the top twenty percent by score or percentile.  Read the appendix for information on federal law about discussing schools during real estate sales.

Amenities must include recreation and shopping. For this criterion, you will need to review amenities—use your best judgement. The family is very active with a preference for outdoor activities, so you will need to review local parks, pavilions, campgrounds, ballfields, and trails.

Write an Evaluative Memo

For the first part of your project, you will draft a memo that adheres to the basic principles of business writing:

  • Use proper memorandum format.
  • Provide a proper addressee.
  • Provide attribution (citation) for your sources.
  • Include an introductory statement that foreshadows or “sells” the main idea.
  • Use deductive structure.
  • Condense information using a minimum of one table, chart, graph, and/or image.
  • Use well-developed headings.
  • Use chunked paragraphs.
  • Use error-free prose.

 

 

This evaluative report must be type-written and comply with these requirements–

  • File Format: Electronically using a Microsoft Word compatible file. (No .pdf, .pages)
  • Font: Times New Roman, 11-point (text); Arial, 13-point for headings.
  • Spacing Single
  • Use formal style of writing try to avid friendly and casual tone instead emphasis an objectivity and accuracy, try to avoid personal pronouns as much as possible.
  • Have a heading for each paragraph “not center”
  • Documentation and Style: APA Publication Manuel 7th Ed.