Free!
Got your attention, didn't I? We all like free things. Below is a list of things a home seller can do to help sell a home more quickly and for a higher dollar. These are low cost or no cost things almost anyone can do that can pay dividends. Future blog musing will feature other lists and tips both for buyers and sellers.
20 Low-Cost Ways to Spruce Up Your Home
Make your home more appealing for potential buyers with these quick and easy tips.
1. Trim bushes so they don’t block windows and cut down on light.
2. Buy a new doormat.
3. Put a pot of bright flowers (or a small evergreen in winter) on your porch.
4. Put new doorknobs on your doors.
5. Put a fresh coating on your driveway.
6. Edge the grass around walks and trees.
7. Keep your garden tools out of site.
8. Be sure kids put away their toys.
9. Buy a new mailbox.
10. Upgrade the outside lighting.
11. Use warm, incandescent light bulbs for a homey feel.
12. Polish or replace your house numbers.
13. Clean your gutters.
14. Put out potpourri or burn scented candles.
15. Buy new pillows for the sofa.
16. Buy a flowering plant and put it in a window you pass by frequently.
17. Make a centerpiece for your table with fruit or artificial flowers.
18. Replace heavy curtains with sheer ones that let in more light.
19. Buy new towels.
20. Put a seasonal wreath on your door.
Free!
As always, anyone reading this blog that has questions concerning real estate can contact me by e-mail (sparker@lkwood.com) or my personal phone (314-420-4154) If you call and you have a call blocker, I do not answer if I see anonymous or no number.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Getting ready to MOVE
Buying and selling a home requires the moving of one's stuff. One has to begin the process well before closing day (the day you sign papers to transfer title). It must actually begin before one personal item goes in a box. The day you decide you want to live in a new place is the day you begin the moving process. Many times the idea of moving traumatizes us to the point we are unwilling to consider buying in the first place. I mean, who wants to go through all that aggravation? Planning and organizing and packing, whoa, this is too much like work!
You have to focus on your ultimate goal. Put the thought of the work of moving to the side. The hard labor will only last a short time. The benefits ( being in a new home) will last much longer and hopefully make you much happier as well. Once you have mentally accepted and maybe even embraced the thought of living in a new place, you get a new energy. How often has a home seller wondered why no one has bought their home only to realize, perhaps not, that they have a mental block about the impending move? Until you are ready to accept the fact, you aren't ready to sell or move.
OK, so now you've gotten in the right frame of mind. We just wait for someone to make an offer we like and then start packing, right? Wrong! The job of packing actually needs to begin when the idea of selling is first conceived. I'm not talking about packing up everything. You still live there. De clutter and depersonalize your house as much as possible. Your goal should be to make the home seem more spacious. Buyer's will want to see some furnishings but they might be turned off by your trophy bass or stuffed jackalope. Consider the services of a home stager. For a nominal consulting fee, a home stager can advise you on ways to make your house look it's best. This can pay dividends far beyond the cost. Homes that have used the services of a professional stager sell more quickly and for a higher dollar amount than non staged homes.
Whether you use a professional (www.invitingspace.com) or not, you need to begin the process. Getting ready to move before you have to move, will help sell your house more quickly, take some of the stress out of the actual moving day and may also allow you to get rid of things you don't need, don't want and didn't realize you still had.
As always, if the reader has any real estate need or question, feel free to send me an e-mail at www.sparker@lkwood.com and I will do my best to serve you!
You have to focus on your ultimate goal. Put the thought of the work of moving to the side. The hard labor will only last a short time. The benefits ( being in a new home) will last much longer and hopefully make you much happier as well. Once you have mentally accepted and maybe even embraced the thought of living in a new place, you get a new energy. How often has a home seller wondered why no one has bought their home only to realize, perhaps not, that they have a mental block about the impending move? Until you are ready to accept the fact, you aren't ready to sell or move.
OK, so now you've gotten in the right frame of mind. We just wait for someone to make an offer we like and then start packing, right? Wrong! The job of packing actually needs to begin when the idea of selling is first conceived. I'm not talking about packing up everything. You still live there. De clutter and depersonalize your house as much as possible. Your goal should be to make the home seem more spacious. Buyer's will want to see some furnishings but they might be turned off by your trophy bass or stuffed jackalope. Consider the services of a home stager. For a nominal consulting fee, a home stager can advise you on ways to make your house look it's best. This can pay dividends far beyond the cost. Homes that have used the services of a professional stager sell more quickly and for a higher dollar amount than non staged homes.
Whether you use a professional (www.invitingspace.com) or not, you need to begin the process. Getting ready to move before you have to move, will help sell your house more quickly, take some of the stress out of the actual moving day and may also allow you to get rid of things you don't need, don't want and didn't realize you still had.
As always, if the reader has any real estate need or question, feel free to send me an e-mail at www.sparker@lkwood.com and I will do my best to serve you!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Communication/ or a lack of it
Why hasn't my house sold yet? What are you doing to get my house sold? These and many other complaints like them are being heard all over the St. Louis area. In the recent past ( 2-6 years ago) homes sold relatively quick and for prices we can only dream about now. Sellers are getting worried that their homes aren't being given the special attention they believe they deserve. This is also a time when these same home sellers change realtors when (and sometimes before!) the listing agreement expires. What happened?
Many of these unhappy, overwrought sellers need an agent that is communicating to their sellers exactly what is going on in their individual market areas. In many cases, the price needs to be adjusted down. This isn't something most home sellers want to hear. "My house is the best on the block--has the biggest yard--has more and better updates" etc. These may or may not be true, but one thing is definitely true-- THE MARKET WE ARE IN NOW HAS FEWER BUYERS!
This means nearly seller is competing for a much smaller pool of qualified buyers.
As my title suggests, communication is sometimes lacking between sellers and their agents. Sometimes the agent isn't keeping their clients up to date with the current activity in their area. Sometimes, the sellers aren't listening to their agents. Communication requires both speaking skills and, just as important, listening skills, for both sellers and agents. A case in point. One agent has a condo in the Lindbergh school district. It seems to be priced well, has been held open on many Sundays, is receiveing coverage on multiple web sites, print ads and just about everything the agent can do short of full page color ads in national publications. Why hasn't it sold yet? The agent invited his client to come to his office and find out what the problem is. Turns out no condos in the clients price range ($135-150,000) and area ( Lindbergh schools) has sold in the past 6-7 months. Not One! Some attached villas and town homes ( all above $200,000) have sold in the past 6-7 months. Some lower priced condos ( below $100,000) have also sold recently.
This opened the eyes of the seller! She suspected she just wasn't getting the service she was promised. Now she knows the truth. If she hopes to get her condo sold any time soon, she is going to have to price her unit below all other condos similar in price, area, and style. At least 5% and preferably 10% below. Had the agent not showen his seller what was happening, she would have made some unreasonable demands, been unsatisfied and probably switched agents only to have the same thing happen again and maybe again. Both agent and client communicated with the result that the seller now has a better idea what it will take to get a sale and the agent retained his seller. Communication is key to success in everything we undertake, be it a business activity, social or personal relations, we must all work at the art of communicating.
Anyone reading this or any other of my ruminations and in need of real estate help can contact me via e-mail at sparker@lkwood.com or call me at 314-420-4154.
Many of these unhappy, overwrought sellers need an agent that is communicating to their sellers exactly what is going on in their individual market areas. In many cases, the price needs to be adjusted down. This isn't something most home sellers want to hear. "My house is the best on the block--has the biggest yard--has more and better updates" etc. These may or may not be true, but one thing is definitely true-- THE MARKET WE ARE IN NOW HAS FEWER BUYERS!
This means nearly seller is competing for a much smaller pool of qualified buyers.
As my title suggests, communication is sometimes lacking between sellers and their agents. Sometimes the agent isn't keeping their clients up to date with the current activity in their area. Sometimes, the sellers aren't listening to their agents. Communication requires both speaking skills and, just as important, listening skills, for both sellers and agents. A case in point. One agent has a condo in the Lindbergh school district. It seems to be priced well, has been held open on many Sundays, is receiveing coverage on multiple web sites, print ads and just about everything the agent can do short of full page color ads in national publications. Why hasn't it sold yet? The agent invited his client to come to his office and find out what the problem is. Turns out no condos in the clients price range ($135-150,000) and area ( Lindbergh schools) has sold in the past 6-7 months. Not One! Some attached villas and town homes ( all above $200,000) have sold in the past 6-7 months. Some lower priced condos ( below $100,000) have also sold recently.
This opened the eyes of the seller! She suspected she just wasn't getting the service she was promised. Now she knows the truth. If she hopes to get her condo sold any time soon, she is going to have to price her unit below all other condos similar in price, area, and style. At least 5% and preferably 10% below. Had the agent not showen his seller what was happening, she would have made some unreasonable demands, been unsatisfied and probably switched agents only to have the same thing happen again and maybe again. Both agent and client communicated with the result that the seller now has a better idea what it will take to get a sale and the agent retained his seller. Communication is key to success in everything we undertake, be it a business activity, social or personal relations, we must all work at the art of communicating.
Anyone reading this or any other of my ruminations and in need of real estate help can contact me via e-mail at sparker@lkwood.com or call me at 314-420-4154.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Your Home is your Castle
One of the current problems I'm seeing in the real estate market is the mind set that people's homes have become viewed as investment vehicles. True, a home is an investment, and for most families it is their largest. In the recent past, homes appreciated at such a rate that some were able to buy a home, live in it for a year or two and then sell it for considerable more than they paid. Home values now are down from their high in early 2006 10,15, even 20% or more.
A home is first and foremost a place to live, raise a family and as a place of refuge at the end of a day of work. If a home is taken care of and updated as needed to keep it current with the better homes in the neighborhood, it should and often does increase in value. Historically, homes increase at a rate of between 3% to as much as 7% per year. This is not a guarentee. In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, homes rose in value anywhere from 8% to as much as 15% and more per year and in many but not all areas. This was above the averages and so they are now retreating. It's a painful process for some. For many who bought a home since 2005 and thought they could count on an increase in value, the reality has been harsh. Unless you bought a fixer upper or a gut rehab, most homes have come down in value since 2005.
It's time we all got back to the notion that a house is a home not a means of getting RICH! As my title says, your home is your castle and nothing more.
A home is first and foremost a place to live, raise a family and as a place of refuge at the end of a day of work. If a home is taken care of and updated as needed to keep it current with the better homes in the neighborhood, it should and often does increase in value. Historically, homes increase at a rate of between 3% to as much as 7% per year. This is not a guarentee. In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, homes rose in value anywhere from 8% to as much as 15% and more per year and in many but not all areas. This was above the averages and so they are now retreating. It's a painful process for some. For many who bought a home since 2005 and thought they could count on an increase in value, the reality has been harsh. Unless you bought a fixer upper or a gut rehab, most homes have come down in value since 2005.
It's time we all got back to the notion that a house is a home not a means of getting RICH! As my title says, your home is your castle and nothing more.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Lenders and their ads for low rates
Have you heard the ads some lenders are running on the radio and tv? How can they offer loan rates below what everyone else does? One ad says they aren't brokers, THEY APROVE THEIR LOANS! Instead of locking in on the interest rate, borrowers need to ask how much is it going to cost them to get this wonderfully low rate. What hidden fees are they hiding? Give a list of all fees and charges.
I've talked to several loan officers with good track records and many years in the business. They all say when shopping for a home loan, ask questions. Ask to compare head to head the various loan products against a competitor that the potential borrower has already gotten information from or is considering. Ask the loan officer how much they (the loan officer) are going to make on this loan. Ask for a written list of all fees and loan costs. Only after a full accounting can you decide who amoung the various lenders, to do business with. Any loan officer that won't give answers to these questions without hesitation, should be avoided at all costs!
I've talked to several loan officers with good track records and many years in the business. They all say when shopping for a home loan, ask questions. Ask to compare head to head the various loan products against a competitor that the potential borrower has already gotten information from or is considering. Ask the loan officer how much they (the loan officer) are going to make on this loan. Ask for a written list of all fees and loan costs. Only after a full accounting can you decide who amoung the various lenders, to do business with. Any loan officer that won't give answers to these questions without hesitation, should be avoided at all costs!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Current state of the housing market
Their is guarded optomisim amoung real estate professionals about the state of the real estate market in the St. Louis area. Interest rates have remained low, the weather is improving and new housing starts have gone up instead of down for the first time in almost a year.
For buyers, this is the best market to be in. Supply is plentiful. Loans for qualified buyers are still being made. Home values seem to be stabile. Many buyers however, seem to think that home values will drop even more and are hesitant to commit at this time. These folks are trying to "time the market". What they don't realize is that by waiting, they run the risk that both home prices and interest rates will begin to go up, effectively pushing them out of the market.
NOW is the time! Anyone hoping to buy their first home or move up to a better one needs to get off the mark and "JUST DO IT"!!
For buyers, this is the best market to be in. Supply is plentiful. Loans for qualified buyers are still being made. Home values seem to be stabile. Many buyers however, seem to think that home values will drop even more and are hesitant to commit at this time. These folks are trying to "time the market". What they don't realize is that by waiting, they run the risk that both home prices and interest rates will begin to go up, effectively pushing them out of the market.
NOW is the time! Anyone hoping to buy their first home or move up to a better one needs to get off the mark and "JUST DO IT"!!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
