Is your house a listing loser? Have you been on and off the market for years? There are many factors that influence whether a house sells or not. While most people will point directly to price, that may not be the only reason why a home sits on the multiple listing service without showings or offers and ends up on the expired list. Here are just a few of the reasons why homes don’t sell: 1. Price The most common reason and usually the biggest factor is price. Often a home is priced too high because sellers have unrealistic ideas about what their home is worth. Other sellers insist on basing the price of their home on their own personal financial situation and not the market. Even if a seller is willing to adjust the price of a home after listing it too high, it is the original asking price that matters. Pricing a home competitively will ultimately yield a higher sale price. 2. Location, location, location It is true location matters. Even the nicest house cannot always overcome a bad location. Homes that are on busy roads, close to high tension wires, power plants, waste-treatment facilities or other objectionable locations will struggle to sell. The only way properties in undesirable locations sell is when the seller understands that the asking price is significantly lower than similar homes in prime locations. 3. Having the nicest home in the neighborhood It may feel good to have the largest or nicest home in the neighborhood but buyers won’t appreciate that. Buyers are not only paying for the home but also what is around it. If your home offers much more than other homes in your neighborhood you will have a tough sale. 4. The decor A home should appeal to almost everyone. So if your home has loud wallpaper, brightly colored walls, or an outdated kitchen it will be a turn-off. Most buyers won’t be able to look beyond the 1970s kitchen and see the good qualities a home has to offer. 5. A dysfunctional floor plan The addition you added on may be your pride and joy but when the buyer looks at it they see it as a barrier to a sale. Many homeowners add additions or change the floor plan of their home to suit them. They were not thinking that it might not be okay for a future buyer to walk though a bedroom to get to the family room addition. This sometimes applies to older homes as well, smaller rooms and lack of storage does not top a buyer’s wish lists. 6. Too many repairs If the home needs a lot of repairs, the buyer sees a money pit. Today’s buyer is much more reluctant to take on a lot of renovations. 7. Bad Marketing This can be the agent’s fault as much as the seller’s fault. Are there agents who could do a better job marketing a home? Of course there is. Often times, the agent is limited by the seller’s willingness to help. Agents that are forced to show photos of messy, outdated homes on MLS are not starting off on the best foot. There is only a small percentage of buyers who are able to see past the mess and cosmetic issues. 8. Unavailability Sellers sometimes do not make their home available for showings and this can hurt the sale of the home. Buyers have tight schedules and often want to view homes at inconvenient times. Sellers must try to accommodate as many showings as possible. You never know who the buyer will be or when they will want to look at the home.]]>
What Buyers Hate About Your Home
You think you live in a palace. Your home is your kingdom but when it comes to selling your home buyers may not be in agreement. In today’s market, buyers are pickier than ever and may be literally turning their nose up at your home. Here are a few things that buyers hate about homes: 1. Smells Buyers don’t like homes that have a strong smell especially bad smells. Make sure to get rid of any source of odor. The biggest culprits of strong smells are smoking, pets and cooking with strong odors. If you have pets or smoke have the carpets, drapes and all professionally cleaned. If you have a cat make sure the litter box is clean and kept out of the way. You will also need to refrain from cooking things with strong odors. Stay away from strong spices like curry and foods like fish. 2. Dirty bathrooms and kitchens. They say bathrooms and kitchens sell homes, just as easily they can prevent a sale. Concentrate on keeping the bathrooms and kitchen spic and span. Keep the floors vacuumed, the counters clear of clutter, and make sure the sink is free of dirty dishes. Keep freshly cleaned towels available for the showings. 3. Clutter Keep the clutter at bay by investing in some inexpensive wicker baskets. Putting clutter in baskets can be a quick way to pick up toys, store laundry and catch all the mail on the kitchen counter. 4. Poor lighting Who wants to live in the dark? Replace all burnt out bulbs with high efficiency, bright bulbs. Buy some lamps to bring light into poorly lit rooms. Make sure to open all the blinds and pull back the drapes and let as much natural light in as possible. Cleaning the windows will also help show off the light. If you are able turn on all the lights in the home before a potential buyer walks through. 6. Bold colors and wallpaper You may love the bright pink room or the living room clad in wallpaper but chances are a buyer does not share your style. Try to neutralize rooms with creams and off-whites. These colors can also make a room feel larger and brighter. If your home is covered in wallpaper consider removing it. Buyers are often deterred by the thought of having to remove wallpaper. 7. Man’s best friends You love Fido the dog and Mittens the cat is just so cute but buyers may have allergies or even be afraid of your pets. Keep the pets away from the home or crated when buyers are looking at your home. 8. You Believe it or not you do not help the sale. The buyer wants to be able to view your home without feeling watched or pressured. If you are in the home or the driveway the buyer will not take the time they need to view the home properly. Leave the selling to the professional.]]>
Why You Need Tech Savvy Real Estate Marketing
The internet and the evolution of social media have forever changed the way marketers do business and this includes real estate. If you are considering selling your home you need a real estate proessional who understands the need for extensive online marketing. When looking to test a real estate professionals internet marketing ask some of these questions: Do you have a website? There are 245,203,319 internet users in the United States, that is 78.1 % of the population. According to the National Association of Realtors, 88% of homebuyers shopped online for a home. Do you have a mobile website that is enabled for iPhone, iPad and Android devices? 4.8 billion people now own mobile phones. Just 4.2 billion own a toothbrush. Do you have a blog? Social media sites and blogs reach 80% of all U.S. internet users. Do you have a Facebook business page? Facebook is the most important social media lead generation tool for b2c marketers with 77% saying they had had acquired a customer through Facebook. Do you market on Twitter? There are now roughly 100 million active Twitter users (those who log in at least once per day). Do you have a You Tube channel? YouTube has 490 million users worldwide (unique visitors per month). It generates an estimated 92 billion page views each month. The average user spends an average of 25 minutes on the site each time they visit. Do you share information on LinkedIn? There are over 57 million users on LinkedIn in the United States. You need a real estate professional who leverages all of these outlets to market your home.]]>
Video Marketing in Real Estate
Video marketing is the wave of the future. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true how much is a video worth? According to Dr. James McQuivery of Forrester Research a one minute video is worth 1.8 million words. Imagine being able to convey a 1.8 million word message to a consumer in just 60 seconds. Social media sites like You Tube are allowing real estate professionals the opportunity to create messages and have them go viral all over the internet. One statistic that You Tube likes to tout is that in the very near future 90% of web traffic will be video. This may or may not be true but what we do know is that buyers and sellers search the internet and are drawn to videos. But what better way to advertise a home for sale than to have the homeowner tell its story. Here are some video marketing ideas that you can do to help your agent sell your home: Give the buyer a personal showing Grab your camera or smartphone and take prospective buyers on a walking tour of your home and go ahead this is your chance to brag. Go on a neighborhood tour Drive or walk through your community pointing out areas of interest like schools, businesses and parks. Get a few video testimonials Bring your camera to the best advertising there is for the area; the neighbors! Capture video testimonials from friendly neighbors touting why it is such a great place to live. ]]>
How to Set an Asking Price for Your Home
Setting a price for your home can be one of the most important decisions you make when placing your home on the market. The asking price can often make or break the sale. The asking price is part of the marketing of the home. Here are some tips on how to set the right asking price in a strategy to sell. 1. It’s not personal. Let go of your personal feelings for your home. Potential buyers don’t care how much you paid for the home, how much time you spent planting a garden or how much money you’ve invested in in updates. A house is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. 2. Get a professional opinion. A real estate professional can give you an opinion of its likely selling price range. The opinion should consider the prices of comparable recently sold homes, on-the-market homes and homes that were on the market, but weren’t sold. 3. Act like a buyer. Do your research by attending open houses in your area. Try to think like a buyer and try to make an impartial assessment of how those homes compare to yours in terms of location, size, amenities and condition. 4. Consider market conditions. What are the home prices in your area doing? Are the prices going up or falling? What are the average days on market for a home in your price range? If prices are falling you will want to be aggressive in pricing making your home the best buy on the market and look for a quick sale before prices continue to fall.]]>
Why Homes Don't Sell
Is your house a listing loser? Have you been on and off the market for years? There are many factors that influence whether a house sells or not. While most people will point directly to price, that may not be the only reason why a home sits on the multiple listing service without showings or offers and ends up on the expired list. Here are just a few of the reasons why homes don’t sell: 1. Price The most common reason and usually the biggest factor is price. Often a home is priced too high because sellers have unrealistic ideas about what their home is worth. Other sellers insist on basing the price of their home on their own personal financial situation and not the market. Even if a seller is willing to adjust the price of a home after listing it too high, it is the original asking price that matters. Pricing a home competitively will ultimately yield a higher sale price. 2. Location, location, location It is true location matters. Even the nicest house cannot always overcome a bad location. Homes that are on busy roads, close to high tension wires, power plants, waste-treatment facilities or other objectionable locations will struggle to sell. The only way properties in undesirable locations sell is when the seller understands that the asking price is significantly lower than similar homes in prime locations. 3. Having the nicest home in the neighborhood It may feel good to have the largest or nicest home in the neighborhood but buyers won’t appreciate that. Buyers are not only paying for the home but also what is around it. If your home offers much more than other homes in your neighborhood you will have a tough sale. 4. The decor A home should appeal to almost everyone. So if your home has loud wallpaper, brightly colored walls, or an outdated kitchen it will be a turn-off. Most buyers won’t be able to look beyond the 1970s kitchen and see the good qualities a home has to offer. 5. A dysfunctional floor plan The addition you added on may be your pride and joy but when the buyer looks at it they see it as a barrier to a sale. Many homeowners add additions or change the floor plan of their home to suit them. They were not thinking that it might not be okay for a future buyer to walk though a bedroom to get to the family room addition. This sometimes applies to older homes as well, smaller rooms and lack of storage does not top a buyer’s wish lists. 6. Too many repairs If the home needs a lot of repairs, the buyer sees a money pit. Today’s buyer is much more reluctant to take on a lot of renovations. 7. Bad Marketing This can be the agent’s fault as much as the seller’s fault. Are there agents who could do a better job marketing a home? Of course there is. Often times, the agent is limited by the seller’s willingness to help. Agents that are forced to show photos of messy, outdated homes on MLS are not starting off on the best foot. There is only a small percentage of buyers who are able to see past the mess and cosmetic issues. 8. Unavailability Sellers sometimes do not make their home available for showings and this can hurt the sale of the home. Buyers have tight schedules and often want to view homes at inconvenient times. Sellers must try to accommodate as many showings as possible. You never know who the buyer will be or when they will want to look at the home.]]>
Damp Basement Diagnosis
There is nothing worse in a home than a wet basement. Not only can it deter potential home buyers it can also present health problems, and permanent damage to your home. Tackling the problem of a damp or wet basement is no easy task. Here are some ideas to getting and keeping your basement dry. Find the source The source of the problem could be a water leak or high humidity. Both can lead to mold, mildew, or other biological growth. They can even lead to rot, structural damage, premature paint failure, and a variety of health problems. Check for water seepage. Look for leaks in the foundation, or small gaps around windows or doors. Water can also come from inside your house from a leaking water pipe, toilet, shower or bathtub. Indoor humidity is often caused by normal activities of everyday living, such as showering, cooking, and drying clothes. Damp basements are usually caused by moisture migrating through a concrete foundation. Other common causes are condensation on cold concrete walls and floors during humid months. Stop water leaks Standing water on the floor after a heavy rain is usually the result of a leaky foundation. Make sure all rain gutters are cleared and downspout runoff away from the foundation. The ground around the house should slope down and away from the foundation. If necessary, re-grade around the house. If you have a sump pump, make sure it is working properly. Water stains on the ceiling or wall under or near a bathroom could be a leak from a water pipe, toilet, bathtub or shower. This will require a plumber to repair the leak. Water damage or mold should be handled by a contractor who specializes in mold remediation and water damage repairs. Reducing indoor humidity Dirt floors in the basement should be covered completely with plastic to slow down water vapor coming through the soil. Install ventilation fans in kitchens and baths to control moisture. Make sure they are venting directly outside. Clothes dryer should be vented directly to the outside. Consult the Consumer Products Safety Commission additional safety tips for dryer vents . Check the heating and cooling system to make sure it is sized and operating properly to remove humidity. Have all duct air leaks sealed. Use a dehumidifier in the basement can reduce condensation. A dry basement will not only lead to a healthier home it will lead to a more profitable sale when the time comes.]]>
Internet Marketing for Sellers
Is your real estate agent an expert marketer? Today, buyers use the internet more than any other source to find a home. It is vital that your real estate agent use a fully, integrated marketing plan to sell your home. Here are just a few things you will want to make sure your agent has:
- A website
- An IDX property search
- A way for buyers to search for homes from a mobile device
- A blog
- A Facebook business page
- A Twitter account
- A You Tube channel and video marketing
Real Estate Lingo Decoded
Buying or selling a home can be complicated enough but add in the lingo and you may feel like you are listening to a foreign language. Here are a few real estate terms decoded. Assessed Value– Assessed Value is the valuation placed on property by a public tax assessor for purposes of taxation. Closing Costs –Closing costs are all of the miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when a real estate transaction closes. These costs can include real estate commission, mortgage fees, attorney fees, transfer taxes, recording fees, and title insurance. CMA –CMA is short for comparative market analysis or competitive market analysis. A CMA compares the prices of homes sold, homes currently on the market and homes pending to a subject property. A CMA may be prepared for a buyer or a seller to determine market value. The CMA accounts for style, size, location and other factors that make the homes comparable. Contingency – A contingency is a provision of an agreement that keeps the agreement from being fully legally binding until a certain condition is met. Common contingencies are a buyer’s contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home or obtain mortgage financing. Deed–The deed is the legal document conveying title to a property. Earnest Money Deposit– The earnest money deposit is a deposit made by the potential home buyer to show that he or she is serious about buying the house. This is typically made at the time of the offer to purchase. Lock Box – A lock box is a secure key-holding device. It is used to hold a key for a home that is for sale. This allows cooperating real estate professionals to gain entry into the home. Entry is usually granted after obtaining permission from the listing agent or office. MLS – The MLS or Multiple Listing Service is an organization that collects, compiles and distributes information about homes listed for sale. Real Estate brokers are members of the MLS. Membership is not open to the general public. The MLS is used for real estate professionals to share information about homes for sale to other agents. MLS boards are local or regional. There is no nationwide MLS. Short Sale– A short sale is when the seller arranges with their mortgage lender to accept a price that is less than the amount they owe on the property. The lender typically agrees to forgive the rest of the loan. A short sale arrangement is made between the seller and the mortgage lender. Title Insurance – Title insurance is an insurance policy that protects the lender’s or owner’s interest in real property. Title insurance as it is named protects against claims against the title or from unexpected or fraudulent claims of ownership. Buyers typically pay for the lenders title insurance policy as part of the closing costs.]]>
So, You Want to be a Real Estate Investor….
Rates are low, prices are right, and now is a perfect time to think about investing in real estate. Many would-be investors think real estate is a way to quick riches. Rapid monetary returns are usually not the case. However, the rewards can be substantial if you are willing be patient, do the necessary homework, and make a few good decisions along the way. Before you start investing in real estate, here are a few things to consider: • Start small: Don’t go large on your first investment. Take on a smaller investment first so you have the opportunity to make some mistakes that won’t cost you large amounts of money. Investing is a learning process. • Don’t overpay: Do your research on your potential investment. Do full a full property evaluation; research the location, have a home inspection, and look into any liens and owed taxes. Always conduct an in-depth property analysis before negotiating any terms. • Consider the margins: Paying the bills on an investment property is different than paying for your personal residence. When you buy an income property to rent, you’re calculating how the income (rent payments) will help pay the mortgage and operating costs. • Know your partners: Having a bad partner could be your biggest downfall. Try to team up with a more seasoned real estate investor to learn the ropes. It is also important to be comfortable with your partner. Like all other businesses, real estate investing, requires a well thought out plan if you want to succeed. Weigh all the risks involved in real estate investing and develop a plan on how you will manage and overcome them before you get started. ]]>