Seven Deadly Sins of Selling Your Home- Part 1

Posted by on Dec 12, 2011 in Sellers | 632 comments

There are times in everyone’s life when big decisions need to be made, including those that involve real estate. The decision has been made to sell your home. This thought could come about from needing to downsize, move to a new community or wanting to upgrade. Well, whatever the reason you definitely want to be successful.

Sometimes sellers make really bad decisions when it comes to putting their house on the market. Since most homeowners are not real estate professionals, it’s easy to think good decisions are being made when in fact they are not good ideas at all. ( SIN 1- Trying to price the home yourself)

Many homeowners that intend to make improvements in the home before selling actually make it worse for themselves. Just because you don’t like the location of a bathroom, for instance, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should move it.( Sin 2- Do not over improve) Sometimes homeowners go through a remodel because the layout of the home doesn’t make sense to them. With that in mind, they also think that making the home more unique will help it sell better. The problem with these plans is the results will make you happy but if you made the house too different from what makes sense to the buyer, you’ll never move the property. When you remodel or make changes in your home try to remember that less is more, you don’t have to go overboard to make the house ready for the sale.

One rule of thumb in the real estate industry is to make sure your home is market ready when you put out your “for sale” sign. Don’t go and get lazy but make sure any improvements have already been taken care of, new paint as been applied and appliances and light fixtures are all in working order. Buyers notice these things and you want to impress them. ( Sin 3- Putting the house on the market before it is ready )

We will conclude this post tomorrow, catch you then!

29 Real Estate Lingos & Other Words You Need To Know

Posted by on Nov 28, 2011 in Buyers, Sellers | 751 comments
Real estate ads are usually full of industry words. For those unfamiliar with the housing industry, whether you be a buyer or seller, here is a a cheat sheet.
1. 4B/2B — four bedrooms and two bathrooms. “Bedroom” usually means a sleeping area with a window and a closet, but the definition varies in different places. A “full bathroom” is a room with a toilet, a sink and a bathtub. A “three-quarter bathroom” has a toilet, a sink and a shower. A “half bathroom” or powder room has only a toilet and a sink.
2. assum. fin. — assumable financing
3. closing costs — the entire package of miscellaneous expenses paid by the buyer and the seller when the real estate deal closes. These costs include the brokerage commission, mortgage-related fees, escrow or attorney’s settlement charges, transfer taxes, recording fees, title insurance and so on. Closing costs are generally paid through escrow.
4. CMA — comparative market analysis or competitive market analysis. A CMA is a report that shows prices of homes that are comparable to a subject home and that were recently sold, are currently on the market or were on the market, but not sold within the listing period.
5. contingency — a provision of an agreement that keeps the agreement from being fully legally binding until a certain condition is met. One example is a buyer’s contractual right to obtain a professional home inspection before purchasing the home.
6. dk — deck
7. expansion pot’l — expansion potential mean that there’s extra space on the lot or the possibility of adding a room or even an upper level, subject to local zoning restrictions.
8. fab pentrm — fabulous pentroom, a room on top (but under the roof) that has great views
9. FDR — formal dining room (more…)

Home Owner Tip: How To Install A Kitchen Sink

Posted by on Nov 18, 2011 in Home Owner Tips, Sellers | 2 comments

What is The Average Days On Market?

Posted by on Sep 26, 2011 in Sellers | 40 comments

Like most industries there are many terms that are thrown about. This is the start of a series on these off beat words.

Today we will discuss :

Average Days On Market.

The average number of days a listing is for sale in  the local multiple listing service before it is placed in a pending status is called the “Average Days On Market”

Pending status of course means a contract has been placed on the property. After many years in the real estate business “pending status” can change in a flash, a nature of the business… contract fall through.

However the average days on market is a good guideline. If a home is priced according to market value, the average days on market should be in accordance with the normal/average in the market area. (more…)