Advice For First Time Home Buyers

I got an e-mail today that was very similiar to many that I've received in the past. It read, "My husband, Peter, and I are thinking about buying a house in the near future as we are quickly outgrowing our apartment (we have 2 young children). We have so many questions, and have no idea where to start. Do you have any advice?"I referred them to a blog that clients of mine did several years ago

5 Simple Factors That Keep Your Home From Selling

Believe it or not, even though the market is “bad” homes are still selling. Of course they are not selling at the rate they used to… but they are selling. So if you are trying to sell your house and find yourself asking the question “Why isn’t my home selling?” you may be surprised to know that the answer to that question is quite simple, but a bit multifaceted. The sale of a home in today’s market is dependant on a five factors that if not seriously considered and advantageously applied will keep your home from selling.

The first factor you must look at is PRICE. The asking price of a home today can not be dependant on what the price would/could have been in the “good old days”. The price of your home must be appropriate for today’s market… AND, because there are so many other homes in the market, it also needs to be aggressively competitive. Home buyers want and will spend the least to buy the most they can. Holding out for more, will only result in MORE time on market… so be wise.

The next factor is CONDITION. The better condition your home is in, the more attractive it is. Buyers do not want to spend their money repairing and making simple updates once they take possession. A home that is “move-in ready” is going to be snatched up long before a similar home that needs attention. Investing in a home inspection and addressing any major issues earlier on may cost you some money, but it will never cost you the sale. However, problematic issues, discovered by the buyer’s inspector, will still cost you money and also may be just enough to kill the sale. Besides hiring a home inspector, who focuses more on structural and mechanical conditional issues, you might want to also work with a home stager who will focus on the numerous smaller maintenance details and repair concerns that influence a buyer’s perception of condition.

PRESENTATION, both on-line and in person, is third factor that needs to be taken into account. The on-line presentation of your property needs to be captured and shown in first rate photography. Gone are the days when a Realtor could take poor quality digital snapshots and loaded them into an MLS system. Today’s buyer, who lives are busy and hectic as yours, depends on the Internet to help them prescreen properties. Better photos capture and tell a better sales story. In addition to having quality photos taken of your home, it still must look great when being toured by a buyer. An experienced home stager will guide and direct you to set and present your home so it can be easily toured and distinguished from your possessions in it.

Hiring the right listing AGENT is the fourth key factor essential in getting your property sold. Selecting a Realtor, solely because they recommended the highest listing price, may be the biggest reason why your home will not sell. Picking a savvy and strategic Agent who has skillful with a variety of marketing tactics and who is adept in working through a myriad of sales issues that can stop a sale once a buyer makes an offer is crucial. An experienced Realtor, who has a proven track record that demonstrates they have mastered both the marketing side and the sales side of real estate, will earn every penny they are paid for selling your home.

The fifth and final factor has to do with your INVOLVEMENT. Sellers need to fully share concerns, needs and objectives with the selected Agent right from the start and continue until the property is sold. But while candid honesty is key, it must also be two way street. Your Realtor must not only listen to you, but you must listen to them. So stay informed, watch the market conditions, and objectively listen to the feedback after showings. Then consider and act on key information you gather as if you were the buyer. Ultimately your home’s sale is controlled by you… NOT your Realtor.

So that’s it… the secrets are finally revealed on how to sell your home in a tough buyer’s market. How you choose to work with and apply these five simple factors will make, stall or totally keep your home from selling. In closing, if you think that just because you have a few of the factors under control your home will sell, you are wrong. It really takes all five working in together.

Sell It Forward...
Me

Happy Memorial Day

May your holiday be safe and enjoyable.

Use FLOWER POWER to Sell Your Home

Before you put your home up for sale in the market, do yourself a favor and take a short walk and a quick drive.

First walk across the street and take a good hard discerning look at your property and then, after your walk, take a drive around your neighborhood and look at how your home measures up to the rest of the homes… whether they are for sale or not. The better you home looks, compared to your neighbors and the neighboring competition, the better chance you have to sell.

Buyers assume the better a home looks outside the better it will look on the inside. So while there may be specific repair maintenance issues that can and should be attended to with your home’s physical structure… don’t overlook the fact that you can fuel your home’s sale with a little FLOWER POWER.

How can you tap into the power of the flower to sell your home? Well consider the following:

Garden beds should be cleaned out, weeded and planted with plants that are appropriate for the time of year and/or region you live in. No need to be exotic… old standard annual flowering plants, like marigolds, geraniums, petunias and impatiens, are typically very hardy and will add color and appeal buyers like. Turn over the dirt or add fresh mulch. Add dirt or mulch to bare areas under large shade trees. Deadhead (remove) blooms on flowering plants once they dye.

Trees, shrubs and vines should be pruned and trimmed. If a bush or tree is dead or dying, remove it and replace it with a similar size and type of plant if at all possible. Cut out any dead wood and cut out or back tree limbs touching the home and/or roof. Overtime small shrubs can grow so large that they become large bushes that need be trimmed back or removed entirely. Remember, people buy homes that are light and bright, so any plant that keep sunlight from entering the in and block the view out should be tended to.

Lawns need to be green, mowed, weeded and trimmed. Reseed bare patches in the lawn. Make sure the edges of all flower beds are clearly defined. Trim grass along sidewalks and the driveway. Pull any weeds or sprouts of grass growing out of cracks in the drive or walkways. Weeds tend to be hardier then grass in draught conditions and therefore stand out in lawns in an unbecoming way. So if you live in an area under water restrictions, be sure to weed the lawn. Oh… and don’t forget to clean up Fido’s lawn contributions.

Decks and patios are common to most homes. But a deck or patio that is actually set with furniture and flowering planters can instantly be seen as a bonus living area. Buyers will most likely tour the inside of the home before the outside. Since the buyer will first see the deck or patio as they are inside looking out. So when setting the deck or patio, strategically consider the first visual impression from the inside looking out onto these outdoor spaces.

Finally, and most importantly, make sure the front door’s stoop/porch is blooming beautiful. As the realtor fumbles for keys, trying to figure out how to open the door, buyers are standing behind looking around with anxious, yet critical, eyes. Yes, this space should be neat and swept clean, but colorful flower filled beds and planters will add welcoming interest and visual appeal like nothing else.

Blooming gardens and well maintained lawns will never scare off a buyer. So in this time when fuel prices are at a record high and the real estate market is at a record low… remember you can always rely on flower power to sell your home.

Bloom It Sold...

Me

The Butler Did It!

Whether you are staging your home for sale or just getting ready to entertain, a properly set table is impressive. And if you want to set your table properly, take it from the pros.....professional butlers. that is. I found a cool web site....The International Guild of Professional Butlers http://www.butlersguild.com/ with complete instructions on how to set a table plus at least a dozen ways to

A Hedge Against the Economy

Several weeks back CNN Money Magazine predicted Rochester's housing prices to increase 2.7%, ranking it second in the country for fastest growing markets. And while that is very good news for the Rochester real estate market, there are a few things to keep in mind. First off, this is only a prediction. Second, this is a cool off of the 4 to 6% appreciation we've been seeing in recent years.As I

Open This Sunday

Tomorrow concludes the Liliac Festival for 2008 but the peonies are about to pop at Highland Park. If you are like me, you might prefer to wait until the crowds are done to go see the park and so I've encluded a list of open houses for your Sunday afternoon. The hottest listings in town these days are home priced for less than $125,000 and so that's what is on this week's list. Open House

4 Family Home on Rochester East Side

I recently listed a 4 Family Home located just two blocks from the new luxury condos (www.RochestersBestHomes.com/800254) on South Union. It's a great location, just a short walk to down town. The building includes two studio apartments and two one bedroom apartments but could easily be converted to a two or three family unit. It also features off-street parking on Canfield St, which is a

Attack Duck!

Yes, my photos are usually in focus. But when I took this shot last night I was shaking with fear.I was showing property in Avon, NY last night and this duck seemed very happy to see me. When I reached out to pet him, he bit me! It hurt and left a pretty good mark too.Enjoy the rest of my photos from Avon, NY!

U of R Employees Offered $9000 Incentive to buy City Homes!

The University of Rochester and the City of Rochester each are offering $3000 in assistance to full and part time employees of the University of Rochester that buy a home in select neighborhoods in the City of Rochester. In addition, Advantage Federal Credit Union and Canandaigua National Bank & Trust will provide an additional $3000 in assistance. The targeted areas for the incentive program are

Brainstorming about Rochester's Future

Last night I attended the Rochester Neighbors Building Neighborhoods Planning Meeting for Sector 6. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. (more info here: http://www.nbnsector6.org/)We arrived, had a light supper and then were quickly broken into groups. As a group, we had six minutes to throw out our most creative ideas about improving Rochester on a given topic. We

Open houses on Mother's Day

I was very surprised to find more than 100 open houses today. After all, it is Mother's Day. With all the publicity this week that Rochester's real estate market ranks second in the country, it's no wonder. Here's the list: Open House ReportMe? I'm hanging out at the Lilac Festival!

Spring Market

No, I've not disappeared from the face of the Earth. It's spring time and more than the leaves have reappeared......so have the buyers. I've been working with five buyers for every listing which has kept me running all over a five county region. (Boy, the executives at oil companies must love me!) And when I'm not showing property, I've been sneaking over to Mendon Ponds Park for a little

The A-B-C’s and 1-2-3’s of Home Staging

I often now receive inquires about home staging, from home sellers all over the country, that typically start by asking a question such as, “Can you give me a little information on how staging works and what staging a home costs?” Since so many start their inquiry with the same question, I thought it would be helpful to answer with what I call the “A-B-C’s of Home Staging.”

A is for ABOUT home staging in general. Actually, if you are going to stage your property you need to know that it is ABOUT a 2 step process. The first step is the “prepping of the property. Prepping the house basically attends to the conditional issues that need to be repaired, cleaned and/or updated. The second step is ABOUT the “pretty visual” that people think of when they think of home staging. This step has to do with the physical setting/arranging of the furnishings and/or accessories within a house. The combined goal of the 2 steps is to create a house that shows it best and ultimately will draw the interest of the widest buying demographic possible.

B is for BASIC types of staging services. While there are 6 Basic types of staging services, it is important to note that all stagers offer all six. The services a stager offers the better it is for you. Since you actually won’t know what you will need until the stager visits for the first time, a stager that provides more service types is better equipped to guide you based on your needs and not cut short the impact of staging because of their own limitations.

The 6 BASIC staging service types are:

1. Consult Staging: This type of staging solely taps into a Stager’s knowledge. First focusing on the condition of a home, a Stager visits a property to meticulously instruct on all that must be done to best prep and then set the property for market.



2. Re-Arrange Staging: This type of services relies on both the Stager’s knowledge and their physical labor. Once a home’s conditional needs are met, a Stager arranges the property by physically setting it using only the seller's existing furniture and decorative accessories.



3. Enhance Staging: Again, once conditional issues are addressed, the Stager will then set the interior space. But not only are the existing furniture and accessories used, but the Stager will bring and blend in decorative accessories and/or furniture from their inventory. These “props” are loaned or rented to the seller while the home is for sale.



4. Reseller Vacant Staging: When a "preowned" house is vacant, there is not much else to look at, conditional issues and concerns are amplified and ultimately fixated on by buyers. So while it is important that conditional needs be addressed, a Stager is hired to then maximize the home’s visual appeal by fully setting it with the appropriate furnishings and accessorizes.



5. Rehab Vacant Staging: When conditional issues throughout a older property are repaired and updated to today's trends, a Stager is hired to then maximize the home’s visual appeal by fully setting it with the appropriate furnishings and accessorizes.



6. Model Vacant Staging: While conditional in new construction is not an issue, “life-styling” is. Models typically rely more on projecting a “life-styled” visual appeal then a preowned vacant. A good Stager understands and designs within a specific life-style marketing concept when furnishing, accessorizing and setting a vacant spec / model property.

C is for COST to hire a home stager. What hiring costs actually are depends on how much Talent (knowledge), Time (physical labor) and Treasure (props) a stager provides. If a seller has a limited amount to spend, then the best value a stager can provide is the Consult. For as little as $100 (in some markets) a Stager can be hired to scrutinize a property and provide professional staging advice and guidance. From there it is realistic to expect to pay anywhere from $35 to $75 per hour for a stager’s services. As for props, the fees for renting these items will vary based on just what is being rented and the length of time the items are being rented for.

Sellers are not only realizing the cost of staging will pay off, but actually ARE benefiting from making the investment. Let’s face it; if “time is money” then reduced market time is a great return on investment. So regardless of staging solution proposed, a good stager will do all they can to maximize the return on a seller’s staging budget so that the house sells… 1-2-3.

So there you have it, today’s blog lesson on the A-B-C’s and 1-2-3’s of home staging.


Staging It Forward...
Me