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Five Reasons to Hire a Real Estate Agent
In this time of do-it-yourself enthusiasm, handling the sale of your home on your own might seem like the perfect option. You control the sale, and you don’t have to worry about paying an agent’s commission fees. How hard can it be, right? Pick a price, stick up some fliers, and the buyers will come flocking to your doorstep.
Probably not. There’s a reason real estate agents get paid that commission fee– they earn it. There’s a lot more to selling a home than just putting the word out and hoping buyers call. Here are five reasons why you need to hire a professional Syracuse real estate agent for your home sale:
1. Market Knowledge
The real estate market changes on an almost daily basis. Homes sell for a little more, or a little less, depending on what the market condition is when they are being sold. If it is a buyer’s market, meaning that prices are low and inventory is plentiful, a real estate agent knows that he’ll have to put extra effort into selling your home. He can also help you to set a competitive listing price for the home, based on the recent sale prices of similar homes in your neighborhood.
2. Neighborhood Guidance
You know your neighborhood because you live there. Your real estate agent knows your neighborhood because it’s his job. You need to know how your home stacks up next to the competition (other homes for sale in your area). Your agent can provide you with those facts, as well as letting you know how easily homes in the area are selling. If the home down the street was originally listed for $200,000, but only sold for $175,000, and only after the owners made a few upgrades, that can tell you that homes in your neighborhood may not be selling well. Your agent will discuss specific steps you both can take to help your home sell easier.
3. Pro Negotiator
When you’ve found an interested buyer, the next step is to wait for the offer, review it, and renegotiate any unfavorable requests. Most buyers and sellers are uncomfortable with this part of the process, afraid of asking for too much or too little. A real estate agent helps this process go smoothly, protecting your interests while still encouraging a successful sale.
4. Networking
A real estate agent can get the word out about your sale. Not only will your property be listed in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), it will also be listed online, making it easily accessible to buyers searching for homes over the internet (according to the National Association of Realtors, over 80% of buyers start their searches online). Your Syracuse agent can also let their professional colleagues know about the property.
5. Experience and Training
Most importantly, your real estate agent has been trained to help you sell your home. He has the experience necessary to sell your home for the best price and in the shortest amount of time. If you have questions, he’s there to answer them. From the moment you decide to sell your home until the final step of closing the sale, your agent is by your side, walking you through each part of the process. And that’s something that you just can’t get when you’re selling your property on your own.
Should You Hire a Professional Stager?
If you search for homes online, you’re bound to see it. Homes that are cluttered, oddly painted, dark and depressing, or just off somehow. You can tell that the home has a lot of potential, but as it is in the pictures, it’s just an eyesore. ‘Wow,’ you think, ‘do they really hope someone will buy this?’.
Don’t be that seller. The first impression counts, whether it is through the pictures posted online, or when a buyer is walking through your home. A buyer can’t see himself living in your home if he has to look for potential, or if he has to imagine what the place would look like, if only the rooms were defined, or the clutter cleared out.
A professional stager can come into a home, look it over, and make suggestions on how to get the home ready to wow buyers, in a good way. She can suggest ways to make a smaller room look larger, and help you to rearrange furniture, or add in a few new pieces, to show off the best features of your home.
This service doesn’t come cheap, but it is absolutely invaluable. But, do you really need to hire a professional stager to sell your home?
Maybe, maybe not.
If you can walk through your home, and answer yes to all of these questions, you might not need professional assistance. If there are some fuzzy points, it might be time to ask for help.
1. Does every room have one clearly defined purpose? Are the office supplies out of the bedroom and living room? Have you cleared out the storage room, and turned it into a spare bedroom or den?
2. Is your home clutter-free? This means the top of the fridge, the cupboards, and the closet, too. Are there personal mementos decorating the walls (such as kids’ artwork or framed snapshots of family), or is the home depersonalized, to make it more inviting to the buyer?
3. Is each room inviting? Does it work? You want to make sure each furniture arrangement is showcasing the space, not just taking up space. Check for modern, and matching, window treatments, wall colors and other decorative accents throughout the home.
4. Is the exterior of the home (yard, deck, porch, outbuildings, ect.) clean, well-maintained and visually pleasing? Will buyers be impressed from the moment they pull up to the curb?
5. Would you buy this home, the way it is now?
If you can walk through the home, see the problem areas, and fix them yourself, you don’t need to hire someone to do it for you. Check out some books on professional staging, follow their advice, and you’ll be able to show buyers a home you can be proud of.
If you see some problem areas, but you aren’t sure where to start, or if you don’t have the time to tackle this yourself, it’s time to call in the pros. Investing in the services of a professional stager can pay off– Your home is more likely to sell faster, and for a slightly better price, if the home impresses the buyer from the moment he pulls in the drive.
Views: 47Short-Sale Incentives Start April 5th
Potential buyers of short-sale homes might consider waiting until April 5th before making a formal offer.
That’s the date the federal government will begin offering lenders financial incentives to hasten the process. Under the new rules, banks will seek a BPO before the property is listed for sale and let the sellers know a minimum number they are willing to accept. If the sellers bring a buyer with a good offer, the lender must accept it within 10 days.
Not all sellers are eligible for the program, dubbed the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA), but enough are that it is probably worth waiting.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher
Views: 53How to Get Top Dollar for your Home
Home prices are down. If you have lived in your home for several years, you might have a hard time getting back what you paid for the property originally. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to improve the selling price of your property.
Start by cleaning. It sounds basic, but it can make a huge difference. Dust, scrub, wash the windows. Hire someone to come in and deep clean the carpets, and make sure the floors are mopped and waxed, if necessary. Don’t forget to organize cabinets and shelves, and to clear out any clutter and personal items (pictures, refrigerator magnets, ect.).
You also need to clean up the outside of your home. This is a little harder in the winter, but it still needs to be done. Shovel all walkways and clear off the deck. Knock down large icicles. Make sure any outbuildings (garage or storage sheds) are cleaned out and organized. If you have pets, don’t forget to clean up their droppings. Buyers don’t want to see, or step in, the remainder of what Fido had for breakfast. Remember that the outside of the home is the first thing the buyer will see. Make sure their first impression is a good one.
Once everything is clean, it is time to start staging. If cleaning makes your property presentable, staging is what gives it the finishing “wow factor” touch. There are two main parts to staging. The first is that every room has a purpose, and only one purpose. Move the office out of your bedroom, for example. Clear out “storage” rooms and give them a purpose. Put the office in there, or set up a den or spare bedroom. Your goal is to make buyers feel like they could make the property their own.
The second part of staging is that the home has to look neutral. Paint the walls a soft, neutral color, such as light green or an off-white. Take down heavy drapes and put up something lighter that lets in a lot of natural sunlight.
You also need to go through the home and make note of any repairs. Leaky faucet? Loose floorboard? Fix it. Taking care of these tiny problems will make your home look well-cared for. That’s going to assure the buyer that he or she is getting a great property, which can up their offer price.
A buyer will only pay what they think your home is worth. It is up to you to impress them, as soon as they pull up to the property and then again as soon as they step foot inside your home. Prove to a buyer that your home is a great buy, and they’re more likely to pay what the home is worth.
Views: 50Fix it Up, or Sell As Is?
Not every home is ready to be sold when a seller decides to put it on the market. If your home needs repairs, you have a choice to make. You can fix it up yourself, or sell the home as it is, and let the buyer worry about fixing it up.
How do you decide? There are a few things to consider. For starters, realize that buyers will expect a lower price to make up for the time and expense of taking care of the repair. For example, your home is worth $150,000 after repairs. Repairs will cost $20,000, but you will probably get offers closer to $120,000, if not less. If you do take care of the repairs yourself, you’ll be able to bring in the full $150,000.
What needs to be done? Smaller projects, such as replacing a sink fixture or patching up an interior wall, are going to take less from the sale price than a new roof or water heater. The less expensive and inconvenient a repair is, the better chance you have of getting offers close to the actual value of the home. Again, you pay for the convenience of not worrying about a repair yourself; the factor to consider is how much that convenience will end up costing you.
The more economical choice is obviously to take care of the repairs yourself. Even if you choose to leave major repairs, taking care of smaller projects can have a huge affect on what your home sells for. Clean up the property, put a fresh coat of paint, in a neutral color, on the walls. As you go along, make a list of anything that is broken, worn out, or otherwise in need of repair or replacement. If you have to choose between repairs, pick the ones that will yield the most value for the smallest price. Kitchens and bathrooms will almost always improve the sale price, sometimes drastically.
Even if the home needs repairs, you should still try to make the property look well cared for. Replace worn or stained carpeting, fix broken windows, and scrub until the home shines. If a home looks like it hasn’t been taken care of, buyers will be more likely to wonder what else could be wrong with the property, and you won’t get as high of an offer.
The decision to fix a home up, or to sell it as is, is one that you should put some thought into. Even hiring someone to do the repairs for you will cost less than leaving them for the buyer to handle, but if you don’t have the money for repairs immediately available, or if you are in a hurry to move, it might be more practical to accept the home selling for less.
Views: 48Childproofing and Staging
Your children’s safety is important. If you have young children running around your home, then you probably also have toilet seat and refrigerator locks, safety gates, cabinet latches, and several other types of childproofing gear.
What do you do with these items when you’re getting ready to show your home to potential buyers? Removing all of the safety devices is unpractical—you (and your children) are still living there, after all. On the other hand, you want to present your home and make sure buyers can see how special it is, and that’s hard to do if the buyers can’t figure out how to get past the gates or how to open closet doors. You need to find a balance.
If possible, find a friend or relative to babysit your children the morning of the open house or viewing. If that isn’t an option, dedicate one room for the children to stay in, to keep them away from potential dangers, while you get your house ready. Go through the home, and remove any childproofing gear that is easy to put back on. This would include the knob covers, and any gates that can easily be lifted up and out of the way. Outlet plugs can stay; they’re unobtrusive and won’t affect how the home shows. Most real estate agents prefer if the owner of a home isn’t home while they show the property (it makes some buyers uncomfortable), so you won’t need to worry about keeping your children safe in the un-childproofed home.
Safety gear that would need to be removed with tools, or that is securely fastened on, should stay. It’s impractical to remove all of the cabinet latches or fridge locks, and then try to put everything back a few hours later. Buyers will understand the importance of child safety, and probably won’t even mention it. Worry about removing all of the more complicated devices before you move out. However, if the device can be unhooked or disabled for a short amount of time, do so.
If you do have childproofing equipment that can’t be removed, show your real estate agent how they work. Some of the more sophisticated gear is a challenge to figure out. This allows your agent to open areas that might otherwise be difficult for potential buyers to get into. If buyers (and your agent) can’t get past the complicated fence at the bottom of the stairs, it will make it much harder to sell your home.
Unless you are selling your home to a family that is interested in keeping the home childproofed, you will want to remove all of the safety gear before you move out. Patch up any holes that might be left in the walls or cabinets, and remove all of the electrical outlet guards.
Showing a home that has been childproofed shouldn’t be an issue. Let buyers know that the safety gear isn’t permanent, and that you will have it removed before you move out, and that any damage the gear caused will be patched up. That should be more than enough to convince buyers to look past the safety gates and see the beautiful property you’re selling.
Views: 37Home Selling: Must Have Features
In this economy, the housing market is not doing so well, but this has not been stopping buyers from wanting updated appliances, more space, and more features. Homes without these features or without the ability to have these features are finding it very hard to sell their homes. Here are some must have features that home sellers should know about when trying to sell their home. This way they can get the best price possible for their home.
Ask your real estate agent for advice
It is part of a real estate agent’s job to know which home features buyers are looking for and which features are not selling as well. It is a good idea to start here first when thinking about updates. They are an excellent first resource.
Large Kitchens with Island
If you have to make updates but need to save some money, it is best to make them the most where people want them the most and one of these places is with the kitchen. People love big open kitchens with plenty of cooking and entertaining space.
Energy Efficient Appliances
These days many people want to save money and one way to do this is by saving energy. They also want appliances that are better for the environment and work with them not against them.
Home office Space
Many home buyers now prefer to have this space over a formal dining room or other updates. This gives them room to work and a place that is just their own where they can relax and have peace of mind.
Master Suite on Main Floor
People now prefer to have a large master suite on the main floor of the home. This may be because they just want to relax after a hard day and not have to climb all those stairs. These master suites are also popular if they include a bathtub to soak in.
These are just some of new and most popular features to home buyers today. So if you are a home seller on a budget, update the big things first or things that would be most important to a possible buyer and do not be afraid to ask your agent for some help. This way you can relax and have peace of mind that your home will be sold for the best possible price.
Views: 51Thinking About Selling?
Warm weather, and the height of the home buying season, isn’t as far away as you think. If you were thinking about selling your home in 2010, this is the time to start getting ready. Clean, repair and contact a Syracuse real estate agent to get the process started.
But, what if you’re not sure if you want to sell? How do you make up your mind? After all, you’ve lived in this home for several years, and there are a lot of memories inside those walls. It’s your home. Are you ready to walk away from it?
That’s a hard decision to make, and there’s no right answer. It’s up to you and any family members who also live in the home with you. While you’re thinking about it, here are a few questions to keep in mind.
Does the home still fit your needs?
If it’s not broke, maybe it doesn’t need to be fixed, right? If you have the right amount of living space, the perfect yard, and you love your neighborhood, maybe this isn’t the time to move. On the other hand, if you’re family is growing and you need more space, or if the yard is too big for you to handle, there might be a better home for you. The same goes if your neighbors drive you nuts, or you want to move to a safer neighborhood. If your current home isn’t meeting your needs, it’s time to let it go and find a new home, one that is perfect for you.
Can you afford your current home?
It happens. Maybe you moved into a home, and then your financial picture changed. Maybe the heating and cooling bills are more than you can afford. Maybe you purchased a fixer-upper, and you can’t afford the repairs it needs. Whatever the reason, this home has become a financial albatross around your neck. It’s okay to let it go and move into a more manageable home.
Has your life changed?
Divorce, marriage, empty-nest, retirement… There are a dozen life changes that might have you second guessing your current home choice. If your life has changed recently, you might be ready to move to a home that better fits your current situation. If you bought the home while raising your children, for example, maybe you don’t want the extra work of keeping up a large home now that your children have grown and moved out on their own.
Are you ready for an upgrade?
A lot of people buy their first home with the hopes of an eventual upgrade. If you’re looking to move into a better home, this is the time to act. You’re going to have a lot of choices as a buyer. 2010 is going to be a wonderful year to buy a home, which makes it the year to upgrade to the type of home you’ve always dreamed of.
If you’re not ready to sell, don’t. There’s no way to change your mind later, after you’ve moved out. However, if you know you’re ready, contact a Syracuse real estate agent to learn about the next steps.
Views: 41Home Selling Drops and What This May Mean
Many of us know that due to the economy and many other important factors the housing market has been struggling. Even though tax breaks are being looked at and programs are being started, this may not be enough to rescue the struggling market yet. According to an article from U.S. News and World Report, entitled, “Home Sales Tank: What It Means for You”, home sales dropped almost 17 percent in December when compared to November sales. Some of this could be due to home buyers racing to get the tax credit in November and may not be that bad because it only is showing what would have happened had it not been for the tax credit deadline.
What this means for homeowners is that things are looking much better than before. Home values have become more stable since 2009 and there have been mortgage cuts and more tax breaks to make the situation look brighter for many homeowners. For home buyers this could mean that they should get the most leverage in the housing market at least until the spring. There are low prices, tax credits, and mortgage programs working in their favor as well. Home buyers should keep an eye on prices and rates though because they could get higher.
Prices should go back up from December’s low levels but home sellers may still have to work to sell their home. It is best to consult with an experienced real estate agent about your options and what would work best for you and your family. Things were worse last year though, so they might start looking better during the first part of this year. Home sellers should consider pricing their homes accordingly and doing everything they can to help an agent sell their home.
This report and other housing market news can help keep homeowners, buyers, and sellers more informed so that they can make the best decisions possible now and in the future. It is important that every possible buyer and seller know how the housing market is doing.
Views: 39Tips for Selling a Home on a budget
With the economy the way it is these days, everyone has on a tight budget. When selling a house, many people think this makes the whole process even harder. There are many things that go into selling a home and there is so much to consider, but there are ways, selling a home can be done on a budget. Here are some ways to save money when selling your home. This way you can move on to your new home and future with even more peace of mind.
Ask your Syracuse real estate agent for advice
Real estate agents help many people buy and sell homes each and every day. Many of these people probably are in similar budget situations. Your agent can offer tips, advice and is a great resource of information to help get you started.
Start looking at the outside of the home
There are many things you can do to the outside of your home to get it ready for selling that does not cost that much money. These include: mowing the lawn, planting flowers, wash the windows, touch up the paint, replace lights and more.
Remove clutter and furniture
You can do this by holding a garage sale which will actually help you to make some money. Other options may include: removing photos from walls and tables, pack up books and bookcases, clean out closets and store items that are not needed, and organize.
Working on the kitchen
If you are on a budget and cannot afford new counters, just consider redoing or fixing them. Re-grouting counters, re-staining, and painting can help save you money and make the kitchen look great at the same time. Also, a good cleaning will also help the kitchen look great
Clean
A good cleaning will make any home look great and it does not cost very much. You can rent a carpet steamer to clean the carpets, dust, make all wood and ceramic floors really shine, and give everything a good washing.
These days every money-saving tip is very important especially when it comes to selling your home. It may take some work and time or some creative thinking, but selling a home on a budget can be done. This way you can save your money for your future and rest easier knowing you were able to sell your home.
Views: 41