New Blogger Website

I am happy to announce we have now streamlined the blog, website, and chat feature !

All New Blogs Will Be Written On: 

The Real Estate Matchmaker !  

All previously written blogs will remain here until they are all completely transferred, 

please be sure bookmark the new website ! 

Home Sweet Home Improvement

If your thinking about putting your home on the market, and you want to get top dollar from your home the saying you need to spend money to make money is often the last thing you want to hear.  There are plenty of inexpensive ways to help improve your homes chance of selling, you don't necessarily need to spend thousands of dollars by doing a complete overhaul but certain key changes can really change the overall appearance of a room ! 

• Kitchen makeover. The kitchen is the most popular room in the house to remodel. Most in the industry will tell you money spent upgrading a kitchen produces the highest return on investment. One of the best things you can do in a kitchen is replace the countertops, sink, and appliances.  Depending on the size of your kitchen you can get remnant pieces of granite, or another great option is butcher block counters they always give a kitchen a great clean look ! 

• Bathroom fixer-upper. Upgrading a bathroom is another sound choice and will often provide a significant return on investment, as large bathrooms typically top the list for those seeking a new home. A quick change of a vanity, toilet, lighting, and fresh paint can cost under $500 and give your bathroom a great facelift ! These are simple things that can really give a buyer a fresh look at your space ! 

• Flooring updates. Many homes on Long Island have hardwood floors if they were built in the 60's or 70's whats amazing is the builders than covered them with carpeting ! If you have hardwood floors pull up that carpeting and show them off ! If you have bright colored carpet trade it out for more neutral colors this can help the buyer visually picture their furniture instead of thinking about what exactly would match your carpet ! 

• Create Outdoor Living Space. This is another great trick, and the best part is normally you will get to take your upgrades with you.  If you have a nice patio you can buy some new furniture, solar lighting, and a few potted plants can show the buyer the potential in even the smallest yard plus that new patio set will come with you to your next home ! Solar lighting and bright colored plants are also a great option for your front yard to help your curb appeal ! 

Whether or not you choose to update your home there are some things you should do and I can not stress this enough but de-clutter your home.  Pack up what your not going to be using (seasonal clothes, holiday decorations ect.) and put them into your attic or storage facility ! I can't tell you how many times homeowners de-clutter the home but put it all into their closets and than we have an avalanche when the buyers open them up ! You want the buyers to have the space in your home to see what it will look like with their furniture and their family living there ! Almost every buyer whom I have had buy a home, always took the time to figure out where there things would fit before making the final decision ! 

What Your Should Ask Before You List Your Home

Many of my listings happen to come from expired listings, because of that I meet a lot of homeowners that are hoping a new Realtor will get their home sold.  Let me first off by pointing out that I am going to list the questions you should be asking in order and the most important !

1.  What Kind Of Company Do They Work For ? 
The very first question I hear from a homeowner is "What Is Your Commission" ? This should actually be your LAST question, it does not matter what a Realtors commission rate is if they don't do what needs to be done to sell your home.

• Is the company individually owned, or is it owned by a company ? In most cases bigger is always better because they are affiliated with other companies that can help get your home sold.  You can't just assume that because they have the named Century 21, Coldwell Banker, or Prudential does not mean owned by a company because these are franchises.   Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is company owned, that is why and how we are able to offer so many options like in-house mortgages, home warranties, insurance, and a title agency. 

2. What Is Their Internet Presence, and How Do They Create Your Listing ? 

• What do they do for online advertising ? Everyone puts their listings onto MLS, what you want to know is how many other sites will your home be on, and who will be the point of contact on each of those websites ! Many homeowners don't realize but the ad space around all listings need to be purchased by your agent otherwise the point of contact is not your agent, but rather the agent who did purchase it.  Another important part of Internet presence is do you know if your listing is actually coming up in a search and being viewed, you should find a company that can track at least the number of views your getting or how many times your home came up in someones search.  

• What do they do to create your listing ? The first impression your house gives is by it's listing does the agent stage your home or professional photos, buyers are very visual so you want to be sure that you catch their attention right away ! Another often overlooked aspect is what your listing will actually have written on it ? You want to make sure that it has a detailed description and directions many buyers look to the directions to figure out the area that it is in.  The best way to gauge all of these things is to ask to see the agents other listings and see how they present ! 

3. How Available Would Your Agent Be ? 

• How available are they to you ? This is another question that homeowners often forget to ask, you want to know how often your realtor will be following up with you to give you updates on your home, feedback from Realtors, and most importantly what is going on with other homes that are selling and coming onto the market while your on the market ! You want a realtor who has a system to keep you up to date on all of those things going on in the market around you, this way you know how and when you will hear from them.  

• How available are they to buyers ? This is a very important question to ask because how quickly they respond to inquiries will decide how many buyers stay interested in your home.  Statistics show that 60 minutes after an inquiry is sent, the chance of reaching that potential buyer decreases to less than 50% !  The best way to find this out is after your appointment place an inquiry with them about one of their listings and see how long it takes for them to get in touch with you !  You will also want to see if they will attend showings that are being done by other brokers.  Granted the other brokers will be the ones talking to the buyers you want any questions they have, or any pertinent information about your home to be answered accurately and the only way they can be sure that happens is if your agent is there.  Now, this is my disclaimer, even the best agent will not be able to attend all showings but you should make sure they have a follow up plan in place for the ones they won't be able to attend.  

4. What Technology Do They Use To Help Their Listings ? 

• This question is more of a general question, you want an agent who uses all the tools that are available out there to help get your home sold.  You also want someone who understands the basic technology that is being used in today's market such as the social marketing, virtual presentations, online newspapers and forums ! These are the tools that bring buyers to your home, the more places your home and your agent are the more chance the right buyer for your home will come across it.  I happen to offer some additional tools for buyers who look at my listings like that ability to chat with me online, or giving them the ability to actually schedule an appointment anytime at their convenience! 

5. What Is Your Home Worth ? 

• I am sure your wondering why this at the bottom of the list, the reason why is because as long as the agent has provided you with a Comparative Market Analysis than the price of your home should not vary by very much.  If the agent has not performed an actual CMA and presented it to you, than that should make your decision for you ! The one part of this you do want to make note of is what kind of pricing style they would suggest for your home and area Market Priced or Action Priced !

These are the most important questions you should be getting the answers too, and the very last question should be that of "What Is Your Commission", don't discount a company or agent because of this answer decide who you think will do the best job and get your home sold ! If you hire an agent that your not sure can actually sell your home to save 1% on commission you will only end up spending more time and money living and maintaining it rather than moving onto your next home ! 

Garage Sales Made Easy !

Real estate agents often talk to homeowners about clearing out some of their belongings from their home before putting it on the market, and many people will decide to try the yard sale route.  This sometimes works great, but alot of people who decide to go that route are often disappointed by the outcome selling things for $1 or $2 after spending the better part of their day pulling things out than having to put it back into their house.  Some homeowners, including myself don't even get to that point I've been planning my garage sale for the past 5 years !

Trust me I can understand why it is such a daunting task, and because of some much needed renovations to my home and a "suggestion" from my contractor I was put in a position that either A. this garage sale I'd been planning needed to happen or B. My garbage men and neighbors were about to hit the jackpot!

I still couldn't see myself spending a week pulling everything I didn't want out to get prepared for the garage sale, and than spend an entire day trying to sell it with my son underfoot. I looked into the Ebay store route but it still involved packing it all up in my car and taking it to the store for them to sell it.  Even doing normal Ebay, than I would be going out and having to ship and weigh everything and than pay for it to be advertised on the site whether it sold or not.

After a bit of brainstorming, I realized that I could have a "Virtual Garage Sale" with a little bit of help of Facebook, Craigslist, & EBay.  It would be a garage sale everyday for as long as I wanted, plus it would cost me minimal time and effort plus I would sell alot more in 3 months than doing a 1 day garage sale.

Here are the steps to making your "Virtual Garage Sale" successful !

• The first step is of course deciding where your storage area for your items will be.  If your like me there is not 1 area of the house to put everything you don't want or need anymore and be able to navigate thru it on a daily basis, I unfortunately do not have a basement.  If you are lucky enough to have one than that will usually make your life a bit easier.  I borrowed some fold out tables from friends and families and decided to set shop up in my garage lining the garage walls with the tables.  

• The next step is deciding what you are going to sell in order to make the most of your time, you don't necessarily want to put 50 different items online because maintaining the ad can become time consuming and you will stop keeping up with it because it will become tiresome.   Instead you will want to consider starting with something like 10 ads with 3 or 4 different categories, or think about grouping them so they cross advertise one another.   If your selling things like DVD's your best bet will be to sell them in bulk, putting up the full list of what you have available and sell them in lots of 5 letting the buyers choose which 5.       

• You will want to decide what the best kind of site you want to advertise on.  An Online Ebay Store was a bit much for me to undertake, so I opted for the Craigslist route.    When you use Ebay you will need to decide if you want someone to be able bid or buy immediately with their Buy It Now feature, you will also need to set up a PayPal Account in order to receive payment.  Ebay also allow you to re-list without having to redo the entire ad week after week, but they do charge you to advertise on their website whether the items sells or not. 

• Another option is Craigslist, which is the route which I chose because I was more comfortable not having to be responsibility of making sure the items got delivered.  The upside to Craigslist is the fact that you are not charged per ad, but the downside is you will get quite a few bogus buyers who have no intention of buying.  This site also allows you to simple renew your ad with one simple click, bringing you back up to the top of the list.  

• You will want to share what your selling, you never know who knows someone looking for items for cheap.  I created an entire facebook album where I have what I am selling, and I have sold a few things to friends of friends because of it. 

• Once you have your area set up, and your ads are running you simply sit back and collect your profits ! Because your only running a handful of ads, after you have items sold simply put up whatever you would like to sell next.   

Now, there is some safety & privacy precautions you will want to take if your using Craigslist, which is usually best for large or heavy items.  

• Never believe anyone who offers you a money order because they are "out of the country" or "buying for a relative", they are scams ! 

• Never allow someone to go into your home when they come to pick up the item unless it is absolutely necessary .  

• Always have someone in the house with you, or offer to meet them in an area that you know during the daytime! 

• Do not put your actual home address in the "location" area, just put the town, and never give them your home phone number always use your cell ! 

I've been doing my Virtual Garage Sale, via CraigsList for about 2 weeks and I've sold about $200 worth of items with less than 3 hours worth of work to get it done, and the only reason it took that long was because I had alot of small items I need to sort and group before posting my ads.  I've sold things from an old microwave for $10 to $75 for a old video game system ! Happy Selling !   

                                                                                                                                            

Pets Etiquette 101

This blog is to educate both homeowners and buyers with a little bit of "pet etiquette" when it comes to their homes and homes that you may be viewing.  Now as a disclaimer let me say this before I go any further, I am a pet owner I have 5 dogs and 2 cats so I understand that the dogs shed, and the cats litter will never smell like a bouquet of roses!  As a buyer you will want to be courteous because these animals are very much part of the homeowners family - as a homeowner you will want to be courteous that not everyone is a animal person! 

Let's begin with some etiquette for the buyers and some tips to keep potential problems at bay!

• If you are severely allergic to any specific animal, you should really share this information with your Realtor.  More than likely we still going to take you to those homes unless it is severe, your agent will explain the special circumstances to the listing agent. The homeowners can do a bit more of cleaning, and we will know in advance what we may be walking into.  

• Hopefully the homeowner has cleaned up but if you happen to walk into a home, and there is let's say the smell of a cat or dog do not say anything about it to the homeowner it is rude, mention it to your agent, let them communicate to their agent.  If it is an ongoing issue their agent will be aware of it, and will be able to approach it in their own way to their client. 

• Recently I have been coming across people with extreme fears of dogs, but this goes for any animal.   Although the animal will not be coming with the house their is nothing worse than not being comfortable while your viewing potential homes.  You don't ever want to have to rush through a home, your agent will make a specific call to make sure you will be able to view the home animal free!

Now before I go any further I would like to give you an example of why "pet etiquette" is so important for not only the people who are viewing your home, but for your pet as well! 

I recently went to a rental listing where the owners had a very large pit bull, he was quite surprised to see me in what was clearly his part of the yard! My client is petrified of dogs, so although he was only protecting his turf this gave her quite a scare.  If she had mentioned this fear I would have never shown her a listing where she would have to live along side not only a dog but an extremely large dog.  The listing Realtor should have also written clear showing instructions on where access to the apartment, the dog would not have been to blame if he attempted to protect his turf.  

Now let's talk about some tips for homeowners and their pets ! 

• If you have pets sometimes it is best to ask for advance notice before your home is to be shown, nothing extreme but if you need 3 or 4 hours to make arrangements that is reasonable.  If your animal is small enough to be crated it is a good option, especially if you have a small animal who could easily get past a buyer who may hold a door open for too long or not notice an escapee! 

• Vacuum and invest in some air fresheners ! Vacuum a bit more to prevent any accumulation of dander or hair in case of buyers with sensitive allergies.  Put in some of the automatic air fresheners discreetly around your home, although you may not smell your animal potential buyers can be turned off by animal smells.  

• Clean up after your pet! You will want to clean up any toys, or "presents" your pet has left you in a timely manner.  If you have a cat try and clean the litter box up daily, same thing with a dog buyers don't want to dodge landmines when they are walking around your backyard! If you have  any puppy pads you will also want to pick them up before your buyers come to look! 

• Crate any smaller animals that you may have, place a post it on them asking buyers not to touch the cages.  This prevents your pet from getting locked in any small spaces they may wander into, and any incidents can be avoided.  I once had a Realtor tell me about her own cat cornering buyers in an upstairs bedroom and growling needless to say they stayed in that corner until the agent came to their rescue! 

• The best thing you can do when you have pets is to find yourself a pet friendly realtor! We can help you with the process of making sure your pets are not only well taken care of but protected when your home is being shown! 

An example of where your animal would need to be protected is something I came across just the other day and I give credit to not only the homeowner but to the agent! I arrived at a listing where the homeowner was not present for the showing, and on the door there was a note from the Realtor it said "Please be careful there is a small kitten in the home, when you open any closets please be aware of where she is so she does not get locked in closets or boiler room, if you are not able to get her out of any area please call me immediately do not try and grab her!"  The kitten did indeed great us immediately at the door, and would have scooted right out if we hadn't been aware prior to going in that she would be there! 

Here is another example, my homeowners who will more than likely see this blog (hi guys!) happen to have a average sized dog.  Any showings that I do during the day I go a bit earlier than the buyers are expected and I take Bella outside into the backyard.  When they are ready to view the backyard I simply walk her onto the sidewalk, and than back into the house!  The homeowners leave me her leash out on their kitchen table for showings during the week, and during open houses Bella visits families members for a bit! 

Never assume that a Realtor will do these things for you, not everyone is comfortable with other peoples pets! You will want to talk with whomever your choose to list your home about what arrangements you should make for your pets and what they are comfortable doing to help! 

How To Handle Offers On An Overpriced Home !

Finding the right house for a buyer can be tough, not only on the clients but on the realtor as well. When you opt to use a Buyer Broker it can be a bit easier but sometimes the only thing standing between your and your new home can be a seller.

When you choose to use a Buyer Broker they may show you homes that are priced above your price range, and you may wonder why, isn't that a tease since you can't afford the price. Remember just because a home is listed at a certain price it does NOT mean it is worth what the homeowner may want for it! Sometimes an agent will not take the time to educate a homeowner about the current market prior to listing the home or they may opt to go with their gut on price, this makes it much harder on all involved but it does happen.

When it comes to a home that is over priced in any area the negotiations can go a few different directions but will always require patience and strategy when it comes to putting in an offer. You will of course want to review the comps in the area carefully with your Buyer Broker, because you will want to be confident in your price being fair. Putting in a offer below the market value will make negotiations much harder, because your leaving a bigger gap between what you want to buy it for and what they believe the home is worth. When your agent presents the initial offer that is when you will normally find out why the home has been priced higher than fair market value.

Once your agent has put in your initial offer that is when you will begin to be to strategize what kind of negotiation style you will use when it comes to how you will counter.

If the homeowner comes down to a significantly lower price point it is a sign that their agent is educating them about what their home is actually worth in the current market. You will want to do the same with your counter in order to show them that you are a serious buyer! If your only around $10,000 apart in price sometimes offering to split the difference between is fair and will sometimes get you an accepted offer ! Remember whether the home is over-priced or fair value your best way to get an accepted offer is to put yourself in the sellers shoes!

If the homeowners barely budges off their price, either their agent has attempted to educate them with no success or they simply think the home is worth more as well. The conversation between your Broker and the Listing agent will clear up which one is the case.

This is where things can require quite a bit of patience, sometimes your best bet is to back off of a seller and give them time to sit on the market, and see for themselves that no one will buy their home for that price. It is a risk when you do this, and you should only do this if you have tried presenting at least 2 reasonable offers and your still significantly far apart on price. By far apart I mean over $20,000 and if the seller has not given reasonable counter offers !!

You will also want to be sure your agent keeps in contact with the listing agent, you don't want to wait to see a price reduction on MLS because than you may find yourself in a bidding war because of other buyers looking at the new price ! You shouldn't stop looking at houses either while you are waiting out a seller. Many times I have buyers who look at quite a few other homes in the interim and it helps puts in perspective what their money can buy. You may decide that your willing to pay a bit more than you originally decided for a home, or you may find a better home !

Once the homeowner has had sometime sitting on the market you will than see if they really want to sell their home, or if they were just putting it out their to see what would happen.

Before you place another offer on the house schedule another showing with your broker to go and see it again, ideally when you know the homeowner is going to be home. You want them to know your still interested in their home in case there agent doesn't remind them of your previous offers !!

Make sure when you present your next offer don't skimp out make sure that your agent reminds them of all the details of your offer.  You may still need to do a bit of negotiating but again patience is key ! If the homeowner is still not being reasonable you may have to continue to wait it out, you may end up finding a better home but I'm always certain for every buyer is the perfect home !

Most people think the number one reason to use a Buyers Broker is so that you don't over pay for a house, but that is not actually the most important. It's not always about making sure you don't overpay but also about making sure you don't miss out on a home because of trying to under value someone's home. The best reason to find yourself a Buyer Broker that you trust is actually to make sure you don't miss out on a home that would be a great fit for you period.

The Important Questions To Ask The Realtor BEFORE You List Your Home!

I would like to take a minute to talk about some of the key things homeowners who are selling their home should be asking the Realtors that they are interviewing.  If you have had the opportunity to meet with me, you will know I prefer homeowners that ask questions, and expect results.  It is a part of my job that I truly enjoy, because of that I do frequently looks at homes that have expired and see if there is anything more that could have been done.  After meeting with quite a few of these homeowners I have come up with a list of questions that may have gotten overlooked, and unfortunately caused someone's home to be mis-managed during its first time on the market. 

Pictures
Ask about the pictures, how many and what quality? If your home doesn't have any pictures, or you can't actually see the size of the room than chances are it is not going to be giving that great first impression that you want it to.  Over 90% of homebuyers find their home online. 

Internet Presence
What kind of advertising accounts do they have with those internet sites such as zillow, trulia, realtor.com.  By having those listings branded with your realtors information, he/she will directly be getting those leads to follow up with them.  I personally have this for all of my listings I want all of my potential buyers coming directly to me with no middle man!

We also have a system call LeadRouter, which allows leads to come directly to us within seconds of the information being requested.  It is something I frequently show my sellers, and they are able to see it immediately.


Viewings and Open Houses
This is one of the most important things to ask, is who and how are they going to be showing your home.  Is your Realtor going to be there when it is shown? Who will be holding your open houses, how often, and in the event another agent from the office will be what do you do to prepare them for the open house?

I can't tell you how many times I have heard these kinds of complaints from expired listings, these are the important questions you should be asking because these are the things that will get your home to sell!  Having buyers agents hold your open house is not a bad thing, I personally have done this myself but I am sure to go over the home with the agent who is covering it first.  If I am unable to attend a showing of your home, rather than not allow another agent in, I prefer to be sure to call them right after the appointment to answer questions and get the feedback.

You should be asking how often they plan on having open houses, many times a will find upset homeowners because during a period of 6 months they only had 1 open house, this should be part of the market plan you saw before you signed a contract listing the home.

Agent Promotion
What information is available on their personal websites, many times Realtors family members will be our best advertising, but they will almost never remember what our website url is, so they give the friend our name, and the friend than googles us.  What comes up when you google your Realtor, and what does their website offer to the consumers?

You always want an agent who is promoting him/herself, if they are promoting themself than they are also promoting their listings, and your home!

What If You Don't Want To Sell It ?
Life happens and sometimes circumstances forces us to change our path or direction fairly quickly.  Someone who may have been selling their house might have a change in heart, or life could have happened and it needs to be put on the back burner.  Their are also circumstances where a homeowner has an horrible experience with a Realtor but was forced by the contract to continue the listing, even if the Realtor was not doing their job. 

Our company has the "Sellers Services Gurantee" this allows a homeowner to retract their listing they have with our company if we are not living up to our end of the deal. 

If it is a case of life happens, we are not the kind of company that wants the listing to just say we have it, we understand and will withdrawn your listing if something comes up where you no longer want to sell your home. 

What Kind Of Company Is It?
Most brokerages that are owned have a managing broker, this is the one who really oversee's and takes responsibility for all of the agents that work with his company. 

In some agencies there are competing brokers, which means this person takes his own listings and clients, and than on top of it helps everyone else.  This is alot for any one person to handle, and I chose to work for a company who has a non-competing broker.  Our brokers only job is to be their for us, and for our buyers and sellers.  He will meet with our sellers to go over market trends, and makes a point of going and looking at every home our company lists. 

Commission
Many companies now are keeping with the National Average, as far as commission is concerned with the 5%, but their are many discount brokerages "pretending" to be full service brokerages but are not offering the Full Service Guarantee, but still charging the full service fee.  Please refer to my blog outlining exactly what a Full Service Agency offers.


These are just some of the many things I come across while I am conversing with homeowners that have listed their home only to have the listing expire a few months later.   There are of course some cases where the home that expires is because it was either over-priced for the market, or impossible to show which is not always the fault of the Realtor.  The purpose of this blog is again to educate homeowners on the importance of asking the right questions!

What To Do With All That House!

It has finally happened – all your children are out of the house and now you find yourself with more rooms than people to occupy them. So what’s next? Should you move to a smaller home with fewer rooms, or does it make sense to redesign and repurpose the children's bedrooms? The professionals at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation offer you the following tips on how to make your house more homey in this next stage of your life:

If You Choose to Downsize

· If you decide to move to a smaller house, a condominium or an apartment, meet with your insurance company as your home insurance needs will change dramatically.

· Before moving, organize a big garage sale with all the furniture and other items you will not need anymore. Use the proceeds to pay the movers. 

If you are on track to meet your retirement savings goals or if your children have graduated, you may have newly available disposable income. You may now be in a better position to spend more on housing since you are no longer supporting your offspring. With that in mind, you might consider moving to an active-adult community.

 

If You Choose to Remodel

If you want the emotional comfort of staying in your home, you are a good candidate for remodeling. Now that the nest is empty, you can:

· Create your own private office space, a library or an exercise room by combining the kids' bedrooms. However, before you make any big changes, make sure you don't have boomerang kids who expect to come back for a few years!

· Increase the value of the property by reorganizing the empty space – expand your bathroom to install a Jacuzzi for example, or build a bathroom spa. 

· Overhaul a guest room or a den into a media room / entertainment center with a high end plasma TV, sound system and comfortable seating.  

·  

For the more adventuresome, consider converting your home into an owner-operated bed & breakfast and use the money to cover education loan payments, or pay into your retirement plans.

How To Make Sure Your Home Sells At The Right Price !

COLDWELL BANKER® SHOWS YOU HOW TO MAKE SURE THE YOUR HOME SELLS AT THE RIGHT PRICE

Establishing a reasonable and profitable listing price for a home is perhaps the biggest challenge for every home seller. Before coming to a final figure, many sellers ask themselves: "That home down the block went for a lot; can I just price my home in the same ballpark?" "Can I jack the price up in a hot market?" These and many other factors must be considered before settling on a listing price. The professionals at Coldwell Banker Residential Homes recommend taking the following steps before setting an asking figure.

         

Choose the Right Sales Associate
While many people use a friend or relative's referral to select a sales associate, it is smart to interview many prospective agents. Invite several sales associates to show their listings presentations. Pay attention to how they plan to market the home, and find out the reach of their company's Web site. Also, make certain they plan to list the home on the multiple listing service (MLS) and inquire about how broad their real estate contact network is.

 

Do The Homework.
Ask a real estate sales associate for a written comparative market analysis (CMA). This will provide a list of recent sales prices of similar homes in the area (with comparable numbers of bedrooms, baths, square footage and lot size), the asking prices of homes currently for sale nearby and other important information. Then a sales associate will provide a professional estimation of a legitimate selling price.

Take the Emotion Out of It
While the seller likely has great affection for the home, the sales associate will not set the price based on the seller's emotion. Instead, he or she will evaluate the location, condition and size of the home. A house in a secluded, exclusive area may appeal to some, while others will want to be closer to schools, shopping and health care facilities. What is the physical condition of the home? Is it a fixer-upper? Does it make a good first impression (the ever important curb appeal)? Will it appeal to a growing family, or is it better suited to empty nesters?

Determine If It Is a Buyers/Sellers Market
Home inventory, mortgage interest rates and the economy play a role in determining whether the buyer or seller has a negotiating advantage. Interest rates remain at historically low levels even as the economy shows signs of improving, putting buyers in a good position to shoulder "good" debt of homeownership.

     

Do the Math
Do not forget to figure in closing costs, legal fees and other selling expenses when determining the selling price. The sales associate should be able to provide cost estimates, and negotiate with a potential buyer to ensure a good sale price.

                                                           
Give It the Once Over
There is one more step to ensure that the house sells for your price, or more. Do as much as possible to improve the home's appearance: touch up the paint, fix leaks, seal any cracks, clean up the clutter, and eliminate pet odors. The house has only one chance to make a first impression.

What To Do When Your Homes Not Selling

So your homes been on the market, you haven't received many showings and you haven't had any great offers come in.  

Well make sure you take a look at some key points, and take sometime and set up a meeting with your Realtor to discuss what more can be done for your home! 

Pictures 

Your very first impression can never be changed so make sure your home stands out!

Are your pictures updated for the season?

Play up your selling season ! 

Out of season pictures, can make a home look less appealing.

Do you have pictures of each room, and are they quality photos? 

You should be able to see from the floor to the ceiling corner to be sure potential buyers get the best view of the room. 

Internet Presence & Price 

Sometimes you need to take an objective look at your home, and how it stacks up against the other homes in your neighborhood.  

How many homes in your neighborhood will come up in your search criteria, and are you priced aggressively enough to compete?

This is a very simple thing to check, and correct! Search for your home if you come up and your close to the last home in a search with more than 10 homes it is time to do what you have to, to get your home on the top! 

I also utilize a great website that allows you to track your home, and your competition.  You are able to access it at anytime that you would like, and it will also keep you up to date on others price changes, new listings, and what has come off the market.

How many websites and hits is your home receiving?

This unfortunately is not an easy thing to correct, many times the company you listed with, does not have the ability to add you to any extra websites, and so you are limited, this should be a deciding factor when you are listing your home with a company.   

                

In order to be sure this is never an issue for our clients Coldwell Banker Residential advertises your home on over 30+ websites, and I personally have your home as a branded listing so it also gets top spots on these websites. 

                                                   

We also have taken full advantage of technology many of our websites we are able to track how many times you have shown up in a general search, and we can track how many detailed views your home has had.    

                   

How does your agent respond to buyer information requests? 

Prospective buyers for your home can come at anytime day or night, this again is where technology is key.  Your agent should be responding to these buyers immediately, even if it is to schedule a tentative appointment for them to see your home.    

Coldwell Banker also has the lead-router system which immediately calls your agent within minutes of the inquiry being made with all the details of the prospective buyer.                                                                                                                                            

Taking it a step farther, I personally have set up a chat feature that allows, buyers and sellers to IM me directly, and I have online scheduling so that the buyer can just go ahead and set up their appointment online anytime of the day or night.  

Availability

How easy is it to get into your house?

How easy is it for a buyers agent to show your home to their buyers?

I always try and put myself in others shoes, when I take a listing I like to discuss what times are good for my homeowners to show their home, and requesting 24 hours notice is a reasonable time frame.  By setting up times that other agents will know it is “easy” to show, you are setting yourself apart from the other listings. 

I always suggest putting a lock-box on any home I list, no one is given access to the lockbox without calling our office, and we verify each Realtors license is current, before they are given the code.  If the homeowner is not available the lock-box allows me to be their with the buyers broker, for again an easy showing. 

How important are open houses?        

 In my own opinion, I believe it is always good to have an open house scheduled and available for clients to see.  This gives them an open invitation and a no pressure to see the home.  In today’s market many buyers will do the research on their own, and will spend most of their weekends out without their Realtor, and many websites are becoming much more sophisticated allowing buyers to create an itinerary for their weekend, you want to make sure you become part of that!  

Buyers Don't Hide Out During The Winter Months and Neither Should Your Home!

It is that time of year again, and the majority of home-owners are deciding to opt out of keeping their home on the market.  I don't know who started the rumor that no one will buy a home in the winter but I am here to attempt to give you a different perspective about selling your home during the fall/winter season. 

I touched base on this in a few different blogs when it came to staging and open houses, but I wanted to take the time to elaborate, and give you some great insight on selling during this season. 

1. The Buyer Pool IS Smaller

Now I am sure your thinking that this is a horrible thing, but in reality many prospective buyers shopped all spring, and summer long and have been left not finding the home of their dreams.  The easiest way to weed out a shopper, from a serious buyer is simple, are they willing to go out in the cold?

Your home will get alot of attention during the "busy season" but many will be people that are just doing this on the weekend to see what is out there, or they are like myself and I am not ashamed to admit my family members.  

These are also buyers who more than likely have seen many homes, and by this time have really narrowed down their wants, from their needs, and are not about to let the perfect home slip by them!

2. Less Competition!

This is the only upside to the myth that no one buys a house in the winter.  Your competition is reduced drastically, drive around your neighborhood during the months of October and November and you will notice there doesn't seem to be as many for sale signs out anymore. 

Not having a ton of competition in your surrounding area is priceless!

Quality Over Quanitity!

Now your thinking do you really want to have a ton of people in and out of your house during the season.  Well again thanks to the wondeful myth, you will only be left with serious buyers, which means yes your home will have less shows, but they will not only be better prospects but they will also provide some very good feedback!

When it comes to how many times your home has been shown, I truly beleive that quality is more important than quantity. 

You could have your home shown everyday of the week, for a month straight, but if only 1 buyer that came was qualified, than all those other shows were really just a waste of your time. 

4. The Neighborhood Will Speak For Itself

During these seasons neighborhoods always tend to feel a little bit more special. 

People are decorating their homes, villages are arranging festivities for the fall and winter.  Everyone is looking forward to the new year, and fresh starts!

This isn't something the homeowners think to take into consideration, because it isn't something Realtors will bring up. 

We all know that the first rule of buying a home is location, so why wouldn't you take the time to play up all your location has to offer?

How Long Should I List My Home FOr ?

How Long of a Listing Should Your Agent Expect to Take?

As you will see the way to determine how long to list your home for is according to the market.  So really although it is up to you to choose, you should be sure you are basing your decision on solid facts! In today's market it takes more than listing your home on MLS get it to the closing table.  You need an agent that is actively marketing your home in all venues internet presence, direct mail and open houses are just some of what needs to be done.  For today's market you should be listing your home with an agent for atleast 180 days, with the option to be released if they are not doing all that they agreed to do to market your home. 
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage does offer you this gurantee, if we are not doing everything we agreed to do, we will release you from the contract with us at anytime!

Reasons for a 30-Day Listing

• If your market is steaming hot and homes are flying into pending status within days, your agent might be agreeable to a 30-day listing.
• This way, if every other home on your street is selling within three weeks and yours is still sitting without an offer on day 29, you can easily get rid of your agent and hire somebody else.
• Before you refuse to relist with your agent, though, first look at the price. If your price is too high, no agent is going to sell it.

Reasons for a 90-Day Listing

• In normal markets, 90-day listings are more common.
• During the first 30 days, you should get a lot of showings if you are priced right.
• Ask your agent for buyer feedback and follow up on suggestions to improve the condition of your home and / or price.

Reasons for a 180-Day Listing

• If the average DOM exceeds two months, you're probably trying to sell in a buyer's market and will need a longer listing term.
• If you go into contract on a 90-day listing, your listing might expire while in escrow. In that event, your agent may require that you extend the listing, so it makes more sense to start out with a 180-day listing.
• Ask your agent when you initially sign the six-month listing if the agent will give you a personal guarantee that you can cancel at the end of 90 days if you are unhappy. If the agent won't give you that guarantee, then list with an agent who has more confidence to make you that offer.

Reasons for a One-Year Listing

• If you live out in the boondocks where nothing ever sells under one year, then a 360-day listing might be the norm in your area.
• Unique properties, large parcels and expensive estates might take longer to sell because they may appeal to a limited number of buyers.
• Private islands and lavish vacation homes require a longer marketing time, and agents might not be willing to shell out the big marketing bucks for a short-term listing.

Tattoos In Real Estate

So I have decided to write about something a little bit different today, not so much about real estate but about "Business" and tattoos. 

Now your probably wondering why ?

Well I had a interesting experience that took place this morning, and although it only lasted about 4 minutes, it got me thinking.   Whether I had tattoos or not this woman still would have been stuck at the red light with me, and I still would not have been able to move my car out of the way.  That being said, while she was screaming and cursing did she think that because I have tattoos, I would be ok with my 3 year old son listen to her curse and scream like a lunatic. 

Here is my question for everyone.

What is your take on tattoos, and business ?

Some people beleive that tattoo's should be covered at all times in business, they don't want to see them they normally can't give you a solid reason for them to be covered but they make it clear that it is a deal breaker.  I found this in my career with car dealerships, unless you were one of the mechanics even the smallest tattoo would cause a stir, and almost everytime you would be told to cover them up!

There is another kind of person, one who beleives in the "Time and a Place Theory" for tattoos.   Now I personally have my tattoos covered about 80% of the time when I am at work.  When I am in the office you will almost always see them unless I am expecting a client to walk in the door.  When I hand out my newsletters to the neighbors though, they are "out on display" because these are people that would be more shocked if they saw me trying to cover them up!

Than there is the rare find, someone who can look at your even if you are covered from head to toe in tattoos, and talk to you about business without asking you "Why did you do that to yourself"! This is something very rare and they will normally have tattoos of their own, they are completely open minded and don't understand why people think the ink on your skin, could affect your business !

As tattoos are becoming more and more common, I am finding there are more people today that beleive in the "Time and a Place Theory". 

I decided to do some research about tattoos and real estate, and I came across a Realtor who not only has tattoos but literally has them on display he even calls himself "The Tattooed Realtor".  I have to say I was surprised at his approach, but I absolutely loved it! The way he was so open about it would make me feel instantly at ease, but what about those that still had one of those awful stereotypes.  I would be curious what inspired him to do be so bold, or maybe the courage is a better word.

I did a facebook poll, I have a very large "friend pool", it does not only consist of family, and friends but has business owners, investors, my homeowners and my buyers as well.  I like to get honest opinions and many people were of the opinion that it will soon be the "norm" to see tattoos in business.

I do hope in the future that this stereotype of those that choose to have tattoos fade, just as they did for many other stereotypes.  Of course there will always be someone who is against it, but that is life.  I have always been very open about my tattoos, and my favorite reactions always come from children, not because they will always think they are great, but because children are always open enough to ask to see it, ask what it is and that is something I do love because I spent all those hours having this done because I wanted to share it with others.

When I chose to get these pieces of artwork done, I did consider what affects it would have not only on my life, but my sons and my business.  I have spent over 30 hours in a tattoo chair, it came me more than enough time to sit and think about it.  

For anyone out there who is hesitant about hiring someone because of the artwork they choose to display, I ask you this, do you want someone who will work hard on your behalf, or someone who looks like they can ?

After a very long day, I have come up with one absolute perk to my tattoos, if I could spend all that time in a chair in excruciating pain for the sake of art, negotiating with another Realtor to get my client a great price on their dream home is a cake walk !!