What Can I Do To Make My Home Desirable In A Buyer's Market?

Selling a home quickly, and for more money, in today's market is going to take some effort. There are many things that you can do to make your home really stand out in a buyer's mind when they have so many homes to look at.

First thing to do is get a Home Inspection. These typically cost between $260-$350, but the money that you will gain in the long run will more than cover this cost. A Licensed Home Inspector will inspect your home for all mechanical, electrical, and physical issues that may affect the sale of your property. To see an example of a Home Inspection, go to www.prchomes.com/homeinspect.htm. By having this inspection completed, and correcting the deficiencies that are discovered, you can eliminate problems that will arise when a buyer makes an offer on your home.

A good Buyer's agent will suggest that the buyers have a home inspection performed so they will not be surprised with problems after the sale. Many of these deficiencies can become a negotiation tool for buyers, getting you to reduce your price because of their changed perception of the value of your home when the problems are discovered. Eliminating any possible problems can really support your price, and get you the most amount of money for your home.

Secondly, you will do your pocketbook a world of good if you freshly paint each room of the home, have carpeting cleaned or replaced, and freshen the paint on all baseboards and trim. When a house is in "move-in condition" it sells for a higher price. If a buyer feels that they have to do all of these improvements in order to move in, they start deducting the perceived cost in their minds when making an offer. Something as simple as re-painting your home can net you $5,000 or more in value.

If you are considering updating or adding amenities to your home, be sure to check with a Realtor before making those changes. An improvement that YOU think will add value to your home, may actually be a draw-back to a buyer. For example, adding a swimming pool to your home is going to cost you fortune, but unless pools are common in your neighborhood, and the typical buyer looking at homes in your neighborhood is looking for a pool (and doesn't have small children), you will not be able to re-coop the cost of this upgrade. The same goes for granite countertops in a "rental" neighborhood. You could end up over-improving your home and pricing yourself out of the neighborhood.

Other changes that are easy to take care of, and don't cost a lot of money, are fresh landscaping, removing any wallpaper, and deodorizing the home (cigarette smoke is a BIG turn-off to buyers and their agents).

Another item that can add perceived value to your home is a Home Warranty. Most Home Warranties cover the buyer for 12-13 months after the sale of the property, and are a wonderful tool to use to market your home. Should something go wrong with the plumbing, electrical, or mechanical elements of the home, the buyer is covered by this warranty, and saves you and your agent the hassle of calls after the sale.

Keep in mind that anything you can do to make your home sparkle and feel like new will add the most value and make it stand out in a buyer's mind when they have so many homes to see.

For other articles on how to improve your home for sale, see www.prchomes.com/seller.html

How Will YOUR Home Stand Out In Today’s Market?

You hear what the news is telling everyone – “It’s a down market”. Buyers have more choices in new homes today than ever before in the history of Pearl River County. The market is saturated with new construction, and it seems like buyers are taking their sweet time to choose.

How do you know that yours will be one that makes them take notice? You need a marketing specialist who uses today's technology to put your home out in front of all other houses on the market today.

It just isn’t enough for a Realtor to put a sign in the yard, enter it into the Pearl River Board MLS system, maybe run an ad or two in the local Homefinder, and pray for it to sell. Today’s home buyers are sophisticated, and they depend on technology to help them find the home of their dreams.

Over 80% of today’s home buyers start their search on the internet, long before they look at home buyer magazines, or read classified ads. They know they can get more detailed information online when searching for a home, and not waste their time calling on every ad they see. If your home isn’t marketed using the right mediums, it may never get the exposure it needs to attract the perfect buyer.

If you have a home that you are looking to sell, and want to find out what can be done to make it stand out in today’s rough market, give me a call. I’d love to discuss what I can do to give your house the buyer attention that it needs to get it sold.

“SERVICE”, “RESULTS” – What do these really mean??

Seriously, folks, don’t you expect to get “service” and “results” when you hire a “professional”? The real question you should ask any real estate agent is “What do you do to assure me great service and results?”

When someone boasts that they give good service, or that they provide results for you, you really need to look at what KIND of service and results you will be receiving. Some real estate agents think that putting a sign in the yard, and placing the listing in the MLS is providing good “service”. This may really be all you will be getting. “Results” could be defined as a sale for your property, or just activity (calls, etc) on your listing. There are many stages of service in the real estate industry, and you as a consumer should ask the questions needed to be certain that your agent’s definition of these terms are equal to your own expectations.

Don’t ever assume that the realtor that you bought a house from in the past is the best agent to sell your home now. Listing agents and selling agents can be very different, and you need to ask questions about the service you will receive BEFORE you sign a listing. How and where will they advertise your home to make it stand out in today’s market, and what can you expect during the process?

Ask for a plan. When interviewing agents – and this goes for both sellers and buyers – you should ask the agent to give you a plan of what they do to provide you with the best service. They need to know what you expect during the process, how often you want to be contacted, and they need to be able to answer all your questions in the interim.

Buying or selling property is already stressful enough. When you are talking about one of the largest investments you have or will ever make, don’t just entrust it to just ANY real estate agent.

Bad Market Or Realistic Market?

The numbers are in, and the report for Pearl River County doesn't look as dismal as a lot of people think. According to the NAR Residential Sold Report generated from the Pearl River Board of Realtors MLS system, during 2007 there were 466 residential properties sold for a total volume of $74,755,811 and an average sales price of $160,420.

Many people (including Realtors) are basing their opinion of the market on their experience during the "Katrina Market", and you really can't base it on such an inflated market. When looking at the numbers that were done the year before Katrina hit Pearl River County (2004), you can see that our current market is just a NORMAL market.

In 2004, there were 490 properties sold for a total volume of $61,953,237 and an average sales price of $126,435. Our sales volume and average sales price have improved substantially.

2008 is already giving signs of being a more possitive year for our County, considering the influx of military families being transferred to the Stennis Space Center, and other factors that are moving in to the test site and to the Michaud facility in New Orleans.

My personal predictions are that this is going to be a better year, and that the "market slump" will be improving. This is good news for sellers, but if you are a buyer it means that the choices out there are going to get smaller, and interest rates are going to start moving up. NOW is the time to buy, if you are in the market for a home.