I just skimmed a blog today discussing a recent survey asking homeowners if they still felt that purchasing a home was the best long-term investment they could make. The vast majority of those polled felt that yes, purchasing a home is still the best long-term investment.
We have be extremely lucky in our immediate area as well as surrounding areas with regard to the "housing crash" that affected so many areas of our country. We still have foreclosures and short-sales, but all in all, we have maintained a pretty stable housing market. Prices have began to rise and stabilize, and it has been consistent. This proves its not just a fluke.
There are homes out there currently on the market that continue to sit and sit and sit. I think this is what helps to convince some people that our housing market has not gotten any better or may even be getting worse. Chances are pretty good that those homes that are sitting there desperately waiting on a buyer would probably still be sitting there in a good market. That is assuming that the inventory levels were the same in both markets.
Inventory, competition and price are what is going to determine how fast a home sells. The old adage is "location, location, location." I agree with it to a point, but it will only get you so far. The market that we are all finding ourselves in is VERY competitive! You have to be priced right, look right, offer buyer incentives and STILL be willing to negotiate, if you want a QUICK sale. Buyers are not stupid, they are very aware of the fact that there are way more sellers than there are buyers right now. What does that mean for a seller? They need to be ready, willing and able to compete for a buyer.
Buyers have a lot a inventory to choose from, so for the most part, there are plenty of homes in just about every price range. So most buyers will wait until they can find that "perfect house". The houses aren't flying off of the market just yet, so buyers aren't pressured to make a decision. They want quality, value, and buyer perks.
Buyers want closing costs, home warranties, they want to know they aren't over paying or even paying full market price. In this scenario of more sellers than buyers, they will get what they want or they will go to the next listing and buy your competition. Selling your house without taking all of this into consideration is kinda like trying to build an entire house with nothing but old school hand tools. Sure eventually you may finish, but it wont be as pretty and sure as hell is going to take A LOT longer. Just stay positive and be aware, if something isn't working, change it and try something different.
Check out the blog that inspired me to write today: Home Sweet Home. Still.
Until next time, I hope all is well
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Our Jimmy Johns Isnt Just Freaky Fast
Being a Realtor kind of puts me into the service industry. I really pay attention when I visit other businesses, especially locally owned and operated ones. In our immediate area, we have several sub/sandwich shops to choose from.
I am really only going to talk about our local Jimmy Johns in Alton. The commercials always talk about how they are "Freaky fast." This is true, but they are also "Freaky customer oriented." I go into a lot of business all the time, and they really seem to stand out, regardless of the type of business establishment I go into.
Every time I go in there, I am greeted enthusiastically before the door even closes; very nice. They are quick to take your order, and are always smiling. I know they are not always having a good day, but you cant tell it when they are waiting on you. I know it may seem corny, but sometimes I feel like I am the first and only customer they are going to wait on all day; even though there are five people standing behind me!
They are probably not perfect all of the time, but I just wanted to recognize them for the level of customer service that I have grown to not expect from most other businesses. It is refreshing to see someone be able to stand out from the rest, so I just wanted to give this local business credit for doing so!
The one I go to is the one at 92 Northport in Alton,IL. If somehow you have never tried them, check them out and see if I am right for giving them the praise.
Until next time, I hope all is well.
I am really only going to talk about our local Jimmy Johns in Alton. The commercials always talk about how they are "Freaky fast." This is true, but they are also "Freaky customer oriented." I go into a lot of business all the time, and they really seem to stand out, regardless of the type of business establishment I go into.
Every time I go in there, I am greeted enthusiastically before the door even closes; very nice. They are quick to take your order, and are always smiling. I know they are not always having a good day, but you cant tell it when they are waiting on you. I know it may seem corny, but sometimes I feel like I am the first and only customer they are going to wait on all day; even though there are five people standing behind me!
They are probably not perfect all of the time, but I just wanted to recognize them for the level of customer service that I have grown to not expect from most other businesses. It is refreshing to see someone be able to stand out from the rest, so I just wanted to give this local business credit for doing so!
The one I go to is the one at 92 Northport in Alton,IL. If somehow you have never tried them, check them out and see if I am right for giving them the praise.
Until next time, I hope all is well.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Growing up Fast
My dog, Maggie, is growing up fast. She seems to be rushing into her rebellious stage. My wife got her for me for my birthday last year, and she has been the best dog ever. She is a Boston Terrier, and she is very smart. Maggie really knows how to work us as well as anyone else she comes into contact with. She does come with a few drawbacks though.
This dog has the most horrible gas of anything alive on this planet. There are sounds and smells that come out of this 12lb dog that could make a grown man cry. She looks so pitiful after she does it, so its hard to be mad. Although usually after she drops the ammunition around you, she usually leave abruptly and returns only after the air has cleared. This is the first dog I have know of to intentionally "crop dust".
She has been VERY easy to potty train and crate train. She never goes in the house, and she will actually come and get one of us if she knows that our other dog Moe has to go outside. This in mind, her recent rebellious stage is driving me nuts. In one morning she peed in the house twice, and that night she escaped from the yard twice. She NEVER does either of those things. Needless to say she saw a lot more of the inside of her crate that day than she normally would have! All in all, our dogs are like our kids. We love them because we know they love us. We ignore all the messes they make and the desctruction they create because sad puppy eyes pretty much stop all anger, especially if the dog knows how to give the look right! :) I hope everyone is having a great week so far! Enough about Maggie, I have some real estate to sell!
Until next time, I hope all is well
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Call for Help!
I had no idea what it took to provide a service like this. (and I have only seen a very small part). Organizations like this rely very heavily on community support and donations. Our largest resource for obtaining food is from a food bank in St. Louis, but we have to pay them every month for the food they give us. This is in addition to the normal operation expenses we incur at our location. We are always on the look out for volunteers and donations to aid us in our mission. We recently received a donation of a large amount of Up & Up brand shampoo and conditioner which we are selling for $1 per bottle to raise money for the pantry. The bottles are 25.4oz and for just $1 that is a great deal for you, and it will help us out greatly! I will have both available at my office. If anyone is interested, and I hope there is a ton of you, please contact me via email, text or phone. There is no limit until we run out, and then you cant have any more :)
I hope that everyone is having a great day, and if you have any question, I will put information for the food pantry and myself below.
Office:
Landmark Realty, Inc.
3049 Godfrey Road, Godfrey, IL. 618.466.1513 my cell phone 618.531.9082
My email: paulmscheurer@yahoo.com
Riverbend Community Food Pantry
929 Milnor Avenue, Alton, IL. 618.462.9841
Pantry email: rcfp62002@yahoo.com
In addition to having the shampoo/conditioner at the office, I also take donations of food, clothing, money, and any other donated items at the office. Again, if you have any questions, please contact me.
http://www.callpaultoday.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 28, 2011
Common Sense or Statistics
This is the time of year when things start to grow, turn green, bloom and also the time of year when house sales start to pick up. I like to post links to information and provide current market trends to you, but sometimes I dont because that information is crap. Nay Sayers quote declines in November, December & January as a sign we are still in deep trouble. The most recent article Realtor.com has out just posted today, February Pending Home Sales Rise. The article, in my mind, doesnt really steer either way, but the fact that as the weather gets better so does the market, shouldnt surprise anyone.
Every year, home sales decline when winter comes, and they pick up again when spring gets here. Nobody really wants to move in the winter, and the only ones doing it either HAVE to or they got a good deal.
The best thing you can do if you want to buy or sell soon is start working NOW. If you want to sell, spruce up the house, get things cleaned and repaired. Once we have a solid week of good weater, the market will open up. Right now, open houses are kinda sluggish. If Sunday is the only nice day of the week, most people dont want to spend it going through houses.
If you are ready to buy, call a Realtor (preferrably me!) and start looking. If you want to negotiate and find a good deal, focus on the ones that have sat ALL winter. You may be able to take advantage of a stressed seller's frustration. The key is not to wait. Make your lists of what you want and what you need to have in the new home and get cracking! As always, I am here to help; if you have any real estate questions, call me!
Until next time, I hope all is well!
P.S. Now you have a friend in real estate
( Thanks Jason)
Every year, home sales decline when winter comes, and they pick up again when spring gets here. Nobody really wants to move in the winter, and the only ones doing it either HAVE to or they got a good deal.
The best thing you can do if you want to buy or sell soon is start working NOW. If you want to sell, spruce up the house, get things cleaned and repaired. Once we have a solid week of good weater, the market will open up. Right now, open houses are kinda sluggish. If Sunday is the only nice day of the week, most people dont want to spend it going through houses.
If you are ready to buy, call a Realtor (preferrably me!) and start looking. If you want to negotiate and find a good deal, focus on the ones that have sat ALL winter. You may be able to take advantage of a stressed seller's frustration. The key is not to wait. Make your lists of what you want and what you need to have in the new home and get cracking! As always, I am here to help; if you have any real estate questions, call me!
Until next time, I hope all is well!
P.S. Now you have a friend in real estate
( Thanks Jason)
In The Future There is a Man Cave
Sooooo our house is in various stages of remodel. Some rooms were done out of desire and others were done out of necessity. I have a lot of projects going right now between work, my own home and an investment property. Yet I still dream of having a "man cave" in my basement. I just found a website called http://www.become.com/. It is pretty much like Amazon, and the prices seem to be similar. I do like that the products seem to be bought from the name brand companies themselves and not www.become.com. In some cases what I was looking for seemed to be cheaper than other places. I have no idea if this is because they dont actually hold the product in inventory, or not. I didnt really look for a lot of stuff on there, I was mainly looking for furniture and lighting, which they have a lot of.
We want the "man cave" to match the rest of the house and be inviting for everyone. We have a house built in the 60's and my wife and I have pretty similar styles when it comes to furniture and decor. Both of us like a mix of modern and antique and color. So that acutally doesn help narrow any choices down for us, it actually makes it harder since we can pretty much put in what ever we want. I have a basic sense of what needs to be in the room.
I know the seating is going to be the focal point (besides a GIANT flatscreen TV that is) then you have to have lighting. The rest is just details and decorations. I was watching an episode of Devine Design the other day and it remided me how much I love the rooms that Candice Olson comes up with on that show. I dont like all of them, but the ones that lean more to the modern side always grab my eye. I saw something on the show that mentioned that she had her own furniture line, so I figured I would check it out. I am wanting a big sectional couch in the basement. Become.com came back with a ton of results for sectional couches, but none of them were by Candice Olson. I would have like to see what her furniture looked liked, but there were more than enough other choices to get an idea of what I would like to get for the space. So next comes the fun of picking out lighting.
This is where I acutally got to see of stuff that Candice Olson has designed. The style varied drastically, but there were several that I liked. Again, I want to get some of her furniture, but for now, I will have to settle for looking at her lighting and rugs. Then I looked for a lift-top coffee table. I had never actually seen one in anyones house until a friend of mine got new furniture a couple of years ago. His is still the only one I have used. I rarely eat at the dining room table, and its nice not to have to bend over to eat at the coffee table, so thats what I want for the new "man cave". (my wife hates the term "man-cave" by the way!)
On a side note, I despise wallpaper in pretty much any fashion that I have seen put into use. I bring this up because I accidentally clicked a link that took me to zebra wallpaper on this site. Wow, the wallpaper that I usually complain about is nothing compared to this! :) But to each their own, I guess. It is kinda suprising that there were 14 results for zebra print wallpaper, but who am I to judge. It may be impossible to design your African Safari themed bedroom or 70's "shag pad" without these products. Thats it for now, I need to stop dreaming about completeing what is at the end of my to-do list, because it is WWWAAAAYYY at the end! Thanks for listening to me wish and rant, and I hope everyone is having a great Monday!
We want the "man cave" to match the rest of the house and be inviting for everyone. We have a house built in the 60's and my wife and I have pretty similar styles when it comes to furniture and decor. Both of us like a mix of modern and antique and color. So that acutally doesn help narrow any choices down for us, it actually makes it harder since we can pretty much put in what ever we want. I have a basic sense of what needs to be in the room.
I know the seating is going to be the focal point (besides a GIANT flatscreen TV that is) then you have to have lighting. The rest is just details and decorations. I was watching an episode of Devine Design the other day and it remided me how much I love the rooms that Candice Olson comes up with on that show. I dont like all of them, but the ones that lean more to the modern side always grab my eye. I saw something on the show that mentioned that she had her own furniture line, so I figured I would check it out. I am wanting a big sectional couch in the basement. Become.com came back with a ton of results for sectional couches, but none of them were by Candice Olson. I would have like to see what her furniture looked liked, but there were more than enough other choices to get an idea of what I would like to get for the space. So next comes the fun of picking out lighting.
This is where I acutally got to see of stuff that Candice Olson has designed. The style varied drastically, but there were several that I liked. Again, I want to get some of her furniture, but for now, I will have to settle for looking at her lighting and rugs. Then I looked for a lift-top coffee table. I had never actually seen one in anyones house until a friend of mine got new furniture a couple of years ago. His is still the only one I have used. I rarely eat at the dining room table, and its nice not to have to bend over to eat at the coffee table, so thats what I want for the new "man cave". (my wife hates the term "man-cave" by the way!)
On a side note, I despise wallpaper in pretty much any fashion that I have seen put into use. I bring this up because I accidentally clicked a link that took me to zebra wallpaper on this site. Wow, the wallpaper that I usually complain about is nothing compared to this! :) But to each their own, I guess. It is kinda suprising that there were 14 results for zebra print wallpaper, but who am I to judge. It may be impossible to design your African Safari themed bedroom or 70's "shag pad" without these products. Thats it for now, I need to stop dreaming about completeing what is at the end of my to-do list, because it is WWWAAAAYYY at the end! Thanks for listening to me wish and rant, and I hope everyone is having a great Monday!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Cool Way to Get Discounts?
I finally went and checked out a new thing called Groupon. A couple of months ago, a friend was telling me about the new app that she had just downloaded on her iPhone. She was going on and on about how cool it was. At the time, do to the environment we were in, I wasn't really paying attention. All I could remember was Groupon and something about online coupons. I don't know what made me think of it today, but I did, and here we are talking about it.
The concept seems to be pretty strait forward. A local business contacts Groupon, they come up with a deal to offer, they advertise the deal. They come up with a minimum number of people that have to be willing to pay for the deal, and if they meet their minimum, the deal is good and it goes active. So what the short and sweet of it is, you go to the site, you select a city, and it shows you the deal of the day. If it is active, you can buy the deal. If the deal isn't active, you just put it your credit/debit card information. If the minimum number of people sign up, you get charged and you get the deal. If the minimum is not met, you are charged nothing.
Like I said, I just checked this site out today. I put in all my information and signed up to be sent emails daily when new deals are posted. Today's Groupon deal is to what I assume is a trendy University City furniture store; spend $40 for $100 towards furniture. Sounds like a good deal if you needed furniture. I don't need any, and I don't know anyone that I like enough that needs furniture, so I didn't buy the deal.
Have any of you reading this used Groupon? If you have any opinions/feedback about them please leave a comment or email me to let me know what you think of it. I honestly don't have an opinion on them one way or another, since I just checked them out today. So for now I guess I will wait for them to offer a deal that I want to buy.
The concept seems to be pretty strait forward. A local business contacts Groupon, they come up with a deal to offer, they advertise the deal. They come up with a minimum number of people that have to be willing to pay for the deal, and if they meet their minimum, the deal is good and it goes active. So what the short and sweet of it is, you go to the site, you select a city, and it shows you the deal of the day. If it is active, you can buy the deal. If the deal isn't active, you just put it your credit/debit card information. If the minimum number of people sign up, you get charged and you get the deal. If the minimum is not met, you are charged nothing.
Like I said, I just checked this site out today. I put in all my information and signed up to be sent emails daily when new deals are posted. Today's Groupon deal is to what I assume is a trendy University City furniture store; spend $40 for $100 towards furniture. Sounds like a good deal if you needed furniture. I don't need any, and I don't know anyone that I like enough that needs furniture, so I didn't buy the deal.
Have any of you reading this used Groupon? If you have any opinions/feedback about them please leave a comment or email me to let me know what you think of it. I honestly don't have an opinion on them one way or another, since I just checked them out today. So for now I guess I will wait for them to offer a deal that I want to buy.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Market Update 3-24-11
My previous post was all about pricing vs. competition. There is competition between both buyers and sellers separately. Sellers have to compete amongst themselves as do the buyers. Both groups have completely opposite goals. Sellers want the highest possible price for their homes and buyers want to pay as little as they possibly can. Who's right? Both groups! That is real estate at its most simple form.
The reality of it is that buyers could really care less about how much money you want for you house. To them, your house is only worth what THEY are willing to pay for it, and that where the term "market price" comes from.
Appraisal are fine, CMAs are fine, and the most used phrase sellers use is "well I paid X thousand dollars for it." I don't mean to sound insincere, but again, no buyer cares about any of them. The best thing a seller can do in a competitive market the the one we are in, is to weigh very heavily the CURRENT LISTINGS that are similar to theirs. Buyers are going to go through a sold comp and agree that the houses are similar and be willing to pay what you are asking! They go through the ones that are on the market now, and then decide which one to make an offer on. Make your home show well, and make it priced more attractively that your competitors and you see promising results.
Until next time, I hope all is well!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Pre-Approved Gets an "A" in My Book
This issue gets me some flack from others in the real estate profession; pre-approval letters. Buyers call all the time and want to see property they found while driving around, on the Internet or in the newspaper. The information is everywhere. I love helping buyers find that perfect property that they can call home. What I do not like is showing buyers property that they cannot afford.
At a previous office, I discussed with another Realtor my policy on showing property to buyers I do not know: I will show one property without a pre-approval letter, simple enough. Whether someone walks in or calls about wanting to shop for a new home I take all of the normal personal information and information about their wants and needs for their home. I ask if they are working with another Realtor (whole other issue!) and whether or not they have gone to a lender to get pre-approved. After our first official meeting, I let them know that I will only continue to physically schedule property tours after I have received a pre-approval letter or proof of funds statement. This may seem overkill for just showing houses, but I think it is necessary. The Realtor I shared this with told me it was my job to show houses to buyers and it was wrong to ask them to provide proof that they could afford the houses that they wanted to see.
I on the other hand, think its just good business. Do not get me wrong, there is a right way and a wrong way to ask for the proof, but I think it is more than necessary to do, especially in this economy! There is a lot that goes into scheduling houses for tour, especially if there is a lot out there to see that fits the buyers needs. First, I have to find the houses. Second I map there locations and plan the route. Then I have to call each listing office so they can call the owners to confirm the showing times (usually the seller then cleans and prepares the house to be shown), Lastly comes the part of driving and touring each property. I do not personally think it is too much for a Realtor to ask for a pre-approval before going through all that.
I spoke with a local lender a couple weeks ago that said in the last two weeks, she had around two dozen clients come in to try to qualify for a loan; only 5 walked out with pre-approval letters. I wonder how many of the 19 or so others had been dragging a Realtor around looking at houses.
I get that just because someone cannot qualify to purchase their home right now does not mean that you can ignore them, but I think that it does mean that I should avoid 50 bucks worth of gas a week driving around looking at houses that they cannot buy. For the buyers that cannot buy right now, I set them up with a listing cart that feeds them houses they are interested, I direct them to lenders that are more geared towards repairing credit and helping them mend their situation and I frequently check in with them to see if their situation has changed. I want every buyer that is shopping, unfortunately not every shopper is a buyer!
Until next time, I hop all is well!
At a previous office, I discussed with another Realtor my policy on showing property to buyers I do not know: I will show one property without a pre-approval letter, simple enough. Whether someone walks in or calls about wanting to shop for a new home I take all of the normal personal information and information about their wants and needs for their home. I ask if they are working with another Realtor (whole other issue!) and whether or not they have gone to a lender to get pre-approved. After our first official meeting, I let them know that I will only continue to physically schedule property tours after I have received a pre-approval letter or proof of funds statement. This may seem overkill for just showing houses, but I think it is necessary. The Realtor I shared this with told me it was my job to show houses to buyers and it was wrong to ask them to provide proof that they could afford the houses that they wanted to see.
I on the other hand, think its just good business. Do not get me wrong, there is a right way and a wrong way to ask for the proof, but I think it is more than necessary to do, especially in this economy! There is a lot that goes into scheduling houses for tour, especially if there is a lot out there to see that fits the buyers needs. First, I have to find the houses. Second I map there locations and plan the route. Then I have to call each listing office so they can call the owners to confirm the showing times (usually the seller then cleans and prepares the house to be shown), Lastly comes the part of driving and touring each property. I do not personally think it is too much for a Realtor to ask for a pre-approval before going through all that.
I spoke with a local lender a couple weeks ago that said in the last two weeks, she had around two dozen clients come in to try to qualify for a loan; only 5 walked out with pre-approval letters. I wonder how many of the 19 or so others had been dragging a Realtor around looking at houses.
I get that just because someone cannot qualify to purchase their home right now does not mean that you can ignore them, but I think that it does mean that I should avoid 50 bucks worth of gas a week driving around looking at houses that they cannot buy. For the buyers that cannot buy right now, I set them up with a listing cart that feeds them houses they are interested, I direct them to lenders that are more geared towards repairing credit and helping them mend their situation and I frequently check in with them to see if their situation has changed. I want every buyer that is shopping, unfortunately not every shopper is a buyer!
Until next time, I hop all is well!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Pricing With Competition in Mind
Hello World,
Today I just want to talk about pricing your home with competition in mind. First off, I am going to list some stats for some of our local surrounding areas.
Certain markets require different strategies in order to find success. I believe that Albert Einstein said " The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." This can be said for many currently listings out there. Some sellers always want to start too high, " and just wait for an offer." Truth be told, you are much more likely to receive a full price offer on an appropriately priced home than you are to receive a low-ball offer on an over-priced one.
Right now, we are very much in a BUYERS market. There is a LOT of inventory and buyers have more than a few options to choose from when searching for their next home purchase. In this day and age with the internet, buyers have many tools at their disposal. County tax look ups, owner purchase information, websites estimating value. etc.. In most cases, a buyer can realize that your house is over-priced before they even call a Realtor to request a showing!
Selling a home is a big deal and takes work on the part of both you and your Realtor. You need to know what your competition is just as much as your Realtor does. Your house needs to look better and be priced better than your competition if you expect to sell before they do. If you want to list your home for sale and be the last one to sell, please make sure your home looks much worse and is priced higher. Your competition will greatly appreciate it. I know this seems harsh, but the reality is just that; reality. Over priced homes do nothing but increase the owner's carrying costs, increase the Realtors advertising costs , time, etc., and most importantly they help their competition sell their homes faster!
In a buyer's market, they are the ones that set what your home is worth. Appraisals are great for a refinance, but they do not matter to buyers. If a buyer does not see the value in your home that it has appraised for, your home is worth less to them. This is not meant to be doom and glood, it is just a little insight into buyer and market habbits. Just make sure that both you and your Realtor are doing the homework necessary to know that you arent just listing your home, but taking the steps to actually SELL your home.
I hope all is well!
Until next time.....
https://www.facebook.com/GETSOLD247
http://www.youtube.com/user/paulmscheurer
Today I just want to talk about pricing your home with competition in mind. First off, I am going to list some stats for some of our local surrounding areas.
So there you have some meaningful numbers to take in and think about if you home is currently listed or you were thinking about listing it. The majority of Realtors that I have dealt with over the years weigh sold comps very heavily when pricing your home. I think this is fine if you use this method. However, if you are wanting to actually sell your home, look at current listing comps. Why do you care what a house down the street sold for, if the there is another one just like yours that is an active listing? Let me put it this way; if 5 houses similar enough to yours sold for $150,000, your home would probably safely list at a similar price. That's true enough, but still taking that into account, there are 5 homes similar enough to yours that are currently on the market for $115,000 to $125,000. Still think you can sell your home for $150,000? Which homes do you think that buyers are going to be drawn to and write an offer on first?Certain markets require different strategies in order to find success. I believe that Albert Einstein said " The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." This can be said for many currently listings out there. Some sellers always want to start too high, " and just wait for an offer." Truth be told, you are much more likely to receive a full price offer on an appropriately priced home than you are to receive a low-ball offer on an over-priced one.
Right now, we are very much in a BUYERS market. There is a LOT of inventory and buyers have more than a few options to choose from when searching for their next home purchase. In this day and age with the internet, buyers have many tools at their disposal. County tax look ups, owner purchase information, websites estimating value. etc.. In most cases, a buyer can realize that your house is over-priced before they even call a Realtor to request a showing!
Selling a home is a big deal and takes work on the part of both you and your Realtor. You need to know what your competition is just as much as your Realtor does. Your house needs to look better and be priced better than your competition if you expect to sell before they do. If you want to list your home for sale and be the last one to sell, please make sure your home looks much worse and is priced higher. Your competition will greatly appreciate it. I know this seems harsh, but the reality is just that; reality. Over priced homes do nothing but increase the owner's carrying costs, increase the Realtors advertising costs , time, etc., and most importantly they help their competition sell their homes faster!
In a buyer's market, they are the ones that set what your home is worth. Appraisals are great for a refinance, but they do not matter to buyers. If a buyer does not see the value in your home that it has appraised for, your home is worth less to them. This is not meant to be doom and glood, it is just a little insight into buyer and market habbits. Just make sure that both you and your Realtor are doing the homework necessary to know that you arent just listing your home, but taking the steps to actually SELL your home.
I hope all is well!
Until next time.....
https://www.facebook.com/GETSOLD247
http://www.youtube.com/user/paulmscheurer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)