Should you put your home on the market during the winter? Isn’t winter a bad time to sell? Actually, winter may be the ideal time to sell your home for a couple of reasons.
This time of year, a lot of people are saying, “I want to put my house on the market, but isn’t winter a really bad time to sell?”
Depending on your home, winter may be the ideal time for you to be on the market.
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You will face less competition and your home will be more appealing to buyers.
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The best part is that homes look incredible right now because they are decorated for the holidays. Buyers make their decision based on how warm, inviting, and cozy a home feels, so now is a great time to be on the market.
By listing during the winter, you will also face less competition. Most people wait to list their homes in the spring and summer. However, we still have active buyers out there. In this market, buyers are extremely motivated to get into a home. Since there is less inventory and fewer options for buyers to choose from, your home is a perfect candidate to become their home.
If you have any questions about preparing your home for the winter market or about real estate in general, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
I just wanted to take a moment to wish our clients and our community Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We have had a wonderful, blessed, and awesome year.
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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We are excited to do what we do, and it’s a joy to come to work because of you, the clients. So, to all of our clients, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Remember, the gift is in giving, and we are always working for you.
Don’t wait until spring to put your home on the market just because everyone else is doing it. I think that fall is actually the best time of year to sell your home.
Is fall a good time to put your home on the market, or should you wait until spring? People constantly ask me that question, and I’m here to tell you that fall is a great time to put your house on the market. In fact, fall could be the best time to put your house on the market.
I think it is good sometimes to be a contrarian. Right now, everyone puts their house on the market in the spring and summer. Homes that didn’t sell over the summer are expiring now, so if you put your home on the market, you will have a lot less competition.
You should also know that there are still serious buyers out there. A lot of these buyers have been looking throughout the spring and summer but haven’t found that perfect home yet. Still, they want to be in their new home before the holidays.
When you list in the fall, your home will spend fewer days on the market, which will bring your home price up. Statistics show that homes listed in the fall sell quicker than homes listed in the spring or summer, and they also sell for 1% more.
I’ve always thought that fall was a good time to sell. In fact, I put my own home on the market right before Thanksgiving. If I had listed in the summer, I would have been competing with new construction and I knew that I would be competing with them again if I listed in the spring.
That said, there are a few things you will have to do differently if you sell in the fall. For example, your house has to be warm. There is nothing worse than walking into a cold house in the fall. Remember to replace your furnace filters before you turn the heat on.
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Make sure your home is clean, warm, and cozy.
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You should also keep your yard well-maintained. Even though leaves are dropping everywhere, your yard still needs to look great. Get the rakes out and clean everything up. You may have to do that every week for a few weeks, but keeping your yard clean will boost your curb appeal.
There is nothing like walking into a warm home on a fall day and being greeted by the smell of pumpkin spice or an apple pie. You need to create a warm, inviting atmosphere. If your home is vacant, we can add some Scentsy candles or aromatherapy to create that atmosphere for you.
Put pumpkins on your front steps and plant some mums. People are compelled to buy your home when the curb appeal pops. When they walk in and your home looks great, feels great, and smells great, they will think, “I can be in this home before the holidays? Great!”
If you have any other questions about selling in the fall or getting your home ready for the fall market, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
Decluttering your home is an easy thing to do, but could cost you thousands if you fail to do it properly. It’s the number one mistake home sellers make when listing their home.
In today’s market, 97% of buyers start their home search online. That’s where your first showing is. If your home is cluttered when it’s photographed, buyers will quickly pass by it.
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Decluttering your home makes it more appealing to buyers.
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The first thing we do when we walk into a seller’s house is have them declutter. Start with clearing off the counters, fridge, and other furniture. Take the knick knacks, books, and all other personal items out of the room to give it a more neutral feel.
You’ll be amazed at how your home looks after a bit of elbow grease and decluttering. It won’t look like your home anymore, but you’re moving anyway, right? Preparing your home in this way will help you fetch the highest offer possible.
If you have any other questions about getting your home ready for the market or real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!
If you’re a seller, you might be frustrated if you’re not seeing the activity you were expecting to get from the summer selling season. There are a few things to keep in mind:
The summer is spotty. People take vacations, get ready for the upcoming school year, play in sports tournaments, and travel all over the place. To put it simply, it’s easy for potential buyers to become distracted.
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We’ve got a strong season ahead of us.
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The good news is that school is starting soon. At this point in the season, the market will begin to pick up and continue to remain strong throughout the remainder of the fall season.
So if your house is struggling a bit on the market right now, take heart because we’ve got a strong season ahead of us.
For more information about your real estate needs, give us a call or send us an email today. We’re always obsessively working for you.
When you go to sell your home, you will likely spend a lot of time cleaning and organizing the inside. However, you have to remember that it’s the exterior of your home that draws buyers inside. I like to compare your home’s landscaping to the frosting on a cake. It’s a very important feature! You should mow your lawn, trim your hedges, plant some flowers, powerwash your walkways, and possibly even hire some landscapers for assistance.
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Your landscaping is like the frosting on a cake.
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Your curb appeal is what will attract buyers to your home initially. It’s your chance to make a good first impression, so it’s important that you leave no leaf unturned. Don’t forget to observe your home in the evening to make sure that your lighting is adequate and that your home still looks attractive to buyers that might drive by after the sun has set.
If you need more tips on how to improve your curb appeal and attract more buyers to your property, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Professional photography is one of the most critical pieces to your home’s marketing and ultimately, its sale. In today’s market, 90% to 95% of home buyers begin their searches online. If they don’t like what they see, you will never be able to get them in the door. They will move on to the next home and you’ll be off their radar.
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Today’s buyers want to see a home in its most perfect format.
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If your home pictures are grainy, small, or show cluttered spaces, that’s a major deterrent to a buyer. Today’s buyers want to see a home in its most perfect format. That’s why we have both an on-staff photographer and videographer. We have started to implement drone photography on everything, and buyers love it. If buyers love what they see online, they will knock on your door and want to see your home in person.
If you have any questions for us or if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, don’t hesitate to reach out. We would love to get a call or email from you!
Right now is a phenomenal time to secure a mortgage loan. Interest rates are incredibly low and you have the opportunity to save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of the loan. There are a plethora of good loan products out there, you just have to find the right one for yourself.
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You can shave off 8 years from your 30-year loan by making just one extra payment per year.
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A lot of people would love to get a 15-year loan, but you can shave off 8 years from your 30-year loan by making just one extra payment per year. Just by adding 1/12th of your payment every month to the principle will also allow you to shave off a few years from your loan.
If you’d like to talk more about how this is possible, please don’t hesitate to contact me. There are many ways to pay off your mortgage earlier. Even if your finances are tight, we can help you to formulate a plan to pay off your home earlier.
Does the millennial buyer pool affect you? If so, what can you to do to cater to it? You might think that because your home is worth $200,000, anyone between 18 and 34 won’t be interested in it. Maybe it’s your second or third home. However, the economy has changed and college graduates earn more than in the past. Additionally, interest rates are historically low at 3.5%. Check out these tips on how to cater to millennials.
Millennials hate maintenance. Get it taken care of ahead of time, before you even list!
Millennials love grey! It’s the most popular neutral color out there. They love darker floors and white trims.
Millennials make decisions quickly! Within the first thirty seconds of walking into your home, they most likely have already made their decision.
Millennials want to see quality content on the online listing. Add engaging photos and detailed information to spark interest in buyers.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the area this year, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!
Today we are going to talk about the pitfalls of hiring a friend or family member as your Realtor. Most people’s homes are one of their biggest assets, and one that must be protected. We recently had a situation where a home had been sitting on the market for the past 6 months without selling. We took a look at the listing online and the first thing we saw were some truly awful photographs of the home. When I met with the sellers, I told them their pictures and marketing materials weren’t up to par, and it was no wonder their home hadn’t sold.
The big mistake they made was feeling like they owed it to their friend to hire them to sell their home. The lack of knowledge and experience demonstrated by that friend ended up costing them about $20,000 on the value of their home because it sat on the market for so long.
After we got this listing, we had to spend a lot of time repositioning the home at a time of year when homes don’t sell as easily as they do in the spring and summer. Homes still sell, but the colder temperatures bring fewer buyers to the market. If they had to start over, they told me they wouldn’t have made the decision to hire their friend. When you hire a friend, you can’t have those honest conversations about how you want them to sell your home because you don’t want to ruin that relationship, and that’s understandable. So do yourself a favor and hire a full-time Realtor with a full-time team. You owe it to yourself to hire someone who is going to do the best possible job selling your home. If you have any questions, or are looking to sell your home quickly and for top dollar, give us a call. We would love to help you out!
