The Advantages of Using a Realtor

This subject gets pondered a lot, by both buyers and sellers. I want to address it, but I want to disclose upfront that I am a realtor, so my perspective will be somewhat biased.

If you are purchasing a new home, I would always, ALWAYS recommend using the services of a realtor. First of all, and this may be your most important reason, you do not pay for any of the services provided. That’s because the realtors on both sides of the transaction are paid by the seller as part of their Listing Fee.

Beyond any economic reasons, however, a realtor will have access to every property for sale that is listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for your area. Simply by providing a few details about what you are looking for and where, a realtor can literally make hundreds of homes available to you for your review (depending on how specific your parameters are). That gives you the chance to review the list from the comfort of your home and weed out those properties that don’t suit your needs. If any questions are raised during your research, your realtor will be the one to track down the answers for you..

When you have narrowed down your selection and have chosen properties you’d actually like to visit, working with a realtor is key. Most sellers that list their home, do so in order to make sure that their home is being shown to „real“ buyers being accompanied by a licensed real estate professional. For convenience, most listings provide for a lockbox or Sentrilock box for secure access to the home. Obtaining the lockbox code will be impossible unless you are a licensed realtor. Homes that are being sold by the owner (FSBO’s) are a different matter and I will get into that later in this post.

The buying process includes a number of steps that a realtor can not only facilitate, but expedite, as well. Once a buyer has decided on a property, the realtor can prepare your offer documents (contracts, addenda, disclosures, etc.) for your signature and present them to the seller. One your offer is accepted, your realtor can guide you through the process to a successful close of escrow. This will include having the home inspected, the attorney review of the contracts and the processing of your mortgage financing. If a buyer doesn’t have access to an attorney, lender or home inspector, a realtor will be able to provide references for those services.

Your realtor can also provide significant help in the negotiating process. They know the current market and can tell you whether the home is priced accordingly. They will also be able to assess the market value of the home based on its condition or any upgrades the seller has made.

From a buyer’s perspective, it only makes sense to utilize the services of a professional as you search for your dream home. This is especially true when you consider that you pay no fee for those services.

As a seller, the decision becomes a bit more complicated. Many sellers are discovering that the market value of their home is not as much as they had hoped and they have to sharpen their pencils in order to break even. When you consider a realtor may charge a listing fee of anywhere from 4-6%, the list of costs to sell your home, after the payoff of your mortgage, can make that break even point difficult to attain.

The advantages to listing your home with a realtor are myriad. They include, but are not limited to, the accurate analysis of your home’s market value, the Open Houses, staging recommendations, signage, Multiple Listing Service inclusion and, most of all, the extensive marketing of the home (THE most important advantage).

If a homeowner decides to sell their home by themselves (FSBO or For Sale By Owner), all these costs are borne by the seller. Obviously, the marketing becomes the most costly item. Putting a For Sale sign in your yard and paying for a 2″ x 2″ ad in your local newspaper will not reach the amount of prospective buyers needed to sell your home in a reasonable amount of time. The speed at which a home is sold is directly proportionate to the amount of buyers that view the home. A realtor’s marketing campaign, if effective, can produce a consistent stream of showings. Showings produce offers and offers lead to successful closings.

In the final analysis, a seller has to look at their net proceeds to determine the viability of listing with a realtor. Even with all the advantages listed above, if a seller has to bring money to the closing table, that will weigh heavily on their decision. Being a realtor, I would always recommend listing your home with one of my esteemed colleagues. However, I am not oblivious to the economic conditions that many homeowners face and many people have successfully sold their homes as a FSBO.

Whatever your decision and whether you are a buyer or seller, there are always going to be obstacles that you must overcome. If you find you can’t seem to navigate these obstacles alone… call your local realtor.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Simple Tips For Low Cost Home Improvements

Have you been thinking about remodeling your home? Keep in mind that you can often achieve your goal without a giant expense. Small improvements introduced in almost every room, including the exterior of the house can make all the difference.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Keep it clean and keep it simple!

A clean and neat house is appealing and eye-catching. You can start improving the appearance of your house simply by cleaning out the debris. Try making your garden look like an ideal place with some weeding and cleaning out the flower beds. Paint the front door to give your home a more welcoming feeling.

De-cluttering is also a part of cleaning, so get rid of things you don’t need to make room for new ones. The first glance is usually enough for a selective buyer to quickly estimate a house.

Does the exterior of your home need repainting? Is there a walkway that you can highlight by introducing some flowers? Remember to keep it simple. Focus on making things neat and tidy.

Two hot spots of every home:

The two most closely inspected rooms of a house are the kitchen and the master bathroom. If you are looking to focus on two hot spots, these are the interior rooms where the most value can be added during a sale, so make them look their best to increase your return on investment.

Is your kitchen may be in need of an upgrade? A well updated kitchen will dramatically increase the value of your home, so focus on spicing up this room to grab buyer attention. Renovating your kitchen using modern décor is going to instantly improve the value of your home. Many times a buyer will compromise on other rooms and will buy a home just because its kitchen is well-maintained and inviting.

The same holds true for bathrooms, especially the master bathroom. You will charm open house-goers with modern upgrades like dual vanities and soaking tubs in your master bath. Replace the faucets and clean up the bathroom counter. We would again emphasize on simplicity because for easy maintenance.

What to Invest in?

So, you’re done de-cluttering, cleaning and upgrading. What’s next? Well, if you are willing to make a good upgrade investment, it is recommended to divide your renovation plan into four parts to bring impressive improvements to your home. Here are the four areas you may want to seriously consider upgrading:

Lighting: If you are not satisfied with the lighting system in your house, replace it.

This would entail buying lighting fixtures and other equipment for each room to make it look consistent and attractive.

Plumbing: Many old homes have rusty pipes and some leakage in the plumbing that needs attention. Your home will not sell fast and at a price you have in mind if you haven’t already upgraded the plumbing system.

Flooring: Most people nowadays look for hardwood floors or alternatives that are easy to manage and provide health benefits instead of carpeting. Tiled floors are also fairly acceptable. If you think this improvement would bring you higher profits, make the investment without delay.

HVAC Replacement: Today new energy-efficient HVAC systems are being introduced to the market that incur a one-time cost and help you save huge amounts of money on utility bills. You can add a unique selling feature to your house by making this replacement part of your home improvement strategy.

What’s really worth repairing?

Remember that not all things are worth repairing; some need to be thrown out and others need to be replaced. This is a good principle to follow when staging a home.

Inspect every aspect of your home and then come up with a plan within your budget to bring a fresh crisp look to your home. You may want to replace outdated appliances in the kitchen with new modern models. Repairing old appliances is not an option. If your budget doesn’t allow an appliance upgrade, simply give the ones you use a color-boost to improve their appearance.

If you already have wooden floors installed at home, look for scratches and be prepared for some refinishing. Wooden floors are highly desirable, even if they are old and worn. Give them a little lift-up to make them more attractive and appealing.

Nowadays energy-efficiency has found its way into many of our systems including the windows. Home buyers look for the latest windows and other systems that are designed as energy-efficient since they provide a number of economical, health and environmental benefits. Replace your old windows for new energy-efficient windows to improve the value of your home.

If your bathroom floors are tiled, look for any flaws or cracks especially if the tiles are white or light-colored. These types of flaws are hard to conceal even if you arrange everything else very neatly. So, before investing in other bathroom accessories replace a cracked floor tile.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Pre-drawn House plans the Benefits and Styles

Pre-drawn house plans are those that are drawn by architects or home designers and then offered for sale, unlike those that are drawn for an individual, with input from the customer. While this method may be a great idea, there are definite benefits to purchasing pre-drawn house plans. Architects and home designers that do custom home designing also do a lot of their own designs, and it is these plans that are offered for sale

They are adept at making plans that utilize available space to the best possible advantage, and at laying out a floor plan to optimize curb appeal.

Custom designing of your home can take months to be completed and is extremely expensive, often up to ten times the cost of predawn or stock house plans. Using custom drawn plans can delay the construction of your home by many weeks There are dozens of home styles and literally thousands of plans to choose from, so you can be sure to find the home of your dreams.

If you find a house plan that you love, but want to make minor changes, most companies can have their designers do that for you, at an additional fee. It is also possible to have your plans reversed, for instance, if your breakfast nook faces west but the view from the north side of your lot is more attractive, you can reverse it. Many of the sites selling house plans will allow you to see a reversed view, of houses you might want to build.

Another service provided by the companies that design and sell house plans, is one that allows you to estimate the cost for building a particular house in your area of the country. The South is the least expensive area to build in and the West has the highest cost .The national average is somewhere in between.

There are dozens of house plan styles for you to browse and hundreds in each category, from A-Frame to Victorian, , from small to large, you can find the right home for your family. There are magazines, books and web sites galore that you can search

Beach houses, are small one story homes, raised above the ground, and usually have an open floor plan, with a lot of windows, to get a good view of the yard.. A low end Beach house with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen and Great room would cost, about $74,000.00 to build, according to the national average, and about $15,000.00 more in the west and $8000.00 less in the south. These little houses make great vacation retreats and are also suitable as a starter home or retirement home for empty nesters.

Bungalows are 1 to 1and ½ story homes, They often incorporate features of the Craftsman style house, such as natural building materials, exposed rafter ends and gables. They also sometimes borrow features from the Country or Victorian look.A two bedroom, one bath bungalow in the mid-range can be built for between $70,000.00 and 95.000.00, depending on what part of the country you live in. A low-end two bedroom one bath can be built for $52,000 to 70,000. These cute homes are great for newlyweds or retirees

Large front porches, dormers and a roofline that lies parallel to the road are the main distinguishing features of Country homes. Farm house and French Country plans can also be included in this category. Open floor plans are not common to this type of house. A small country home, 576 square feet, with one bath and two bedrooms, can be built for under $60,000.00 can be erected on your site for under $60,000.00. A three bedroom, 1 and ½ baths, will average about $84,000.00 to erect on your site. .

Craftsman style homes are characterized by the use of natural materials like wood or stone for exterior walls, and rock foundations that slope out towards the ground. They may also include dormers, exposed beams, and overhanging eaves. A two bedroom one bath house in the craftsman style will cost between $52,000.00 and $62,000.00 to build a two bedroom, two bath, home with a 2 car garage will run about $96.000.00.

Another popular house plan style is the French Country home. They are similar to Country style in that they feature front porches, dormers and roof- lines that run parallel to the road. A two bedroom, two bathroom house with volume vaulted ceilings, walk in closets, walk in pantry covered rear porch and two car garage can be built for approximately$112.000.00 to $133.000.00 depending on where you live.

Log homes make the perfect vacation home since they evoke feelings of comfort and peace. These homes come in various styles and sizes. Wood logs are the main construction material,. A one story, two bedroom, one bath, log home, with a covered front porch, will cost about $90,000.00 to build.

Victorian style houses are generally two stories, with steep roof pitches, dormers, octagonal turrets and of course the trademark gingerbread trim. A two story, three bedroom, three baths home of this style, with an open floor plan, and unfinished basement, can be built on your lot for around $100,000.00.

Luxury homes are huge house with at least 3000.sq. ft of living space, they are characterized by large master bedroom suites.1 walk in closets, and extra rooms which can be used as a library, music room, media center or home office to name a few. A three bedroom, two and ½ bath, luxury home with a two car garage with storage space, breakfast nook, and covered front porch .will cost you between $ 180,000.00 and 240,000.

There are dozens of other house plan style categories, such as A-Frames, Mission, Contemporary, Southwest, and Tudor to name just a few. A web search for house plans yields a mind blowing number of searchable sites. Most of these allow you to search for house plans, by style, number of bedrooms, baths, with or without a garage, or by sq. ft. of living space.

Keep in mind that the estimate price to build, doesn’t include the price of the plans, any changes you make to the plans or building permit fees. Despite these fees,

Building your new home from pre-drawn plans will be cheaper and probably faster than having your home plans custom drawn.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Sole, Joint or Multiple Agency?

Many clients I meet at valuations know they can use one or several estate agents. They also know using more than one agent could cost them more on the fees. What they might not have considered is the small print of each type of agreement or the relative merits of using one, two or many agents. Here’s our brief guide to each;

Sole Agency

Contracts of this type should read as follows –

‚You will be liable to pay remuneration to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time, unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged:

•with a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency or

•with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period, or

•with a purchaser introduced by another agent during that period.‘

The agent gets paid if they „introduce“ a buyer during their contract period, or if you let another agent „introduce“ a buyer within the original agent’s contract period. The definition of „introduced“ is a wide ranging one. It may well cover negotiations with a buyer, viewings, sending details, discussing on the phone as well as all these scenarios:

•A buyer who knocks on your door as a result of seeing a „for sale“ board.

•A buyer that views through one agent but later makes an offer through another agent.

•A buyer that is given details of your property by an agent and then realises that they know you.

•A buyer who views through an agent but suggests that you do a private deal

Contracts must have a set period of time (the average is 12 – 14 weeks). Please note that a contract almost always has a notice period at the end – add this to your stated contract length to work out the real amount of time you’ll be locked in to your chosen agent. This type of agreement does allow you to find a buyer for your home yourself without paying the estate agent (a private sale). A „sole selling rights“ agreement (best avoided) would mean the agent would get paid even if you did find a private buyer.

Sole agencies are the most common of the agreements – most agents want an exclusive shot at selling your house. If the estate agent is any good, you shouldn’t need another agent to help in selling. However, you might want to check how comprehensive an agent’s marketing is before you agree to a sole agency – if they don’t cover all the bases (or have over valued your house to get the business), you don’t want to be locked into a contract lasting months and months.

Joint Agency

If you appoint two estate agents to act together for you in selling the property, this is known as ‚joint agency‘ or ‚joint sole agency‘. A joint sole agency contract is where the estate agents involved share the commission when the property is sold. In practice, the agent that actually finds the buyer usually gets a higher split of the commission but this percentage share would need to be agreed at the start of the contract between owner and both agents.

Joint agency is often a useful way to get out of a sole agency before the end of the contract – if you tell your estate agent that you’re not happy and are considering terminating their contract at the earliest opportunity, then give them the option of being retained on a joint agency basis, they might be smart enough to see the merits of a slice of a fee rather than none at all. This type of agency is also useful when you want to use two agents that offer different services (for example a city agent and a country agent if you live on the border of a city). Do bear in mind the majority of the public have a negative perception about properties on with more than one agent („I’ve seen that before – there must be something wrong with it“). If you’re thinking about joint agency, try to choose two agents that can communicate/work together happily.

Multiple Agency

More than one agent is appointed and there is no fixed contract period. You can add as many agents as you like, remove one at any time and so forth. However, only the agent that actually finds the buyer gets paid.

Often used when a property fails to sell with a sole agent, this is an extreme measure to take as the total fees will be considerably higher plus the property may become over-exposed very quickly. Confusion and disputes can also arise if agents argue over who introduced a particular buyer – make sure you keep a track of each agent’s activity.

Fees in General

Estate agents fees are due on completion and should have been invoiced at exchange of contracts. The invoice is sent to the solicitor acting for the owner, but the owner should also receive a copy to check. Most agreements are based on „no sale, no fee“ so you shouldn’t pay anything if your house doesn’t sell (however, see below re extra fees).

Fees must be clearly stated on the contract – if the fee is a percentage of the sale price, a maximum amount in pounds and pence should also be displayed.

Although estate agents fees are often expressed as a straight percentage of the sale price, do remember they are also subject to VAT at the prevailing rate (currently 20%).

Some estate agents charge extra fees over and above the sale fee – we have recently seen these expressed as „advertising fees“ or „withdrawal fees“ ( a charge if your property doesn’t sell or you take it away from an agent). Costs up front for production of brochures and professional photography are also relatively common with upper market agents – it would always be worth making sure you know the total of ALL fees you may be liable for before signing a contract.

Watch out if you agree to a fixed fee from an estate agent – the fee is usually agreed based on the asking price so, if your property sells for less, you’re likely to be overpaying the agent compared to a normal percentage fee (which is charged on the final sale price)

If you want to give your agent extra motivation to achieve a top price, consider negotiating a tiered fee (eg 1% if they get under £240,000, 1.2% if they achieve between £240,000 and £250,000, 1.5% if they get over £250,000). Set the levels carefully to reward superb service and penalise an average result.

Extra Hints

If you change estate agents, make sure the previous agent gives you a list of names of the people they have „introduced“ to your property. If one of those names goes on to buy the house (in practical terms within 6 months from the date of termination of the agent’s contract), the old agent is entitled to their fee. Make sure you don’t get into a scenario where you owe fees to both agents because you didn’t do your homework.

Always ask estate agents to confirm their contract terms in writing (you would think this is standard practice but you might be surprised!) and, if you do end a contract with an agent, make sure they confirm that as well.

You can go from one sole agent to another, from a sole agent to joint agents or any other permutation.

Don’t go backwards in marketing terms – if you leave an agent because they aren’t marketing your home effectively, take a breather and make sure the next one you choose can do better BEFORE you appoint them.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Home Staging on a Budget

Staging is an essential, and cost-effective, part of the home selling process. Staging your home to show off its qualities can only add to your final selling price. On average, people receive $2 in increased sale price for every $1 they put into staging a home.

When staging your home for sale, there are five golden rules to take into consideration as you work your way through each room of your house.

Five Golden Rules:

De-Personalised

The buyer needs to picture themselves in the house – not you. That wedding photo may mean the world to you, but the buyer it’s a distraction that prevents them from seeing a home for their family.

Maximise

Declutter and maximise the space in your home. Closets packed tight with all your clothes make a place like it lacks closet space. Consider temporarily storing the overflow offsite.

Sanitize

This golden rule is the easiest and cheapest way to stage your home – clean it. A sink full of dirty dishes is as unappealing to you as it would be to the buyer. It is well worth the elbow grease in cleaning floors, walls, baseboards, ceiling fans and windows.

Modernise

Unless your home has exceptional period built-ins, all home could benefit from some updating. If someone feels the house is dated, they will reflect that feeling in a lower offer. Consider a few simple changes like swapping out expensive fixtures for nickel or chrome.

Neutralise

Colour can make or break a buyer’s interest in your home. You may love that shocking red wall, but all the potential buyer sees is a great deal of painting in their future because of red clashes with their style. The picture is one of the most inexpensive ways to change a look of a home.

Bonus Tips

Closets

Clear closets of unnecessary clutter, and organise to maximise the amount of open storage space you are showing off to potential buyers. Use boxes stacked together to keep up and hide the clutter.

Use matching hangers for clothes – hooks are inexpensive so splurging on higher quality are inexpensive, so celebrating on higher quality hangers to replace free wire hangers from the dry cleaners will modernise your closets with visual impact and a more luxurious feel.

Bedrooms

A quick and inexpensive way to improve the appeal of your bedroom is to use gender-neutral colours when touching up paint jobs and re-accessorizing to have the broadest possible appeal. Colour coordinate where possible bedspreads, walls, curtains etc. should have a clear theme to their colours if possible.

Bathrooms

If walls are grimy, spray them using a standard spray bottle filled with a mixture of one part bleach and one part water, follow up with a fresh coat of paint.

Clear countertops of everything but the essential to make space look more open and more extensive.

Kitchen

Modernize your dated cabinets; they can be touched up for less than $200 with a coat of new wood stain and or even a good sanding a coat of paint. Replacing brass or wooden cabinet hardware with brushed silver or stainless steel is an effective way of updating dated cabinets as well.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Staging Your Home for Sale – The Magic Move to Sell it Quicker

I was hanging out with a few people at a wedding recently and the conversation turned to

today’s real estate market.

One of my friends, John, from a town near San Jose, CA told a fascinating, yet familiar,

story. I thought I would share it with all of you.

John and his wife, Liz, decided to sell their home. They bought the house in 2004, saw it

increase in value, and this summer decided to sell it. They interviewed four different

agents to sell their home and finally decided on the one who agreed to sell their home for

what they wanted to sell it for.

They believed the home was worth $625,000. The first three agents who came in to

interview for the listing told them the house would never sell at that price and that they

should consider listing it below $600,000. They all felt $589,000-$599,000 was the

„magic“ number.

John is a commercial real estate broker. He knew that his asking price was high but he

was in no hurry to sell. He also didn’t like the fact these three agents weren’t offering

any „solutions“ they were only discussing the „problems“ he would face at the higher

price.

These agents told John and Liz about the current market conditions for their area. If

their home sold, it would likely take up to 120 days. There was a 55% chance that the

home wouldn’t sell at all during these four months. Based on what they wanted for their

home, they needed to be prepared for this. The agents told them they needed to consider

lowering the price.

John and Liz talked very seriously about lowering their price. Then they met a fourth

agent named Lynette.

Lynette came in and presented her case. It really wasn’t much different than the rest.

She also told them about days on the market and the chances of selling their home. She

also suggested they may be priced a bit high but then she offered an option.

„Let’s stage your home using a professional home staging company,“ Lynette suggested.

„This is going to cost you about $4000. We will list the home at the $625,000 you want

but to offset some of this expense, when I sell your home, I will split this expense with

you.“

Whereas real estate professionals, like Lynette, are highly skilled in marketing, selling

and closing your home, home stagers are designers. They are artists who prepare your

home for resale.

Home stagers work with the „flow“ of your home. They will remove and re-arrange

furniture. They will eliminate clutter. They may even add pictures, bedspreads, paint,

art, rugs and other items to make it more appealing. They may even assist in enhancing

curb-appeal.

Their goal is to make an incredible first impression on potential homebuyers the moment

they pull in front of your home.

Lynette explained that although the décor of the house was very nice and contemporary,

the home was cluttered because of their three young boys and busy lifestyle. The home

didn’t feel as large as it was because it was packed with too many items to display it

properly. The home was „too personal,“ she told them. They had picture of the boys

all over the house from birth to last year’s soccer playoffs.

She told them that they needed to compete with new home builders who are offering

buyers the most incredible purchase incentives. She said that when you walk into the

model homes of the builder you are „blown away.“

„THAT is your competition,“ Lynette said. „You need to blow away the people who

walk into your home too.“ She also explained that the last few clients who hired her

home staging company sold their home in less than 60 days and didn’t discount their

asking price.

John and Liz were not crazy about spending $4000, and certainly not thrilled about taking

down pictures of their beloved family, but they were encouraged by Lynette’s creative

idea. At the end of the day, what they really cared about was selling this home, so they

did it.

John said the home staging company came in and made the house seem like a „hotel.“

„They took out way more things than they put in, but it did look better, like a nice bed

and breakfast hotel,“ he said. „It almost made me want to stay there,“ he joked.

It worked. Their house sold in three weeks….at the $625,000 list price. Lynette did an

amazing job from start to finish!!

Just this month, I sold my very own investment house that was staged in 11 days. There

were three like models listed in the subdivision at the same time. Mine was the highest

priced. My incredibly talented real estate agent did an amazing job too but I truly

believe staging was a real key as well. I did take a small loss on this home. However a

sale in 11 days is no small accomplishment in today’s market.

Experts say that if you are hiring a professional staging company, plan on spending

between $2000-$5000 based on the size and condition of the home. If you just want

consultation, plan on $100 or so per hour.

Experts, like StagedHomes.com, say that a staged home sells in half the time as a similar

home that is not staged and that a staged home sells for 7-10% higher.

Coldwell Banker tracked nearly 3,000 properties, ranging in price from $229,000 to $4.8

million, in eight major U.S. cities.

During this time, they determined the average home was on the market for nearly 31

days, the typical staged home sold in less than 14 days.

The average home sold for 1.6% over the seller’s asking price. The staged homes, in the

Coldwell Banker study, over the same time, went for a 6.3% more.

This means, if the average home price is $300,000, you can expect the average staged

home to sell for $318,000-$330,000. Obviously, this makes the $2000-$5000 investment

a no-brainer.

Inventory is at an all-time high in many areas. The National Association of Realtors

recently reported the biggest drop in home prices since the trade group began compiling

price data in 1968. Many experts are now saying housing prices will continue to decline

though 2007.

So do you take your home off the market until 2008, and hope it gets better, with the

possibility it gets even worse, or do you separate yourself from the competition and do

what it takes to give your home the very best chance it has to sell today?

We are in a slower real estate market, however the people who are most committed to selling their

home will likely still be successful. When you are selling real estate it’s no different

than selling any other product. You have to market to find a capable buyer and then you

have to impress him.

Your real estate professional will market the property to bring the buyers but the product

and how it’s displayed will determine if it sells and at what price. This is where the

professional home stager comes in.

OK, so you want to give Home Staging a try? Here’s how.

There are many websites out there. Just type „professional home staging“ into your

favorite search engine like Google, Yahoo!, or MSN and you can start looking for the one

that best fits you.

If you want to try doing it yourself, take these tips from professional home stagers like

StagedHomes.com and others:

HOW TO „STAGE“ YOUR HOME YOURSELF

MAKE AN AWESOME FIRST IMPRESSION

Look at your house like you will look at the homes you want to buy next.

Prospective buyers make up their minds about your house even before they get out

of the car.

This is your chance to WOW them. Clean up the yard; rake the leaves and sweep

driveways and porches.

Get out the rags and cleanser and spend 30 minutes scouring your front door,

porch, railings and steps.

Make sure all of all your trash cans, recycling cans, other bins, discarded wood

scraps, extra building materials, etc., are in the garage.

Check gutters for roof moss and dry rot. Make sure they are swept and cleaned.

Look at all plants. Prune your bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking

windows.

Weed and then mulch all planting areas. Keep lawn freshly cut and fertilized.

Remove dead plants or shrubs.

Clear patios or decks of all small items such as small planters, flower pots, charcoal,

barbecues, and toys. Box them away and store them.

Check the paint condition of the house, especially the front door and trim.

UNCLUTTER YOUR HOUSE

Empty your closets to a minimum, clear out the cupboards, and get rid of the small

appliances. Take books off the shelves, get rid of all of the magazines, the CDs,

video games, and DVDs, and lose the kid’s toys. Minimize it all.

Rent a storage unit or box what you want to keep and toss the rest.

Now is the time to say goodbye to your house and your stuff and transition. Your

life may be a bit uncomfortable during this time but you are now in the business of

selling your home.

GET RID OF THAT FURNITURE

An easy way to „unclutter“ and create a much greater sense of space is to get rid of

some furniture.

Consider moving your sofa, extra chairs, and end tables into storage so you can

make the home feel like it is larger and has much more space.

If your furniture is old, you may want to pack it away and rent a few more

contemporary pieces.

The goal is to sell your home, not display your old furniture.

MAKE YOUR HOME „THEIR“ HOME

The goal here is to get the potential buyer to imagine that he is living in your house.

If he feels like an intruder during his tour, your chances of selling the house are less.

That means put away anything connected to your family or personal interests. Like

trophies, family vacation photos, and personal mementos. Box it all away!

Clear refrigerator fronts of all messages, magnets, pictures, reminders, etc.

Stagers say the bathroom is a crucial place to pay close attention too. Shampoo

bottles in the shower and toothbrushes near the sink make it very hard for the

buyer to picture himself there. Box it away during the day and bring it out at night

for your use.

Keep the towels to minimum as well. Think „neat hotel bathroom“ on the day you

checked in.

MAKE THAT HOUSE AS CLEAN AS POSSIBLE

If your house is clean, the buyer tends to believe everything else is great with the

house as well. This means clean everything! The mirrors, walls, floors, carpets,

drapes, bathrooms, kitchen, and even door handles, light fixtures and pantry

cupboards.

If you hate cleaning, bring in a professional maid service regularly while your home

is listed and get someone in to do the windows, driveway and walkways. Remember,

it costs money to make money.

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL HANDYMAN

As I mentioned, I recently sold an investment property of mine that was staged in 11

days. I staged it myself by following all of the items listed here.

The day before my agent officially placed my home in MLS and started contacting

all of his previous clients, I called a handyman to come out and fix a few things.

I had a missing face plate for a light switch. I had some mold around one of the

toilets. One of the sinks had a broken drain valve. The door leading out to the

garage was dinged up a bit and needed a coat of paint. This was less than $100

worth of work. Many sellers would simply have ignored these items, offered the

buyer a blanket repair credit, and said „get it fixed yourself when you move in.“

Because of my research on this topic, I knew better and made an appointment to get

the handyman out to fix it. He was busy so he committed to come in a week.

However, my home went on the market the next day.

Two days later, five days before the handyman came; the eventual buyer of my

home toured my house. He came back a week later, after the handyman had been

there, and bought it. When I finally met the buyer at the final walk-through, I

asked him whey he didn’t make the offer the first time through.

He told me the missing face plate on the light switch and the dinged up garage door

really bugged him. When he came back and it was fixed, he was impressed and

knew I cared about the home.

A $3 item from Home Depot and a simple coat of cheap grade white paint almost

cost me the sale of my home.

Don’t wait! Fix those minor problems today!

COLOR UP THAT HOUSE WITH PAINT AND CARE

A fresh coat of paint in key areas of your home really makes a big difference. If

your home feels „special“ like you care, that will translate to buyers. Experts say

flowers in the entry or near the front door make your home feel more special, warm

and inviting.

FACE IT, YOUR HOUSE STINKS…MAKE IT SMELL BETTER

Stagers say that people don’t realize it but many of their homes simply stink. They

stink from pets or just everyday family use. The easiest way to overcome this is to

keep your windows open for 10 minutes a day.

This strategy works better than deodorizers, says Barb Schwarz, president of

StagedHomes.com, since a lot of people have allergies to artificial room fresheners.

The oldest trick of all? Leave chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. The smell

helps buyers bond with your home.

MAKE YOUR HOME BRIGHTER AND MORE ALIVE

When things are lighter they feel more vibrant and alive. Dark is depressing. You

don’t want the buyer feeling depressed walking through your home.

Staging experts say clean windows let in as much as 30% more light than dirty ones.

Get them cleaned.

Clean the shades on your light fixtures and add floor lamps if an area seems dim.

Get rid of those energy-saving 60-watt bulbs and go with higher wattage lights for

maximum illumination.

When it comes time to show your home, make sure all the lights are on.

GET HOMEY AND CREATIVE

Flowers, plants, candles, expressive art are all items that are not overly personal

that give a good vibe to the buyer walking through your home. Show these off or go

buy some to add that touch.

You want your home to feel like a model home you see at a new house tract or,

better yet, a comfortable hotel lobby.

For real estate agents, in my opinion, this is a great tool to separate yourself from your

competition in trying to get a listing and sell the home. I think it’s a good idea to take a

few home staging classes or have a professional home stager as part of your team as an

option to present sellers.

StagedHomes.com offers two-day home staging workshops for real estate agents.

For homeowners with a lot of equity, I think hiring a professional stager is a tremendous

idea as well.

If you don’t have as much room financially and the costs of hiring a professional stager

seem preventative, you may want to try the „do-it-yourself“ ideas listed above first.

If those still don’t work, but you notice the feedback is more positive, you may want to

then consider hiring a home staging professional.

From all indications, and I can tell you first-hand, the price of staging your home is small

compared to the benefits you can realize.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Is Selling Your Own Home Right For You?

In this DIY (Do It Yourself) age, it is no surprise that many consider selling their home on their own when they are ready for a move. There can be some great benefits – lower cost; more control; a chance to „test the waters“ – but there are many pitfalls too. In the US, For Sale By Owner („FSBO“) transactions accounted for 10% of home sales in 2011 but sold for considerably less (up to 25%) on average than agent-assisted home sales. [1]Other than the possibility of a lower selling price, consider the following if you are thinking about listing your home on your own:

Time and effort involved

Roll up your sleeves and prepare to spend significant time preparing your home, researching the market, developing sales strategies and marketing materials, answering calls, showing your home, and eventually managing negotiations and paperwork. Realtors have well developed tools at hand and typically have a team of resources to count on, including front office staff that may be available 24 hours a day. It all looks easy, but the work is surprisingly detailed and complex and mistakes can be expensive.

Pricing it right

Pricing correctly can be a challenge for anyone, but when you are emotionally attached to a property, it can be even more so. Too low and buyers may be suspicious; too high and your property will sit while others around you sell. Realtors rely on current and historic market data along with industry and marketing experience to help establish the right price for a motivated seller. The right price for a well-staged home can have a significant effect on attracting a high number of qualified buyers; and that leads to a sale.

Legal and financial implications

How much should you disclose about that leak or buried wiring? What about the well and septic system? The insight and paperwork involved in putting together a secure and binding sale agreement that protects both parties is considerable. Professional Realtors, their Associations, and their Brokers have the training and experience required to identify potential issues along with developed contract language to help ensure your interests are secure. Major problems that are not visible and remain undisclosed can lead to litigation and other costly consequences. Missing clauses in a contract can have the same costly effect.

Needless to say, there are many FSBO success stories, however, we have all seen FSBO signs that linger on a front yard for what seems like months before being replaced by a Realtor’s sign. If you have time on your hands and want to „test“ the market, a FSBO strategy may work for you. But if you are a motivated seller with a deadline and top dollar in mind, then perhaps a Realtor is your best bet. I have worked with more than one FSBO client who was exasperated with the process – „… never again!“

[1] National Association of Realtors, 2011

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Sell Your Own House and Pocket the Profits

So you want to sell your own house? Perhaps you want to save money on a commission that would be paid to a broker. Perhaps you are one of those individuals that believe that selling a home is a simple process because it appears so easy on TV. I understand it’s probably not as difficult as performing a root canal on yourself, but if attempted without preparation it might feel like you attempted the aforementioned.

The first thing to consider when selling your own house is to determine what the current market is like in your local area. This does not mean you should buy a copy of the Wall Street Journal and try to extrapolate what your local market is like based on national or worse yet, international trends. Some markets never experienced a large up or down over the last decade despite what was going on elsewhere. So how can you find out information that is pertinent to the local area? One way is to contact a local real estate agent and ask, but that can bring on some unwanted pressure to list with them instead; which I actually suggest for the vast majority of homeowners. Another way is to check local papers that may disclose certain statistics such as average days on market, a comparison of sales prices to listing prices (they are rarely the same, except perhaps in a hot market), and local interest rates. Now what do you do with all this information? For now hold onto it, as we will be using it to help price your home.

Once we have gathered some basic data the next step is to start finding some comparable properties. A comparative market analysis is the most accurate way to price a „normal“ home. It may not be the best way to assess the value of a new home, historic home, income property, or commercial property. What you will want to do is gather the SOLD price of at least SIX comparable homes, that have sold in the last 6 months. If you use home sales older than that, you risk the comparison not being very accurate. Comparable homes should be as similar to your home as possible, but do not have to be identical. These homes should be in the same school district, zip code, and if possible same housing complex if applicable. Explaining exactly how to do this process can be very verbose, so what I will say is that for an amateur analysis make sure your home is priced less than homes offering greater amenities and size and greater than homes offering less size or that are not as updated. Knowing exactly how much these differences effect the price of your home from the comps takes market knowledge that most homeowners don’t have. Remember that money spent on renovations does not correlate 100% to an increase in value.

Ok, so we now have an idea about the list price. The next thing we need to do is go back to what is happening in the local market. If homes are selling fast, I would suggest sticking near your estimated price for a quick sale of your home. If homes are selling at an average rate 3- 6 months (again average is different depending on location) I’d consider sticking at your estimate list price or as much as ten percent less if you are hoping for a quick sale. If homes are not selling on average in less than 120 days, as a for sale by owner you will need to price yourself well below the competition 10% or more. My reasoning for this is that highly marketed homes are not selling, where your home will have a fraction of the advertising versus those listed with a broker. You will need an edge to beat out the competition.

Well, we accomplished step one; pricing our home. This is actually one of the easier tasks we will have to do. Step two will be determining our budget for marketing the home. This is actually the main reason I suggest hiring a broker, since advertising if done haphazardly can cost MORE than hiring an agent. Now you can advertise on sites that cater to for sale by owners, but honestly the traffic they generate is simply pathetic compared to many of the better known sites. If you are serious about this, I suggest you list on a big name site. As far as advertising in the local paper goes, it certainly does not hurt, but realize that more buyers find their home online than through the local paper. The local paper though does appeal to the older generations and can help with a cross generational marketing campaign. Another consideration is that according to the national association of REALTORS 89% of surveyed home buyers in 2011 used an agent to buy. That means, whether you want to or not, you will likely have to deal with and or pay an agent. As a for sale by owner you can offer to pay an agent for bringing a buyer to you. This may help you save some money compared to having an agent list it as well. A good number to start with is offering a 2-3% commission to any buyer’s agents. This will ensure that the 89% of buyers searching for a home with the aid of an agent will not totally avoid your home. Another marketing tool you can use is a yard sign. These can be obtained relatively cheap from a local printer or online. If you are gutsy enough to let total strangers roam through your home, you can also host an open house. It is estimated that nearly 5% of home purchases are done on impulse, so it cannot hurt your sales effort. I would like you to consider that bringing strangers in your home can be unsafe so proceed with caution.

Alright, we are moving right along to getting our home sold. We have a price, we know how we are going to market it, and we are ready to list right? No, I’m sorry we still have some work to do. The next thing we have to do is complete a seller’s disclosure form to give to potential buyers. This form can be obtained from a local housing authority or online. In addition, we need to provide potential buyers with a lead-based paint disclosure act if your house was built in 1978 or earlier, thanks to a 1992 law. In addition, this is the time to neutralize your home, fix peeling paint (trust me, fix peeling paint), and complete any other small maintenance tasks that need done.

Ok, now we can go ahead and list the home. The easy part is done, we are moving onto the hard and hardest parts of selling a home. Now if you listed it yourself I suggest purchasing a land line phone number to use for advertisement purposes. There are many places where you can find one cheaply. When your first perspective buyer calls, greet them politely and share whatever information they need. As tempting as it may be, before having them over to view the house, make sure they have be pre-approved, or at least pre-qualified for a loan; ask them to bring their pre-approval letter. People have no problem wasting your time. If they refuse to bring any such paperwork, skip the viewing because it is likely they are not that interested in your house anyways. In fact, they cannot even make a real offer at this point. Show buyers around that have met the pre-qualifications, but refrain from harping about anything personalized within the home, as they will likely be envisioning how they can change your house to suit their needs. If they are interested in making an offer, please do not entertain a verbal negotiation of price. First, their offer is not legally enforceable by the statute of frauds and back and forth negotiations may elicit an emotional response on your part. Instead, insist on a written offer and binding contract. It is likely they will be working with an agent, so this is usually a mute point. When the offer is presented, remain emotionless whether it is more than you had hoped for, or less since most buyers will expect the savings you received from not paying a commission to be passed onto them (Now if you used my suggestion of offering a buyer’s agent commission you might find that you receive a more reasonable offer). You have two options; accept or reject the offer. If you reject the offer, you can always counter-offer. Some things to expect during this time is the buyers wanting you to purchase a home owners insurance warranty (which you should do to save yourself a headache 6 months from now when your water pipes burst or your furnace dies at only 4 years of age). The second is that they will likely place several contingencies on the offer, which are completely normal. These contingences may include a home inspection, land survey, title insurance, dye test, as well as several others.

Ok so you have found a buyer and your home is under contract. The coming 30-90 days will be the roughest yet, but hang on because you are almost there. During this time a home inspector after examining your home will come up with a list of several hundred problems that your house has. If you already disclosed these items in your seller’s disclosure there should be little concern, as they will not be items that your potential buyer could use to back out of the transaction. Now for the things you were unaware of, buyers may try to haggle the price even lower. I suggest for small ticket items, hold your ground. Bigger ticket items will likely require some concessions on your part. Your other option is to not give any concessions and try the whole process over again, disclosing the newfound issues. If things do progress past this point, prepare for yet more expenses at closing. You will need to pay transfer taxes on the property, as well as, prorated property taxes if you have not yet done so for the fiscal year. Again, there will be some other expenses and rather going into detail here, I suggest you take a look at a HUD-1 form to get a strong understanding of what expenses are dealt with at closing. If closing is not being taken care of by their agent, I suggest you hire either a transaction licensee or lawyer to handle the paperwork. DO NOT attempt to complete this stage on your own unless you are an agent or an attorney.

Well if you made it past closing, you have done what only 15% of for sale by owners are able to! Congratulations, and when you go to look for your next home use an agent.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

Using Social Media To Sell Your Property

I would assume that when you decided to become an FSBO and sell your property, you have done your homework and researched on how to be an FSBO. If you haven’t then I urge you to first research on what to expect when you sell your property as an FSBO. Now if you’re able to do your homework, you might have come across some articles that states that there are about 90 percent of for-sale-by-owner that fail to sell their property. However, you have to also understand that this number may not be accurate as the success of an FSBO would highly depend on how much effort you put in. It is not enough to have your property to have a for sale sign, you also have to make every effort to make sure that you will be able to put your property for sale in front of as many eyeballs as possible. More people who knows that you have a property for sale means the higher possibility of having a potential buyer of your property.

So how do you increase the visibility of your property for sale? Some would use traditional media to advertise their property for sale, although that may be one way to go it is going to be very expensive and a problem for FSBO. But do not fret there are other ways on how you can promote your property for sale. One of them is to use the services of a flat-fee mls provider, flat-fee mls is a process where you only pay a flat-fee to have your property be placed in hundreds of MLS listing sites among other services inclusive.

Another possible way to have your property for sale, promoted is to use the power of social media. It is free and it would not cost as much as traditional media if you choose to use social media paid advertising. You might be wondering on how do you start advertising your property for sale via social media. Here are some easy steps which you can follow.

  1. Choose Your Platform – you do not have to look far, everyone may have a social media account, this is where you should start, choose the platform where you are already in and have friend and or followers to which you can promote your property for sale. If you do not have an account in any of the social media platforms out there then it is time for you to have one. In this case choose a platform that you know that your friends are mostly using. Once you sign up start adding your friends and start posting your property for sale. And start the word of mouth about your property snowball.
  2. Post Your Property for Sale – nobody wants to have their property social media timeline to look like an advertising platform. Although we have suggested that you post your property for sale on your account, do not post the same thing everyday. It pays to also post something interesting to your friend even if such is unrelated. Make sure to also nurture your relationship with your friends using your timeline rather than having your timeline turn into a newspaper classified ads. In addition, make sure that you make your post public so that anyone can see it.
  3. Engage and Answer Queries – once you get queries on your post about your property for sale, make sure that you immediately answer their questions and do so professionally. Remember with social media, as long as your post is public, people can freely see your posts.

These three simple steps is a start for you to use social media to make sure as an FSBO that your property for sale can get much more exposure beyond the traditional media could do, not to mention that this could be done only for a fraction of a price if not free and with the aid of flat-fee mls listing, you will surely get that deal.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg

How to Sell Your House Yourself Easily?

Selling the house put people in a dilemma whether they should hire a real estate agent or not? Well, if you are capable of selling your house on your own then why hire a real estate agent with whom you have to share your profit.

Usually, property owners are expected to pay 5% to 7% of the sale price to an agent. However, if you choose to sell your property yourself then you will not only be able to save on the real estate agent fees but also will get the freedom to sell your property in your own ways.

Before you move further to sell your house yourself, do consider the following discussed factors that will make your selling easy:

The location of the property is believed to be one of the crucial factors. Since no one can change the location of your home to take it to the more desirable place, thus, the price you expect should be realistic. You will get nothing if you offer a much higher price in comparison to the other properties that are being sold in the same area. Therefore, it is recommended to do proper research to find out what neighborhood properties have been selling for.

What is the status of the housing market like at the moment? Find out the worth of the property a few years ago and now? Considering the history of the property prices, it is important that you price your property in line as per the current market conditions.

Check out the condition of your property at present. Before you advertise your property for selling, it is good to allow a property inspector to visit and value your home. On sell your house yourself; you may not be able to see the little defects and repairs that a professional can observe.

In many cases, the reason for selling your house influences the decision of the buyers. So, you should be clear about your words that describe the reason.

Next, you need to think like a potential buyer. You simply cannot show your emotions to get in a selling way. If any corner of your house needs repairs or changes, then you should get it repaired or changed immediately. Prior to starting the process of selling your house, think from a buyer’s point of view.

Sell your property yourself can save you from long meetings with agents and their representatives. By listing it on a reliable listing portal, you will be able to reach millions of potential buyers, investors, and renters. Such a quick reach is not possible with the traditional methods of selling homes that include putting advertisements on newspapers, television, and handing out flyers. These property listing portals will make you connect with more and more people by putting your minimal efforts. Furthermore, the cost-effectiveness of the internet cannot be overemphasized as it allows you to create the perfect online presence with an affordable advertising budget.

There are various portals online that allow you to advertise your property without charging any commission or hidden costs. Among such options, choosing the best one is vital to get the quickest outcome of your property.

Immobilienmakler Heidelberg

Makler Heidelberg