Finding your Ideal Neighborhood

Every other year, the Census Bureau conducts the American Housing Survey. The most recent study finds that the two most popular reasons for choosing a certain neighborhood are how it’s laid out and its proximity to work.

What about you? What are your hot buttons? It helps both of us if you’re clear on what type of area best suits your lifestyle. This part of the process requires both soul-searching and sleuthing.

Here are a few considerations to help you create your neighborhood wish list:

• Are good schools or proximity to schools a priority?

• Is living closer to work important to you?

• Do you need a walkable neighborhood located within walking distance to shopping and other conveniences?

• Do you prefer a lively family-type neighborhood or a more sedate, private environment?

• What don’t you like about where you currently live?

That last question is especially good when you’re stuck for ideas. Sometimes knowing what you don’t want in a neighborhood is just as important as knowing what you do want.

When you share your wish lists with me, I can help you narrow down the vast array of home and neighborhood choices available. Here’s how we’ll find your perfect home and neighborhood:

• Home prices: It doesn’t do you any good to look at homes that are out of your price range, so I’ll only show you homes you can afford.
• Crime statistics: Legally, I am not allowed to speak to whether a certain area has high or low crime. I will, however, point out where you can find this information, should this be a concern.
• Outdoor amenities: If these are important to you, we’ll shop in areas with parks, trails and the like.
• School information: Although schools are important to parents, they typically don’t top the list of what is important to them in a neighborhood. If you have school-aged children, do you need to live within walking distance to their school? Will they need to take the bus?

One Final Step

Take a drive through neighborhood at different times during the day and night. The ideal times for these recognizance trips are after school lets out in the afternoon and on weekend days and nights. Don’t hesitate to get out and walk and speak with any neighbors you see.

Searching for the perfect neighborhood is akin to Google Earth. If you’ve ever used the online search application you know that you can draw back from an area by zooming out and then gradually zoom in, until you find the ideal neighborhood. That’s when we jump in the car and go find you that dream house.

3 Importat Tips for Selling a Vacant Home

Many homeowners need to move to the new home before the old home sells. Sometimes it’s a tenant that has moved out before the home goes on the market that causes the home to sit, vacant. As you can imagine, selling an empty house is a bit of a challenge. Not only are there the insurance, maintenance and security aspects to consider, but also the appeal to the potential buyer.

Staging a home for sale is becoming more common as homeowners learn how valuable the process is. It is even more valuable when the home is vacant. Since studies show that a home without furniture takes 78 percent longer to sell than a furnished home, and the latter sells for closer to asking price, consider the following to maximize your profit on the sale of the home.

Hire a professional home stager

These designers bring in everything from furniture to accessories and arrange them in ways that appeal to a homebuyer’s emotions. “Most homeowners spent between $348 and $803,” to have their homes staged, according to the professionals who are members of ImproveNet. Check out their handy calculator that will give you a better idea of the costs in your ZIP code.

Stage it yourself

Making a home looked lived-in, when it isn’t, is a big job, even for professionals. But the good news is that you won’t necessarily need to stage the entire home, according to Kerry Derwent-Robb at HomeStagingHints.com. She recommends that you stage the dining and living rooms and one or two bedrooms. If you feel you lack that interior designer flair, get some ideas and inspiration online at HGTV, on Pinterest or at HomeStagingChannel.com’s YouTube channel.

Stage it virtually

Yes, there are virtual stagers and they can change the color of walls, switch out the flooring and even add virtual furniture. The danger in this method is that if a buyer likes what he sees online and shows up to tour the home in person, the first thing he’ll notice is that the home looks nothing like its photos and he may feel deceived. You can get around this by making it clear online that the home is virtually staged.

The price? It varies but Kim Palmer of Minnesota’s Star Tribune says that virtual staging may cost up to $100 per photograph, but you can find virtual stagers online that charge as little as $40 per photo.

Hire a professional tenant

We don’t get it, but some people don’t mind moving frequently, especially those that are “resident managers” that work for home staging services like Showhomes. This process takes staging to an entirely new level and homebuyers will not only see a furnished home, but a lived-in home, complete with a stocked refrigerator and clothing in the closet.

The managers bring their own upscale furnishings and accessories and they even pay their own utility bills. Showhomes pays for the homeowner’s additional insurance costs.

Home managers aren’t suitable for all homes. In fact, Showhomes will only work with homeowners whose homes are listed at $500,000 or more. Their fees run from $1,000 to $3,000 and some companies also ask for a percentage of the sales price.

Botton Line

While selling a home that is vacant may be unavoidable, there are even simple ways to make it look lived-in. You owe it to your bottom line to do all you can to make the home as attractive to buyers as possible, let’s connect so you have the right guidance Call/text 917-515-9783 or nyhomeseller@gmail.com  

3 Strategies to Getting your House Sold Quickly

 

If you’re selling your home so that you can purchase another you not only have a need for speed, but a need for the most money possible in the sale.

So, what’s the trick to getting a home sold quickly and for top dollar? Actually, there are several things you can do to speed up the process and make your home irresistible to buyers. Here are the top three:

1. Price

The main reason a home sits on the market with little attention and no offers is price. One of the immutable laws of real estate is that overpriced homes take longer to sell.

Homebuyers know what your home is worth on the current market, so pricing it higher isn’t fooling anyone. Plus, what happens is that your home will show up in the Multiple Listing Service in searches of that price range. If your home is overpriced, your competition will be newer, larger, better located or in better condition.

Keep in mind that the longer a house languishes on the market the better the chances it will eventually sell for less than market value. So, price it right from the beginning and you’ll get to take full advantage of that “honeymoon period” that all new listings enjoy.

2. Condition

To get your home sold, clean it. Sure, that sounds like basic common sense, but study after study confirms that buyers look for homes that appear to be in move-in condition. Dirty homes don’t fit that bill.

After cleaning the house, remove all the clutter. If you can fit a designer’s services into your budget, consider hiring a professional stager. Staging the home can mean the difference between getting bombarded with low offers and receiving top dollar for the home.

3. Marketing

Marketing is strictly up to your real estate agent so it is critical that you hire one that excels at marketing homes.

When interviewing agents for the job of selling your home, ask to see a marketing plan. It should include samples of past marketing efforts. Are the photos clear and compelling? Are the descriptions intriguing enough to get you to want to view the home or do they appear to be dashed off haphazardly?

BOTTON LINE

While there are other strategies that can help sell your home, these are the top three. Set the right price, get the house in tip-top shape and hire the right real estate agent.