22 Things Realtor’s Do To Our OWN Homes Before We Sell Them!

Creekview at River Run Sellers Realtor’s know how to get top dollar for our own homes. After all, we package, market and sell homes for a living. In detail, here’s what we do to our own homes to prepare them for sale:

The Exterior

 Creekview at River Run Sellers, as Realtor’s we understand the importance of “curb appeal”. To beautify the exterior of the home, we focus on the driveway, entrance-way, landscaping and front door.
1. The front lawn and shrubs are manicured. Gardens are mulched.

2. All clutter is removed from the front lawn.

3. Cracks in the driveway and walkway are fixed.

4. Gutters and downspouts are cleared and in good working order.

5. Chipped or fraying paint on door and window frames is removed, and fresh paint is added.

6. The front door is painted or replaced if needed.

7. The exterior of the house is painted if needed.

The Interior

8. Walls are cleaned so there are NO smudge marks. If the paint is dingy, the walls MUST be

painted. Light colors are used to make the house appear larger.

9. Carpets are clean and in good condition. Otherwise, get rid of them.

10. The windows are thoroughly cleaned. Buyers like to look outside the windows. The windows

and screen doors easily open and close and are in good shape.

11. All clutter is removed.

12. All clothes are placed in the drawers or neatly in closets.

13. The kitchen is thoroughly cleaned. The cabinets, counters and appliances are thoroughly

spotless. All clutter is removed. Dishes and glasses are neatly stacked in the cupboards.

There are NEVER any dirty dishes in the sink or on the counter.

14. The closets are reorganized so they appear larger. Clothes are removed if necessary.

15. Furniture is removed and or placed into storage. This makes the home appear much larger.

You NEVER want to make it difficult to walk through all the     rooms in the house . . . clear

the pathways!

16. Electrical and plumbing are in working order.

17. Broken appliances are fixed or replaced.

18. The Garage door works perfectly.

19. Curtains are always opened, windows shades always up and lights always on (including

lamps, hallway lights, etc) when the home is being shown (even     during the day). The

combination of sunlight and artificial light helps make the home appear larger and open.

20. A fresh scent is always used to appeal to buyer’s senses. Vanilla is one of the most frequently

used scents in builder’s model homes. You can buy vanilla air fresheners that fit directly on

your air filter.

21. Pet odors are always eliminated!

22. Soft jazz or classical music is always playing on the stereo when buyers come through.

Creekview at River Run Sellers Caution! Never do excessive work!

 Many sellers think the more fix-up work they do, the higher the price they will get. That’s not true. Beyond the necessary fix-ups, you can easily start wasting your money. Never do any unnecessary fix-ups prior to selling.

Creekview at River Run Sellers I hope this information was informative. As your local real estate professional, I am available to answer any questions you have about making your home “perfect” prior to putting it on the market. You can call me at any time for advice, and please remember that you are under no obligation or pressure of any kind. I would very much like to help you.

Best Regards,

Michael L. Miller

Creekview at River Run Sellers & Buyers. The Federal Reserve Board is to meet in September. It’s rumored at that meeting the interest rate that the Fed charges banks to borrow money will go up. The rise in the interest rate will cost banks more money to borrow which in turn means that it will cost you more to borrow. How or why does this affect you? Here is why this rumored rate increase will affect Creekview at River Run Sellers & Buyers.

Here’s a real life example. An average home sale price in Creekview at River Run is around $330,000. Currently, at a 4% interest rate the principal and interest payment with a 30 year mortgage is about $1,575 per month.

Now….Creekview at River Run Buyer’s if the interest rate goes up .25% to 4.25% and your maximum affordable principal and interest payment is $1,575 your new loan max is now $320,000 to keep your payment at $1575.00 which is a decrease of $10,000 in buying power which would make it difficult to purchase your home in Creekview at River Run where the average home price is right around $330,000.

If the Fed were to raise the interest rate .50% to make the rate 4.5% you would have even less buying power. Using the same example from above of keeping a $1,575 payment with an interest rate of 4.5% your maximum loan amount would be about $310,000 which is $20,000 less. Act today to save your purchasing power.

Creekview at River Run Sellers if the interest rate goes up you will have less people that can afford to purchase your home. If you have any thought of selling your home you should act now before the interest rates go up while buyers have increased buying power.

As your local real estate professional, I am available to answer any questions you have. I hope this was informative. You can call me at any time for advice and if there is ever any way I can be of service to you or anyone you know, please contact me. There’s no obligation, and I’d love to help you!

Fast, simple fix-ups that will help you sell your home for the highest possible price!

Think of your home as a product or service. You need to “package” it attractively to create a demand for it. Here are some fast, inexpensive changes that should make your home stand out among similarly priced homes in your neighborhood:

It begins with the exterior

Your yard, and the exterior of your house, is the first impression that potential buyers have of your home.

Yard

Keep your lawn neat and well trimmed, with well-proportioned shrubs. Consider replanting flowers or creating a flowerbed to enhance the appearance of your yard. If it is the fall, make sure the lawn is raked at all times. And in the wintertime, clear snow from your driveway and walkways.

The Front Door

Creekview at River Run Sellers make sure your door is tightly on its hinges! Furthermore, the door should be neat and clean. Paint it if it needs it. If the door is in poor shape, consider replacing it. Finally, a holiday ornament on the door, like a wreath, ads a nice touch. Consider adding an inviting “welcome mat”.

The Interior

Lights

During the evening, or whenever you have potential buyers in the home, make sure ALL of the lights are on. This makes rooms look more inviting and spacious. Also, make sure curtains are always up to let as much sunlight in as possible.

Smell

I recommend using a vanilla air freshener that applies directly to your air filter. This gives your home that “new model home” aroma.

Remove excess Furniture

Remove as much furniture as possible. This can make your rooms look dramatically larger.

The Living Room

Strive for lived-in, cozy feeling. Discard worn, chipped, frayed furniture. Add lamps if it is dark. Open curtains. Set out fresh flowers.

The Kitchen

Many buyers judge the house keeping by the oven and stove. Appliances should be spotless and everything works perfectly. Replace or repair anything that sticks, squeaks or drips. Clear clutter from countertops.

The Master Bedroom

Creekview at River Run Sellers this is the second-most appealing room to a buyer (after the kitchen). Remove excess furniture to make it appear larger. Show the true size of the closets by removing or packing items that can be stored elsewhere.

Bathrooms

Make sure bathrooms are always neat and clean. Remove clutter from sink countertops. Make sure showers are free of scum and tile grout in good shape. Most buyers pay close attention to this!

Basement

If possible, make the basement look like a “living area.” Clear out as much clutter as possible (consider moving it into storage). If you have an extra sofa or loveseat and coffee table, consider creating a living area.

When You Let Potential Buyers In The Door

Make sure that the exterior and interior are both in order! Furthermore, appeal to the potential buyers’ senses: make sure the lights are on, the home has a vanilla aroma, and perhaps soft classical or jazz music playing on the stereo.

As your neighborhood real estate expert, Creekview at River Run Sellers I want to help educate you and help maximize the marketability of your home. These ideas are based on my experience. I hope you found them to be valuable, and if there is ever any way I can be of service to you or anyone you know, please contact me. There’s no obligation, and I’d love to help you!

Creekview at River Run Sellers costly mistakes can cause your house to sit on the market!  You put your house on the market, ran an ad in the newspaper classifieds, and sat by and watched as the phone didn’t ring. To make matters worse, few, if any people came by the house. This happens frequently, and the problems in all cases are usually the same.

 The Dangers of Pricing Too High

Many sellers don’t understand that overpricing can actually result in your getting LESS for your house than if you had priced it correctly in the first place. Knowledgeable agents and buyers often won’t bid on an overpriced home. By the time you “wise up” and reduce the price to where it should have been priced in the first place, many of your best prospects will have bought other houses. This decreases demand for your now properly priced home! The problem is exacerbated if you placed your home on the market in the spring, it sat on the market “overpriced” throughout the summer, and now that you’ve reduced your price, the market has slowed.

The Dangers of a Lack of Exposure

Creekview at River Run Sellers it’s a fact that most real estate transactions occur between buyer’s and seller’s agents. Buyer’s agents typically find properties for their clients through the Multiple Listing Service. Not being in the MLS makes it extremely difficult to get buyers through your door. If your home is not in the MLS, you’re off the radar! Hire a good real estate agent, and get into the MLS!

The Dangers of not “packaging your home” for sale!

Curb appeal is everything! You can take two identical homes next door to each other, both for sale. The first home has a cluttered yard with tall grass and weeds. The shutters on the house are chipping. There are toys in the yard. When you open the screen door, it’s half way off the hinges. The inside is fairly cluttered as well, and the wall could use a coat of paint. On the other hand, the owners of the home next door paid $300 for a landscaper to mow the lawn trim the shrubs and clear the gutters. Inside, they added a fresh coat of paint and cleared up all the clutter. Again, the two homes are identical. Both owners paid the same amount for the same model. Guess which home is going to fetch more money?

Creekview at River Run Sellers don’t be lazy. A few days of labor and minimal investment can make the difference between your house sitting on the market and selling the day you put it on the market. Cosmetic appeal is essential!

I hope this informative. As your local real estate professional, I am available to answer any questions you have about how to create the necessary exposure for your home to get it sold fast, at the price you want. You can call me at any time for advice, and please remember that you are under no obligation or pressure of any kind. I would very much like to help you.