Archive for the 'Sellers' Category
Tips of The Trade: The Importance of Home Staging
Posted by Julie Gatti | Leave A Comment »
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is preparing a home for sale by highlighting its best features and creating spaces throughout that are warm and inviting. The art of home staging literally “sets the stage” for positive first impressions, transforming worn or used looking rooms into places where potential buyers want to linger and enjoy the space. It helps the buyer to envision themselves in the home.
Why should I stage my home?
A good stager focuses on eliminating distracting decor, minimizing personal effects and identifying areas that need improvement. They also revive areas that are lacking in ambiance. Most importantly staging professionals are trained to maximize a home’s best selling features objectively. Based on experience from working with many different architectural styles, they know what is important to make your home appealing to potential buyers. A decorator usually creates environments tailored to you personal tastes, not the real estate consumer. So, when getting ready to sell, a stager can return the home to a more neutral palette.
What are the benefits of staged homes?
Staged homes show better than other competing homes for sale. They give buyer a clear vision of how the house can feel when occupied. A staged home often sells in a shorter period and for more money than a non-staged home.
Where do I begin?
The first thing a buyer sees is the outside of your home. Make sure your landscaping is fresh and uncluttered. It is especially important to cut back overgrown shrubs that cover windows or crowd the entrance to the home. The lawns should be mowed and freshly planted colorful annuals can provide and inexpensive way to add curb appeal.
Wash the windows, light fixtures, and if needed power wash the house and patios. It is a lot less expensive to wash than paint and it can give your home the appearance of being freshly painted.
Remove the clutter from your home and garage. It is difficult for buyers to envision themselves in the home when all they can see is “stuff”. A cluttered home leaves the buyer feeling that the home has not been well cared for. A good start is to pack away items that are not being utilized in your everyday living to create a more open and spacious feel.
Give the house a good cleaning, including the carpets. If needed, re-paint the interior in a neutral palette. This doesn’t necessarily mean white or beige. Homes with southern exposure can look washed out with colors that are too pale. A soft green or gold can be neutral if it is carried throughout the visible spaces. Painted accent walls in the kitchen and dining room often bring up the “wow” factor.
Open the blinds, curtains, etc… A dark and gloomy room leaves the buyer with cold and unwelcome feelings. It is important to bring as much of the outside in. Windows that view garden or patio should be unobstructed. Turn on the lights when showing the home. Make sure you have lightbulbs that cast a soft glow.
What rooms should be staged?
Most experts agree that the main living areas sell a home. So, start by staging the living room, dining room, kitchen, master bedroom and bathrooms. It doesn’t take a lot of extra time or money to add some carefully planned accessories to patios and home offices.
Most importantly, the rooms should reflect the function that was intended. For example, you may be utilizing your dining room for a home office. However, when getting ready to sell, that room needs to become a dining area again.
A staging professional can help you create warm and inviting spaces that highlight your home best features. They design spaces to appeal to the real estate consumer and can help you to get the most money from your sale.
About the author
Julie Gatti is an experienced realtor with extensive design, decorating and staging experience. She is available for one time free consultations on staging your home.
You can call or e-mail at (760) 707-6073 or [email protected]
Related Posts: San Diego, Sellers
5 Keys to Selling a Home in Today’s Market
Posted by Sara Driscoll | Currently 1 Comment »
Whatever you may hear or believe about the San Diego real estate market, homes are selling!
Then again, some homes are sitting! So what causes some to sell and others to sit?
Here are 5 Keys to a Successful Home Sale:
1
Exposure. Being in the right place at the right time isn’t the goal these days. Being enough places enough times is what it takes. With 87% of buyers using the internet extensively in their home searches, exposure on the sites where buyers shop is essential. Our listings are featured on the sites shown on this chart, which results in an abundance of qualified appointments.
2
Price the property in a range. Studies show that properties offered within a range of value, as opposed to a fixed price, receive 5 times the number of hits online, whether by agents searching for a home in the Multiple Listing Service, or by buyers searching on their own. Before the buyer can consider buying a home, they have to find it in their search.
Correct use of range pricing is even more essential than choosing the optimum fixed price. There are 3 key steps to follow when selecting a range, which will be covered in next week’s blog post.
3
Staging. “Selling condition” is different than “living condition”. If pricing is the reason buyers look at a home, staging is the reason they make an offer. Accentuating the positive features and amenities of a home can either cause a home to sell faster or for a higher price. Following the recommendations of a skilled agent or professional stager almost always accomplishes both.
4
Negotiating. Many people think negotiating begins when the offer is received. The truth is that much of the positioning has been done prior to the offer being written. With every telephone or email communication between the listing agent and a prospective buyer or their agent, the seller’s negotiating power is either strengthened or weakened.
The savvy negotiator realizes that every question posed could be intended to expose the seller’s motivation or vulnerabilities. It is essential to evaluate the negotiating expertise of the agent you select.
5
Problem solving. After 25 years of selling residential real estate, we still encounter some unique circumstance in every transaction. A real estate sale is entirely more complicated than most people realize, and even many agents underestimate the long-term consequences which can occur.
Certainly, some challenges are common to many sales, some are foreseeable, and most are avoidable. The first step in navigating challenges is not to panic. Listen to the entire situation and ask questions. A skilled agent can evaluate and communicate all available options to both sides of the transaction. In many cases, both sides want to solve the problem, and if they get past the initial panic, solutions can often be found.
Success is not an accident.
Attention to these five keys and the selection of an experienced Realtor can turn the odds to your favor, no matter what the market conditions.
Related Posts: Sellers
Keeping the “Real” in Real Estate
Posted by Beverly Stuart | Leave A Comment »
The first question most sellers ask a Realtor is “How Much Can You Sell My Home For?”
While it is easy to build up the hopes of a seller by agreeing to their perception of a market price, reality is somewhat different. I was recently asked by a client to give a listing presentation on one of his homes in the Downtown San Diego Area. I diligently did all my homework, found comps, and went to the appointment armed with printouts, slide shows, all the bells and whistles.
The price question was almost the first question from the seller and I presented my findings on the area and showed all my supporting information.
“Well, I had another Real Estate Agent tell me that I could get at least $75,000 more than you!” At this point it would have been easy to agree and get the client to sign the Listing Agreement right then and there.
What happened next is sometimes the hardest part of being a Realtor……. I explained that with the current market conditions (etc…etc…) that property needed to be realistically priced to even get buyers to look at it.
After several minutes of discussion the seller turned to me and asked why I was so adamant about the price. I explained that I had to put my name and reputation to the listing and that “Keeping the “Real” in Real Estate” was my way of doing business. I would rather sell your home in a shorter time at market value than list it high, wait for a month and reduce the price, wait ANOTHER couple of months and reduce the price again and finally get an offer in month 5 or 6. Moving is stressful enough without any added hassle.
I did get the Listing and I also got a referral from my client due to “My Honesty and Commitment to Customer Service”.
Keep it Real People.
Related Posts: Homeowners, Real Estate News, Sellers
Happy Friday Ya’ll….
Posted by Ricki Lynn Miller | Leave A Comment »
Home Values, As seen by…
Yourself…
Your Prospective Buyer…
Your Lender…
Your Appraiser…
And finally the Tax Assessor!
Obviously this is a joke, but your homes
value isn’t. If you want to know what your
home’s current value really is,…
Call a REALTOR. That’s what we do.
Have a Great Weekend 
Related Posts: Buyers, Homeowners, Sellers
Full Service Gas Stations Are Gone, But Full Service Real Estate is Alive at Exclusive Properties
Posted by Mark Loscher | Currently 2 Comments »
How many of you remember the true “full service” gas stations?
Well, I do.
For those of you who do not, let me fill you in, no pun intended.
Full service gas stations are a thing of the past, in California anyways. But not to long ago you could drive into your favorite gas station, say hello to a friendly gas station attendant, sit back, relax and let him or her, do all the service work.
What a concept!
They would ask you which grade of gas you’d like to have. They would check your oil levels for you. They would even check your tire pressure. Oh, and guess what? They would even wash your windows, without being asked. Wow, now that was service!
Unfortunately, that kind of service in the gas station business is a thing of the past, by and large.
In the Real Estate industry we are in danger of the same thing happening, if we aren’t careful. More and more companies are losing that personal touch, not only with their clients, but with the agents who work for them.
Not to long ago almost all Real Estate companies provided full service to their agents. They would provide a desk, a phone, a computer to work from, fliers, marketing materials, training, management support, and the latest technology products and support.They would have managers and administrative people available, 24/7 to help with a number of issues relating to helping the client.
Sadly, this too seems to be going by the way of the gas station and too many companies today focus on the number of people they hold licenses for, they focus on how many deals they produce, and they focus on themselves rather than on the client and the agent.
At Exclusive Properties we are a little old fashioned I guess, when it comes to service. We still believe it is very important to provide all of the support and tools that we can for agents, so they can provide the very best full service to the client.
We do provide all the tools, the technology, the administrative and management support, 24/7, to help our agents be the best they can possibly be. We understand the need to be on the cutting edge of technology and we are in so many ways, but not at the cost of that personal one on one touch that is so important in our people first industry.
Let us not forget that computers, phones and gadgets have been invented, developed and provided to assist us in our one to one personal business, not to replace it. The client and the agent need to have that personal interaction. They need to have that one on one conversation about the most important investment they are likely to make, a home. Just as an agent needs that same kind of relationship with their Broker and support staff.
At Exclusive Properties we value those relationships with our agents and the client.
We will continue to lead in our industry with the tools, the support, and the, yes, the “service” to our agents and ultimately to the client.
Check it out and see for yourself. I know that the support you need, we have.
Related Posts: Agent Services, Baby Boomers, Builder Services, Careers at Exclusive Properties, Contracts & Negotiations, Education, Exclusive Properties, Exclusive Properties Agents, Exclusive Properties Managers, Exclusive Properties Offices, Find A Home, International Real Estate, Investment Properties, Join Exclusive Properties, Market Trends, Picture Perfect San Diego, Real Estate News, Sellers, Technology, The Daily News, Training
