Hire a Savvy Agent

The next variable in our Sales Formula is your "Listing Agent." You may choose not to use a real estate agent, but bear in mind it is a variable that will affect the ultimate result. It may take you longer to sell your home, or you may sell at a lower price, or you may end up with no deal at all if the buyers have not been qualified.

Your full time listing agent should be an expert in the her market, have great communication skills and excellent negotiating skills. She should be reliable, trustworthy, friendly (we're in sales!), and have your best interests at heart. Selling your home is a team effort, but she is definitely the team leader.

Studies show that a real estate agent earns her pay-- homes sell at a higher price with a listing agent involved and transactions are much less likely to fall apart before closing. You wouldn't think of fixing your own broken arm or filling your own tooth, so why not have a trained professional sell your home, especially since it is probably your largest financial investment.

Location, Location, Location

In my previous blog I explained the formula that can help you sell your home. The first variable in the equation is "location." You've heard it a dozen times, and, yes, it is important. The perfect location depends on the buyer-- some like cul-de-sacs while others prefer a larger corner lot. Near a school? That's great for some, but I've had buyers who didn't want to hear the yelling of school children at play even though they liked children.

However, many buyers can agree on where they don't want to live-- close to airports, trains, commercial businesses, and landfills, to name a few. Not that homes near these types of infrastructure don't sell. They do sell, but at a lower price than a similar home in a more preferred location.

Be honest about the location of your home. That interstate noise may not bother you, but realize not all buyers will be as accepting as you of the roar of five o'clock traffic. And since you can't pick up and move your home, the only adjustment you can make to balance the equation is price. Your price has to be lower to put your home in the running with other similar properties not near a major highway.

Remember your goal is to sell your home. It is best to be realistic and make that price adjustment before another month or two or three goes by without any offers. Isn't it time to move on with your life?

Why Hasn't my Home Sold YET??!!

You've had that "For Sale" sign in your front yard for how long now? "Too long," you say! You keep straightening up every morning, hoping someone will come to look, praying just one of those lookers will bring you an offer, but nothing yet. Getting tired of this game?

Then let's figure out why your home hasn't sold. Selling a home is like a math formula. Each variable in the formula can, and will, equal a sale. The key is in understanding each one of those variables. And here they are: location, listing agent, marketing, condition and price. Understanding how each variable fits in with today's market and capitalizing on that knowledge will result in the sale of your home at it's maximum value.

Of course, you could sell your house tonight, guaranteed! Just put out the word that you're now willing to sell your home for 50% less than it's original list price. You'll have several offers before you know it. I'm assuming, though, that you would rather sell your home at it's maximum value.

That's where market knowledge and the formula come in. In the next blog we'll discuss the first variable: location.

It's Spring, so List your Home NOW!

Have you been kicking around the idea of putting your home on the market, maybe to upgrade to a larger home or even downsize before yard work becomes a must? Homes do sell all year long, but some months are routinely better for sales than others, and we are entering the high volume season.

It just makes sense that families are beginning to look as school ends for the year, so they can make that big move during the summer. Companies also know that it's easier on their employees to transfer during the summer. And don't forget the weather-- warmer days, sunshine, blooming flowers, green grass, and shady trees all make a home more attractive than during the bleak winter months.

But it's not summer, you say? No, but those buyers intending to move in the summer are already house hunting. It may take a month to find the perfect home, then a month to close the transaction, and, boom, we're into summer. If you wait until July or August, you've missed a large pool of buyers who are already moving into their new home.

So call your trusted realtor now to preview your home. Follow her advice on sprucing, decluttering, painting and staging. Then put that "For Sale" sign in your yard and start packing!

Tax Credit Deadline!

As a Real Estate agent in Murfreesboro, TN, I've had several clients call me in the last few weeks ready to buy a home. They have heard about the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers and the great deals on the market. With their tax return check in hand, they are excited and ready to start looking at some of those deals. "Fantastic," I say, "Let's go house hunting!"

The only problem is we can't look at some of those bargains because they are "Short Sales." A short sale is like a pre-foreclosure-- still owned by a person, not yet returned to the bank for non-payment. The homeowner can no longer pay their mortgage, but they are not in foreclosure-- yet.

These homes are, indeed, priced below market value and often in better condition than foreclosures. The catch is that the time from contract to closing can take up to 6 months or longer. Even "fast" short sale transactions take 2 months, and these are few and far between.

In order to be eligible for the tax credit the buyer must be under contract by April 30th, and CLOSE BY JULY 1st. We might easily find the perfect home by April 30th, but to close a Short Sale by July 1st is definitely "iffy."

So, if you're still planning to take advantage of the tax credit, either as a first time homebuyer or a homeowner of more than 5 years, you better contact your trusted Real Estate agent-- fast.

DNJ Article

In Murfreesboro, TN "property values (are) up 10 to 15%", according to the local newspaper, The Daily News Journal. That's what the headline said anyway. If you take the time to read the article, it goes on to say that the increase is a prediction made by the Property Assessor, Bill Boner.

As a real estate agent, it's misleading headlines like that one which make my task difficult in an already tough market. When it comes to selling a home, I am honest and realistic with homeowners. I bring many facts and statistics about current market sales to my listing appointments so the seller can make the best decision possible for him regarding the sale of and pricing of his home. When he sees it printed in the paper that "property values are up", he wonders what I've been showing and telling him. I had a seller email me today excited that she had read that property values were up, and I had to explain to her that, indeed, property values are not up from that last 4 or 5 years. To say that a $300,000 home built in 2006 has increased to $345,000 in value is just not true. It's not even close to the truth. In reality, that homeowner would be lucky to sell his home today for what he bought it for.

I guess my point is, don't believe everything you read. And it would certainly help if the DNJ would check the facts before they print, particularly if it's going to be on the front page.