Dress Up Your Home: Tips to Sell

May 10, 2014 By

Prospective home buyers are just like anyone else, they gravitate to what they can have a tangible connection with. Abstract teaching will always be harder to understand than concrete examples and real estate transactions are no different. When a home buyer walks in to a property, they want to feel at home and you can help that feeling grow.

While worrying about the appearance of your home is important, it means nothing without the proper marketing techniques. Landing a good real estate agent that knows your area and type of home is more important than vacuuming before showings and only with the right price point will you even get the chance to show off your home.

These few tips will help your home look more appealing to prospective home buyers, but those prospects need to be in the right frame of mind too. If you have set the price abnormally high or are in a bad area, they might expect more and you will have to keep that in mind. If you have the price set right and have a decent location, your cosmetic improvements will hit home much better.

Your Neighborhood Reflects On You
When a buyer gets involved with a particular property, that buyer is purchasing not just a home but a location. As much as you might not want to admit it, your neighbors have a direct influence on the appearance of your home and if one yard looks like it has gone wild or needed home repairs go neglected, that makes your own home look a little less inviting.

If you are on good terms with your neighbors and don’t mind asking politely for some care, that can be a great way to instantly improve the appearance of your neighborhood. Most neighborhoods have grassy areas that are designed for the community as a whole and making those look better will also help your area feel better to a prospective home buyer. Planting some flowers or caring for what is already planted can go a long way towards presenting an inviting appearance.

Stick With What Is Visible
The term “curb appeal” exists for a reason. When a buyer drives up to your home, he or she will envision living in the home. They want to feel that if they purchase your particular piece of real estate, they will enjoy coming home after work every day. The landscaping in the front yard, the condition of your porch or front door area and the condition of the driveway will all communicate positive or negative feelings on a first impression.

One of the challenges of selling a home is to get a prospective home buyer to accept some of the faults that are inevitably part of any piece of real estate. The easiest way to do that is to present the best possible look for your home. Grabbing a home buyer’s attention before they even get out of the car will land you a lot of leads.

Respond To Feedback
These attempts to improve the appearance of your home and neighborhood will not woo everyone, so be sure to at least try to pick the brains of those that come away disinterested in the home. It is easy to take the rejection of your home, particularly if you have done work to dress up, personally. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you and take suggestions to heart. Fixing that one little thing might give the next prospect an entirely different view of your real estate.

Getting a home buyer interested in your property takes a great deal of effort and entails a great number of little steps. Part of the journey should center on the outward appearance of your home and projecting the best possible image so that a prospective buyer will walk up and imagine what it would be like to come home to that image every day. If you win over a prospective buyer’s heart, you will find the rest of the real estate process flows much easier.

This is another original article by Joe Lane, co-owner of The Lane Real Estate Team at http://www.joelane.com/. Are you looking for an experienced Tri City WA Real Estate agency? With 20 years of service based, business experience, Joe and Colleen Lane work hard to serve home buyers and sellers for the Tri Cities of Washington’s Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, and surrounding areas.

Filed Under: Decorating, Remodeling, Selling Tips

Five Real Estate Investment Tips

May 10, 2014 By

There are countless tips on real estate investing available and this is by no means intended as a comprehensive list. While every investment has its own intricacies and problems that need to be worked out, there are some very basic aspects that are common to most investment properties. Understanding those aspects and asking questions about them can help you determine whether a particular real estate investment opportunity is for you.

Anything Can Change
Building in the capacity for change in your investment is not only good real estate advice, but good life advice. Aspects of an investment can change at any given time and building in a little cushion in your profit projections for that change will most likely give you a better outlook on the possible outcome of your investment.

This is especially true for something like the tax climate of your investment as changes in tax laws happen regularly. If the tax situation surrounding your investment is the only thing you like about it, it is probably not a sound investment. Solid investments can withstand changes in the tax code, so never rely solely on the stability of tax codes, you will be sorely disappointed.

Do What You Know
It is tempting to get involved in real estate investment opportunities outside of your comfort zone. Maybe the terms look good or the area is nice, but your lack of expertise in the field will ultimately hurt you over the course of the investment. If you are well versed in multi-family homes, do your best to uncover the best investment opportunities in that field. If your bag is fixer-uppers, stick with that. Success is difficult to replicate so if you have a knack for something, exploit that knack.

Compare, Compare, Compare
As any real estate agent will tell you, valuations for a new home put on the market are a direct reflection of other sale prices of similar properties in that area. Your potential investment is the same way. If you are going to rely on rents to make back the money spent on the investment, compare the rents your prospective investment property takes in against similar properties in the area. Are they too high? If so, that may indicate future trouble filling the building at those prices, which then cuts into your profit forecast.

If you are getting involved in a fixer-upper, compare what you think the home will be like in the future to homes that have sold that look similar to that now. Doing so will help you estimate your eventual sale price and the amount of money you should invest to net a decent return.

Hammer Down True Expenses
Just as you want to examine what your incoming cash flow will be on any real estate investment opportunity, you want to investigate your outgoing cash flow as well. What are the key costs involved in running the property? What are the taxes on the property? How much does it cost you when part of your multi-family property is vacant? Sometimes properties can look great when you examine the rent payments coming in but then lose their luster when you look at the cost of running the facility. You need to investigate both sides of the story to get an accurate view of the financial future of your investment.

Know The Building
In real estate investing, surprises are usually costly. Not only should you do a full walk through of the prospective investment yourself, you should also look in to hiring an independent, professional inspector as well. Uncovering problems with the foundation, roof or furnace early can either save you from making a poor investment or give you ammunition to negotiate a lower price.

Not all real estate investments are the same and you will likely run in to a unique problem on every property you pursue. However, by sticking to the tips here, you can give yourself a great foundation from which to operate. Above all, pursue information on the property as vigorously as possible to eliminate the possibility of regretting your investment later.

This is another original article by Joe Lane, co-owner of The Lane Real Estate Team at http://www.joelane.com/. Are you looking for an experienced Tri City WA Real Estate agency? With 20 years of service based, business experience, Joe and Colleen Lane work hard to serve home buyers and sellers for the Tri Cities of Washington’s Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, and surrounding areas.

Filed Under: Buying Tips

Your Showing: Beyond The Basics

May 10, 2014 By

property management gainesville floridaCleaning is perhaps the most crucial part of a successful showing. When communicating the value and uniqueness of your home, dirty clothes in the laundry room and stains in the carpet will cut you off at the knees every time. However, while most people think to clean a property and remove clutter from areas of the house, there are some ways that a seller can go the extra mile to interest a potential buyer.

It is important to remember that when you put your home on the market, you are entering into a competition with every other home for sale in your general price range in your area. That means that anything you can do to set yourself apart from the rest of the homes in your area will pay dividends as potential buyers think more about your home than the others out there.

When a potential buyer arrives for your showing, often they have already been to another potential new home and may be on their way to another after yours. During such a cluttered schedule that is typical for most real estate transactions, giving yourself an edge through an exceptional showing can certainly help you secure a deal in the long run.

The Lived-In Blank Slate
When a potential buyer enters your home, that person’s thoughts immediately go to how they would fit in this home and how their family would fit in the home. If you have decorated your home in all bright pink walls, that might be just what you want to live in, but it will disrupt the ability for a buyer to picture living in that property.

Avoid this by making sure that your home balances the feeling of a blank slate but still keeping the feeling of home that enhances a buyer’s impression of the property. They want to imagine living in the home but they don’t want to imagine it with nothing to go on. This follows all the way down to closets and cabinets. People will open your cabinets, so be prepared to make sure that what they see when they do won’t turn them off of your home.

Your Furnishings Are Merely Accents
Chances are, you will not be leaving your furniture behind when you move out of your property. A potential buyer will be bringing in entirely new furniture with a new color scheme and may even paint all of the interior walls a specific favorite color. Simply put, the buyer is not buying the way you decorated the property so don’t make your decorations the star of the show.

All of the contest of your home should be geared towards maximizing the way the architectural elements of the property show. If one of your big selling points is a breakfast nook, providing the furnishing for that breakfast nook can help a buyer picture having that as a part of daily life. However, if you have an incredibly expensive, ornate table, you will detract from the architecture and focus eyes on the furnishings.

Similarly, you can use this trick in reverse to hide some of the architectural shortcomings of your home. Perhaps a particular window trim is not contemporary enough but you don’t want to spend the money to update it. Use a fancy window covering to draw attention away from that part of the property.

While cleaning and removing clutter from your home certainly make up the foundation of a positive showing, going the extra mile before a stranger even steps foot in your home can greatly increase your chances of selling the property quickly. By giving a potential buyer a somewhat generic presentation in the design that is used chiefly to accent the home itself, you will give yourself a leg up on the competition in your area and spur meaningful interest in your home.

This is another original article by Joe Lane, co-owner of The Lane Real Estate Team at http://www.joelane.com/. Are you looking for an experienced Tri City WA Real Estate agency? With 20 years of service based, business experience, Joe and Colleen Lane work hard to serve home buyers and sellers for the Tri Cities of Washington’s Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, and surrounding areas.

Filed Under: Remodeling, Selling Tips