Flat Fee MLS Blog

S&P/Case-Shiller 20-metro-area price index

Source: S&P/Case-Shiller.

Thank you for visiting Why 6 Percent, the flat fee MLS source.

Home Sellers need to carefully plan how to enjoy Thanksgiving, while making their property attractive to buyers.   Keep in mind that while you may have fewer showings during the Thanksgiving season, the people that are actively shopping for a home during the holidays are the most serious buyer’s.  You certainly want them to remember your home, not your blowup, gobbling lawn turkey.

Consider our tips for decorating and enjoying the season, without overwhelming prospective home shoppers.

Tips for Staging at Thanksgiving

• When decorating your entrance, think simple.  Add a pumpkin, gourds or a few strands of lights, but this is not the time you want to bring out the full display.  Keep the decor seasonal, but allow the character of your house to come through.

• Update worn out holiday accessories.   Accessorize at Thanksgiving with throw pillows, candles, tablecloths and place settings that bring peaceful, fall colors indoors.

• Use natural items to decorate your home.  Pumpkins, gourds, flowers and fruit make an attractive centerpiece, as long as they are not overdone.   Try to avoid plastic, sparkling or childish appearing decorations.  

• Never hide important architectural details, that may be a selling point to your buyer, behind contruction paper turkeys.

• Instead of entertaining at your house this year, consider going to the home of a friend or relative.  Restaurants also provide a great dining experience without the mess of cooking at home.

• If you do your Christmas shopping early, keep wrapped gifts neatly stacked in one closet or provide a special place to store them that is out of sight.

• Light a fire in your fireplace, or stage it to look good, even if it isn’t burning.  Try adding decorative logs or pillar candles to an unused fireplace.

• Although clutter busting is always extremely important when marketing a home, holiday decorations make anti-clutter a greater battle to overcome.   This year may be a good time to skip decorations, entirely.

It is possible to enjoy the holidays and successfully show your home.  Just remember that less is more, and if you add seasonal touches, do it sparingly.  

Thank you for visiting Why6percent.com, your flat fee MLS listing company.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Why 6 Percent, would like to thank all Veterans for their service and the daily protection they provide to all Americans.  

In honor of Veteran’s Day, we would like to pass along some information about housing assistance programs and financial aid that are available to our Vet’s.  These programs serve over 400,000 homeless veteran’s in the U.S.

Housing vouchers are available to Veteran’s through the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program and HUD.   The program provides subsidies for housing, rent and utilities, making it a lifeline for thousand’s of servicemen and their families. 

Another website for veteran’s needing assistance is the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The programs offered here range the gambit from per diem assistance, health care, VA supported housing, to distribution of excess property such as hats, coats. shoes, sleeping bags and other necessity items.

Why 6 Percent would like to salute all the men and women who have served us so proudly through the years.   Thank you for all you have done.

  Need free boxes for your move or to store items while you sell your home?  If so, forget digging through the supermarket dumpster.  You can save yourself some money and trouble, while you recycle at the same time. 

The U-Haul Website has a Free Box Exchange Service.   The U-Haul Box Exchange is a messageboard that you can use to trade, sell or buy reusable boxes and moving supplies. With every reuse of a box, a new box is prevented from entering the cycle.

To get started, you will need to create a U-Haul Customer ID.   To post a new message or to see posted messages in your region, simply click on that region listed below.

Thank you for visiting Why6percent. com, your trusted flat fee MLS listing service since 2004.    

P.S.  Sellers should remember to take advantage of a free home listing at the InfoTube.net homes for sale website.  Thousands of Home shoppers visit the site daily to look for new listings, video tours, real estate advise and more.  Don’t miss the traffic.  The Infotube Featured Home Service is Free for Why6 customers.

What are the Average Number of Days a Home is on the Market in Your Town or City?   Just released numbers for October 2008 are below. 
CITY                   DOM

OAKLAND, CA 113
NEW ORLEANS, LA 157
DALLAS, TX 165
CINCINNATI, OH 192
CHARLOTTE, NC 70
HOLLYWOOD, CA 80
PHILADELPHIA, PA 76
LOS ANGELES, CA 84
PHOENIX, AZ 155
HOUSTON, TX 83
CHICAGO, IL 162
SAN DIEGO, CA 65
SAN JOSE, CA 92
DETROIT, MI 175
JACKSONVILLE, FL 197
MEMPHIS, TN 110
BALTIMORE, MD 115
BOSTON, MA 64
SEATTLE, WA 76
WASHINGTON DC 74
LAS VEGAS, NV 97
PORTLAND, ME 64
LOUISVILLE, KY 85
ATLANTA, GA 127
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 32  72
FRESNO, CA 111
NORFOLK/VA BEACH, VA 35
ASHEVILLE, NC 142
BELLEVUE, WA 123
VENTURA, CA 20
LAKE KEOWEE, SC 186
PORTLAND, ME 72
PANAMA CITY, FL 206
PHILADELPHIA, PA 102
LOUISA CO., VA 124
BULLHEAD CITY, AZ 126
WOODLANDS, TX 80
ASHLAND, MA 109
AUSTIN, TX 68
TWIN CITIES, MN 104
DES MOINES, IA 99
ST LOUIS, MO 102
NEW YORK CITY, NY 198
LOWER EAST SIDE 175
UPPER WEST SIDE 146
UPPER EAST SIDE 175
WEST VILLAGE 250

Are you patient or unrealistic?  If your home has been on the market for a lot longer than the average, is it your price, location, or market program?

Home Seller Tip:  Boost buyer traffic to your home for sale listing by 8 million shoppers a month with an MLS listing.   

Freebie of the Day:  Increase your odds of finding that buyer for FREE with a home for sale listing on InfoTube.net.   What’s the risk?  You have to lose but time and money?