Archive for the ‘selling your home’ Category
Listing on MLS Improves Success for FSBO sellers
This spring has proven to be a winner for our MLS customers. Everyday, home sellers from across the nation are calling to report that their homes are SOLD and for near asking price.
Don’t take our word for it…just read this Washington Post blog by real estate expert Ilyce R. Glink’
Studies indicate that most homes sell with the help of a real estate agent. The No. 1 tool to market those homes is probably the MLS. This listing service in most markets gives real estate agents the ability to see and review all listings in an area. If your home isn’t in the MLS, you’re missing the most effective tool to sell your home.
Twenty or so years ago, an FSBO seller would advertise his home in local newspapers and a lawn sign, with an InfoTube or InfoBox, to market his home. Few if any of these FSBO sellers succeeded in selling their homes. More recently, the Internet has started to level the playing field, but many buyers still work with real estate agents to buy their home. Those agents rely on the MLS.
An FSBO service may offer various packages to sellers such as you. The more you want, the more you pay, with the top package giving you access to the MLS for six months. We guess you want to give your home the greatest exposure possible and that you wouldn’t want to exclude a major source of potential buyers.
As you decide whether you want an a FSBO package, you must understand what it will take to sell your home. If you overprice your home for sale, trying to sell it yourself isn’t likely to give you a good result.
You still will need to price your home right, make sure your home shows really well, both from the inside and the outside, take great photos for posting on Web sites, create a beautiful brochure for the home, and make sure the description of your home is succinct, emphasizes the good points of your home and accurately shows off its best qualities.
As the real estate market has improved in many areas, you likely have a better chance of selling your home today than you had a year or two ago. But home sellers can make the same mistakes in any market. Again, you need to decide whether you want to spend money upfront to sell the home yourself in a FSBO or try again with a real estate agent.
We think that listing your home on the MLS is a good step toward getting your home sold. Unless you find a buyer that is searching for a home on the many sites out there that carry listings, you might miss out of that one buyer truly looking for a home like yours.
Why6Percent.com offers inexpensive MLS and Realtor.com listing packages. Visit our site or call 800-381-9496 to get your property in front of millions of home buyers who would not know that your home is For Sale.
2013 is a Home Seller’s Market
Prices for existing homes rose another 7.7% in the month of December. For our MLS and Realtor.com clients who have been patiently waiting for the market to favor sellers, instead of buyers…the tables have turned.
Why is the housing inventory so low in 2013?
The Wall Street Journal writes a good article on this, pointing to six reasons:
1. Many homeowners are underwater, and thus can’t sell.
2. Homeowners with equity in their home don’t have enough of it to “trade up” to buy a bigger and more expensive home.
3. Everyone wants to buy at the bottom, but few want to sell when they feel their home will be worth more next year.
4. Investors – from mom and pop and corporate investors have come out and become landlords, taking property that normally would be on the market into the rental realm.
5. With the foreclosure fiasco, banks have been slower at foreclosing homes.
6. There’s been a lot less construction of new homes by home builders.
What does this means for home sellers?
1. Advertising your property on the MLS and Realtor.com has never been more crucial to reach qualified home buyers. Realtors and homebuyers are searching for new listings, daily, because there is nothing on the market that fits their needs. If your home does not appear in these search engines, chances are that no one will ever know your home is for sale.
2. Holding an Open House on the weekend is a great way to get people who see your listing online into your home for an actual showing.
3. Place a FREE listing on InfoTube.net. InfoTube is visited by thousands of people daily who are looking for “by owner” property.
4. The homes that are flying off the market are the properties in the best condition, location and they are priced right, ready to sell. Homebuyers will not look at a house that is overpriced, hoping to negotiate back and forth. They are buying homes that are reasonable to purchase and are ready to move into.
Home sellers should act quickly to take advantage of the present market conditions. Home inventory levels will increase as home builders react and start more new homes and the banks work there way through millions of foreclosures that are still sitting in limbo. Home buyers are acting quickly to lock in low interest rates and low home prices. If you want to sell your home for the most money in the least amount of time, you should act aggressively. Time is of the essence.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We have been providing low cost, flat fee MLS listings and Realtor.com packages since 2004. We have helped thousands sell their homes and save thousands in fee’s and commissions. We can help you, too. Visit our website or call 1-800-381-9496
Housing Market Prediction 2013
Why6Percent.com is bullish on housing in 2013. Our MLS and Realtor.com listing clients are reporting higher priced sales, contract pendings and increased activity for the first time since the housing crash began in 2006. We have a lot of reasons to be bullish on housing and here are a few reasons why you should be, too.
Home prices rose 7.5% last year, largest increase in six years. Total number of homes sold increased 6% last year, to 4.2 million, marking the first increase since 2005. The same forces that helped propel prices last year will be in play this year, including improved housing demand fueled by good affordability, fewer foreclosed homes for sale and a low inventory of unsold homes.
Trends that will Boost Home Prices Again in 2013
- The Fed feeds housing rebound in 2013. Interest rates for mortgages are at historical lows, making monthly payments affordable than renting for millions of families.
- The rate of new foreclosures has fallen to normal, pre-bust levels.
- Banks have cleared a lot of bad debt off the books and rising home prices will loosen up their purse strings. Expect loans to be easier to come by in 2013.
- Stronger job growth will drive more housing demand as people living with friends and relatives move into their own homes.
- Increasing monthly rents and the lack of desireable rental inventory will push many tenants out of the landlords door and into a home of their own.
- Investors are snapping up distressed property, rehabbing and flipping it. This means higher average home sales prices, neighborhood revitalization and fewer homes vacant or in disrepair.
- Rising home prices will increase borrower equity in their homes. This means that few people will be interested in walking away…or requesting a short sale.
- The Fiscal Cliff settlement left housing tax benefits in tact. Mortgage interest deduction, property taxes deductions, depreciation schedules and one time tax free home sales were left in tact, making real estate one of the few remaining tax havens for the average working American.
- Rising home prices will allow more sellers to list their homes and sell near the asking price.
- The supply of homes for sale fell to 4.8 months in November, the National Association of Realtors says. That’s the lowest level in more than seven years. Realtors consider a six-month supply to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
- Market researcher, Corelogic, calculates that home prices will increase 6% in 2013.
- According to a December survey of 105 real estate experts and economists by real estate company Zillow, home prices will rise 3.1% in 2013.
All the evidence stacks up to make 2013 a good year for real estate, whether you are buying or selling. If you have been waiting for the market to improve to sell your home, the time is now. If you have always wanted to own a home of your own…the odds and economy are stacked in your favor, too.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Place a Free Property listing. Advertise your home to Millions of home shoppers on the MLS or Realtor.com. Follow InfoTubes very popular Facebook page for up to the minute news and home improvement idea’s that you won’t see anywhere else.
Home Prices Jump Across the Country
U.S. home prices are rising sharply, new data indicate, helping to cement a growing consensus that the real estate slump is over.
The closely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index for the nation’s 20 largest cities posted its first year-over-year increase, at 0.5%, since 2010, June data released Tuesday showed.
If you are serious about selling your home, you should consider marketing the property through a flat fee MLS listing or a Realtor.com listing. We can help you save thousands of dollars in fee’s and get your home in front of millions of home shoppers. Visit the website for details and information.
It Your Home the Set Up or Pinball Listing?
What is a Pinball Listing?
A pinball listing is a house that is listed for an unrealistic asking price. It pulls in a lot of showings by agents and home shoppers, but receives no offers. Real estate agents, including the listing agent for the home, use the overpriced house as a negative example to sell similar homes that are listed for lower prices.
Any pinball listing is basically a set up. Listing agents show clients these homes to make realistically price homes look like fantastic deals, which is why the traffic for pinballs is high…but no sale will ever take place until the price is drastically reduced.
What Happens to the Pinball Listed Home? Unless it is being used by Realtors as a set up…they stop showing it until the seller agrees to reprice it at a realistic number.
Is it Ethical for a Broker to Accept a Pinball Listing? NO! It is not ethical to list a property at a price that an agents knows it will not sell. If they do, they are intentionally misleading the seller. Do agents list unrealistically priced houses to use as a set up, anyway? YES, all day long.
How to Protect Yourself? Interview several real estate agents before signing any listing agreement. Get as much information as you can about CLOSED sales prices of comparable homes in your neighborhood. If you are inclined, you can always push a little on the listing price, but if you get greedy, or try to go overboard…you may unknowingly become the set up, pinball, out of touch with the competition listing…that everyone loves to visit, but no one will buy.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Visit our website for Home Selling Information and Tools, Flat Fee MLS, Realtor.com listings and More. If you are serious about selling… we can help you get the job done.
Foreign HomeBuyers Account for 10 Percent of Sales
The 6 year slide in U.S. home prices and the dollar weakness against some currency are driving a property buying binge with Asians, Canadians, Europeans & Latin Americans eager to own a piece of America.
Plowing money into real estate may sound like a risky venture to many Americans. But to a growing number of foreigners, U.S. housing has never seen a smarter investment.
International buyers accounted for $82.5 billion, or 8.9%, of the $928 billion spent on residential real estate in the 12 month period ended in March, according to a survey released Monday by National Association of Realtors. (Article by the Wall Street Journal)
How does this news impact your potential home sale and your marketing efforts?
Simply, if you are not on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or Realtor.com, you miss out on 1 of every 10 homebuyers looking for property in your area. International buyers primarily use these services to locate property and if you’re not listed there…they can’t find you.
BONUS: Foreign buyers also pay in CASH . No Loan Qualifications. No Apprasials. No Delays and No Waiting. CASH NOW!
The cost of listing your home on the MLS or Realtor. com is only a few hundred dollars for a 6 month listing. The summer selling season is well underway. Get your house on the MLS and Realtor.com today. There is no other way to get your property in front of all the homebuyers in the marketplace….and Time is ticking!!!
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We have been assisting sellers with MLS and Realtor.com listings since 2004. We can get you up and running in no time. Call us at 1-800-381-9496 or visit the website.
Paint Your Front Door to Boost Curb Appeal
One of the secrets of professional home flippers is nothing more than a coat of fresh, bright paint on the front door.
Knock, knock. What’s the first thing a buyer sees? The front door is the most important thing in selling a home that most homeowners overlook. A welcoming new front door in sassy hues like red, green, tangerine or indigo blue can make a snazzy first impression on the pickiest homebuyers.
Any do-it-yourselfer can repaint a front door in less than a hour…and, for less than $50….so no excuses. No better return on your investment than paint, where it counts most.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. Our Flat Fee or Entry Only MLS listing places your property in front of millions of homeshoppers each and every day. If you aren’t on the MLS or Realtor.com, you are selling yourself and your home short.
Before and After Examples of Curb Appeal
The term Curb Appeal was first used in conjunction with real estate in 1975. And, in case you aren’t sure what curb appeal is…this house has it in spades. It is welcoming, it is neat, clean, colorful and inviting…it makes me want to go inside and see what else is there.
Accoring to Webster…Curb Appeal is the visual attractiveness of a house, and its surrounding landscape, as seen from the street. Why is Curb Appeal so talked about among real estate professionals? Because it is crucial to selling homes. Without it, the buyer has no motivation to see inside, so the seller misses all opportunity at a sale.
For example of how simple it can be to improve your Curb Appeal…this house has good bones…but showings increased exponentially after the seller removed overgrown shrubs and tiled over an ugly cracked concrete walk and steps.
A coat of paint and landscape spruce up makes all the difference in the world.
Shutters can change everything. The homeowner made these himself and the change in balance and curb appeal was instant.
Showings doubled after this seller removed overgrowth to show off a beautiful porch that anyone would love to have.
This home sold in 3 days after the owners painted the front door an attractive color and added a splash of color to the landscaping.
This spring has been the best home selling season in years. If you aren’t getting the showings and activity you should be getting, step back and take an objective look at your home from the street. If your home isn’t inviting, then change that immediately. The need for Curb appeal is so univeral to us all, that Home buyers will even look inside homes that are slighltly overpriced, if they are attracted and drawn to them. Don’t sell yourself short or blame a poor housing market if your doesn’t shine from the road.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We marked 3 more homes SOLD today… best market we’ve seen in a while. Make sure you have an MLS or Realtor.com listing…these programs will bring you buyers…all you have to do is get them in the door.
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4 Tips for Getting Multiple Bids and Offers on Your Home
1. Pristine and staged. The homes that I’ve seen get multiple offers in my own market recently are immaculately clean — not a whiff of anything within noseshot, so to speak — and dressed to the nines. Their photos look like something out of a home decor catalog or design magazine — like no one lives there, even if someone does. Their owners have often spent months in advance cleaning, decluttering, organizing, primping and otherwise sprucing their homes for sale with the intention of blowing the competition out of the water.
I won’t purport to capture the art of staging in a sentence, but prepacking is a good visual to hold in mind as you prepare your home. (And anecdotally, I will say that it strikes me that a large proportion of multiple-offer homes have actually been professionally staged. I’d urge a seller who wants multiple offers to explore whether there’s some level of staging service or even staging advice that is worth the investment, before dismissing it as too expensive out of hand.)
2. Low prices. The homes that get multiple offers are not priced at the top of their markets. In fact, I know that many of their listing agents and owners specifically aimed to list these homes slightly below what they believed to be the true fair market value of the property at the time they listed it. Why? What seems like it might be risky is actually a time-proven strategy for cranking up the number of buyers who come view the property.
When buyers see a beautiful home listing online for less than they’d expect for the area, they show up in droves, eager to get a great home for a great value. And the math from there is simple — it takes more showings to drive more offers.
Once these value hunters are at the place and fall in love with it, they often become willing to offer more than the asking price if they need to, to secure it in the face of competing offers, knowing that it was priced well to start with.
3. Ample exposure to the market. Part of the effect of a low list price is that it creates an auction atmosphere, the environment that churns up bidding wars. The other half of the auction equation is ensuring that the home has ample exposure to the market, both in terms of time for buyers to come see and fall in love with the place and in terms of marketing the property aggressively to reach as many prospective buyer/bidders as possible.
Ample exposure can be achieved in several ways. Professional photography. An aggressive online marketing campaign — most experienced local listing agents will happily brief prospective seller clients on what they do in this vein. One ample exposure method I’ve seen become a standard practice in my area is to create and publish an offer timeline. In my town, it’s now almost universal for listing agents to list the home a day or two prior to the broker’s open house, hold it open for brokers once, hold two general Sunday open houses and then take offers the Tuesday following the second Sunday open house.
By publishing this timeline as part of the listing, buyers are assured that they will have time to see the place and get their ducks in a row in order to compete for it. And sellers are assured that they will not forgo the great offer that might come tomorrow by virtue of taking a good one that comes in the day after they put the home on the market.
Now, sometimes, aggressive buyers force a seller’s hand, making an offer immediately upon seeing the property, despite a preset offer timeline. In those cases, the listing agent can call up all the other agents who have expressed an interest in the place and offer them the opportunity to get in the game. For this reason, and for any other important updates or changes that might come along, it’s essential that buyers and their brokers let the listing agent know if they plan to make an offer, even early in the published offer timeline.
4. Showable on demand. Hard-to-show homes just don’t sell, when there’s lots of competition. When buyers’ brokers put their home tours together, if a particular listing requires too much notice (i.e., 48 hours) or too many calls and callbacks for appointment-setting, they’re very likely just to turn to one of the other dozens of homes that’s easy to show. Anything that diminishes the chances your home will be shown diminishes the chances your home will receive multiple offers.
To get multiple offers on today’s market, in fact, a seller’s home must be showable on demand. If you require an appointment, you should keep advance notice requirements as low as possible — an hour or less is ideal. Even better is to be accommodating and let brokers show your home at their leisure — ideally, stepping out or running to the market when they come by. Allowing your broker to put a lockbox on the place and let it be shown at all times while you’re at work or out and about on the weekends will require that you keep the place in tiptop shape, 24/7, but it will also be well worth it.
Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com. Ask her a real estate question online or visit her website, www.rethinkrealestate.com.
HomeBuyers Dislike Wall to Wall Carpeting
Today’s homebuyers are not at all impressed by wall-to-wall carpeting. In fact, homebuyers list it among their top list of things they hate when looking at pre-owned homes. (Most hated item…Popcorn ceilings. Click to read about getting rid of popcorn or covering it up.)
Today’s Buyers expect hardwood floors, even in starter homes. If your home has hardwood under the carpet, immediately remove it, even if your floors aren’t in great shape. If you don’t have hardwood, consider installing it in the main living area of the home, especially if the room is visable from the entry.
If you don’t have hardwood floors or you can not remove the carpeting, at least make sure it is squeeky clean and smells great. At a minimum, hire a professional carpet cleaner and ask that they pay close attention to the traffic patterns. If the carpet can not be cleaned, satisfactorily, or if it is worn, torn, faded a bad color or it smells….don’t attempt to clean it….REPLACE IT.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We can assist you in advertising your home on the MLS or Realtor.com. Save thousands and reach millions of homebuyers everyday!! Call us at 1-800-381-9496 or visit why6percent.com for details.