FSBO is not a tossing game you play with your pet!

FSBO is an acronym for "For Sale By Owner".  Even though your local hardware sells lovely "For Sale by Owner" signs ready made with a nice space for your phone number, it takes alot more marketing expertise to sell your home, particularly today.

 

Since the price you will be able to list your home at is probably lower than you would like, you may be tempted to forgo paying a commission to a Licensed Realtor. Save wherever you can-right? 

 

Well, maybe.  The advantages of working with an agent are numerous. From the most basic-he/she handles the phone calls and showings, to how you market you home to prospective buyers.  One of the biggest advantages to having agent for is uploading your home listing to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  You cannot access the MLS-only a licensed agent can.  This national data base will put your home in front of the widest possible audience because the information will be picked up and posted to thousands of real estate websites.

 

A real estate agent knows how to market and arrange for all the details of selling your home.  An agent has a network of trusted professionals at his or her fingertips.  You'll need a home inspector,  and escrow agent, maybe even a professional home stager to get your home sold.  An agent can be your best weapon in a very tough market.

 

Lastly, ask friends who they have used.  Agents covet referrals and the opinion of a trusted friend is a great place to begin your search for a professional you can work with.

 

So, let the agent do the work and you'll have more time to play FRISBEE with your pet while you await the perfect offer for your home!

Tips for Pricing, Preparing and Promoting Your Home for Sale

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Sign, Sign everywhere a Sign...

My kids call me the sign Nazi. Being employed in Real Estate, I look at For Sale signs as I make my way around town and feel compelled to remark about them- bad logo, print is too small. Really, that agent might want to reconsider that picture...

The thing that bugs me the most is the sign that looks yellow and faded.  It makes the home listed look faded too.  Agents are telling sellers to spruce up the landscaping, wash the windows, keep the lawn trimmed or the snow shoveled and then they plop a faded ragged looking sign out front? If I were the seller, I would be very unhappy.  I would not want to look at that sign as I left and arrived home each day.

As a watcher of signs my reaction to the faded sign is "I bet that one has been on the market forever!"
The sign is supposed to be getting a buyers attention-positively and should be a reflection of the professional who will guide the sale.

So Realtors, sharpen up your marketing tools & Sellers, make sure your Realtor does!

Crafty Ideas for Winter Curb Appeal: Home & Design: REALTOR® Magazine

Crafty Ideas for Winter Curb Appeal: Home & Design: REALTOR® Magazine

Setting the Stage For A Successful Sale

Believe it or not, spring will be coming soon and if your home is going to go on the market, now is a good time to consider "staging" it to give it an edge with buyers.

There are professional Stagers who will, for a fee, come in and evaluate your home, advise on changes and do the work involved.  Not every home's needs are that extreme however.  If you can be objective about your space, there are lots of small changes you can make yourself that will help sell your home.

• Remember above all 'staging' is NOT decorating.  It is less personal than decorating.  When you decorate your home it is a reflection of you, your family, your life.  When you are staging your home you are trying to encourage your buyer to see themselves in the space.
• Showings are typically fairly short periods of time.  You need to make a good first impression so pay attention to entryways, declutter kitchen counters and take care of any obvious bad odors-this is not the time for the litter box to be ready for a cleaning. 
• If you have a package of "break and bake cookies" in the fridge and  20 minutes or so you can create a warm cozy feeling via your potential buyers nose.  A fresh pot of coffee can have a similar effect. Just keep smells simple and think about things that seem to be pleasing universally if you are going to try this.  Your family may love fish frys, but the smell is probably less generally appealing!
• Clear the paper work from your desk and the family photos and kids drawings from the fridge. Pack these personal things away so that you can get them out again sooner in your new home.
• Make the bed, everyday and depersonalize the bedroom too. Don't just stuff it in the closet because potential buyers will look in there too.

Make your space clean, decluttered, and depersonalized.  Empty the litter box or clean the turtle tank! If the bedroom and master bath  look like a really nice hotel suite, you are doing it right!

Ask your agent for advice, they have seen it all and want to help you to a successful closing.

Thing's Are Looking Up

 During the early part of this decade, it was not uncommon when driving  in my town to get caught by several fully loaded freight trains every day. It was frustrating, but a common fact of life in our little town. Your tardiness was easily explained by one word-train.

When the down turn began there was at first a subtle shift in train traffic, almost unnoticed. As the bottom approached, travel by car was almost unimpeded by trains-their whistles were rare-maybe once a week you had to sit waiting for a train to pass.  On one of those occasions it dawned on me that the lack of trains was a sad indicator that business was slowly coming to a halt.  Not much need for lumber, car haulers were much less frequent and coal traffic was way down as well.

Things are getting better.  Although employment figures are still pretty dismal, there are some  signs that the economy is improving.

GM's early emergence from bankruptcy/restructuring and improved sales figures for domestic auto's from GM, Ford and Chrysler are a good first step. *Dokka Fasteners Inc. - The new-to-Michigan manufacturer of hot-formed bolts primarily for the wind industry- plans to invest $21 million to establish a manufacturing, coating and distribution operation in Auburn Hills. Health care has become Michigans' biggest jobs provider, passing the slimmer ranks of auto related jobs. All of this makes us a more diverse economy and may attract other business and increase housing needs. So now when I get caught by a fully loaded train, (and that is happening much more often) I take a deep breath, put it in park and say a little thank you because things are looking up.

* Source GovMonitor.com

Why Real Estate, Why Now?

The unusual (many think tragic) current residential real estate market has impacted our industry in many ways.
One of the most obvious to me has been the number of Real Estate Agents who are getting out of the business, letting their licenses lapse and moving on.  Agents spend a great deal of time and money to become licensed and to remain licensed.  There are fees for almost every aspect of the process.  There are required continuing education and marketing expenses, communication tool costs like a website, smart phone even down to postage for the neighborly newsletters some agents use to communicate with potential and past clients. The list goes on and on.
One can look on the loss of some agents as a natural selection process, only the strongest survive. Some might never have made it as full time professional REALTORS anyway.  Many of them dove into the pool when deals and money were plentiful and frankly, it was not terribly difficult to close a sale.
You might be amazed then that Brokers continue to successfully recruit folks new to the business.  Why would anyone want to become a REALTOR in this market? The answer to that is as varied as the folks who show up for pre license training.
The drive to "be your own boss" is a very American attitude.  The freedom to succeed or fail based on your own efforts appeals to a lot of folks, particularly in a world where company provided pensions and lifelong employment situations are becoming very scarce. If you can't find a job, becoming a licensed agent is a sure way to create your own job.
I spoke with a new agent regarding why in the world he would choose now to get into the game. Although he was never "in" real estate before, he had a great deal of sales background.  He left an unsatisfactory employment relationship in order to use his talents to benefit himself and his family.  He sited the plus side of the down market as giving him plenty of time to learn, develop his knowledge of real estate and to set the stage to be "out of the gate" long before his competition when the market improves.  I think he is dead on.  He joined up at the perfect time.  It will be very interesting to watch these new entrepreneurs grow.