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05/11/2005: "Real Estate Season is Almost Open"

It is that time of the year again. The holidays? No. That’s not what I mean. Real estate transactions spike in the spring and early summer. For both buyers and sellers it is a good time to be in the market. Inventory increases so buyers have a chance to find the home they really want, and buyers increase creating a market where you can get a lot of people to look at your home.

Buyers just have to start looking. There are great sites out there to use to get a jumpstart whether or not you have an agent. One new site is homepages.com. Yes, we are an affiliate, but we had dozens if not hundreds of web sites to become a partner of. Our marketing budget and strategy decided we would choose one site to market our services this year, and we chose this one.

I’d paraphrase, but they are pretty clear in their goal, so here is what it says at the site:

“At HomePages our goal is to give you a complete picture of where you want to live, so you can make the best decision about buying or selling a home. HomePages combines aerial neighborhood views with local home listings and area information such as school locations and test scores, shops and restaurants, crime data, recently-sold-home information, weather, and much more.
Through highly precise "zoomable" aerial imagery, HomePages provides an efficient and effective way to view homes and neighborhoods from the comfort of your own home. What's more, we help put you in touch with experienced, knowledgeable real estate agents in the community who can assist you with your home buying and selling needs.”

This new search engine will probably have a lot of copycats by the end of next year, but today they are in a class by themselves. Check it out at homepages.com
today. Or just click the link on the right side of this page.

As some one who is looking to sell their home, now is the time to get an agent to help you decide on a price and what you can get done between now and February 1 to make your house as marketable and valuable as possible.

A dozen things you can consider that are inexpensive and give you value in selling your home.

1. Empty it out
A home with space is always attractive. Although we tend to fill our house with things we love and can’t do without, that give it a homey feel for us as the occupant. When you are looking for a home, you want space, for your stuff, others people’s stuff is clutter. Get rid of it until you move into your next home. Put it in storage if you can afford it, if not use the attic garage or basement storage to keep it out of the way. A home with great space and one basement room that is packed for storage is more attractive than a cluttered home with an uncluttered storage room.

2. Clean it up
Your basic spring cleaning is in order. Get the windows, door trims, behind the refrigerator, you name it. If you can’t see it without moving it, move it. You potential buyer might.

3. Landscaping
Trimming the lawn edges and trimming bushes and trees add curb appeal immediately. Consider putting in some inexpensive flowers as soon as it starts warming up. The backyard is a magnet for storage of stuff that belongs in the garage or the garbage. Try to look at the objects outside your house as if you are approaching it for the first time. That functional but rusty and mud caked wheel-barrow may not be character, it may be ugly.

4. Interior walls and trim
Paint doesn’t have to be expensive. First of all, white, even off white shades makes rooms look bigger. If you have nicely painted color rooms, you may want to leave those, but if anything needs to be painted, stop by a paint shop; Home Depot or Lowe’s and look at the leftovers and returns bin. There is always white and it is always cheap. Look for the better brands as you will get a nice look at the discount price.

5. Exterior paint
If the whole house needs to be painted, it may cost you. But using the same method for outside paint (buying the leftovers) and just touching up trim can add nice appeal to your home. The first impression is important; take this tip to the bank. Don’t forget the fences in need of painting. If the paint is great, but there is dirt or mold, power wash it.

6. Basic maintenance
Are there slats missing from your wood fence? Get one, make sure it matches and put it n there. Even if it is obviously newer, t is better than the gaping hole. It’ll let a potential buyer know you notice things that need to be fixed and have made some effort to keep you place up to date. If you can paint the whole fence after you repair it will be flawless. Tuck pointing can be costly if you need a whole house redone, but if you just have a small portion of one wall, it is worth it to hire someone if you can do it yourself. Check chimneys, even if they are from a bricked up fireplace and you don’t use them.

7. Open the windows
On nice days, air out the house. We lock in winter and air ca get stagnant. If you store things in a room that can get a bit musty, empty it out, clean it up, throw out anything that may have gotten moldy and reorganize it to look useful.

8. Take an inventory
Look at your house look at the great features. Did you upgrade anything? Make sure you make that clear to your agent. You have two bathrooms, but maybe you have a towel warmer or a steam shower. Are the wood floors in great shape? Are you going to leave anew washer and dryer behind, have a new electrical box with more capacity, a house surge protector, Xeriscape landscaping. Get it on your list of house features. If you had it because you valued it, chances are someone else will find it valuable.

9. Clean the roof and gutters
Make sure the gutters are clean and work properly. Sometimes branches dirt or leaves find places on the roof congregating near chimneys and other outcroppings. Take a walk up there or hire a handy man to clean up.

10. Lights
Make sure every light fixture has a WORKING light bulb in it.

11. Fixtures
Tighten and loose faucets, toilets and the like. Check ceiling fans, lighting fixtures and sconces to insure they are tight and no plaster or holes appear.

12. Floors
Wood floors can be made attractive with little elbow grease and wood floor products that fill scratches and bring back the shine. Products for tiled floors are readily available and pay special attention to old grout that can be cleaned or touched up. Floors can often be made to look new with some TLC.