by Jeff Pittman | Nov 5, 2015 | Sellers
6 Tried and True Ways To Sell Your Home Fast Nobody wants their home to sit on the market and get stale. As a seller you want a quick turn over and return so you can move on with your life. Selling a home fast is feasible if you follow time-tested guidelines. When you consider the highly charged emotional circumstances surrounding a home sale, there is no substitute for following a plan. So let’s get down to the details! PRICE IT RIGHT Deciding on a fair price may be one of the most important decisions a seller has to make. Analyzing comparable homes recently sold in your immediate neighborhood is the best way to decide on the price. That’s why First Team agents run a CMA or Comparative Market Analysis for each home that will be put on the market. Pricing your home on the low end will typically help it sell faster and overpricing will have your home sitting on the market like a lame duck. STAGE YOUR HOME There is a reason builders use stagers. Pretty homes sell faster. In fact the National Association of REALTORS did a study and found that 46% of buyers are more willing to walk through a home they viewed online if it’s staged. Getting more buyers in the door will speed up your selling process and get you the best price for your home. Since buying a home is an emotional purchase, it is imperative that the home is inviting and stylish. 28% of buyers revealed they were more willing to overlook other property faults if a home is staged and 16%...
by Jeff Pittman | Oct 26, 2015 | Sellers
How To Attract Fall Home Buyers Historically, summer is the hottest season for real estate. Homebuyers with children search in spring and early summer to have a house sale secured before the school year starts in September. Once the holiday season hits at the end of the year subsequently, the market has cooled. However, there are two types of buyers that are out and about during fall that don’t fall into this category. Families aren’t the only homebuyers on the market, there are also young millennials and older couples looking to downsize who you are more likely to encounter this time of year. If you’re putting your home on the market this season, then here’s some tips on how to attract the shoppers you’re likely to encounter. MILLENNIALS Millennials refers to homebuyers roughly between the ages of 18 to early 30s born from 1980 to 2000. These young house hunters are tech savvy, fast paced and a whole new breed of buyers. BE READY 24/7 Smartphone in hand, millennials are always on the market. That means they will search listings and consider buyer at any time – so be ready for them. Keep your home in tip-top shape and show-ready because a young buyer can be searching after work, text their agent and be ready to view your home in 5 minutes. You don’t want to turn them down because you we’re ready yourself. GREAT PHOTOS ONLINE Millennials are visual and starting their home search online. That’s why you’ve got to have great photos to show off your property and capture their interest right out the gate. If you...
by Jeff Pittman | Oct 7, 2015 | Sellers
5 Home Upgrades To Help You Get A Better Return As a homeowner, it’s easy to get in the mindset that improving only the aesthetics of your home. While installing a unique tile entryway or ripping out all of that old wallpaper will up the value of your home in some cases, the reality is these aesthetics only go so far. If you really want to perform home improvements that will increase the value of your home, and help you get a better return when you decide to sell, you need to think in terms of what is important or valuable to buyers. Beyond that, you need to focus on what buyers are looking for in your local community. While it can be tough to determine all of these specifics, there are a few home renovation projects that bring in more dough than any others. So, if you are planning on selling your home soon and want to make sure that you get the most return on investment (ROI), consider these top five home improvements. FUNCTIONAL INDOOR SYSTEMS While it’s more rewarding to actually see your money going to work by making cosmetic changes, those are some of the last considerations you need to make. The first thing you should focus on is upgrading all of your indoor systems including plumbing, heating, electrical, and sewer systems. If you wait for potential buyers to point out problems you’ll be paying more for the same repairs. Determine which ones are out-of-date or in ill-repair, and start your home renovations here. Sure these repairs can be pricy, but you’ll get your money...
by Jeff Pittman | Sep 28, 2015 | Sellers
5 Prep Steps To Make Your Listing Photos Instantly Look Better Real estate is all about presenting your listing in the best possible light (literally), which means having great listing photos. 92% of home buyers go online while searching for a home so the photos you put up need to be top notch to get you top dollar for your home. How much you spend on those listing photos is entirely up to you but no matter what you spend, stick to these 5 prep tips to ensure your photos look great online and off. 1. DECLUTTER. SERIOUSLY. Remove refrigerator magnets, put away remotes, make sure there are no trash cans in the shot, get rid of unnecessary furniture such as end tables and desks and really whittle down what’s in your shot. Making a room as empty as possible makes it look way bigger. Your listing photos should show off the property – not your life. The less clutter, furniture and accessories you have in each photo, the bigger the space will look. Don’t subtract square footage by cluttering your photos with unnecessary stuff! 2. DEPERSONALIZE. Remove any personal photos, make children’s rooms as bare and simple as possible, put away personal style, and take down any religious paraphernalia, etc. Depersonalizing is a step beyond decluttering. You may have a hard time removing personal style and homey touches that have become such a big part of your life but remember – this is just for the photo shoot. Once the pictures are taken you can put your home back together again. 3. CLEAN UP/BEAUTIFY THE BACK & FRONT...
by Jeff Pittman | Sep 16, 2015 | Sellers
5 Reasons Why New Construction Presents New Competition For Home Sellers Since the great recession and the real estate market crash, home sellers have had to compete with distressed properties i.e. foreclosures and short sales. But now there’s a new kind of competition – new home construction. According to the latest RealtyTrac distressed home report, foreclosure sales dropped to a 15-year low because the market is normalizing. However, with a normalized market comes competition from newly constructed homes. According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers new home sales accounted for 16% of all homes sold in 2014. This graph lays out the 5 reasons buyers choose new construction over a pre-owned home such as yours: The top three should not come by surprise. With a new home comes the ability to customize the design of the home and the ability to avoid having to renovate or deal with existing problems. The 10% of respondents who cited “Lack of Inventory of Existing Homes” could very well increase throughout 2015. Existing home inventory in SoCal is currently at 2.5 months (Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties), well below the six-months needed to be at a historically normal market. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports that there is currently a 5.4 months supply inventory of new construction available for purchase. HOW CAN YOU COMPETE? Get your house on the market now! There’s a steady buyer demand on the market at this time but a lack of existing inventory. If you’re ready to put your house up for sale now, you will avoid additional competition coming onto the market....
by Jeff Pittman | Aug 17, 2015 | Sellers
2015 home buyers are looking for some specific updates when they are on a home search. To expedite the sale of your home – and to gain an edge over the competitive and new homes in your area with more bells and whistles – you might want to add some of the following updates to your home. Just make sure that the updates you invest in are going to be recouped at resale. Compiled from several surveys, consumer reports and advice from the professionals, here’s what we know home buyers are looking for in a home in 2015: OUTDOOR DIGS Source: daisymaebelle.com Buyers are looking for a home with space available to create an attractive outdoor living area according to the buzz at recent builder trade shows. Exterior lighting in particular ranked high on homebuyers’ priority list. It’s important to note that while buyers are looking for an outdoor living space or a yard that is large enough to create an impressive play area for the kids, they don’t want to spend all weekend doing lawn care. When updating your outdoor space, choose low maintenance landscaping plans that include something like stone pavers, or create decorative spaces using mulch, ground cover plants or low maintenance flower beds. CLOSETS TO DIE FOR Source: porch.com A walk-in closet in the master bedroom is one of the most desirable features for 2015 home buyers. According an NAHB survey, 98% of homebuilders would include a walk-in closet in a new home because they are so popular with homebuyers. Including built-in shelving or adding some type of closet organizational system will make your closet...
