Tips for Selling

Last week I told you that if you want to sell your home you need to look at it from the eyes of the buyer. There's an article in the Wall St. Journal that goes into more detail on that pooint that I thought was interesting. Here it is:

Tips for Making Your Home More Saleable
Before you put your home on the market, there are some things you can do to differentiate your house among the competitors.
When preparing to put your home up for sale, your first concern is the home's exterior. If the outside, or "curb appeal" looks good, people will more than likely want to see what's on the inside. Keep the lawn and landscape nicely manicured. Trim the bushes and season permitting, plant some flowers. Be sure your front door area has a "Welcome" feeling. A fresh coat of paint on the front door looks great.
Of all the rooms inside your home, pay special attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. They should look as modern, bright and fresh as possible. It is essential for them to be clean and odor free. A fresh coat of paint just may do the trick. Have any leaky faucets taken care of. A call to a plumber is a wise investment.
For Your Home
Our home improvement section features how-to tips and important information about repairing and remodeling your home.
Since you want your home to look as spacious as possible, remove any excess or very large furniture. Make sure that table tops, dressers and closets are free of clutter. Don't use your garage, attic, or basement to store these extra things. These areas also need to have the impression of space. Instead, put them into storage. Make sure walls and doors are free of smudges and look for anything that might indicate a maintenance problem, such as cracked windows, holes in the wall or stained ceilings.
Finally, if your basement shows any signs of dampness or leakage, seal the walls.
Quick tips for showings:
Keep counter tops cleared
Replace all burned out lightbulbs
Open all drapes and window blinds
Put pets in cages or take them to a neighbor
No dirty dishes in the sink
No laundry in the washer/dryer
Clean or replace dirty or worn carpets
Put on soft music
Burn wood in the fireplace on cold days, otherwise, the fireplace should be clean
Always look at your home from the buyer's point of view. Be objective and be honest.

The weekend is here

Weekends are extremely busy for realtors usually. Last weekend was crazed for me, I had two open houses. This week I have one so it's not so bad. I have 122 S St. NW open this Sunday, 1-4 pm so if you're in the neighborhood come by.

Went to a real estate seminar yesterday. The speaker was a guy named Darryl Davis. He was very good and offered excellent tips on how to improve your real estate bottom line which of course I was certainly interested in hearing. This is a business that requires a lot of creativity, energy, imagination and patience. It's a challenge sometimes especially when you're dealing with difficult people. I'm learning not to take it personally though because sometimes people are just having a bad day and if you're person who calls or comes by right when their in the throws of their drama, you get the smack down. You do develop a thick skin over time. I'm having a great time and I refuse to let anyone take my joy away from me.

Those are my thoughts for the day. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember you can rest when you die.

How's the market?

I get that question all the time. The answer: the market's great, dive in! The market is leveling. It's not quite a buyer's market but it's also not the seller's market that it used to be. The spring market is right now so if you're waiting until March or April to start looking for a home because you think that's when the spring market is, you won't be getting the jump on those folks who are waiting just like you. Get out there now and begin your search. The housing market in the DC area will remain strong for a long time. This area is experiencing record low unemployment so all those folks who are finding jobs in the area also need housing. Our unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country.

DC continues to offer the $5,000 tax credit too. What that means to you if you are a first time home buyer is that you can take $5,000 off the taxes you owe. That's so cool!

If you're selling your home and you want to get top dollar, look at your home with a buyer's eye. Ask yourself if you were buying your home, what would you like or dislike about it. Buyers want perfection. Think of it like you're selling your car. If you were selling your car, wouldn't you clean it up, get it detailed maybe or anything else you could do to make it shine? Think about your house that way. If it would be useful to you for me to send you an email of tips to get your house ready for sell, let me know and I'd be happy to do so.

Having an open house this Sunday at my new listing at 122 S St. NW. Go to my website and get more information. Here's a photo.

Busy Weekend

Had an extremely busy weekend this past weekend. Held two houses open, Donna did one for me. I have three listings currently: 2006 Bunker Hill Rd. NE, 3468 24th St. SE, and 122 S St. NW (just got this one last week). We had Bunker Hill and 24th St. open. Lots of traffic through both houses. Bunker Hill is a cute alternative to a condo, it's one bedroom, one bath but it's a detached home in Michigan Park. 24th St. is a semi-detached home in Randle Heights. It has two bedrooms upstairs and one in the basement. It also have one bath upstairs and one in the basement. It's a good house for someone just starting out but it does need some TLC. 122 S St. is a big Victorian in my neighborhood ( I live right around the corner form it). It's a great mix of old and new and would be a great place for something who likes the old style but also wants some modern conveniences too. It has five bedrooms, parking for two cars in the back, granite countertops in the kitchen, a powder room downstairs, bathroom upstairs, a finished basement with rental potential (one bedroom and one bath) and lots of fireplaces. It's a great house! It's a must see and if you're interested, give me a call at 202-494-6797.
The market isn't cooling as the news media continue to say. Things are certainly picking up. People are out there looking and will buy something when they find what they like. What they want is something that offers bells and whistles, especially if they're paying a lot for it. If it doesn't have the bells and whistles they don't want to pay too much. Realtors have to work to find a happy middle ground for both buyers and sellers. That's some I struggle with. It's all good though. Gotta run. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember you can rest when you die.

News you can use

An article from the Wall St. Journal I found interesting:


Housing-Price Growth Still Hot,But Pace Has Cooled Some
By Jeff Bater and Steve Kerch From The Wall Street Journal Online
Prices for previously owned U.S. homes appreciated late last year, but the double-digit growth was a bit cooler than it had been, an industry group says.
The national median existing single-family home price was $213,000 October through December, up 13.6% from $187,500 a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors, or NAR, said Wednesday. The median is the midpoint; that is, half of the homes sold for more than the median price and half sold for less.
In the third quarter of 2005, the annual rate of home-price appreciation was 14.7%.
The association's report, covering 145 metropolitan areas, shows a record 72 areas had double-digit annual increases in the median price of existing single-family home prices. Only six areas posted price declines. (See metropolitan-area data -- Adobe Acrobat required.)
The biggest single-family price increase in the nation was in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area of Arizona, where the fourth quarter price of $268,400 rose 48.9% from a year earlier. Next was Cape Coral-Fort Meyers, Fla., at $293,100, up 48% from the fourth quarter of 2004. Orlando, Fla., with a fourth-quarter median price of $261,800, was up 42% in the last year.

Spring has sprung

The spring home buying season is underway and even though you may think it doesn't happen until late March or early April, it's actually underway now. Feb. is usually a strong month. While we had a weak Dec., and a good Jan., Feb. is expected to be strong.

Buyers are out there. They're suffering a bit from price fatigue though, but they're out there nonetheless. My advice for those of you who are still trying to figure out the market, don't. The market is what it is and if you want to buy, now is the time.

Sellers are still hoping to get their price. If you have a price in mind that you're trying to get, the market may not give you that number. If you have a house to sell, now is the time to be getting it on the market. If you wait until April or May, there will likely be more inventory which will be to your disadvantage. If it needs more, do what you can now and get it on the market.
Just some food for thought. Remember if you're thinking about buying or selling, please call me or shoot me an email.

Spring is around the corner

And since it is around the corner, now is a good time to start the house buying or selling process. If you have a house to sell, get it ready to put on the market now. This is the time of year when people who have been thinking they need to buy a house actually get out and start looking. Don't wait too long. If you wait until April or May you'll have so much more competition. The market is starting to pick up a little in terms of buyers out there looking. Remember too that pricing is the key. If it's price too high and it sits on the market for a while, the less it will sell for. Also if it's not renovated well, or if it looks tired and run down, especially those houses in the upper brackets, it won't sell.

The market is normalizing and many sellers aren't ready to deal with what that means to them. What it means is that houses that were selling really high this time last year, aren't selling at the same level now and are sitting on the market longer. That's just the reality of it. We, as realtors, can't control the market in any way. The change is good for buyers. More houses to choose from and at more reasonable prices. Buyers are still cautious, however. The next few months will be interesting to watch.

By the way, my listing at 3468 24th SE had a price reduction last week. It's now listed at $250,000. If you're interested in seeing it or know someone who might be interested, please let me know. Also, I'm about to get another listing. This one in Michigan Park. It's at 2006 Bunker Hill NE. List price will probably be $295,000. It's a one bedroom, detached house with high ceilings, good space and a hot tub in the back yard. It's a great house and an excellent alternative to a condo.

That's it for now. Take care.