Thinking about listing your home for sale? Read me!

The most common question I hear upon viewing a property going up for sale is: "What should we do to get it ready?". Of course each home is going to have unique needs to become "showing ready", yet there are a few tips I have that can apply to nearly every home. The first and most important place to start is looking at your home from the curb to assess the curb appeal! A first impression is very important in the selling process, as it will set the tone for the rest of the showing. If a home has a beautiful interior, but the exterior was a bit of a mess, the buyer may overlook the interior as they still have the poor curb appeal in mind. Some specific items you can look for are landscaping and lawn maintenance, exterior cleanliness, presence of personal items, among others. Getting the grass mowed, edged, & trimmed is a great place to start. Pulling any weeds and freshening up the mulch/rock in planting beds is very helpful. Also examine the exterior of your home to see how clean it is, a good power washing may work wonders for your curb appeal. Try to make sure any extra personal items are neatly stored & just laying around the yard.  Another thing to look for is peeling paint, many times a buyer is going to be using a type of financing that will not allow this. It is helpful to address it from the get go, not worrying about it in the future, and the home will show better too! As far as the interior goes try to declutter, and depersonalize as much as possible. Another common question I get is about family pictures hanging on the wall. While a few are okay, too many will distract the buyer from focusing on the home, which is the main goal of the showing. If there are any drywall patches or paint work that is needed, try to get that done. Try to keep the home odor neutral by burning one, maybe one maybe two candles (same scent) before a showing.  A good strategy to get ready for showings is to put everything you need on a daily basis in crates so you can quickly "stash" them in a closet or under a bed before a showing. Please feel free to call me at 309-208-9900 or email me at christine@christineschauble.com for more tips on getting your home ready to sell!

Addressing the assumed: Real Estate Fall & Winter Slowdown

This time of year especially, we encounter the thought or mindset that every fall & winter Real Estate begins to slow down, and buying or selling should be "put on hold" until spring. Whether you're an agent, a buyer, or seller this could not be more false. There are still many Real Estate transactions that happen between November and February, and many folks still need to buy and sell properties. You may have a slower week or two if there is a massive blizzard or any sort of inclement weather, yet this does not mean the whole season will be slow. In fact listing your home in the winter months is very beneficial as typically the inventory is lower (caused by those with the slow season mindset) allowing you to sell quicker and for more money! As far as buying a home, winter is also a good season to be home shopping as there are less buyers, thus: less multiple offer situations, less multiple showings on homes, and may lead to getting your home for cheaper! It truly is a win-win for both buyers and sellers. Also a lot of the down payment grant programs that are currently available for buyers are released in the early months of the year, so if you're buying you can take advantage of those before the funds run out. If selling, you can benefit from the influx of buyers signing up for the renewed grants! Another misconception that comes up is: buying or selling during the Holidays is a bad idea. Again this is untrue and is an assumption. With the two major holidays about 4-5 weeks apart this allows plenty of time for buyers and sellers to be active with their Real Estate needs and still get all of that Holiday shopping done (which may include a new house!). There have been numerous times we have gotten accepted offers on Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Years! Don't be fooled by the rumors- Real Estate does not have a "slow-season"!

Open Houses: Beneficial?

A question we often hear when selling someone's home is whether or not open houses work. This depends on your definition of "working". Simply having a Real Estate agent put your home for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, and doing one open house more then likely will not get the home sold. Open houses should be done strategically, advertised properly (and well in advance), and in combination with other forms of advertising. The chance you will sell your home off an open house is about 1 out of 100, yet they are a great way to generate interest, and a great way to gather feedback (especially if it is a new listing to the market). On a good weekend we can expect an average of 3 to 4 groups through (sometimes its 10-20!). That is like having 3 to 4 showings in a day (could be much more!). We may not sell the home to one of those groups, yet they provide essential feedback about price & often suggest opinions on how we can make the home show better. Each listing should have a minimum of 2 open houses the first month it is on the market. Having a 12 to 1 open house the first week the property is for sale, helps set up for a better 2nd open house by getting the neighbors and "lookers" through.  Also having an open house following a price reduction is a great idea as it is then reaching a whole new group of buyer. Also, real estate is all about connections, you never know who might come through the open house, and in many cases the home didn't work for that group but they had a friend looking they suggested it to. Having open houses also helps boost the internet advertising on your listing as often homes that are open include banners, are moved up the "list" of similar homes, displayed in widgets etc. They also provide for great social media interaction. Bottom line it is all about your expectation of the open house. If you go in to it expecting to sell it at the open house chances are you are going to be let down. If you go in to it expecting to get traffic through and feedback to help you sell it to other buyers you will be satisfied and ultimately it will help your agent get the home sold.