Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

Selling Your Home - Be Sure It Shows Well


Whether you are selling a house, townhouse, condo or apartment, there are universal tips that will help it sell. Primary among those tips are making sure your home "shows well."

First impressions of a home go a long way to determining how quickly it will sell. Here are a few suggestions that will make your home show well.

1. Be sure the approach to your home is clean, tidy and well groomed. Any brass should be polished, paint on the door should be in good condition and the door should be washed clean of fingerprints and paw marks.

2. If your home is a single family house, be sure the grass is cut, leaves raked, plant beds mulched and weeded, etc.

3. If your home is in a multi-family building, be sure the approach and hall to your home is clean even if it is not your job!

4. Be sure your home is tidy and uncluttered. This includes closets, cabinets, garages, and other storage areas. When "stuffed," no amount of storage "shows" as adequate. When really messy, no room looks charming.

5. Make any repairs that are noticeably needed. Door handles and locks should fit well and firmly. Exterior doors should shut and lock solidly. Drains and downspouts should be firmly attached and clear of debris so water flows freely. Attached light fixtures should be firmly attached. All switches should turn on whatever they were designed to turn on -- light, fan, disposal, etc.

6. Conventional wisdom dictates your home should be "neutralized." You can't really go wrong following this advice. You know the drill -- beige or soft gray carpet, beige, gray, or taupe walls, white or off-white woodwork and ceilings. Sometimes a very soft gold or a soft sage green can also "read" as neutral.

7. If you have a sure sense of decorating (you probably do if family and friends frequently ask your advice and you enjoy making decorating decisions), and especially if you plan to leave color coordinated window treatments, you might leave more definite colors in place understanding that a potential buyer with no imagination might be put off by them and not think to request a "redecorating allowance" in a contract offer. Still, beautiful decorating which is not neutral undeniably attracts some buyers.

8. If your carpet is in poor condition, but you cannot afford to replace it, get several neutral samples in a mid-price range from a local carpet store, spread them on the floor, and add a note stating that you will be glad to provide a carpet allowance from the proceeds of settlement.

9. Dark homes show badly. Make sure lamps are on and lampshades are straight with the seams toward a wall. Make sure there is as much natural light as possible; have curtains, shades and blinds open.

Buyers are looking for a home they can see themselves living in. Follow the above tips and you will position your home to sell quickly.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org - providing homes for sale by owner, "FSBO", properties. Are you thinking, "Should I sell my home?" Visit http://www.fsboamerica.org/seller.cfm to sell your home sale for free for one month.


MORE RESOURCES:

Aspen real estate outgained other state resort-area markets in 2011
Aspen Times
ASPEN — A flat year for the Pitkin County real estate market in 2011 is looking good compared with the performance in Eagle County and other resort areas in Colorado. A report by Land Title Guarantee Co. shows Aspen and Pitkin County had one of the ...

and more »


$16 house man: real estate genius or squatter?
New Zealand Herald
And while real estate experts and authorities say he's misusing the law, Robinson appears to have inspired dozens of imitators who moved into the Dallas-Fort Worth area homes - some of which were still occupied by their owners.

and more »


Montgomery County eyes hefty real estate tax jump
Roanoke Times
Demands and cuts in state funding suggest a 21-cent real estate tax rate hike. Supervisors balked. By Mike Gangloff Montgomery County supervisors braced themselves Monday for the possibility of a record increase in the county's real estate tax rate.

and more »


Real estate title agent to add 200
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The parent of United Lender Services, a national real estate title and settlement agent in Findlay, has acquired two large office buildings along the Parkway West, where ULS will relocate and triple its employment to more than 250.

and more »


Los Angeles Times

Real Estate: National foreclosure settlement delayed, Nevada AG concerned
Reno Gazette Journal
Ap File BY THE NUMBERS Foreclosure-related filings for 2011 for Washoe County, Nevada and the United States. Filings include notices of default, notices of sale or auction and bank-owned foreclosures. Washoe: 7981 (down 27.3 percent and 27.6 percent ...
Week ahead in real estate (Feb. 6-10)U-T San Diego
Banks Paying Homeowners a Bonus to Avoid Foreclosures: MortgagesBusinessWeek

all 493 news articles »


Real estate firm's game ad nothing to laugh at
Chicago Tribune
Five years into the housing crisis, a national real estate firm thinks there's still a national audience of potential homebuyers just waiting for the right opportunity. The combination of home affordability and mortgage interest rates are practically ...
Century 21 Maintains Leadership Position in Brand Awareness SurveyRisMedia.com (press release)

all 2 news articles »


New York Times

So Eager to Get Foot in Real Estate's Door, They Work Without Pay
New York Times
In past years, becoming a real estate agent was rarely a first-choice gig. For many people, it was a way to pay the bills while trying to break into another field. For some, it was a second career — or maybe a third or a fourth — tackled after the ...
Real estate is a team sportBoston.com (blog)

all 1 news articles »


Zephyr Real Estate Announces Top Producers for 2011
MarketWatch (press release)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Feb 06, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Zephyr Real Estate, San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm, is proud to announce the company's top producing real estate agents for 2011. The Company Top 10, in order by highest ...

and more »


TEXT-S&P says European real estate should weather downside credit risks
Reuters
"We think that our macroeconomic forecast of a mild recession for the first half of the year will have a moderate effect on the operating performance of our rated Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) portfolio," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst ...

and more »


Oregon Company Attempts to Bring Real Estate Into a Mobile World
LoanSafe
by Evan Bedard on February 6, 2012 in Real Estate (Source: By Sherri Buri McDonald, The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.) - A Eugene start-up company, RealLead is trying to bring the speed and immediacy of mobile communications to real estate shopping.
Bringing real estate into a mobile worldThe Register-Guard

all 2 news articles »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006