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Posts tagged selling a home

Declutter: Taking the First Steps

Jul16
2010
1 Comment Written by Alicia

first steps to declutter

You hear it time and time again. As a home seller, or just as a homeowner, you need to declutter your home. Get rid of your built-up storage, reorganize and make your house look spacious, empty and clean. As with most advice, the job is easier said than done.

So how do you begin the decluttering process? There are simple steps you can take in your daily life to prevent clutter in the first place. Starting now, say no to junk mail. As soon as you pick up a piece of mail that you know is junk mail, toss it in the recycle bin without wasting your time opening it. If you want coupons from an ad, make a list and cut out the coupons immediately before tossing the rest of the ad. Don’t save the junk mail for a later date. Better yet, register with the Mail Preference Service on the Direct Marketing Association website. According to an article from the The Daily Green, you pay $1 to have your name removed from mailing lists and your junk mail decreases by 75 percent in 90 days!

When it comes to decluttering your desk with old bills and paystubs, most people are afraid they’ll either need this information in the future or that someone will get hold of a private account number or personal information. The first fear, that you’ll need the information in the future, is a difficult issue to work though. Usually, after filing income taxes and receiving your tax return, you won’t need past paystubs. Medical bills are usually safe to throw away after a year or two of keeping them. If you’re afraid of people getting a hold of personal information, invest in a paper shredder and recycle.
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Posted in Home Improvement, Tips and Ideas - Tagged clean house, declutter your house, home decorating, home ownership, how to sell
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Stand Out at Your Open House

Jun21
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

open house

In the past, we’ve supplied you with articles on how to prosper at an open house. We provided you with safety tips in Have You Held an Open House?, offered you 12 Steps to Prepare for a Summer Open House, warned you with Preparing for Surprise Showings and told you how to Prepare for a Spring Open House.

Now, with the market fierce and buyers in control, sellers really need to find ways to stand out in the overly zealous crowd. Open houses are a great place to do just that. The first step is getting people to your open houses by advertising with Buy Owner. The second step is making people remember your open house after visiting numerous open houses in one day.

How do you make your open house stand out? Use seasonal attributes to your advantage. They get people in the mindset of now while they personalize the open house and give the buyers a reason to remember your house. This doesn’t mean you should set up a kiddy pool in the middle of your backyard while answering the door in your bathing suit. Here are some ideas for making your open house stand out:

  1. Instead of baking cookies or serving coffee, switch it up with some refreshing summery treats. Serve little cups of freshly squeezed juice using a juicer. Create a non-alcoholic punch over ice. Serve sample sizes of smoothies. The point isn’t to break the bank but to stand out to potential buyers.
  2. Wear bright colors. Nothing overboard, but just friendly, attractive clothing in bright floral or the color of the year, turquoise. This can lift people’s spirits, make you seem more approachable and make them more comfortable around you.
  3. Decorate in neutral colors that will appeal to everyone, but accessorize with bright, summer colors. Add some turquoise pillows to your couch or some pastel green dishware to your dining room table. Make the house exciting and fun to look at. Since most houses are decorated with neutral décor, this adds a punch to yours.
  4. Print out a list of local activities for people to partake in. Right now, create a list of summer activities, such as upcoming festivals, farmer’s markets, water parks, free movies in the park, summer camps and clubs, bike trails and more. When the season changes, change the list. Show potential buyers what they can do with their spare time.
  5. Outside, display colorful flowers near the front door and back door and in plain sight of the open house guests. Make sure your lawn is mowed and your bushes are trimmed. Make your landscaping look flawless and lush. If you really want to go all out, offer potential buyers a flower from a perennial garden, like a day lily. Every time they see the flower, they’ll remember your house.

These are just ideas to get your own creative juices flowing. Think of a way to stand out from the crowd and run with it. Don’t think of open houses as another chore for you to complete. Think of them as you and your house’s time to shine!

Posted in Selling Tips - Tagged how to sell, open house, Selling Tips, summer open house tips
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After Your Ad is Live

Jun14
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

after your ad is live

Congratulations on taking the first step towards selling your home on your own: Using Buy Owner!

As the nation’s leading FSBO company, Buy Owner offers the strength and stability of an established company, as well as the hallmark of being the most popular FSBO destination online, delivering over 10 million page views per month.

    Now that your ad is live, your home benefits from exposure to potential buyers through Buy Owner’s ultra-aggressive advertising campaign that includes:

  • An aggressively advertised toll-free number (800-771-7777)
  • Our constantly visited website, BuyOwner.com
  • Buy Owner Magazine

These resources do the hard work of getting your property exposed and marketed, so that you can get it sold!

While you’re selling with Buy Owner, you can improve your chances of selling by putting a little legwork into your sale. Check out these helpful tips from previous Buy Owner Blog articles!

  1. “Schedule an open house on a weekend afternoon when not a lot of community events are happening. Hint: don’t plan the open house on the day of a big football game or the weekend of a holiday.” 25 Extra Tricks for Drawing Buyers
  2. “By cleaning, decluttering and repairing your home, you set it ahead of the pack, and you make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves inside.” (from “Beating the Market: How to Sell Now!“)
  3. “If there’s one keyword to keep in mind when you’re planning a home showing, it’s this: detail…When you prepare for a home showing, you’re preparing your home in a very similar way. Just like your vehicle needs to smell good, look good, be in absolute mint condition, so should your home be when potential buyers come to call.” (from “The Key to Showing Well: Detailing”)
  4. “When done right, curb appeal has the power to pull potential buyers in, implying that the interior of your home will be just as impressive as the façade.” (from “8 Ways to Improve Curb Appeal“)
Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged buy owner, fsbo, how to sell your home, real estate, sell a home, selling with buy owner
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Keys to Selling: Kitchen/Baths!

May24
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

kitchen

According to an article in the Lansing State Journal last month, the most important home improvements you can make are in the kitchen and the bathrooms. Not only do renovations to these spaces improve your enjoyment of your home, but they also increase your home’s value. Often, sellers will recoup most of the renovation investments in a higher selling price!

Here are some suggestions offered by interior designer Elizabeth Falconer, who was interviewed for the Lansing State Journal article:

  • More appliances: If you’re looking for tips on purchasing new appliances to add value to your kitchen, check out this Buy Owner Blog article!
  • More kitchens: It’s increasingly common for homes to have second kitchens in the basement or outdoors. Even a mini kitchenette adds value in the minds of buyers.
  • Better storage: Think built-ins and cleverly concealed spaces.
  • Bathrooms with designated his/her space
  • Separate closet for toilets

And these ideas are just the beginning! Previous Buy Owner Blog articles discuss all kinds of possible kitchen improvements, from cabinets and countertops to sinks, lighting and even decoration.

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged baths, home improvements, kitchen, real estate, renovations
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Protect Your Home’s Value

May17
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

protect your home value

Numerous factors affect the housing market, and right now, decreased home values and increased foreclosures go hand in hand. When foreclosures show up in your community, they can drag down the value of your home, they can cause potential home buyers to purchase cheap foreclosed homes over your more expensive home and they can even decrease the value of your neighborhood as a whole when vandalism is targeted at vacant foreclosed homes.

Even though you can’t prevent foreclosed homes from showing up in your neighborhood, you can take steps to prevent neighborhood vandalism and value decreases.

To prevent neighborhood vandalism, you could create a community watch party. Gather your local neighbors for a meeting to discuss watching over vacant homes on a regular basis. Perhaps you could create a schedule so that someone is keeping an eye on vacant homes at all times. If any suspicious activity is spotted around a house, or anywhere in the neighborhood, the person on watch duty could call the local police department to come check it out. Not only will this type of action prevent vandalism and unwanted neighborhood visitors, but it will also create a close bond between neighbors that will look positive to potential home buyers.

To protect the value of your home specifically, increase the curb appeal of your home until it looks impeccable. You want potential home buyers to view your home as a smart and worthy investment. If they see a house that shows off flawless qualities, they’ll forget about the cheaper foreclosed homes down the road that display overgrown lawns and peeling paint. To increase your home’s curb appeal, apply a fresh coat of paint to the exterior, fences, benches, front porch poles, mailboxes, garage doors, window shutters and anything that looks used. Also, keep the lawn mowed and the bushes trimmed. Pull weeds from around foliage. For extra appeal, display colorful flowers in pots that flank the front entryway.

Once you reach the goal of gaining interest in potential buyers, don’t lose that interest. Instead of immediately agreeing to lower your price to compete with foreclosed prices, explain to the buyers that your home’s value is worth more than that. Opt to include bonuses in the transaction instead. For example, you could pay the closing costs for the buyer, you could include select furnishings and accessories with the home, or you could add upgrades to the home without increasing the price. If the buyer still insists that you lower the price, do so intelligently. Don’t panic.

Your home is valuable. Keep that in mind as you attempt to sell now!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged foreclosure, fsbo selling, how to sell, real estate market, real estate selling
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Florida Real Estate Bottoms Out?

May13
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

florida real estate market

According to a recent article in the Miami Herald, Florida real estate has hit its bottom.

“The real estate market in Florida probably has probably reached its lowest point, according to a survey of professionals across the state,” the article states.

And while such news comes as a welcome surprise to home sellers looking to move on in this market, the picture is not all rosy.

The article goes on to say, “but, they cautioned in the University of Florida’s survey of emerging market conditions, the situation probably won’t get much better anytime soon.”

So what does this mean for you as a home seller?

  • Be encouraged: We may see some stabilization and eventual improvement across the market.
  • Get motivated: It’s still a buyer’s market, and you won’t sell without effort.

Wondering what you can do to improve your home’s chances of selling? Check out our recent recap post filled with selling tips!

Posted in Market News, Tips and Ideas - Tagged bottom of market, florida real estate, Market News, news, real estate market
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The Non-Handy Guide to Selling

May10
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

non-handy selling

When you’re trying to sell your home, you want to get it in top condition. This can include staging, making energy-saving improvements and fixing anything that’s broken. But what should you do if you’re not especially, well, good at those kinds of things?

How can a non-handy homeowner get his or her property ready for sale? Are there easy-enough-for-anyone improvements to work on? Absolutely. Here are a few ideas:

  1. Paint: You don’t need any special skills to repaint a room, other than an able body and some supplies. For particular advice on changing dark rooms to light ones, see this article.
  2. Add organizers: Buyers like to see custom features and, with closets, these are as easy to add as buying organizers and putting them in.
  3. Add new linens: Simply replacing your sheets and comforters can give your bedrooms a fresh new look.
  4. Add new bath accessories: Similarly, adding a new shower curtain, a bath mat and/or towels can spruce up your bathroom’s appeal.
  5. Go green! You don’t need a green thumb to add a few plants inside or outside your home. Just keep them watered and trimmed, and watch the overall effect on your rooms!

These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to quick and easy improvements. We can’t say enough about cleaning, for example, which makes things look newer and more valuable. Also, simple reorganizing can do wonders for a home’s sense of space and style.

So what are you waiting for? Handy or not, now’s the time to get your home looking its best.

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged fixing up home, Home Improvement, how to prepare for sale, how to sell, non-handy, selling fsbo
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Best ‘Selling Tips’ Collection

Apr26
2010
1 Comment Written by Alicia

Statistics show that for the past few years, home sales have increased in the month of April. It seems to be the turning point between winter and summer, when homebuyers finally decide that it is safe to move. It is the time between snowfalls and swimming, which is the perfect time to get a sale done with and still have an open schedule for summer events! With that said, you as a home seller need to be doing everything you can to spark buyer interest in your home. Now is your time to shine!

To help you out during this busy buying month, and to hopefully score you a sale, we have collected what we consider our most helpful Selling Tips blogs from our archives. Read up and get to work!

When preparing to sell:

Improve Selling Potential with Inexpensive Updates
Hosting an Auction
How to Sell Fast
Staying Positive In a Slow Market
Selling for the Season: Spring

When showing your house:

Preparing for Surprise Showings
8 Ways to Improve Curb Appeal
8 Tips for Accepting a Bid
Staging for Summer
Prepare for a Spring Open House

When stepping it up a notch:

5 New Ways to Change Your Game
Top 3 Selling Mistakes
Don’t Get Caught with Two Homes
25 Surefire (and Cheap!) Ways to Sell that House!
Top 10 Home-Marketing Tips

If you’re still not sure whether you want to use Buy Owner to help you sell, here are 31 reasons why you should.

Posted in Selling Tips - Tagged buy owner selling tips, how to sell fsbo, selling fsbo, Selling Tips
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Home Sales Show Improvement

Apr07
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Shanna

real estate market

For the month of March, the nation’s real estate market showed signs of improvement with pending home sales, inspiring hope in today’s sellers!

Overall
According to an article from the Associated Press, The NAR’s “seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 8.2 percent from January to a February reading of 97.6.” Whether buoyed by the government incentives or something else, home sales have been showing signs of improvement. For March, “the biggest month-to-month increase was in the Midwest, where pending sales jumped nearly 22 percent. Sales climbed 9 percent in the South and Northeast, but fell about 5 percent in the West.”

Wondering about more specific markets? Check out the below info!

Boston
Pending sales were up 27% from last march for homes and up 38% for condos. According to an article in The Boston Globe, March was the ninth straight month that pending sales gone up when compared to the same month a year ago, the association said.

Philadelphia
A Philly.com article points out that changes even in February, in which “3,630 houses went under contract in the Philadelphia region…compared with 3,397 in January and 3,226 the same month a year ago.”

Nashville
Music City experienced as much as 18 to 20 percent growth in March home sales, according to WSMV-TV. This marks a sharp change from previous months.

So what does this mean for you?
Bottom line, today’s market is changing, if gradually, and this is excellent news for sellers. Now is the time to get your home priced competitively and in immaculate condition; the buyers are out there, increasingly each month!

Posted in Market News, Tips and Ideas - Tagged economy, housing improvement, real estate market
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Boosting Buyer Interest in Spring

Apr05
2010
Leave a Comment Written by Alicia

green for spring

If your home has been on the market since the cold, inactive months of winter real estate, now is the time to step it up. Warm spring weather tends to reactive the real estate market and adds numerous new home sellers to the market, causing your home to fall to the bottom of the pile. Home buyers are also most active in the coming months, and they are interested in the new rather than the old. What can you do to reestablish interest in your home? Here are five starting tips:

  • Add a significant upgrade or minor upgrades to your home. A major upgrade could include adding an Energy Star refrigerator, repainting your entire exterior or interior, upgrading your countertops to granite or replacing old carpeting with hardwood flooring. Minor upgrades could include adding a new front door, repainting the deck or adding a keypad entry to the garage. Then, have your advertisement updated with these new improvements.
  • Redecorate. It’s the perfect way to spend your spare time while waiting for interested home buyers. That way, when you do host an open house or show the house to potential buyers, you can rave about the contemporary colors of paint you added. Or, you can remain silent and just allow the buyers to breathe in the scent of the spring flowers on the table.
  • Include an item with your home sale to perk more interest. While keeping the price the same, update your advertisements to say that you will leave your rider lawn mower, your chic chandelier, your designer curtains or your vintage rug. If you’re really desperate to sell, you could even offer the home fully furnished.
  • Keep the outside of your house looking immaculate. Try mowing your lawn diagonally for visual appeal and to make the yard appear larger. Trim the edges of the lawn along the driveway and walkway. Trim all the trees and bushes, rake the yard and pull weeds from the gardens. If the outside of the house looks appealing, potential home buyers will want to see the inside.

These tips will get you well on your way to gaining potential home buyer interest!

Posted in Selling Tips, Tips and Ideas - Tagged fsbo, real estate, selling a home in spring, Selling Tips
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Founded in 1984, BuyOwner.com® is the leading provider of real estate marketing services. We pioneered the "For Sale by Owner" (FSBO) market, which today represents over 20 percent of all residential real estate transactions.

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