Is Price Really That Important When Selling Your House?

May 9, 2017 By Deborah Ward

When you think about selling your house the first thing you think of is price. But is price really all that important in selling? It’s more of a piece to a puzzle that ends in the sale of your home. Price isn’t the “be all end all”, other pieces play key roles too.

Price isn’t everything!

Now that I have your attention, let me say again, price isn’t the “be all end all”. Yes, it’s important in getting buyers to see your listing. Yes, it’s important in getting it right so it sells.

The importance of price isn’t being downplayed. What is also important are other things. Things like condition, amenities and location.

Location, condition, etc.

You know that when you looked for your current home you were looking for a lot of things other than price. You wanted a certain number of bedrooms and baths, a certain square footage. Most likely you didn’t want a home that needed a lot of updating.

In Florida a property with a pool is also a big selling point. So size, condition and home amenities were important in your search.

So why would you ignore those things when selling your house?

Have you seen the commercial for Trulia where they talk about “the house is only half of it?” The commercial is to advertise their map overlays to show things about the neighborhood where the listings are located. These overlays show crime, schools, traffic and so on.

Neighborhood amenities and location are super important. Some great research went into the basis of that commercial and Trulia along with Harris Polling found some numbers that might just open your eyes.

Neighborhood, square footage, etc.

According to the survey, 84 percent of Americans said that neighborhood is as important to their home search as the home itself and they would be willing to overlook or give up certain things to live in their ideal neighborhood. Things like a furnished basement (55 percent), square footage (33 percent), a garage (21 percent), or a yard (19 percent). Things like the safety of your neighborhood and its proximity to jobs, shopping and so on were very important.

For parents schools were even more important to them than the rest. While location isn’t something you can control, it is something you can play up if your home is located well. So stop making price your top priority.

Make the best things about your home the priority and you will get the price you want.

What Are The Most Important Factors (To You) When Buying A Home?

May 2, 2017 By Deborah Ward

There are a lot of things to think about when buying a home, but before you even start looking the most important question is what are the most important factors to you when you are looking for a home to buy? It will help make your home search more specific to you and your wants and needs.

So how do you start?

Look at your current living space and start a list. Write down what you like about it and what you don’t. Is the space too small? Find out the square footage of living space and then you know you your starting point for bigger. Are there enough bedrooms? If not, how many more or less do you need?

If your current home or apartment has a great functioning kitchen, write down what you use the most. If not, go to a home center and look at kitchen options to see what would work for you and what won’t. Just because it’s the “in” thing doesn’t mean it will be something you like or would use.

Think about what is surrounding your current home

Is there a big lot or no lot at all? What about how close you are to the water? Is waterfront property important or do you mind a short walk, bike ride or car ride? Is there shopping close by? What about fitness centers? Schools?

All of these things are key factors for someone, but are they for you? Your answers to these will determine neighborhoods to visit and find a home or neighborhoods to avoid.

HOA’s

Also keep things in mind like home owner’s associations! If they are important to you to keep the integrity and value of your home, look for homes in one. If they are too much of a restriction for your lifestyle, or too much more of a fee to add to your budget, look for homes that don’t have a home owner’s association.

Know what you want so you can set expectations and narrow your home search.

Why Are Zillow Zestimates So Far Off Sometimes?

April 25, 2017 By Deborah Ward

You’ve seen the commercials, you know, the ones where people find their dream home and just know they can afford that house in the neighborhood they can’t afford to buy in because the Zillow Zestimate said so. It’s a nice commercial, but it’s not telling you the truth.

Automated valuation models

Zillow, and others, use something called automated valuation models or AVMs to figure out the value of a property. They use it to help buyers make a buying decision, given that 90% of buyers start their search for a new home on the internet.

The technology works something like this. They amass tons of information that are publicly available sources and put them through a sophisticated algorithm to predict value. It seems like it should work like a charm, but Zillow’s Zestimates are rather inconsistent.

Several factors that will affect pricing

A Realtor will tell you that the market can change from week to week and neighborhood to neighborhood. No algorithm, however sophisticated, can do things like quantify the value of a kitchen that was recently updated or a poorly maintained home.

That means that there are several factors that will affect pricing that aren’t part of the AVM. What it really can only do is look at closed sales in a particular zip code and get the average.

That is certainly not going to give you the right figure of either a sales or a buying price. If that neighborhood is out of reach it’s a pretty good bet that the AVM estimate that says you can buy in is most likely off. If you want to know for sure, call a Realtor.

We are always here to help! Give us a call today 727-216-9247

How To Price Your Home To Sell (Instead of Sit!)

April 11, 2017 By Deborah Ward

When you listed your home for sale you wanted it to sell, not sit. So you trusted your Realtor to price your home to sell. Here is what your Realtor did to make sure of it.

The first thing that your Realtor does is meet with you

He or she will talk with you, even before touring your home, to find out what your motivation to sell could be. Why is this important? Well, because it could make a difference in how high or low within the range of market value to price your home. For instance if you need to sell quickly because you have to move due to a job relocation, pricing it lower will help it sell quickly. Or let’s say you want to sell to up or downsize. You know you’ll need the most you can get out of your home. Pricing it on the high side of the market rate will help with that. Motivation is very important in pricing to sell.

Next thing that your Realtor will do is check comps

Comps, or comparison listings, will show a Realtor what prices similar properties in the same area sold for and give him or her an idea of how to price your property. It doesn’t mean what your neighbor 2 doors down sold their home for, but what a home sold for that has similar features to yours. Your neighbor may have a bigger or smaller lot, better or worse upgrades or more or less living square footage than your home has. Comps are very important for pricing your home.

Now your Realtor will take your home into consideration

They will assess the condition of your home. They will take into consideration the upgrades, square footage, lot size and cleanliness of your home. They will also look at the location of your home. What is nearby? Proximity of shopping, entertainment and other amenities make a difference. How are the schools? Excellent school systems are a feature that many families, or families to be, are looking for. On the other hand being close to airports, railroad tracks, highways or in higher crime areas will lower the value.

When you want to sell, not sit, make sure your Realtor prices your home right!

Should You Join a Real Estate Team or Stay on Your Own

April 2, 2017 By Deborah Ward

If you are a working Realtor or thinking about it, you’ve probably thought about what it would be like to work on your own. Owning your own business is, after all, the American Dream. But have you thought about the benefits of working with a team?

When you’re on your own all of the responsibilities fall on you

Answering phones, typing out documents, showing properties, marketing them, etc. All of this on top of what you need to do to sell properties and make a living. It’s difficult and some people do it. You absolutely do get to keep all of your own income. Sure you can hire someone to do the administrative tasks, but then you have the sole responsibility of not just supporting yourself, but paying all of the taxes and benefits involved in employing someone. You also are completely responsible for paying the lease for your office space, utilities and other costs involved in being in business. So do the drawbacks outweigh the benefits? Probably not.

If you join a you get a lot of benefits

The team shares the responsibilities. There is an administrative assistant to answer phones and type out documents, make arrangements for closings and other items. The taxes and responsibility of paying benefits and salary is shared by the team. The team benefits continue when it comes to finding leads, marketing properties, helping out if you’re new and being able to “sub in” if something comes up and you can’t keep an appointment.

Drawbacks

Yes, there are drawbacks. Commissions on sold properties are split between the Realtor and the team. After all there are costs involved in running a business and all need to pitch in to stay in business. That even applies if you came up with your own leads. Drawbacks, yes, but the benefits of that sharing are a huge help for any Realtor, especially a new one.
So which will you do?

Fun Colors To Use In Your Florida Decorating

March 28, 2017 By Deborah Ward

Now that you are ready to sell your Florida home, you know that you need to repaint and redecorate to sell it. Since you don’t want to make your home a kitschy mess you need to know what colors can give your home a beachy feel without making it a cliché. Here are some great ideas.

South Beach bungalow colors

Unless your home is a South Beach bungalow, using loud pink, yellow and turquoise as your color scheme will send buyers fleeing in the other direction. Something a bit more subtle is probably in order.

Instead of going eggshell all over the home in search of a totally neutral place, paying homage to your home state isn’t out of line. Just do it tastefully.

What vibe do you want?

Of course what you choose will depend on the vibe you want to convey. Your best bet is to stay away from dark, heavy colors. Jewel tones and dark accent walls just make your home feel hotter and more closed in.

Instead stay with colors that remind you of the surrounding area.

Florida colors

Choose cool blues that match the ocean or Gulf. Choose ivory or beige to remind buyers of the sandy shores. Use the colors of the sunrise or sunset over the ocean: pinks, pale salmons even some lavender.

Don’t forget the bright lemon yellows of the sunshine. Because Florida has a lot of hot and humid weather, using cool colors like pale blues and greens will keep the hot sticky feelings at bay. Even a soft butter yellow and pale peach can add an airy, breezy feeling to a room.

You can add accents of bright colors to make the room pop: fuchsia, lemon yellow, orange and lime. It conveys the bright colors of Florida without it being obnoxious.

You can even go a bit themed

Beyond the colors from the sand and the sea, try an 80s retro with really bright pastels or even black accents for a Miami urban theme. Go back even further and use the 1950’s touristy pink, turquoise, and sparkly white here and there. Again, don’t go overboard, just tasteful.