Deborah Ward – Page 26

My #1 Suggestion For Cleaning Out Your Home For Sale

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You hear the advice all the time, declutter and clean out your home before you put it on the market! But what do you do with all that stuff? The point of decluttering is to move it out of view and make your spaces look bigger. How can that happen if they are in your storage space?

The best idea yet is to rent a storage space or a portable storage space

The most popular one is PODS®. Another is 1-800-PACK-RAT. These companies offer varied services. Usually a customer will order a portable container which is then delivered to the location where you need it. You fill it up and lock it up, then you can do a few things. You can leave it on site. You can have them pick it up and store it. You can have them deliver it to your new home. Or all of the above. Or some of the above.

So why use that instead of a storage space?

Well, there are a few reasons. While that storage space may be cheaper, you have to pack, drive the boxes and stuff over to it, unpack the car or truck into the storage space and then repeat until you are finished moving. Then you have to do it all over again when you move into your new space.

With a portable storage space you have it brought to you

You can take the time you need to pack it up and since it’s where you are packing, you can forego the driving back and forth to the storage place and the multiple moving of boxes and stuff from one place to another. Then they send a driver to come get it and take it to a secure space where it is stored for you until you are ready to move again. Then they take it to the new space for you and leave it until you are finished unpacking.

So what does that mean for selling your home? Less clutter, no boxes stored in closets and a faster sale!

Deborah here…I really do give ALL of my clients this advice! I find that using PODS will make your entire home sale process easier and less of a pain while it is on the market!

Why You Should Use A Dedicated Buyers Agent To Look For A House

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

You’ve been deciding to buy a house and wondered whether it was a good idea to use a dedicated buyer’s agent while looking. After all, can’t the agent who listed the house help you? Well, that may not be such a good idea, and here’s why.

Dedicated buyer’s agent represents only you

The biggest reason why you need a buyer’s agent is because that agent represents you and only you. A listing agent represents the seller, and while they seem helpful when showing you the house, they don’t have your best interests at heart.

A buyer’s agent will walk you through the buying process, give you advice, schedule appointments, answer your questions about properties and negotiate and write up offers on your behalf. The best part is that you don’t pay for it. They earn their commission by splitting it with the listing agent.

Would you use the same attorney?

Here is one way to think about it. If you got sued, would you use the same attorney as the people who sued you? As in a legal situation like a lawsuit, a legal situation like the sale of a piece of real estate means you are entitled to your own representation during the buying process.

Representation in your interest

During the buying process, you get representation that is all in your interest, and it costs you nothing. Pretty sweet! So why does it cost nothing? And how can that mean the agent is on your side if you aren’t paying them? Yes, they work with the listing agent to sell the home to you. So when you purchase your home, in most places, the realtors would receive a 6% commission. 3% goes to the listing agent for listing it and 3% goes to your agent for helping you through the buying process. So while you aren’t paying them, it doesn’t matter whose property they show you, they make the same 3% commission. That’s why they stay loyal to you, not the property seller.

You won’t regret the help if you hire a buyer’s agent to find your new home.

What To Have On Hand To Make Your Open House A Success

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Your house is for sale and your Realtor scheduled an open house. You want to help them make it a huge success. You know that keeping your home neat and staged is the key to making sure your open house rocks, but you have to live in your home too. So here are some great ideas to prepare for your open house.

An open house box

One great idea is to make up an open house box. It’s just a box or basket that has the things in it you’ll need handy to get your home ready. Things like fresh towels for the bathrooms, wipes for quick cleaning surfaces and containers to put small items in from your counters.

Why do this?

Well, what if a call comes at the last minute for a showing and you don’t have any clean towels but you do have a lived in cluttered space? You’re off cleaning and doing laundry.

To use it just grab the box and fill it with your “company” linens, you know, the really nice ones you save for when company comes over. Then as you put out new clean bath towels and kitchen towels, throw the old ones in the box. Put the counter clutter in the small containers (have one marked for each room) and wipe down counters and surfaces as you go. Once the open house is over, go back and get the “company” linens and replace with clean everyday ones.

Containers and baskets

Use containers each day in your bath that make it easier to clean off the bathroom counters easily.

Use a larger basket to hold extra toilet paper, smaller ones for things like make up brushes, nail clippers, possibly a mason jar or small flower vase for toothbrushes and toothpaste. That way you can just grab and stash them in the open house box. Don’t forget a basket for the shower items, like shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

Do the same in the kitchen for things like mail, keys, etc. For mail, you can even get a decorative box with a lid. That way it could even stay on the counter for the open house.

5 Great Things To Learn About Selling Your Home From HGTV

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you are addicted to those home shows on HGTV and are thinking about selling your home, you can get some great ideas on what to do (and not to do) to make your home a winner!

Flip Or Flop

Tarek and Christina are real estate investors who are always buying some property sight-unseen and then “flipping” it to make a profit. If you watch them for any time, you will notice that there is always some major “gotcha” that catches them off guard and makes their remodeling a nightmare. That is what your buyer is afraid of! They worry that all those little “problems” in your home will add up to big money down the line.

Tip: Have a pre-home inspection done if your home is in great condition. This will mean that your buyer won’t do their own inspection, but it will take away many of the scary thoughts swirling throughout their heads when considering making an offer.

Tip: The only time they really have a hard time selling their home is when they price it too high for the market. Don’t “try” to get a higher price than the market will bear for your home. Consider the actual price and condition of your home and then price it right.

Fixer Upper

Chip and Joanna are also house flippers, but their hook is that they make amazingly beautiful HOMES for their clients by decorating and staging them before they move in. The “afters” on this show are overwhelmingly beautiful and completely done.

Tip: Take some time to stage your home for selling. Get out the china and set your table, have high end linens and great bedding. The nice thing is that you can take any staging materials you use to your new home and having a cohesive look will WOW your potential buyers.

Love It Or List It

Hillary and David battle to find out whether a couple’s home can be “saved” with remodeling or whether they need to move by “listing” it. Many buyers worry that the home they are buying now will not meet their needs down the road.

Tip: If you are trying to appeal to first time buyers, make sure you have areas that are staged to look like kids live there. High end buyers will want high end fixtures like granite countertops and gourmet kitchens. KNOW who your potential buyers are and take the time to show them that your house will be perfect now and in the future!

House Hunters

If you watch house hunters for any length of time you will notice that they are VERY picky about all kinds of things that we think are silly. The other thing you will notice is that they generally have a smaller budget than their “dream home” features allow.

Tip: Anything you can do to make sure that you house is the shining star of your price range is a good thing. Check out the competition and figure out if there is anything that you can do to set your home apart!

Rehab Addict

Nicole is huge about keeping the charm of old houses. She makes sure that instead of just tearing out everything that you maintain the features that make it special.

Tip: If you can keep the travertine floors and 1950’s tiles. Now, we are aren’t saying to maintain ugly features, but not to just throw out every feature that makes your home special.

If you are considering selling your home, call us today! We are happy to take a peek and see what you need to do to make your home a superstar! 727-410-0336

Clearwater Real Estate: Selling Your Home When You Live Out of Town

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you own Clearwater real estate, but don’t live here, selling can be a challenge. It doesn’t have to be, however, and using the right Realtor can make it a breeze. It just takes good marketing, a little coordination and a lot of trust.

Find The Right Realtor

The first thing is making sure you find the right Clearwater Realtor. Make sure to look for one that will be diligently marketing your property even when you aren’t around to be sure the job is being done. Be sure to discuss with them your expectations about number of showings, types of marketing, etc., just as you would if you were local, but also how you’re going to hold them accountable since you aren’t there.

Ask Some Questions

A reasonable question to ask would be “how much real estate have you sold for absent owners?” The more real estate for absent owners, the better. Be sure to also ask what their average time on the market is for both local and absent owners homes. Also ask them about after they get the offer/contract on the home: what’s their process for handling that with you.

Settlement Questions and Repairs

Then, after the contract has been put in place, then find out their process for helping you through settlement. Of course you can make a trip to do the actual settlement, but what about taking care of any necessary repairs that the inspection uncovers? And final walk-throughs? Again, having a Realtor you can trust to take care of that is priceless in the sales process.

Selling Your Real Estate

Selling your real estate from far away doesn’t have to be a chore. If it is handled for you by a Realtor with integrity, a process, and fabulous marketing strategy in place, your Clearwater real estate will quickly be off the market, sold FAST and for the most money!

Looking for a great Realtor to represent you in your out of area home sale, give Deborah Ward a call today!

727-410-0336

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

October 27, 2021 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!