Deborah Ward – Page 43

Buying in a Hot Real Estate Market- 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Offer is Accepted

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Buying a home in any market can be stressful, but in a hot seller’s market the stress level can be even worse. Worrying about whether your offer will be accepted, whether you are handling it correctly can make anyone nuts. Did you know that there are things that you can do to make sure your offer is accepted?

Lowball bids

Whether there are a few buyers vying for the same property or just you and it’s the dream home you’ve wanted forever, losing it due to a subpar offer can be averted. One of the bigger reasons sellers reject offers is lowball bids. Even in a buyer’s’ market when sellers can’t be quite as choosy, lowballing them is, well, insulting. In a sellers’ market they don’t have to even consider lowball offers.

Even if their home is overpriced, you still don’t want to insult them with a really low offer. If there are other offers on the table that is NOT the time to go low either. To be taken seriously, offer as close to list as possible, or over if you can.

Contingencies and Demands

Another biggie is contingencies and demands on the seller. It’s not out of line to ask for typical ones, like a home and pest inspection. Another typical one is the purchase being contingent on the sale of your existing home. This can be a sticky one for sellers. It’s not their problem that you have to sell your home and why should they wait? Demands for fixing superfluous things is also a no no if you want your offer accepted. Major repairs can be negotiated, but demanding they touch up paint or other minor fixes is a deal breaker.

Things to do to make your offer better

Three other things you can do to make your offer shine are to:

be prequalified for your mortgage
put a higher down payment on the home
make a cash offer

Any of these key items will make your offer look exceptional! The key to making a winning offer is to be the most advantageous to the seller. That could mean being the highest priced, the most prepared or the one most willing to meet their requirements.

Not sure what to do to make sure your offer is accepted? Rely on your AMAZING Clearwater Realtor to help figure it out! Call Deborah Ward Today! 727-410-0336

How To Make A Great First Impression During Showings | Selling Your Clearwater Home

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

The trick in selling your Clearwater home is making a great first impression. In Clearwater or wherever your real estate may be, the first rule of home sales is make sure their first look doesn’t turn them off.

Curb appeal

Curb appeal is the obvious place where first impressions are made. Walk outside and look at your home. Does it look old, beat up, in need of some TLC? What about the gardens and landscaping?

Make a list of all the things that need some help and get them done. Mow the lawn, weed the gardens, trim shrubs, plant some new flowers to add some color. If you have a porch, clean it up. Have your home power washed. If trim, doors or porches need paint, paint them. If siding is looking worn out, redo it. If windows need replacing, replace them.

All of these updates will make your home look fresh and loved. Plus new siding and windows will make the home more energy efficient, which is something buyers will love.

Have a friend check for smells in your home

Next, have a friend walk into your home, and through it, and tell you how it smells. You live there and are probably “nose blind” to how it smells. However, prospective buyers aren’t. If you have pets, how obvious is it by smell? What about food odors? Smoke?

Scent is the most powerful sense and bad smells can make a home that looks perfect, unpleasant and unsellable. A really thorough cleaning, replacement of carpeting and curtains and of any damaged areas that can’t be de-scented should do the trick. Then keep pets out, smoke outside and don’t cook with things that will make your house smell.

Clean and clutter free

Clean and clutter free homes are also important. Making the living areas, all of them, but especially the ones that are seen the minute you walk into the house, look spacious and clean is exceptionally important. Take time to clean from ceiling to floor everywhere in the home, pack up a lot of the items that might make things look cluttered and lighten up your house.

Buyers will buy if you give them a great first impression. Want more information about selling your Clearwater home? Give us a call today! 727-410-0336

Top Home Seller Tips – Make Sure You Hire A Realtor Who Will Negotiate Like A Madwoman For You!

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

As a consumer on the outside looking in, all Realtors tend to look the same. They drive around in their big fancy cars and plop signs in yards right? Hmmmm that is not exactly all that they do!!

As a seller’s real estate estate agent, I have a number of negotiating functions that will help to make your home sale happen…

Starting at the beginning, we will work together to figure out a price the market will bear based on the location and condition of your home. Remember, we don’t pick the price, the market determines a range that people will buy in.

If your house is in the best neighborhood in town you are going to be able to command a higher price than if it is located next to the airport (while we all love flying, planes overhead at all hours of the day tend to reduce home values!)

This is where the negotiating starts (with you, my clients). Most times our clients think that their home is worth considerably more than the market will bear. They think that there is an elusive cash buyer who will be willing to shell out thousands over the appraised value to get the “special” house. It is my job to get the most for your home and sometimes that means asking a homeowner to list for less.

Now, I don’t HAVE to require that you list your house reasonably. I could do what a lot of agents do and “buy the listing”. Meaning that they list it high to make the homeowner happy, knowing full well that the house won’t sell and that they will have to ask for a price reduction or even let it expire.

Negotiating the sale price. This is a tough one for most agents. They get an offer from a buyer and want it to go smoothly every time. I am here to tell you, most offers require a fair amount of back and forth. There is the offer (which may be ridiculously low), the counter, the terms, what stays and what goes. Each of these items can affect your net profits on the sale of your home. For this part you want a Realtor who will negotiate like a madwoman to get you the best price for your home!

Looking for a smart, funny and tough Realtor who will help you sell fast and for the most money? Give us a call today…727-410-0336

JUST SOLD!

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Sold in 48 hours!

In a sellers market it seems easy to sell, and yet you still need to price the property correctly to sell fast! ( we went under contract AGAIN in 2 days and closed 21 days later!

When I met with this seller I asked her as I ask all of my clients, if she had any idea what her home was worth and she said maybe $325,000…. Now I knew from my research that we were going to need to put on a new roof in order to make it salable…. So my response to her was, how about this, if you have the ability to replace the roof before we list it, we will be able to sell it for $625,000, she gasped and said sure, it just closed for $705,000!!

This is why I do what I do! Who do you know who needs this kind of service?

Sold in 48 hours!!

The Deb Ward Team, Keller Williams Realty, just sold a 3 bedroom 2 bath single family home at 1442 Treetop Drive, Palm Harbor, Florida for more than the list price.

This stylish home is located in the highly desirable Indian Trails neighborhood of Palm Harbor. The house has been tastefully updated both inside and out.

The buyer’s new home has a wood burning fireplace in the living room, incredible split plan layout and a bonus indoor-outdoor living area. And not to forget the tropical backyard with sparkling inground pool

The Seller was previous client of The Deb Ward Team and loved working with Debora and reached out when he was ready to sell his home. Deborah Ward sold the house in less than 48 hours and above list price!

Call us today 727-410-0336