Blog – Page 39

DO Rely on the Luck of the Irish – Pick a Great Irish Realtor

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you need a Realtor who might just bring along a little luck o’ the Irish with her, then you might just want to go find Deb Ward, the Irish Realtor!

Finding a good Realtor when you want to buy or sell real estate is a good idea. A Realtor is trained and educated to know exactly how to navigate the complicated world of buying and selling real estate. You’ll need one with knowledge of the area and the type of real estate you are looking to buy or sell. If you are looking to buy or sell waterfront or water view properties throughout Pinellas County, Florida, including St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs Dunedin, Belleair, Palm Harbor, Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Largo, and all the surrounding towns, Deb knows how to help.

Deb, the Irish Realtor, is the lead listing Realtor at The Deb Ward Team and affiliated with Keller Williams Realty a nationally recognized firm. If you are moving from another area and know the Keller Williams name, you know that Deb is a great choice. She specializes in the great water front homes and communities in the area. She has 21 year of experience helping people to buy their dream home and sell the one they have. And did we mention she’s Irish? She moved to Florida from Ireland in 1995. She even speaks Gaelic!

Buying and selling real estate takes know how and experience. It also takes a little bit of luck as well. Knowing you have hired the one person who has all three should mean you’ll be selling your home and moving into your dream home in no time! So use the luck of the Irish and use Deb Ward, the Irish Realtor!

To see all Deb’s tips, tours and properties, visit her youtube channel: youtube.com/debward

Should You Buy a Fixer Upper Project?

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Should you buy a fixer upper or project home? If you’ve ever watched any of the home improvement shows they make the idea of buying a “fixer-upper” look incredibly easy. Even the “problems” are minimized. Well, in real life a fixer-upper can be a nightmare if you don’t go into buying it with your eyes very wide open.

Buying a project home or a fixer-upper as they are often called can be a great way to buy more home than your budget will allow. If you have a smaller budget and need more space, it could be the answer. What you need to keep in mind is that the lower up front cost isn’t the end. Fixing up the space can be expensive. There are two ways to handle the improvements that need to be made. First, you can hire a contractor to do the projects. Or, you can do it yourself. Either way, you should have a home inspection done so that you know what issues there may be with the home.

The inspection will probably tell you issues, but don’t count on it telling you everything. Be an educated buyer and know what to look for as you tour the home. Is the wall crack just from settling or does it mean foundation issues? Does that water stain mean there was a leak or there is one? Rely on your Realtor too. They should know the difference between cosmetic issues and structural disasters.

No matter whether you plan on having a contractor fix the fixes, or doing it yourself, you should have some basic home improvement skills. Painting, fixing drywall holes and a few other basics will be a time and money saver in the long run. Even with a contractor doing big projects, if you can paint, you can fix other rooms up yourself.

Remember too, no matter if you do the work or pay someone else to do it, it will cost more money. Yes, those improvements add value to the home, but remember that it’s not money in your pocket until you sell the home. Be wise in the fixes you do, and enjoy the process.

Why Real Estate Buyers Pay No Commission!

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

If you’ve sold real estate you know that you pay a commission to your listing agent. But who pays the commission to the buyer’s agent? It can depend, but usually the seller. Here’s the low down on how to figure out who pays.

The easiest to understand is this, a listing agent works for the seller and the seller pays their commission. An agent must work for a real estate broker and the broker is the only one authorized to enter into a listing agreement. Think of it like the agent works for a company. The commissions are paid to the company and the agent gets paid by the company. Of course, that makes little difference to what is paid by whom. Generally, the seller pays all of the commissions.

A seller’s agent is someone hired by the home seller to assist with selling their home. The homeowner signs an agreement called a listing agreement. That agreement means that the broker has the exclusive right to list the home for a specific amount of time for a specific percentage of the sales price of the home.

A buyer’s agent works with people looking to buy a home. There is usually no written agreement, and the buyer’s agent shares the commission paid for the sale of the home with the listing agent. How the commission is divided will depend on several things. First, if both agents are in the same brokerage, the broker figures the split. If not, there really aren’t rules, but the listing agent will come out with a higher percentage of the commission than the seller.

What doesn’t change is who pays the commission. That is almost always the seller. Now, that’s not to say it can’t become part of any negotiations, but normally the seller pays it all.
Why? Because the commission is generally included in the sale price of the house. At the closing, payments will be made out of the funds from the sale for various things, including the commission.

So, if you’re the seller, you’re the paying party.

Why Am I Getting So Many Lowball Offers

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Your home has been on the market for some time and the few offers you’ve gotten are lowball offers. Now you want to know why. There are a few reasons, some might have to do with you, others with the prospective buyers.

A lowball offer is when prospective buyers make offers on your property that are well below asking price. First start looking at things you can control about the sale of your home. Start with price. Is your home overpriced? This can be a touchy subject as an owner. You have an attachment to your home and most likely think that it is worth more than it may be. Next is condition of your home. It ties in with price, of course, but even if your home is priced right, condition can be a reason you are getting lowball offers. If prospects are walking through your home and thinking “I’ll need to fix that, and that, and that…” then they are mentally taking the perceived cost of fixing up the home off the asking price. If you can afford it, update, paint and fix up your home. Yes, you may need to raise the price, but the prospects may not mind the higher price if it is in better condition.

If you listened to your Realtor, updated the home and priced it right, then price and condition may not be the issue. Over the last several years, home prices plummeted. Prospective buyers have become used to seeing great homes at bargain basement prices. Even though prices are now rising back to fair levels, buyers are still thinking that prices should be lower than they are. That may mean that you are getting more lowball offers than fair ones. Eventually buyers will come around, and in this situation there isn’t anything you can do to change things. Your hope here is to have your Realtor discuss pricing with the prospects or their Realtor.

Clearwater Beach Real Estate – The Most Expensive Condo Complexes on Clearwater Beach

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Clearwater Beach has great real estate, from affordable to posh condos right on the beach. In fact, some of the most expensive real estate is condo complexes on Clearwater Beach. Here are some of them.

Sandpearl: The condos at Sandpearl are luxury on the water. One example of a unit here has 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths with amazing views of the Gulf of Mexico. It also includes a wine cellar marble floors, a gourmet chef’s kitchen and open concept to the living room and dining room. There is a terrace off the kitchen, living room, with a custom wall unit with 3 TV’s, master suite with a custom bed and built ins, and a private cabana by the pool. Community amenities include a concierge, 24 hour security, pool and spa, outdoor cabanas, social room, boardroom, fitness with steam and sauna.

Condos at 1350 Gulf Boulevard: These condos are also on Sand Key. Contemporary design with Gulf front views. Condos have over 60 feet of direct gulf front balcony space and the bedrooms each have views overlooking the intracoastal! Units have a double master suite with his and her full private baths and walk in closets, a large kitchen, bar area, family room and formal entertaining areas. They also have 2 utility rooms, 4 bedrooms (not including the master) and gorgeous baths. The community amenities include a fitness center, clubhouse, meeting room, heated pool, spa and more.

The Grande at Sand Key: These beautiful condos have Gulf front views and 5,150 square feet of amazing luxury. Each unit has over 800 square feet of outdoor terrace. The Gulf isn’t the only view either, you will have panoramic views of the Gulf and coastline from Clearwater Harbor up to Tampa. Units have travertine flooring, volume ceilings, granite counter-tops, california closets, open floor plans with multiple living areas, three master suites and a private access elevator with a private over-sized two car garage. The community offers a 24-hour manned gatehouse entry, private beach access, heated beach pool and cabanas overlooking the Gulf, an outdoor spa and heated lap pool, gas grills, fitness center complete with steam room and sauna, two har-tru tennis courts and on-site concierge services.

These are just a few, but if you want to treat yourself to the best, contact a Realtor like Deb, the Irish Realtor 727-410-0336 today!

How to Stage Your Home to Sell

October 27, 2021 By Deborah Ward

Stage your home if you want to sell it faster and for more money. Ask any Realtor and they will tell you that staged homes do sell faster and for more money than homes that aren’t staged. If you want to sell your home, stage it. Here are some tips.

First and always, declutter and repair! Take the time to pack up now, and put the majority of your belongings into storage. Keep only what you need to live for a few weeks. Then make a rule, for every one thing you bring into your home, one thing has to leave. Less is more. Take the furniture you have left after thinning it out, and group them to make the space look larger. Put sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups. Place furniture so that there is a definite traffic flow. Use furniture pieces in different places in your home. Put an armchair in the bedroom to make a cozy sitting area or use your dining room table, without the extra leaves, under a window as a writing desk or library table. Think out of the box to sell your home.

Make that junk room into a room with a purpose. Use that unused furniture to make it into an office. Make each room have a purpose to add value to your home. Odd rooms or unused space that makes no sense will make buyers look elsewhere.

Make sure rooms are well lit, either naturally or with lamps. This also makes them look larger and more inviting. Paint. Freshen up rooms with paint. A small room can look larger if you paint it the same color as an adjacent room. Choose colors that are neutral and inviting. Neutral doesn’t have to mean white; it could be tan or light blue. Look for calming colors.

You should hang things on the wall, but not photos. Depersonalize as much as possible, but also place paintings or art in places that are not “usual” to get them noticed. Place things on tables in living areas to make them inviting as well. Use a “group in three” rule. Odd numbers when accessorizing are preferable, but don’t line them up, vary scale and group in a triangle or some other shape. Group by color, shape, texture or some other unifying element. Use the beauty of nature in it as well. Raid your yard for flowers or foliage to bring in some natural beauty. Staging your home is not really an option when selling your home.

Ask your Realtor for some guidance, and then get ready to sell your home!