The Deb Ward Team

Lucky Charms – Why burying a St. Joseph’s Medal in Your Back Yard Works!

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So are there really lucky charms? Can you use something like a St. Joseph’s medal to hurry the real estate selling process along? Well, it certainly can’t hurt, so let’s look at some of the more well-known lucky charms of real estate. Selling your home takes a lot of things. It takes good strategy. It takes a lot of patience. It takes finding a great Realtor who has a consistent track record. It also takes luck!

Lucky Charms - Why burying a St. Joseph's Medal in Your Back Yard Works!St. Joseph is known as the patron saint of real estate. Not a bad place to start! There are many who believe that burying a statue or medal of St. Joseph in the yard will help sell their home. Does this lucky charm work? Well, some homeowners and Realtors swear by it. As soon as the “for sale” sign goes in the yard, St. Joseph goes in the ground. Believers know of incidents where homes don’t sell and then someone buries St. Joseph on the property and the offers flood in. What can it hurt?

Not a big believer in the power of saints? Well, what about numbers? An even bigger real estate superstition is about numbers. So which numbers? That depends. Some are general some are culturally specific. There is a general superstition about these numbers: 13, 3 and 7. Some people actually fear the number 13. The scientific terms is “triskaidekaphobia.” It is a common phobia, worldwide. From Christianity (Jesus and the 12 Apostles added to 13) to other faiths or just generally, people will avoid 13. Friday the 13th anyone? To avoid issues many builders will number floors of buildings every number except 13. At the very least, many people believe that the number 13 is unlucky. Now the numbers 3 or 7 are another story. For various reasons these two numbers are considered lucky charms not just in real estate but other areas of life as well.

In other cultures other numbers are lucky or unlucky. For the Chinese, 8 is lucky because it is pronounced very similarly to the same word for wealth and prosperity, but 4 is unlucky, because it sounds like the Chinese word for death. The Chinese have other superstitions for real estate as well. Door color, which way the home faces and other things inside that relate to Feng Sui.
So, be smart, but try some lucky charms too! Who knows, it could work!

Real Estate: Top 5 Buyer Turn Offs

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Part of selling real estate and getting your price is making it super appealing to buyers. Makes sense, but what you have to remember is that something great for you, may be a turn off for buyers. Here are some of the biggest.

Dirt and bad odors. The first and biggest turn off for buyers is dirt and odors. Of course, some people have higher definitions of “clean” than Real Estate: Top 5 Buyer Turn Offsothers, but you should never show a house with visible dirt. Even if it isn’t the most up to date, it better be clean. That includes smells. An obvious turn off smell is cigarette smoke. A serious, thorough cleaning, may help get rid of that, and replacing curtains, drapes and carpeting that all hold the smoke smell will help. Then take the smoking OUTSIDE!

Pet smells are next. They can be incredibly hard to get rid of, since they can seep into flooring. Other smells like cooking odors and perfumes. Make sure the house is clean and be light on perfumey air fresheners. A good way to have a great smelling home is to make toast and add cinnamon sugar to it just before your open house or private showing.

Crazy paint colors are another turn off. Color has a huge effect on mood. You can’t please every style, and sure the Realtor can tell them “so you can repaint” but who wants to move into a home and immediately have to work it? Best bet is to repaint in a neutral palette.

A messy outdoor space or a super landscaped property. This sounds like it’s a “you can’t win” situation, but there is a happy medium. A messy yard, meaning unmowed, messy gardens and kids toys or junk everywhere, turns people off before they even get inside. A very intricately manicured property screams “YOU’LL BE DOING YARD WORK ALL THE TIME!” to buyers. The amount of work to keep up with it can turn buyers off.

Weird renovation projects. Renovating is usually a good thing, but putting things in odd places, or making a room into something it obviously wasn’t supposed to be is a big turn off. If it makes a buyer see dollar signs to put it back to what it should be, they will go running in the other direction.

There are others, but concentrate on these few and your home will sell much faster!

Belleair Beach Real Estate

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If you’re looking for a community that has a place for everyone to live, Belleair Beach may just be the place for you. Belleair Beach is located on a barrier island south of Sand Key and Clearwater Beach. You can find homes in the millions, or a small place just to call your own.

Belleair Beach real estate is a fun mix of huge million dollar mansions that face the Gulf of Mexico on the west side of the island. These have all the bells and whistles, top of the line Belleair Beach Real Estate updates and technology. Other homes are nice sized and located on the intracoastal waterway. They are less expensive and generally are updated and in good shape. Some may need some care and repair. Then there are even some smaller 1950’s Florida ranch houses to be found. These gems retain the old Florida charm with colorful bathrooms and Terrazzo floors. They may need some work, but the charm more than makes up for it. There’s something for everyone.

Belleair Beach had a population of 1,633 in 2020 and the median age of the residents was 58. The median household income was $84,028.00 in 2019. The median house/condo value in 2021 was $569,500.00. The median monthly rental was $2,378.00. What those statistics don’t tell you is about the personalities of the people and the beauty of the island.

That’s one thing that statistics won’t tell you about. The sunsets over the Gulf and sunrises over the intracoastal waterway. The close proximity of water means an easy beach day – no long drives or traffic hassles. Homes with a place to keep your boat are easily found.

Staging Your Home Is Important, Even In A Sellers Market

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Staging your home is as important in a sellers’ market as it is in a buyers’ market. The same reasoning applies when selling real estate at any time or in any market. So let’s look at those reasons.

First, staging makes you declutter and organize your home. Cleaning and decluttering is the biggest part of staging. Depersonalizing the space is important so Staging Your Home Is Important, Even In A Sellers Marketthat buyers can imagine their things in the space. The easier you make it for them to see your home as theirs, the more likely you will be to get offers. You will be moving anyway, so packing up much of the daily clutter and personal items now will make moving later easier. Forces you to organize and get rid of clutter.

Staging increases the probability of a sale. Even in a sellers’ market, you home isn’t guaranteed to sell. Increase your chances by setting yourself and your home up to succeed. Staging not only increases that likelihood, but it decreases the time it will be on the market. Less time on the market means less aggravation in the showing process and a bigger probability you will get asking price or better as well.

Speaking of price, staging will justify that asking price. Clutter and dirt = turned off buyers who see a project home = lower offers. Staged home that looks clean, uncluttered and move in ready = happy buyers who want to pay your asking price to move in. In a sellers’ market it can equal a bidding war that boosts your profits.

You may be thinking that since the market has shifted in your favor as a seller that the amount of work you have to do to sell has disappeared. It really hasn’t. Being lazy won’t benefit you in the end. Go watch one of those HGTV® shows like Property Brothers to see the difference. Watch the buyers when they walk through the professionally staged “everything we want” homes, then their faces as they walk through the unstaged, cluttered or dirty ones. Listen to the reasoning on offers (“it needs work” and “its been on the market for X amount of time”) and see how it affects price. Don’t make those mistakes. Stage your home and walk away a winner.

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

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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

Clearwater Real Estate Home Sales - How To Make A Great First Impression During ShowingsCurb 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

The Deb Ward Team

Keller Williams Realty
30522 U.S. Highway 19 N, #107
Palm Harbor, FL 34684
Phone: 727-410-0336
Fax: 727-474-9069
Email: info@DeborahWard.com
The Deb Ward Team at Keller Williams Realty specializes in all of Pinellas County, Florida including: Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, St. Petersburg, and the Gulf Beaches from Clearwater Beach down to St. Pete Beach serving buyers and sellers with a focus that is rarely found in the real estate world!