Tag Archives: seller

Deck the Halls

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‘Tis the season for shopping, baking, cooking, cleaning and maybe a little pepper spray in your eye. With all of the added things to find time for during the holidays, selling a home can seem an additional job we may not have time for. There are benefits though to selling during the holiday season and certainly things to be mindful of.

Austin Winter Real Estate Market

The holiday season is also the start of colder weather. In other parts of the country snow can really impact winter home sales. Fortunately, for the Austin real estate market snow and ice days are little and far between. Buyers can generally shop year round though it may be hard to find the time.

Only the must-see homes on the hot list make the cut this time of year. There are fewer buyers this time of year and with little time, those coming out to see a house are serious shoppers. Sellers will get less traffic but those that come out want or need to buy — now.

A decorated house brings warmth and whimsy to the décor which makes people feel good. Decorations help set the stage for your home. One of my sellers’ biggest challenges for selling a home is keeping it clean. Houses are generally cleaner this time of year because we clean anyway when friend and family are coming to visit.

Houses smell better this time of year as well. The real Christmas tree, those fresh baked cookies and gingerbread room deodorizers make buyers feel good when they come see your home.

There are many sellers that will take their house off the market between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always encourage by sellers to keep their houses on the market. Serious buyers will miss your home if it is not for sale.

The Power of Wow

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Every house needs a wow factor. As a listing agent, I try to highlight one when marketing a home to appeal to buyers. Buyers often have their own wow factor when touring a home as it can be a personal thing. A wow factor can be anything: an island kitchen, hand scraped floors, even a great price can turn a buyer’s head. I was in Driftwood two months ago and the neighboring house has an outdoor fireplace that was amazing. My clients and I just stood there and said “wow” in unison.

Austin area real estate is unique in that the hill country landscape adds some natural wow factors.  City, hillside and lake views all add an additional backdrop to many of the homes here.

A wow factor puts the exclamation point on a home and really sells it. Do you know what’s really interesting though? Rarely does the wow factor translate over the internet. You might be in like over the internet, but you won’t be in love until you see it in person. Even when price is the wow factor, it is often hard to see what might appeal to you over the internet.

Call First: Go!

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When going on a listing appointment, one of the things I discuss with my Sellers are showing instructions. Showing instructions are entered into the listing database, so that agents understand what they need to do to gain access to a house. Instructions can include anything from the need to make an appointment with the listing agent, to simply showing up.

Most Sellers think that Buyers plan ahead to see homes, so they always think they are going to have time to prepare for a showing. More often then not, that is simply not true. Buyers do plan ahead to buy a home. They talk to me about where they want to live and what they are looking for in a home. Buyers often make an appointment with me in advance to view homes, but often don’t know what they want to see until the last minute. Everyone always wants to see what new inventory might come up, so some homes are scheduled ahead of time, but others are often chosen at the last minute, which may alter the overall itinerary and change appointment times.

Convenience is Key

Understand, Buyers’ schedules are often not as flexible as you might think. I often have clients that will have a babysitter watch the children, so they can view some homes with me for a few hours. Other times, buyers are only in town for a day or two and need to see as many homes as possible in a small window of time.

Sellers can’t sell what Buyers can’t see, so flexibility is key to getting a house sold. The easier it is to show, the more Buyers will have the opportunity to see the home. When I am on a listing appointment, we talk about how to we are going to manage the dogs, and how the morning routine might change. Beds need to be made, sinks need to be cleaned and laundry needs to be put away. This way, if a call comes in as the day progresses, no one panics. With Buyers you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

The happy medium that seems to work best with my clients is Call First, then Go as a showing instruction. It gives my clients a head up that someone is coming, but offers the flexibility agents often need to show it.

Spring into Listing, the Selling Season has Begun

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I’ve been flooded with questions lately by both Buyers and Sellers, and I love questions, because it means you are thinking.  I would like to take a minute to share what some of my clients have been thinking about, since you might have the same questions racing through your head as well.

 

For Sellers, the questions I am getting are more like, “do I put on a deck?”, “do I power wash the house?”, “do I install a new kitchen?”.  My universal response to most of these questions is, don’t.  Don’t do anything you would not have done, if you weren’t moving.  The reason is more about the cost of time, because time can cost more than you will ever get back.  We are entering the selling season.  

 

A deck is not going to necessarily bring you more money.  If the deck takes twice as long as it was intended, you have not only spent money on something that wasn’t necessary, but you have missed the Spring buying season as well.  

 

Power washing your home, could result in your house needing a new paint job.  Do you have time for that?  Do you have the money?  Using a garden hose, might easily do the trick, without creating a problem you didn’t have.  

 

Installing a new kitchen?  Out of all the questions I have received this week, this is the one that would add the most appeal to your home, and will bring you the most return on the cost, but kitchens take time.  If the kitchen costs $25,000, and isn’t going to be done for 9 weeks, we have lost the Spring buying season.  That $25,000 remodel, may only net you $15,000 in the fall.  When interest rates go up, house prices generally go down because people have less buying power.  

 

The #1 thing I want people to do when I list a house is clean.  When Buyers see a 1970’s kitchen that is spotless, they comment on how clean it is.  It’s a blank canvas that can updated someday and is considered usable the way it is.  When the same Buyers see a modern kitchen, that is dirty, it is a turn off.  It’s funny how the brain works, it doesn’t say “I can clean this”, like you would think; instead it says “I could never cook in here”.  If you don’t like to clean, hire someone.  It’s money well spent and I guarantee you will get 100% return on your cost, instead of a remodel that will cost you to miss the Spring season.  Do those remodeling projects in the fall, six months before you are planning to sell.

Do what your mother told you – pick up your underwear

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Selling a home can be challenging, between homes not appraising, buyers unable to obtain loans, throw in a hail storm (which can literally blow the roof off a deal) and you often feel like you’ve scaled Mt. Everest when you actually get to the closing table.  Having no control over many aspects that can go wrong, only makes taking control of things we can…that much more important.  

I often tell buyers, when its meant to be – it will, but that wisdom very much applies to Seller’s as well.  There isn’t always a logical reason why one house sells faster than another, sometimes it is an emotional one.  We don’t post remarks like wood flooring matched color of grand piano, or bedroom paint color matched bedding buyer already had.  Again – I didn’t say it was logical.

What should be logical for Seller’s are things like putting underwear away or picking up toys so that you can walk into a room.  Yes, some of the homes I saw last week defied logic.

I actually told a Seller last week that when he was serious about selling his home – to give me a call.  If they know you are coming…and still can’t pick up the underwear, are they serious Sellers?  You instantly get the message that they don’t really care to sell it.  Again – an emotional response, not typically the truth.   You want someone to buy it, right?  Serious Sellers will attract serious Buyers that really want to get to that closing table, so its important to send the right message.