Sep. 26, 2007 - Note to seller - keep your utilites on!

I am amazed at how many vacant houses that I show where the utilities have been turned off. I personally think this is a hindrance to selling the house, especially in Houston in the summer time. When I show a vacant house in the summer with the heat the way it is we breeze through; as it is too miserable to stay long. The other thing that seems to happen is the home gets an odor, it almost smells like mildew. I have spoke to home inspectors about this and they have said it can cause issues.

With the time getting ready to change it is going to start getting dark earlier and earlier. There are certain clients who can only see homes after work and if the utilities are not on that is almost impossible. I have tried to show with a flash light but I have not found it to work.

Keeping your utilities on is also going to make it easier once you get a contract. If your utilities are off you are going to have to get them all turned on for inspections. This can take up to a week for all the utilities to get turned back on. I have a situation happening right now where we have to wait for the gas to be turned on to finish our inspections. I'm not sure why the gas is the one that usually gets turned off but it is. Probably it is because our weather is so mild we don't use our gas furnaces that much.

You also want to make sure that the home has closed before turning off your utilities. Unfortunately things happen and occasionally a home does not close when it is supposed to. I had this happen with someone who had a swimming pool and it is amazing how quick a pool turns green with out electricity.

I realize that it is an extra expense leaving the utilities on when you are not living there but I think a "Sold" home will be the return on your investment.

For all your Northwest Houston Real Estate needs, contact me today!
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty
Cell: 832-721-8332

Sep. 13, 2007 - Key Market Factors

Key Market Factors

How long does it take to sell a home?
There is no easy answer some homes sell in a few days others may take several months. 
Recognizing the key factors influencing a sale can give you significant control over market time.

The proper balance of these factors will expedite your sale:

• LOCATION!
   Location is the single greatest factor affecting value.
   Neighborhood desirability is fundamental to a property - fair market value.
• COMPETITION!
   Buyers compare your property against competing properties.
   Buyers interpret value based on available properties.
• TIMING!
   The real estate market may reflect a sellers market or a buyers market. 
   Market conditions cannot be manipulated; an individually tailored marketing plan must be developed accordingly.
• CONDITION!
   Property condition affects price and speed of sale.
   Optimizing physical appearances and advance preparation for marketing maximizes value.
• TERMS!
   The more flexible the financing, the broader the market, the quicker the sale and the higher the price.
   Terms structured to meet your objectives are important to successful marketing.
• PRICE!
   If the property is not properly priced, a sale may be delayed or even prevented.
  

May. 19, 2007 - 10 Steps to Beautiful landscaping

Mar. 18, 2007 - Market timing

I just read "What's in" and What's out" with homebuyers in 2007 written by Mark Nash.  One of the things he said was in was 'Market Timing.  He said that many sellers were on their own timeline in 2006 and missed opportunities by not recognizing the ebbs and flows of the real estate market.  Spring is the high market where you get the most demand by the largest number of buyers, Summer is a good market, fall is fair and winter is the remnant market, the left-over buyers and sellers from the high, good and fair markets.

I would agree.  I had several listings that were put on the market late in the season last year and ended up missing the busy market and not selling.  We are coming in to the spring selling season if you are thinking about selling your house now is the time to think about getting it on the market so you can take advantage of the high market.

Feb. 26, 2007 - How long does it take to sell a home?

How long does it take to sell a home?

There is no easy answer – some homes sell in a few days, others may take several months. 

Recognizing the key factors influencing a sale can give you significant control over market time.

The proper balance of these factors will expedite your sale:

LOCATION…

n        Location is the single greatest factor affecting value.

n        Neighborhood desirability is fundamental to a property’s fair market value.

COMPETITION…

n        Buyers compare your property against competing properties.

n        Buyers interpret value based on available properties.

TIMING…

n        The real estate market may reflect a seller’s market or a buyer’s market.

n        Market conditions cannot be manipulated; an individually tailored marketing plan must be developed accordingly.

CONDITION…

n        Property condition affects price and speed of sale.

n        Optimizing physical appearances and advance preparation for marketing maximizes value.

TERMS…

n        The more flexible the financing, the broader the market, the quicker the sale and the higher the price.

n        Terms structured to meet your objectives are important to successful marketing.

PRICE…

n        If the property is not properly priced, a sale may be delayed or even prevented.

Jan. 21, 2007 - Preparing your house to put it on the market - A tale of Two homes!

When you are putting your house up for sale there are certain things you can't change.  You are going to have to live with your location, the size of  your yard, your floor plan, what other homes in your neighborhood are selling for.  There are however certain things that you can do to stage your home to get top dollar. 

Several years ago I had an incident that really made me aware of how much difference clutter and odors can make in the sale of a home.   I had two homes with the same floor plan on the market at the same time.  The homes were not in the same neighborhood but were both built by the same builder and were identical floor plans.  One of the homes was in an neighborhood with a mixture of old and new homes; parts of the neighborhood being a little more run down..  The second home was in a newer neighborhood.  When I ran comparatives I found that this floor plan typically sold for about $10,00 more in the newer neighborhood. 

My client whose home was in the older neighborhood had taken immaculate care of their home.  The clutter was picked up and it was sparkling clean.  They did everything I told them to do to stage their home to show and sell.  She did this to my amazment with two smal children.  My client whose home was in the newer neighborhood was a single Dad and had his hands full so the house was not in very good shape.  It was not clean and had an odor.   

I ended up getting offers on both homes about the same time.  My immaculate clean clients, in the older neighborhood, ended up getting top dollar for their house.  My client whose home was in the newer neighborhood but not in the best condition ended up way under what the market prices were.  In theory the home in the newer neighborhood should have sold for more than the home in the older neighborhood.  In this case what ended up happening was the home in the older neighborhood sold for more than the home in the newer neighborhood.

The moral of this story is declutter and take care of any offensive odors.  You are planning on moving anyway so go ahead and start packing.  Rent a storage unit and move part of the clutter out of your home.  Take care of any offensive odors, the biggest culprit of odors are usually your pets.

Visit my website for a more complete list of things you can do to prepare your house to put it on the market.

Jan. 9, 2007 - Appraisal difficulties

     My client's existing house was in a neighborhood that had houses built in the 1970’s and early 1980’ with newer houses built in the late 1990’s.  They were in one of the homes built in the late 1990’s and there were not a lot of comparables. When the appraisal came in, it came in much lower than the selling price we had agreed upon.  In the type of market we were experiencing we were all amazed.   We were asking a fair price for their house and tried to work it out with the original buyers but the appraiser was not from our area and would not budge.

     We were in a no win situation. I suggested we go back to the second offer.  The second buyer was thrilled to be considered for the house.  The new buyer started the loan process this time using a local appraiser.  With the new buyers using a local appraiser who was familiar with this subdivision we were able to close within two weeks