Can You Sell Your House While Still Living in It?

If you want to sell your house without moving out, follow these four tips.

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Lately, a lot of people have asked me whether you can live in your home while selling it.

Of course you can!

The key to selling your home while living in it is staging. Your home's first showing is on the Internet, so it needs to look great online. It's better to have a home that's staged than to have a vacant home, so we like to give our sellers these tips:

1. Remove all signs of personalization: We know you're proud of your family, but things like family photos make it hard for buyers to imagine themselves living there.

Your agent doesn't the pick your home's price; the market does.

2. Redefine each room for its intended purpose: Say you converted one of three bedrooms in your house to an office—you want to change it back to a bedroom so buyers can see how all the living space works.

3. Pick the right price: This is where the expertise of a real estate professional comes in. They'll give you a thorough market analysis to help us understand the right price. We don't determine the price; the market does.

4. Price your home right the first time and don't lower it: Lowering your price isn't always the best option because there are other things we can do before resorting to a lower price.

If you have any questions about selling your home or you're ready to list it on the market, give us a call or send us an email soon. We'd love to go over more with you!

3 Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring a Realtor

Selling your home goes a lot more smoothly with a Realtor at your side. However, make sure you hire the right one by asking these three questions.

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Entering the real estate market without a Realtor to represent you is very risky, but you don’t want to hire just anyone. There are many questions you should ask before hiring a real estate agent, and these are the top three: 1. How long have you been in the business? There are so many different factors that come into play when getting your sale to closing. You want to make sure they have experience to handle every aspect of the sale and make sure the closing process goes smoothly. 2. What is your list-to-sales price ratio? You want to make sure they are selling homes for something close to what they listed them at initially on a consistent basis. 3. How many houses did you sell last year? Knowing your agent is active in the market is key. Someone who has 30 years of experience but only sold two houses last year is not going to be the right fit to sell your home.

Make sure your agent has enough experience.

There are many more questions you should be asking, so if you’d like to talk to me about those or have any other questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Why You Should Buy Your Next Home This Winter

Today we're discussing why, contrary to popular belief, fall and winter is actually a perfect time to buy a home.

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Are the fall and winter months a good time to buy a home? This is a question I get quite often.

You might be surprised to hear that it's actually a perfect time to buy a home. Why? For starters, home prices are normally lower at this time of the year. Stats from RealtyTrac analysis from more than 32 million home sales show that buyers who purchased a home in October paid 2.64% below estimated value. That great deal you're looking for could be out there this time of year.

Additionally, there is less competition on the market since there are fewer homes for sale. Simply put, this means there will be fewer buyers out and about. Also consider that the holidays are right around the corner. Sellers who had their homes on the market during the summer probably want to be out of their house and into their new one before the holidays hit, so they are motivated to sell. You'll have the added bonus of moving into your new home before the holidays, too.

Less competition means you can get a better deal.

Finally, there are year-end tax credits to be taken advantage of. There are credits for buying a house before the end of the year as opposed to waiting for next year.

If you have any other questions about buying in the fall or winter months or you're ready to buy now, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to help!

What Are Your Options After a Low Appraisal?

When you get a low appraisal, the transaction isn’t over. There are a number of ways buyers and sellers can work together to resolve the issue.

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Low appraisals aren’t ideal, but they don’t have to kill a transaction. If you get a low appraisal, we have some tips to share on how you should approach it.

The first option is to cancel the deal outright. This typically doesn’t happen, but it can. A lot of times, the seller will decide to challenge the appraisal by submitting additional comparable properties to the appraiser through their agent in order to justify their price. At that point, it’s up to the appraiser to decide whether to increase the home’s value or not.

Sellers typically take one of two courses of action in our market.

We are in a VA market, so sellers typically take two courses of action when they get a low appraisal. Some will just put the home up for rent, while some will actually end up lowering their price to meet the appraisal. Sometimes, they will negotiate closing costs. There are a lot of different options depending on the type of loan you have.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Don't Show Your Hand When Selling Your Home

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As a seller, there are certain things you should never say when selling your home.

For starters, I always encourage my sellers to leave their home when a buyer is coming to see it. I do caution, not to leave until the buyer arrives, because sometimes they don't show up. When I was selling my house, for example, when a buyer showed up for a viewing, they'd come in one door and I'd leave out another.

If you happen to be there, you have to be cautious as a seller. Most of the questions they'll ask are public information, but they're also there with an agent, who will also be asking questions. If you answer certain questions, you may not realize you're giving away information. They may ask about sales price, and how long the home has been for sale. That's public information, but you don't need to give that out. A seller might say "It's been on the market for sale for X amount of time and I really wish this house would sell," giving the agent leverage.

The standard answer should be, "You need to talk to my Realtor."

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Don't say anything that
gives away your position.

”

It's the same with questions about your motivation to sell. It might be a divorce, or job transfer, or anything really - the agent is fishing for information. They'll take these things into consideration when writing their offer. Another common question agents will ask is if you're considering any price reductions. Can you believe they even ask this? You'd be surprised what buyers ask. Again, your standard answer should be, "You need to talk to my Realtor." Remember, they're working for their buyer.

You may also be asked how many offers you've received. You don't want to give your position away, because we want to get the highest possible price for your home.

Those are just a few things to avoid saying when you sell your home. There are many more things that could jeopardize your sale. For a full rundown of ways to protect yourself when listing a home, give us a call. We'd love to talk to you about the rest of our tips.

4 Tips to Make Your Home Look Larger

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How do you make a small home look bigger? If you bought a small home and are looking to sell, there are a few things you can do to make it look larger than it actually is to entice buyers:

1. Use mirrors. Mirrors make any room look larger. They’re inexpensive and you can use various types for bathrooms, kitchens, and family room areas. Just remember not to get too ornate.
2. Don’t set out large furniture. If you have large furniture and you’re ready to sell, you need to move some of it out. That will open up the interior space and make it look clean.
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   Decluttering and removing
   large furniture will open up
   the interior space.

   
   ”
3. Declutter. Clutter closes your spaces off and makes your rooms look smaller.
4. Hang curtains higher on the wall. If you have curtains in a small room, move those curtains all the way up to the ceiling. High ceilings are something buyers look for, and moving your curtains up will make yours seem taller.

To get more detailed information, or if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, shoot us an email or give us a call. We’d love to talk to you.