Tips To Get Your Home Ready to Sell If You Have Pets
May 11th, 2012
1. The worst thing to do is mask odors such as lighting a candle or using carpet powder. Try to eliminate the odors from the source by thoroughly cleaning your home from top to bottom with a combination of vinegar and water. Continue to use this cleaning solution on a weekly basis until your home accepts an offer.
2. We love our pets, so you probably don’t want to hear this one, but try to find a temporary home for your pet while your house is on the market. If this isn’t possible, at least try to take your pet out of the house during showings.
3. Remove any and all pet items. By removing toys and water bowls and hiding pet beds, you open the home up to ALL potential buyers. Including those that don’t like pets. Once a buyer sees that a pet lives in the house, even if they don’t smell it, they may automatically not be interested.
4. Repair any pet damage to the home. Any chewed and scratched wood surfaces as well as carpet pulls need to be repaired. Have rugs professionally cleaned and if any staining can’t be removed, consider replacing.
For more tips and questions, please drop us a line.
Multiple Offers – How You As a Seller Can Prepare
April 27th, 2012
So much is written out there on how to handle a multiple offer situation if you are a buyer. Advice such as removing contingencies, writing a personal note, or making sure your pre approval is accurate. But what about the sellers? Here are some quick tips to get you, as a seller, ready.
1. Make yourself scarce. What this means is that if your property goes into MLS on Thursday, and your broker open house is Friday, showings usually start after that. The best thing to do for Friday, Saturday and Sunday is to get out of the house. Even better, go away for the weekend! I can’t tell you how many times our sellers get overwhelmed by the fact that they receive multiple calls from our offices for showings. This is a good thing! If you are getting 5-7 showings within the first 24 hours of it going into MLS, then that is a clear indicator that you are going to have multiple offers. You want to make sure that your home is always available for showings for these couple of days.
2. Ensure that your seller’s disclosure form is accurate and ready. With the help of your agent, if you have completed the seller’s disclosure, you leave little to know questions for your buyers about your knowledge as to the condition of your home. This saves time for everyone.
3. Review all offers at one time. In coordination with your agent, it is best to review offers on the day after the open house. Usually a Monday or a Tuesday. This ensures that everyone will see it and that you open yourself to any and all offers. It is not always best to jump at the first offer that you see, so when you get to take a look at them all together, you start to see which one will work for you.
4. Don’t be opposed to going back for another round. Once you have reviewed the offers, depending on how many there are, go back to the top 50% and ask them for their best and final. At this point if 1 or 2 or similar, it will be clear who really wants the house.
For more of these kinds of tips and to talk about how we can get you multiple offers, give us a call at 617-974-9275
Is now the time to sell?
March 2nd, 2012
Here we are at the beginning of March and the question is when is the Spring housing market going to take off? In my opinion it already has, but the trouble is we have very little housing inventory to get us in the full Spring housing market.
Do seller’s believe there are buyers out there looking to buy their home or do they believe that the housing market is still in the dumps? The answer is to all of you potential sellers: There are lots, and I mean lots of buyers out there.
When a property comes on the market, AND if it’s priced right, it’s flooded with buyers and typically goes under agreement within days. If you’re thinking about selling your home, this is the time. This is one of the more favorable environments for you to put your home on the market. What you have right now…low rates, low inventory, high demand and most importantly, lots of buyers looking to buy your home at asking price.
Written by: Laurie Crane, The Mark Lesses Team
The Spring Market has Sprung!
January 27th, 2012
Despite the snow and Pat’s games, the Spring market is here!
In my conversations with family, friend and neighbors, I’ve been noticing lot’s of curiosity about the Spring market. Many of that curiosity is now turning into action with people taking first steps to buying or selling.
For example, I’ve noticed an uptick in home owners requesting market analyses for their homes. Now is actually a good time for sellers to request a market analysis as the market data tends to reflect activity from the Summer and Fall markets. As such, they can get a clearer picture of where their home fits in the market. These sellers are that much more prepared to list their homes and get it competitively priced.
Buyers are also gearing up for Spring. Many of the buyers I’m speaking with are already pre-approved or are in the process of getting pre-approved. This is significant as it means they are ready to buy now and know how much they can spend.
There has also been more activity at our office front desk. Just the other day I had someone call in to request a market analysis for their home in Arlington. Another person saw a listing advertised in our office window. She walked in and asked me for help in buying her first home! As a Real Estate Agent, floor time can sometimes be slow in the winter. So, you can imagine how excited I was to have such a busy day!
How ready do you think people are to make their next move? Let me know what you think!
Written by David Lenoir david@marklesses.com
The Real Estate Weather Forecast This Weekend… (Open Houses)
January 20th, 2012
Looks like our real estate forecast for this weekend is sunny and fabulous. Here are the open houses:
What is Your Personal Real Estate Weather?
January 18th, 2012
Are you renting and thinking of buying or just staying put? or maybe you own a home already but think you may need more space. Whatever your personal forecast may look like, this is the time of year to shift towards finding your perfect home.
Why now?
You may still have your boots on when you go out the door, and the trees have no leaves, but that means its time to start doing your homework. The first step is to figuring out whether it makes sense for you to move by calling your real estate agent. The majority of calls that Mark Lesses gets this time of year is just that. “I speak to many of my clients who feel that the market begins in March and April, but the reality is, it starts right now”, says Mark. “I like to sit down with my clients who are thinking of making a move and help them determine whether it makes sense”. The more prepared you are, the more comfortable you will be in making the best decision for you and your family.
Once you’ve decided to move, now what?
Here comes the best part. Start looking at homes! An agent can help fine tune your search and help you really maximize your time to look at the homes that make sense for you. That is what professional real estate agents love to do. Besides negotiating like a rock star, Mark loves to get inside, check out the basement, see the updated features and really get the feel for a home.
So whether your looking in Arlington, Winchester, Lexington, Belmont or any other fine community, call us today to decide if your real estate weather forecast says to move!