Avoid these 6 errors with your open house
Listing your home for sale in this depressed real estate market is like entering a beauty pageant. The contestants are all other for-sale homes in the area. The judges are potential buyers who will ultimately choose their favorite candidate. The challenge begins at the open house.
To improve your chances of getting ahead of the other contestants, you must prepare for the big day when you show the judges why they should buy your house and not the one down the street. Read More.
Don’t make mistakes when listings are low
When listings are low, competition for listings is high. Why do some agents thrive in this environment while others see their business dwindle? Many make a crucial mistake.
They assume that since their listing inventory is low, they should reduce their advertising. After all, they have less to advertise. This is because they assume that the goal of their advertising is to reach buyers and sell their current inventory.
They forget that a major goal of their advertising is to gain and retain listings. Read More.
7 tips to sell your home faster to a younger buyer
Educating clients about the audience they will be marketing to is one of the most important things a home stager can do. When you put your home on the market to sell, you should know that the next owner will likely be younger than you are. That’s why you should stop thinking about what you like or want in a home and start thinking about what your most likely buyer will want.
1. Stick with warm, neutral walls. Read More.
3 keys to managing prospective buyers
How many times have you heard this sentiment: The money in real estate is in the listings. It’s guaranteed cash at closing.
Conversely, we’re told, buyers can be brain-drains and time-wasters, spending your money through weekends, gasoline and snacks. I know that personally, I’ve never gotten over that one lady who accidentally (I hope?) scribbled all over my car’s backseat leather interior, having forgotten a ball-point pen in the back of her jeans.
But I still believe buyers can be wellsprings of forward momentum in our real estate businesses — if they are managed correctly. .
Here are three key elements to managing a buyer without losing your head. Read More.
8 scenarios that hurt mortgage qualification
This article shows several examples of real issues that can cause a mortgage application to be denied. Don’t let your clients face these scenarios:
Do I jeopardize my mortgage application by changing jobs before the loan closes? Yes. The underwriter approved your application based on your documented income covering two years or longer, from one source. At closing you must certify that all the information in your application continues to be true, which short of committing perjury you won’t be able to do if you switch jobs. Your revised job history will be numbered in days rather than years, which could cause a rejection.
Back in the pre-crisis days, underwriters had discretion to use their judgment in such cases. If the borrower was moving up to a better position in the same field, for example, they would let it go. In today’s market, however, underwriter discretion has been markedly reduced, and the likelihood of rejection is uncomfortably high. The prudent thing to do is to defer the job change until after the loan closes. Nobody will care what you do then. Read More.
10 DIY projects to sell your home faster
For those trying to sell a house, what are some quick and easy DIY projects that can help sell your home faster? This article asked experts to share step-by-step instructions for completing projects bound to modernize a home, from resurfacing cabinets to eliminating home odors to re-caulking bathroom grout.
1. Create a welcoming entrance
If you don’t immediately impress potential buyers as they enter the home, you’re setting yourself up for a tough sell. Creating a welcoming entrance is arguably the most effective way to sell your home faster. Read More.
Virtual tours in 5 simple steps
Getting started with virtual tours can be a quick and simple process – not to mention free. And buyers are looking for tools that can help in the home selection process as indicated in this article:
I recently read a blog post by a real estate agent who was speaking about his experience creating virtual tours for his overseas client. Because the client was unable to walk through potential homes, the virtual tour was instrumental in the eventual sale of a property. Without it, the client wouldn’t have seen the home and would have likely never purchased it.
And when you think about it, of course a virtual tour would help. Even local clients would appreciate virtual tours of homes so they can avoid spending time visiting places that will never work for their needs. Read More.
5 emotional mistakes made by homebuyers
Real estate agents say emotional mistakes are common among homebuyers, who sometimes let good deals pass them by. Or worse, buyers overpay for their “dream homes” because they let feelings cloud their judgment.
But buyers shouldn’t beat themselves up for getting emotional. Buying a home is often the biggest purchase a person will make. Homebuyers “need someone in their corner who can counsel them and make sure they are making a smart investment, not an emotionally driven purchase,” says Nick Jabbour, a New York City real estate agent and vice president of Nest Seekers International. Read More.
4 things buyers should research when considering a home
In addition to typical home-buying concerns, like finding the best mortgage rates and improving your credit score, there are a few considerations that new home buyers erroneously neglect when researching homes. These factors may not always have immediate implications, but can create challenges with home ownership in the future. Read More.
7 secrets to winning over more buyers
Buying a home can be stressful. As a real estate agent, you get to see home buyers at their best — that is, the joy they feel when they step into their new home. But you first usually have to see them at their worst — the stress and tension they may feel in trying to find that perfect house. That puts you in role as adviser, friend, and counselor.
As a salesperson, you might be wondering what your customers really think about the home-buying process, and what, exactly, they expect from you beyond helping them find that ideal house. The bottom line: They expect a lot. Read More.
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