Connect2Agent - Home Buyers and Sellers

Your real estate listing needs to be everybody's business

Search needs to get better. I am finding it increasingly difficult to find what I need online by doing simple searches through the major search engines. I know they tweak their algorithms and are always exploring ways to gauge a site's content so the consumer can get more relevant information, but I am still unsatisfied. I find that lately the returns I get for my results are taking me to the second or third page of Google.

A few years ago, I would have been satisfied with page one's results.

The real estate consumer might do a few online searches for real estate and land on a website through an organic or paid advertisement. Some consumers are just going to type in their address bar what they are looking for--"3 bedroom homes in Sacramento CA"--and see where that gets them. Others might be pointed in the direction of a blog post by a social network service like Digg and StumbleUpon real estate listings.

And let's not discount household names Craigslist and Zillow for real estate listings and home value information--consumers are going there too.

Understanding the basics of short sales

If you are looking for an alternative to bankruptcy or a foreclosure and feeling like the walls are closing in on your options, you may want to consider a short sale. A short sale is when you accept an offer to purchase that is less than what you owe on your property. Your mortgage company would then have to accept less than what they are owed in order for the house sale to go through. 

Documentation is key

In a short sale, your mortgage company will require documentation from you throughout the process before it approves the lower amount. A few common items most mortgage companies will require during this process are:

• A copy of the buyer's offer to purchase on the real estate property--This is the final offer that you and the real estate buyer have accepted.
• An appraisal--You can submit yours. The mortgage company will also have an appraisal done on your house.
• An estimate of the proceeds on the sale of your house--Normally, your real estate agent will submit this with the accepted offer to purchase on your property. Later, the mortgage company will want a copy of the closing statement your attorney will prepare for the HUD-I settlement statement.
• A statement of your finances--The mortgage company will want to know why you are no longer able to make your payments. They will also want to know why you cannot make up the difference between what you owe on your house to the mortgage company and what you are selling it for.

Five topics to cover before you choose your real estate agent

If you are preparing to put up your house for sale on the real estate market and you are now interviewing real estate agents, your questions probably go a little something like this:

1. How many years have you been selling real estate full-time?
2. How many houses have you sold during the past two years?
3. How much money do you think I can get for my house?

These questions should not be dismissed, but before you hang your hat on the answers, you also need to get down to the details. The following probing questions will help you do just that.

How to get your house ready to sell for the spring real estate market

If you live in the Northeast or Midwest, there's a chance that you might be starting to see a turn in the weather from those dreary, wintry days to some sunny skies and more bearable temperatures. 

If you are a homeowner who is thinking about more than spring cleaning this season and trying to prepare your house for market, I have a few tips to share. Connect2Agent members Jean Roberts of Marietta, Georgia, and Kathie Anderson of Libertyville, Illinois, share their recipe for a successful spring real estate listing.

Price to sell

If you are a real estate seller, you need to price your house to sell on the open market. You want to make sure you receive a good comparative market analysis from your real estate agent that will show you what has recently sold in your immediate area--and for what price--that is comparable to your house. You also need to know what prices your direct competition's homes are listed for. 

Anderson recommends selling at the mid-to-low range of what the comparative market analysis recommends as a fair price value. She uses a comparison of the fast checkout lane at the grocery store versus the regular checkout. When you are selling a house, you want the time on market from list to sale to be short. You want to take the fast checkout lane, not the slower lane.

How to save your real estate deal when a buyer tries to back out

What can sellers do to save a real estate deal when a real estate buyer tries to back out?

The inequity of protection in a real estate contract has always seemed unfair to me. The burden of closure seems to rest with the seller; at least in Illinois it does, while the buyer has multiple opportunities to back out of the deal before closing.

How did this come to pass? I don't profess to know the history of real estate contracts, but it seems to me that someone took the warning of "Buyer beware" and used it to create a bunch of loopholes for real estate buyers, known as contingencies, that we see on real estate contracts today.

Until the seesaw weighs equally on both sides, here are a few things I have learned to help a seller and buyer make it to the church on time and say their vows.

Click here for the rest of this story.

If you enjoyed this blog post, you might want to read:

Can your spiritual faith bring home buyers to your doorstep?
Home sellers: What you need to know before you decide to sell your house on your own
Homesellers: How to protect your contract to purchase from falling apart

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Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Communicate with your real estate agent about house showings

If you are selling a house, you need it to be seen as many times as possible to get it sold.

The more buyers that see your house, the better your chances of getting an offer. Your real estate agent can't sell a secret, so being flexible during house showings and communicating with your real estate agent is key.

I spoke with two Connect2Agent members about house showings and unexpected events. 

Ben Abdallah, a Connect2Agent member who sells real estate in Bal Harbour, Florida, shared with me an experience he had when showing his buyers a house two months ago. Abdallah spoke with the seller's real estate agent and requested an appointment for his real estate buyers. The agent told Abdallah the property was vacant. 

When Abadallah went into the house, imagine his surprise to find the owner standing in the front room near the door, dripping wet with a towel around his waist. He stated to Abdallah that he had never received a call from his real estate agent about the showing. Needless to say, the buyers didn't view the house, nor did they make an offer on it.

Send a flyer of your house to the World Wide Web

I have addressed the topics in this blog of marketing your house by video, partnering with your real estate agent to sell your house and where you can go online to advertise your house listing.

Now, I have found a great new site I want to share. The website is Classifiedflyerads.com and it allows you to create a flyer of your house and have it post to multiple real estate directories, which include:

• GoogleBase
• Trulia
• Zillow
• Oodle
• Lycos
• BackPage (Posting HTML)
• Craigslist (Posting HTML)
• Digg
• Homes.com
• House.com
• Local
• Hotpads
• Feedburner
• RealPropDeals
• eHouseAds
• Technorati
• ActiveRain (Posting HTML)
• eBay (Posting HTML)
• Kijiji
• Geebo
• LiveDeal (Posting HTML)
• CLRSearch
• RealtyFeeds
• Slashdot
• Info
• OLX
• PropBot
• Vast
• PropSmart
• RealtyFeedSearch
• Propeller
• Reddit

The service offers a free version, which includes the creation of up to 3 flyers, 5 photos, 1 virtual tour, customizable widgets and more. You can view the details of their free and paid versions on their website.

Check with your real estate agent to see if he/she is utilizing this service. If you are just in the initial stages of finding a real estate agent to work with, make sure you mention this marketing tool to him/her and see if they would be willing to use this service to send a flyer of your house to the World Wide Web.

Happy selling.

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Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

6 places to get more exposure online for your house listing

If you are selling your house, you cannot underestimate the importance of marketing your house online. According to the National Association of REALTORS, more than 80% of home buyers begin their real estate search online. 

Bottom line: You need to be where real estate buyers are looking for houses.  Real estate buyers are surfing the web online to find their dream homes.

Here are 6 websites that will list your house for free:

1. Post Your Property
2. Sperling's Best Places
3. Golf Course Realty--Specifically for golf course properties
4. Postlets--A classified ad that will be placed on numerous websites
5. City Cribs--If you have property in New York City or surrounding counties
6. House.info

Your real estate agent should also post your property on his/her personal website, company website, the Multiple Listing Service and any websites that they pay to advertise on. You should not be limited when it comes to Internet real estate advertising. Every portal to a consumer can reach a potential real estate buyer for your house.

If you did not discuss your real estate agent's Internet marketing strategy at the time your house was listed, make sure you ask him/her right away. If your real estate agent is already advertising on the above-mentioned websites, make sure you are receiving regular feedback as to the results of this marketing. Internet marketing strategies need to be evaluated and sometimes tweaked to be in sync with your changing marketplace.

If you are getting ready to list your house, contact a local real estate agent and ask what his/her Internet marketing strategy is. Ask where your house will be listed online. Make sure the answer is, "everywhere possible," followed up with specifics.

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Use the power of video to sell your house

What can you do to help move your house and make it stand out from the competition while it is on the market?

We are now in mid-winter, and sellers in the Northeast and Midwest regions might find it tougher to sell their house during this time. 

How about exploring the power of video and social media marketing? YouTube, the popular video sharing website, is a great place to tell your house's story. Consider making a video of your house. 

Virtual tours have been popular for the past 3-5 years, but are limited in the fact that they cannot tell a story. Video has the power to engage a viewer who could be a potential buyer for your house. You can capture the unique and special attributes of your house on video that cannot be conveyed on a virtual tour.

Four considerations when choosing a color to paint your house

When you put your house on the real estate market, your real estate agent might advise you to first paint it. Before you go out and buy the paint or brush a stroke on your walls, read on for the top four considerations in color psychology.

In the article, "Using Color Psychology to Sell Your Home", Jeanette Joy Fisher gives real estate sellers the top four considerations in selecting their paint colors:

1. The Exterior--Muted shades with tints of gray or brown are attractive to high-end, luxury home buyers. Shades of yellow or tan with blue, green or white trim are great colors for lower-priced houses.
2. The Interior--Home buyers prefer color to white walls. Entryways, living rooms and family rooms look great in muted versions of the exterior color of the house. Kitchens shine in natural shades of browns, greens and yellows. Master bedrooms can be painted in colors that elicit intimacy, such as medium shades of blue, green or red. 
3. The Season--Choose cool colors such as blues and grays for winter. Paint in warm colors during the summer season, such as yellows and maroons.
4. The Intensity--The hue for the color that you choose is important. Pale, sunny yellow exteriors sell the fastest. Exteriors in a green-yellow hue or orange hue are a turn-off to home buyers.

Make sure to get recommendations from your local real estate agent when choosing a paint color for the interior and exterior of your house. Ask your real estate agent what colors would help to sell your house quickly and if there are any trends you should be aware of.

You also might want to consult a professional home stager or interior designer. Some real estate agents are home stagers or have an interior designer on their team, so make sure you ask for a recommendation first before you try to find someone on your own.

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson