I just took a listing and my seller is just incredible.  She took the concept of staging to the best level possible … to the point that her empty walk-in closet upstairs now has gorgeous padded clothes hangers, some decorative pillows, and a pretty nightgown on display.

She also staged her pantry.  How in the world does one stage a pantry, you might wonder.  It’s really pretty easy if you just take the time to go through it.

1.  Get rid of all old food that’s been there at least a year.

2.  Arrange the cans and boxes so they balance each other - soups together, vegetables together.

3.  Put all “cooking” products together - things needed to top it off such as oil, vinegar, ketchup, mayo.

4.  Turn all products label out.

5.  Heavy products go on the bottom (cases of drinks, water).

6.  Finally, make sure the shelves are all CLEAN - wipe them down, along with the walls, floor and door.

Good luck!

Staging a home can be done in degrees.   Some sellers go all out and remove, rearrange, or refinish furniture, walls, floors, light fixtures, cabinets, counters and everything in-between. Other sellers may simply pack away knick knacks and give the house a good, deep cleaning.

BOTH are good, but the latter is the top priority if you want to get a good price.  Frankly, no one wants to buy your dirt and crud, so to have a house clean and clutter-free is the MOST VITAL step you can take to finding a strong buyer.

I think when buyers come through they look up (fixtures), down (flooring), and all-around (fresh paint).  If these are in good condition, if the house looks and smells clean, and if the price isn’t outrageous, you may have a sale.

I have a seller who is enthusiastically preparing her house to list.  She had a pre-inspection done yesterday and there was a minor list of items that needed repaired or worked on.  For example, new caulking was required on one outside window and one pipe needed to be insulated.

Her husband won’t let her list the house until everything is done, which is normally a great attitude.  However my concern is that by delaying they may miss out on buyers who are looking to get the nice juicy federal tax credit.  It’s a magnificent house and none of the repairs should hinder any buyer.

In any case, I am of the school that it’s good to get a listing pre-inspected in order to have all repairs made and to eliminate any surprises from when the house sells.  Another agent in my office were discussing this and he has the opposite view … he believes that if you have it inspected and find something wrong, then the seller is liable for disclosing it in the future. My thought is that if something that major is wrong, they’ll have to repair it anyway.  If they don’t and the seller walks away, they’ll still have to disclose it.  I’d much rather find a problem and address it in advance.

What do you think?  Would you be more inclined to buy if a house had already been inspected?  If you were selling, would you want it pre-inspected?

Sellers sometimes get very emotional when they receive offers from buyers… the buyers want that refrigerator to remain that Aunt Sally gave them five years ago.  Not too long ago, one buyer called me upset because the sellers had removed the towel racks from the bathrooms (we knew something was off when we did the walk-thru but it took a couple of days to sink in that the towel racks were missing since the sellers had repaired the holes and painted).  They said they were special towel racks because one was a wedding gift and the other was made by Grandpa Mookie.  They did ultimately pay to replace them.

Other than some of the standard things that you’d expect to remain - light bulbs, ceiling fans, flooring, all doors - the sales contracts are now going into more details about other items that remain.  For example, previously, the offer contract specified that all attached blinds, shutters, and window hardware were to stay.  Now curtains and draperies are also named in the pre-printed contracts.

Buyers should be careful about what other items they should ask to keep, though.  Sometimes lenders kick out contracts if personal property is listed.  If a buyer wants a couch or television, they should ask for it off the actual offer that goes to the lender.  It would be an outside of closing purchase.  I encourage buyers to try to stick with real estate related items so the offers remain clean to allow a quick, easy closing.

Excluding people who do not have to sell and who worry that the value of their home has dropped so much that they’re upside down, the time to sell is now.  If you’re tossing around the idea of selling, you have plenty of equity in your home, and you want to be able to also buy a house to get the $6500 tax credit - then NOW is the time to get your house on the market.

By simply looking at the time frame before the April 30th deadline to be under contract, it makes perfect sense:

• List house first week of February
• 30-60 Days to Sell (if you price it right, if it’s show ready) - that’s first of March to first of April
• Take 30 Days  to find your new home - end of April
• Close by June 30th.

Teresa Boardman, super-agent from St. Paul, Minnesota, agrees that now is the time to sell you home.

In 2010 the best time to put a home on the market might be right now.  Sure the weather is cold and the buyers are still in hibernation but they are starting to search.  They want to take advantage of the interest rates which are now at an all time low and they wouldn’t mind getting the $8000 dollar home buyers tax credit or if they are what we call move up buyers they wouldn’t mind getting the $6500 dollars tax credit.

Looking into the crystal ball that I have next to my computer tells me that the best times to sell might be now or 2012.  In 2012 home prices will look more like they did in 2007 or 2008.

And if you’re considering putting your house on the real estate market, follow this link for some great tips on how to get the house ready - brought to you by the National Association of Realtors.

I went on a listing appointment early early this morning to a gorgeous home in a very nicely developed subdivision.  There were sidewalks made of aggregate pebbles, the homes had lots of gorgeous brick and stone on the front, and the floor plans included soaring ceilings, bonus rooms, and more.  The house backed up to a babbling creek, plus from the front door the views were lovely.

Unfortunately, the listing interview ended with the question, “So what do you think? How much do you think this is worth?”  I gave the seller a number and watched her face freeze.  She said she would NEVER sell it for that low, even though my price range was right on target with other houses in her neighborhood that sold in the last six months.  While she did have many very nice upgrades, so do many other houses plus the builder quality light fixtures and flooring wouldn’t help increase value.

I will be visiting other homes on the market in her neighborhood to see what her competition is like, but I probably won’t get the listing.  She will offer it to another agent who will price it $20,000 higher than my price.  It will take six to nine months to sell, but in the end the sales price will be for what I told her.   Meanwhile, I’m hoping that her upgrades really are extraordinary compared to other homes in the neighborhood.  Fingers crossed for her sake.

Photo by griffithchris through Flickr Creative Commons.

When do you know your house might be a good candidate for an auction?  Historically, the perception exists that auctions are mostly used for estate sales - to settle with the heirs.  This really is a great time for an auction, but there are also other times one should be considered.

1. If there is plenty of equity in a home.
2. If a bank agrees in advance to a short sale of a home and you know the minimum price. NOTE this is rare and you’d have to have a VERY GOOD relationship with the mortgage guarantor to make this happen.
3. Someone doesn’t want to make repairs - auction homes are sold as-is.
4. No budget for updating to get it in parade condition.  Caveat - buyers will take this into consideration and you’ll probably get a lower price.
5. Don’t want a home or land to languish on the market for a year - you need to sell it quickly.
6. You don’t want the hassle of people parading through your house with little notice. With an auction, a home is sometimes open for an advance preview - the time is predetermined and limited.  Otherwise, the house is open about two hours prior to the start-time of the auction.
7. Most importantly - we’re back to Number One.  In all cases unless it’s court-ordered, there needs to be plenty of equity for a homeowner to consider an auction.

Go to an auction sometime and experience the thrill and excitement.  If you think you might buy, be prepared to put a non-refundable 20 percent deposit down that day.

“How much will they take for it?” seems to be a question asked by most buyers.  It is truthfully answered at Active Rain by Richard Iarossi, an agent from Annapolis, Maryland. His answer,

Well, taking the rest of the contract into consideration, the seller will more than likely accept the listing price.” Frankly, what the heck else did you expect me to say?

Ha.  Yes I agree!  All of my sellers WILL take list price!  As a listing agent it is our duty to the seller to get the top price.  I like one of the commenters replies,

The obvious answer to this question, and the one I use most often, is “How much will you give for the house?”

I may make light of this, but people really are looking for deals today.  It’s a natural question to ask … though the answer buyers are looking for is “What is this place really worth? I don’t want to overpay.”  Just three years ago, a home that was worth $219,000 is today worth about $180,000.  Even when we run comparables, we can’t guarantee the value will hold up.  But we can do our homework - research trends, visit neighborhoods - and make an educated guess.

It is starting to get harder to find deals today.  Several of my colleagues have been working with buyers for the last several weeks who want something around $100,000.  Those houses seem to be disappearing - a sign that in my area at least we are starting to climb out of the recession.  I am hoping we’ll again begin our upward growth where homes will increase in value 2 to 4 percent each year.

An agent in my office described an unbelievable experience he had this weekend while doing open house at a multi-million dollar property.  Although he doesn’t have the listing, an agent from the company has welcomed him to hold open houses - it’s a win for everyone.  He might get a buyer from the event and the seller may sell.  Usually the traffic is heaviest beginning at 2:15 and lasts until about 3:00 p.m.

Sunday was no different. He opened at 1:30 and almost immediately had would-be buyers stopping in to tour the magnificent 9800 square foot home.  Suddenly six cars pulled up together and out of each clown car came at least four people.  The people were all dressed similarly - dark pants, blue and red shirts.

They were like a swarm of locusts as they picked up every flyer, including the mortgage sheets.  Suddenly they began lining up along the staircase and one of them separated to arrange them.  He took out a camera and snapped several family photos.  They then stood in front of the great fireplace, were arranged again, and had another family portrait taken.

Of course, by this time all the other buyer had made a rapid departure and no one else stopped when they saw the house swarming with people wearing the same clothes.  The extended family utterly ruined the open house for the agent in my office.

The question arose, “What could I have done?”

In a word - NOTHING.

Had he asked them to leave, he was treating them differently than other potential buyers therefore would be breaking fair housing laws.  If he said, “No pictures, please” he would have to make sure he said that to every single person who came in the door because - again - fair housing laws.  You can’t treat anyone differently.

It’s one of the darndest things I’ve ever heard about and it really sickens me that people take advantage of and so grossly abuse an open house.  The intention is to SELL the house, not be a setting for a family Christmas portrait.

What would you do?

One word to this agent:  BRILLIANT!