Showing posts with label Denver Real Estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denver Real Estate. Show all posts

Friday, December 1, 2017

HGTV's Top 10 Tips For Selling Your Home During the Holiday

The holiday season from November through January is often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious and competition is less fierce with fewer homes being actively marketed. First, decide if you really need to sell. Really. Once you've committed to the challenge, don your gay apparel and follow these tips from FrontDoor.

Deck the halls, but don’t go overboard.
Homes often look their best during the holidays, but sellers should be careful not to overdo it on the decor. Adornments that are too large or too many can crowd your home and distract buyers. Also, avoid offending buyers by opting for general fall and winter decorations rather than items with religious themes.

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This will ease your stress and give you more time to enjoy the season.

Seek out motivated buyers.
Anyone house hunting during the holidays must have a good reason for doing so. Work with your agent to target buyers on a deadline, including people relocating for jobs in your area, investors on tax deadlines, college students and staff, and military personnel, if you live near a military base.

Price it to sell.
No matter what time of year, a home that’s priced low for the market will make buyers feel merry. Rather than gradually making small price reductions, many real estate agents advise sellers to slash their prices before putting a home on the market.

Make curb appeal a top priority.
When autumn rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, maintaining the exterior of your home becomes even more important. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touch up the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard. Keep buyers’ safety in mind as well by making sure stairs and walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.

Take top-notch real estate photos.
When the weather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to start their house hunt from the comfort of their homes by browsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first impression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photos of your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photo of your home available so buyers can see how it looks year-round.

Create a video tour for the Web.
You'll get less foot traffic during the holidays thanks to inclement weather and vacation plans. But shooting a video tour and posting it on the Web may attract house hunters who don't have time to physically see your home or would rather not drive in a snowstorm.

Give house hunters a place to escape from the cold.
Make your home feel cozy and inviting during showings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classical music and offering homemade holiday treats. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home, you also give them more time to admire its best features.

Offer holiday cheer in the form of financing.
Bah, humbug! Lenders are scrooges these days, but if you've got the means, then why not offer a home loan to a serious buyer? You could get a good rate of return on your money.

Relax — the new year is just around the corner.
The holidays are stressful enough with gifts to buy, dinners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a moment to remind yourself that if you don't sell now, there's always next year, which, luckily, is only a few days away.

When buying or selling a home in the Denver metro area, contact Delilah,
 and let me put my knowledge, experience, expertise, and professionalism to work for you. 






*Read the original article here


Friday, September 15, 2017

Anti Burglar Tips for Sellers

A House with the For Sale sign can be targets for criminals and squatters. Use the tips below to protect your property while its on the market.

Realtor.com suggests that you mark your valuables and record details. Use invisible-ink pens or engravers to mark identifying information (driver’s license or state ID numbers) on items. Log serial numbers and take photos of your belongings. Check to see if your police department participates in the Operation Identification program. They will have stickers for you to place on doors or windows warning would-be thieves that your items are marked. These steps may prevent them from pawning or selling stolen items and can help you reclaim recovered belongings.

If the home is empty, inform your neighbor the house is going on the market and to report anyone other than your real estate agent showing up to view the home after hours.

Make it look like you are home regularly, especially if the property is empty. Invest in lightening apps that can be controlled by your phone, or lamps that pop on at sunset.

A well manicured lawn usually means that the home is occupied but overflowing newspapers, and packages that accumulate by the front door is usually a tell tell sign that the home is empty.

When buying or selling a home in the Denver metro area, contact Delilah,
 and let me put my knowledge, experience, expertise, and professionalism to work for you. 


Tuesday, August 15, 2017

The Top 3 Reasons That Turn Off Potential Buyers


As a real estate agent I have shown hundreds of homes and held tons of open houses. This gives me first hand knowledge to buyer's comments and reactions. One thing that is consistent with ALL potential buyers, judgement of homes are made immediately. So, if you are planning to put your home on the market, be aware of  things that could quickly turn away buyers, even in a seller's market.

Top 3 reasons:
  • 70% of buyers are turned off by stained wall & ceilings, and damp patches.  
  • 65% of home buyers are turned off by properties that are in need of major repairs 
  • 56% of home buyers are turned off by cigarette and pet odors. 
Other Turnoffs
  • Overpricing your home (buyers won't even bother looking at your home if the asking price is clearly higher that comparables in the neighborhood)
  • Cluttered rooms
  • Sellers who stick around when buyers are viewing the home
  • Bad DIY (exposed wires, holes in walls, chipped paint)
  • Not enough parking spaces 
  • Poor natural lightening
  • Old inefficient heating and air systems
  • A small kitchen
  • Outdated bathrooms & kitchens
  • Bright & unusual colored walls
  • Deceptive listing descriptions 
  • Not enough storage space


When buying or selling a home in the Denver metro area, contact Delilah,
 and let me put my knowledge, experience, expertise, and professionalism to work for you. 


Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Ready to Sell? These Upgrades Will Help With Property Values

Homes that are "move-in-ready" will bring you a higher return on your equity than an 'as-is' property that needs lots of work. Yet, the biggest mistake homeowners make is spending more on the remodeling project than their home value can support. Typically, you should plan to spend between 6 - 10 percent of a home's value to get a fair return.

So, which "fixes" are worth it, and which aren't? Read on:

Worth It: Addressing major maintenance and safety issues. Would you buy a house with faulty electrical wiring, foundation issues, or with high radon levels?

Not Worth It: Major bath renovations. Instead of spending thousands of dollars turning your bathroom into a spa oasis, stick to things like repairing cracked shower doors, updating a facet, replacing a faulty toilet, and painting.

Worth It: Ripping up old carpeting. Whether you replace it with new carpets or refinish the underlying wood floor is less important than getting rid of an eyesore.

Not Worth It: Major kitchen renovations.

Worth It: Simple kitchen renovations: Replacing older counter tops with granite (it doesn't have to be the most expensive granite), choose neutral counter tops, cabinets, and floors, any type of convenience items such as a pull out pantry, extra drawers, and lighting added to under-cabinet fixtures.

Worth It: Anything that enhances "curb appeal." If buyers are turned off before exiting their cars it usually makes them predisposed to find even more things they don't like.

Not Worth It: Anything that screams clutter. The less of "you" there is, the more likely prospective buyers are to imagine themselves happily living there.



When buying or selling a home in the Denver metro area, contact Delilah,
 and let me put my knowledge, experience, expertise, and professionalism to work for you.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

5 Not So Obvious Things That Affects Property Value

Some of the features that increase property values are obvious—like a remodeled bathroom, a modern kitchen, or a sought-after neighborhood. But here are a few features and circumstances you have not have realized can affect property values.
 1. The neighbors: Not every neighborhood or community has an HOA that can keep the neighbors from going overboard with decorations or neglecting to care for their home. Homes adjacent to crazy neighbors can potentially be undervalued.
 2. Trendy groceries and coffee: Recent statistics suggest that if your home is a short walk from popular grocery stores like Whole Foods or coffee chains like Starbucks, it can actually appreciate faster than the national average.
 3. Mature trees: A big beautiful tree in the front yard is enviable, and it’s not something that can be easily added to any home. Homes with mature trees tend to get a little boost in value.
 4. Parking: This isn’t too much of an issue if you live in the suburbs or in a rural area, but residents in dense cities can have real problems with parking, and homeowners might need to rent a spot just to guarantee a place to park each night. That’s why having guaranteed parking in urban areas will raise property values.
 5. The front entrance: First impressions matter to buyers—many will cross a home off their list within 10 seconds of stepping through the front door. An appealing front door, a friendly entryway, and a functioning doorbell are all necessities for getting top dollar.

Want to find out how much your property is worth in the Denver market? Give me a call, today.