Tune into HGTV’s House Hunters Renovation“An Old House Gets a New Master Plan” on September 19th at 9:00 AM to follow my clients, Michael and Ella on their journey of selling their home in Black Rock and moving to Fairfield to get better schools for their blended family of three kids. Of course, yours truly helps them with this part. I had originally helped them buy their house in Black Rock in 2010 and then got it sold for them the first day on the market which made them very strong buyers for this new home purchase.
Then the HGTV design team takes over to make their fixer-upper that’s missing one bedroom into a designer dream home that works for the whole family!
Below is a behind the scenes peak with Michael, Ella and the onsite director and camera crew at a lunch break during filming.
With Michael, Ella the director and camera crew during a lunch break from filming.
The show went well, and Michael and Ella are enjoying their new digs as well as the excellent schools in Fairfield CT!
Pricing your house is not an exact science, but there are plenty of things you can do to help snag your buyer sooner rather than later. Here are 10 of my strategies:
1. Get the Market Scoop – Have your agent show you recent sales of similar homes nearby. Note the sale prices, how long they took to sell and how close to asking they sold for. Next discuss your competition and get a feel for what choices the buyers have and how your house stacks up. 2. Note Improvements – Show your agent all the great things you’ve done to your house since you bought it that may increase its value. Review maintenance and repair work as well. This may help set you apart from your competition. 3. ID Pros & Cons – Talk to your agent about what the key selling points and challenges are for your property and how this information can impact your price. 4. Embrace Staging – Ask your agent how the marketing tool of staging to attract buyers can sell your house faster and for the most money. 5. Don’t Do This – Avoid the mistake of pricing your home based on your personal finances. The number you want or need may have nothing to do with the market value. Only the market and the buyers determine your selling price. Remember that if your house is worth more to you than it is to all the buyers, you will remain the lucky owner! 6. Don’t Do This Either! – Avoid accepting inflated price quotes from friends, poker buddies, colleagues, bridge ladies, the mail man and family members instead of your agent’s- unless of course they’re ready, willing and able to purchase your property on the spot! 7. Try Buyer’sEyes – Pretend you are a buyer choosing between your house and several others. Which one would you choose and why? If your house offers more value than the others, maybe you can ask a higher price than your competition. 8. Don’t Go it Alone – Unless you’re sure your house will fly off the shelf and you know how to navigate the complexities and potential pitfalls of a real estate transaction, be sure you hire a good Realtor. Remember that if you try to price and sell on your own,
you will be missing much of the information needed to guide realistic pricing,
buyers will see that you have not invested in a broker and deduct that money from their offer price,
without a Realtor’s marketing plan, your house will not get the exposure needed to draw a strong buyer pool regardless of your price, and
if an offer comes in, you will be challenged to evaluate its terms and the quality of the buyer.
9. Go Live! – Now your agent can launch the marketing plan with a price you feel makes the most logical sense after weighing all the considerations above. 10. Track Course & Close! – Your agent will track showing activity and feedback as well as market changes. If you have ample showings the first week, your price is likely right on the money! If you don’t have offers after a couple of months (depending on the pace of the market) but you are still getting showings, a slight price adjustment will likely do the trick. I am happy to discuss your plans and how I can help. Happy Selling!
Sharing her wisdom as a guest speaker at our sales meeting this month was Tracy A. Becker, President of NorthShoreAdvisory, a Credit Education & Restoration Company. This company is one of the very reputable firms out there to help us understand the credit mysteries and improve our scores. Tracy is a Certified FICO Professional, author of two books on credit and is the “Credit Expert” on the Eye on Real Estate radio show on WOR AM.
She began the meeting by announcing that, “If your credit score is not 740 or higher, it is not excellent and you should call me.” I was thinking, what’s wrong with Very Good, Impressive, or Decent? Anything short of excellent is no good these days? Apparently it best be excellent or you can potentially lose thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on a mortgage with higher interest rates. Some sources even say that insurance premiums are linked to credit scores.
We all know that we should pay our bills on time, but there is a lot more that most of us are unaware of that impacts our credit score.
Here are the top 5 tips from Tracy that I was surprised to learn,
1. “Seasoned” credit (over 2 years old) is excellent for your scores, and the older the better. So don’t go closing your old credit card accounts! 2. A variety of credit is good for your score such as credit cards, auto loans, student loans and a mortgage. 3. Your credit can be pulled by third parties up to 5 times in a 12-month period with little impact to your score, but beyond this, your score can drop 30-40 points. You can pull your own credit score as often as you wish with no negative consequences. 4. A new late payment can drop your score over 100 points. 5. The higher your FICO score, the bigger the hit your score will take if new negative information is added.
If you are getting ready to apply for a mortgage or other financing in the near future, Tracy says to go to Credit.com and pay to get your FICO score. If it’s below 740, her company may be able to help save you big bucks! She gives free consultations by phone to determine whether her company can effectively help you, and there is no charge unless you hire her.
To receive pdf via email of Tracy’s expanded list of “Tips on Credit” send a request below.
Fairfield and Westport CT Real Estate Guide 