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Want your home to sell fast, but too busy working and raising three children? Stagers help put best face on slow-moving houses. Turn to a home stager, who will rearrange furniture and add flowers and rugs to make your home more appealing to prospective buyers!
 

 
Professional stagers curb clutter, rearrange furniture and perform minor makeovers aimed at boosting sales prices and shaving the time it takes to sell properties.
 
About a quarter of homes nationwide were sold last year after being staged by a professional - up from 10 percent five years ago, according to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.
 
The trend toward staging has been fueled, in part, by the proliferation of home improvement television shows and the challenge facing sellers seeking to distinguish their houses in a crowded market.
 
The average charge for a consultation is $100 to $300, which pays for a stager to take photos of rooms and compile a report that lists suggested improvements. Costs rise - $5,000 and up for staging multiple rooms and renting furniture for a couple of months - depending on the number of projects undertaken.
 
Remember, you have about three to five seconds to grab buyers, and it’s critical because buyers right now don’t want to do a lot of home improvement work.
 
Homes staged before being listed sold for almost 6 percent more than homes that were listed, staged and then sold, according to a study by stagedhomes.com. Several stagers have noticed a growing willingness among sellers to spend money preparing their home for a sale. The investment, which can range from $86 to paint a room to more than $1,000 to rent and stage furniture - is minuscule compared to the potential drop in a home’s asking price after lingering unsold on the market, stagers say.
 
You can’t afford not to invest. If you don’t, your house is going to sit on the market. The potential return is worth the investment. In a better housing market, sellers could list their homes with unpainted rooms or dingy carpet. No more now. With more competition, you have one chance to make a first impression.

Top 7 Questions For Buyer Feedback
 

The most important question a home seller can ask a buyer who has just finished viewing a home is “What did you think?” Yet, many sellers (and their agents) hesitate to get buyer feedback after showings. Why? Some people don’t know which questions to ask, and others, most likely, are afraid to hear the answers.
 

Buyer feedback is essential. Without it, home sellers won’t know what they are doing right and what could be improved upon. Because after all, it doesn’t really matter what the seller thinks. It’s the buyer’s opinion that matters.
 

Here are sample questions that you can use to get buyer feedback:
 

1. What is Your Overall Impression of This Home?

 
Buyers will tell you the truth but pepper it with compliments they think you want to hear because nobody wants to offend you.
 

They might use weak adjectives or make statements such as “It’s nice,” or “I liked it,” which is why you will need to probe deeper. In any case, whatever responses you receive, don’t become combative or argue with the buyer, just thank them for their input and for viewing your home.
 
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In a buyer’s market, it is twice as important to increase traffic over other types of markets. If you aren’t getting enough showings because the exterior of your home looks like every other home in the neighborhood — whether it’s a single family home or a townhome / condo, it might not be price. It might be because there is an abundance of inventory on the market, and buyers have too much to choose from.

 
Here are some ways to Increase Traffic:
 
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Home sellers not only need to think like a realtor in finding potential buyers for their homes, they also need to think like a personal security agent.

Sellers need to keep their safety in mind when prospecting potential buyers. The real estate industry has seen a problematic climb in assaults towards realtors, and so is the concern for those who are selling their own homes.

Here are the top 7 ways to protect you, your family, and your home, from being victimized:

 
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Ask any full-service luxury agent this question and the answer will probably be a resounding, “No.” Yesterday, however, USA Today reported that Ron Baron, founder of the Baron Funds investment company, paid a record $103 million for a residential property in East Hampton, N.Y. The price is strictly for the land and it supposedly sold without an agent.
 
Clearly, this was a “discreetly marketed” property, which many ultra-high-end sales are. The owners want absolute privacy about the transaction and rely on personal spheres of influence to push the sale rather than going public and listing. There’s nothing unusual about commercial or industrial properties of this magnitude being sold directly without an agent. At this level, there are only limited number of players. In terms of residential real estate, however, this is unprecedented.
 
The typical arguments those of us on the full-service side make is that we can market the property internationally, we can provide better exposure throughout our national and international brokerage networks, and we can help the seller negotiate a higher price. The question in this case is whether these services and the potentially higher price are worth a $6 million commission. Clearly in Baron’s case it was not. It will be interesting to see whether the Blixseth estate at Yellowstone Club or any of the other $75+ million listings follow suit.
Source: Inman.com

You’ve heard of this acronym before and now that you’re in the process of selling your home, expect to hear more of it. But what exactly is MLS and why should you know more about it?
 
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Elizabeth Weintraub has an extensive background in real estate spanning more than 30 years, including experience in related industries that support real estate sellers and buyers. Elizabeth wrote about the most common mistakes home sellers do when selling a house and I decided to publish this information on the blog as well.

Selling your home is one of the most critical activities you will do your entire life. If you are going to sell your home, it is ideal if you secure the services of professionals who can guide you every step of the way. But if you are intent on doing this on your own, make sure you avoid these mistakes most home-sellers make.

• Basing a home’s selling price on your emotions or its perceived market value is another usual mistake home sellers make. As a seller, you must put your pride and love for your home and allow a professional appraiser provide you with your home’s true market value. If you rely on your emotions, you may price your home too low or too high. Peg the price too low and you don’t get what it’s really worth, peg the price too high and it stays in the market longer (thus lowering its market value). Either way, you lose, so it’s best to leave this task to the experts.
• The manner by which you present your home and the renovations you have done prior to putting your home up for sale are also home selling mistakes. Presenting an unkempt or ill-maintained house turns off buyers. Over improving it prior to selling and over pricing it also affects the outcome of your sale.
• Another mistake home sellers make is that they don’t take the first offer seriously. Remember that an offer is an offer. Don’t ignore an offer and keep holding out for a better price.
• Finally, not getting yourself with the legal rights and obligations as a home seller is the biggest mistake you can make. A wrong stipulation or an erroneous document can cost you not just your home, but litigation expenses as well.

Bear these in mind when you are selling your home. If you feel that you’re in over your head, just go to the professionals and let them do all the work.

You already know how to make your home more appealing to the eye. You’ve repainted the walls, rearranged the furniture pieces, removed personal mementos, and brought in warmth by the use of plants and flowers. Now you have to attend to the daunting task of taking a snapshot of your home.

 
Is it necessary to take a photo of your home? Yes, it is necessary. You will need the photo when you place an advertisement in the newspaper, or to make flyers from your home computer. You will also probably want to have a visual reminder of the place that sheltered you and your family for many years.
 

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It is but natural for you, the home owner, to want to get the highest possible price for your property. Getting a good price for your home does not involve pegging the rate at an exorbitant level, way above its actual market value. This practice does not help sell the home, but actually lower its desirability. If you want your home to fetch a good price, you should take note of the following:

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