Real Estate Information

There are alot of key elements that go into selling your home quickly and within range of what end price you are looking for.  Picking the right real estate agent to represent your home will get you started in the right direction.  One key piece of information that a good agent will be able to provide is access to a good staging company.

Buyers are looking for turn key homes today and will look until they find it.  In todays real estate market having your home in marketable condition is key.  A staging professional can help you acheive that goal.  From simply just making verbal suggestions on what you need to change all the way to bringing in furniture and accessories to make your home pop.

Most sellers think that this service can be very expensive and in some situations it can be.  As I mentioned above some companies do offer consultations that can be as low as $75 for them to come out and simply give you suggestions.  Then it would be up to you to do the footwork.  If you opt for more full service there are companies that will stage up to 4-5 rooms for a minimum of 2 months for as low as $1500. 

Staging a home statistically has shown that it will sell quicker.  So the money that you invest could easily be saved by less time on the market.  Also the better your home shows, more than likely, the more a buyer will want to pay for your home.  So if you have a little bit of a budget I recommend exploring options on getting help to stage your home.  Let me know if I can point you in the right direction!

I'm often asked if this is a good time to buy a home. Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already. They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy. The problem with this approach is that you don't know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you've missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability. Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows. Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life. It's important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial "comfort zone." To that end, it may be more important to lock in today's relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today's market.