If you are a homebuyer in today’s market, you need to make decisions fast. If a seller counters and you decide to sleep on it, you may wake up to a nightmare.
Welcome to the latest episode of “What’s Working Now!”
Recently, one of my sellers made a counteroffer and was surprised when the buyer wanted to sleep on it.
After all, we are in an incredibly competitive market right now, and homes are selling fast.
The buyer initially made a great offer, but my seller didn’t think it was quite great enough. We adjusted the offer just a tad and made a counteroffer. Instead of making a decision right away, the buyer said they would sleep on it.
In the meantime, I contacted several agents who had been through the property. Some
Recently, my buyers successfully utilized the rare “comeback” negotiation strategy and got their perfect house. How can this strategy benefit you?
Welcome to another episode of “What’s Working Now!”
Even though we are in a competitive market, some of my buyers were able to successfully use the rare but effective “comeback” negotiating strategy.
My buyers made an offer on a house and, after negotiating back and forth, they didn’t get the property. So, they walked away and we looked at other homes. However, the more we looked at other properties, the more they realized how that house was really the perfect house for them.
They also realized that the way we wrote the offer the first time wasn't the best strategy for them.
How can you buy and sell a home in a competitive market like ours? We kill two birds with one stone by looking at “Under the Radar” properties.
Welcome to the latest episode of “What’s Working Now!”
Recently, I helped my clients kill two birds with one stone by buying and selling a house at the same time.
No one wants to make an offer contingent on the sale of their home but in this case, that had to happen. Instead of going after a property already listed on the MLS and competing with non-contingent buyers, we set out to find an “Under the Radar” property that hadn’t yet hit the market.
One of my client’s friends pointed us towards a great home in a co-op building. We got the key, went to see it, and my clients loved
This week on “What’s Working Now!” I’m going over some great tips from my right-sizing and decluttering seminar!
If you’re just getting ready to move, there’s a lot you need to get in order. So, where do you start? Your home holds years of clothing, furniture, books, letters, mementos, photographs, etc. that can seem pretty overwhelming when the time comes to organize for a move.
The best advice for starting the process is to keep it simple. Make a to-do list of things you need to sort, organize, clean, remove, throw away, donate, sell, repair, or paint. You also might need to include landscaping projects and hiring movers on the to-do list.
It’s important to know that not all to-do lists are the same. Different methods
"The Washingtonian" asked me if I could provide a few tips for navigating the D.C. market, and I obliged. Here are their questions and my answers to them.
Welcome to another episode of “What’s Working Now!”
Today I want to share some tidbits from an upcoming Q&A feature I did with Marissa Kashino of The Washingtonian about tips for navigating the D.C. real estate market. Here’s an exclusive look at some of her questions and my responses.
“What street or streets tend to be especially desirable? That is, where houses sell fast and where buyers stalk listings?”
A different perspective is to consider the potential impact busy streets have on desirability. In a balanced market, a home on a busy street might be discounted 15%
As a seller, unreasonable buyer expectations can make contract negotiations on your house more difficult than they need to be. Luckily, there’s a way for you to solve this problem.
Today I want to talk about the emerging trend in buyer expectations that impacts marketing, contract negotiations, and—most importantly—home inspection negotiations.
Let’s imagine you’re a seller and we’ve got a contract on your house, we’ve negotiated the price and all the terms with the buyer, and we’re ready for the home inspection. This buyer will expect that your house is move-in ready and nothing is wrong with it other than what you’ve already disclosed in your disclosure document.
Suddenly, the home inspector comes in and has a long list
Today I want to talk about another strategy you as a buyer can do to avoid the frustration caused by no houses being for sale.
You need to find an agent who knows how to find properties “under the radar.” They need to be able to network for you by networking with the other agents who are working in the neighborhoods where you want to live. They need to do things like knock on doors, send mail, and advertise on Facebook.
Most neighborhoods where we live also have neighborhood Listservs. If you can find an agent who can utilize Listserv, that would help tremendously.
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Your agent needs to be able to network.
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For example, I’m working with a family right now who wants to live in a particular location, so I
Today I want to talk about another success strategy for buyers so they can avoid the frustration caused by a market that looks like there are no houses for sale.
This strategy is to find an agent who knows how to win. They can give you advice on what you need to do if there are multiple offers so you can position yourself to be the best buyer for that seller. They can also offer advice on what contingencies you can actually get rid of by doing some things in advance. These contingencies can include a home inspection contingency, a finance contingency, or an appraisal contingency.
A good "buyer's" agent is someone who sounds like they’re working for the seller. If they know what the seller wants and they can position you to
Welcome back to another edition of “What’s Working Now!" Today we’re going to discuss... wait, shh, listen to the lament of today's serious buyers, "There are no homes for sale right now!"
It’s true—there is a continuing trend in our market that has created an incredible opportunity for home sellers to make more money. The weather is cold outside and many are under the impression that no one is out looking at homes right now.
In reality, buyers are saying they want to buy, they are well-qualified to buy, and there are no homes for sale right now. If I were to put your home on the market now, it would probably be sold within a week or sooner! Just the other day, I had an open house Sunday afternoon and Sunday night the
Welcome to the latest episode of "What's Working Now!" Today I’d like to answer a question just about everyone asks: Is staging your home worth it?
“Staging” means a lot of things when it comes to selling your home. Primarily, though, it means making the house look appealing to the people coming in. This means taking you, your tastes, your family, and your stuff out of the house. To know how to identify what needs to go, put yourself in the mind of the photographer coming in to take pictures. What do you want in those pictures? You definitely don’t want any family photos festooned everywhere or dirty dishes languishing in the sink.
In the pictures, you want to show off the house, not the furniture. After you’ve cleaned
