Simply put, you either get a good deal or you don?t ? this all starts with the buying price. To get the best deal you must do your homework. How much is the home worth compared to what others in the area have sold for? Do you know how long the property has been on the market, and whether or not any price reductions have taken place? The more questions you ask the more information you will find.

If you want to get the best possible deal, hire a real estate agent to work on your behalf. When buying a home with the help of an agent you do not pay a dime ? they get their money from the seller?s agent. What you get is professional assistance that can help you receive the best possible deal.

The deal you get is the deal you get; there is no going back. For this reason, make sure you are 100 percent sure of what you are doing. The final price is an important one!

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You make money on the Buying Price

Clean

This can?t be stressed strongly enough. If you?re not into cleaning your own house before the sale then hire a professional, in fact it might be worth the money to hire one anyway as they will notice areas you routinely overlook. But no matter who does it, a top to bottom thorough cleaning is a necessity.

Remove your Personality

Most people can?t imagine themselves in someone else?s home, the key is to make your home look like their new home, not your old one. Take your personal items and photographs down, remove your collections, and let go of the home emotionally. As a side note, be sure to remove anything of value before your home is open to the public for other reasons.?

Strip the Room

Take as much as you can out of each room. This means take out all unnecessary furniture pieces and accessories. Less furniture will make the room look larger and more appealing to prospective buyers. Really skilled stagers will be able to bring in just the right amount of accessories to make the home look like an interior decorating magazine, attractive but depersonalized.

photo credit:?army.arch

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How to Prepare your Home for Sale

Neighborhoods are quickly compared on a variety of levels so people relocating can instantly get a better feel for the area. Enter your criteria and you?ll suddenly have a list of places that are available. For renters this can save hours and better prepare you with information on the neighborhoods.

For landlords the analysis helps monitor rental trends in their neighborhoods which can help with setting rent rates. This information is provided instantly so no more scouring the newspapers and calling for rates and amenities is necessary.

For people interested in investing in real estate, especially multiple family units, Zilpy is very helpful as it gives you information on what the units are renting for and therefore you can estate your gross income. You will also see what the trends in the area are and if the property you?re looking at is comparable.

With information like this so readily available it will be easier for everyone involved with apartments to comparison shop and gather more detailed statistics for their research.

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Renting Tool at Zilpy.com

Look at the Market

Familiarize yourself with the local market and learn what else is for sale, find similar homes and look at their asking prices. Keep neighborhood, size, amenities, length of listing, and other key factors in mind.

Research Pending Sales

The price of pending sales isn’t advertized or available until the sale is finalized, but your realtor may be able to find out or you can call the listing agent and ask yourself. This will let you know what price range is hot in your local market and where you compare.

Local Market Trends

Most of the housing market is in a downward trend or a buyer’s market but some regions are starting to pick up and seller’s are having more luck, but a neutral market will have to come about before it’s an actual seller’s market. This will dictate your home price as much as anything else.

If you have a realtor then they can be of great help in this area. They won’t be able to set a price for you but can give you some helpful advice and can provide assistance with your research.

photo credit:?patriotweb

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Pricing a House to Sell

Experience

Good real estate agents have years of experience and have run across more situations than you have and will instantly either know how to handle the situation or be able to find the right references to explain things in detail.

Local Knowledge

Not only do realtors know about the local market’s prices but they know which neighborhoods are good and which are having issues, they know what features are popular locally and of high interest to buyers and what features are considered a deficit.

Price Information

Your realtor will not set your price or your offer for your but they do know a lot about the area and what home values are and a good real estate agent will be able to guide you in setting fair prices.

Networks

Real estate professionals tend to network with each other frequently so your agent will know about the entire market, not just homes their company handles. They’ll also know where to find contractors who are experienced and have a good reputation.

Paperwork

Buying a home, especially the closing, is a paperwork laden procedure that leaves many people feeling overwhelmed. Real estate agents routinely handle the paperwork and will be able to translate and guide you through the entire process.

Basically a professional real estate agent can be a great benefit to those thinking about purchasing property, especially first time home buyers, because their experience and knowledge will lighten your stress load and make the entire process go more smoothly.

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Why Hire a Realtor

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Zillow.com

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Zillow.com is a great website if you?re using your computer but it?s amazing if you have an iPhone as they?ve just added a free app that gives you everything you want to know on the homes you?re driving by, even the ones that aren?t for sale. The GPS driven application knows where you are and gives you the basics of for sale homes and then homes in the area so you can compare the price against relatively similar houses.

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Trulia.com

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With Trulia.com you can search for sales. They let users scan the prices homes were originally listed at, what their current price is and how many times the prices dropped, by how much, and the dates of the reductions. This lets you get a feel for how desperate the seller is and if they?re coming close to a price you can afford.

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YouTube.com

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Most people are somewhat familiar with YouTube.com and home sellers are using the site to their advantage. Why not give potential buyers a link to a virtual tour of your home that you can do yourself for very little time and financial expense. And if you?re looking for a home a video tour is much more effective as it gives you a better perspective on space and size. But note to the wise ? if the audio track is more soundtrack than informative, turn it off, it can affect your feelings about a home.

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Real Estate Websites to Know

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It is expected that in the next 10 years, as those echo boomers range between their early 20s to late 30s, housing will once again boom as they strive toward their American dream.

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But on the downside, the weak economy and job losses throughout the country are forcing more people out of the home market or into smaller homes. There has also been a reduction in home values across the country that have made some leery about home purchases.

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Another problem with the current economy and the housing market in general was the careless way that people went into the market, purchasing much more than they could afford on loans that were basically designed to fail.

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Hopefully when the market does turn around and perhaps another boom winds up we?ll be looking at home buyers who are more realistic about their home purchases than their predecessors and we can prevent another housing crisis of this magnitude.

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Good News in the Housing Front

The average home size had been 2,300 square feet and that is dropping pretty dramatically, by at least 100 square feet. In fact some of the McMansions built in the last decade may not be as desirable to buyers as older, smaller homes.

You?ll also see a lot less luxury around the house, both inside and out. People are no longer concerned with having the high-end everything and are looking for low maintenance, environmentally friendly features to add to their home.

With the cut backs in luxuries the new trend in uber chic is less is more. Look for design trends and home d?cor to pare down and become sleek with a focus on simple lines and multiple functions.
And because people are spending more time at home and focusing on entertaining the family together you?ll see televisions, game systems and living rooms on the rise. These areas will be where more money will be spent and the little luxuries may creep into the fray.

photo credit: Jeremy Levine Design

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Home Trends for 2009

Advertise?

To accomplish the first element you’re going to have to advertise to draw a crowd. Take out an ad in your local paper and any real estate flyers you may have in the area. Purchase some signs to place in your yard and on any adjacent busy streets. Then flood the internet with advertising about your open house.

Set the Stage?

It should go without saying that your home should be spotless but unfortunately many people miss this and they ignore messes they’ve just gotten used to. Have a friend that will be honest with you come through and look for messes and smells that may be offensive. You should also remove all personal touches so that visitors can picture themselves in the home.

Play the Host?

Set out some refreshments for your guests. Many realtors recommend baking cookies because the smell is homey to people. So why not give them the comfort food rather than simply treating it as an air freshener. You can also set out small bottles of water and little candies to make it more of an experience for prospective buyers.

Provide Information

Create glossy and full color handouts for the visitors. Include all the pertinent information that people may be looking to compare in the future and add some beautiful pictures so they remember how wonderful your home is.

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Host a Successful Open House

First you need to be aware that a haunted home is called a stigmatized property, which is also the name given to homes in which murder, mayhem or suicides occurred. In 30 days realtors and property owners do not have to disclose information on stigmatized properties but there have been lawsuits against them for this non-disclosure. The difference is it’s rather easy to prove that a murder or suicide occurred on a property but a haunting is harder to prove and you’re less likely to get sued. So follow your state rules, if they say disclose then you have to, if they don’t, you don’t.

Secondly, don’t further any rumors by talking about odd experience or occurrences at your home and swiftly dismiss anything you hear. Gossip can do a lot of damage and you don’t want to add to it.

Third, work to change the atmosphere. Brighten the place with sunny yellow paint or another cheery color. Add flowers to your landscaping, oil creaky doors and secure loose floorboards. Approach the home as you would a child’s nursery, brighten every corner.

Finally, if you’re still not able to make the sale, consider going the other route - some people are actually very interested in haunted properties, so go crazy and spread rumors, make it as spooky as possible.

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Selling a Haunted House