Sheri’s Blog

Yesterday, a gentleman called me to find out more about my listing services. His home had been on the market for quite some time, and he was looking for another agent to relist with. He began querying my about my services, and how I might fit in to his general plan. What I quickly learned is that he had his own ideas of how the process should run. He didn’t like “lock boxes”, needed to be present during all showings, and needed many hours lead time prior to showings. When I asked how many showings he had received during the time the house was listed, he responded ”not very many”. However, he quickly discounted any reasons buyers gave for not wanting the house, and felt angry that they wasted his time. When I asked about why he was adverse to lock boxes, he responded that buyers would just “have to understand that if they want to see the house, that they must follow my rules”. It is clear that this seller had set up an adversarial relationship between he and buyers. He wanted to control all aspects of the sale. His attitude was combative, and he sees buyers (and most likely agents) as the “enemy”. 

Selling a house is a numbers game, the more traffic, the greater the possibility of the sale. So when sellers set up road blocks, making it difficult for agents to show property, and making buyers and agents uncomfortable during showings by hovering, and being combative and territorial, the house has little likelihood of ever selling. The bottom line…sellers need buyers…MANY BUYERS to come waltzing through the front door, unencumbered and free to roam. When you sell your house, you enter one of the most competitive markets ever. If a seller decides to make his house inaccessable, there are simply many others for buyers to choose from, and there goes your sale. Buyers are a sellers best friend, not the enemy. Once a buyer can really connect with the house, you’ve got a sale, and that’s a win/win!

Staging can make a tremendous difference in how quickly a home sells and how much it sells for. Buying a home is an emotional decision. Ideally, when a buyer previews your house, you want them to be thinking “WOW!”. If we can tap into that emotion, they will likely grab their check book and write an offer.

Staging maximizes a homes appeal by showcasing the homes best features, and should not be confused with decorating, which showcases a persons individual style. Staging involves 1. Using neutral colors on the walls and floors to create a calm, soothing, and welcoming impression 2. De-cluttering 3. Deep cleaning 4. Eliminating and/or rearranging furniture to open up space in every room. 5. Accessorizing. If you can “wow” buyers, and allow them to easily visualize their own things in your beautiful home, you’ve got a sale!

Why stage? In today’s market, where competition is fierce, it’s important to do whatever you can to increase a homes appeal and catch the eye of buyers. Buyers look at many homes, and then choose the best. If your home is not among the top, they will move on quickly. Staging gets your house noticed.

Recently, I listed a home that needed updating. The sellers had already put a tremendous amount of money  into the property, and felt that buyers should be able to overlook the flaws; the house was empty. The problem with this logic is that the average buyer has very little imagination. As Barb Schwartz, professional stager says “The average buyer can only see, the way it is, not the way it will be”. If buyers don’t like what they see, they move on quickly, or look for reasons to discount. In three weeks, we had seven showings and no offers. It was time to do something. The sellers finally agreed to paint the dark trim and doors white, and stage the kitchen with a beautifully set table and bakers rack. Above the fireplace, we added a warm painting and plant, making it the focal point of the room. Outside on the covered deck, they placed rocking chairs and hanging baskets of flowers. Now the house, which originally felt dark and cold, felt warm and inviting. Within one week, we received a multiple offer, and sold the house at asking price.

Buyers resist staging because it usually takes a bit of work and some financial investment. However, your original investment is almost always less than your first price reduction. Depending on the condition of the house, the cost of staging can very. But the average cost is somewhere between $1,500 to $3,000.

When it comes to homes, I’ve always loved to fix them up and make them look beautiful, so “staging” quickly became a part of my listing service when I entered the world of Real Estate. The more I read, the more I began implementing staging techniques, and collecting items such as paintings, table cloths, duvet covers, and other things that could help boost the homes appeal. There are so many things that can be purchased at garage sales, consignment stores, and even thrift shops that can add tremendous value to your home, so staging does not have to be costly. You just have to use your imagination, and follow simple guidelines.

While it is true that Huntsville has seen a decline in home sales and pricing, there’s no reason to hit the panic button. As history shows, our real estate market is cyclical, based largely on the state of our economy, which will, overtime, improve. But what do you do if you’re a seller,  and need to sell your home in the upcoming months? First, you must be realistic about “value”. Your house is worth exactly what a buyer is willing to pay. Buyers determine “value” based on other home sales in your neighborhood. And in this market, buyers are largely concerned about overpaying, particularly if they believe values will be coming down. Right now “pricing” and “presentation” are the keys toward a successful home sale. Pricing your home at fair market value, and “staging” your home will bring you the needed traffic to generate an offer. But here’s another thought. In a down market, though you may lose money on your existing home, you will gain more on your purchase. For example, if the market is down 3%, your $200,000 house would be worth $194,000. However, that $400,000 house you’ve been eyeing would now be worth $388,000, making your net gain $6,000! A down market is a good time to trade up!

I have recently changed my name from blog.gohomesolutions.com to sheribulgatz.com. It’s shorter, and it separates my blog a little more from my business. You will still be able to get to my blog from the old address for awhile, but that will not work indefinitely.

Greetings, readers. My name is Adam Bulgatz, and I’m excited to introduce myself. I am Sheri’s son, this site’s administrator, and in the future, I hope to be an active participant in this site’s community. I created this site with my mother to help her promote herself, but also to share with people her experiences as a realtor. Our wish is that through this blog, we will be able to help people have a smooth, easy time when buying and selling real estate. We look forward to this blog and its community growing together, and to reading all of your comments on past, present, and future articles.

Recently, I met a seller, whom I’ll call Joe, who owns a lake house in a resort town close to Huntsville. The house has been sitting on the market for over two years, and Joe was only just beginning to question the competence of the listing agent. He began asking me questions about the market, and why I believed it hadn’t sold. I asked him what kind of feedback, in the two years that the home had been listed, that his agent had provided him. He said “very little”. Now I’ve always believed there are two sides to every story. There’s his side, the agents side, and perhaps the truth lay somewhere in between. And in the business of real estate, sometimes the truth for sellers is difficult to hear, particularly when a house is grossly overpriced and not selling. Read More…

Dear Homeowner,

Have you noticed…

• Small cracks in the drywall above windows and doors
• Small cracks in the exterior brick motor
• Funny smells
• Floors feel a little uneven
• Sound of water dripping in the walls
• Allergies flaring up (nose running, eyes watering, etc.)

These are my invitations to come visit me, your crawlspace. I know you probably don’t want to visit me anymore than you do the dentist, but you need to, before the pain gets bad- maybe real bad.
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Some years ago, my husband and I bought our second home. We found what we thought was a great house, made our offer, and then entered into a contract. Later the next day, I began thinking. The home seemed dark inside… so many trees. And we’d have to repaint and re-carpet… hmmm how much was all that going to cost? And the den, with all those dark beams running across the ceiling, they would have to be removed. Suddenly, I was besieged with fear. What had we done? I was in a full fledged panic now, and was feeling trapped by the contract. This house was just all wrong! I wanted out!

I had a good case of what we in the business call “buyer’s remorse”. And this is where many deals are lost, or buyers get themselves into trouble.

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Remember that Williamsburg house my husband and I bought which I discussed in my last BLOG? When it came time to sell (before I became a Realtor working the Huntsville/Madison Alabama area), my husband and I had tried selling “by owner.” In order to save Realtor fees, I embarked on a campaign to learn everything I could about having a successful home sale. “Have a marketing plan,” “Make sure you price your home right,” books recommended. My exhaustive marketing campaign included newspaper ads, emails, hanging flyers, and Open Houses. We even welcomed agents, hoping they would bring qualified buyers. In the end we were unsuccessful, but not for lack of trying. We did receive one offer. Ironically, their Realtor talked them out of it! What I took away from my experience were the difficulties that FSBO’s face.

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Yesterday, I was talking to a gentleman about his home. He and his wife have decided to try their luck at selling “by owner”. They have priced their home well over $500,000. And though the neighborhood is nice, this seemed extremely high to me. When I asked how they arrived at the asking price, he said they based it on what they invested in the home over their last seven years of occupancy. This included necessary repairs (there had been many structural problems) as well as upgrades.

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