Sheri’s Blog

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! Read More…

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!

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…