Lee Morof's Real Estate Blog

Do you remember the first time you shopped for or purchased a home? If so, think back to that moment. What did you first notice? Do you remember certain aspects of the home’s appearance, or perhaps some unique landscape feature? Was it the bright color of the freshly-painted door or the glossy sheen from the clean windows?

The concept of ‘curb appeal’ – that is, how your home appears when viewing from the curb – is an important one, especially when selling your home. 

Give A Strong First Impression

The first impression that your home gives is one that will last. If your paint is fading or chipped, your siding is damaged, your roof is in disrepair or your gutters are hanging loose, what do you expect a potential buyer to think? It’s safe to assume that if you can’t be bothered to pull the weeds in the garden or rake up the leaves that there may be other maintenance issues lurking.

Remember, your goal is to sell your home as quickly as possible and for the best price. If your house looks like it’s in perfect shape from the outside, potential buyers will want to explore further.

Appeal To The Drive-By Buyers

You may not be aware, but many potential home buyers won’t bother connecting with your real estate agent or showing up to your open house events. Instead, they’ll drive by to get a feel for how the house and property look from the outside. Some might peer into your backyard or take a quick look around the lot as well. It’s critical that your home appears in peak condition at all times during the sales process. If your curb appeal declines, you may end up losing out on a potential sale.

Set Your Home Apart From The Neighbors

Contrast is another reason why focusing on your home’s curb appeal is important. Potential home buyers will be comparing your house with others on the same street and across the neighborhood. If your house is the best looking one on the block, it’s more likely to sell for a high price than if it’s the runt of the litter.

When you’re ready to list your home for sale, our professional real estate team will be happy to share some more curb appeal tips. Give us a call at your convenience – we look forward to connecting with you.

Have you ever had a conversation with a total stranger where you said something that you regret? If you are placing your house or condo on the market, you’re eventually going to end up having to chat with potential buyers. Yes, your real estate agent is likely to do most of the talking. However, you will still have to deal with buyers that want to grill you about the home’s history, condition and more.

With that in mind, let’s have a look at four things you should never say to someone who is interested in buying your home.

“We’re Not Accepting Offers Less Than…”

A good way to kill your sale and have a buyer walk away is to set a price floor on bids and offers. Even if the amount you are asking for is reasonable, many buyers will pass because they are offended that they’re being forced to bid above a certain price. Unless otherwise advised by your agent, it is best to let buyers feel in control of the offer process. You can always counter-offer later.

“Our House Has Been On The Market For…”

Stating how long your house has been on the market is rarely a good look. No matter how short or long the listing period has gone on for, buyers don’t need to know this. Moreover, if your home has been on the market for months, knowing that may scare potential buyers off.

“We’ve Always Meant To Renovate That…”

If you were going to fix, improve or even clean something in your home, you probably would have done it before inviting potential buyers in. Your goal is to present the house you do have in the best possible light. Try to avoid pointing out areas that a buyer is going to need to renovate or invest in later.

“We Need To Close The Sale By…”

The last thing you want to do is look desperate to close the sale and move on. Buyers and their agents are going to be looking for signs of weakness which will allow them to submit low-ball offers for your home. If you let on that you have to sell or move by some deadline, you can rest assured that you are not going to get as much when you sell.

There you have it – just four of the things you should not say to potential buyers of your home. For more tips and advice about selling your home, contact our professional real estate team today. We are happy to help.

Are you listing your home for sale now, or in the near future? If so, you have probably come to terms with the fact that soon you’ll be having strangers tour through your home asking all kinds of questions about it. In today’s blog post we’ll take a look at three strange questions that buyers might ask and how to approach answering them.

“Has Anyone Died In This House Or Is It Haunted?”

You might have chuckled when you read that, but questions about paranormal activity are more common than you think. Many people have beliefs and superstitions about ghosts, ghouls, demons and other spirits that haunt homes. Learning that someone has died in your house – even if it was long before you owned the place – is enough for some potential buyers to pass and move on to the next listing.

“Is Anything Buried In The Backyard?”

Have you ever owned a pet that has grown old or otherwise perished? Think back to that experience and ask yourself: where did you bury them? Many families bury deceased pets in their backyard, thinking that it is a good final resting place. And that may be true if you own the house for the rest of your life. However, if you decide to sell, then you have passed on a backyard that has a corpse resting in it. That can end up as a startling surprise for the next family to live there, especially if they have a dog that enjoys digging up the turf.

“Have There Been Any Infestations?”

Asking about pest problems is a bit less on the weird side of things, but it is one question that is almost certain to come up. Visitors will want to know if your home has experienced mice, rats, termites, ants, cockroaches and a variety of other plagues. Some of these will make sense for your home or the area you live – termites in a wood-framed house, for example – while others will make no sense at all.

Rest assured that the above are just a handful of the many bizarre and strange questions you might get while showing your house to potential buyers. If you do encounter something that seems a bit funny, aim to be polite and answer thoughtfully. When you are ready to list your home for sale, or for more tips and real estate advice, contact us. Our professional real estate team is here to answer any questions you have.

Staging is one of the most important aspects of any home sale. The more attractive your home is to potential buyers, the faster you can finalize the sale and move on. With that in mind, let’s explore four home staging ideas that won’t cost a fortune but are sure to impress your buyers.

#1: Clean The Place Until It Shines

The first and most obvious option is not going to cost much more than your time. Your home needs to be absolutely, positively spotless. The floors should be so clean that you would have no issue with eating off of them. The walls should be clean and free of marks. Windows and mirrors buffed to a sparkling shine. If there’s dirt to be found, rest assured that potential buyers will see it!

#2: Buy New Slip Covers And Sheet Sets

If your furniture is starting to look a little dated, you can spruce it up by investing in new slipcovers. These can be color matched to the rest of the room’s palette so that your furniture fits in. It is also a great idea to ensure that you have new-looking, matching sheet sets on all of the beds. The bedrooms don’t need to look like hotel rooms, but they do need to look good.

#3: Invest In Better Lighting For Important Rooms

When was the last time you replaced the bulbs in your fixtures and lamps? If you are still using dull older incandescent bulbs, it’s time to invest in newer LED or compact fluorescent lighting. It is best to try to match the color temperature of the bulbs to the rest of the room so that the room’s color and ‘feel’ don’t clash with the lighting. If this is a bit above your head, consider having a lighting expert come in to help light the important, high-traffic areas.

#4: Use Plants To Add A Bit Of Warmth And Life

Finally, if your home is lacking a bit of plant life, it might be time to take a quick trip to the local nursery. Adding one or two plants to your common areas adds a touch of life and even helps to keep the air fresh. If you prefer a pop of color, you can always add a flowering plant that’s currently in bloom.

Spending a few hours and a few dollars on staging is an investment that will pay off immensely when you sell your home. If you are thinking about listing your home for sale, or for more staging tips, contact our real estate team. We are happy to share our experience and help get your home sold quickly at a great price.

Are you listing your home for sale? If so, it is time to get ready to meet with buyers and their real estate agents. And while you surely want to sell your home as quickly as possible, you will also want to do your homework to make sure you’re selling to the right person. Let’s explore the process of buyer qualification and why it’s important to do a little digging into potential buyers of your home.

Is Your Buyer Pre-Approved For Mortgage Financing?

First, you’ll want to check with your buyer to see if they are approved for mortgage financing. The last thing you want is to agree to an offer only to have the buyer rescind it because they can’t afford your home. If the buyer is not already approved, suggest that they take that additional step before submitting their offer. Otherwise, you may end up experiencing significant delays in the closing process.

Ensure Your Buyer Has Their Earnest Money Ready

Next, you’ll want to check with your buyer to make sure that they have their earnest money ready. These funds are a deposit, typically one or two percent of the purchase price, which is held in escrow once you accept the buyer’s offer. Earnest money is a way for the buyer to prove to you that they are serious about purchasing your home. Once they have placed the deposit down, you can be confident that the buyer intends to close.

Note that the terms of your agreement should ensure that if the buyer backs out of the deal, you get to keep some or all of their earnest money. This is especially important if you’re fielding multiple offers for your home as you may lose the chance to sell if the buyer backs out.

Be Wary Of Offers That Seem Too Good To Be True

If an offer seems too good to be true, that may just be the case. Be wary of any offers that are significantly more than your asking price, or if the buyer is willing to buy your home without so much as an inspection. Rest assured that any serious buyer is going to do their due diligence to ensure they’re getting a good deal.

Buyer qualification is a bit of a process, but it’s an important step that ensures your home sale goes smoothly. When you’re ready to list your home for sale, contact your local real estate professional. We will be happy to assist you with finding the right buyer.

Is it time to move on from your house, townhouse or condo? If a sale is in your near future, you will want to start looking for a professional selling agent or broker to help manage the process. Let’s take a look at our quick and easy guide to finding the best real estate agent to handle your home sale.

Check Your Social Network

The easiest place to start is your social network, as almost everyone knows a great real estate agent. Get a post up on Facebook sharing that you are about to sell your home and you’re looking for the very best agent to help you sell it. Maybe an old high school acquaintance or college friend is now in the real estate business and can help.

Ask Your Friends And Family For Referrals

If you aren’t close with a trustworthy real estate agent, the next best people to ask are your local friends and family. It is unlikely that you’re going to get a bad referral from your best friend, brother or aunt. Send out a few text messages and make a few calls to let the family know that you’re hunting for a great real estate agent. Soon enough, you’ll have some recommendations.

Check Their Designations And Specialties

You might not know this, but real estate agents have specialties and designations available to certify in. Aside from becoming a REALTOR®, your agent may be a Certified Residential Specialist, an Accredited Buyer’s Representative, a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and more.

Be Sure To Read Reviews And Talk To Past Clients

When you’ve made a short list of your final choices for a selling agent, it’s time to check on their recent work. Ask the agent for a list of houses or other properties that they’ve sold recently. If possible, you’ll also want to socialize with some of their past clients to see what the agent is like. You’ll be working closely together for at least a couple of weeks, so it’s important that you choose a real estate professional that you’re comfortable with.

Selling your home is not a painful process, but it’s one where you’ll want to have the best agent working to protect your interests. If you’re thinking about making a move, contact your local real estate professional.

Are you thinking about selling your home? If so, you may be weighing the pros and cons of working with a professional real estate agent. Let’s take a quick look at three great reasons why you won’t want to handle the sale yourself.

You Won’t Save As Much As You Think

Let’s start with the most common and obvious reason that homeowners try to handle their home sale: the cost. It’s true that selling your home using the services of a real estate professional isn’t going to be free. Depending on the value of your home, their commission might range from two to four or five percent of the final sale price. However, the entire reason you’re paying commission is that you’re contracting with a professional to do a job. Your real estate agent is there to both share their experience and handle all of the tasks and responsibilities with your sale. Without them, you’ll be responsible for everything from creating an online listing for your property to figuring out how to host an open house.

So while you may believe you are saving money by not paying commission, you’re going to be burning a lot of your time. If you’re already busy in your career or as a parent, that may end up costing you more in the long run.

A Professional And Objective Eye Is A Huge Plus

Objectivity is another great reason to work with a real estate professional when selling your home. If you had to answer right now, would you say your home is better than your neighbor’s? Better than all the houses on your street, even? The majority of home sellers do believe their home is “above average,” which is of course statistically impossible.

When someone has been the one painting, renovating and putting love into her home for so long, it is no surprise that she becomes attached to it. A real estate agent’s objective eye can offer a nice dose of reality and help to keep the sale moving.

Many Buyers Will Automatically Avoid Owner Sales

Are you a professional salesperson? If not, do you have experience dealing with the public? Selling your home is a significant financial transaction in which you’re going to have to meet with buyers. Moreover, from their perspective, it’s likely that your home is not the only one they’re viewing. Many homebuyers will prefer to work with a seller agent as they know the process will be smooth and professional rather than trying to negotiate directly with an owner.

These are just a few of the reasons you won’t want to go it alone when you sell your home. For more information about local home sales, contact your local real estate professional today.

Are you ready to sell your home? Whether you’re just starting to make your plans or you’re ready to list now, you likely want to know how you can get top dollar. It’s going to take more than just throwing up a high price on the listing and waiting for a buyer to show up with a check. With that in mind, here are three secrets to ensuring that when you sell your house or condo, you get the best possible price.

Great Staging Is Critical To Your Success

The first secret is that you’ll really need to consider how you want to stage the outside and inside of your home. Staging your home is your best way to make a positive impression on potential buyers. Think about the difference in perception it makes arriving to view a beautiful, spotless and well-lit home compared with one that looks dirty or messy. Invest the time and money in staging your home and it will increase the value in the buyer’s eyes.

Let A Professional Take Care Of The Heavy Lifting

It probably comes as no surprise that buyers who engage the assistance of a professional real estate agent end up selling for more than those who try to go it alone. A great selling agent will have their eyes and ears tuned to the local real estate market and will have insight into current selling trends. They can also research other recent home sales in your local community and can share which price is likely to attract the most offers. When it comes time to field offers, your agent will be able to help you understand how much you can counter-offer without scaring off the buyer.

Be Willing To Negotiate With The Right Buyer

Finally, to ensure you get the most you can out of your sale you’ll need to remain open to negotiating with potential buyers. You may find that a great buyer needs some extra time to close their financing. Or that they’re willing to bump up their asking price in exchange for you making some easy renovations before turning the keys over to them. The more you’re willing to be flexible with your pricing and terms, the better your chances of securing a buyer that will give you a fair price for your home.

If you’re thinking about selling your home, contact your professional real estate agent. We’re happy to share our insight and experience to help you with the selling process.

If you’re planning on selling your home, you’ve probably already started to consider how you’re going to stage it. Staging is one of the most important parts of the selling process. The way you present your home is key to leaving a positive impression on a potential buyer. Let’s explore a few ways that you can stage smaller outdoor spaces to make them feel like they’re much more than they are.

Go With Smaller Furniture Options

If you’re trying to stage a small patio, deck or yard area, you’ll want to stick with smaller furnishings. Yes, that means packing up the enormous hammock or chaise lounge that you love to lazy around on. Remember, perspective is going to matter as potential buyers have never seen your outdoor spaces before. So any large furniture sitting in a small space is going to appear to be that much bigger.

One great idea is to use furniture that you can see through, as it will give the illusion that the area around it is much larger. Consider options like open-backed or Adirondack chairs which let light pass through.

Use Glass To Create A Spacious Illusion

Keeping visibility in mind, the second trick you’ll want to leverage is to use as much glass as possible. Glass-top tables and other transparent items which let light through are an excellent way to highlight a small space. And don’t forget – keep any glass spotlessly clean! The last thing you want is to be showing off a pile of greasy fingerprints.

Take Your Plants Vertical

Another excellent tactic for making the most of smaller spaces is to grow any plants vertically. If you have the room for it, a plant wall can really shine as it adds a pop of green and other colors to the area. If not, just stick with slender plants that grow straight up. Try to avoid plants that tend to spread out wide as they grow. If they look like they’re taking up a lot of space, any potential buyers touring through will have the impression that your outdoor areas are smaller than they are.

There you have it – three easy tips for staging your small, intimate outdoor spaces. When you’re ready to list and sell your home, contact your local real estate professionals.

Are you going to sell your house in the near future? If it’s a bit of a ‘fixer-upper’ – meaning that it’s in need of some renovation work – you may find some challenges in marketing it to potential buyers. Reducing the listing price is one option available to you, but there are other ways to highlight this kind of home. Let’s have a look at three key areas that you’ll want to focus on when trying to sell a home in less than perfect condition.

Push The Customization Angle

First, try to keep in mind that most potential buyers who are on the market for a fixer-upper are likely to be interested in customizing the home. Be sure to highlight any key areas that are ripe for change. Is the décor in your kitchen a little dated? No problem – it’s a chance for your buyer to build the kitchen they’ve always dreamed of. Is the basement unfinished? There’s a perfect opportunity for a keen buyer to create a basement suite which they can then rent out to a new tenant.

Highlight The Surrounding Community

It’s a good idea to jot down a list of all of the benefits of living in your community. How are the schools? Is the area well-served by public transit? Are there any amenities like a community center worth mentioning? Is the neighborhood considered family-friendly? What are the neighbors like? Are there hospitals or other medical services nearby? What about running trails, area hikes or dog parks? Many buyers care more about their quality of life than they do about the condition of the house itself. If the community is in better shape than your home, spend more time highlighting how great it is to live in the area.

Promote The Overall Property Or Land Value

Finally, don’t overlook the value of the property that the house is sitting on. Buying real estate is a financial investment that will appreciate in value over time. While the house might get old and dated, the land will always retain value. Be sure to point out any positive land value trends to potential buyers.

These are just a few of the many ways that you can promote a fixer-upper home. For more information or to get your house on the market, contact your local professional real estate team. We’re happy to assist.