Many sellers think that spring and summer are the best times to sell their homes, but this a false narrative. In many cases, we see a lot of activity during the winter months, and the quality of the buyer is much higher than during the spring and summer. We’ve found that the buyers who are looking in December, January, and February are very serious because they need to buy a home. So by selling in the winter, you might have fewer showings, but the quality of those showings will increase dramatically.
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The buyers who are looking in December, January, and February are very serious because they need to buy a home.
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I just ran the numbers: From December 1, 2019, to January 8, 2020, 115 properties sold or went under contract in Crowing, Cass, Aiken, and Morrison counties—all during the supposedly ‘slowest time in real estate.’ We can definitely sell homes during the winter months. If you’re thinking of listing your home, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We can even give you a “Buy It Now” price, where we’ll buy your home as is for cash and you get to pick the closing date! In the meantime, have a wonderful 2020!
Many times, sellers think it’s in their best interest to wait to list their homes until the spring market. In my opinion, this is a flawed approach. We find that during the winter months, there’s typically less inventory for buyers to choose from. The buyers that are out looking for homes during this season tend to be more serious. Winter homebuyers who brave the elements to view homes aren’t usually tire-kickers; they need to buy a home—and fast. In the wintertime, the number of showings a seller is liable to have for their listing will likely decrease, but the quality of those showings increases. Winter buyers might have a lease that’s near its end, and they’ve decided to make a purchase; they might also have sold their home and are looking to move up or they may have been relocated to the area for a job.
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Take advantage of the low inventory and the serious buyers that our winter market has to offer.
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So if you’re thinking of selling your home, don’t wait until spring—take advantage of the low inventory and the serious buyers that our winter market has to offer. To get a free market analysis of your home, reach out to me directly. I’d be happy to advise you on your next home sale. Until then, happy holidays!
Today I’ll share seven surefire ways to make sure that your home is ready for the summer selling season: 1. Assess your home’s condition. Look at your home through a buyer’s eyes: Is there worn carpet on the floor or chipped paint on the walls? Are there any burnt-out fixtures that need to be fixed or replaced? Buyers have a very critical eye, and you’ll want to address any of these easy-to-fix issues. 2. Get rid of oversized furniture. Oversized furniture can shrink the apparent size of a room, and we ultimately want the house to feel spacious. If you have too many pieces of furniture, overlarge furniture, and/or just a lot of clutter, rent a storage unit and put those items there. Less is more. 3. Remove clutter and depersonalize. Put away the trophies, family photos, and other such personal items. You want the buyers to be able to clearly imagine themselves living in your home, instead of making them feel like they’re kicking you out of your home. 4. Deep clean the home. This means you should take some time to thoroughly clean the bathrooms, tiles, windows, drapery, appliances, and such. Don’t forget about the outside of your home—power wash your siding and remember to clean out your gutters.
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Following these seven steps will ensure that your home stands out in our market.
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5. Work on curb appeal. Most buyers will drive by a home before they’ll set up an appointment to view the inside of it. With that in mind, really focus on the exterior of the home and consider what a buyer’s first impression of it would be. Rake the lawn and be sure to plant fresh flowers to enhance the curb appeal of your property. 6. Repaint using neutral colors. A fresh coat of paint will make your home feel years younger. If you’re going to take the time to repaint the house, be sure to use neutral colors like beige, off-white, light grays, and other soothing colors to really give your property a warm, inviting feel to your potential buyers. 7. Get professional photos taken. Around 96% of today’s buyers look for homes online, and if your home doesn’t show well online, they’ll just skip yours and go on to the next listing. Research and hire a professional who will come in and capture your home in its best light. Following these seven steps will ensure that your home stands out in our market. If you’re interested in taking the next step to get your home sold quickly and for the most money possible, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to give you a free market analysis, show you step-by-step how we’ll advertise your home to buyers in the market, and we’ll even help you stage your home for the best results. I hope to hear from you soon!
We’re excited to announce our third and final sellers’ workshop! Join us at Country Inn & Suites on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. We’ll show you how to put your equity back into your pocket, talk about great investments that guarantee returns, and uncover what buyers are looking for in today’s market. If you want to give your home the best possible chance of selling for top dollar, you’ll certainly want to make it to our workshop. Make sure to RSVP here! In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you there.
Due to the overwhelming success of our February sellers’ workshop, we’re hosting another one—and you’re invited! At this great event, you’ll learn how to maximize the sale of your home and put more equity into your pocket. We’ll also talk about staging, returns on investment, the best times to list, how to best market your home, and much more.
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You’ll learn how to maximize the sale of your home and put more equity into your pocket.
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Get an inside look at the best selling practices at 6:30 p.m on Tuesday, March 19, at Country Inn and Suites in Baxter, Minnesota. Click here to RSVP. Until then, we look forward to seeing you there!
Our 1st Annual Sellers’ Workshop is just around the corner, and you’re invited. At this great event, we’re going to pull back the curtain and share some insider tips on how to sell your home for top dollar in today’s market. The workshop will take place on Thursday, February 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. at the Country Inn and Suites in Baxter. You can click here to RSVP. We look forward to seeing you there!
The real estate market remains red-hot. In fact, Zillow estimates that homes sold more quickly in 2017 than ever before. 2018 seems on-pace to beat 2017. However, one segment of the real estate market seems to lag behind.
I’m talking about luxury homes.
Prices in the top 5% of the real estate market increased just 5.1% in 2017, almost 2% lower than the rest of the market. What's going on?
Affordability does not seem to be an issue. More Americans can afford a top-level home than ever before. Instead, it might come down to two other factors.
First, uncertainty surrounding the new tax bill could be affecting luxury homes more strongly, and this might be the reason why some potential buyers are choosing to sit and wait until the details of the tax plan become more clear.
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Demand and supply are more evenly matched at the top of the market.
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Second, there is simply a greater supply of luxury homes compared to other types of homes. In fact, 53% of the available housing inventory is in the premium segment, compared to 23% for starter homes and 24% for trade-up homes.
In other words, demand and supply are more evenly matched at the top of the market, while in other segments, demand far outpaces supply. What does this mean for you?
If you've been thinking about trading up to a luxury home, now might be the ideal time to do so. With the lack of buyers in this price point, you may be able to get the very best deal for a luxury home that we’ve ever seen. The red-hot demand for starter and trade-up homes means you could sell your home for top dollar and at record speed. The limited price growth and greater inventory at the luxury end mean you could have your pick and find a special, unique, and customized home that perfectly suits your preferences.
If you have any questions about the current Baxter real estate market, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
The days of putting a sign in your yard and expecting your home to sell itself are gone. Today, I’ve got three selling sins to avoid if you want to achieve listing success.
There are a lot of ways to succeed when selling your home, but there are just as many ways to fail. When it comes to selling your home this season, it’s important that you avoid these three home selling sins.
Asking too much. Of course you don’t want to sell your home for less than it’s worth, but overpricing your home can cause it to sit on the market for months and either sell for a low price or not sell at all. Buyers can see how long your home has been on the market and how many times the price has been reduced. This causes a lot of doubt. Even if a buyer likes a home, they’ll wonder what’s wrong with it if it’s taking a long time to move off the market.
Not advertising enough. Your home isn’t going to sell itself. These days, it takes an aggressive marketing plan and budget to get your home off the market. The days of simply putting a sign in the yard and waiting for buyers are long gone. Today, you need to advertise to get your home sold for top dollar. You can advertise online, on TV, on the radio, in print, or in a number of other ways. My team and I spend over $60,000 a month advertising our listings. As we like to say, it isn’t the market that gets homes sold, it’s the marketing.
Not making your home presentable for showings. Buyers expect a meticulous home. They expect nothing less than something that looks like a model home. Be sure to clean, declutter, and stage your property accordingly.
Your home isn’t going to sell itself.
If you have any other questions, would like more information, or want to talk about how my team and I could market your home, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Should you sell your home on your own? We’ll go over 10 reasons why For Sale By Owner properties can actually cost you more time, money, and headaches.
Many homeowners think they can sell their own home. However, there are 10 reasons why you should avoid listing your home as “For Sale By Owner.”
1. There are common scams that target FSBO properties. The scammer sends you fraudulent papers from an attorney requesting your private information and, before you know it, your identity has been stolen.
2. You will have all of the liability. We all make mistakes, but if you make a mistake selling your home, it’s more likely that the buyer will sue you personally. When you work with a real estate agent, we have insurance that covers up to $1 million for each incident.
3. The paperwork is daunting. The current purchase agreement is more than 50 pages. Filling out the wrong information or checking the wrong box could cost you thousands of dollars or land you in court.
4. You could end up in a bad deal. If the buyer makes a low offer, you’re stuck with it once you sign on the dotted line.
5. You will sell your home for a lot less money. FSBO properties sell for about 16% less than properties represented by real estate agents. The median sales price for a For Sale By Owner home is $210,000, while homes represented by an agent sell for an average of $249,000.
6. Your home will not attract as many buyers. A lot of buyers do not want to deal with FSBO properties because they don’t want to deal with the lack of representation, liability, or headaches that arise without a professional Realtor involved. As a result, you will be selling your home to a smaller buyer pool.
7. Inspections can be problematic. Sellers who don’t know the rules can get stuck with unnecessary costs for repairs. For example, when Sue sold her 10-year-old home, the inspector said she needed to change a variety of things because the code had changed. The inspector did not understand that since the home was built before the code changed, Sue did not have to make those repairs. So, because Sue and the inspector did not understand the code and the current law, Sue wound up paying thousands of dollars for unnecessary repairs.
We recommend hiring a professional real estate agent to sell your home.
8. Your marketing is limited. The National Association of Realtors did a study to figure out where FSBO home sellers found their buyers. 42% of those sales came from the yard sign, 32% came from family and friends, and 15% came from social media. No disrespect to any For Sale By Owner sellers out there, but if all you have is a yard sign and your uncle Bob to promote your house, you can see how that impacts your bottom line. We spend over $45,000 a month to advertise our listings, so we will get your home in front of every potential buyer in your price point.
9. The little costs add up. The main reason most people want to sell their own homes is to avoid paying the Realtor commission. However, there are so many hidden fees involved in selling a home that not hiring a Realtor may cost you more money. Whether it’s photography, fliers, or listing your home on the MLS, you will get nickel and dimed through the whole process.
10. Selling your own home will cost you a lot of time. It takes time to take the pictures, study the contracts, find an attorney, find a title company, and research whether or not a buyer can obtain a mortgage.
Ultimately, we recommend that you work with a real estate agent to help sell your home. We can help you sell your biggest investment; after all, we are the No. 1 real estate team in Minnesota.
If you have any questions for us, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!
When the time comes to choose your home, how do you choose the right Realtor?
It’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make since your home is one of your biggest assets. Choosing the wrong agent could cost you thousands—or even tens of thousands—of dollars.
You want an agent who will market your home aggressively to get it sold quickly and for top dollar. That’s why the first question you should ask a potential agent you hire is how much their marketing budget is.
How much do they spend per month advertising homes? Next, you want to ask what their marketing strategy is, step by step. Thirdly, ask about their history: how long they've been in real estate, how many homes they’ve sold, and their close-to-sold ratio.
You want an agent who can market your home aggressively.
The next thing you’ll want to know is if the agent actually has buyers. One of the many benefits of our team is that we have more than 14,000 buyers in our database that we reach out to.
Many times, homeowners choose their friends to sell their house, and unfortunately, I’ve seen many relationships severed because real estate and friendship don’t always mix.
If you have any questions about finding the right Realtor or you’re thinking about buying or selling in the Brainerd Lakes area, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you!
Should you be worried about the recent rise in interest rates? Let me assure you, things are much better than they appear.
Yes, rates rose from a low of 3.44% in August to 4.12% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. If you took out a 30-year mortgage on a $250,000 house, your payment would be almost $100 a month higher, totaling $35,000 more in interest over the life of the loan. This has people nervous that the market may slow down.
However, the current rise in rates is unlikely to affect the market. Interest rates last year were at an all-time low, and historically, rates have been much, much higher. Just 10 years ago, rates were at 6.34%, and for much of the 1990s, rates hovered around 7% to 10% for a 30-year fixed mortgage. In the 1980s when my parents bought a home, they paid a 16% interest rate for their mortgage!
In a historical context, rates have been much higher than they are right now.
In this historical context, you can see that rates have never been better than they are right now. So what does this mean for you? If you're thinking about buying a home, this is an amazing opportunity to find a great home and some great value.
If you're looking to sell your house, you're in great position to get top dollar. Just last December, we saw sales drop, but not because of interest rates, but because of the lack of inventory. If you're selling your house, it all comes down to supply and demand: there are a lot of people looking to buy a home in the Brainerd Lakes area, but not a lot of inventory available for them.
If you have any questions for me, you'd like to know what your home is worth in the current market, or you're thinking about buying a home, give me a call or send me an email today. I'd be happy to help!
When it comes to real estate, spring starts in January. You might already know spring is the hottest season in terms of home sales. Home buyers come out in big numbers with a lot of pent-up demand from the long winter months.
The numbers actually bear this out — homes sold in the spring sell 15 days faster and for about 2% more money than the average listing. However, in order to prepare your home for sale, you have to start preparing now for the spring market. Today, I want to show you four easy steps on how to prepare your home for the spring rush.
The first step is pricing. Pricing your home correctly is critical in getting the maximum amount of money in the shortest period of time. Homes that sell quickly tend to be priced properly and generate multiple offer situations.
The second step is deciding the ideal time to list. The peak spring rush is March through May. This is a very broad time frame, but homes are viewed five times more on the first day they hit the market than seven days later, so it’s important to get your home on the market on the exact right date so it can have the most impact.
To prepare your home for sale, you have to start preparing now for the spring market.
Third, you'll want to maximize curb appeal. The reason why is simple: 63% of home buyers that liked your home online will do a drive-by.You want to make sure you make a solid first impression by cleaning up the lawn from the long winter, painting the outside, refreshing the landscaping, cleaning the windows, and possibly replacing the roof.
Finally, you want clean up the inside of your home. We encourage people to rent a storage unit and put all non-essential items in that unit. You want to declutter as much as possible because buyers will typically decide within 30 seconds if they like your home or not.
By following these simple steps, you’ll be taking full advantage of the spring real estate market. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you!
Should you sell your home in the winter? This is a question many people ask this time of year. Get the answer by considering the following facts.
Homes listed in the winter sell at least a week faster than homes that are listed during other seasons.
They sell for 1.2% more money and are 9% more likely to sell than homes that are listed during other seasons.
There is a lot less inventory in the winter, and the buyers are much more serious. We don’t get a lot of looky-loos. These are people that have to buy.
Interest rates are going to go up in 2017. This will affect the amount of buyers that will be qualified to buy your home.
You have to be closer to the correct market price, because you will have less showings. This forces you to start with the correct market price, which will get your home sold faster.
Interest rates rising in 2017 will affect the number of buyers for your home.
Considering those facts, I would say winter is a great time to sell your home. If you have any further questions about the winter market, or if you are looking to sell your home, please give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help.
Most people make the mistake of thinking they need to wait for spring to put their homes on the market. However, there are three reasons why now is a great time to sell.
Should you put your home on the market in the fall and winter? My answer is yes. Why? It all boils down to supply and demand.
Inventory drops dramatically in the fall and winter because many people think they need to sell their homes in the spring and summer. However, since so many people put their homes on the market in April and May, a lot of those sellers end up taking their homes off the market in the fall.
What does that mean? You will face less competition by putting your house on the market in the fall or winter.
You will face less competition by putting your home on the market this fall.
Another benefit to selling in the fall and winter is that buyers tend to be more serious this time of year. A lot of buyers have to move because of a job relocation or tax ramifications. Other buyers really want to get into their new home before the holidays. The number of showings you get may go down, but the quality of your home showings will go up.
Finally, interest rates are still incredibly low right now. It looks like the Fed will raise the rates at their December meeting. By selling now, you will have a wider buyer pool than you will if you wait until after rates go up. The lower interest rates are, the more buyers will be able to purchase your home.
Ultimately, now is a great time to get your home on the market. If you have any questions about preparing your home for the fall market, just give me a call. I would be happy to help you!
There are a variety of home renovations you can make that don’t actually pay off, and it’s important that you don’t fall into this trap.
Many times, sellers make the mistake of renovating to their specific style and likings, and this doesn’t always translate well when it comes time to sell the home.
Here are some of the things you have to watch out for:
Too much wallpaper
Lavish light fixtures—being gaudy about lighting can turn off potential buyers in today’s marketplace
Textured wall coverings—many people prefer smooth wall coverings
Having the wrong flooring
Too much carpet in high-traffic areas
Picking bold wall colors instead of neutral
Installing a swimming pool or hot tub—nobody wants to take on that maintenance
It’s important to appeal to the largest pool of buyers possible when selling. I hope you found this list helpful if you’re thinking about selling your home.
If you have questions about this topic or about our real estate market in general, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you in any way I can.
Are you having trouble selling your home in the current Brainerd market? The one thing you have to keep in mind when you sell your home is that you have to outshine 90% of the listings on the marketplace. For that reason, staging is critical. In today's market, buyers will make a decision on whether or not they like your home within 20 seconds.
The second crucial aspect when it comes to shining in the Brainerd real estate market is aggressive marketing. There are a lot of homes for sale in the area, and the old way of selling when the market was so strong back in 2006 was to put a sign in the yard and put it on the MLS, and pray that another agent sells it. In today's environment, it takes an extensive marketing plan to get the homes the maximum amount of exposure.
I'm proud to say that my team spends just over $35,000 a month advertising our listings, so we can ensure our sellers get the maximum exposure to sell their homes. We also have a full-time professional photographer on staff for high-quality photos of our listings.
Lastly, the pricing is so important. Many sellers think they can list their home above market value and leave themselves some "wiggle room," but in today's market, we're seeing that if homes are priced correctly, you shouldn't have to drop the price at all. We're able to negotiate and hold firm to our asking prices.
Have you or someone you know struggled to sell your home in this market? Maybe you're on the fence about selling, or just have questions about real estate in general. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you have. Let's talk soon!
