Fall Cleaning and Home Staging Tips

It’s a great time to do some fall cleaning. What you do now can help you sell next year.

With the holidays approaching, it’s a great time to get some fall cleaning done. If you’re thinking about selling your home after the new year, it’s also a great time to do some prep work so that your move isn’t so much of a hassle when the time comes. There are a lot of decluttering and staging tips you can institute now that will pay off later. Here are our four best tips: 1. Tackle those closets. Decluttering your closets is a great way to make some extra room for out-of-town guests as well as Christmas presents. When the time comes to clean those closets out, things will be much easier. 2. Get a storage unit. If there is additional furniture in your home that you need to move out to make room for guests, putting it in a storage unit is a great idea. It’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about decluttering from your house when it comes time to list. 3. Clean your home for the fall season. Do a deep clean for the holidays just like you would in the spring. When you’ve got your home sparkling clean, you’re halfway there when it comes to listing and staging in the new year. 4. Hire movers. People are always looking to make a little extra cash this time of year. Have movers help you get things out of your home you know you won't need after the holidays.

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Following these tips will get you ahead.

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If you follow these tips, you will already be one step ahead of the market when the new year comes. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

4 Ways to Make a Lowball Offer Work for You

Right now, the Triangle area market seems to be filled with either bidding wars or lowball offers; there hasn’t been a whole lot in between.

Though pricing can be a problem when it comes to homes sitting on the market, I think that one of the main reasons homes are taking a little longer to sell is due to neighborhood and market conditions.

When a home sits on the market for a longer period of time than we’d like, that usually gives buyers the green light to submit a lowball offer. What should you do if you receive a low offer on your home? Here are four steps you should take to make that lowball offer work for you:

1. Don’t be insulted by a lowball offer. Try to take each offer at face-value and refrain from reacting emotionally. It’s unproductive and not in your best interest to simply reject an offer immediately. Think of this as a starting point of the negotiation.

2. Respond gracefully. Determine what is most important to the buyer in this transaction. Is it price? Concessions? Closing costs? The condition of the property? Grace and consideration can go a long way in a negotiation.

3. Write a strategic counter offer. Once we’ve discovered what is most important to the buyer in this transaction, we will know which elements to factor into our counteroffer. We can negotiate by asking buyers for more money up front or fewer contingencies in the offer.

4. Negotiate other terms. Most of the time, the buyer is looking at one large number: the sale price. This is where we’ll attempt to negotiate with them and educate them on some of the aspects of the offer that they may not have considered so that both the buyer and the seller feel that they’re getting a good deal.

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Determine what is most important to the buyer in this transaction.

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If you have any questions about lowball offers or the real estate market in general, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help you!

The 3 Most Ridiculous Home Selling Myths

There are many things to remember when trying to sell your home, but there is a lot of misinformation out there as well. It comes from all places and at all price ranges, but we wanted to address a few of these selling myths today and explain them.

1. It’s better to sell in the spring and summer. While this time of year is typically when the market is the busiest, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best time to sell. If you are looking to move now, it is a great time. The market is going to dictate what your home will sell for regardless of the season. 
2. Don’t worry about staging your home. This is another key mistake. While it is true that buyers will use their imagination when walking around your home, you’ve also got to give them a good canvas to paint on. You don’t need to remove every single thing from the home, but put your best foot forward by packing up the stuff you don’t use regularly or don’t envision yourself taking to your next home. 
3. Bad pictures of the home online are OK. They are 'in fact' not OK. It’s important that you to put your best foot forward by having a professional photographer take photos of your home. Cell phones are great, but most don't have a good enough camera to capture your home in the best light possible. 

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Put your best foot forward.

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I hope I have busted some of these myths for you. If you’re interested in buying or selling or if you just have a quick question, we are always here to help. Give us a call or send us an email today.

Great Information for First-Time Buyers in Raleigh

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We’ve seen a lot more first-time buyers jumping into the Raleigh market lately. That’s great news, because we pride ourselves in how we work with first-time buyers and all buyers, for that matter. We’ve got a few tips to share to help you or someone you know who is buying for the first time to make the whole process a little easier.

First, you need to check your credit. It’s not all about your credit score, but what your debt-to-income ratio is and how you use credit. When you get with a lender to check this, they’ll also be able to tell you what your buying power is. That’s an important tool.

Secondly, you should figure out what you want in a home. This is especially important if you are buying a home with a spouse. We have a great questionnaire that we give to all our first-time buyers that allows them to sit down and ask the important questions about what they want in a home. It’s good to have this conversation before you start the process.

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We can handle everything for you.

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The next thing to do is to find an experienced agent or broker. We’ve got a passion for helping first-time buyers and the experience to back it up. We can handle everything for you from the time you start looking for homes until the day you close on the perfect one.

One thing that first-time buyers fail to think about is the huge opportunity for an investment that buying a home provides. We sold homes to first-time buyers a few years ago who are coming back now and selling with $15,000 in profit. That’s a huge return in just a few years!

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Low Inventory Means It’s a Seller’s Market in Raleigh

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

The Raleigh real estate market has been booming this year! You might have heard inventory is low right now, and I have the data to prove it! What should we expect moving into the summertime market?

In Wake County, new construction listings are 11% down compared to this time last year. In Johnston County, it’s 15% down.

The big squeeze, I’d say, is on resale listings. We are 31% down in Johnson County and 21% in Wake County. We need new listings to sell! I think many people are worried about their equity position and they might not be sure how much they’ll profit in a potential transaction. Honestly, our clients are seeing incredible gains this year.

That’s mostly due to the monthly supply of inventory. Again, it’s extremely low right now. Currently, in Johnston County, there are only three months worth of available inventory. In Wake County, there are only two months worth! That means our local housing market greatly favors sellers.

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We need new listings to sell!

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It’s also worthwhile to pay attention to price points. For instance, if your Raleigh home is worth less than $300,000, there is less than three months of supply in that area. In the Garner area, it’s down to two months. In Johnston County, if your home is worth less than $200,000, we absolutely need your home right now! There are only two months worth of inventory there as well.

Additionally, congratulations to Flowers Plantation! So far, they’ve had the largest amount of sales within a specific community in the first quarter. It speaks volumes of what they’re doing in Clayton. We’re proud to represent two different communities out there, including Chatham and South Corner.

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to sell for top dollar! We need more listings. Take advantage of market conditions right now.

As always, if you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the surrounding area, I’m available by phone or email. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about real estate!

Buyers Are Desperate for Inventory in These Price Points

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We need your home to sell! I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot in the media about low inventory, and we said as much in our last blog post. But now, we are desperate. If you have a home that’s worth anywhere in the range of $175,000 and under, you are in a great position to cash in on your equity.

Also, if you’re in the Wake or Johnston County areas and have a home anywhere in the $275,000 to $375,000 range, give us a call. We have a ton of buyers looking in that price range who are looking to move up. We simply don’t have enough inventory for them at the moment.

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There are a ton of
opportunities to take advantage
of in this market.

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If you’ve been thinking about selling but are stressed about the process, we can make things very easy for you. We can market your property as one of our “coming soon listings,” which will allow buyers to know about your home while giving you time to find the new home you’re looking for before we list it. By the time we list your home, it will go under contract within days and it will sell for top dollar with the help of our staging experts. There are a ton of opportunities to take advantage of in this market if you’re a seller.

If you have any questions for us or if you’re just thinking about selling, we’d love to talk to you. Just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Warning Signs That It’s Time for You to Move

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We’re seeing a huge equity frenzy right now in our market and people are starting to wonder if their home is worth a lot more than they previously thought. This situation causes buyers to list their homes for sale. Is now the right time for you to list?

1. Money
Examine your finances and see if you should continue to save up cash for a down payment, explore financing options for upgrades and updates, or if you have enough equity to list your home now and put a down payment on a better home.

2. Storage
Have you outgrown your current storage space? We are seeing a lot of new homes built with walk-in storage areas. If you don’t have enough space for all of your things, it may be time for you to consider upgrading  the size of your home.

3. Family expanding
If you’re having a new baby, that’s another sign to consider if it’s time to move. We are happy to come talk to you about your options, whether you want to move into a new home, or add square footage onto your current one.

4. Downsizing
On the other hand, if you need less yard to take care of or you have fewer people in your home than you used to, there are a lot of options for you to downsize into something smaller. It will save you time and money on your monthly bills.

5. Declining neighborhood
If you feel like you may not be seeing the same effort put forth in taking care of your neighbor's property as you did in yours, it may be a good time to find a better neighborhood. Home prices have been increasing, and now is a good as time as ever to cash in on your equity. 

If you have any questions or want more information, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

What Do Real Estate Agents Do Behind the Scenes?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

One of the biggest misconceptions about real estate agents is that they spend most of their time looking at houses. Unfortunately, we spend the least amount of our time doing this. Most of our time is spent doing paperwork. The amount of paperwork has tripled since I started in this business 10 years ago.

Here are a few reasons why it makes sense to hire an agent, and why doing so leads to the smoothest transaction possible:

Experience

Our team has over 75 years of combined experience of dealing with every different kind of real estate transaction. Each one is different, but we’ve seen them all and know how to handle them.

Negotiations

Negotiations are a very important part of our job. Being able to come to an informed offer and decisions is the result of a lot of data analysis. You won’t find this data on the internet, these are from our own research.

Pricing

When you use a Realtor, you typically get more bang for your buck. What we mean by this is that a Realtor will be able to help you price and sell your home for a higher amount than you would be able to on your own. Many times, you get more money by selling with a real estate agent than you would by selling on your own, even with commission factored in.

If you have any questions for us, or are thinking about buying or selling, give us a call or send us a quick email. We’d love to hear from you!

The April Stephens Team Is Making a Move!

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search
Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We are quite excited about the new year! The April Stephens Team has moved, but not from RE/MAX 1. In fact, RE/MAX 1 has opened a second location at Highway 50 and 42, so we now have two locations to better serve our clients!

Please feel free to stop by and see us any time you are in the area. We'd love to see your faces! Be on the lookout for invites for our grand opening in January! We would love to have you out to meet the team and even ride the RE/MAX balloon! We're going to have all kinds of family friendly activities for you to enjoy, so we hope you come out!

Thank you so much for all the support in 2015. It's all because of you that we're able to make all of this happen. If you need any real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We look forward to seeing you in 2016!