By Janice J. Charles

This is a question that is certainly repeated by many a frustrated seller in this “down” real estate market.

So you’ve prepped your property for sale. You’ve de-personalized it, de-clutter it, rearranged the furniture, cleaned out the basement and the garage, rented a storage unit and still nothing!

WHY IS MY HOUSE NOT SELLING?

Have you SERIOUSLY looked at your asking price?

I know that you don’t want to GIVE your house away…but are you stuck on a certain asking price because you had a neighbor down the street who sold their property (a few years ago) in a matter of a few weeks for a price that was much higher than yours?

This housing market is cyclical. There was a huge 8 year cycle which produced 150% appreciation between 1997 and 2005. This”boom” was extend out even further with the availability of low 4% mortgage rates. Although this was a variable rate mortgage which was fixed for 3 or 5 years, it was a major player in the peak of this cycle.

What goes up must come down! And, down is where we are at right now!

US home values have come down 29% from the peak of the market in 2006 compared to values as of October 2009…this according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

The median home sales price in 2006 was $221,900.

The median home sales price in 2007 fell to $219,000.

The median home sales price in 2008 fell again to $198,100.

Median home sales decreased again in 2009 and will likely end up in the mid $170,000 range. This huge reduction in home prices is mostly caused by the foreclosed properties and other distressed sales. With the prices of these homes being severely discounted…it greatly reduces the median value home price.

There are some pockets of the country that are experiencing an increase in house values. Some areas of San Francisco, Washington DC and a few other metro areas…but understand that it is the LOW prices that are driving the demand for sales…these are areas that have unusually high prices historically…it is a buyer’s market and everyone wants in on a bargain.

It is predicted that distressed properties will continue to dominate home sales in 2010 and that home values, over all, will continue to fall another 4-6%.

This is not good news for anyone who is trying to sell in 2010…it’s still going to be a tough time for sellers.

The real question is “Do you have to sell at this time?”

If you can wait out the market, and it will probably several years before prices start climbing back up, and you do not have to move, you can probably catch the next boom and cash in.

On the other hand, if you are looking to make an upward move to a larger house…keep in mind that the prices of these homes are also reduced. So, weigh your options…take a hit on your house now and make up that loss with the purchase of a “bargain priced” property now.

And the last scenario, if you must sell now, you must be aggressive with your price…because this is a PRICE DRIVEN MARKET.

Good luck to all of you sellers out there!

Janice J. Charles is an online marketing coach and mentor with a 20 year background as a real estate professional. Her passion is helping ” want to be” internet entrepreneurs find success online. You can meet and learn more about her at: http://www.JaniceJCharles.com/

By Abby Johnson

Some real estate agents today opt not to host an open house for every home they list. The reason is because more and more home buyers are finding their houses online. Time and technology have drastically shifted the way we do business and the real estate industry is no exception.

Review these pros and cons to help determine whether or not you prefer an open house to sell your home fast.

Get Buyers to Experience Your Home and Neighborhood

According to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, nine out of 10 buyers today look for houses online. Generally, people have less time to spend, and with the new availability of 360-degree virtual tours, it’s like seeing the house in person…almost.

A virtual tour is only virtual. Slideshows or a video can show a buyer your house, but they miss that personal touch. A virtual tour cannot reveal the essence of your home, the feel of your neighborhood, or the small details that often help make the sale. Online photos or video can help take a prospective buyer’s interest to the next level and bring them through your front door in person. A recent NAR survey suggests that a large percentage of buyers go back to Open Houses as a source of information for their home purchase.

Who Benefits from an Open House?

A survey conducted by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University hinted that the people who actually benefit from Open Houses are usually the agents because they offer a place for Realtors to build their clientele. Home buyers who come to Open Houses are more likely to ask the agent to show them additional houses in a similar price range, layout, or neighborhood.

Sellers find that an Open House can help seal the deal. Curious home buyers like to explore all available houses in a certain area and might not ask their agent to accompany them to every house. Reaching those buyers may help you sell your home faster.

Negatives to Consider

Sometimes agents might refrain from holding an Open House if they have a solid marketing strategy in place. It’s an added cost for the Realtor, eats into their weekends, and does not always result in a sale. Often Open-House people visiting the house are curious onlookers and not serious buyers.

Homeowners must also consider safety and security. There is always the possibility of opening your door to riff raff. You may not want to take that risk to sell your home.

Abby Johnson is the real estate blogger at Express Homebuyers. Serving the Washington, DC, Metro area, they can help you sell your home fast without a open house! Contact Express Homebuyers now or call them at 1-800-SELL-2-US (1-800-735-5287) to get on your way to a fresh start.

(c) 2010 Abby Johnson

Additional Resources:

Real Estate Photographers:

Spokane, WA – Ron McIntire (509) 951-7653

Nationwide List – Photography For Real Estate Photographer Directory

Selling a home can be a long tough ordeal. Once you and your agent have located a potential buyer you want to avoid having the home inspector find many things that are concerning to the buyer. Below are some tips to help home sellers.

One of the purposes of the home inspection is to help remove the normal fears, doubts and concerns a buyer has. Anyone who has ever purchased a home understands that combination of emotions. It is a combination of excitement and nervousness. Home buyers, especially first time home buyers will always have concerns about a home purchase. They have a concern of unknown problems with the house.

To greatly reduce the concern about the unknown, home sellers should make sure that the home inspector has full access to all areas of the home. If the access or crawl space is not accessible because the openings are sealed shut or there is a motorcycle parked under the access they seller may wonder why you left it blocked. There is often a little wonder on the buyers part if the seller is being completely honest about everything. A situation where some areas can not be inspected increases these concerns in the mind of the buyers. So make sure stored items are out of the way of getting into the attic and the crawl space.

Lights that do not work are often the result of burned out light bulbs. Burned out light bulbs show lack of regular maintenance and lack of care for the home. This is a very easy fix. Walk around your home and replace all the bulbs that need replacing. If you have some bulbs that are dim or very low light output then consider installing brighter bulbs in those locations. A brightly lit home looks more attractive.

One area that gets checked during a home inspection is the bathroom. The outlets will be checked for the function of the GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter). These are the outlets with the test and reset buttons on them. Test them to see that they operate and reset properly. If not then replace them. Home inspectors also check for moisture at the base of the toilets. Moisture there is an indication that the wax ring which seals the toilet to the drain pipe is no longer working. Because some inspectors will use moisture meter to check this area, be sure to avoid mopping the floor the day of the inspection. The water from your mopping the floor may not have dried yet and will give a reading of elevated moisture.

Good luck on selling your home.

Jim Troth is a full time home inspector in central Ohio and the Education Coordinator for InterNachi Ohio. He has grown his home inspection business during the downturn of real estate. He attributes the growth to excellent customer service and referrals.
His home inspection company is Habitation Investigation LLC. The website is: http://www.homeinspectionsinohio.comJim also provides some marketing help to fellow inspectors at: http://www.homeinspectionmarketing.com

REALTOR.com® is a licensed trademark of the National Association of REALTORS®

1.  Talking Too Much

There’s a reason that agents ask the home sellers to leave when they show the home.  It’s hard not to say too much and it’s easy to say the wrong thing and not realize it.  Remember when you were getting your home ready to show and you made it neutral by depersonalizing everything?  Keep it neutral when talking to buyers.  Avoid talking about all of your family memories in the home.  Buyers need to be able to imagine themselves living in the home and it makes it hard when they are listening to stories about how many people you squeezed in the dining room that one Thanksgiving when the turkey slid across the kitchen floor.  Just stick to the facts.

Equally annoying is the “3 hour tour.”  Buyers don’t necessarily want a tour guide, but they understand it’s awkward for them to to do any in-depth exploring in your home with you there.  It’s natural to think “the more they know about this house, the more they will love it,” but actually, most buyers “know” within seconds of walking in a home if it is “the one” for them.  Keep it short and sweet and let the buyer set the tone.  If they keep asking questions, keep answering, but if they don’t have any thing more to ask or discuss with you, don’t try to hang on to them.

2. Telling people how much you spent on your remodel.

You know how every poker player has a “tell” of some sort?  Alcoholics say they can quit anytime, and overpriced home sellers talk about how much they spent on remodeling and upgrades.  It’s fine to mention specifics about upgrades and remodeling, in fact you should mention these things, but sharing dollar figures is something overpriced home sellers all have in common.  It’s common etiquette that people don’t normally talk about how much they spent on things and when sellers start divulging this kind of personal information, buyers see it for what it is… justifying a high price.

3. Failing to have potential buyers sign in on a guest registry

Agents leave business cards on the counter so people know who was in the home.  In a for sale by owner transaction, you need to track this information as well.  The obvious use of this tool is for security, but when used correctly, it can create a safety net for your transaction and even save you thousands of dollars.  If you are enrolled, log into the Member’s Section and see this article and video to learn even more.

4. Initiating discussion about price, motivation level or “bottom line”

Anyone that has had any training in negotiating has heard the phrase “first one to mention a price loses.”   That absolutely applies here.  It’s not a good idea to give a buyer or their agent information that will be used against you later.  This includes why you are selling (i.e.: job transfer, divorce, can’t afford the payment etc.)  Telling someone you will take even less than your advertised price is also giving away the farm.  Keep this information to yourself.  You may just end up getting an offer for exactly what you told someone you would accept…plus they want help with a few thousand dollars worth of closing costs and a bunch of expensive repairs; something you didn’t take into account when you mentioned your “bottom line” pricing.

5. Being picky.  About showing times, pre-qualification letters.

As a seller, you are at the mercy of the buyer in a buyers’ market.  You can’t afford to say things like “by appointment only,” or “pre-qualified buyers only” in your advertising.  I know of an agent that was working with a cash buyer.  They were looking at homes in a price range that doesn’t have many buyers, let alone buyers that could pay cash.  The agent called ahead to several of the home sellers the day before to let them know his buyer wanted to see their homes and the approximate time they would be coming.  Several of the sellers told the agent “it’s not a good time for us.”  Can you believe it?  Those picky sellers got passed over.  In a buyers’ market, sellers can’t afford to be picky.

What mistakes have you seen home sellers make when showing their homes?  Add your experiences in our comments section.

Additional Resources

Three Reasons To Use A Guest Registry (Enrolled Members Only)

Virtually every house is some variation of a box.

So, WHAT makes houses attractive?

Picture a long characterless ranch. It has a low-pitched roof without gables. The windows are small. The siding may be either brick or lap siding.

It’s probably boring.

If it has a for sale sign in front of it, NO ONE CARES!

But there may be a house just down the street that is SO CUTE people knock on the door to ask if the owners will sell it. BUT, it’s not for sale.

But what happens when the owner WANTS to sell. He calls the list of people who are interested. He’s taking bids. He doesn’t pay a realtor or go through a long bargaining phase. He can hold a private auction and make money faster WITH THE EVER ELUSIVE CURB APPEAL!

A real estate appraiser we know always makes value decisions based on sales in a particular area. He wouldn’t know cute if it bit him on the butt.

The house he built for himself is rather ugly. The floor plan is awkward and dated. He’s isn’t planning to sell it, but what if he wanted to put it on the market?

Other cuter houses in the same area would sell first. They will attract more lookers and maybe more money.

So how do you get curb appeal?

It’s a moving target but some things are immutable.

Think about the characterless boxy, ranch we discussed earlier.

Suppose it looked like a coastal cottage with a row of French doors leading from the living dining rooms to a porch or patio? Remember to put shutters next to the doors.

Get a better looking garage door, too. Maybe you could put a weather vane and cupola on the roof, you trim out the other windows and hang rustic shutters, and finally you create some landscaping and a friendly attractive track to the front door.

Viola! Curb appeal!

There are a lot of possibilities. Maybe you really like the modern esthetic or Tudor or Southwest. Take what works with your place and building.

Where do we usually go wrong?

1. Windows should be trimmed out attractively. This is a problem even builders can’t seem to figure out. The single most expensive item in any house is windows. Usually they do not come from the factory trimmed. If they aren’t trimmed out, you don’t get the visual impact you hope for when you buy them. Go the extra expense and finish the job! If you bought a house without this detail, it’s an easy fix.

2. Pay attention to paint colors and materials like brick, rock, roofing and sidewalks and drive ways. All these materials need to work together in an attractive color package. Your focal point at the street side of your house needs to be your door. Paint it an attractive color like red and point guests in the right direction. Color is an important part of curb appeal and don’t forget that your roof color is a part of your color palate. Multiple colors and materials make a better visual statement. A single color is boring. Colors need each other to look their best. Cools need warms and vice-versa. We had a home that was the prettiest on our street because of color alone!. It sold really fast when we were transferred. Our next door neighbor’s similar home languished on the market for months.

3. Do you have a row of overgrown bushes planted 50 years ago by a builder in a perfectly straight line that prevents ANY light from entering your front windows? Pull them up! Get some new stuff that grows in curving beds that frame the structure in more welcoming ways. If your trees or shrubs are initially planted too close to your house, they can actually damage it. Get landscaping that’s low near the house and extends and grows higher as you get further from the house. It’s more complimentary to the structure. Avoid straight lines.

4. Make your walkways and patios wider, curving and more welcoming. What good is a sidewalk that is so narrow, two people could not walk on it side by side? Why do patios have to be square? Make sure these surfaces are clean and attractive, too.

5. Plant some flowers. Maybe a few containers are enough, but get some seasonal color.

If you haven’t bought curb appeal initially, you can actually make money and please yourself and your family by creating it. No house is hopeless. You can find people (architects, landscapers, and workmen) who can help you with this task if you feel unable to make the decisions yourself. If you expect to resell at some point, curb appeal will put more money in your pocket!

Paula Stone is a veteran home buyer and seller. She works with her husband Ron in his note buying business and no doc jumbo loans business. Learn more at their websites, Sell My Note and No Doc Jumbo Loans

What are your favorite curb appeal tricks?  Add them to the conversation below.

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By T. J. Lashley

When people are buying houses these days, one of the big considerations is the kitchen and for some people, the kitchen will be the primary deciding factor.

The kitchen is the central hub of the house, host to much of a days activity from cooking to washing dishes to grabbing a midnight snack. This is why, when your home is on the market, kitchens should be a high priority and you may want to have yours staged.

The first thing to do is to thoroughly clean your kitchen, removing all mold and mildew. The trash should be out, and everything put neatly away. This gives the buyers an idea of what they can fit in the kitchen, and where it can go. All clutter and non-essential items should be removed from refrigerators, cabinets and counters so that the kitchen will feel large and spacious as this will appeal to buyers.

Leaky faucets, rusty hinges, loose handles and any other defect should be repaired or replaced as part of the staging. The expenses for minor repairs such as these will be more than recouped in the end through a higher selling price.

If you’re appliances are old and not functioning well, you should consider replacing them, but if they still work fine then just give them a great cleaning and shine them up as much as you can. Replacing broken appliances may seem like a waste of money, but they show proper maintenance, and will help the buyers view your home as being more valuable which will help you net a higher selling price.

The kitchen is no longer just a mother’s or wife’s domain, it’s used and enjoyed by the entire family. Families eat in the kitchen, do homework in the kitchen, and just hang out in the kitchen. Some well placed kitchen furniture can really help to make the room more inviting and help people to see how well your kitchen can fit their lifestyle.

Potted herbs that do double-duty as decoration and cooking ingredient make a lovely accessory that will also help your kitchen seem more welcoming and warm. Some home stages will use bowls of fruit, or plates of cookies or brownies or even a pot of fresh coffee so that the kitchen will seem welcoming, homey and make the buyers want to put in an offer on the home.

TJ Lashley is a frequent contributor who especially enjoys writing on family, home, and topics about popular products. Be sure to stop by TJ’s latest website at http://www.garagedooropenerhub.com which is designed to provide information on clicker garage door opener choices and other choices and types today’s popular garage door openers.