List a Home During the Winter Holidays

Sixty percent of real estate professionals advise their sellers to list a home during the holidays because it’s a good time to sell, according to a new survey conducted by Realtor.com. Why are the holidays such a good time to sell? Seventy-nine percent of the agents surveyed said that more serious buyers come out during the holidays, and 61 percent say less competition from other properties make it a great time to sell. Plus, 17 percent of agents say the cold weather is actually a benefit, making homes feel cozier. But online listing photos become even more crucial during the holiday season, according to the survey. Slightly more than half of agents say that the photos are more important because sellers tend to offer less open houses around the holidays, and so the online photos help buyers decide the properties to see and which ones to possibly bypass. The biggest hurdles sellers face during the holidays, however, are keeping a home ready to show (clean and staged) as well as winter weather conditions and buyers’ vacation schedules, the Realtor.com survey found.


 Source: Realtor.com

Should You Accept The Offer?

Sellers can feel pressure when trying to decide whether to accept a buyer offer on their home. While real estate agents can advise clients on whether to accept an offer, the final decision is up to the seller--and it can be an agonizing one. In the current buyer’s market, buyers aren’t shy about making lowball offers to sellers. So when should you accept or decline an offer? Realty Times offered the following questions to consider.


Source:www.snackiepoo.com


Is the buyer pre-approved? You may not want to risk a deal falling through because the buyer wasn’t pre-approved for a loan.

Do you need to move quickly? If you need to move quickly--due to a job relocation or to avoid foreclosure--you may need to accept an offer that is less than what you want.

Can you accept a loss? Be sure to take closing costs into consideration too as you weigh whether you can even afford to agree to the buyer's offer.

Realty Times also suggests sellers take into account how long their home has been on the market and the number of showings. Such considerations also can help sellers determine whether getting a better offer soon is realistic and would be worth the wait...

Source: Realty Times

Selling a Home in the Winter

Traditionally, the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day can be some of the slowest time of the year for home buying due to the holidays and the often less-than-perfect weather. But that doesn’t mean sellers can’t sell during the winter months. In fact, with decreased inventories, sellers may have a better chance to standout and face a buyer pool with more urgency to settle down. Experts offer some of the following tips for selling a home in the winter:


•Stage it. Stagers can arrange furniture so that selling-points in a home don’t get overlooked, paint rooms inviting colors, and have the know-how to give a home a cozy winter feel. Display photos of the home that also show it in warmer summer months. And don’t forget to turn up the thermostat in the home so buyers are comfortable from the moment they step through the door."If you have a vacant house in winter with the heat turned down to 50, chances are someone will make a very low offer," Loren Keim, a real estate broker, told the Associated Press.

Source of Photo: www.lasvegashousestaging.com

•Price it right. "If it’s priced properly, it will sell any day of the year," Katie Severance, a broker for RE/MAX in Upper Montclair, N.J., told the Associated Press.

•Show the way. Keep sidewalks and driveways clear of snow, ice, and leaves–giving potential buyers a clear path to your listing’s front door.

•Light it up. There’s less daylight in the winter months so it’s even more important to keep all the lights on as well as open blinds and drapes for natural light. Keep the home well-lit even when you’re not there so the home still looks inviting to passersby who drive by in the evenings after work.
 

Source of Photo: www.energizedseller.com
 
 Source: The Associated Press

Sales of Existing Homes Rose 1.4%

Homebuyers scooped up more previously owned homes in October, slowly putting a dent in the huge inventory on the market, an industry report showed. Sales of existing homes rose 1.4% last month to an annual rate of 4.97 million homes, up from a downwardly revised 4.90 million homes in September, the National Association of Realtors reported. That was higher than expected. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected an annual rate of 4.85 million homes in October. Compared to a year ago, the rate of existing home sales has jumped 13.5%, from 4.38 million units. Continued gains in home sales have lightened up the inventory of homes on the market, the report showed. Total housing inventory at the end of October slipped 2.2% to 3.33 million existing homes for sales, representing an 8-month supply at the current sales pace. That’s down from an 8.3-month supply in September, and continues an ongoing downward trend since hitting a record high of 4.58 million in July 2008.

Source: CNN/Money