Top Tips For Selling A Home During The Holidays

-Consider potential buyers spiritual backgrounds in your market before decorating for a holiday.
-Minimize holiday decorations to keep focus on your home and its features and benefits.
-Less is more when decorating a home for the holidays while you are trying to sell. Streamline the amount of holiday specific decorations you display.
-Christmas trees and other large holiday decorations consume space that might make rooms appear smaller.
-Install and remove exterior holiday decorations 2 weeks before and after holiday.
-Turn off lighted holiday decorations before showings, buyers should focus on your home and not your decorations.
-If you are having out-of-town house guests, ask your agent to postpone showings until after your guests depart.
-Leave out a plate of home-made holiday treats for potential buyers.
-Display summer photos of home and gardens to inform buyers of the features of the home in other seasons.
-Before showings remove snow, ice and leaves from walkways and driveways. Don't overlook outside entrances to basements, garages, and porches.
-If you plan to close the purchase or sale of a home near a holiday, check with your agent, title, company and lender to verify two business days before closing that they have all the required documents and funds have been wired to complete the transaction.
-If you are closing on your new home, select a mid-week day, early in the day, to schedule your closing time, to accommodate last minute delays by a mortgage loan processor, insurance or title company.
-If you plan to move during the holidays, keep in mind that moving companies will require more notice and could charge additional fees for packing, moving and delivering household goods on week-ends and holidays.

Thinking of buying or selling Highland County real estate? Visit my website to view all real estate listings, get the current value of your home and more.

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The Headline Says It All

I was recently enjoying the Sports section of our local newspaper, the Times Gazette, to find the headline: Still Perfect, Buckeyes Head to National Championship. The Buckeyes just defeated the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines to advance to the national championship. On Jan. 8th the Buckeyes will play in Glendale, Arizona. I'm sure this game will be watched by even more enthusiastic viewers than ever before! The recent victory drew the biggest television audience for any regular-season game in 13 years (as reported in a side story). Over 21.77 million viewers (according to Nielson Media Research) tuned in to the game. The ability of a game to bring so many people together in one spirit, one enthusiasm, one celebration is amazing! The Buckeyes are the perfect way to enjoy football and community!

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Should You Try to Sell Your Home During the Holiday Season?

A common misconception is that trying to sell a home during the holidays is a bad idea. If you are serious about selling, it can be an excellent time to list. During the holidays buyers are more serious. They have a different motivation like using vacation time to search for property. They're doing that because they have to buy, rather than want to buy. Remember Thanksgiving and Christmas is one day a piece not two months.

10 reasons why you should list your home during the holidays

1. Most November and December buyers are particularly serious and very likely facing some sort of deadline.
2. January is the biggest transfer month of the year and job transferee’s use the holidays to house hunt.
3. Many people want to buy before the end of the year for financial and tax reasons. Investors usually want to close escrow by year-end for tax purposes.
4. Most sellers wait until spring or summer to list their home. This means that during the winter months your property will have far less competition versus any other time of the year.
5. Homes show well when decorated for the holidays creating a sense of family and people are much more emotionally drawn to the house, emotion sells.
6. Many people take vacation around the holidays allowing more time to look for a home.
7. Remodeling, decorating, appliance installation and other services are more available and at less of a premium.
8. There is plenty of mortgage money available for buyers.
9. Lenders aren't as busy and can process loans faster.
10. Showings will be fewer and less intrusive, but more likely to be fruitful with motivated, qualified buyers.

Thinking of buying or selling Highland County real estate? Visit my website to view all real estate listings, get the current value of your home and more.

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Thankful

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, we reflect upon the clients and customers that have helped us grow. We are truly thankful for the support shown to us over the years. This support is what has made our success possible. As we continue to take market share, we realize the important role that loyal and valuable clients play. It is through the constancy of their relationships with us that we can create a company that strives to make a significant impact in our community. We say Thank You for this opportunity to grow with you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Visit our website to learn more!

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Information About Flip Transactions and Mortgage Fraud

I recently received a memorandum from Gregory Van Zant, a local attorney regarding information about properties being collateralized in FHA insured mortgages. This timely information is available here. Check it out!

Tags: Attorney, FHA Insured Mortgages, Flip Transactions, Mortgage Fraud, Resales of Homes

Our Interactive Voice Response System

We at The Dickey Group Realtors use an interactive voice response system. This toll free 800 number service is used to market our homes. I’d like to tell you about it.

If you notice on all our signs and marketing materials, there is a toll free 800 number. This number has free recorded information about the homes we have for sale. The awesome thing about this service is you can get information about our homes from anywhere at anytime – even when the office is closed and without having to talk to anyone.

Ninety percent of people in the world today have cell phones. That means you can be sitting outside the property and call to listen to me or one of my team members tell you about the home.

Regardless if it’s a holiday, after hours, or on the weekend, anyone can receive information about our homes. All you have to do is dial the 800 number and enter the extension number that has been assigned to the property, relax and listen! An extension number is dedicated to each home so that you can hear about that specific house.

We use this 800 number system on all our marketing materials: from postcards, flyers, newspapers, and signs - to our comprehensive website. Our houses are being marketed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire listing period!

We encourage you to try our toll free 800 number service today and see what it can do for you!

Tags: 800 Number, Marketing

Residential Property Disclosure

Let me start by saying, it is law in the state of Ohio that a seller must disclose what works and what doesn’t work with their home and the way the seller communicates this to a buyer is by completing a Residential Property Disclosure Form. This form has been in effect for several years now; however, the form has been expanded to 4 pages of questions that a seller must complete prior to selling their home.

Most Realtors have this form completed at the time that they list your home. The Residential Property Disclosure Form is usually presented by the Realtor to a buyer during a showing of the property or prior to the writing of the Purchase Contract. To give you an idea of the types of questions a seller must answer, you are asked “do you know of any current leaks or problems with your roof?" In another question, you are asked about structural components such as foundation, basement/crawl space, and wall related issues, and the questions reads; "do you know of any movement, shifting, deterioration, cracks & settling problems?" Another question deals with Wood boring insects and termites, "does your home have bugs?" New questions added to the form this year are related to quality and quantity of your water supply. The seller now has to disclose that his well goes dry every August and that his water smells like rotten eggs! A new question that is interesting is “are you in a flood plain?" With the unpredictable large amounts of rain that we have experienced over the last few years many areas have flooded that have never before experienced high water. As a result the seller now has to answer flood related questions. You are now asked 6 Bounty line/ encroachment and shared driveway questions. You ask “What is an encroachment?” and the best way to explain an encroachment is to give you an example. The seller now has to disclose the fact that his garage was built 6’ over his property line onto the neighbor’s lot. This is an encroachment. Many new questions have been added to the form.

For a copy of the questions that a seller must answer call or email our office and we’ll fax or email you a copy.

Tags: Residential Property Disclosure, Real Estate Forms, Sellers