Resources

Giving Your Home The Best Online Listing

The majority of home buyers today use the internet as their primary source when looking for available homes. Often, a photo or a description found online serves as the very first impression of a home.

Having an enticing online listing can make a massive difference when it comes to selling homes. If your listing stands out and effectively grabs the attention of potential buyers online, it’s very likely you’ll land a good deal in the shortest amount of time possible.

Here are a couple of tips to make your online listing work effectively:

Add high-definition photos
Most buyers don’t go… (more…)

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Is The Short Sale Of Your Home Right For You?

Are you moving to another city? Paying off debt? Or has your financial situation changed for the worse?

Whatever the reason, you are now seriously considering selling your mortgaged home.

You may be tempted to make the most money out of the sale. But if your reasons for selling is to avoid further financial strain, your options must address this issue.

There are a number of ways to sell your property but if you are looking to sell to avoid foreclosure, you should consider declaring a short sale.

What is a Short Sale?

Short sale is a technical alternative to… (more…)

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Energy Audits Can Help Sell Your House

So your house is up for sale.

You’ve tried to apply the advice of every online expert on home sales. You have, for example, fixed or covered up every crack, break, stain, and damage. You’ve even hired an inspector to check for the usual suspects—the presence of radon, lead paint, and asbestos in your home.

In fact, your house is in tiptop shape and condition. Anyone would buy it in a heartbeat.

Making your home more desirable

All you have to do now is meet potential buyers and anticipate a quick sale.

There is one last thing, though, that you can… (more…)

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5 Great Tips For First-Time Home Sellers

Putting a home on the market for the first time may seem like a daunting task, but when you’re equipped with the right knowledge, you’ll find there isn’t really anything you should worry about.

Home selling can be challenging at times, but by planning ahead and taking the time to find out more about the process, you make yourself better prepared to deal with anything that comes your way.

Here are 5 smart tips which can help you successfully sell your home:

Be prepared

Before selling your home, you need to plan ahead and consider where you’ll move to. This… (more…)

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A Real Estate Guide To Abbreviations

Real estate listings can be tricky. The abbreviations you see on print ads may seem confusing, and a few online sites, though not constrained by the price of newspaper column inches, employ the same shortcuts on occasion.

This glossary decodes the abbreviations you encounter when looking up real estate:

A

AC or A/C: air conditioning
adj: adjoining or adjacent
aek: all electric kitchen

B

B: basement; can also be Bmt
B/R: bedroom; can also be Bd or Bdrm
B/A: bathroom
Balc: balcony

C

c-d-s: cul de sac
cath ceil: cathedral ceiling
CMA: comparative market analysis
cp: carport
CPX: complex

D

… (more…)

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Are Open Houses Effective?

Nothing beats an open house when it comes to selling a home, right? To have potential buyers going from room to room personally checking out the well-staged living spaces sounds effective and convincing, yes?

That may have been true once, but not anymore.

Real estate agents no longer rely on face-to-face encounters to sell a house. Yes, Realtors meet and negotiate with buyers but most of these potential clients don’t really prioritize open houses like they used to.

Real estate and the internet

The National Association of Realtors ® reports that 43% of homebuyers use the internet for their initial search… (more…)

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Defining Foreclosures and Short Sales

It happens to the best of people. Whatever the reason—a bad financial decision, the sluggish economy—people sometimes find themselves in dire straits. As a result, they are forced to make hard decisions.

Perhaps one of the most difficult is figuring out what to do after defaulting on mortgage payments.

Often, the owner faces two options:

Sell the property for foreclosure
Sell it through short sale

What’s the difference?

The difference between a foreclosure and a short sale is simple.

A property is said to be in foreclosure when the owner stops mortgage payments and the lender exercises the legal right… (more…)

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Foreclosures in South Bay, CA

As much as property owners would like to avoid foreclosure, some are unable to bounce back from their mortgage problems and are forced to go through this ordeal.

South Bay residents are no stranger to expropriation.

What follows is a report on how some communities in the region are doing in terms of mortgage payments and foreclosures.

Manhattan Beach

Six properties in Manhattan Beach have been given a Notice of Default in September 2014, making that the highest number of foreclosure filings in the area over the past year—but that’s only 0 .4% of Los Angeles County’s total.

According to RealtyTrac.com,… (more…)

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HD photos and video tours help sell your home

With more than 90% of home buyers using the internet to search for real estate, photos and videos have become a key factor when it comes to selling properties.

According to studies, listings that feature a good collection of HD or high-definition photos and an in-depth virtual tour tend to do better than other listings on a real estate website.

When you add HD photos and video tours to your listing, you’re giving prospective buyers a much better view of your property. They get to see all of the home’s best features, and they get to imagine themselves walking through (more…)

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Finding a short sale expert

While there’s no shortage of real estate agents, experienced short sale agents are harder to find.

Short sale agents do a lot more than agents. They go through tons of work including negotiating with the bank, hiring contractors, and if need be, evicting occupants who won’t move out of their foreclosed homes.

You would want to look for an experienced short sale expert given the responsibility they face.

Here are a few tips that can help you find the ideal short sale agent:

Look within the area. Certain areas may have more foreclosures rather than regular homes for sale. (more…)

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DIY home staging vs. professional home staging

When it comes to selling homes, home staging is a key step that can help you sell your home faster, and at a better price.

Home staging is the process whereby a piece of property is made more appealing to potential buyers.

With over 90% of buyers using the internet to search for real estate, home staging is that extra push that gives your property a better online presence.

Advantages of professional home staging

An experienced professional home stager knows exactly what to do with your home in order for it to attract more attention on the market.

You’ll save time and effortwhen you give the job to a professional home stager—even if you have to pay for the services. If you choose to go the DIY route, you’ll find yourself hiring workers, choosing paint colors, and shopping for extra furniture and accessories – things you won’t need to deal with if you hire a professional stager.

You can take care of other tasks that will help sell your home if you hire a professional home stager.

DIY home staging tips

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What does an REO broker do?

When properties go through foreclosure and are seized by the bank, that’s when REO brokers come in.

Unlike regular sellers, banks are more demanding clients. Therefore, as the bank’s intermediaries, REO brokers are tasked with making sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

That means:

Overseeing inspections, maintenance, and repairs
Often times banks demand initial inspections within 24 hours of assignment. The REO broker negotiates with the city orutility company to make this possible, andcalculates the cost of hiring contractors, who bid for the job.

Keeping costs to a minimum (more…)

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Leo Nordine