Spoken Gently's Blog: Sellers

The Washington Association of REALTORS® released a press release stating Washington home prices are rising. Here is an excerpt from the press release (bold added for emphasis):

“All real estate markets are unique. We shouldn’t be surprised that Washington State is bucking national trends,” said Dennis Rose, 2007 president of the Washington Realtors. “In order to make smart home-buying decisions, now more than ever it’s important to work with a professional REALTOR® who is familiar with the local market.”

As of mid-June, sub-prime, adjustable-rate loans represented 20 percent of loans nationally, but just 6 percent of home loans in Washington. Of those mortgages, 5 percent in Washington were delinquent, compared with 8.9 percent nationwide. The largest…

There are probably scores of mistakes real estate agents can make, however, there are 7 mistakes, or bad habits, that bother me the most. Probably because I see them more that I would prefer to. Here is my list of 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective REALTORS®:

1. Tardiness, or being late for appointments. When a real estate agent shows up late for an appointment, it communicates the message that "my time is more important than your time," or "I'm too irresponsible or careless to provide a courtesy call communicating an unforeseen event," and/or "I simply do not care enough." Enough said on that.

2. Not returning calls promptly. We've had listing agents simply not return calls. The agent lists the property, then does not return calls on the listing. Not…

Realtor.org writes about feng shui:

Feng Shui (meaning Wind and Water in Chinese) is the ancient art of placement to promote harmony, wealth, success and health. Feng Shui deals with the location and architecture of buildings, along with interior design and exterior landscaping. A working knowledge of Feng Shui may even help in home selling and home buying in today's multicultural world.

When considering feng shui in your home staging strategy, consider these 7 feng shui home staging tips (for general tips, see feng shui real estate tips):

The belief in feng shui real estate selling/buying tactics are unconventional, however, some swear by them. Feng shui real estate practices consist of ridding a home of it's negative energies and aligning the home towards positive elements.

Wikipedia on feng shui: "The Law of Heaven and Earth." Today's Feng Shui schools teach that it is the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment.

As a real estate agent, believing in feng shui may not be your conviction, however, knowing what a client who believes in feng requires is an important step in keeping the customer happy. Here are 8 Feng Shui real estate considerations when working with a feng shui buyer or seller (click here for feng shui home…

Going through the real estate process on your own involves going through many steps along the way that you might not have experience with. It can also entail lost opportunities that are missed solely because of a lack of information that would have otherwise been provided by a real estate agent. One way this lack of information can crop up is through the misuse of Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listings by those trying to sell a home on their own...[more]

Related Resources:

• Sale By Owner Option
• Service Minded, Part 1
• Service Minded, Part 2
• Proactive Home Selling

Having your financial situation enter an area where foreclosure is the only way out is certainly not the ideal outcome of any loan or home purchase. However, it does indeed come into play under some circumstances and when that happens, knowing who to contact and who can offer assistance during what can be a complicated and confusing time can be a difficult piece of information to uncover...[more]

Related Resources:

• Short Sale Makes Sense
• Real Estate Lawyers
• Foreclosures Worth The Risk
• Parting With A Home
• Last Minute Foreclosure Deal

When going through the process of selling a piece of real estate, a home owner most likely bristles at the thought of spending more money to sell the property on top of a real estate agent’s commission. However, in the case of staging, Realtors that customarily go through a professional staging service can see much better results, selling the home quicker and for a higher price. The added cost may scare some sellers away, but those that get on board are quickly rewarded.  Read more.

Related Resources:

• Staged Home Reality
• Seasonal Home Selling
• Curb Appeal
• Motivated Decorating Trends

The reason the value of a home can become such an issue for a seller is the amount of emotional attachment to the home fostered over a million memories created in the home, no matter how long the seller happened to live there. A seller is aware of all of the little things that were done to the home, the minor home improvement here and there that have taken the home from its raw state at purchase to the mature home that is now on the market for a new owner. That transition can produce many mixed feelings, one of them an over-inflated image of what West Richland is worth.

As difficult as it may be, the best advice for a seller is to remain as neutral as possible during the home’s sale process, using an impartial eye to look at the home as it stands in…