“Why would I want to hire someone to stage my house when I am selling it? It looks OK and besides the new owners can fix it up the way they want to.”

” I know my paint colors are a little bold, but won’t the new owner want to paint anyway?”

” Isn’t home staging expensive?”

These are some of the common questions that people ask when deciding to sell their Fresno homes. Most sellers do not realize that having their property staged by a home staging professional is an investment in their home that will pay off in a big way at closing.

The money spent on staging will pale in comparison to that which is lost when their home sits on the market for months, while the owner pays the mortgage and upkeep. Profit will also be lost when the home has to undergo price reductions.

AUTHOR BIO:

Linda Thompson, owner of Selling By Design-Staging, has been decorating and redesigning homes with her husband, an architect and builder, for over twenty years. Their work has earned praise for practicality and creativity.

After taking an early retirement from a teaching career, Linda began staging and redesigning homes. Her staging philosophy is to keep it simple while giving each home that WOW factor so necessary in real estate today.

THINKING OF PLACING YOUR FRESNO HOME ON THE MARKET?

For individual questions or concerns, contact Joseph Hollak.

Also, consider clicking the “like” button for us, or if you enjoy a twitter account, we would appreciate a quick retweet of this link.

And finally, if you have ever considered selling a home on your own, leave us a comment below and let us know how it went.

More times than not, there is a “to-do” list to get the property in shape to look it’s best and impress potential buyers. And, yeah, this might take a little bit of time and money on your part (the seller), but it will be worth it. Trust me.

Once we have professionally marketed your property, brought eyeballs to it online, brought bodies to see it in person and some one falls in love with it, the offer to purchase your property is going to be contingent on a few things that the buyer finds important.

WOOD-DESTROYING PESTS

One of those contingencies is quite possibly going to be a wood-destroying pest inspection and report. The buyer’s lender might require this inspection prior to agreeing to the loan and the buyer might find it important to know that they are not about to buy a home infested with wood-destroying pests.

Imagine how excited your potential buyer will be when they learn from a professional that the property is free of any wood-destroying pests and you have taken care of everything for them as a responsible seller. Can you imagine the deal moving along nicely towards closing because you were a responsible seller?

Here is what it looks like when a responsible owner / seller hires a pest company to tent the property and solve this potential hurdle before any buyer falls in love with your professionally marketed property.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Do the right thing as Fresno real estate seller and eliminate all potential contingencies that might come between you and a potential buyer completing the transaction.

The more reasons you eliminate from a potential buyer to purchase your property, the easier it will be for us to get you a closed escrow. Makes sense huh?

Now, to discuss your specific situation, call us at the office and schedule a confidential appointment – (559) 399-0004

HISTORIC

As of today I am separating myself from the old technology of a traditional land-line piped in to the office from underground and controlled by the old phone company.

This antiquated tele-comm of an office land-line is great for capturing incoming calls, as long as you are physically sitting in front of the plastic box with a curly chord attached to the over-sized handset. Passed sitting on the desk and ringing loudly, there isn’t much reason today to use it.

If you’re out in the field or away from your desk, the best it can do is record a message and make a small little light blink letting you know it has done it’s job. Again, if you’re not sitting right in front of the box to see the flashing light, you’re not going to know that you even have a message from an important client to listen to.

MOVING ON, MOVING FORWARD

As of today my new office phone number is (559) 399-0004 and is powered by Google.

Have you seen interest rates lately?

Did you buy a new home in July?

Fresno real estate has seen a wild ride over the past ten years.

If you’re a property owner now, you know this better than anyone.

The price swings Fresno property owners have seen in the past five years can be unsettling, especially since a home can be the most valuable asset on a family’s balance sheet.

We think we’ve come up with a solution to help alleviate some of the confusion behind current Fresno real estate prices.

HAS THE MARKET STABILIZED?

The biggest question I get now about Fresno real estate is, “Has the market stabilized?” It is the most asked question I’ve heard from buyers since January 1, 2010.

With this in mind, we are proud to announce a solution geared towards giving Fresno home owners more information on their neighborhood.

My Fresno Home Value is now live and free to use.

Visit My Fresno Home Value and get a free digital report on exactly what is going on in your specific neighborhood.

You will be amazed at the detail you get for free in this digital report and we would love to hear your opinion of what you think.

Ask for the report and then leave a comment below as to your thoughts.

Home appraisals are a necessary step in the process of selling or refinancing your home.

PREPARE FOR YOUR HOME APPRAISAL

If you are in the process of getting your home ready to be put on the market or interested in refinancing, industry experts offer the following things to keep in mind as you prepare for your home appraisal.

GET ORGANIZED

Put together a checklist that will help you get ready for your appraisal and get the results you’re looking for. Being organized will make the process run smoother. If possible, have a copy of your home’s blueprint available. This will help in verifying measurements and lot size if necessary.

Know what year your home was built and what improvements and / or changes have been made since it was built. Improvements that should be noted include adding a new patio, installing a pool, updating or upgrading the kitchen or a bathroom, any room additions you’ve made to the property.

It won’t hurt to make a point of mentioning any amenities that may not be obvious such as a security system, built in home vacuum system, or an alarm system.

BE FLEXIBLE

Be prepared to be flexible with your time and your schedule when making the appointment with the Fresno appraiser. Having a tight schedule will only make getting the appraisal completed more difficult.

Once the appointment is set, the appraiser will need 30 minutes to an hour to finish the inspection. The appraiser will need access to the inside and outside of the property, and the ability to take some digital photos. Allow the appraiser access to the entire property, including basement, crawl space and attic space.

MAKE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION

Have the lawn cut and the shrubbery in clean shape. Have the pool serviced and cleaned. Have door and window screens repaired or replaced if they are in less than impressive condition. Check for leaky faucets and piping.

All of the above will need to be completed if your placing your home on the market anyway, so it won’t hurt to get them done for the inspection.

GET YOUR HOME’S VALUE

If you are wondering what other Fresno real estate is being priced and sold at in your neighborhood, a free market snapshot on what is happening in your neighborhood is a good idea. Lucky for you, there is a site that will give you an up-to-date report on your neighborhood absolutely free.

Try visiting My Fresno Home Value to get your free digital report. It will take you two minutes (or less) to input the necessary data required to pinpoint what Fresno real estate is doing in your neighborhood.

A few minutes later, the system will e-mail you a digital link with all the information you will need to see what is going on around you.

FHA APPROVES ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES

Great news for my clients!

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has decided to accept electronic signatures on real estate contracts.

Now, if you are interested in buying Fresno real estate you can say good-bye to a mountain of printed real estate contract documents that need physical signatures only to be scanned or faxed around to the other parties in the transaction only to have them print the docs again on their side. This can really add up to a lot of paper without any promise of the deal being accepted.

This new process will allow an easier, faster way to buy Fresno real estate.

I originally mentioned my dedication to digital signatures back in March when I wrote about taking the Fresno real estate process green. Now the FHA sees the benefits of using digital signatures as well.

MY CLIENTS LOVE THE PROCESS AND CONVENIENCE

I have had a lot of feedback from past clients resulting in 100% approval for the process.

If you are interested in Fresno real estate and would like to use a professional that is an early adopter of added security, convenience and timeliness while saving a ton of needless ink and paper printing, contact my office – we ready to help.

Joseph Hollak

Realtor

Keller Williams Realty Fresno

1175 West Shaw Avenue

Fresno, CA 93711

(559) 320-0690

Just a quick bit of housekeeping to take care of this morning.

Joseph Hollak has a new fax number for business purposes.

Send all future business faxes to (559) 432-9324.

That is all — have a great Friday.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

THINK LOCALLY, ACT GLOBALLY

You can participate too by powering down the lights in your home or office for one hour, starting at 8:30 pm. If you need an excuse to get to know your neighbors or visit with them for an hour, turn the event into a mini-get-together or go as big as a block party.

GO BIG

The Las Vegas Strip, Mount Rushmore, Sea World, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge will join other iconic landmarks from around the world in switching off the lights for Earth Hour. CN Tower in Toronto, Grand Palace in Bangkok, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the London Eye, Hiroshima Peace Memorial and Taipei 101 will plunge into darkness to shed light on dangerous climate change.

MY EARTH HOUR 2010

For more information head over to the My Earth Hour site.  There you will find information on climate change that affects all of us, My Earth Hour tools, and more information on how your community can get involved.

Part II suggested tips on how to handle the inside of your investment. Once you get the potential buyers inside, DO NOT give them a reason to leave without thinking of making an offer to purchase. You may not be able to make many changes to the floor plan or size of the property, but these are suggestions that you can do something about, and they usually aren’t expensive to implement.

If you haven’t done so already, take a minute to revisit the previous articles in this serious on tips to help sell your home.

PART III of III

In part III we will focus on things you should do in order to make showing your home to potential buyers more successful. You will usually have competition from other homes for sale in your neighborhood. Don’t give potential buyers a reason to make an offer on your neighbor’s home. When your home is being shown to potential buyers, keep these ideas in mind to increase your chances of success.

1. Have your home well lighted during showings.
2. Neat, clean and de-cluttered rooms look bigger.
3. Keep your room’s draperies and shades open to let in as much natural light as possible.
4. If possible, leave your rugs and furniture in the house for showings. It helps potential buyers imagine how a room is to be used. Don’t keep buyers guessing as to how they will use a room.
5. There is no reason for dirty dishes to be left in the sink for potential buyers.
6. If you have kids, keep bicycles and toys and skateboards out of the way.
7. Keep radios, TVs and computer volumes off. Let potential buyers walk the home and still be able to discuss what they are seeing.
8. Refer all requests to view your property to your Realtor. Take advantage of his / her professional skills in selling your home.
9. Take pets outdoors when your house is being shown. Not everyone is a “cat person” or will find your family dog as fun as you do.
10. And finally, and this might be the most important item to remember when you want potential buyers viewing your property, let the real estate agent show your home without you tagging along! Nothing can make potential buyers more uncomfortable than the owner hanging out with them. Buyers feel like they can’t speak freely with the owner of the home within ear-shot. Take your family out of the house when it is being shown.

If you are thinking of selling your Fresno or Clovis area home, you have a lot of thinking to do and potentially a lot of prep work. These tips are just the beginning and we can bring much more knowledge and experience to your quest to sell your home when you hire us.

TIPS TO HELP SELL YOUR HOME

We started this series of articles last Monday morning so it’s not too late to get all caught up.

PART II OF III

This is Part II of III in the series. Part I was published on Tuesday and focused on the exterior of your property.

Here we will pick up the conversation and focus on the living areas and how you can improve them in order to help your chances of a quick and profitable sale.

If you can get potential buyers through the front door, they will spend most of their visit on the inside of the building, evaluating everything from floor plan to paint color to condition of the surfaces. What follows is a list of things you should focus on that will help get that offer to purchase that you are looking for.

1. The most important room in your entire house, as far as buyers are concerned, is your kitchen. Therefore, make it bright, attractive and absolutely clean. If the kitchen is dull and out-of-date, do not expect a full-price offer to purchase. Paint is cheap and is your friend. Choose neutral colors that will appeal to a broad base of buyers. Now is not the time to paint your favorite shade of neon color.
2. If your kitchen floor is worn, put down new flooring or replace any loose tile.
3. Clean the ventilating hood above your stove top. Potential buyers will look. Don’t give them a reason to leave.
4. Remove any appliances that you keep on your counter top. This one is very hard to get sellers to do for some reason. Potential buyers don’t care to see your toaster, mixer and stained coffee maker. Besides, clean counters make the kitchen seem larger. Remove the clutter.
5. If your faucet has a slow annoying drip, get it fixed. A leaking faucet scares potential buyers.
6. Wash your windows. Get as much natural light into your home as possible.
7. Replace any broken or cracked sliding glass door or window glass.
8. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, clean it out and place some fresh logs in it to make it look inviting and functional.
9. Check every room’s ceiling for cracks and stains. Fix the cause of the damage and repaint.
10. Unclog all tub, shower and sink drains. A home inspection will catch these and call them out. It’s an easy fix and you might as well fix this now.
11. Get all sink, bathtub, shower and toilet stains removed completely. The newer and cleaner they look, the better.
12. Replace or repair all window and door screens.
13. Make sure all windows and doors open easily.
14. Make sure all burned-out light bulbs are replaced.
15. Clean out the attic, basement and garage areas and dispose of all items that are no longer needed or you will not be moving. Removing clutter here will make the property seem larger.
16. Straighten up the closets and remove excess items that will make the closets appear smaller.
17. Solve all squeaky hinges.
18. Make floors look as clean and new as possible.
19. De-personalize shelves, mantles and table tops. Potential buyers are not in your house to look at your family pictures. Neutralizing and de-cluttering the space will help those potential buyers to see their own family living there.
20. Vacuum all carpeted areas.

This is part II in a three-part series, focusing on tips that can help you sell your home. Part III in the series will appear tomorrow and focus on tips that will help you to show your home in the best possible manner.

If you have a tip that has helped you sell your home, please share. Leave us a comment below and share your secret tips.

For individual and custom help in selling your home, contact our team for a confidential appointment.

We love what we do and our clients love our dedication to their real estate cause.

Start with this questions in mind: Is your home as presentable as it can be in order to impress those potential buyers?

A good rule of thumb to follow for a fast, profitable and successful sale is to improve the cosmetic aspects of your home. Avoid, however, making major changes unless they will increase the value of your home more than the cost of the improvement.

PART I

Part I will cover tips focusing on the outside or exterior of the building. Remember, when a potential buyer pulls up to view your home, their first impression is formed based on how the home looks from the street. So start with the exterior and don’t put all of your time, attention and money into just the interior of the property.

The first impression is often the lasting impression potential buyers leave the property with. People usually decide within two minutes whether they like your home or not. The first two minutes is sometimes all you get to make a lasting positive impression! And, potential buyers start forming this important impression before they even walk in the front door.

1. Invest in landscaping where it can be seen at first sight. For example, a well manicured lawn with neatly clipped shrubs and a cleanly swept walkway will help to create a positive impression as your potential buyer moves from their car to the front door.
2. Cut back trees and shrubs that hinder the walk to the front door or may keep natural light out of the house.
3. Make a walk around the perimeter of the property and visually inspect the roof and rain gutters. Your potential buyers will be making this inspection, so should you. Any missing shingles should be replaced and gutters and down-spouts should be repaired or replaced.
4. If necessary, your home may be in need of a fresh coat of paint. If you decide against an entire house paint, consider touching up front shutters, window frames and trim.
5. If the potential buyers make it as far as the front door, it’s here where they will pause the longest as they wait for their Realtor to get the key from the lock-box and unlock the door. This moment of waiting gives them plenty of time to inspect the area around the front door. Not only should this area be spotless, consider adding fresh flowers with lots of color in matching pots.
6. And finally, be honest and decide if the front door needs refinishing or a fresh coat of paint or some new hardware.

These six suggestions will help with a fast, successful and profitable sale.

For more specific tips on your individual property, contact us for a personal appointment. We’ve helped other Clovis and Fresno real estate sellers in your same situation, and we can help you as well.

In addition, click over to our professional real estate seller services page. Here we explain the steps we take to ensure our clients get the best real estate service they can. Not only have we bullet-proofed our services, we’ve put them in writing.

When you decide to sell your home, it stops being “your home” and becomes an asset that you are looking to transfer to someone else in exchange for a big profit.

To stop thinking about the building as “your home” is the toughest part of selling a home, but it truly is no longer “your home.”

A WINNING STRATEGY TO A SUCCESSFUL SALE

If you’re trying to make your home appeal to the broadest number of potential buyers possible, it helps to follow a proven strategy. One that has worked for other Fresno real estate sellers. We will cover some simple tips that should help you sell your home successfully in a three part series over the course of the coming week.

• Part I — Focuses on the exterior of the building
• Part II — Focuses on the living areas
• Part III — Focuses on showing the building

For more information on the services our team provides to those clients looking to sell their home, send us a confidential message below.