Morning Guys, today I have three new articles I am tossing up here on Agentsonline. I also have a full archive on my website at http://www.realpro.info/how-to/how-to-invest-in-real-estate.shtml
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Simple Ways to Sell in Half the Time with Curb Appeal

We are in a buyers market. There is no denying that. For every buyer there are dozens of homes that match their specific prerequisites. What can you do to convince these buyers that your house is the perfect match for them? Whether the property is a single family residential home for first time homebuyers, a multi-family condominium for investors, or a multi-million dollar mansion for the super-rich; the first few seconds are what counts the most. It is the first impression that you must work on so that it is so remarkable, the buyer falls in love with the property immediately upon seeing it.

When selling a property most sellers foolishly only think of the comparable sales information of the house. "Mary’s house down the street sold for $174 a square foot, so my place is worth $249,000". They put out a pretty 'For Sale' sign in the front yard, slap a price tag of $249k, and sit back, ready to except offers. Now if this is you, you will be sitting in that easy chair for a long, long time. There is one very important aspect you have over looked, how attractive does your property look from the passenger side window of a passing vehicle. You literally seconds to make an instant positive impression. Will that dead grass, broken gutter, peeling paint, and rubbish in the side yard make anyone want to say 'now this is home'? I think not.

"Ok, enough already, I get it. How can I do this 'curb appeal' thing to my property?" Keep the following five items on your mind when you are rehabbing the property and getting it ready for sale:

1) Choose your Paint Colors Wisely: We have all seen it before, driving down a street we find a house that the owners must either have a really sick sense of humor or are just plain color blind. Don't be one of those types of people with the hot pink house with black trim when your neighbors all feature Colonial colors. Yes, you do want to stand out from the crowd, but in a responsible way. Take a look around the street and try to stick with the same general theme of the area.

2) Clean It Up: People do not want to live in a toxic waste dump, so all those broken appliances and loose rubbish piled up against the house need to make it to the local trash dump. If there is a wood fence around the house then pressure wash it. You can rent a pressure washer from Home Depot for about a hundred bucks and it is something you can easily do yourself. Doing so will make the fence look almost new. Also while you have the machine, hit the sidewalk, driveway, etc. If there are stains on the concrete you cannot get up, run over to your local pool supply store and grab a gallon of muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) it will cost you less than 5 bucks and will remove just about any stain you can find. But make sure you do not get it on your skin, or you will be hating life! You will want to only apply it just long enough to remove the stain but not cause a bleaching effect. It also rinses away with water when you are done.

3) Trim back the trees: Come on, seriously this should be common sense. If you have to duck your head to walk around the house then the trees need a little trimming. Also, do not block visibility of the windows; large bushes in front of windows make a house look smaller from the street. Trim them back, or if they are too big, remove them and replace with a smaller ones. Just remember to keep it simple. Don’t forget to mow that lawn too and trim the edges!

4) Special Touches: I am not encouraging you to max out your credit cards here, but a few hundred dollars well spent can easily fetch a few extra thousand on the sale price and will shorten the time the property sits on the market. Replacing the old property address numbers on the front of the house with newer ones and replacing the front door’s doorknob are cheap and esay to do. These things may sound silly, but they make a difference. Think about it when you are looking for 123 Main Street what is one of the first things you see when searching for the property ‘123’. Then when you go to open the door what is the first thing you touch, the doorknob.

Think in terms of what the potential buyer immediately sees and how you can do things to enhance that experience. A great first impression is basically about eliminating any bad elements from the picture. Photographers do this when setting up a shot, actresses do this while applying makeup, you should be doing this when prepping your house for sale.

Very informative! Price to sell is the most important in a buyer's market. Many people still think they are in the market 5 years ago where they could sell a house for 10% more than what they paid for. Such an unrealistic expectation is what kills the sale. Price right, the home will sell fast.

the "best" home in the area with wonderful location location location WONT SELL if not priced competitivley in the current market. price it where it needs to be to sell as opposed to where you want it to be or where hte seller wants it.


the best broker in the world cant sell google stock for 5k a share. they can only sell it for what the market says it is worth at the time.

Thank you coach, but if the home does not right initial market positioning the curb appeal will not help. On depreciating market a house to be sold is matter of price.

I think it's three-fold...You need to provide the best product (house), at the best price (lower than others), and then make sure you are marketing to the "right" buyers....

Agreed, houses are still selling; but like you said not for what they did 5 years ago. Those that can adapt to the current market are making a ton of money.

I completely agree, but if yours happens to be the nicest and best priced...now you have a winner. Remember EVERY house is for sale, there is a ton of competition. So if your place looks like the city trash dump, buyers will think of it as that.

This is great advice! I wish more agents would think about the aesthetic factors people consider when buying a home. After all, the price may be right but if they don't care for the home you'll never sell it. One of my mentors also addressed something like "internal curb appeal" where he instructed his sellers to change all the cabinet and drawer handles in the house to match each other. As long as the cabinet doors were in good condition, this could make an older kitchen or bathroom look brand new again. An investment of $100-$200 could easily raise the price several thousand dollars.

I did an open house today where the sellers just don't seem to "get it" regarding internal appeal. No one came to the open house...I spent my time washing dishes, wiping down cabinetry, picking up bits of paper, and yes, even FLUSHING THE TOILET!!! I left them a rather lengthy note telling them I need THEIR HELP to successfully sell their home, with very specific items to be addressed...none of which require spending any money (except for making sure all light fixtures have LIGHT BULBS!!!!)

I can totally relate Neudot. A few weekends ago I was visiting some Open Houses to see how other agents do it. At one home, the exterior was immaculate all the way down to perfectly manicured lawns. However, the owners were actually there [i]while [/i]the Open House was going on! Even worse, they were just sitting in the living room watching tv while their two kids, barely school age, were fighting and crying in the bedroom. The agent looked mortified. I heard her mention to someone else that she was related to the owners and it was her first Open House, and it appeared to me that she was in way over her head. It was a really nice house at a good price, too. But the fact was people were coming in, seeing how awkward the whole situation was, and were leaving without really examining the home. No one seemed to spend much more than a few minutes in the home before heading for the door. There were even some people warning others as they arrived about what was going on. I felt so bad for this agent. Curb appeal is important, but it takes more than just getting people in the door.

neudot, You are too kind ! I have had those same people; but before committing to an Open House, I participate in a few showings, and if they can't brew up the energy to prepare the house for that; then there IS NO OPEN HOUSE.

May be you're just setting a higher standard in UpState New York. Open Houses usually draw all the nosey neighbors, and then the Gossip Mills get cranked up. Can't turn those spickets off once they get to flowing; and people always want to spread the worst, most poison and hurtful information they have heard.

I had one couple that actually thought that once the property was listed, I was responsible for their yard work and fixing broken window panes and of course, replacing those light bulbs. I decided right there that I could not discriminate . If I shoveled one walkway, then I should do them all; and everyone's windows, and sanitize their toilets, and mow their stupid lawns. Since it can't be all; then it has to be NONE !

Vermont007, being too kind is my most serious character fault You are absolutely right, of course, it's not my job, and I'm halfway expecting a phone call re: "What the heck did you do?" Another agent at my office used arrive early to a certain one of her open house listings last year specifically to address pet waste. The house did eventually sell.

Well, if that's your most serious defect you're doin' okay for a New Yorker ! Just can't sit down and read a book or something quiet while you're in the midst of someone else's mess. You probably couldn't find a comfortable seat !

I once had a house for sale on behalf of a well respected High School Teacher. She too did not know enough to flush her toilets. I told her that if she couldn't flush them; how about at least putting the covers DOWN !

That same woman had raised a Hog in the garage for the kids to befriend and then put a little food (or a lot) on the table. When I took the listing, they had already harvested the animal; but she had retained the skull (the whole head) in the Garage, which was offering up the most rancid odor and was like covered with maggots. No Taxidermist had been involved, so I guess her Science background said things would work differently for her. She needed me ? . . . . to tell her that "This won't help sell the house !" She said that the kids just wanted to keep a little part of Porky. Unfortunately, her house mysteriously burned to the ground before we could sell it.

She was a transplant from New Jersey.

@Vermont's story...

Wow.