S & J Journal

From time to time, we like to peak at our blog's account stats and see who our audience is. The top searchers by country on our site are from: 1) USA 2) Canada 3) Russia 4) Germany 5) Latvia (interesting!) Jeannett

Interview at least two or three real estate agents to get an idea of fair market value. Also ask them how many homes they have sold in the immediate area in the last year. The trouble is that if you go with the first agent you find, you might end up leaving money on the table if the market value estimate given is not a fair market value or the agent is somewhat inexperienced and has not had much training in marketing and selling. Just the other day, I was chatting with a   friend and she told me her elderly neighbor, “Sally”,  was approached by a real estate agent that was going door to door asking homeowners if they were interested in selling their homes. Some agents are doing that because Coral Gables' inventory is so low and they have nothing to sell or advertise. This “roving” agent  gave “Sally” a quick and easy estimate of a listing price. The lady does not read the papers often and had no idea how quickly the marke...

There are many, many staging tips on the web but in this list below, we try to give you the most effective and inexpensive ways to get a home ready to put on the market.  Realtors and their buyers are more likely to be interested in a home from the get-go if it is staged - this will allow the listing to sell quicker and for a higher price, maybe even getting several bids. Stage the home first so that it looks appealing to a wide variety of potential buyers, then take professional pictures to post online and print marketing materials. (You can keep a before-and-after for your own records.)  Here are the top   2 5 staging tips to get a home ready to sell. This list can be useful to sellers as well as agents. Start at the curb in front of the house and walk through to the back of the house as you would during a showing. Write down anything that needs attention. Also, have a friend perform a walk-through and add her/his ideas to your list. ...