Author: Ryan DeRoode

Some folks in the real estate biz would call the holiday season–the period roughly from November through January–the worst possible time to sell a home. But there’s always a silver lining if you’re willing to see it. There are actually some significant benefits to putting your home on the market during the holidays. 

For starters, your real estate agent will be better able to give you their undivided attention, and you’ll also be able to target serious buyers more easily. That being said, you’ll need every advantage you can get. Here’s how to give yourself an edge when you’re selling a home during the holidays. 

Work with a Great Real Estate Agent

The right agent can do wonders for you when you need to sell your home fast, especially during this challenging season. Above all, you need someone reliable who will put in the hours and won’t disappear just because it’s the holidays. A good way to find the right real estate agent is to check references and ask about their strategy for selling homes like yours during the holiday season. Chances are, they’ll have some tricks up their sleeve. Having a really great seller’s agent in your corner is one of the greatest advantages you can get. 

Deck the Halls… Tastefully

Consider your holiday decorations carefully. A bit of tasteful holiday decor is a great way to make your house stand out and feel like a warm, welcoming place. Keep it simple: a wreath on the door, some clear string lights, a star at the top of the spruce tree out front. Avoid bright, garish displays and over-the top inflatables. You want your house to offer a serene, peaceful holiday ambiance, not a circus-like atmosphere. It’s also a good idea to keep decorations as non-denominational as possible to avoid turning off any potential buyers who might come from a different religious background.. 

Create a Virtual Tour

These days, open houses are increasingly giving way to online showings and virtual tours. With that in mind, hiring a professional to create a 3D virtual tour of your home is a great idea regardless of the season. But in winter, when sleet and snow make the idea of driving out to visit an open house seem less appealing than ever, virtual tours are especially important. Give potential buyers a chance to explore your house in all its glory from the comfort of their living room. 

Emphasize Curb Appeal

First impressions are of the utmost importance when selling your home, and fall and winter are times when you need to really make curb appeal a priority. If the trees are bare, then your home will be even more exposed, so be extra vigilant about touching up flaking paint, adjusting saggy gutters and keeping the porch clear. If there are fallen leaves on your lawn, rake them up into neat piles until they start to look soggy, and then bag them up. If there’s snow on the ground, make sure your walkways are shoveled and salted. 

Seek Out Motivated Buyers

The good news is that people who are out looking at homes during the holidays are serious about buying. The bad news is that there are fewer of them. You and your real estate agent will have to work a little harder to target the right buyers. Focus on folks who are relocating for work in your area, investors looking to buy a home before the tax deadline, students and families of students looking to buy a home before the next semester begins. 

The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed, and if you happen to be selling a home this time of year, there are indeed reasons to rejoice. With a little effort, it might just be one of the best seasons to put your home on the market.

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One of the most stressful things about selling a home is how long the process can take. The longer it’s on the market, the longer you have to keep it looking spotless, the longer you have to be ready for a showing at a moment’s notice, and the more likely you are to endure a price drop.

Usually, home sellers list their house for sale with a decent idea about how long it might take. They know how quickly other homes in their neighborhood sell, and they can get data online or from their real estate agent, on the average time on the market in their area.

When the typical time for a home on the market passes by and your house isn’t sold yet, it’s easy to start worrying and asking yourself what’s wrong. In most cases, if your home is not selling, it’s probably one of these three things.

It’s not getting enough exposure

It’s fairly easy to tell if a lot of people are interested in your home. You’ll have a lot of showings. The online listing of your home will have a lot of views and saves. If those things aren’t occurring, it could mean that your home is lacking exposure.

About 93 percent of all would-be homebuyers start their search online, according to the National Association of Realtors, and not all of those buyers use the same search engines or listings websites. If your listing isn’t high in the search rankings or it’s not posted enough around the internet and shared on social media, your foot traffic can suffer.

Keep in mind, too, that if the count of online views is low, it might mean that your listing’s main photo isn’t that appealing. Think about sprucing up your curb appeal and re-taking your home’s main exterior photo, at least before committing to a price drop. It’s a simple way to see if you can boost page views.

It’s not priced right

If your home is getting a lot of views online and a lot of visitors (via virtual tours or in-person visits), but you’re not getting any serious interest, the home might be priced too high. Especially if you’re in a seller’s market, where buyer demand is high, and the inventory of homes for sale is low. You should receive purchase offers if the home is priced correctly and marketed well.

Remember that a home is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. The asking price for your home shouldn’t be based on what you paid for it, what your neighbor sold their home for a year ago, or what you feel you “have” to get for it.

An experienced listing agent should be able to show and explain to you a comparative market analysis, which is a data-driven guide for pricing your home correctly.

It’s not in the right condition

If your home is marketed well and priced in line with competing homes for sale in the area, then perhaps it’s not in the condition homebuyers want.

You hear the term “move-in ready” a lot, and some buyers won’t settle for less. Let’s your home and a home down the street are the same size, age, and price, but your roof, windows, or furnace are older. You might have to bring your home more up to date. If there’s wear-and-tear that’s excessive, you might have to remedy it.

If you want to sell your home without getting it into tip-top shape, that’s fine too. In that case, however, you’ll likely have to adjust your price accordingly. There’s a fair price for every home’s condition.

The bottom line

It’s a bad feeling when you’re trying to sell your home and it languishes on the market. If that’s the case, however, the problem is usually one of three things, which are mostly easy to fix. When you choose us as your realtor, we will help in making suggestions to maximize your home’s impact on the market, as well as help, identify issues that may be points of difficulty for a potential buyer. Give us a call at (651) 503-4158 and we’ll help you get started!

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As much as real estate traditionally has been an in-person business, it’s understandable that home sales would slow a bit when people are social distancing and staying home.

But that doesn’t mean home sales aren’t happening. In our Lakeville area, in fact, there hasn’t been a softening in prices or a huge drop in demand due to more people staying at home. The National Association of Realtors reported in early spring that new listings of homes for sale were down a bit, but people are still selling homes.

If you’re considering selling your home while people are social distancing, here are a few things you should know.

You’re not likely to have open houses

When people are staying away from group gatherings, it makes sense that real estate agents wouldn’t hold traditional open houses. If you’re a home seller, it might make you nervous to have less foot traffic from potential buyers, but fewer people in your house also means that you and your family have less exposure to strangers. 

If you’re comfortable with having your listing agent in your home, they can hold virtual “open houses,” using video conferencing to walk through the home with multiple people. They might also want to do live interactive tours with individual buyers, by which they could be better able to answer questions and go into more detail on the home.

Keep in mind that almost all other home sellers are in the same boat, so you’re probably not at a competitive disadvantage without open houses. Also remember, that even if you would be comfortable with hosting an open house, your listing agent and potential buyers might not be willing to attend.

Not all technology tools are the same

With buyers doing virtual visits to homes for sale, technology will obviously play a huge role. Fortunately, home buying and selling has been tech-heavy for several years now, and will simply become more important. But not all technology is created equal.

First off, different agents have differing levels of experience with technology. Some are more willing than others to use it, and some are more knowledgeable about it. As your realtor, I’m here to help you navigate this journey.

Many options exist for showcasing your home, without people even needing to step inside. There are three-dimensional recorded home tours. There are scheduled interactive tours, also pre-recorded. Some agents might live-stream a walk-through. Before you sign your listing agreement, I’ll help you get a good idea of how your home will be marketed and shown via technology.

It might take a little longer…or will it?

We thought the entire process would slow down drastically, but that is just not the case. In fact, some of the practices being implemented today, will likely move into permanent SOP. Call it a silver lining to a rough season of changes. We only team up with companies who have made the necessary changes to SAFELY transact business, in this environment. Photographers, stagers, inspectors and appraisers are all following new guidelines to protect you. 

Our team will help in this process, so buyers and sellers do not have to worry about being penalized for any social distancing-related delays.

The bottom line

Homes are selling, and with most people staying home, online home searches have gone up as much as 80%! Social distancing may not have slowed down home sales dramatically, it has changed the way we do business. Just keep in mind that showing your home will be a bit different, and the technology agents use will be vitally important.  Through each step of the process, my team and I are here to help!

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Spring is one of the most active times of the year to list your home. It also can be one of the most beautiful times of year to enjoy your home (depending on El Nino of course!). Maintaining your home helps you retain its value and enjoy the beauty of spring, without worry or having to make emergency maintenance calls. Whether you plan on relaxing on your deck, or considering selling your home, check these maintenance tips off your to-do list.

1. Survey Your Home and Yard for Winter Damage

The last thing you want is a limb to come down unexpectedly. During a sunny day, take a walk around your property to look at your doorways, siding, woodwork, and trees for damage.

If you suspect any of your trees may be ill or have some unhealthy limbs, it’s best to call an arborist.

2. Check Your Roof Winter Damage

If you want an excuse to buy a drone, here’s one: you can use it to check your roof.

With or without robotic help, take a peek at your roof to make sure your shingles are in place. Winter storms and ice haven’t knocked off any gutters, and you don’t have damage to your chimney, pipes, or powerlines.

It’s always a good idea to check out your attic as part of your survey. Look for visible water damage and staining.

3. Reseal Your Deck and Other Outdoor Wood

Buyers love decks. They also love privacy fences, but damaged wood can be an eyesore and a red flag. Even if you’re not moving this year, maintaining your woodwork will keep it in much better condition in the long run.

Re-stain your deck if it’s faded, and make sure to seal it, before the summer sun has a chance to scorch it. Look for water damage while you’re at it. Replace any rotting wood or loose railings.

4. Inspect Your Driveway and Walkways

We’re lucky to have beautiful white winters here in the Twin Cities, but the ice really does a number on our roads. It affects your driveway and walkways, as well. The expansion from freezing, and the water left behind during thaws, can cause and worsen cracks. While a small crack may not seem like a big deal, it can lead to crumbling, possibly requiring costly replacement, instead of just a repair.

Aside from aesthetics, cracks in the sidewalk, walkway, and driveway can be tripping hazards for your family, guests, and buyers.

5. Paint and Repaint

When the weather is nice and dry, pull out your brushes and rollers to freshen up your paint, inside and out. The spring sunshine gives you great visibility to see areas that need touching up.

Mild (and steady) temperatures are ideal for drying paint, and the wonderful weather also makes getting outside and painting a lot more enjoyable.

6. Check Your Sprinklers

As you survey your house and yard, turn your spigots back on, and check that your sprinklers work. Inspect hoses and water lines for leaks.

Sometimes sprinkler heads get trampled after a heavy snowfall, so give these a quick check as well.

7. Dust Around the House and Open Your Windows

Help your space feel fresher by dusting those hard-to-reach places and areas of the room that collect cobwebs during the winter.

Circulate fresh spring air by opening your windows to eliminate the musty winter smells that we all experience here. Check your screens and window sills for damage, and make sure all locks are in working order.

If you want to go the extra mile, clean the interior and exterior of your windows to maximize natural light.

Make the Most of Your Spring Maintenance and Let’s Sell Your Home

Whether you’re selling or staying in your home, make the most of your spring maintenance to enjoy and show off your space. As you check these items off your list, you’ll gain peace of mind, and that oh-so-rewarding pride of ownership feeling. If you want to get a headstart and list your home this spring, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me today!

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