The Sweet Spot Of Pricing Your Home

Pricing Your Home is An Art and A Science

When you and your REALTOR® sit down to begin pricing your home, you’ll be looking at competitive homes that are the most similar in size, location and amenities as your home. You may find that prices can be thousands of dollars higher or lower. It’s tempting to pick the highest price and say, “Let’s list it here.” But what if your home doesn’t sell at that price?

High prices are a strategy that can work in an accelerating market, but it’s risky. Your home can sit for months without selling and you’ll end up marking the price down, perhaps lower than it should have sold for in the first place.

Pricing your home is a science. The science is choosing the right price at which your home will sell quickly. How do you do that? By analyzing your local market conditions and where your home fits in the spectrum.

The only way your home will sell at the highest price possible is if your buyer agrees to your home’s value. To best determine market value, you have three important tools: CMAs, appraisals, and your REALTOR’s®knowledge of the market.

Selling Your Home

The comparative market analysis

A comparative market analysis (CMA) is a side-by-side comparison of similar homes for sale as well as homes that have recently sold in your neighborhood. REALTORS® use CMAs to compare the features that make each home unique, including age, location, number of bedrooms, baths, room sizes, updates, condition, etc.

As a seller, you should be able to see where your home fits — in the top or lower price range of similar homes. For example, if a similar home to yours has been recently renovated with a new kitchen, expect it to sell for more than your home if your home has not been improved.

The appraisal

An appraisal is a market analysis performed by a professional appraiser using a variety of sources, including multiple listing system data and conforming loan formulas.

Appraisers most often work for lenders to determine market values, so that lenders can weigh the risk of making a loan to a homebuyer. Appraisals come after an offer is made when the buyer applies for a loan. Even though the buyer pays for the appraisal, the lender uses it to determine whether or not to make the loan at the contract price.

Other market data

Your REALTOR® has access to data that may not be public through the Multiple Listing Service. This data is provided to broker members to track market trends over weeks, months and years. Some brokers pay data companies for specific markets that help them plan their business, such as the number of listings on hand, which zip codes are the hottest, and whether closings are trending up or down over last month or last year.

Your REALTOR® uses all this data to help you hit the sweet spot of pricing. That’s high enough to reflect your home’s value, but attractive enough to buyers to get it sold quickly.

Written by Blanche Evans

Top 3 Reasons A Buyer Choose Their Home

What Makes A Buyer Choose Your Home

You may think buyers will love your home because of your extraordinary taste in home furnishings or the incredible job you did with your home addition. Nope, it’s not the décor or the vast add-on that gets them to commit, although they may help. There are three top reasons a buyer chooses to buy a home — price, condition, and location.

Price

Let’s start with Price. To choose the right asking price for your home, you need to know if your neighborhood is in a buyer’s market or seller’s market. A buyer market is characterized by large inventories of six months’ supply or higher, few buyers making offers, low offers, and many other concessions asked of sellers. A seller’s market is characterized by low supply of six months on hand or less, heavy buyer traffic, multiple offers, and close to full price or full price offers.

Bankers, buyers’ agents and buyers all have access to the same market information that your agent has given you. If you overprice for the current market, your potential buyers won’t get to see your home, and even if they do, they won’t get their loans approved.

Condition

Allow your real estate agent to help you market your home by putting it in the best condition possible. Buyer pet peeves may be easy items to fix, but you don’t want your house to go to the bottom of their list because you failed to paint, mow, replace the carpet, etc. Sometimes you have to invest a little money to make money.                                                                                            Buyer Home Choices

Remember, today’s buyers are more skeptical about buying a home, so creaky steps, dripping faucets, and outdated wallpaper just give buyers a reason to skip your home.

Location

You can’t do much about your home’s location, but you can make your home more attractive with lovely landscaping, fences to block out ugly views and sounds, a lower price and immaculate condition.

If you do have a great location, don’t overprice. People expect to pay more for a great location next to schools, transportation, shopping and restaurants, but if you overprice, they will scrutinize the price and the condition.

It’s hard not to be sentimental about the home you’ve lived in for years, but to buyers, your home is a commodity. Like you, they simply want to make a good deal on a home they love.

You’ll quickly find out what real estate agents and their buyers think of your home. If you get a quick offer, you know you priced it right for the location, condition, and the current market.

If you don’t get an offer within a couple of weeks, or whatever period is normal for your area, there’s something wrong. Look at your price and condition and see if you can make your home a little more desirable.

Written by Blanche Evans

Before You Sell Your Home

10 Things To Ask Your REALTOR
Before You Sell Your Home

When looking for a great real estate agent, there are many things that you’ll have to consider. Your ideal agent will be knowledgeable about your local market, experienced, and have a plethora of connections to navigate you through the home sale process. Here are some important questions that you should ask your Realtor before you decide to sell your home:

  1. In which neighborhoods do you primarily work?Sell Your Home

This is important because you’ll want a realtor that is experienced in the specific market in which your home is located.  The more knowledgeable your agent is about the neighborhood you’re selling in, the better, because they will be able to price your house according to the comps and first-hand information that they glean from being familiar with the area.

  1. What percentage of your clients are buyers versus sellers?

You want to make sure your agent has buyers for your home at the ready, but you also want to make sure they know how to list a home for sale to get you the best price.

  1. Will I be working with just you, or any other associates?

This is important so that you know what to expect when it comes to working with your agent. If your agent has an assistant or anyone working under them that you can contact when they are not available, you should find out as soon as possible.

  1. Do you work full-time or part-time?

Some agents work full time and some work part time, so you’ll want to find out what to expect. Obviously, if your agent is working part time because it’s their side job, they may be more difficult to contact at certain times. If this is the case, you’ll want to figure out a set time that you can call them during the week.

  1. How many homes have you closed in my neighborhood?

If your agent has closed a good number of homes in your neighborhood, you can assume that they have the experience to get the job done. Having this track record is a good sign that your agent knows the neighborhood well and has the right contacts.

  1. How many other sellers are you representing?

When you ask your agent this you might want to note that the busiest agents are usually the most efficient. If your agent has a lot on their plate they know how to multitask, have processes in place and always manage to get things done.Realtor selling your home

  1. Is your license in good standing?

You can check your agent’s certification yourself with your state’s Department of Real Estate, as many states provide this information online. This can give you peace of mind if you are nervous about hiring an agent and getting started.

  1. How many years of education and experience do you have?

Typically, experience and a record of continued education is a sign of a seasoned agent that you can count on. Of course you can also find a great agent that does not have extensive education, but it certainly helps to know in your initial search.

  1. Are you also a broker?

Agents that are also brokers have taken additional education classes and have earned a broker’s license. A broker may have more experience and may hold responsibility over other agents that are working under them, and they may be an effective person to sell your home.

  1. Can you provide me with the names and phone numbers of past clients who have agreed to be references?

By doing this, you can gain valuable insight from past clients so you can learn more about your agent. This can create a greater level of comfort when working with your agent after hearing the advice and comments from real people that they worked with.

Written by www.exposeyourselfpr.com

Should I Take My Home Off the Market During the Holidays?

When you look at your calendar you may find the months already overloaded with seasonal obligations — shopping, entertaining, children’s pageants, charity work, decorating the house, and so much more. If you are also trying to sell your home, you are under extra pressure to keep your home in perfect condition

It is understandable why you would be tempted to take your home off the market during the holidays.  Besides, you can give your house a rest, and it will have better momentum after the holidays. Better to enjoy the holidays and start fresh in January.

But wait! Most top Realtors agree that taking your home off the market during the Christmas season is a mistake. The house surely isn’t going to sell off the market! What is the advantage of that?  

The holidays are a wonderful selling period. Why? Because most people take off work sometime during the season. The husband and wife are both have time off and want to see houses.  

Before you take your home off the market, consider the following points:

  • Although buyer activity may appear to slow down, the buyers who are actively looking during the holidays are that much more serious.  
  • Many buyers deliberately choose to shop for a home after the busy spring and summer rush. They know that it will be easier to look, and that negotiations will be less stressful.  
  • Relocating families often don’t have a choice when they can leave for their new destination. Although 68% of transferring families have children, many families have to transfer during the middle of the school year.  .
  • At Christmas time, our culture focuses on family and the home. Preparing for the indoor activities of winter is one of the most enjoyable periods of family life. Allowing buyers to view your home during this most hospitable of seasons lets them better picture their own family life in the attractive environment you have created.
  • When is your home ever more beautiful and inviting? You have cleaned and decorated, and your home looks like a picture postcard. If the results are good enough for family and friends, they will surely be good enough to impress your buyers.  
  • With many motivated buyers in the marketplace, you may find you have more showings than you would if you sold your home during a busier time of the year.
  • If you do get a contract, you can arrange the terms and timing to suit your needs.
  • Keeping your home on the market during the Christmas season just might result in a successful sale!

Tips and Tricks about Landscaping for Curb Appeal

A well-landscaped yard creates curb appeal and helps your property retain maximum value. Here are a few tips and tricks for sprucing up your outdoor spaces yourself.

A beautiful yard is a head-turner, no doubt about it. The good news is that even if you can’t tell a tulip from a turnip at the garden center, you can still create eye-catching curb appeal by paying attention to the basics of good landscaping.  Ignoring your yard—or doing something that’s out of character with the neighborhood—can jeopardize the assessed value of your home. 

Poorly maintained landscaping can be as much as a 5 or 10% deduction.”  Appraisers are quick to praise the allure of a well-tended lawn and good-looking landscaping when it comes time to sell your home, but most do not assign any specific increase in monetary value for upkeep.

Although landscaping will add to the appeal of the property and it may sell quicker, it’s hard to quantify specific value.   Nevertheless, most professionals agree that curb appeal and a well-maintained appearance prevent your property from losing value. Here are some suggestions for boosting the curb appeal of your yard:

Green up the grass

If your house has a front yard, make sure it‘s neat and green.  You don’t want bare spots, sprawling weeds, or an untrimmed appearance.

“It’s so simple to go to Home Depot, buy fertilizer, apply it every six weeks, and water it,” says Mitch Kalamian, a landscape designer in Huntinginton Beach, Calif. “It will green up.”

If the yard looks really scruffy, you may decide to invest in some sod. According to the National Gardening Association, the average cost of sod is 15 to 35 cents per sq. ft. If you hire a landscaper to sod your yard for you, labor will add 30% to 50% to the total cost of the project.

Another alternative is to plant low-maintenance turf grasses.  Turf grasses are durable and drought-resistant. Expect to pay $18 to $30 for enough turf grass seed to plant 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area.

Add colorful planting beds

Flower beds add color and help enliven otherwise plain areas, such as along driveways and the edges of walkways. In general, annual flowers are a bit cheaper but must be replaced every year. Perennials cost a bit more but come back annually and usually get larger or spread with each growing season.

If you’re not sure what to plant, inquire at your local garden center. Often, they’ll have a display of bedding plants chosen for their adaptability to your area. Also, they‘ll be inexpensive because they’re in season, says Peter Mezitt, president of Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, Mass. Try pansies in the summer, and asters and mums in the fall to add vibrant color. “That’s what we do around the entrance to our garden center,” Mezitt says.
 

Add landscape lighting

For homeowners who have made a sizeable investment in landscaping, it makes sense to think about adding another 10% to 15% to the bill for professional lighting.  “You can’t see landscaping after dark,“ says Brandon Stephens, vice president of marketing for a landscape lighting firm in Lubbock, Texas, “and buyers are not always looking at houses on a Saturday afternoon.”

The cost of a system runs from $200 for a DIY installation to more than $4,000 for a professional job. If you‘re doing it on your own, the key is to light what you want people to see, such as mature trees and flowering shrubs

Plant a tree

The value of mature trees is particularly difficult to determine. Lucco says that in his market, mature trees contribute as much as 10% of a $100,000 property’s overall value. In addition, a properly placed shade tree can shave as much as $32 a year on your energy bills. Expect to pay $50 to $100 for a young, 6- to 7-foot deciduous tree.

Many people are spending more time in the home and yard, and the time enhancing the landscaping will be repaid not only with the great curb appeal that results in a higher sale price, but also personal enjoyment in this beautiful environment.

Greening Your Kitchen and Keeping Your Family Safe

 
Whip up a batch of homemade vinegar solution to cheaply and effectively green clean your kitchen countertops without harsh chemicals.   
 
From meat juices to milk spills, kitchen countertops can be messy places. But you don’t need to reach for caustic cleaners to get your kitchen countertops sparkling clean. You can make your own green cleaners using items in your pantry for a fraction of the price.
 

Kill germs with vinegar

Household vinegar contains acetic acid, a powerful antimicrobial that kills salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Readily available and cheap to boot, vinegar solutions in the proper proportions are a safe and effective alternative to harsh commercial cleaners.

Whip up your own non-toxic cleaner

To make your own non-toxic kitchen countertop cleaner, combine equal parts vinegar and tap water. To boost its cleaning power, warm it in a glass bowl in the microwave. A 64-ounce bottle of food-grade vinegar costs about $4, so a 32-ounce batch of homemade kitchen countertop cleaner will only set you back a buck.

In contrast, a 32-ounce bottle of commercial green cleaner like Seventh Generation costs about $5, while the same size conventional cleaner costs about $4.50.

Avoid these products

Some commercial anti-microbial wipes and sprays contain sodium hypochlorite (bleach) or ammonium chlorides, chemicals the EPA lists as hazardous to our (and our pets’) health. When mixed with other cleaning products, some of those chemicals can even release toxic gases.

Alyson McNutt English has written about the joy of green cleaning for publications like Pregnancy, Conceive, and BobVila.com. She buys her baking soda and vinegar in bulk and uses them liberally for everything from disinfecting laundry to soaking up her kids’ food stains.

Your Dream Home on the Golf Course

You will find this richly appointed Executive Custom Contemporary home set in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in the bucolic town of Sterling. This elegant home in Sandy Ridge is situated on the 13th green of one of the area’s finest golf courses, Sterling National Country Club, and you can ride your golf cart down the path from your backyard, past the in-ground heated pool directly on to the golf course.

This showcase home features a grand two-story marble foyer with stunning detail.  The dramatic two-story Great Room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the pool and golf course has a wood burning fireplace encased in granite  and  surrounded by custom floor to ceiling woodwork. The second level provides balconies and a sitting area that overlooks the great room and leads to the two spacious bedrooms with Jack and Jill bathroom, playroom, studio, and fourth bedroom with private bath.

 

Cooking will be a dream in this gourmet kitchen with two sink stations, professional gas range, stainless steel appliances, Corian counters, and large pantry.  Dual staircases lead from the kitchen to the second level, as well as the curved staircase in the front entry foyer. The beautifully lit custom cabinetry with glass doors will showcase your dishes and glassware and a desk area provides the space for quick attention to details. There’s an ample laundry room off the kitchen with sink and cabinets and entry to the one and two car garages.

The much desired first-floor master suite has a double door entry, sumptuous master spa with Jacuzzi soaking spa, custom tile shower, walk-in closet and comfortable sitting room flanked with pillars and cozy gas fireplace.

Additional rooms which complete the first level of comfortable living include the dining room with crown and dental molding, a library with cathedral ceiling and stone fireplace, the Hearth room with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace s and built-ins for casual living space, and breakfast room overlooking the outdoor living space on the deck.

The expansive lower living area includes a full home gym, full bath with guest room and sauna, home theater with custom-built in cabinetry, locked showcase glass doors to protect your valuables, beautifully designed curved bar with granite countertops, cherry cabinets, ice maker, sink, bar cooler, wine room, ceramic tile floor and French doors to walk out to the heated in-ground pool and patios.

This gracious home has been beautifully maintained and recent stonework and gardens have been added along with the three-season Lodge room under the expansive deck.  This room has the feel of a lodge nestled in the woods, with a three-sided stone and glass fireplace which provides ample heat in the cooler days and nights.

The owners have thought about everything down to the smallest detail, and this one of a kind home is truly unique.  Make your next home “one on the golf course” in Sterling.

Quintessential Sterling

Sterling has wonderful country roots, which is why many people decided to make their homes here.  Dairy farms and apple orchards dot the countryside, but most of the cows are now gone.

Sterling Church on the Common

Sterling Church on the Common

The town did vote for the “Right to Farm” bylaw last year, which will preserve the local farms and encourage other folks to try their hand at small-scale agriculture. The Farmer’s Market is held at the town hall on Friday afternoon from 3 to 6:30 pm, and our local farmers bring the best fresh fruits and vegetables, home-made breads and pastries, home-made soaps, fresh flowers, fresh roasted coffee, and famous Crystal Brook Farm’s amazing goat’s cheese.    We are blessed with this local abundance.  Healthy eating and a concern for our environment make our locally grown food a wise choice.

We will be sharing our wonderful community and all the events and activities offered to the area residents.

If you are interested in the following the local real estate trends, check out the Massachusetts Real Estate Trends Blog for the latest information.

Welcome to Somewhere In Sterling MA

When my family and I moved to Sterling 33 years ago, it was a quiet country town with more cows than people.  Long before Rt. 190 was built, there were more cows than people, and the folks in Sterling liked it that way.   Sterling was considered the “sticks,” but progress came along and growth happened; some good, some bad.  Sterling is still a wonderful community to raise a family,   support good schools, enjoy the bucolic farmlands preserved forever, pick your own apples in the orchards, visit the Farmer’s Market, and contribute to the  “help you neighbor” atmosphere.

Come on this journey with us and explore all the special qualities, personalities, and activities that make Central Massachusetts in general, and Sterling in particular, a great place to live.

Judy Reynolds