Langhorne, PA

Selling Steps

STEP 1 - DEFINE NEEDS

Write down all the reasons for selling your home. Ask yourself, "Why do I want to sell and what do I expect to accomplish with the sale?" For example, reasons for selling include: a growing business that needs more space or a job opportunity that necessitates a move to another city. Things you want to accomplish with the sale may include the time frame in which you'd like to sell or a particular profit margin.

Work with your real estate agent to map out the best path to achieve your objectives and set a realistic time frame for the sale.

STEP 2 - PRICING STRATEGY

Your next objective should be to determine the best possible selling price for your house. You will need to take into account the state of the local market, the condition of your home and sales of comparable homes in your neighborhood. It is often hard to maintain a non-biased view of your property, so you will want to gather the necessary information in the most objective way possible. If you want a truly objective opinion about the price of your home you could have an appraisal done. This may cost between $300 and $500.

Be reasonable about the price you set. You will always be better off setting a fair market value price than setting your price too high. If your home stays on the market too long because it is overpriced, potential buyers may think that something is wrong with it and you may end up selling it for less than what you could have gotten if you had started out with a realistic asking price

STEP 3 - PREPARE YOUR HOME

It's time to get your home in "showing and selling" condition. Most of us don't keep our homes in the condition they need to be in to be sold. Piles of boxes in the garage, a broken porch light and even an overgrown garden just seem normal after awhile. It's time to break out of that owner's mindset and get your house in tip-top shape. How your home looks will impact how quickly it sells and the price the buyer is willing to offer.

First impressions are the most important. Work with your real estate agent to help you take a fresh look at your home. Do the shrubs need pruning? Do you need to repaint? What's normal for you may be unacceptable to the buyer.

• Make your interior appear more spacious by removing appliances from countertops, and clearing knickknacks off coffee tables and shelves.
• Organize your closets and kitchen cabinets.
• Make sure items stored in the attic or basement are tidy.
• Open the curtains or blinds during the day to maximize the natural light.
• Turn on the lights at night to create a welcoming environment for prospective buyers.
• A home with too much "personality" is harder to sell. Consider painting walls white and removing clutter. This will help the buyer to visualize the home as theirs.

To learn more about what I can do for you visit me, Carol Swain at www.swainsells.com . Also check out current homes for sale in Bucks County, Pa and surrounding areas.

Some Services offered by Carol Swain:

• Virtual Tour: We will create a virtual tour of your home. The virtual tour can be e-mailed to potential buyers, advertised, and listed on various websites including REALTOR.Com as well as www.swainsells.com.

A Virtual tour makes your home more searchable for a potential homebuyer on the internet. Buyers are more likely to search through homes with a virtual tour first. As a result, the virtual tour ensures your property is at the top of all searches.

• Talking House: Create a talking home for you. The talking home gives potential buyers the opportunity to hear prerecorded details on your home. This helps eliminate uninterested buyers as well as help create a buzz about your home. If someone is interested the Talking Home feature lets them easily share it with friends and family. Also, when a potential buyer calls there number is recorded in a database. Then, each listener is then contacted about your property to get their feedback on your home. We have had much positive feedback from potential buyers about this feature.

• Showcase your home on our website and Realtor.com under featured properties. This guarantees that your property will stand out from others.

• Notify our online database of buyers that your home is for sale. The Swain Group has an online database of buyers who we are in close contact with.

• List Your Home Online - I will list your home on all major websites. Ensuring that all possible online buyers are able to view your home with ease.

• Pre-qualify Buyers- I will bring through only pre-qualified buyers that I know are able to buy your home. This will make certain that I do not waste your time, and that your home is sold in a timely manner.

• We will create a custom marketing plan to help you employ every strategy possible to sell your home while integrating each form of advertising to best market your home.

To learn more about what I can do for you visit me, Carol Swain at www.swainsells.com . Also check out current homes for sale in Bucks County, Pa and surrounding areas.

Your Interests are Professionally Represented:
Enlisting the services of a professional Buyer's Agent is similar to using an accountant to help you with your taxes, a doctor to help you with your health care, or a mechanic to help you with your car. So the first advantage is pretty obvious. If you had the time to devote to learning all you need to know about accounting, medicine, and automotive mechanics, you could do these services yourself. But who has the time? You probably already have a full-time career to which you are committed. This is why you allow other professionals to help you in specific areas of expertise.

The Swain Real Estate Group has devoted their time to perfecting a career in real estate service. Continuous education, market research, and vast experience are combined with an excellent team of real estate professionals to find you the perfect home quickly. The Swain Group will take care of all the hassles of everyday real estate transactions for you. They let you concentrate on your full-time job, while they do theirs. The Swain Group will guide you through the home buying process and exclusively represent your interests as they help you find a home, present the contract offer, negotiate, and close!

You Will Get a Great Home Quickly and Conveniently:
The advantage to signing a Buyer's Agency Agreement with the Swain Real Estate Group is that you will have a professional working to find and secure the perfect home for you exactly when you need it. It is nearly impossible to find a home that meets your needs, get a contract negotiated, and close the transaction without an experienced consultant. The Swain Group has vast computer networks to make sure you only tour homes that meet your specific needs. You won't need to spend endless evenings and weekends driving around and looking for homes for sale or trying to search computer networks yourself. When you tour homes with a member of the Swain Group, you will already know that the homes meet your criteria for bedrooms, bathrooms, garage space, square footage, neighborhood, etc. Also, the Swain Group will ensure you are looking at homes that are in the price range YOU desire.

You Can Get a Personal Specialist Who Knows Your Needs:
Just as your accountant, doctor, and mechanic get to know your needs through a steady relationship, the Swain Group gets to know your real estate needs and concerns. This type of relationship is built by open communication at all times and by touring homes with the Swain Group so they get a good idea of your feedback and concerns about each home. If you try to jump from agent to agent, you will not receive the best real estate services possible, and you will be violating your agreement to the Swain Group. There is nothing to gain from trying to find and tour homes on your own, and you will save a lot of time when the Swain Group can tell you everything about any home before you see it.

What is the Buyer's Agency:
Entering into a Buyer's Agency Agreement has countless advantages and no disadvantages. When you sign the agreement, you are simply agreeing to "hire" a personal representative who, by law, must represent your interests to the best of their ability. All of this personal service is available at absolutely NO COST TO YOU! The Seller's Agent is responsible for paying your Buyer's Agent fee. With the Swain Group you get a professional devoted to protecting your needs to help you make one of the most important investment decisions of your life.

Despite what you hear now is a great time to buy a home. The interest rates are down and so are the prices of homes. This is an ideal market for first time home buyers. You are able to come into the market and purchase a home a low price. You are sure to reap the benefits of the deal as long as you stay in the home for a few years.

Real Estate has always been an investment that increases. Prices of homes do not decrease overtime. They are normally a very solid long term investment. So if you have the money and are ready to make that step and buy, go for it!

Fall is now upon us. Now the ideal time to rejuvenate your lawn. Especially if you are thinking about selling in the spring market. Studies have shown that homes that are nicely landscaped will sell for more. Your lawn is a big part of the landscaping.

You can start by raking over the lawn. This loosens the soils allowing it to breathe. It also removes debris and dead grass from the lawn. This is an essential step before you put down fertilizer. Raking the lawn is prep for the fertilizer, so it can get down into the soil.

Be sure to buy the right fertilizer for your lawn. Fertilizer in a sense is like winterizing your lawn. It is preparing it for the spring. Your lawn needs to repair from the summer.

In closing, give your lawn what it needs and you will be thankful in the spring. You will be the envy of the neighborhood.

For all your real estate needs visit, Carol Swain, at www.swainsells.com .