About Wilson County, NC

Let's get that house sold! We put more than just a sign in the yard - check out our yard signs!

I happened to be on duty for our office over the Christmas weekend and on floor duty this past week. Let's just say that I can see hope on the near horizon for the real estate market in the Wilson area! I received several sign calls as well as internet inquiries in a traditionally "slow" time of year for real estate. Presently, I am preparing a prospective "show list" for folks that are considering the Wilson area for their next purchase that called me from one of our signs in front of a listed property. Several other sellers are in contact with us about using our personalized "TaberTeam" services to sell their home. One of our custom marketing strategies is included on our yard signs.

Our signs have vast additional information available to those who have internet access or a "smart" phone. We offer all of our listing clients a website for their property while it is listed with us. Prospective buyers can enter the web address, URL, into their computer, smart phone, laptop or netbook and be directed straight to a custom text description, many photos and pertinent specs or information about that particular home (this website also submits your property to other real estate "classified listing" style websites!) In addition to calling us directly, buyers can also email or text us with any questions that they have. And if they are already working with another agent, they will still have the additional information the property website provides that may not be available to their agent in the local MLS due to space constraints.

OR they can scan the QR code with their "smart" phone - this is a black and white box pattern of squares that is coded to direct the user to a website with information about an item or property. You see them in magazines, on store products, etc. We attach the QR code to the website rider on the yard sign to provide our sellers with extra custom marketing for their property.

Sometimes, we also use a QR code to direct the user to an interactive, full rotational 360 degree, High Def, custom virtual tour that we provide to our listed sellers on qualified properties. We'll touch on these fantastic virtual tours and our custom websites in a future blog!

In the past, we have used "Take One" boxes attached to the sign filled with flyers printed up with photos and a brief description of the property. We have found that in this market, the flyers are not even being picked up and if they are - they may have ended up in the trash without any buyer contact at all. The website riders and QR codes seem to have been more successful in getting quite a bit more exposure and buyer contact for our seller's properties.

This is not the same market it was even 5 years ago as far as how advertising and marketing real estate is handled. We strive to keep up with the new and advanced technology available to real estate professionals in order to serve our sellers to the best of our abilities and help them turn their houses into SOLD! We are the Taber Team - Wilson's Home Team!

Everybody knows how slow the market can be in December.....so we decided we needed to build a couple of houses. We set out to find the best looking plans we could find and then to get an architect to make some changes to match our client's “tastes”. Then we had to talk to a builder and some sub-contractors to be sure we could get everything done before Christmas. Once we were assured we could get it done we started gathering all the supplies.....and this is what we came up with!

Okay, okay, I know it was a play on words...but it was fun. Our nieces came over and we built gingerbread houses before Christmas. We all had fun and since we are in the business of selling houses it fits.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that this coming New Year of 2012 will be filled with many new homes and home sales.

As always if you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Wilson, NC area, just give us a call! We are ready to help. Let us talk to you about Virtual Tours and QR codes and URL riders and staging! Marketing your property online is more important than it has ever been and having your home ready and priced right will make it sell! One of our closings today was on the market only 7 weeks when it went under contract. Get it ready and price it right!

Choosing us, the Taber Team, to market and sell your property could make all the difference in turning this sometimes difficult and stressful process into an informed and smooth success!

For most people, selling a home is a huge financial decision that greatly affects their future plans. The whole process can be confusing, with many important questions and issues that need to be addressed.

We analyze and determine property values in the Wilson real estate market every day. The market here has been slow for a while but we are starting to see a little more activity. As an experienced, professional real estate team, we can help you determine what your property is worth in the current market. Then we'll aggressively market your property to get it sold...we not only advertise locally, but on a national level. Through our professional contacts and affiliations, as well as our advanced technology tools, we will put your listing in many of the web locations where qualified buyers are looking.

We add many interior and exterior pictures of your property, with your permission, to all of our internet sites. We also provide interactive High Definition 360 degree full rotational virtual tours for qualified properties that give the viewer the impression that they are standing in the center of a room or area and turning in a circle in order to see it all! Several scenes can be included as well as a slide show - both with music! Zoom, pause, etc. are added features to this, along with a mapping feature that takes the viewer to an birds-eye view of your property (if available).

Your property will also have it's own website address - www.TaberTeam.com/0000 - the numbers will be your property's street address numbers, if possible. Your sign will also have a website rider with your property's individual website address. We are now including QR codes on the yard sign that take the user directly to your home's website. Your property will also be on REALTOR.com, Wilson MLS service, www.taberteam.com , www.wilsonboardofrealtors.com & many other real estate sites such as Trulia, Zillow, etc!

We will have Open Houses to get more eyes on your property at your request. We can also provide a "sales appeal analysis", after listing your home and at your request, that gives constructive staging and decor suggestions that may help make your home more appealing to buyers. Over the years, we have helped many sellers who have had their homes "listed" and "expired" with no sale yet, to get the sale they needed through taking advantage of this valuable service!

You can count on our years of experience as real estate professionals to answer your questions about every aspect of the selling and closing process.

You can search our local Wilson area MLS by going to http://www.taberteam.com/SearchLocalMLS .

As always, if you know anyone looking to buy or sell real estate anywhere give us a call or send us an email and we will help you. We appreciate your referrals.

Citizen's Academy is a great program presented by the City of Wilson, NC. I had never really heard much about the Citizen's Academy even though they had been holding it for several years. I decided that since I have lived in Wilson for 32 years, it was time I learned a little more about the city and how it works. I decided to apply. I sent my application to Tonya West with the city and did not hear anything for a few weeks, then one day I got a letter in the mail that said I was accepted. I was actually very excited. As it turned out we had the largest academy class ever.

We all had a great time. One night we went out to the Dam at Buckhorn Lake, the city's main water supply. That night they fed us a delicious dinner by the lake prepared by employees of the city of Wilson and we got to see the sunset over the lake. It was awesome!

Employees from every department of the City of Wilson had the opportunity to present their department. They took their time to explain what their department did and how it was done. Everyone from Mayor Bruce Rose to the utility department to Greenlight, the city's super fast broadband service, to city manager Grant Goings, to planning and zoning. We even got to see our award winning Fire Chief Don Oliver and some of the firemen start a fire in a house so that we could see how effective a sprinkler system would be in putting out a fire. Most of the participants even got to spend an evening with our police department and ride patrol to see what a great job they do to take care of the citizen's of our city. The Parks and Recreation Dept. took time to show us The Heritage Bank Stadium

at the J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex with both baseball and soccer facilities. The stadium is the only Little League stadium of it's kind in the southeastern United States. You can get a look at the stadium by taking a look at the City of Wilson's virtual tour @ http://rtvpix.com/BU-3076-J4NHO4-01?h=500&w=700 .

I could go on and on about our great city and how much we love living in Wilson but I will leave that to another blog. If you are interested in real estate in Wilson go to www.taberteam.com or give me a call at 252-289-7355.

Deck the halls! Decorate your home and enjoy the Christmas season - even if your home is on the market! Many sellers are reluctant to have their homes on the market during the Christmas holidays because they feel like buyers may not want to see a home decorated and not in it's everyday condition. But our experience tells us, that this is not an issue with most buyers. They welcome the opportunity to see a home all "decked out" with tree and other holiday decor trimmings because it allows them to get a glimpse of how they could decorate should they choose to buy that home. During showings at any time of year, we often hear buyers make comments on "where we can put our Christmas tree" as they tour a home! Or they sometimes will conjure up ideas of how to decorate the fireplace mantel, sometimes even mentioning "plenty of room for Christmas stockings"! Greenery, garland and bows are also mentioned from time to time when buyers are admiring a front porch railing or an interior staircase.

Buyers are also curious at times about the size of window sills in order to accomodate window candles. Or if there are exterior outlets to run drop cords for floodlights. Another Christmas decor question we get from time to time is about the "Christmas Switch" which refers to a single switch that is used to turn all the window candles and floodlights on & off at once without having to go from window to window or run outdoors last thing before bedtime to unplug the floodlights shining on the front door! Some newer homes had these switches wired in during construction and they connect all the top receptacles in the outlets underneath the windows together sometimes along with the outdoor outlets near the front door.

Christmas is a great time to showcase your home's festive personality - and possibly get the sale you have been looking for! It's a great time to sell your home in Wilson. Give us a call!