Greensboro, NC

Thinking of selling your home yourself? In this market it will be more challenging than ever. The same principles that help real estate professionals (such as me) sell homes should help you. Some of these techniques are as follows:

• You need to price extremely competitively – I offer a free service to FSBO’s (For Sale By Owner’s) to help them price their property at zanegerringer.com. No strings – no gimmicks. Just drop me a line or call.

• You need exposure to the marketplace – the internet is the place to be, and you need to have your property syndicated to all of the websites that folks are using to search for their new home.

• Don’t overlook the simple things – once you get people through the door, the home should be tidy – always look at the property through the eyes of the buyer. Anything perceived as work for them will be felt in your wallet or pocketbook should you receive an offer.

Truth be told, most buyers are looking at property with a real estate agent. If you are offering your house for sale by owner without advertising that you will co-broke with an agent (pay their fee of 3% or so) you are drastically hurting your chances. Or even worse, if you have it in your mind that you will not pay a fee to a buyer’s agent, then expect to take a big hit on the price to get your home sold and the number of days on market to climb.

There are always exceptions to the rules of course, and you might live in a great neighborhood or have someone that you know that would like to buy from you but for the rest of us it’s a matter of getting your home out there and being realistic about what to expect.

To learn more, and get the ball rolling on deciding which real estate model works for you, I encourage you to visit my site, drop me a line and take advantage of the FREE 30 minute for sale by owner (FSBO) consultation I provide as a service to my community.

I've seen the trickle down effect. As a builder's rep, I have seen the effect of the recession first hand. Sales have been down considerably in the last year. Many of our competitors have gone under. Many of the local sub-contractors have closed shop. There just isn't enough construction work for all to survive. It's truly a shame. Good, hard-working people, just trying to make a living, feed their families and put a roof over their heads have lost everything.

This past weekend, I worked with some new potential home buyers. One worked for a local retail furniture sales firm. It's a very large company, that's been in the area for many years. Although the couple is looking at homes, they are very hesitant to make a move for two reasons. First, they have a home to sell and are concerned that it may remain on the market for a very long time. Also, furniture sales have plummeted because homes are not selling. So, the poor economy and in particular, the housing slump has effected this couple and many like them.

Those that stay in home construction, struggle on and hope they can make it through to the bright side. But, when will it come? Many in home construction and real estate sales saw a glimmer of hope, with the $8,000 tax credit to first time home buyers. It did help for some and bumped housing figures for several months. But, it didn't help enough or those selling upper end homes, especially above $300,000.

Now, there are two bills in congress that would extend the tax credit. One would extend to first time buyers only and end next March. The other would extend the credit to all buyers and extend it through June of 2010. Anything is better than nothing, but both fall short of what is needed to truly bring housing back to a level that would put all the American people back to work, who were in this industry. We need more and we need it now. Make your voices heard and bring housing back.

Wow, look what I found at my house while prepping to sell this past weekend. Granted the list isn't exhaustive, but we felt a liitle like buried treasure hunters.

1.A buffalo nickle.

2.A family of six black widows. Umm, they couldn't stay though.

3.My Jr. High School yearbook. My nick name was Ringo...my wife asked why.

4.Parts to the last three vacuum cleaners we owned.

5.Completely eaten Indian Corn.

6.One of about fifty missing socks.

7.Six power adapters that we have no idea what they are for.

8.A few t-shirts that last fit me in 1978.

9.Some old magazines that weren't exactly family friendly. They were for the articles!

10.Negatives of people I don't recognize.

11.That marksmanship award I got at camp when I was 8. Why was my wife laughing so hard?

12.A ball cap with very clear tiny teethmarks in it. Mouse, chipmunk, Gary Coleman?

13.Jimmy Hoffa......no comment.

It's good to purge!

Home resales rose far more than expected last month to the highest level in more than two years as buyers scrambled to complete their purchases before a tax credit for first-time owners expires.

The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in September, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.1 million in August. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 5.35 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

The median sales price was $174,900, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier, but the smallest annual drop in 13 months.

The Lindley Park neighborhood, located in Greensboro, NC, held its annual Fall Festival last Saturday, October 17th and it was a huge success. Fortunately, the rain stayed away and Lindley Park residents of all ages bundled in coats and jackets to enjoy the festivities.

It may have been brisk outside but inside the Team Leung Moonwalk, there was some serious heat as lots of little bodies bounced around all afternoon.

There were also lots of delicious entries in the chili cook-off, which kept the adults warm! You can see from the photo that many people were crowded around the tables with the chili pots.

Team Leung was on hand at the festival and gave out a hundred free pumpkins. We also gave out bottles of water, which some said was needed to put out the fire after tasting all that chili! Each bottle of water came with a koozie, which promoted www.LindleyParkHouseValue.com. Each month, a report with Lindley Park real estate information is posted on this site. The report includes homes listed for sale, homes under contract and homes that have sold. It also has a link so neighbors can receive via email a detailed report about what their homes are worth. Be sure to check it out often to find out what is going on in Lindley Park. There are also links to neighborhood reports for Guilford Hills, Kirkwood, Starmount, Sunset Hills and the entire city of Greensboro.

Thanks to the many Lindley Park volunteers who donated so many hours to make this wonderful event happen!