“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home Alethea Smock

Alethea Smock

Blog_tag

Realtor Gimmicks, do they sell your home?

05-05-10
Alethea Smock

There are a lot of agents that will promise you the world: a high price for your current house, a low price for the house you want to buy and a moving van too! Often it really is too good to be true. Gimmicks can be costly with no benefit to you on the sale of your home.

When interviewing find out exactly how the Realtor plans on making your home more salable and presentable to the buying public. Do they have a staging team that will come in to evaluate your home individually and determine some cost effective fixes? Can they offer a home warranty on the home to help prospective buyers feel more comfortable in the purchase of a resale home? With they work with you to sift through the recommendations to come up with a plan to get your house in tip top shape for a quick sale? And do they have access to handymen and home repair outfits that can quickly and affordably make the necessary repairs.

Do they know how to effectively market using websites, their own as well as third part ones such as zillow.com and frontdoor.com? Do they blog about your home and Arvada neighborhood? Or do they just expect put the house in the MLS, a sign in the yard and hope and pray. All food for thought.

When looking fora realtor in Arvada, get to know who's out there every day getting to know the neighborhoods like the Landing at Standley Lake, is involved with local Arvada Parks and stays involved in the cCommunity to know that the trends are.

2 Comments
Blog_tag

Schools In Arvada

04-21-10
Alethea Smock

Arvada Schools

As a mom and realtor who has toured many of the schools in Arvada, I must say we are lucky! There are so many wonderful schools to choose from.

IN South Arvada a shining gem is Foster Elementary school with the Dual Language Immersion program to teach children fluency in Spanish and English. It's a fabulous program with many dedicated and caring teachers. By grade 6 all student sin the program are bilingual, biliterate and bicultural. In today's global market having a a second language is critical to success and what easier way to acquire a second language than starting in Kindergarden!

In North Arvada there is Mikelejohn Elementary schools, one of the newest schools in the Jefferson County school system. It has a stunning view of the Flatirons and an exemplary track record for teaching basic skills in math, reading and writing. The kids who opt to attend will most certainly feel a part of the greater MJ family here.

There are four high schools in Arvada: Ralston Valley, Arvada West, Pomona and Arvada High School. After visioning all four schools I can honestly say, you can't go wrong. Pomona has a very arts-centered curriculum and an outstanding band program. Ralston Valley is known for their excellence in college preparation and sports programs. Arvada West aims for a well rounded student and Arvada HS has one of the most caring principals I've run across.

I feel privileged to live here and be able to choose any of the amazing schools Arvada has to offer. To see which homes are in which school's boundaries, please click here to contact me. I'm happy to share my experiences with each school I've visited.


1 Comment
Blog_tag

Buyers Agents in CO

04-20-10
Alethea Smock

I read an interesting Blog by Seth Godin this morning about home buying, read it here. The last bit of the blog jumped out at me, that agents always work for the seller. In Colorado it's not true and hasn't been for years. It just reminds us that real estate is very local and it's always best to talk to an agent in the area you're thinking of moving. In my case, I know Arvada inside and out, and it does make a difference.

Representing a buyer and a buyer's interest is a fact of law here. And this small distinction helps buyers tremendously when deciding on a house, working with an inspector to uncover flaws and handle negotiations. As a buyer's agent I'm not beholden to anyone but my buyers.

To learn more about how I can help you with buying a house in Arvada, Westminster, Golden and surrounding areas, click here to visit my website.

0 Comments
Blog_tag

Selling in a slow market

04-12-10
Alethea Smock

Don't let a slow sellers market in Arvada scare you! Your home can and will sell with the right preparation, pricing and marketing.

The biggest thing to remember is a "slow" selling market doesn't mean a completely "dead" market. In Arvada and the rest of the Denver Metro Area if you have a well maintained home it will sell. The flip side, too, is for buyers the market is very brisk. With all the home options available as well as the new First Time Homebuyer Incentive, buyers are eager to find a new home. Knowing how to prepare your home for sale, allowing access for showings, and buyer incentives will help you find the right buyer, even in a slower market.

Before you put your home on the market, make sure that all basic repairs are completed. Do a tour of the house from the outside and the inside. Look for loose railings, torn screens or missing hardware on cupboard doors, chipped paint, stained carpet and fix it. These easy repairs do not cost a lot of money. If a homebuyer sees that the little things are not attended to, they are likely to believe that the larger things are neglected too. Show you have pride in your home!

Do a thorough spring cleaning. Sweep cobwebs, clean curtains, dust everything and scrub baseboards. In a slow real estate market, it is important to have your home available to show at a moment's notice, meaning you need to keep it looking neat and presentable at all times. The more often your home is shown, the likelier it is that your home will sell. Keep your home available to your realtor and they will be able to show your home quickly to any buyer that shows interest.

Have your home staged by a professional. Home staging has become a booming business and a professional home stager will help you remove clutter and depersonalize your space. Prospective homebuyers want to picture their family in the home, not yours and a home full of personal clutter will not show off the potential of your home. I have several home stagers that I've worked with that would offer friendly, professional advice on showing your home in the best possible light. Just ask!

Keep smells in the house to a minimum. Make sure cat littler boxes are cleaned up, back yards are free of dog waste and bathrooms are aired out from the perfume smells. As with neutral decor and clean homes, clean smelling homes make an impression too. The first thing you want people to notice is how nice the house looks, not how badly it smells.

Be realistic in your expectations of the price you will be able to sell your home. Forget about what could have been if you had sold it last year and focus on what your home is worth now. In a buyer's market, buyers don't have to negotiate much. Buyers know that you want to sell your home and a home that is priced too high is likely to be overlooked. Ask a fair price for your home to avoid the need for too much negotiation. I will always pull the most recent comparable properties before and during the selling process to ensure your home is well priced for the market. I will also check in with an appraiser to get a 'second opinion'.

In a slow market, hiring a Realtor is crucial to get your home sold in a reasonable amount of time. Yes, there are ways you can list your home for sale by owner using the internet, but nothing beats the experience that comes from a real estate agent who is able to take care of everything in order to sell your home. Remember, always pick a Realtor, and not all agents are Realtors.

You will be successful in selling your home if you remain patient, reasonable and flexible. There are buyers out there and the key is to find them and get them to fall in love with your home.

For a competitive market analysis of what your Arvada home is worth, click here to email me.




1 Comment
Blog_tag

Biking to downtown from Arvada

03-10-10
Alethea Smock

One of the fun things about living in north Arvada in the Landing at Standley Lake neighborhood is we are uphill from downtown Denver. Arvada has lots of different biking trails and offers opportunities to head West to the Arvada Reservoir, past the Westwoods neighborhood, Golden via Wheatridge Clear Creek Greenbelt and downtown via the Clear Creek and S Platte bike path.

Starting out from the Standley Lake library I went south on Kipling, past 72nd and the railroad tracks and then headed south on Garrison St. Just before 58th Ave/Ralston Rd at the Garrison St Center you can hook up with the Ralston Creek Trail. Heading east on this path will take you to the Clear Creek Path intersection at the new bridge that links Arvada to the other bike trails. The trails are not well marked, but as long as you're heading predominantly east you'll stay on the right path.

When you hit Tennyson St you can choose to get to downtown via the bike path or branch off and take surface streets to downtown. I've done both. Staying on the path is very pleasant, major trail junctions are marked and are patrolled by the local police departments. It took me roughly two hours from my house in The Landing at Standley Lake to get downtown via the bike path as the route takes you east to Commerce City and then south, ending near the REI. The surface streets, if you take Tennyson south into Denver, across 32nd and into downtown via Speer will take you roughly an hour. There are a lot of cars and it's heavily trafficked making the ride more stressful.

My next adventure when the weather warms up is to mountain bike on Green Mountain near Golden and Lakewood. Can't wait! Meanwhile if you'd like to see any houses near Standley Lake or find out more about the on road and off road -mountain bike- bike paths in Arvada let me know. I can be reached via my website

0 Comments