Anna Glebova

Do you want to sell your house fast?

Right price, good location, and desirable features are certainly main reasons that will help you sell your home fast. But there's one more thing I wanted to mention.

Make your home appealing to more buyers. In some instances, it does take a very special person to fall in love with your unique home and buy it. It's a matter of finding this person, pretty much. Yes and no. Thoughtful extensive marketing will present your house to potential buyers. Question is: how do we know that this special person IS looking for a new home to buy, at this moment?

See, I'm not doubting that this unique buyer exists, I'm just asking, if he's actively looking for a house to buy? I have showed a truly unique lake view property in Wellesley, MA and my buyers loved it. But they said: this is something we would buy - about 15 years from now. Maybe 10. Let's keep this in mind.

I know the listing agent, and we once talked about this property at her Open House, she said, that she was getting a lot of similar feedback: it's a great house, we would love to buy it later...

Can you wait till later? How long?

Some features of your house are a given and cannot be changed. For example, proximity to a highway, or lake, or shopping center. But if there is truly unique decor, it might be worthwhile changing it for something more neutral. A friend of mine is a very artistic person, and she painted beautiful fresco-like pictures in the finished basement. Plus, walls were different shades of same base color. When time came to sell, and they were in a hurry, she had to paint a neutral color over all her creations.

It's understandable that your home is a reflection of your personality and taste, and it is very possible to find another person, who will appreciate it to the right extent. Yet how long will it take to find that person, and is he or she even looking to buy a house in Natick? Maybe he is looking for a condo in Brookline? Or already bought his dream home last year?

Just a thought.

Who are today's buyers?

Despite the recent snow storms here in Boston MEtro West, MA (and there's more snow to be expected!), Spring is in the air.

Days are longer, sun shines brighter, you can feel its warmth. Buyers are warming up as well, t seems, as last week I had spoken to a couple of very motivated potential buyers, planning to buy their new home in Natick, MA and in Brookline, MA

They were a delight to talk to, had their ducks in the row in terms of financial prep work, but most important thing they wanted to discuss with me was the fact that they don't want to waste time. They didn't want to look at things "just to compare" or "just to have an idea of what's available".

There are certain features they would love to have, yet they were able to define a must have, a must-not have, and where there's room for a compromise.

They were adamant about sticking to the budget - and it was a reasonable amount, for which they can buy either a single family home or a townhouse in Natick area.

Yet, they understood that finding the right house is an emotional decision, and they have to feel at home at this new place.

I felt blessed to have met such wonderful buyers. I would love to help them find what they seek, and I am looking forward to the moment when their faces light up, and they say "yes, this is our new home".

They say they bought / sold without an agent? Takes this with a grain of salt.

First, let me say that i DO know a couple of people who bought or sold properties on their own, without having a real estate agent representing them in a transaction. It can be done. But please take note: only a handful of people truthfully did it by themselves.

Whenever there is a social gathering, conversation often turns to real estate, even if there are no real estate agents in the room. People like to tell each other how they bought or sold their house, or condo, or investment property.

You will not just hear "I bought" and "I sold", but rather "I told the seller", "I knew that was not the going price for these types of condos", "I could see how they didn't measure the square footage right and I played on it", and "yes, I bought it myself, no, no agent".

Surprisingly though, they usually refer to what their agent did for the transaction. Whenever I hear these stories, just for fun I log in to MLS and check out the house or condo in question. Sure enough, there is a transaction, where both seller and buyer were represented by own agent.

The most interesting story I heard went like this:

"We lived in a house we bought a few years ago, and we decided to upgrade. We haven't started looking yet, but decision was made. One morning, when I was cleaning snow off my car, I saw that the neighbor across the street started putting for sale sign in his backyard. He had a beautiful home, that my wife and I always had our eyes on. We always wondered if he's going to sell it one day, and how we would love to buy it. So I walked up to him and asked, what the price was, this and that... Then I told him, he doesn't have to bother to pound the sign into the frozen ground any more. I love the house and want to buy it. And so we did."

What was the MLS and Public Records' side of story?

The house that they bought was on the market for quite some time. 8 months at least. It had a couple of price drops. Both sides used an agent.

What is my side of story?

A good agent did great job for his client and made the transaction look easy. He could always find ways to deal with any issues that arouse to the benefit of his client. He gathered all facts and presented them in such way, that the client could make a smart move.

Of course, it's not the agent who actually "bought" or "sold" the house, it's the person telling the story. I wonder if people just don't like to admit they used an agent? Or

When you hear a great real estate story, there's most likely a very good real estate agent behind it. Please keep that in mind if you are planning to buy or sell and get a great deal. If you do hire an agent to represent your interests, you will actually be the cool kid who hangs out with the right crowd. And you can tell your real estate story any way you like.

Tired of a remodeling project? Here's a neat idea!

The most common problem with any type of remodeling / renovation /updating and just basic work on your house seems to be TIME. You don't have enough time to do the work yourself, the person or crew that you hired has unexpected delays, there are weather emergencies, family complications, and other what have yous...

Here's an idea: HAVE A PARTY!

No, I don't mean to forget about whole thing and open up a dance floor in your living room, since the furniture is out anyway. It is a possibility, yet after the project is completed. What I mean here, is inviting friends over to help you out a bit.

Now, we are not talking about dangerous tasks, or jobs that only qualified licensed professionals should do. W are talking about interior painting for example - walls, window trim, baseboards... It can be major clean up after all is done and well. It can be prep work for painting - applying masking tape and taking out furniture.

Create an evite event, or email or call up some of your friends, tell them what the deal is and when the gathering will take place.

Offer nice food to get everybody going. Depending on your crew and time of year, it can be pizza, chinese take out, barbeque... We often have wine and french cheese as a start up, but anything works, really!

Then explain to your friends what has to be done, evaluate proficiency level (or lack thereof - which is absolutely NOT a turn off), turn on some music and get to work!

Once again, we are talking about simple tasks, that are relatively easy to do, we keep in mind work safety, we appreciate every effort, no matter how small, and we remember to tell our friends how much their help means to us.

Every pair of hands counts! And if a certain person is not particularly crafty or skillful as a handyman or handywoman, he or she can be a great help in other ways. He or she can order more pizza - since he or she will be the only one with clean hands, and will not mess up a smart phone with paint or caulking. This person can also tell stories and jokes, sing songs, play guitar, do whatever to keep everybody in fun mood. His or her presence will be priceless.

If there are children in the house, or if your friends have children and it's safe projectwise to bring them over - it's smart to have a "dedicated children's entertainer" (babysitter just doesn't always sound fun enough in this situation - but you can call this assignment whatever you feel like, of course). This person's job will be to keep children occupied with appropriate activities (everybody will want to paint though...), and keep them safe. Maybe in a different part of the house, maybe take them to a playground, to an ice cream parlor... Most likely they would want to stick around though, so this person will look out that children are safe, and out of the way.

Some people will be able to stay for a couple of hours, others will come and go, but it doesn't matter - the flow is good! Doing a certain project together is a bonding experience, that will provide you with several stories to tell on many other gatherings for years to come.

After couple of hours or so, take a break, have some more food, or coffee, and continue for little longer.

Don't exhaust your friends! They can leave when it is convenient for their schedule, or when they feel tired. Interestingly though, this party can go on for quite a while.

At the end, thank your friends, talk about everyone's accomplishments, and assure them they can count on you if they ever needed anything.

Are you happy with what you have? If not, why do you think this is?

More often than not we feel we need to upgrade, to trade up, to expand and get more... But does it make us happier? More content with life?

Not necessarily. I even dare to say the opposite is true.

Many people have reported, that downsizing and getting rid of stuff gives a feeling of freedom. It's not just regained space in your closet or guest room (that might have been "dump-it-all-and-shut-the-door" room). Something changes inside us, and opens up towards new things in life.

I read about an interesting tradition Native Americans have: when they wanted to pray for their Gods for something new to come into their lives, they also had to determine to let go of equal number of [spiritual] things. I think it's a beautiful approach, that works for all of us.

So back to mundane things: let's start the Spring Cleaning early and get rid of unnecessarily things in our household - and in our lives, if we can. Let's take out that old cabinet that is taking space in the basement, and let's also agree to let go of negative thoughts we might have when someone is cutting right in front of you on the highway, for example.

Let's clear up our personal space - physically and spiritually - and let the changes in.

Less stuff around us can help us make the house show ready if it is for sale, and ease up the move. It might also help us fall back in love with the house, and find that it actually has plenty of space. But that's a side effect. Main reason, we can find a long lost peace, when we have less stuff to carry for, to clean, repair, and store, and nag each other about.

We all heard the saying that "we hoard things just in case, for tough times". And it is true! Thing is, tough times are NOW. With economy, jobs, housing market affecting us and our income - now is the time to dig into our piles and use what we've got. If we don't use the old table to build a bookshelf as planned NOW, do you think we wiil be apt to do it later, when things improve?

When all unnecessary things are out the door, you might remember a long lost interest in a hobby you once had, or suddenly have more time to catch up on work stuff. Or maybe go out more and meet new friends? Or just sit back and enjoy a quite moment, looking at the tree tops you see out your window or off your porch?

Let's try it. I'm in!