JoAnn Abercrombie

In this challenging real estate market, a little strategy pays off! So often, I've heard home sellers state "I want to list my home in time for the spring market," when they've always heard that's a good time to put a home on the market. But I've actually found that I've had by far the most success selling a home quickly and for the highest sale price, when I put it on the market in the winter, when there are less homes on the market. Especially, in this buyers market.

The principle of supply and demand applies...when there are less homes on the market, the buyers who still need to buy, will focus more seriously on your home. If there are 20 homes on the market in a neighborhood, and 5 buyers for that neighborhood at that particular moment, a home will have a one in four chance of one of those buyers offering on it. Whereas, if there are only 10 homes on the market in that neighborhood, and the same 5 buyers, you've automatically doubled your chances of getting the offer and getting your home sold.

Certainly, pricing your home to sell, staging it to make the best impression on buyers, and using strategic timing in when to place your home on the market...are all important keys to getting your home sold in today's market. Make them work for you!

Are you interested in selling your home? If so, call JoAnn Abercrombie, Realtor/Broker at Keller Williams Greater Cleveland West today at 440-781-1924 or email her at joannlovesrealestate@yahoo.com for a free market evaluation of what your home could sell for in this market, as well as what market plan and staging advice she can recommend to give your home the competitive edge. Check out more invaluable info at www.joannsellshouses.com. JoAnn is your Westlake, Ohio real estate specialist, and she would love to put her knowledge and experience to work for you. JoAnn has been a top-producing real estate broker for over 26 years, in the Avon, Westlake, North Ridgeville, Ohio area, serving all of Lorain County and the western Cleveland suburbs.

With all the new construction of lovely neighborhoods of homes popping up in Avon, Ohio, it's no wonder that the little town, which was not too long ago just a small rural community known for its greenhouse growers, and once dubbed as "The Antique Headquarters of Northeast Ohio," has now shown that Avon is also quite the place to live and raise a family! Home buyers relocating from all over the country, and from all over the greater Cleveland area, are making the move to check out what all the bustling excitement is about.

Not only are the highly rated Avon Schools a great draw, but now there's so much to see and do right in Avon...and did I mention the shopping?!! Avon Commons and surrounds offers a number of major department stores, a fine furniture store, and a great selection of specialty stores, grocery stores, and then there's still the charming boutiques and historic antique shops for which Avon has long been known. And after a shopping adventure, why not sample one of our many tasty dining options? No longer just a handful of choices...now we've got just about any cuisine your cullinary tastebuds have a hankering for...from the charming & quaint, to elegant 5-star dining, to fast food...all within blocks of each other.

Check out Avon's Lake Erie Crushers baseball team play at their new All-Pro Stadium, and the new YMCA French Creek Branch recreation center is next door. This state-of-the-art 66,527 sq. ft. facility is scheduled to open April 19, 2010, and offers an eight-lane competitive lap pool with spectator seating, a family gymnasium, a fitness center, a walking track and an aerobics multipurpose studio, as well as a sauna, whirlpool, wellness center and even a child-care center. But that's not all....there's discussion that Avon's new YMCA French Creek recreation center could eventually feature a Lorain County Metro Parks water park, ice hockey and skating rink, indoor soccer facility, tennis courts, youth football and soccer fields.

The new deluxe fire station, police station, post office, the fabulous library, the newer EMH medical center, are lots of other good reasons why Avon, Ohio is getting all this attention, and the ultra-easy access to I-90 allows a quick commute from Avon to Cleveland, and to nearby Crocker Park in Westlake. Truly, signs of growth and progress are popping up all over Avon, and if that's any indication of improved economic times, then we have good things in store for Avon, Ohio!

Are you interested in making charming Avon, Ohio your home? If so, the time is right, with real estate prices still very affordable, and interest rates at their lowest in years, and in time to still take advantage of the wonderful tax credit. Call JoAnn Abercrombie, Realtor/Broker at Keller Williams Greater Cleveland West. JoAnn is your resident Avon real estate specialist, and she would love to put her knowledge and experience to work for you. JoAnn has been a top-producing real estate broker for over 25 years, in the Avon, Westlake, North Ridgeville, Ohio area, serving all of Lorain County and the western Cleveland suburbs.

And if you would like to sell a home, call JoAnn today for a free market evaluation of what your it could sell for in this market, as well as what market plan and staging advice she can recommend to give your home the competitive edge. Check out more invaluable info at www.joannsellshouses.com. Give JoAnn a call at 440-781-1924 or email her at joannlovesrealestate@yahoo.com.

    As we spring forward to the spring market, the Avon housing market is on the upswing, according to market trend reports, which are showing that the Avon homes that have sold in the past 6 months are selling within 97% of list price.  This is up from homes selling within 92% of list price in August 2009.  This is great news, as it indicates a 5.4% increase in percentage of list price to sold price, in a relatively short time period.  Furthermore, those homes sold on an average of 95 days on the market, which is better than the 100 average days on the market from 6 mos. ago.

    Put JoAnn Abercrombie's 25 years of experience to work for you, to help you spring forward and be a part of the Avon housing market upswing, and place a "SOLD" sign in your near future.  JoAnn has been a top-producing real estate broker for over 25 years, in the Avon, Westlake, N Ridgeville Ohio area, serving all of Lorain County and the western Cleveland suburbs.  Check out more invaluable info at www.joannsellshouses.com.  Give her a call at 440-781-1924 or email her at joannlovesrealestate@yahoo.com .

If you think you can't afford to hire a home stager, or redesigner, real estate broker JoAnn Abercrombie of Keller Williams Greater Cleveland West has put together a few tips to help you wow buyers at every showing, and stay ahead of the competition, by capturing potential buyers the moment they step inside your home. JoAnn knows that staging gets Avon, Westlake, and Lorain County OH homes sold, and JoAnn knows how important it is to stage your home to make it "Show Ready", and she recommends doing these things to prepare your home to sell:

1. Declutter, Depersonalize and Clean! Nothing makes a home appear bigger, brighter and wow a buyer more than for it to be clean, free of clutter and excess furnishings. Clear out the closets, the bookcases, and anything that makes it too personally yours. Nothing makes a space seem smaller than having every nook and cranny packed to the brim; having the closets jam-packed just screams to a prospective buyer that there is a lack of storage space And adding a double rod in your closets can visually enlarge even a small closet.

To get rid of all your excess furnishings, forget about having a garage sale, donate and take the tax deduction...pack up things that you haven't used in the past year, and donate them to your favorite charity...then claim the receipt and tax savings. Most likely, you'll find that you end up better off than what you could end up with after a garage sale, and with a lot less effort!

Take your family photos off the wall and off the mantle, pack them up, and that puts you one step closer to making your move. A buyer will have a much easier time visualizing himself living in your home, if he doesn't also have to imagine your family members and your memorabilia not being in the home. A clean slate, much like a model home, gives even the least imaginative buyer the ability to see himself and his things in your home. And that's what you're hoping for! And once you have cleared out all the clutter and depersonalized, clean, clean, clean, like you've never cleaned before. Every crevasse within your home should be spotless and gleaming.

2. Ditch the Offensive, and Accentuate the Positive! To wow buyers at every showing, it's important to remove all the opinionated, comical, sentimental knick-knacks, paddywacks, and put away your dog's bone! All those magnets that weigh down your refrigerator, the pink flamingos, bendovers, the glass gazing balls in the flower beds, the bobbleheads, posters, political and religious memorabilia may be great conversation pieces, but for potential buyers they may just as easily be the thing that turns them away. Don't take the chance that buyers may not share your opinions or sense of humor, instead pack those things away to display in your new digs.

Put Fido's dog bowl, his bed, the large bag of dog food, and his big chew bone out of sight, out of mind. Even the biggest pet lover may not love your pet. Shampoo carpets and upholstery, and spray some Febreeze diluted in water around to remove Fido's scent. After all, Fido doesn't stay with the home! To add a fragrant appeal to your home, nothing works better than baking some cinnamon rolls in the oven an hour before a showing, or just sprinkle cinnamon alone on a cookie sheet, and bake it on low in the oven for ten minutes before a showing, then crack the oven door open to allow the aroma to sweeten the aura of your home. It will go a long way to wow potential buyers by making your home seem ever so delightful!

3. Focus on a Focal Point! Be it a lovely fireplace, a picture window with a great view, custom built-in bookcases, flaunt it. Open the curtains, show the lovely view, and arrange the furniture so that the seating area faces the focal point. These are the features that will make the buyer say wow at every showing. Don't make the mistake of hiding your home's best features, as those are the things that will win the buyer over and will sell him on your home. Those "wow" factors are what will translate into cha-ching in your pocketbook. Add some key accent lighting to spotlight that gorgeous fireplace, or that rich built-in bookcase. Leather bound books positioned on their sides, stacked in groups of three, interspersed with a few brass or glass accent pieces, can turn a bookcase into a showcase.

Fresh flowers, tasteful accent pillows, a nice lap throw placed over the arm of a sofa, a rich area rug that adds to the continuity of the seating area, will make a room warm and inviting. And nothing shows off those focal points better than does a fresh neutral coat of paint on the walls, in tones of off-white to mocha with cream, which will likely compliment any buyer's furnishings and taste.

4. Make Yourself Scarce for the Big Event! Don't try to be a wall-flower, and hang around for the showing. No one feels comfortable lingering long in a home when the homeowner is lurking just around the corner. And it's nearly impossible to get buyers to open up and chat about your home with each other and their agent if you're within earshot. That may be the very best opportunity their agent will have to sell them on your home's great points, and you want that time to work for you. Paint the mood, by slipping on some light jazz music, no vocals, in the background, for showings. Wow the buyers at every showing, make your home hard to leave, and maybe they won't want to!

But JoAnn Abercrombie stresses that even the best-staging can't make up for over-pricing your home. For more tips on staging your home to sell, check out JoAnn's staging tips and how staging gets Avon, Westlake and Lorain County OH homes sold, as well as more invaluable info at www.joannsellshouses.com. JoAnn has been a top-producing real estate broker for over 25 years, in the Avon, Westlake, N Ridgeville Ohio area, serving all of Lorain County and the western Cleveland suburbs. JoAnn would be happy to give you a free market evaluation of what your home should sell for in today's real estate market. Give her a call at 440-781-1924 or email her at joannlovesrealestate@yahoo.com .