Michelle Fradella

When your home is on the market, it's important to make it readily available to be shown to prospective buyers. Here are some tips to help you get ready:

· Increase your chances. The more people who see your home, the more likely you are to sell it quickly. Yes, it's inconvenient to show your home at dinnertime, but if the people buy your home, isn't it worth it?

· There shouldn't be any major housecleaning at this point. The kinds of tasks you ought to be concerned with now are simple ones: making the beds, stuffing last night's dirty pans in the dishwasher, picking up loose newspapers, etc. Even young children can participate by "cleaning" their rooms.

· If the season is appropriate, open the windows in each room and let in some fresh air. Stale air isn't appealing. And if you smoke . . . do it outside while your house is listed. Non-smokers are very sensitive to stagnate smoke smell, and nothing is more of a turnoff.

· Keep your thermostat at a comfortable setting. If it's too cold or too hot, a buyer won't stick around very long to really see what your home has to offer.

· Turn on all the lights for every showing before prospective buyers arrive. This also gives you an opportunity to select the lighting effects you want for each room. No area of your home should be dark.

· Turn off the television and turn on light, background music.

· Arrange for pets and children to be at a neighbors. Perhaps it's unfair to lump children with pets, but young children can distract buyers from their purpose. Keep pets away from buyers.

· "De-personalize" the house as much as possible. Take down any extra family pictures that are hanging on the walls or displayed on the shelves. They will often distract the buyer's attention from what is most important ... the house!

· Most importantly, please leave the home during all showings. It is uncomfortable and difficult for buyers to view the home when owners are present. Oftentimes, they will rush through the home and not give it the proper attention your home deserves. It is also hard for the buyers to "picture themselves" living in the home when the sellers are present.

(Written for the North Hill Subdivision in Carriere, MS)

You hear the media - the real estate market has tanked . . . prices are the lowest they've been in years. . . all the depressing stories that the news media would have us believe.

BUT . . . let's put this all into perspective. How is OUR MARKET today? The national media has grouped all areas of our fine Country into one big database, allowing the overinflated numbers of the decline in value that California and Florida have experienced, to set the stage. But what if we focused on just our neck of the woods? The North Hill Subdivision, in Carriere, MS, is a well established neighborhood, which continues to thrive, even in today's market.

Let's turn back the clock, and look at the market we were experiencing before Hurricane Katrina blew in and altered our world. During the year 2005, from January 1st to August 15th (and I use August 15th because Katrina hit on August 29th), the average price per square foot for a home in the North Hill community was $92.13. This is the calculated price of the heated and cooled area of the home, based on the sales that took place during that time frame.

Now let's look at the numbers for what has been deemed the "worst real estate market in over 50 years". Currently (based on sales from January 1st to today, 2009), the average price per square foot is $104.40 (based on sales of homes with 2200-2500 sq ft living area). This is almost a 13% increase in value over the 2005 figures.

I feel it's important to look at these numbers, removing the over-inflated numbers that Hurricane Katrina caused in our area because of the demand for homes for those that lost their properties in the New Orleans and Gulf Coast regions. Most people's perceptions are that the property values in our area have tumbled. When looking at what property values were in 2005, and what they are today, we can see that we continue to appreciate at a normal rate.

If you would like to know more information about the value of your home, please call me, Michelle Fradella, at Pinnacle Real Estate Services - 601-799-1848 - for a FREE Comparative Market Analysis. Or, visit her website at http://www.prchomes.com