Stanley Barsch, REALTOR®, GRI 240.882.8512

Dear Silver Spring Homeowner,

Just because you can, DOESN'T mean you should.

Sincerely,

Stanley Barsch

P.S. Here is why:

• It's a decision you have to make --- to work with a REALTOR^® or not
• It's a choice you have to live with --- to deal with one professional, or many many many buyers
• It's a lifestyle --- you will have to show your home EVERY SINGLE TIME, and see EVERY SINGLE PERSON
• It's availability --- you have to answer the calls, and explain the story to every caller...serious or not
• It's a business --- you need to trust your abilities to do the job THIS ONE TIME, that we've done hundreds more
• It's wild --- you will have more respect for what I do as a REALTOR^® once you endured the pain
• It's a risk ---- hopefully you have of ALL the disclosures you have to make, whether or not you're aware of it
• It's a liability --- yes, and lord knows there are A LOT Of it.....that's 10 more posts
• It's a time thing --- Time is of the essence, deadlines, notices
• It's consuming --- inquiries, showings, offers, contracts, disclosures, follow-ups, inspections, loans
• It's fun --- if you've done it hundreds of times
• It's not so fun --- if this is your first time......sorta like flying a plane for the first time with no co-pilot
• It's amazing --- you'll have so many war stories to tell

It's just not a wise choice, here are some questions to ask yourself...

1. Would you do your own root canal?
2. Would you do brain surgery on yourself?
3. Would you do a transplant on your own organs?
4. Would you build a dealership, only to get a discount on one car?
5. Would you buy a restaurant, only to save money on one sandwich?
6. Would you rent a trash truck weekly, only to save money on your pick-up?

I know, I know..............silly Stanley........

Seriously though do you REALLY want to attempt selling the BIGGEST investment YOU made in life, to someone else who is making their biggest investment in life?

What does a REALTOR^® do for you? How can he/she save you money? Stay tuned to Part 2................

Are you frustrated because your Silver Spring, Maryland home hasn't sold?

Did you withdrawal it from the market, did it expire, did it JUST NOT SELL?

STOP!!!!!! Don't pull your hair out, I know why it didn't sell.......let me show you.......

Before we get started, turn that frown upside down!

There are three things that ultimately affect the sale of your home:

3) Condition of property - You have 100% full control of this, YOU decide if it's important to get YOUR home up to par for today's market. YOU decide how good that home is going to look. YOU decide if you're going to put things in storage for a couple months. YOU decide if you want YOUR home to look better then any other home on the market.

2) Marketing -You have 0% full control of this. Hopefully your trusted agent kept you up to speed on his/her marketing plan. Hopefully, your trusted agent put their 100% effort into making your home standout where it counts. Not all of us are created equal, and not all of us have the same game plan. Some have better plans then others, some have more unique ideas then others. Hopefully, you were advised early on about their marketing plan and how they were going to tackle it for you. The Barsch Team for instance has a 360 marketing plan that touches every avenue possible, to guarantee FULL exposure to your home.

1) Drum roll please.....................

You got it, PRICE!!! Just hold on for a second, don't leave the post just yet.

Mr. & Mrs. Seller:

You are not alone in the world of pricing, and the guessing game is enough to make you go out of your mind. The thing about it though, sometimes you have to trust the numbers versus your instinct. Can I be somewhat straight up with you? Really, I promise I won't offend you.

If you had any of these thoughts, or shared any of these emotions, your home may have been overpriced:

• If Mr. & Mrs. Jones up the street got $500k for their house, I'm sure to get $550k for mine
• My home is updated with new blinds, polished hardwood floors, and even re-painted
• My tax assessment says that my home is worth $550k, I don't care what others have sold for
• Lets just price it slightly higher, and see who bites on it
• Lets keep it at the price for another 30 days, and then we will reduce it by $5,000
• I don't know why we aren't getting any showings, doesn't anyone like my house?
• I don't care what those buyers had to say, they don't know what they're talking about
• That agent is out of his/her mind if they think I'm going to come down on my price
• I paid X dollars for this house, and I'm not walking away with a penny less!
• I put in $80k in remodeling this home, and I want to get every penny back

The truth is, there is no hidden agenda here. The truth is the COMPS don't lie. Even I fall into the trap of "gut feeling" when pricing homes SOMETIMES, but then I quickly realize....I should've listened to the COMPS. Overpricing your home is a fatal mistake that will cause you headaches. Overpricing your home will SELL THE COMPETITION. Overpricing your home will cause you to LOSE MORE MONEY in the future.

If you like my straight talk, you'll love me as your agent!

If you don't like what you read, then please hang the sign below on your home:

These are the Barsch Team's TOP 10 reasons your home won't sell....unless you check yourself!

This applies to Silver Spring Real Estate, DC Real Estate, VA Real Estate, and everywhere else!

10) Clutter - Do you realize when you put a sign on your property, you are now marketing a product for sale? From unbiased REALTORS^®and no pun intended, put that junk in the trunk! Buyers don't want to walk over mountains of junk, maneuver around furniture, or look at your collectibles. The buyers are there to BUY your home, not the contents. Put it away!

9) Condition - This should be higher up on the list, probably one of the worst complaints buyers have about properties they view. The condition of the property is not what you deem to be appropriate, but what the buyers will. Spending a little bit of money on making small improvements such as new carpet (or refinishing hardwood floors), repainting trims & baseboards, fixing or replacing broken blinds, replacing the toilets or sinks that need replacing, and most importantly at the least of cost REPLACE THE LIGHT BULBS ...these things amongst others can improve your home in an instant.

8) Curb Appeal - Even if you're a year out from selling your home, start working on the curb appeal now! This is the first thing people see from the photo of the front of your home on the internet, to when they first pull up to your home. If it's looking like a forest in the front yard, you better start trimming away! Spruce it up with a little color in the front and back yards, and take pride in your home...it really does show. If you have chipped or missing slates or otherwise, work on getting them fixed or replaced. If YOU notice it enough to talk about it, then the buyer will notice it 10 times more.

7) Showing times - You're doing NO ONE a favor, including yourself, your REALTOR^®, the buyer and the buyers agent to limit the times, days or otherwise folks can see your property. When we take listings, that box is on and we get notified 1 hour prior to every showing to get you the seller prepared for "show time". Selling your home is a full-time job, you have to be ready sometimes on moments notice when that agent driving by didn't see your listing and wants to see it RIGHT NOW! I've been most impressed where on a moments notice upon arriving at a showing all the lights were left on, the soft music awaited us, and a candle being burnt. WOW, that is pretty impressive.....beyond words....

6) Open houses - My favorite lines from some sellers in the past "open houses are a waist of time" or "all open houses do is help your business" or "it won't sell my house" or "I don't want my neighbors to see my home". These are direct quotes from previous clients of mine that I had to educate about why open houses are beneficial and crucial to selling their homes. 7 homes that I sold in the last few years were as a DIRECT result of open houses. The fact of the matter is, you don't know WHO your buyer is, or WHEN he/she will see the home. Open houses is one more element in the equation of selling a home.

5) Pets & odor - No you don't have to sell or give away your pet, BUT you do need to make it so that the presence of your pet is not known. As a dog lover myself with two black labs, I would be heart broken if someone told me that MY dogs had to leave MY home for the day. The truth is they do....EVERY SINGLE TIME you get a showing, those dogs better be at a friends house, or out on a walk. Same goes for birds, cats and every other lovely creature you may have in your home. There are a million reasons for this and I list the two most important: fear & allergies. On the odor topic, it's not what YOU can't smell ............... it's what other people CAN smell! If you have pets that shed hair or otherwise...........the hair needs to be picked up daily, and you need to make that home smell good and fresh for EVERY showing.

4) Brochures - The brochures, comps, statistics, and whatever else that was left by me or your agent on the table is there for a reason. These items are there so that the buyers can reflect back on YOUR property, and they can remember how great YOUR property is. Honestly, the "marketing" is the least of our concerns....we have a job we were hired to do and that is to sell YOUR home. So even if it hurts, and even if you have to hide it every time someone leaves...........YOU MUST put those brochures front and center so that YOUR house can stand out. Yes, you have to leave the basket of candy out for the buyers too. I promise, I will buy you a bag of goodies when you settle!

3) HOME OWNER - Yes, YOU! Maam/Sir I love the fact that you want to get your home sold, I really do. No one in the world wants that home sold for the highest price possible, with the least amount of days on the market then me. YOU have to do me a favor, LEAVE THE HOME! When the buyers are coming over, please leave RIGHT NOW. Do not standby and try to "meet" the buyers, they do not care too much what you have to say AT THIS POINT. A lot of times you may think you're "trying to sell the home", whereas you might be DIGGING A HOLE. Even if THAT buyer were to buy your home, you may be giving up A LOT of information for your negotiations. Let me your trusted REALTOR worry about the buyers, I promise we will get a great offer for you and soon!

2) Personal items - It would behoove you to remove personal items such as photographs, awards, certifications, yearbooks and anything else that says something about YOU. The best homes I have ever been into were homes that were lived in, but you couldn't tell by who or how many. I understand you might have a new born, and it really isn't feasible to move all the toys out of the way...I'm a realist. However, you really do need to work your best to make it a product for sale, and NOT a personal shrine.

1) Guess? Yes....PRICE! I'm not here to offend you, I'm not here to low ball you, I'm not here to lie to you, I'm not here to tell you what isn't gold. I AM here to tell you what your home is worth, I AM here to tell you what your home will likely sell for. I AM NOT an appraiser, nor do I care to be an appraiser. However, I am a REALTOR that has sold millions in real estate, and I am a REALTOR^® that has made a significant amount of money in my personal real estate. With that being said lets go to the bullets below..................

• Comps do not lie - It is what it is. Appraisers will look 6 months back at properties that recently sold, and properties that resemble your home the closest. The 6 month period is the time that YOUR home is being appraised by a buyers bank.....so if you're selling your home in March 2011, and get a contract in May 2011, but the comp is from October 2010 it will NOT be valid. It must be 6 months from the time of YOUR appraisal. The appraisal is based on square footage (taxable living area, does not include ANY PART of your home that is underground front, back or both), condition of the homes, and the distance of the subject property from the comp.
• Higher offering price does NOT make your home look attractive- You're waiving bye bye to those potential buyers that are ready, willing and able to buy your home....because you didn't believe my first bullet. You don't get extra credit for a new toilet, you don't get extra credit for new blinds, you don't get extra credit for a stained deck, you don't get extra credit for new carpet --------------------these items HELP make your home saleable, NOT raise the price.
• Don't chase the market- This goes to the last bullet, don't start your sales price off at $500,000 because you're in disbelief the home is no longer worth that much. Then 3 months from now you drop it to $450,000 where it should've been all along. Only to find out that now that 3 months has passed, the real market value now because of comps and other trends is $425,000 and then you end up selling it for $400,000. See how that can go bad real quick?
• TRUST YOUR REALTOR^®- Not because I said so, but because I am being hired to accomplish the task of selling your treasured home. YOU hired ME, because YOU trusted ME. I'm not your enemy, I'm your best of friend...........HELL call me your BFF for a few months!

QUESTION FROM A BUYER IN CLEVELAND PARK

Question: "Do you work exclusively in Silver Spring, or do you sell homes in other parts of the area? My husband and I are looking to purchase in the next couple of months in the Cleveland Park area......"

Answer: Silver Spring is our niche area, however we do focus throughout different areas of DC, Maryland and Virginia. Stanley is one of the fewest folks in the area that can really say he was "born and raised in DC." This is a unique situation, because Stanley has lived and/or owned properties in different areas of the city such as Georgetown, Tenleytown, Adams Morgan, and outside the city in Silver Spring. Here you have a REALTOR^® that knows the ins and outs of these various areas, and is a wealth of knowledge to those who have a special style home they are looking for.

Stanley & Jessica together are licensed and have current or closed transactions in DC, Maryland and Virginia. This is a dynamic team of two agents who work hard and aggressively to give you a higher level of service than you might have come to accept, and getting you the best possible deal for your individual situation.

---------CHECK FHA STATUS OF A CONDOMINIUM BUILDING, CLICK HERE--------

Are you buying or selling a condo in DC, Maryland or Virginia?

Is YOUR building, or the building you are buying in affected by FHA changes?

I heard so many terms used for the December 7, 2010 deadline for FHA financing on many condos throughout the region. From "end of times" to "condo judgment day", etc. Whatever people were calling it, that date was really going to make an impact on first time home buyers out there or folks who wanted to put little down into their investment. As we head into 2011, the truth is we are going to have to face this issue head on in MANY cases this year.

The extension of the FHA expiration dates are listed below:

1972 - 1980 - December 7, 2010 - December 31, 2010
1981 - 1985 - December 7, 2010 - December 31, 2010
1986 - 1990 - December 7, 2010 - May 31, 2011
1991 - 1995 - December 7, 2010 - July 31, 2011
1996 - 2000 - December 7, 2010 - August 31, 2011
2001 - 2005 - December 7, 2010 - September 30, 2011
2006 - 2008 - (Sept) December 7, 2010 - March 31, 2012

You can click HERE, to see FHA's approved condo buildings. This will keep YOU in the know.