Lisa Spalding, REALTOR, CDPE

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www.OrlandoAreaPropertySource.com

Did you know about the special financing that Orange County has for first-time homebuyers?

You may be thinking about buying or selling a house right now but we think about and handle real estate transactions all the time; it's our focus!

Happy House-Hunting!

It's a simple rule: Homes that the Seller makes the "Best in Class," or have ALL of the following:

1. BEST price (It MUST be the best price in this market--Or just KEEP IT.)

2, BEST-looking/Staged (It MUST be de-cluttered/staged/neat/clean/have upgrades if there is money for that...)

3. BEST curb appeal (It MUST look good enough to take a look on the inside.)

4. BEST/Most Clean (It MUST be clean at all costs.)

5. easiest to show/BEST showing instructions (It MUST be able to be seen. You can't have an offer until someone sees the inside of it. Oh, I forgot--there are CRAZY people who just watched the latest infomoercial on how to cheat your way to a good steal in real estate who actually DO submit offers or letters of intent without even driving by the property.)

6. BEST/good smells

will get the BEST OFFER(s) at the BEST PRICE(s) in the shortest amount of time.

Check out Heather's post for some great tips to make your home BEST IN CLASS : http://activerain.com/blogsview/504884/9-ways-to-enhance

So, here's the (true) story for this week:

The Buyer and me went for second viewings on TWO homes today. Both are nice homes in nice-enough communities and are almost exactly the same square footage and floor plans.

So, for the first one, it again showed well. Nice, neat, clean, comfortable and it smelled good. It meets all the Buyers' criteria for a home. Not really any upgrades; just a nice, neat home that is a split-bedroom plan home with lots of light and a nifty fireplace. No real clutter. I couldn't complain at all.

Then, when we arrived at the second home: We entered to a VERY nice smell and all the lights were on. There was music playing (softly) on the big-screen t.v. Even though there is a dog involved, the dog was removed from the property and there was absolutely NO dog smell. Candles were lit; definitely vanilla. :) Then, when we got to the kitchen, there was quite a nice, color letter (!) from the Seller to the Buyer, stating here are some refreshments for your enjoyment; we hope you like them as much as we have liked this home and if you like the home, please make it yours! There was bottled water and soda (chilled) and cookies waiting for us. Now, (except for Open Houses and Brokers' Opens), I have never seen anything like that for a (dare I say--common?) showing but I'm having a talk with ALL the Sellers I work with this week!

If YOU were the Buyer, it's fairly obvious which experience would "WOW" you the most.

So, for Sellers out there: Please keep in mind that Buyers are extremely knowledgeable, too, and they do their homework. They comparison shop. They know which houses are good deals or not. AND they definitely know what they like and what they want. So, you MUST stage your home as much as possible AND you MUST seriously consider doing what this Seller did--present the home in its BEST condition and do everything possible to have the home stand out as "BEST IN (It's) CLASS." Those homes that are "Best in Class" are the homes that are typically selling in today's market.

Have YOU ever had a positive "WOW" moment when viewing a property??

Well, I just toured a home in Orlando yesterday that is owned by some very nice Sellers. They have been trying to sell their home themselves (Yep, they're unrepresented Sellers) and have realized it's a little harder than they thought to sell a home in today's market than just simply putting up a sign and having offers come pouring in. They have done a few things well and a few things not-so-well and the great thing is that they have a very nice, large home.

So, during the course of our conversation, what I found out in terms of what they have been doing to market their home was the following: (3 P's plus an O!)

1. Put out a sign. In this case, it's a For Sale by Owner sign, which is fine. And, they have flyers, too, which is good.

2. Placed an ad in the newspaper (They chose to pay $120 to run an ad for 7 days, rather than get the 4 weeekends for $200.)

3. Put it on Craigslist (1 ad, once, and have not run another one; they don't know if it's been flagged or not.)

4. Hosted an Open House. A real estate agent stopped by, then brought a customer to look through when she found out this couple would work with a broker if they brought a Buyer.

The one thing they haven't done, which may get the property sold (maybe, maybe not) is Put it on the MLS.

In addition to the one agent with a Buyer, they have had two other interested parties that were Buyers that were not represented by an agent. I think that's amazing! While we have about 25,000 homes for sale within 40-60 minutes in/around Orlando, there are almost 1,000 homes selling per month. To say that THREE people have looked at this home is truly GREAT for these would-be Sellers.

Now, I really HOPE that they can sell their house themselves without formally listing it. It CAN happen and HAS happened, especially now that they are willing to protect a broker who brings a Buyer for the home. But that's another post. What I really want to address is what the lady of the couple asked me.

She asked what else (other than listing it with me) they can be doing to increase their marketing for FREE or for very cheap. Here's basically what I said:

1. Make sure you have the BEST PRICE or close to your bottom-line price as the price. PRICE in today's market is KING. You CANNOT, no matter how hard you try, sell an OVERPRICED home. In a normal market like this, a home, whether listed or not listed, cannot afford to chase the market down. You also can't not (double negative!) have price reductions; or let me say, even if you have what you feel is the lowest price you can possibly take, you may have to continue to lower your price, depending on showing activity and feedback from Buyers.

They have done this (lowered the price) as much as they feel comfortable and have already dropped their price by $30K-$40K, which is good. Once you have gotten the right price, then you can start worrying about:

2. Marketing. To review what they've done so far: They've done the Sign, Ad, Craigslist once, and one Open House. So, I told her to keep reducing the price until it sells but they're a little reluctant to do that. And I also told her that she needs to market the HECK out of it. They really can't compete with what a good agent would do to market the home. But, I told them I'd send them a list of Internet Marketing sites that are FREE or near-free. So, I e-mailed it to 'em. Here is the list I sent this couple, in case it may help YOU in your marketing efforts, whether you are a Seller, an agent--whatever. Yep, you really CAN get some good information for FREE. :)

Internet Marketing Sites

Postlets.com

Backpage.com

Craigslist.com

Edgeio.com

Googlebase.com

Hotpads.com

Livedeal.com

Oodle.com

Propsmart.com

Vast.com

Google Base

Kijiji.com

Trulia.com

Zillow.com

Provided as a Courtesy by:

Watson Realty Corp.

2035 Howell Branch Rd.

Maitland, FL 32751

407-673-4200/1-877-396-3288

Lisa Spalding/407-267-0304

You can imagine my joy (okay both of my kids' joy!) when, while driving back from my oldest son's soccer practice this morning, we see SPIDER MAN! We were on 434, just West of 17-92 (right by the comic book store and North of Albertson's) and we snapped these two quick pictures.

It's good to see there are crimefighters in my neighborhood in Longwood who are willing to sweat in the sun to protect our lucky citizens. (Grin.) We got the thumb's up from Spidey as we snapped off the first picture, too. The boys were THRILLED. So, we drove past a second time. Looks like in the second picture, Spidey is actually keeping a lookout for crime. Boy, do I feel safe now. Yep, my two sons and my husband are definitely CRAZY for any superhero.

Have an awesome weekend! Hey, maybe if YOU'RE lucky and if you're in the area, you can pass by the comic store this weekend and you, too, may be able to see SpiderMan!

MANTRA: "The more people I help with moving, the more that money comes easily and abundantly. I will help 2-3 people this week with their real estate needs."

Well, I have been (slightly) frustrated for the month of February, so decided I needed to brighten up my attitude. For February, while I have been extremely busy, I noticed (and said) that all "these deals have taken twice as long and been twice as hard" as usual; so, of course, that's what I got.

For this month of March, I have restructured my thoughts to the positive and the best I could come up with for the first and second week of March was "In order to help more people with their real estate transactions, I will schedule 4-5 appointments per week." I typically schedule 1-3 listing appointments and 1-2 buyer appointments per week, so usually, I meet with 2-5 people ANYWAY who want to buy or sell property. I figured 1 or 2 more people per week wouldn't be difficult. Actually, I really tried to think meeting with 4-5 people per week would be EASY, which puts a more positive spin on it.

Guess what? I met with 4 people/couples each week. Some chose to work with me, some chose not to work with me, some COULDN'T work with me due to various reasons (not the right time to move, poor credit, marital issues, etc.). I chose to work with some of them; some--not so much. Then, I showed some property and wrote only one contract for some Buyers that ultimately didn't go anywhere (a short sale).

Well, last week, since I have been thinking positively, for THIS week, I have scheduled 4 Buyer meetings/initial consultations and have a listing appointment tomorrow afternoon. It's all due to the power of positive thinking!

So, this week, my MANTRA is "The more people I help with moving, the more that money comes easily and abundantly."