Knoxville, TN

You hear a lot these days about lower price, lower price, and lowest price as the only way to get a house sold.

Here are 9 things you can do that will make your house stand out from the crowd, appeal to more potential buyers, and probably sell faster. None of them have anything to do with cutting the price.

1. Curb appeal, curb appeal, curb appeal! I can’t emphasize this one enough. Buyers have to be attracted to your home to want to see it. I’ve had lots of buyers say: “Let’s pass this one buy.” when we’ve pulled up to a home that was not attractive from the street.
2. Bright, shiny, and inviting entry. Once you get buyers out of the car and walking up to your front door, you want to continue to set a good tone for your showing. Make sure your front entry is spotless, sweep away the cobwebs over your door, clean front door, paint if necessary, bright, shiny new door hardware if necessary, a new light fixture if the old one is rusty. All these things go a long way towards keeping the mood for showing positive.
3. PAINT! Biggest selling bang for your buck possible. Neutral paint is the word of the day, no bright or funky colors. A fresh, uniform coat of paint throughout your house if needed will bring a faster sale and more dollars in your pocket.
4. Your kitchen. Lots of Realtors and buyers say the kitchen is what caused the sale. De-clutter your counter tops, cabinets, pantries, and storage space so buyers can see it.
5. DEEP CLEANING! It’s gotta be not just spotless but “white glove” inspection clean. No grease on kitchen appliances, bathrooms including tubs, showers, and sinks spotless and clean smelling, all light fixtures wiped down or washed including the bulbs, clean the blades on your ceiling fans, cobwebs from along ceilings and underneath. In fact it will likely pay you to hire a professional house cleaner to do the job for you.
6. Straighten up, “lean out” and neaten all your storage areas especially your closets. Don’t forget the fresh paint here too.
7. Let the sun shine in. All blinds and shades should be open for showing even in the evenings. Of course your windows need to be included in the deep cleaning too.
8. Get a pre-sale home inspection. This will alert you to potential problem areas you might not be aware of and let you fix or repair them at your leisure and also prevent a buyer from using some minor issue as a negotiating tool.
9. No funky odors or smells. This one is tough because you live there every day and some odors might not be apparent to you. Ask a friend, neighbor, or real estate professional to give your home the “smell test” to see if there might be something there you’re not picking up on. Don’t get carried away with scents to mask odors; too much is almost as bad as the odors you’re trying to cover up. Get rid of the cause of the odor.

You can find lots selling tips as well as get a free copy of my 52 page e-book titled “450 Ideas To Help Your Home Sell Faster” at www. KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com or just send a blank email to 450Ideas@JimLee.com

It seems every time you pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV these days you're bombarded with news like "housing crisis", "financial crisis", "mortgage crisis", "foreclosure crisis", or "pick your crisis".

The result of all these crises or in layman's terms, a great big mess is that it has created one of the strongest buyer markets in history. A buyer's market is defined as a period where the supply of homes is greater than the demand. A buyer's market means there are lots of homes for sale and not that many buyers.

With underwriter's guidelines becoming more strict and tighter than ever it's also becoming harder for even very well qualified buyers to qualify for a loan.

For instance both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who buy or insure almost 60% of the secondary mortgage market in the US, will only underwrite a loan on a brand new condo where the percentage of owner-occupants is over 70%! The former guideline was 51%. This rule alone is making new condo developments very tough to sell.

Closer to home in Knox County there is a huge number of homes for sale. Today, June 26th for example, there are 4,161 residential listings in all price ranges with an additional 1,068 condos. That's a total of 5,229 homes for sale. The graph below illustrates how many months it will take to sell them at the current sales rate and assuming no new listings come on the market before (which will not happen).

Sellers who want to sell now have a choice. Either sell your house now in the current market at the market price or wait until the market improves (assuming it will improve at some future date) IF you can wait and don't need or have to sell now.

There are some things you can do to put the odds of selling at the best price in your favor. You can get more in depth tips and guides from the "Sellers" and "Free Stuff" section of my website, www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com but here's the 25 words of less version.

1. Face the new reality; it’s a buyer’s market.

2. Price it right! In a buyer’s market it doesn’t matter what you or your Realtor think it’s worth, the only thing that does matter is what a buyer is willing to pay.

3. Research the local market and see which houses are selling and just as important, which ones are not. You’ll usually find that the ones selling are not only price right but are in ‘move in’ condition with no repairs needed and little if any cosmetic touch ups needed either.

4. Have an effective Internet strategy. According to National Association of Realtors latest study of Home Buyers and Sellers in 2008, over 84% of all home buyers began their home search on the Internet. Evidence of my Internet effectiveness in selling homes is provided by the fact you’re reading this information; please give me a call if you’re thinking of selling.

5. Make sure your house makes a great first impression, that ‘curb appeal’ and ’shows great’ thing in action. More tips and a free, 52 page eBook titled “450 Ideas to Make Your Home Seller Faster”, yours for the asking at www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter or just send me at email to 450ideas@JimLee.com and I’ll get one back to you right away.

6. Be flexible. Often buyers will ‘try you out’ with a low ball offer just to see what your reaction will be. Don’t take that as a sign you’re going to have to “give away the farm” to sell. Just counter back at a price you can live with and put the ball back in their court. As Michael Corleone said in that now famous “Godfather” movie: “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”

One of the most dreaded times of the month for both homeowners and renters alike is utility bill time- especially after having weeks of extreme heat and humidity (as we have had in Knoxville, TN this summer) causing many homeowners to crank up the AC and rev up the fans. However, there is one easy way to make your bill and home environment more pleasant, as well as soften your carbon footprint- just reach out for the stars and grab them. By stars, I am not referring to the celestial bodies of hot gas we enjoy in the evening sky, but the ENERGY STAR logo that can be found on over 50 products including thermostats, light bulbs, HVAC units, household appliances, TVs, and roofs.

Let ENERGY STAR Show You the Money!

The monetary savings that can be gained by using ENERGY STAR products can be quite beneficial. According the EPA and DOE, making the switch to high efficiency products can save about 1/3 on your energy bill AND also reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by about 1/3 as well. In 2008, the combined efforts of America's households' use of ENERGY STAR products saved a combined amount of $19 billion in utility bills and resulted in the reduction of greenhouse gases equivalent to that of 29 million cars!

So what exactly is ENERGY STAR? ENERGY STAR is a result of the joint program efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy to identify products that offer higher levels of energy efficiency. In order to be classified as an ENERGY STAR product, the product must have more than 15% energy efficiency than what is required.

All products are required to have EnergyGuide labels (click here for example)- these labels are designed to allow consumers to make energy conscious choices and display the total amount of energy used, yearly operating costs, as well as to how they compare to other models available for sale.

High efficiency products carry the ENERGY STAR label. The next time you are in the market for any appliance look for the ENERGY STAR label, not only will you save money on operating costs, but it will help reduce your overall carbon footprint.

Helpful Links Pertaining to ENERGY STAR Products:

ENERGY STAR Website

ENERGY STAR Store Locator

List of ENERGY STAR Products

Special offers and ENERGY STAR Rebates

Instantly search for more homes for sale in the Knoxville TN and surrounding areas now!
www.HomesForSaleKnoxville.com

Visit Christine McInerney and Jennifer Halinkowski with Southland GMAC Real Estate on-line at:
www.HomesForSaleKnoxville.com and www.KnoxvilleReal-Estate.com
Office: (865) 237-5289
Christine (865) 237-5289 and Jennifer (865) 621-3658
Mail to: McIn-Kowski@HomesForSaleKnoxville.com

Instantly Search For All Knoxville, TN Homes , Condos , and land For Sale!!

.......................I want to thank you for inviting me over to look at your house and talk with you about selling it.

Before I get started talking about what I'm going to be doing to get your house sold as quickly as possible, let's take just a few minutes to talk about the things I'm not going to be doing and why I'm not going to be doing them.

First and foremost; don't pick up your daily newspaper and start looking for a 3 line ad that looks just like everyone Else's 3 line ad and also, don't be looking for a small color photo in the glossy, color magazines that you pick up at the bank or grocery because you won't be in them either.

The reason is simple; print ads are not as effective, both from a cost standpoint and being effective. According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) study, "87 percent used the Internet", way over twice the number that said they looked at print ads. NAR's study went on to say: "Fewer buyers rely on a home book or magazine, home builders, television, billboards and relocation companies. Buyers most commonly start their search process online and then contact a real estate agent."

As the statistics and buyers very clearly say; give us an online location where we can see all the homes for sale in an area, lots of photos, and area information as well as information about the homes for sale.

Number two, don't be getting ready for a traditional Sunday open house because we are not going to be doing one. There are several reasons. First and foremost, open houses don't work to sell a particular house. Typically brokers put their new agents out sitting open houses to pick up buyers for other listings.

Personally I don't feel that it's fair to use your house as basically 'bait' to lure buyers in to buy another house. Secondly, open houses usually only attract only lookers, "tire kickers", and unfortunately also criminals looking for a house to rob now or later, often when you and your family are at home. There have also been incidents of visitors to open houses caught looking through medicine cabinets and other location for prescription drugs to steal to feed their habit.

Here's a partial excerpt from REALTOR magaine about holding open houses:

"Nix open houses—they’re neither worthwhile nor safe The article on safety, “ Protect your life ” (September 2003), reminds me that the most dangerous part of real estate is open houses. Besides attracting neighbors, the curious, and unqualified “lookie-loos,” opens draw weirdoes of varying degrees.

In the past few months, right here in Minnesota, there’ve been practitioner abductions and attacks: One salesperson was invited to conduct a market analysis on a home and was sexually assaulted by a man and his sister-in-law. Another was holding an open house at a model home when a man came in, took off all his clothes, and helped himself to the shower. Yet another salesperson had her purse stolen. Two female salespeople were robbed at gunpoint while showing a vacant property last spring.

It’s time for professionals to prevent these kinds of crimes by eliminating the vulnerability: Stand up and educate your clients about the dangers and pointlessness of open houses. They’ll understand that reducing their liability is a great benefit and that you are professional and creative enough to bring the very best buyer—without the risks."

So there you have it; two things I don't do and the reasons I don't do them. Would you like me to continue with my presentation at this time and show and tell you the many things I do to get your house sold; many of them exclusive to me?

Thanks, I'm glad you' agree with me; now let's talk about what works in today's tougher, more competative, seller's market to get your house sold.

• www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com is the most used and best tool in my home selling tool kit.

FYI; here's a copy of some buyer data from NAR's 2008 "Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers"

This great resource is available free of charge to members (Realtors) at www.Realtor.org

Diary of a Short Sale - Week 2

After our initial submission of a nearly 100 page packet to the Wells Fargo short sale department it became a waiting game. After several days of no contact from Wells Fargo we called them at the end of the week. The first few times we called the short sale department we kept getting sent to a voicemailbox and had to leave a message. After we did this a number of times we decided to select the option as a consumer instead of a real estate agent and we finally got a hold of a real person! The conversation was very pleasant.

They had our packet, we had been assigned a short sale coordinator and the internal BPO had been ordered! We were shocked that we didn't have to send the packet again and it appeared that this might not be so bad....

As an extra bonus we were given the "real" phone number for the short sale department (this is actually how they referred to this "special" number) - I guess only reserved for a privileged few!

Instantly search for more homes for sale in the Knoxville TN and surrounding areas now!
www.HomesForSaleKnoxville.com

Visit Christine McInerney and Jennifer Halinkowski with Southland GMAC Real Estate on-line at:
www.HomesForSaleKnoxville.com and www.KnoxvilleReal-Estate.com
Office: (865) 237-5289
Christine (865) 237-5289 and Jennifer (865) 621-3658
Mail to: McIn-Kowski@HomesForSaleKnoxville.com

Instantly Search For All Knoxville, TN Homes For Sale!!