Thursday, July 28, 2016

Real Estate investors little secret

As we enter the 'dog days' of summer savvy real estate investors are scouring listings to find those 'diamonds in the rough' that have been lingering on the market.  Often they were originally listed too high and they go through multiple price reductions as new inventory comes to the market-often going unnoticed.  August tends to be a slow month as many people will take advantage of the last weeks of the summer to get away, and others to prepare for the coming school year.  Meanwhile, motivated sellers who want to 'move on' or need to sell will be reducing the prices of their homes (if they haven't already done so) in order to try to sell before the colder winter months are upon us.

For the experienced buyer this  means that there are good deals to be had. Some homes in our area will sell at 10%+ less than they would in the spring market.  This is often a time when 'flippers' will try  to find an older, less updated home, to remodel and sell in time for the spring market.  In our area this is also an excellent opportunity for buyers to purchase new homes that have been sitting on the market due to a current oversupply of inventory.  Nearly 1/3 of our 2015 home sales occured between September and December.

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Sunday, July 24, 2016

Smart Home Improvements

Should I update my kitchen or bathrooms? Or redo my floors?

It depends if you’re looking for a long term upgrade or planning on selling in the near future.  Although kitchens have become the most central room in the house the styling trends are changing about every 5 years, so if you’re planning on selling in the next 5 years then your kitchen will most likely still be in fashion when you decide to sell. 

When it comes to the biggest bang for your buck, nothing beats painting. Not far behind is redoing floors, but I would recommend waiting until shortly before you sell to do this unless you’re planning on staying put for a while and want to take advantage of a totally different floor stain.

Redoing bathrooms is a lot less costly than redoing a kitchen and the average buyer is less discerning when looking at bathrooms than a kitchen.  A new vanity, mirror and paint can transform a bathroom. Other easy upgrade options are changing vanity countertops to granite or marble if your vanities are still in good shape, and replacing vanity hardware.


Another great idea for freshening up your home is replacing the hardware on your doors, especially if they are worn.

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