Last week, I discussed the best ways to stage your home on the inside. And you know, it IS what’s inside that counts. In addition to that, the old saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” but the fact is, we do. (I know I’d rather pick up a book with a pretty cover than a not-so-pretty one). Well, a house is the same way. Potential buyers will and are going to judge your home by the way it looks on the outside.

A red door is always a winner!

Take a minute and step outside your home. Stand directly in front of it and ask yourself these questions:
1. Is my home inviting? Do I want to go inside?
2. Are there any qualities about my home that stand out in a positive way?
3. Are there any qualities about my home that stand out in a negative way?
4. Does my yard look well taken care of, or will a buyer have a lot of work to do?
5. Does the siding, doors, and windows look in good shape, or would a buyer have to replace them?
6. Has any paint faded or chipped?
7. Is my house number clear and readable from the street and/or curb?
8. Does it look as though someone lives here?

How you answer these questions can determine the amount of potential buyers that come to view your home.

Make sure your lawn is cut, you have trimmed your bushes, weeds are pulled, and flowers are looking fresh. Try planting yellow or purple flowers — these are calming colors that invoke an inviting feeling.
If your door is looking dull, paint it red. A red door is always a bold statement that can feel very welcoming to a buyer.
If you have window coverings inside, make sure they don’t block the view of rooms from the outside. Let light in! (Oh, and wash your windows from the outside in… this can make a HUGE difference).
Make sure the siding is not chipping or faded. This can be a visually deterring factor for a buyer.
If you have sidewalks, make sure they are clear of all weeds, debris, and extraneous items.
If you have a curbside mailbox, make sure it looks nice, NOT rusted.
Just as it can be difficult to stage the inside of your home, it can be just as difficult to stage and adequately prepare the outside. Keep in mind that all of these things will benefit you in the long run and greatly increase your chances of selling your home quickly.

And when in doubt, get help. You don’t have to do it alone.

Congratulations! You’ve finally made the decision to sell your home. It’s been a long road, but you’re ready and willing to do what it takes to sell that home of yours and move on to something bigger and better (or maybe you just are moving to a new city for work). Either way, selling your home can be a big deal and you want it to sell with vigor!

So, what should you do to prep your home so that it is ready and looking utterly fabulous to potential buyers? (This is what we call “home staging” — think of it like a high school musical, the show can’t go on until the stage is set and ready. A home is the musical and potential buyers are your audience).

A simple, clutter-free living room feels welcoming to potential buyers.
Step ONE: De-personalize. Even though this is the first step, it can be the most difficult for people. Yes, this means take down those family pictures (especially the ones of your Great-Aunt Mildred), remove trophies, mementos, New Kids on the Block posters, and other various personal knick-knacks. This allows a potential buyer to picture THEMSELVES in the home, not you.

Step TWO: Clear the high-traffic “runway.” Do you have a fabulous couch table? Do you have an armoire in the foyer that you adore? Is there a runner carpet that adds flair to your stairs? Well, hate to say it, but too bad. Get rid of them all. By clearing high-traffic areas of “stuff” makes rooms, hallways, and foyers seem larger. Maximizing space = maximizing selling odds.

Step THREE: Accentuate your “assets.” Just like you would want to highlight your great cheekbones with blush (for the ladies, of course), you want to highlight the great parts of your home. Do you have a fabulous fireplace, a beautiful bay window, or incredibly detailed, original crown molding? Show those features off! Don’t hide them with curtains, furniture, etc. Let them breathe! Let those assets show and enhance the unique value of your home.

These things can seem stressful, but in the end, they are just one step towards achieving your goal. Keep an open mind and know that you don’t have to throw away any of these things listed above (especially the New Kids poster…), you can just box these things up and hold them in storage until you’re ready to move!

And when in doubt, bring in another set of eyes (a friend, family member, or coworker). It always helps to have an outsider’s opinion.

Good luck and happy selling!

After reading a great article by real estate guru, Mike Andrews on Real Estate Marketing in an Online World, I felt compelled to write and share some of my thoughts on a related topic. Whether or not a real estate company, or any company for that matter, is working on marketing, buying, selling, or just listing (pretty close to JUSTLISTEM, am I right?), social media has become a viable venue for building and expanding a business. However, when a business is just starting, or if a business is new to the interactive world, it can be overwhelming to decide how to successfully hit and tackle the right social media outlets–there are SO many.

So, here are a few questions and concerns I want to briefly consider and address:

1. What exactly is social media and why is it so important for business, more specifically real estate?

Social media, in essence, is the new, hip, and ONLINE version of what face-to-face mixers and organized networking events used to be. (Not to say that those things aren’t valid anymore, because frankly, nothing beats meeting, connecting, and relating to someone face-to-face).
For real estate etc., social media creates an interactive, responsive, and engaged audience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Can you honestly say you get that with a print, radio, or television ad presence?
Real estate can be a tough venue, for anyone, particularly in this economy. When someone is buying or selling a house, stress levels are UP, way up. Social media creates transparency, which ultimately, fosters a more inviting and relatable atmosphere giving potential clients the feeling of working and doing business with a trustworthy resource.
2. Which venues should I tackle first in my social media quest? (Yes, there are a lot of places to start. I say start with the big THREE and work your way from there).

TWITTER: The micro-blogging, status updating, networking tool-of-champions. Twitter helps connect you to people all over the world. Any business can benefit from the networking power of Twitter.
FACEBOOK: Quite possibly the largest social networking tool out there. With almost 200 million users, creating a prominent Facebook presence through a group, profile, or fan page sets your real estate business up for far-reaching success.
BLOGGING. It doesn’t matter where [we like wordpress ], but blogging allows your audience to “hear” your opinion and learn what you know. You are the expert in some area and there are people who want to learn more about that particular topic… therefore, share your expertise, and you are ultimately bound to create a sense of legitimacy among your audience.
**BiggerPockets.com: This is a great social networking tool for real estate companies. Use it. Share tips. Be awesome.
3. What should I or my business keep in mind when creating an online/social media presence?

Be honest. Now that your real estate business has an online presence, which is somewhat detached from the general public, the general public is and will be savvy to everything you say.
Be present. Don’t set these outlets up, post once or twice, and then ditch out on them. You will only be successful if your community is always active.
Be engaged. Don’t talk AT people all the time. These are called communities for a reason, pose questions, answer questions, share links, respond to hot topics, etc. By becoming active among the communities you participate in, you allow your audience to grow and continue to be responsive. Be a participant, not a lecturer.
So what is the overall lesson here? Don’t just use these tools to use them. Becoming a part of the social media spectrum takes time and commitment. Commit to these things like you would any other part of your business. You wouldn’t set up a time to meet with a potential client and not show up… you would follow through. Treat all of these avenues as a client meeting and FOLLOW THROUGH with each one. You wouldn’t buy a bunch of tools and not build the house. (I like metaphors). We are in the process of practicing exactly what we preach. We recently joined the social media spectrum and we are finding it to be extremely beneficial. In a tough economy, fostering a positive community is key to running a successful business.

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There we go, throwing that term “MLS” around again. The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) can be a confusing subject if you’re not privy to the latest and hippest news in the real estate arena. It’s understood that the MLS is a service which lists homes for sale in many different locations. But WHY should you bother listing your home on the MLS? How does it benefit you?

photo courtesy of google images.
Well, before the MLS, real estate companies had their own exclusive listing services that sellers had to go through. That exclusivity caused homes to have limited visibility for buyers — making it more difficult to show and sell a home. Companies only had rights to their exclusive listing services, and sellers couldn’t sell or show homes that were not on their specified list. All of these circumstances created a formula for a tough seller’s housing market.

SO, how does listing a home on the MLS benefit a BUYER?

It allows a buyer to have greater access to what is actually on the market
Allows buyers to look outside of their designated locale
Creates a relationship with a seller
Allows for more trusted and reliable service (this way a buyer knows they aren’t getting taken advantage of)
How does listing a home on the MLS benefit a SELLER?

Allows for the home that is for sale to be listed in multiple venues, creating a wide exposure
This wide exposure will help the home sell FASTER
By going through a website like justlistem.com, the flat fee saves sellers thousands of dollars on broker’s commission rates
By listing on the MLS, you are no longer tied to a local market — your home is now visible in markets all over the country and the WORLD.
Creates a trusted relationship with buyers
Just List ‘Em provides all those things for a seller at a very reasonable price, and we do all of our business online — saving you time and money. So, if you, or someone you know is looking to sell their home, come to us! We are where the conversation of selling your home begins.

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you once again to the blog of Just List ‘Em. You’re probably wondering what we’re all about. Well, the purpose of our blog is to create a forum that allows you to get to know us, our purpose, our mission, our goals, and foster a great, working and collaborative relationship with you, the customers.

As you all are well aware, the real estate market is growing and changing every day. No one wants to sell their home more than the homeowners themselves, and homebuyers want nothing more than to get a good bargain from a trustworthy source. At Just List’ Em, our goal and our mission is to open that line of communication with homeowners, and make their experience selling their home as quick, cost-effective, and easy as possible. Selling a home can be an extremely stressful endeavor, but our goal is to begin the process of making it effortless.

You know, there’s a lot of “real estate jargon” getting thrown around lately. So, I’m going to offer a “quick reference guide” or “cheat sheet,” if you will, to some of the most commonly used terms (i.e. ones that we may or may not use from time to time):

Flat Fee MLS: basically, it’s the practice of putting important information about a home for sale on a listing service for a fixed, or unchanging rate. This is a dollar amount that does not change, no matter how much you are trying to sell your home for. Whereas, with traditional brokers or real estate agents, listings are priced based on commission (for example: 4% of the selling price of the house).
MLS: Wait, so what’s the MLS? The MLS, strictly, stands for Multiple Listing Service. Basically, it’s a public forum where brokers, agents, etc… can list homes for sale and connect those homes with interested buyers. It’s multiple because well, it connects with more than one person, agency, brokerage, etc.
Real Estate Broker: This is the “middle man.” A broker acts as the intermediary between a seller and a buyer of real estate. Brokers are middle-men who like to charge a lot of money. No good!
Real Estate Agent: Very similar to a broker, except agents have a lot to do with the actual marketing of properties for sale. They also like to charge a lot of money.
Just List ‘Em (that’s us!): We eliminate that middle-man. We strictly connect those who want to sell their homes with people who want to buy them. For a flat fee (see above!) we list your home on the MLS (also see above) – in the end, we save you a lot of money. Oh, and we do everything COMPLETELY paperless. Which means, no printing out any papers, no Notary, no stamps, no hassle. We do EVERYTHING online in a safe and secure way.
So this is a lot of information and it can be a lot to swallow in a short amount of time. Here’s a quick example of how Just List ‘Em works: a man in Powhatan, VA was interested in selling his home on his own. He connected with us and we put his listing up on Monday morning, listing the home at a selling price of $145,000. On the following Saturday, the home sold… for full price. We saved him over $4,000 in commission fees.

We look forward to more success stories like this one. We know that we can help you sell your home in a quick and easy manner. Keep checking back to the blog for updates.

Oh, and check us out on Twitter and Facebook!

Just List ‘Em: Where the conversation to sell your home begins.