Probably the most important thing a listing agent does to help you get your home sold for the highest price possible is to do a thorough comparative market analysis (CMA) and suggest an appropriate listing price. Unfortunately, many sellers choose to ignore the data and advice, and initially list their house for too high of a price. That’s not a huge problem if they reduce the price after testing the market for a brief period of time and don’t get any offers. But some sellers continue to desperately hold onto the false belief that they can somehow get their sky-high price… if only the agent wo ..read more

The signs aren’t as obvious as leaping any of the houses they sell in a single bound, wearing skin-tight clothing with their initials emblazoned on it (usually), or putting on a cape to fly from one appointment to another. But there are certainly some things your agent might do that could make you wonder if your real estate agent has some superpowers they use to protect you when you’re buying or selling a house. Let’s take a look at 11 things that could be a sign that your real estate agent is actually a secret superhero in disguise: 1) When They Have an Interesting “Origin Story” Spiderman Ta ..read more

After going through all of the stages of thinking, planning, and prepping it takes to get your house (and yourself) ready to be listed for sale, it’s natural to be excited about all of the buyers and offers you expect to see once your house officially hits the market. It’s not uncommon for sellers to expect pretty much every person who comes to see their house to have interest and want to make an offer. While that’s often human nature at work at any point in the history of real estate, market conditions over the past few years have raised many sellers’ expectations since so many houses were s ..read more

Selling your house at the absolute peak of the market would be ideal, and not just because that’s the perfect time to get the highest price and pocket the most money. It usually means that you’ll also get your house sold quickly — often with multiple offers — and the most favorable terms, like flexible closing dates and buyers waiving contingencies. But pulling off the perfect timing is difficult, if not impossible… For starters, the only time you know when prices peak is after the fact. But more so because selling your personal home isn’t like selling shares of a stock where you can just mak ..read more

If you’re thinking about selling your house this year, you might be wondering if it makes sense to wait until after the recent commission lawsuit settlement takes effect so you can avoid paying a commission to a buyers’ agent. It’s understandable, considering it probably sounds like just waiting a few months will net you thousands of dollars — or maybe even tens of thousands — when you sell your house. But before you bank on that and hit the pause button on selling your house, here are 4 things to think about: 1) It Might Not Be Just a Few Months While the settlement is proposed to take effec ..read more

Marijuana may be legalized in many areas, and more widely accepted than ever, but that doesn’t make 420 Day any less special to those who like to celebrate it! Despite many aficionados feeling like everything you do is just a little bit better and more fun when you’re high, perhaps house hunting isn’t one of the things that should be on your list of to-dos on April 20th. Beside the fact that you shouldn’t be making such a major life decision high, here are 9 reasons to avoid house hunting after you’ve eaten a cosmic brownie, or smoked some kind nugs on 420 Day… or any other day for that matter ..read more

In an ideal world, there’d be plenty of homes on the market that not only check off everything on your wishlist of things you want in a house, but also within your budget. Unfortunately — depending on the area you’re looking in, and current market conditions — it’s common to have seen everything on the market (and none suffice), or there simply aren’t any houses available on the market at all. Fortunately, you can use that downtime to your advantage… Here are 6 things you can do that’ll not only help pass the time, but will also make you a more ready and informed buyer when the perfect house h ..read more

Brand new homes often aren’t in the budget, or even available in certain areas, which makes finding a totally renovated or updated home in any price range appealing to many buyers. While some people might cherish finding a house that needs updating, and becoming a weekend warrior taking endless trips to the home improvement store, most buyers would prefer to buy a house where someone else already put in that effort. So, when you’re on the search for a home and find one with a brand new kitchen, updated bathrooms, and a fresh coat of paint on every wall, there’s a good chance you and every oth ..read more

How cool is it that you can literally just walk on into someone’s house and stroll around every single room while they’re not home? When you really stop to think about it, open houses are quite a privilege! With that in mind, as you can imagine, there are certainly some unwritten rules of etiquette you should follow. While there’s no formal rule book, for the most part minding your manners at an open house boils down to plain common sense: Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want someone doing in your house if you were allowing strangers to roam through it. Unfortunately, that still leaves a lot of ..read more

A lot of people think that the Internet has made it so much easier to sell a house, and have a difficult time understanding why they should still hire a real estate agent and pay them commissions. It’s understandable when you only consider the aspects of selling a house that boil down to buyers and sellers finding each other. The internet has certainly made that part simpler. There are plenty of ways for sellers to use the internet to make it known that their house is for sale to potential buyers, without having to rely on real estate agents and their access to the multiple listing services ..read more