Selling Home
Smartmoney.com: Real Estate: Sell Your Home — Fast Thursday December 29, 2005 3:32 PM ET U.S. Markets close in: :28 Search (choose an option below) Quote Charting Earnings Ratings Competition Financials Profile Key Statistics Insiders Site Search News (Enter Symbol) advanced search SmartMoney Select My Portfolio Tools Maps Stocks Advanced Trading Funds ETFs Personal Finance Autos Career Journal College Planning Debt Management Health Care Insurance Life LTC Insurance Real Estate Retirement Tax Guide Economy & Bonds Small Business SmartMoney TV SmartMoney Magazine SmartMoney University Business Travel Technology SmartMoney Mobile Holiday Survival Guide Select Homepage Stock Screener Market Map 1000 Fund Screener Stock Compare Fund Map 1000 Fund Compare XStream Quotes More... Portfolio Tracker Watchlist Calendar Intraday Alerts News Alerts Sector Tracker ETF Center Map of the Market XStream Quotes Stock Screener Stock Compare Price Check Calculator More... 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The Market Now ForexTV Futures Life Stages CEO Interview Sturm Screen Mossberg Report Subscribe Give a gift Customer Service Media Kit Editorial Calendar Custom Publishing Investing 101 Taking Action Strategic Investing Quizzes More... Please enable javascript to properly view the menu. Site Map DJIA 10789.06 -7.20 Nasdaq 2219.66 -9.28 S&P 500 1255.08 -3.09 Rus 2000 679.31 -0.77 10 Yr Bd 4.36 -0.01 DJTA 4248.75 24.82 Wil 5000 12585.54 -25.30 S&P 400 743.20 -0.93 Nas 100 1655.52 -11.58 Sign up now for FREE SmartMoney.com Newsletters Enter your email address below Personal Finance : Real Estate : Selling : Sell Your Home — Fast Real Estate Sell Your Home — Fast By Stacey L. Bradford Click here for more stories by Stacey L. Bradford . In This Section A Seller's Checklist Choosing a Broker Wisely Selling Without a Broker Taxes When You Sell Your Home More... Related Content Ask SmartMoney Who Gets the Home? To Rent or to Buy? Advertisement 4.25% APY with hsbcdirect.com Online Savings. Earn 8X the national savings average and make money into big money. No minimums. No monthly fees. Member FDIC. Email This Story Print This Story Save This Story Send Us Your Comments Add this column to your News Alerts (New!) IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO sell your home in a matter of days rather than months, you might want to take some tips from 32-year-old Mona Ross Berman. To get her Washington, D.C., townhouse ready for sale in early 2004, the interior designer went through every room, sweating the details. She rearranged furniture, added sophisticated coffee-table books and strategically placed vases and throw pillows to create a cozy environment. She then organized every closet to showcase her ample storage space. Finally, she removed all personal items, including her wedding photos, so potential buyers wouldn't associate the house with someone else. "I think that if you can get a home to show well, it can get you [better results] than it really should," Berman says. Her strategy worked. Within four days of placing her property on the market, she had five offers in hand. Long gone are the days when you can simply throw some cookie dough into the oven and get an offer for your house. Thanks to the Internet, home buyers are more sophisticated and demanding than ever before. At a bare minimum, would-be sellers need to dispose of clutter and make any necessary repairs. But to really make a property stand out from the crowd and sell quickly, sellers might need to do the following. 1. Hire an Interior Designer A well-decorated home will sell faster and for more money than one that looks frumpy. That's why more and more sellers are hiring interior designers to do everything from rearrange furniture and paint walls a neutral color to rent artwork. This service, known as "staging," can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a small job to several thousand dollars for high-end properties, says Patricia Dugan, a realtor with The Corcoran Group. Experts across the country agree that the investment is worthwhile for most properties. According to 2002 data from Coldwell Banker, staged homes in the San Francisco Bay area spent just 25.3 days on the market and sold at the asking price, while "non-staged" homes languished on the market for 48.2 days and sold for 2% below the asking price. This information is based on more than 3,000 homes sold between Jan. 1, 2002 and Oct. 31, 2002. 2. Hire an Organizer A lovely décor will get you only so far. To really get the buyers chomping at the bit, you need to highlight your home's storage space as well. That means everything should be clean and organized — closets, bathroom vanities, the garage and basement. It might sound trivial, but your home's sale really could rest on whether your linen closets can comfortably store your towels. If you identify more with Oscar Madison of "The Odd Couple" than with Felix Ungar, it might make sense to hire a professional organizer for $75 to $100 an hour. This is especially helpful for those who've lived in their homes for many years and don't know how to dig themselves out of the mess. Some organizers will even help run a yard sale that could end up paying for their services. If you're not sure how to find this type of service, ask your realtor. Most have a list of pros at their fingertips. 3. Hire a Photographer Up to 74% of home buyers start their search online, according to the National Association of Realtors. Indeed, the Web has become such an important marketing tool that all the realtors we spoke with encourage their clients to hire a professional photographer, which can cost as little as $100, for their online snapshots. Think of it this way: If someone doesn't like how your home looks on the Web, he or she won't bother to make an appointment to see the property in person. Is that a risk you're willing to take? While putting photographs online isn't exactly new, there are some emerging trends. Six years ago it was OK to have one outside shot of the house, says Tara Rogers, director of marketing for Real Living, a Columbus, Ohio-based real-estate firm. Now, some potential buyers want to see up to a 10-picture slideshow detailing multiple rooms before they commit to a walk-through, she says. Dare to post small, grainy pictures, and risk little foot traffic in your home. 4. Try Marketing Gimmicks Despite impressive national home-sale figures, some local markets are starting to soften. For example, homes in the western suburbs of Boston are starting to languish on the market for up to 90 days after previously selling in just 15 to 30, says Nelson Zide, co-owner of ERA Key Realty Services, a Framingham, Mass.-based real-estate brokerage. Zide recently started implementing marketing gimmicks to increase the number of potential buyers to walk through his clients' homes. "I haven't done this in 12 or 13 years," he says. What strategies does he use? Rather than slash the asking price, he might encourage condo owners, for example, to pay the maintenance fees for a full year, or ask home owners to provide buyers with a cash rebate that's marketed as a decorating allowance. Nine times out of 10, such gimmicks cost less than it would to drop the asking price enough to attract a buyer with a smaller budget, says Zide. It's just one more way to get a potential buyer excited about your home. 5. Hold Open Houses The benefits of an open house are debatable. Industry experts agree that they tend to benefit realtors more than home owners. (After all, it's a great way for realtors to get new clients.) But that doesn't mean that they can't work. The key is to hold them at various times of the day and week so that folks with busy schedules can squeeze in a viewing. Real Living's Rogers says her company's agents make sure to schedule open houses on Saturdays, as well as in the evenings so people can stop by after work. Another technique more people are implementing is to hold open houses at the time of day when their house shows the best. If you have a beautiful garden, show it off during the morning before the flowers start to wilt. If you have a stunning view of the sunset, make sure people get to see the late-afternoon light. In other words, if there's one thing that you love most about your home, be sure to share it with potential buyers. For more on selling your home, read our recent article . 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MSN Money - Real estate investing MSN Home Hotmail My MSN Sign In Money S earch MSN Money: Help Home News Banking Investing Planning Taxes My Money Portfolio Loans Insurance Investing Home Portfolio Markets Stocks Funds ETFs Commentary Brokers CNBC TV MSN Money Insight Jubak's Journal SuperModels Start Investing Strategy Lab Company Focus Mutual Funds Street Patrol Other Views Contrarian Chronicles TheStreet.com Resources Commentary Index Decision Centers Start Investing Mutual Funds Find Hot Stocks Simple Strategies Power Tools Investing For Income Real Estate Related Links Expert Picks Market Dispatches CNBC Stock Picks Message Boards Decision Center Real estate investing Capitalizing on great opportunities in real estate Top Story When you -- and the IRS -- flip a condo It's the flipper's dream. You buy a condo, put in lots of hard work and sell it for a big profit. If you're not careful, though, most of the gain could go to your Uncle Sam. Featured tool Portfolio Manager Follow your investments on MSN Money Other tools Top performers Best funds for real estate and other categories Find an adviser Financial help is only a few clicks away Research Wizard Scope out performance of individual REITs Also on MSN Shop for personal finance resources Find books, software and more at MSN Shopping The Basics Do you have what it takes to be a landlord? Ground your retirement fund with real estate How to find good investment property The real risks of investing in real estate More on MSN Money The safest ways to buy foreclosures Real estate clubs ride the housing boom 3 ways you can go broke in real estate More on this topic... Question & Answers What are income properties? What is an equity REIT? What is the gross rent multiplier? What are limited partnerships? Special offers Download Microsoft Money Trial 2005 Free auto insurance quotes Find the right home equity loan advertisement Community Share portfolio resources and investment strategies on Start Investing message board advertisement MSN Money Search MSN Money | Message Boards | Site Status | Site Map © 2005 Microsoft MSN Privacy Legal Advertise Feedback Help
Real Estate Agent
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my Tour Property highlights for 2005 Solid fences offer best protection Check out your house Kool House! Resources > Buying > Selling > Investing > Consumer Information > Auction Results > Home Loan Centre Services Directory -- Explore EAC > About EAC > Find an Agent > Red Square > Realtor Online > Multilist > Contact EAC Buy Rent List up to 5, seperated by a comma Search surrounding suburbs Property Type House Unit/Villa/Townhouse Residential Land Rural Commercial Bedrooms 1 or more 2 or more 3 or more 4 or more 5 or more 6 or more $ 100 k < $ 150 k $ 200 k $ 250 k $ 300 k $ 350 k $ 400 k $ 450 k $ 500 k $ 550 k $ 600 k $ 650 k $ 700 k $ 750 k $ 800 k $ 850 k $ 900 k $ 950 k $ 1.0 M $ 1.5 M $ 2.0 M $ 3.0 M $ 4.0 M $ 5.0 M $ 150 k $ 200 k $ 250 k $ 300 k $ 350 k $ 400 k $ 450 k $ 500 k $ 550 k $ 600 k $ 650 k $ 700 k $ 750 k $ 800 k $ 850 k $ 900 k $ 950 k $ 1.0 M $ 1.5 M $ 2.0 M $ 3.0 M $ 4.0 M $ 5.0 M $ 5.0 M > Search Quick Search Enter Listing Number Email Alert Services > Red Square > Property Data > Street Maps > Pocket Agent > Web Services > Stationery > Printing > Training Red Square User ID Password | Advertise with us | Feedback | Legal | Privacy EAC Real Estate Innovations is the largest independent Real Estate group in NSW. We have Property for Sale, Rent and Lease in NSW. Real Estate Sydney, Real Estate Wollongong, Real Estate South Coast, Real Estate Central Coast, Real Estate Newcastle, Real Estate The Hunter, Real Estate Port Stephens, Real Estate Forster, Real Estate Coffs Harbour, Toormina, Sawtell, Real Estate Far North Coast, Real Estate Ballina, Real Estate Lismore, Real Estate North West NSW and Real Estate Western NSW. Red Square Software powered by eNeighborhoods WyldFyre. Property Data, Sales Results, Sales Data, Auction Results and Real Estate Statistics with Street Maps. Electronic Real Estate Forms. Pocket Agent for the Pocket PC
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Texas Land Buyers Log
Recreation Motivates Texas Land Buyers Recreational Land Purchases - Wildlife - Ag News & Views Recreation Motivates Texas Land Buyers Log In | Register My Profile | Log Out Ag Home Page Agricultural Staff Consulting Teams NF-1 Team (coming soon) NF-2 Team (coming soon) NF-3 Team NF-4 Team (coming soon) Ag News & Views Jr. Beef Excellence Program Consultation Program Custom Hire Listings eCattleLog Feed Library Hunting & Recreational Leases Agricultural Tools Online Publications Ag Info Index Economics Forages Horticulture Livestock Soils Wildlife Plant Image Gallery Internships Wildlife: July, 2003 July, 2003 Table of Contents Other Wildlife Articles by Grant Huggins It's a fact – today's rural land buyers are more likely to have hunting and fishing on their minds than cows or cotton. Recreation is the primary motive fueling the rural Texas land market." This statement by Judon Fambrough, Senior Lecturer in Real Estate Law of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University (REC), shouldn't be a surprise to observers of the Texas land market. In fact, there isn't anything close to recreation, particularly hunting and fishing, as a motive for buyers of Texas land. The following chart from Charles E. Gilliland, Research Economist of the REC, shows the buyer motives rated as "very important" in the REC fall 2002 survey of Texas real estate appraisers, brokers, lenders and government officials. The survey question recorded the groups' opinion of all factors that were "very important" in land purchase decisions; most buyers incorporate several factors in their decision, and thus the categories add to more than 100%. Figure 1 shows that those surveyed believe 80% of buyers rate hunting and fishing quality as very important in their land purchase decision, up from 67% in the fall 2001 survey. Gilliland says that according to their surveys, recreation has been the dominant motive of Texas land buyers since spring 1995. These observations may have relevance to south central Oklahoma land values, where many Metroplex buyers are seeking less expensive retreats than the going prices in Texas. These trends should be taken into consideration when making land management decisions. Game animals are a product of native vegetation. They are not generally abundant in landscapes dominated by introduced vegetation, whether it is forage or crops. Knowledgeable land buyers understand this. The REC produces a report which divides Texas into 33 Land Market Areas (LMA). The most recent data available is their Fall 2001 report. Their report on LMA 22, containing Montague, Cooke, Grayson and Fannin counties of the NF Agricultural Division's Texas service area, includes Table 1. Statewide values are listed for comparison. Gilliland points out that "…rangeland generally attracts the recreational buyers prevalent in today's market." Prudent land managers should consider conversion costs, management costs, opportunity costs of alternate enterprises and impacts on future land values before converting native vegetation to other land uses. © 1997-2005 by The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc.