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Pricing a home the right way! VT realtor strategies for selling a home.
Mar 26th
I was just at a listing appointment with a seller client, and we were putting a price tag on his home at this meeting. It turns out that they were very interested in my approach to pricing homes.
Here is my strategy for pricing a home, and what I think is the best way to see the light: put all the comparables and the subject property on the table, and pretend you are a buyer. You are looking at all the current inventory as if you were going to spend your hard earned money on the one you were interested in. Which one would you go for, and why? Seriously! Which one is the best for the money? Why would the other listings be of interest? Do you know why somebody would buy the other ones over this one? How about the sold listings? Does the subject property seem like a good deal, kind of like when you go buy a car and you find the best deal? Do me a favor: stand outside your own home and look for all possible eyesores in the surrounding environment, on your property and your own. Pretend it was the first time you came here. Do this same thing for the competing properties and even for the ones that sold. What you will begin to get is a logical range, the size of which can vary greatly but we can’t control that. Don’t you see that pricing a home is not just about adding up the nuts and bolts? Bathrooms and half baths, hardwood vs. carpet! Adding up the nuts and bolts is a good way to fairly assess property for taxation. Granted, location and square footage are serious factors, but if you are selling a home in VT, you want to look harder than that.
This is sometimes why people hire agents to sell their home. A good buyers agent has looked at plenty of homes “through the eyes of the buyer”, and therefore already has the 20/20 hindsight that we are always talking about in life. But all this brings me to my next thought that I don’t want to forget, which is that any really good buyers agent can be a good listing agent as well. The talent exists independent of which side of the closing table you’re on.
Buying a home is just like buying anything else. It’s about product knowledge, communication, patience, perspective, and whatever else. Oh yeah, listening and asking questions is important. Even for the negotiating piece. I once had a REALTOR competitor of mine tell me that they never asked questions, but rather, told people what they needed to know! Isn’t that funny?
Don’t you wish they had buyers agents for cars? I need one, so if anybody in VT does this, please let me know.
Central VT Real Estate Listings on your phone: Now it’s time to speed up the house-hunting process with a real estate search for any cell phone
Feb 23rd
Montpelier, VT—Century 21 Jack Associates is introducing a way for clients to view all of the central vt real estate listings for sale in the area with any cell phone. www.montpelierhousing.com is providing clients with a mobile real estate search created by Smarter Agent that makes it possible to search all local property listings from their mobile device, regardless of whether it is listed by Century 21 Jack Associates or another broker or agent. Century 21 Jack Associates’ mobile real estate search is the only house-hunting tool that works on 95% of cell phones across all carriers.
With the Smarter Agent application, interested home buyers can be in any neighborhood and view detailed property information about real estate listings through the MLS at the touch of a button. The GPS technology in the mobile phone, when available, locates users and pulls up addresses and information on listings in their immediate area. Sales price, square footage, tax information, beds/baths, interior and exterior features, pictures and more become available instantly in the palm of their hand. This is part of a new trend towards “augmented reality“, where mobile devices are starting to practically replace our brains!
Consumers can also search by address, community name, city or zip code when GPS is not available, or if they want to search for real estate in an area other than their current location.
The “Call to See” feature within the mobile application will connect users to a Century 21 agent if they have questions or want to schedule a tour of the property.
The fully downloadable application is free to download on Sprint devices, BlackBerry devices, the iPhone, and Google’s Android G-1. The premium mobile web version is free to access.
Northfield Realty: New Listing, Northfield, $199,900
Feb 4th
Proximate to Norwich University, Interstate 89, this Northfield realty offering adds rural privacy to boot! The set-up consists of a 2006 built 3 bedroom ranch, sitting on 3 acres of land. To the side of the home there’s a large area of yard, with views to the west through the trees. The house itself is exquisitely clean, and feels just like a brand new home, because it practically is. Property highlights include detached 2 car garage with space above it that the current owners had envisioned to be either an accessory apartment or an at home office, top of the line mechanical systems including buderus direct vent high efficiency boiler, rinnai tankless hot water heater (only heat as much water as you’re actually going to use, but never run out either!), and a state permitted, professionally engineered 4 bedroom septic system (one extra bedroom in the event that the space above the garage becomes completed and occupied). These are items that set this property apart from the many of the older homes on the market. But there’s so much more to notice…Living in Vermont, a detached 2 car garage is the best way to go. Store your paint, car, and household chemicals in a separate structure, away from the living space. This home provides that, and more, since the space above has had significant improvement and with just a little more effort could be rental income, or accessory apartment space for family members.A quality home is the summation of so many small details crafted with competence and aesthetics in mind. And at this home, everywhere you look, you are constantly reminded of this fact. From the oak threshholds and trim, to the 100% hardwood high gloss flooring (not laminate or engineered) that runs throughout the home, to the solid porch in front, situated to take in the sunset views through the trees to the west.
Looking for Land For Sale VT? MLS in Vermont might save you some time.
Jan 15th
As you may or may NOT already know, looking for land for sale in VT can be a very rewarding process. There are some good deals out there right now! But there are some things you really want to consider before committing yourself to one place in space.
First off, assuming that you want to eventually live at your new location and build a home there, you will need to have a septic system to get rid of your plumbing waste. Some of the land for sale around here has already been surveyed, designed (well and septic), and subdivided. Note the order of wording in the previous sentence. And since all septic matters are now handled through the state, the towns have nothing to do with this anymore. However, actual subdivision approval will occur at the municipal level. Hopefully, if you have succeeded at finding a good realtor, they will be doing some investigation at the town hall to beat the bushes a little and make sure this is a viable purchase.
Our MLS in Vermont has coded features that allow us Realtors to focus only on the land that has been surveyed, designed, or even has a septic system in place. This allows us to spend more time looking at land that is worth our time!
And for buyer clients of mine, I usually recommend and advocate that state wastewater and water supply permits are to be in place prior to closing. This is because you don’t want to buy a piece of land in Vermont, only to find out that needs a 60,000 mound system after the fact when you only paid half that for the property itself.
