Home Tag "selling agent"

Realty News: Falling Mortgage Rates May Spur First Time Homebuyers to Jump Back in the Market

In many areas of the country, the number of available first-time buyers is at an all-time low. Rural areas are feeling the strongest pinch, but urban and suburban locales are also lacking that layer of the market. The efforts of real estate agents, sellers, and mortgage pros seem fruitless these days. Real estate professionals have shifted their focus to the aging Baby Boomer population downsizing to smaller homes and condos, or opting for active adult living communities. The recent decrease in mortgage rates might do the trick, or so the real estate professionals hope. Where have all the buyers gone?

How to choose a Home Stager

When preparing your client’s house to be listed, you wouldn’t hire an unlicensed electrician, or a neighbor kid who says he wants to be a gardener when he grows up. You hire professionals for the important jobs that will make a difference in how well and quickly the home sells. Since home staging, if done well, can dramatically improve selling price and level of buyer interest (and if done poorly can do the opposite), it’s worth a bit of your time to do your research and hire the right home stager. In this video, Ana Hitzel of Accent Positives Home Staging and Redesign talks about the things you should and shouldn’t look for when hiring a home stager. For example, letters after someone’s name may mean less than a quality portfolio and references. Additionally, while you may have known that the industry is unregulated, did you know that there is a professional association for home stagers, RESA, which, among other requirements and services, provides ethics training and continuing education for its members. That, and there are plenty of nice pictures of well-staged homes in this video, which you know you want to look at…