Archive for the 'Home Sellers' Category
The Great Baby Gate Debate - Balancing Safety And Selling Your Home
September 24th, 2008 categories: Home Sellers, Pets & People
I was attacked by a baby gate. Last week at a showing in Glastonbury, I lead the charge up the stairs ahead of my clients. File in hand, I was met by one of those complicated baby gates. I tried to remain composed but I couldn’t get it open - do I push then lift or lift then push?. Standing at the top of the stairs, with my clients trapped behind me, I threw my file down and tried to pry it open.
Feeling the pressure from the audience and my fear of enclosed areas, I pushed and lifted with my weight in every combination possible and finally the gate released and I fell forward, just catching myself. This isn’t the gate but this one has growled at me before.
Baby gates are hard to navigate for Realtors, they create clutter, and make a small hallway feel even smaller. During a showing they are just in the way and aren’t actively keeping anything in or out.
What do you do if you have pets or kids you need to keep out of an area while you’re living in the house and selling it?
I’ve used this particular baby gate for the last year, and can comfortably say that it balances the two. It fully retracts so when you don’t need it (showings, open house, inspection or just running up and down the stairs with laundry), it rolls away like a shade. And it’s safe to use on stairs.
I purchased two gates from One Step Ahead last year and after daily use, they are holding up very well, containing both my toddler and three dogs. They’re pricey, trickey to install and there is a technique to getting it open but if you have kids or pets and are trying to sell, think about upgrading to a retractable baby gate.
For related posts:
The Home Sellers Five Step Guide to Selling With Pets
Five Perfectly Good Reasons to Get a Comparative Market Analysis of Your Home
Don’t Believe the Feedback - Why Agents Showing Your Home Won’t Tell You the Truth
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Vanishing Offers Are the Newest Trend in Real Estate Market
August 27th, 2008 categories: Central Connecticut News & Information, Home Sellers, Real Estate Market
Two years ago, a home buyer would submit an offer, a home seller would likely counter and more than likely, both parties would come to an agreement - or the seller would just flatly reject the offer knowing that another offer was around the corner. The buyer also knew this so typically they were willing to negotiate.
Today, I’m seeing a very different trend - vanishing offers.
Vanishing offers look like this. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 3 Comments »
Should You Care That Your Agent is a Million Dollar Producer?
August 21st, 2008 categories: Home Sellers, Real Estate Listings
Scott Einbinder on Inman News reveals in The Myth of the Million Dollar Producer just how pointless, misleading and misunderstood the tagline that many agents use to tell you, the consumer, how great they are. You’ve seen Million Dollar Producer, #1 Agent, President’s Club, etc on websites, ads and business cards.
What does it all mean? Einbinder discects the term “Million Dollar Producer”:
“the consumer has absolutely no idea what Million Dollar Producer even means. The larger question is: What does the industry want them to think it means? Does it mean success? Does it mean that you are working with the best? Does it mean that the consumer can feel confident that all will work out well? I think not.
The fact behind the label starts with the question: What is produced? Is it $1 million in revenue, $1 million in income, $1 million in gross sales prices, $1 million in net profit, $1 million worth of listings sold, $1 million in sales? As we all know, the board of Realtors sets the criteria for what constitutes this designation. What is interesting is that when you attempt to find out what these designations mean, it is difficult to find an answer.”
| Discussion: No Comments »
Closing Costs Vs. Prepaid Items
August 12th, 2008 categories: Home Buyers, Home Sellers
Closing costs and prepaid items are not the same, although they both must be paid at the closing.
Here’s the difference:
Closing Costs
Closing costs are non-recurring costs related to your closing, such as:
Title Insurance
Attorney’s Fees
Mortgage Origination Fee
CT Real Estate Conveyance Tax - Sellers
Recording Fees
Prepaid Items
Prepaids are fees you will not only pay at closing but are recurring. Some examples include:
Homeowners Insurance
Property Taxes
Prepaid Interest
Mortgage Insurance Premium (PMI)
Home Heating Oil/Propane
For Related Posts:
Guide to Typical Closing Costs in CT
Do you dig real estate news, tips and advice? Sniffing around for pet-related information in Connecticut? Get Unleashed - the blog that’s helping to find homes for people and pets.
| Discussion: 3 Comments »
The Home Sellers Five Step Guide to Selling with Pets
June 3rd, 2008 categories: Home Sellers, Pets & People
For many of us, having pets is a passion. We baby them with nice beds, toys, treats and $40/bag food. And we think our pets are the best.
Your pets may indeed be great - never jumping, hissing, growling, barking, smelling bad or doing any one of the things most pets do. But if you have pets and are selling your home, keep two things in mind: some people don’t like your pets and some people are allergic to your pets. Why purposefully offend either of these types by not following some simple steps?
Step One: Pack up the Pet Paraphernalia
Dog bowls, toys, beds, cat trees, leashes, pet knick knacks and photo shrines should be stored neatly away for showings. Especially for the first few weeks your home is on the market and for an open house, pick everything up and store in a closet, pantry or on a shelf.
Step Two: Clean and Paint
Even if you are a meticulous pet owner, a person with allergies will be extremely sensitive to the slightest odor or bit of pet dander. I recommend cleaning the house from top to bottom before putting it on the market and cleaning more often than you normally do. Have the carpets cleaned, wash the windows (My dogs love to drool on the windows), clean the baseboards, and clean your furniture and drapes. After you’ve cleaned, you may be able to see subtle scratches in your trim, scratches on the screen door, or scratches on your windows. Paint or repair any damage done by your pets.
Step Three: Set Off A Bomb
House cleaners and companies like Servpro can set off “bombs” in your house to help eradicate smells. Just because you’ve scrubbed the house top to bottom and you can’t smell anything doesn’t mean the smell isn’t there. Don’t just mask the problem with candles and air freshener.
Step Four: Be On Poop Patrol
Clean up the yard, checking for surprise packages and for burn marks. To repair burn patches, your local home center sells a patch kit. To prevent burns from occurring any further, you can feed your dog a product like Drs. Foster and Smith Lawn Guard.
Every day, clean out the cat litter box and make sure there isn’t litter all over the floor.
Step Five: Whatever You Do, Don’t Let Your Pets Roam the House or Yard During Showings
If you allow your pet to be loose for showings, you are endangering it, potential buyers, agents and the sale of your home. As a pet owner, I would never entrust a perfect stranger to make sure my pet didn’t escape. In fact, I lost someone’s pet once because the cat opened a door I thought I shut and ran out the back. Furthermore, buyers often come with their children who are very curious about pets and could hurt your pet or your pet could hurt them - can you say lawsuit?
There are lots of solutions for what to do with your pets when you’re selling, other than moving them out of the house completely:
Send your dogs to day care for all or part of the day. It’s expensive to do it every day so restrict showings on the days they’re away or leave your dogs crated the other days. If your dog goes to day care 2x a week, he/she might welcome being cozy in a crate for the other days and will be much calmer during showings.
Restrict showing times to allow you time to get home and take your pets elsewhere.
Arrange for a pet sitter to be on call, possibly a neighbor, friend or family member who wouldn’t mind taking your pet during showings. Or, arrange for a friend or family member to “borrow” your pet while you sell.
Crate your animals and put them in a safe, non-living space part of the house like a garage, basement or penned in area of the yard.
If your pets must stay in the house during showings, it is imperative for you and your agent to do the following:
Put a notation of the pet in showing instructions but be sure to say that the dog/cat is not roaming the house but is in a secure location.
Put a note on the door to the garage or wherever your pet is that that is where they are. Parents with kids or people with allergies can then choose not to go there.
The Rules Apply to Cats, Too
I don’t think they have kitty day care but leaving your cat with a friend or family member is much easier than with a dog. If you have no outside options, try to contain your cat in some way, either in a crate or small room. At the very least, please make visitors aware that there is a cat in the house.
Get Unleashed - By E-mail
Get Unleashed - By Feed
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
