Should You Take Your Home Off The Market For The Holiday?

Sellers everyday right now contemplate removing their home off the housing market and putting it back up after the holiday season is over. But is that a wise idea in these economic times? My experience so far has said it is not and in years past has shown that it is not a viable option. First, when you remove your home off the market this time of the year you are losing out on potential buyers that are out looking for a house and HAVE to buy. The reality is we all have so much other things going on right now that going out to look at homes and not being in the market to buy a home is not one of those options. So, you may not get the amount of showings that you had earlier in the year but the showings you do receive are more quality showings and those buyers have less choices to make in terms of available houses. Second, less competition than in the spring time. The numbers in our multiple listing service in Charlotte, NC. show that inventory hits the lowest level all year from December 1st through January 15th. There are substantially less homes available for sale. Now, there are fewer buyers out there but; you may be only competing against one or two other homes now versus five or six or possibly more in the spring time. More competition tends to keep the prices down as someone always seems to be getting more aggressive with pricing when there is more to choose from. Third, and for me one of the biggest reasons I tell sellers not to take their house off the market now is this is my second busiest time of the year besides the spring. In fact, it runs very close to being the busiest time of the year....A lot of home buyers chose now to move because the kids are on break from school for an extended vacation and it is easier to make the move now than to move during the middle of classes during the school year.... Fourth, the inconvenience of showings during the holiday is not all that bad. You can adjust the showing schedule accordingly. I tell a lot of my sellers to change the showings for this time of the year to appointment required. This way they have to confirm the showing and if they have family or friends in town they can politely cancel the showing or offer a reschedule of the showing do to the circumstances. Buyers know that this time of the year people get together and usually will accommodate a change in the showing schedule for family.... If your house is on the market now; keep it on the market you may pick up that buyer sooner rather than later...... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com

What Room Is Most Important To Home Buyers Today/

Just about all the time I hear from sellers what features and or rooms are important to buyers when buying a house? The answer is not as cut and dry as all sellers and Real estate agents would like. Each and every buyer is different and unique. Some buyers are looking for certain features in a kitchen and others are concerned about the family room. Then there are the ones that want good sized spare bedrooms..... There are too many things that a buyer is looking for that it is impossible to precisely say what features or rooms of a house buyer prefer and help sell a house. However; there is one thing I have noticed this year among buyers that seem to be a common theme among them when looking at a house. The kitchen. This room of the house seems to have the largest impact on the buyers today. Granite countertops and updated kitchens definitely give you an edge over your competition when selling your house. I have had a majority of buyers tell me they wanted to look at a house because of the kitchen. But it is not just the updates in the Kitchen. It seems buyers are looking for space in there as well. They want to be able to move around and have space to walk and not bump into one another. And counter space is a large proponent among buyers. They are looking for working space.....islands seem to add a lot of value because of the multiple use and functionality of them to a house. If you showcase the kitchen of the house and it is bright, cheery and open with moderate updates to it your traffic for showings should increase. But it is not enough to just have them in the kitchen. The other factor you need to consider is what you have laying out on the countertops. So many times i look at pictures of a house and in the kitchen the counters are cluttered with everyday items. Things we use all the time but make the countertops look small. When you are having your Realtor take pictures of your Kitchen make sure that everything is off the countertops and that it is minimized when you have any showings...let the buyer envision what they would put on the countertops and see how much space they have there.... it does make a difference. Last week I looked at two homes in the same subdivision. Both shared the same layout as well. Yet when the buyers and i were discussing them they made note to the fact they felt one had a lot more counter space than the other. The reason was one had put everything off the counters and the other had left the coffee maker and other everyday miscellaneous items on there. Even though that house was less expensive they did not want to consider it because of what they perceived as an issue with the kitchen space..... Look at your kitchen and make sure even if you have upgrades to it; that the buyer can see them and put their vision on the kitchen... Dave diCecco Realtor/Broker Coldwell Banker United www.davedicecco.com