Staging of homes on the market is becoming increasingly popular. When buyers walk through model homes in a community, the homes are designed to appeal to every sense. Buyers react emotionally to an attractive, beautifully decorated home that provides "ease of move in", if only mentally!
Sellers of resale homes should consider staging a home so that the home appeals to a wide variety of buyers. Before staging begins, it is important to thoroughly clean the home. Kitchens, baths, floors, windows, light fixtures, etc. should literally sparkle! Carpets should be clean or replaced and should not show signs of excessive wear.
Secondly, before the stager arrives, the seller should declutter. Paperwork, collections, numerous family photos, refrigerator artwork, etc. needs to go! Pack up as much as possible in closets and other storage areas. Remember the goal is to sell and move. Eventually you are going to have to pack boxes anyway, so why not get started now?
Why not call Carol and Erol Knott today and put them to work for you? Part of their marketing plan is hiring a stager on your behalf!
Watch this blog for more hints on staging!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Interesting Facts about our Market from Houston Community Newspapers
Despite a slower-than-usual housing market, home prices continued to rise in April in Montgomery County, according to recent data from Houston Area Realtors.
Median prices increased in all four multiple listing service areas in the county, compared with April 2007.
Economists have said the increase in home prices can be linked to Texas’ positive job market.
In the past 12 months ending in April, Montgomery County added 4,300 new jobs, said Ted C. Jones, senior vice president and chief economist of Stewart Title.
Jones said if jobs are being created, people want to move to an area and buy homes, which keeps prices rising and sales from slipping too far.
“If you throw in job creation from Dallas/Fort Worth with the metro area from Galveston to Houston to Montgomery County, that’s more than one third the total jobs created in the last 12 months in the United States,” he said.
“Now that’s a fundamentally sound market.”
Even though buyers are attracted to the county by virtue of a robust job market, county sales continued to decline during April by 12 percent, compared with the same month a year ago.
Uncharacteristically, sales in Area 15, which includes The Woodlands and Magnolia, slid the most by 17 percent, the largest decline its seen this year. The area also saw the second-highest increase in median price, by 5 percent to $204,950.
Jim Gaines, a senior research economist at Texas A & M University, said the increase in prices is likely due to a shifting buyer majority.
Since banks are now more discerning when granting loans, typically more well-off buyers are accepted. In turn, the buyers seek higher-priced homes, he said.
“With the tightening mortgage credit market, it simply takes longer to get deals done,” he said.
“For the approvals, they have to verify incomes and jobs, which they didn’t do for the past few years.”
Recent sales for the gated community of Carlton Woods in The Woodlands underscore the trend of a robust market for higher-priced houses.
At least 23 houses, with an average price tag of $1.5 million, were sold over a six-month time frame that began at the end of last year, according to information from The Woodlands Development Company.
This number contrasts with 18 total sold in 2007 in Carlton Woods.
The past few months have been “very, very strong” according to Andrew Whitacre, managing partner and broker of Carlton Woods Properties.
The “run” as Whitacre described it, started on Nov. 29, with six homes selling before the start of the New Year.
Also, 13 homesites, at an average price of $475,000, have sold since March 17, according to Whitacre.
He attributes the brisk sales to a sound development plan and demographics in The Woodlands. Whitacre said many who purchase a house in Carlton Woods can be classified as a “move-up buyer.” These buyers, Whitacre said, already live in The Woodlands, and relocate to Carlton Woods after a promotion, for example.
Another type of Carlton Woods buyer is the Houston resident looking to leave the urban setting. A third type is the buyer moving here for career relocation purposes.
©Houston Community Newspapers Online 2008
Median prices increased in all four multiple listing service areas in the county, compared with April 2007.
Economists have said the increase in home prices can be linked to Texas’ positive job market.
In the past 12 months ending in April, Montgomery County added 4,300 new jobs, said Ted C. Jones, senior vice president and chief economist of Stewart Title.
Jones said if jobs are being created, people want to move to an area and buy homes, which keeps prices rising and sales from slipping too far.
“If you throw in job creation from Dallas/Fort Worth with the metro area from Galveston to Houston to Montgomery County, that’s more than one third the total jobs created in the last 12 months in the United States,” he said.
“Now that’s a fundamentally sound market.”
Even though buyers are attracted to the county by virtue of a robust job market, county sales continued to decline during April by 12 percent, compared with the same month a year ago.
Uncharacteristically, sales in Area 15, which includes The Woodlands and Magnolia, slid the most by 17 percent, the largest decline its seen this year. The area also saw the second-highest increase in median price, by 5 percent to $204,950.
Jim Gaines, a senior research economist at Texas A & M University, said the increase in prices is likely due to a shifting buyer majority.
Since banks are now more discerning when granting loans, typically more well-off buyers are accepted. In turn, the buyers seek higher-priced homes, he said.
“With the tightening mortgage credit market, it simply takes longer to get deals done,” he said.
“For the approvals, they have to verify incomes and jobs, which they didn’t do for the past few years.”
Recent sales for the gated community of Carlton Woods in The Woodlands underscore the trend of a robust market for higher-priced houses.
At least 23 houses, with an average price tag of $1.5 million, were sold over a six-month time frame that began at the end of last year, according to information from The Woodlands Development Company.
This number contrasts with 18 total sold in 2007 in Carlton Woods.
The past few months have been “very, very strong” according to Andrew Whitacre, managing partner and broker of Carlton Woods Properties.
The “run” as Whitacre described it, started on Nov. 29, with six homes selling before the start of the New Year.
Also, 13 homesites, at an average price of $475,000, have sold since March 17, according to Whitacre.
He attributes the brisk sales to a sound development plan and demographics in The Woodlands. Whitacre said many who purchase a house in Carlton Woods can be classified as a “move-up buyer.” These buyers, Whitacre said, already live in The Woodlands, and relocate to Carlton Woods after a promotion, for example.
Another type of Carlton Woods buyer is the Houston resident looking to leave the urban setting. A third type is the buyer moving here for career relocation purposes.
©Houston Community Newspapers Online 2008
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