What Exactly Does It Take to Sell Your Home in The Cold Winter Months? (Part 1 of 2)
Maybe you’ve just found a need to sell your home or maybe your home has been on the market for awhile, but here you are. You have a For-Sale sign in the yard just what is it going to take to get your house sold during winter weather here in the Mid-West?
The short answer is patience and perseverance, along with very close attention to the same three things that we realtors always coach clients about. Price that is right for the location and condition, condition and staging the home so buyers will want it , and consistent, effective marketing.
Yes, even though we are coming up on the Holidays and the weather that can get yucky and make getting around exciting here in the Midwest you still need to stick with the basics if you are trying to sell a home right now.
It isn’t a secret that showings and closings are typically fewer in the deep winter weather and over the Holidays, but there is news from the that shows there may actually be some benefit to having your home up for sale right now. The housing market was cooler in October, but experts who watch the market like those at RISMedia indicate that we can be looking for improvement because the expanded tax credit is available to a much wider range of buyers than the previous tax credit.
The initial tax credit did drive the market last year. According to the information I read in RIS Media, The original first time buyer tax credit accounted for 47% of the home sales nationally this past year up from 36% in 2006. Now a lot of people who want to move up to an even nicer home can take advantage of a tax credit as long as they’ve lived in that home for five consecutive years in the past eight and the income limits have increased too. That‘s likely to increase the price ranges of homes that people will be looking at.
Since buyers have to have a binding contract in place by the end of April, smart buyers are going to be out there looking soon. I also think that a lot of people will be doing a lot of internet searching while they are together and have some free time over the holidays. Most people start a home search by perusing the internet before they contact a Realtor, so it might just pay to have your home be one of those they are looking at while taking time off during the Holidays.
Let’s talk a little about the three basics of successfully selling a home.
1. Many sellers feel strongly about the price set for their home, but they don’t realize that price has to be set based on location or condition.
A successful price is not something you just pull out of a hat. What is hard for some sellers to understand is that it isn’t really related to what they spent on the house or what they’ve spent on updates. A good price is one that is mostly based on objective information on what similar houses in similar condition in the immediate area have sold for because that is the information used by lenders when they are deciding how much money they will loan a buyer for their new mortgage on a particular house.
Even if a buyer is willing to offer anything, they can’t purchase a house for more than their lender will lend them. A good Realtor will provide the seller with research about prices in the area. Sellers need to pay attention to the market research their realtor provides and come up with a price that buyers looking at their house can get a loan for.
They must also be aware of their competition, which are other homes on the market that a buyer will compare them too. Buyers are smart and their time is precious. Why would they go see a home that costs more than a similar home that costs less? There are usually enough options that they often will skip high priced houses without checking to see if the seller is willing to negotiate.
2. Condition combined with Staging is the second basic step for a successful sale.
It is so hard to see your home the same way buyers will when they walk through the door. Think about it like this. Your house has to dressed up like its going on a first date. You need to make a good first impression. Sellers don’t usually get a chance to make a second impression. If a buyers isn’t attracted to the front of the house, they may drive on by. If they don’t like the inside, even it it something kind of silly like it smells funny to them, they won’t stay and look around. If they don’t stay and look, they certainly won’t be tempted to buy.
Buyers are educated by their realtors, by shows they see on TV, and by looking at the competition- and there is a lot of competition now days. They won’t pay top dollar for homes that aren’t in top condition. People need to have everything super clean, in good repair, and attractive to buyers or buyers will really negotiate hard on price or they might not even make an offer.
If you don’t have the resources to do maintenance and upgrades, hope for a sale is not lost. You and your Realtor to discuss your options and then use price and honest descriptions along with promoting the advantages you do have. Shellie and I know several handyman who can help with fix-ups. We also assist our sellers with the services of Shaw Designs. Wendy Shaw is a down to earth interior designer with staging expertise. She usually uses items the sellers have but in a way that will appeal to the average buyer. We reimburse our sellers for several hours of her time when the house is sold.
We’ve covered 2 of the 3 basic tried and true facts of life for home selling- even over the holidays-. Accurate pricing and condition so far.
3. Marketing, which is the part of the process that Realtors have the most control over is hugely important and I hope that you will join us in January for the second part of this video.
In the meantime, if you have your home on the market, be patient and persistent – there are buyers out there, but they may only be looking not taking action until after the first of the year. If you are thinking about putting your home on the market in the Spring, consider doing it right now if it’s ready so that your home can be among those people are seeing on the internet while they sip hot chocolate and dream about the new year and the new home they want to live in.
Here's Our Downloadable List of Gift Ideas That Can Change a Life!
**Download our complete Alphabet of Gift Ideas and see what you can do for the special people in your life.**
If you have friends or family that are older or that have significant disabilities you may be at a loss for a great gift idea. At Home Access Solutions we’ve put together a fun little gift list from A to Z with interesting items and ideas.
We are heading into the season when many of us start thinking about gifts for the people we care about. Giving a gift is a loving gesture. The best gifts are those people treasure long after they are unwrapped and ones that have meaning and purpose. Sometimes it is hard to come up with that perfect gift. We all know people who are hard to buy gifts for. They either don’t want anything or have everything they need. But I’m talking about the other folks who are hard to buy for. If the People we care about have disabilities that are so severe they limit what they can do or use, it is often difficult to think of really meaningful or useful gifts. Let’s think out of the box and skip the same old knick knacks and aftershave collections! How much of that stuff can one house hold? Gifts don’t have to be expensive or fancy, but they can change a person’s life for the better.
Walk in Tubs - How Do You Know If It's Right For You?
How do you know if a walk in tub is right for you? How do you know if you are buying a good one?
First of All Lets be Clear that a walk in tub is not for everyone. It is wonderfully convenient for the person who loves a luxurious soak, but has difficulty either stepping over the side of a tub, or getting up from the floor of the tub once they are through bathing. You do need to be able to step into the tub. We would generally recommend other products for people who require assistance standing.
Walk in Tubs are a relatively new bath product and like many new products the first prototypes often didn’t hold up under use. Also there are good quality walk in tubs and poor quality walk in tubs. Those early models and the poor quality tubs currently on the market have lead to some issues that some people perceive as CONS. We will call them the POTENTIAL CONS of the walk in tub.
The POTENTIAL CONS of the walk in tub:
1. The doors leak. Yes, there are some brands that have trouble around the tub door seals. The Best Bath brand of walk in tub is constructed in one reinforced piece so there is nothing to twist or make the door fit improperly. There is a drain inside the door in the very rare event that a door fit would fail. The seal itself has a lifetime warranty. With the right product, this is not really a CON.
2. It uses a lot of water. Water capacity varies by brand and model. Most of the Best Bath tubs use about 5-6 gallons more than a standard tub. Both the air jet and water jet systems with Best Bath heat the water making it less likely that you will need to add additional water to keep your water temperature where you want it. The manufacturer, Best Bath recommends that you have at least a 50 gallon water heater. That way you have enough hot water on demand to fill the tub and still do other things that need hot water at the same time. So, depending upon brand, water use may not be a CON.
3. It takes a while to empty the tub. Yes, you definitely have to step in and out of most walk in tubs while they are empty. With normal house drains, the average is drain time is 5-6 minutes according to Best Bath research. The fill time will depend upon your water pressure. We recommend spending the time by starting your relaxation, your bath, or even starting to dry off. At Home Access Solutions we are pro-active about this walk in tub fact of life. A Home Access Solutions staff member will remind and coach you on how to work with the drain-time during our complimentary home evaluation and our session after installation. You may want to consider an auxiliary heater, like a combination heat/light/vent or a small, safe area heater if you worry you might get chilly during drain time.
4. Cost. The fact is that these tubs are more expensive than standard tubs. They do, however, offer more to you for that difference in price. They are certainly less expensive than a professional assistant to help you bathe, or the cost of a fall or injury in the bathroom. There are cheap walk in tubs of course, but you will find that they are also cheaply built. Look for quality features such as durability and ease of installation to save money in the long run. The Best Bath products are built with layers of fiberglass over wood cores with one piece construction to prevent any warping. The Best Bath system also has many features that decrease plumbing and labor costs.
Home Access Solutions provides complimentary professional design to insure that you get accurate quotes for installation and we also provide project supervision during the installation to make the process as smooth as possible for you. We will obtain a quote from a qualified local installer for you, but we can also allow you to hire your own plumber or contractor, or do it yourself if you have the skills.
COST is RELATIVE - It depends upon how much the Safety, Ease, and Convenience is worth to you.
So in conclusion,
The walk-in tub is designed to increase SAFETY, EASE, and CONVENIENCE for the person who can walk, but who doesn’t want to struggle in or out of the tub. Many of the potential negatives or cons either don’t apply to high quality products such as the Best Bath System or may be less of an issue with the right techniques and design. The worst mistake you can make is to wait until you can hardly move before considering a walk in tub. Get one early so that you can enjoy years and years of safe, pleasurable bathing.
Welcome to Our NEW Blog! - Don’t Waste Your Money using ADA Accessibility Guidelines
Should you follow ADA guidelines when you remodel your home for accessibility?
It sure would make it easy if you could just use the American with Disability Act Guidelines as a cookbook when you need to make your home easier to live in. You know-Open to page 5, look at diagram 35-B and presto! An exact list of what to do to make your bathroom accessible.
But I have to tell you, using the guidelines this way is usually just a recipe for disaster. The guidelines are designed for commercial applications. They address the needs of a mythical average person with a disability, not the needs of an individual. If you or your remodeler use them for your home they should serve only as the minimum standard for situations in which the guidelines are incorporated into the building codes of the city where you live, for example ramp design in the Greater Omaha area. Sometimes you can use them as a starting place for the information you need about what might be useful for you. You should never believe that a product labeled as ADA compliant will automatically work for you.
One of the saddest wastes of money I’ve ever seen occurred when a family thought the ADA description on a shower unit was all they needed to know. The family contacted us after the shower was installed. There was a high school aged daughter with a physical disability requiring the use of a wheelchair. All her life her mother had lifted her out of her wheelchair and put her into the tub and then back again. The girl was bound for college. Mom didn’t want to go to college with her so they were doing everything they could to help the girl learn to be more independent with self care to prepare her. They decided to remodel the bathroom so she could bathe by herself.
A family friend who was a contractor said he would help. This friend found a shower unit that had information on the box indicating it was ADA compliant and everyone agreed that was the shower they wanted. He took out the tub, put in the shower unit and really did a very nice job. Unfortunately, it was not possible for the girl to move into the shower by herself after all because of where the built in seat was located, and now the Mom had to actually step in and out of the shower to get her onto the seat. Worse yet, the seat was so small that the girl couldn’t balance on it and Mom had to hold her in place. The result was the new shower, that was labeled as ADA compliant, was more disabling to the girl than the tub it had replaced and the money the family had saved up for the remodeling was gone.
It was too late, but there were several types of freestanding seats costing under $600 that would have worked with the original tub, a removable device that would have lowered into the tub that was under $2,000, and several different types of shower surround that would have actually worked based on how the girl transferred, or moved from surface to surface. This family learned the hard way that ADA guidelines don’t always work for every individual with a disability.
Don’t waste your money by using the ADA guidelines as a shortcut. Rather than starting with the guidelines a better way to design accessibility remodeling that will work, is to start with your goals, your abilities, and to take advantage of the huge selection of equipment available today to find an answer that meets your needs, your budget, and your style.
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