How to choose a REALTOR® to sell your home

Thinking of selling, but don't know where to start? Recently I've been asked by a number of potential sellers, "How do I choose a REALTOR®?"  Here is what I recommend in a step by step process:

1. Choose up to 3 REALTORS® to interview.  The most common way to pick is by referral from a friend or family member.  If you don't have a referral you can choose based on online reviews and profiles.

2. Set up appointments with the REALTORS® to come out and give you a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) on your home and present a Marketing Plan, this may be a 2 step process. They may need to view your home and go back to do research and prepare the CMA.

3. Review their Comparable Market Analysis. Upon the REALTOR® viewing your home they should provide you with a written CMA which shows you what comparable homes to yours have sold for in the past 6-12 months and what is currently on the market, which will be your competition. Pricing is the single largest factor in selling your home, so pricing it right and not over pricing is extremely important. One of the most common misconceptions is that you should choose the REALTOR® that tells you the highest price your home will sell for. Do not do that!

4. Choose based on qualifications. Make sure they are licensed, full-time, a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and a member of the MLS. Ask how many years of experience they have and how many homes they have sold.  This is important because some REALTORS® have all these qualifications but only sell a couple homes per year.

5. Ask how they will market your home.  A good REALTOR® will have a Marketing Plan prepared for you that lays out where they advertise and what marketing activities they will be doing to get your home sold!

6. Choose a REALTOR® who listens and understands your needs and desires. This person will be assisting you with possibly one of your largest financial transactions of your life so you should enjoy working with them and trust them.

Any further questions or comments?  Don't be afraid to ask!

Get more for your home in less time

When you list your home for sale the last thing you want is for it to sit on the market for a year and then end up taking a lower offer than you had hoped.  Here is some advice on how to get your home to sell faster for closer to list price!

1. De-clutter.  Remove and pack away any clutter in your home.  You can store it in the garage or rent a storage unit for a short period if needed.  Too many knick-knacks or toys can be distracting to buyers.

2. De-personalize.  Take down any excessive amounts of personal items or pictures that would potentially distract buyers from the real reason they are there...to look at your home, not your stuff!  Also, neutralize any wild paint colors.

3. Deep Clean.  Take extra time to wipe down all surfaces, especially the ones that are used the most, like light switches, doors and door knobs.  Dust the ceiling fans and blinds and wash the windows.  If this task seems daunting, I'd be happy to refer you to a trusted professional.

4. Curb Appeal.  During the winter, make sure your driveway is plowed, your sidewalks are shoveled and the surfaces are free of ice. In the summer, make sure your lawn is cut and trimmed.  Look at your home with a buyers eye, next time you drive up to your house look at the details. Make your front door appealing by freshening up the paint, add new house numbers, or a new light fixture to welcome buyers.

5. Repair.  Fix any nagging repairs that need to be done. Broken door knobs or leaky faucets can lead buyers to think that the home was not well cared for. Repair any holes in the walls and touch up paint.

6. Animals.  This is a tough subject for many because pets are like family.  If you have pets, make sure they are either kenneled for showings, taken with you or to a neighbors. Pick up any doggy doo-doo in your yard, make sure litter boxes are fresh and animal hair is vacuumed.

7. Sparkle.  Make your home sparkle and shine! Use light bulbs that make your home feel warm and inviting.  If your bulbs take too long to get bright consider replacing them.  Get rid of any unwanted odors. Studies show that most people cannot smell odors in their own home.  My tip is to go outside for a while then enter your home with a fresh nose to see if you can detect any odors.  Use an air freshener but don't over freshen! There is such a thing as too much of a good thing!

These tips in conjunction with pricing your home correctly by getting a Comparable Market Analysis from your favorite Realtor will help you obtain the best price in the shortest amount of time!

Outlook for 2012

We are all children at heart.  Especially when it comes to asking questions!  Consumers today remind me of my 2 year old daughter, asking the same questions over and over and hoping/praying for different results.
 "Can I have candy?"   "Are we there yet?"  "How about now?"

Thankfully adults have more mature questions like, "How's the market, now?"  So without further adieu I will try and predict the market in the Bemidji area for 2012!  Using local MLS statistics I have compiled some facts and some speculation based on what I have heard and what I know to be true.

•  The total number of listings in Bemidji is down 21%. I believe that more sellers are waiting until prime spring/summer season to list, because the need to sell isn't as great as it has been in the past few years.
•  There are 26% more homes pending this year than last year at this same time.  With the mild winter it has been easier for buyers to get out to look at homes.  Also, I see an influx of first time home buyers fueling the market and getting things moving.  
• 41% more homes sold.  This speaks for itself.  The market is rebounding and homes are selling.
• The total volume of homes sold is up 90%! In my opinion this shows that with the first time buyers finally fueling the market, sellers are able to be move-up buyers and move more expensive homes that in the past few years have been taking longer to sell.  Also, because interest rates are so low buyers are able to afford a larger home.
• The average sale price is up from $122,016 last year at this time to $164,313 year to date.  I believe this is due to the fact that the average buyer is able to buy a larger home because of low interest rates. 

One of the other questions that gets asked frequently is, "What effect do foreclosures have on Bemidji's market?"  I believe that we will start to see less foreclosures in our area compared to the past 5 years and that the average price of those foreclosed homes will go up.  During those past 5 years we have had an influx of lower valued foreclosures that have brought the average sale price down for our area considerably.  Homeowners with homes of greater value seem to have been able to hold on to their homes longer, but we are now starting to see some of them come on to the market as foreclosures.

I hate to sound like a broken record or like my 2 year old, but remember, NOW IS THE TIME!  Don't miss out.  I believe that the market is now on the rise and people will be kicking themselves in the future for missing out on this wonderful opportunity to buy in Bemidji!  So get out there and find your dream home, vacation cabin, or rental property today!

Little Green Houses

Now you know what you need to get started in investment real estate: Little Green Houses!  Now let's expound on HOW?!  I mentioned earlier that there are "creative" ways to purchase your first investment property, now I will expound on those ways along with the more traditional ones.

• Cash is King (whether it's your own or borrowed from a rich friend or relative) You may be able to secure a better "deal" with this method.  Often sellers are more negotiable when a buyer pays cash, because it can close faster and with less issues.

• 20% cash down and finance the rest through your favorite mortgage banker. This option would be for a buyer who has 20% of the purchase price in liquid funds of thier own.  How do you get cash like this you say?  Start saving or sell things you don't use/need anymore.

• 20% down with Other People's Money (OPM)!  How do I get OPM, you say?  Either from a friend or relative, Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit on your personal house, or from another investor/business partner. 

• 10% down!  My favorite banker, Anne Kehoe from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, introduced me to a program where you can put as little as 10% down on an investment property if it is a HomePath property!  This means that it is owned by Fannie Mae.  To view a list of eligible homes in the area visit http://www.homepath.com/ . To find Anne go to www.wfhm.com/wfhm/anne-kehoe

• Contract for Deed.  This is how I bought my very first investment property!  They are difficult to find because many sellers are not able to offer a contract for deed. But if you are unable to obtain a traditional mortgage this is another avenue.  As long as the terms are right and the house is a good fit.  It works well for people who have a good down payment, but for some reason cannot get financed.  (For me it was because I was self employed and could not show 2 years of income at the time.)

• Credit card.  I do not recommend this method but I have to tell you that I used it once!  I bought a lot at the county land auction for $13,400 with a credit card check.  It was a promotional no interest, no payment for 6 months and I had a limit of $13,600!  I knew that I could pay it off from another sale that was coming up within that 6 months so I took the plunge.  USE THIS METHOD WITH EXTREME CAUTION!!!

If you or someone you know has always dreamed of investing in real estate NOW is the time.  First of all, prices are down and rates are still incredibly low!  If you'd like to get started NOW, contact me TODAY! Or you can always check out my website to view all of the area listings at: www.realliving.com/mandy.gazelka  Happy hunting!

Getting your home to shine

When selling your home in the current market it has to be the best in it's price range in order to get it sold in a reasonable amount of time.  In a world where everyone wants more for less, in order to get the best price possible for your home, it has to shine!  As I was cleaning my own home I began to think of what my home would look like if it were on the market and what things I would need to do to prepare to sell.  Looking around my kitchen I looked over at my fridge (top), covered in precious artwork done by my 2 little girls.  While I love every single one of those masterpieces, if I were selling, I would take them down (bottom) for showings or during the duration of my listing as I'm sure it would be distracting for potential buyers to see the beautiful paintings, to-do lists, and calendars.  The same goes for too many family photos.  While you want to make your home look like a happy place to live you also want the buyers to look at your house, not your life.  The only time I would recommend photos would be if you lived on a lake or in the country where you were able to capture pictures of the wildlife or big fish you caught on your lake!

If the thought of even getting to the place where you are ready to worry about these "little things" scares you, it may be time to hire a professional.  Like I said in a previous post, cleaning, de-cluttering, doing small repairs and painting are the the most important and most cost effective ways to increase your home's value and decrease it's time on the market.  In the busy world we live in where not everyone has time to get these projects done, a great place to turn would be a home stager.  In the Bemidji area I would recommend checking out Kendra Fuller at Urban Essence Interiors on facebook or on the web at http://www.urbanessenceinteriors.com/  By hiring a stager/painter you can check off half of your to-do list while getting top notch advice.  Not everyone has the same tastes in decorating so having gender and taste neutral style can help potential home buyers have a vision of what the home would look like if they were to live there. If you are a seller this is exactly what you want; people to "mentally move-in" to your home!

Statistics show that staged homes spend 50% less time on the market.  Average days on market in the Bemidji area so far this year is 180 days.  Cutting that in half could save you a lot of headaches. Also, a staged home can sell for up to 7% more than a non-staged home.  The cost of staging your home now will be much less than a price reduction later.  So whether you are a DIYer or you need a helping hand, taking the time to prepare your home for sale is a must!  Don't forget you can always call or email me with questions or for a free consultation.  Happy Selling!

Rock Bottom?

Being a Realtor people are constantly asking me how the Bemidji market is.  Lately, their favorite question is: "Have we hit rock bottom yet?"  My answer: "We won't know until we start going back up."

If you take a look at the chart below you will see a slight decline in the depreciation between 2009 and 2011.  In 2009, depreciation for the Greater Bemidji Area (56601 zip code) was at is all time 10 year high at around -6% per year. Since then depreciation has slowed to around -3.7% for the Bemidji zip code.  So, even though we haven't hit "rock bottom" on home sale prices, it appears that we have as far as the rate prices are falling at.

The chart and statistic information can also be viewed on my website at www.realliving.com/mandy.gazelka Click on local information and you will be able to search any zip code or address to obtain information on housing, people, economy, schools, environment, and quality of life for any given neighborhood or area.

Another great tool that was just released by Beltrami County is http://www.crimereports.com/ .  This website allows you to view all the calls for assistance in any given area in Beltrami County starting this year.  It will hopefully alleviate some of the calls to the local police station inquiring about the crime rates in certain areas or neighborhoods.  It can also assist potential home buyers in choosing an area to live in based on the perceived safety of the neighborhood.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

First Time Home Buyers

Have you been thinking about buying your first home, but don't know where to start?  I'm here to tell you how.

Step 1:  Get your finances in order. 

• Have on hand your tax returns, W2s, bank statements and pay stubs.   
• Have a little nest egg.  There are programs out there still where you only need as little as $1000 of your own money but the more you have saved, the better.

Step 2:  Make an appointment with a real estate lender. 

• If you don't know one, I'd be happy to refer you to someone I trust
• There you will get a pre-approval that tell you how much you can afford and will help you with negotiations further down the line.

Step 3:  Come see me, your trusted Realtor.

• I will walk you through the process of choosing a home and take you the rest of the way through your purchase.

If you would like a more comprehensive guide I will send you one, free of charge!  Just shoot me an email or give me a call.