2. Freshen the foyer
The second impression comes the minute a potential buyer steps inside your home. Coats on a rack, shoes underneath and keys and other doodads in a dish on a console table may show that you’re a fabulous organizer, but this look is not the way to sell a home. Put the coats and shoes in a closet, the keys in your purse and a vase of flowers on the table.
3. Enforce the one-quarter to
one-half rule
Most homes have way too much furniture and accessories. Don’t just straighten up your clutter, remove it. Consider putting at least a quarter of your furniture in storage, a third of your books in boxes and at least half of your knickknacks away. Use the same rule with cabinets, closets and counters. If they’re stuffed full, buyers will think they’re too small. Keep them tidy and one-third to one-half empty (place just a few things on each shelf). Don’t forget to pare down your outside furnishings and accessories, too.
4. Clean ‘til you drop
Or hire a cleaning crew to come regularly while your home is on the market, or at least for a one-time super-cleaning. Don’t skip windows (inside and out), behind the toilet, bathroom grout, under sinks. Actually move your furniture to vacuum behind and under it.
5. Highlight the architecture
Arrange your furnishings to frame— not obscure—views, fireplaces and other architectural details. Put tall objects (furniture, vases, paintings or plants) against tall walls. Highlight, don’t block, the traffic flow.
Grab a couple of sturdy friends and play with different ways to arrange your furniture. Pay attention to your friends’ opinions.
6. Use rooms for their
intended purpose
Take the exercise equipment out of the guest room and put a bed back in. Put a table and chairs in an eat-in kitchen. Get the home office equipment and filing cabinets out of your little-used dining room and set the table for company (or just put a nice vase of flowers on top).
7. Fix what’s broken
Buyers look for flaws to negotiate a lower sale price. That wobbly stair rail may still support you, and the crack in the ceiling plaster may not be structural, but it’ll leave buyers wondering what else is not quite right. No matter how minor the problem, take
your toolbox around and start fixing.
8. Update what you can
A home often looks tired because of faded paint or old furnishings. A new coat of neutral-toned paint is a buyerpleasing backdrop. Remove outdated furniture: Buy new furniture, trade pieces with a friend or relative while your house is on the market, or store your furniture and rent a more contemporary style. Worn area rugs (or too many of them) detract from nice wood floors. Shag or other oldfashioned carpeting turns off buyers— replace it if you can, clean it if you can’t. Update a tired kitchen with an inexpensive new countertop, new cabinet doors, or even just new cabinet hardware. The post What Is a Home Stager? How Proper Staging Boosts Sales appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
3% across the most populous metros in the fourth quarter, after adjusting for inflation. Only eight metros saw price increases, and they were modest — ranging from 1% to 3%. Some of this may be seasonal. We know prices typically begin coming down from the fourth quarter through the first quarter, before climbing in the spring. But the lull in growth is a welcome sight and something we haven’t observed for the past two (unusual) years.
First-time buyer guidance:
Sellers can command higher prices in warmer months as demand begins heating up in the spring. But buying at the coldest time of year to try to save money generally comes with a trade-off: fewer newly listed homes. Buyers, and especially firsttime buyers, should instead focus on the home they want within their price range. By keeping an eye out while amassing a down payment and working on your credit, you can be prepared to pounce when the right listing comes your way, no matter the season.
Higher inventory
Like prices, the number of homes on the market typically ebbs in colder months. However, we didn’t see this seasonal trend in the last quarter of 2022 when the number of listings stayed relatively stable from the previous quarter, rising 1% across the most populous metros and 2% nationwide. There is evidence of vast improvement when compared with inventory levels at the same time in 2021. Across the nation, there were 44% more listings, on average, in Q4 2022 compared with a year earlier. In the nation’s most populous areas, active listings climbed 63% on the year.
First-time buyer guidance:
Having more homes to choose from is certainly good news, but buyers should be prepared to be flexible. Most local markets are still operating on a deficit — there aren’t enough homes available for the people who want to buy at the prices they can afford. Have an idea of what your dream house may look like, but take a realistic view of all of the features you may need to compromise on. In other words, make a wish list and make a must-have list. More than likely, you’ll find a home that fits between those two.
Where inventory has reached pre-pandemic levels
In 2020 and 2021, home inventories were slashed, sometimes by half, at a time when low rates helped drive demand incredibly high, tilting the market power entirely into the hands of home sellers. Now, however, supply is beginning to stage a comeback. Five metro areas had higher inventory in the fourth quarter of 2022 than in the fourth quarter of 2019, the last full quarter before the pandemic began. And those areas represent some of the hottest markets of recent years: Phoenix, where there were 24% more listings in the most recent quarter; Austin (+15%), Las Vegas (+10%), Salt Lake City (+9%) and San Francisco, where there were 7% more listings than three years prior.
The nation wasn’t awash in home listings before the COVID-19 pandemic — the shortage of available homes is an issue that goes beyond the past three years. However, a return to pre-pandemic inventory can make home shopping feel less futile, and help balance power between buyers and sellers in the market. But some markets have a long way to go. The Hartford, Connecticut, metro area is furthest from prepandemic inventory, with 249% fewer listings in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with three years ago; Providence, Rhode Island (-133%), and Virginia Beach, Virginia (-130%), are also still in a significant deficit.
The post Prices, Selection Improve for First-Time Home Buyers in Q4 appeared first on NerdWallet.com.