Barb Schlinker The Real Estate Voice

Why the Fall and Holiday Season is a Great Time to Sell Your Home and Hot New ListingsEveryone is saying the market is really strong for home sellers.  Many people think its a bad time of the year to sell a home during the Fall and Christmas Season.  Is that True?First of all it’s the best case scenario for a home seller to be in a position to select from the best of multiple offersIt does not happen in every caseBut in most cases for home priced below $400K and sometimes below $600KI even had a bidding war on a $1,200,000 homeInventory is Crazy low - low 700s for 3 countiesIf you are buying a home, that presents the issues of:  In most cases you will have a pretty good idea if you are facing competition:That is why it’s important for agents to understand how to send offers that present their buyers in the best light.We know how to do that and even get what people consider impossible deals done by over communicating and selling the buyer.In the offer…People LOVE stories!Most agents (not all) don’t know how to

Selling a home is a project and sometimes it’s a challenge, and sometimes it’s easy. What are some things that make selling your home like hitting the Easy button?The number 1 way to make it the Easy Button is to Hire the Right Team to sell your homeOver 5000 agents, less than 1800 sales every month, this creates a lot of agent desperation because not everyone is getting a monthly income.In fact 74% of agents Sell 3 or Less homes a YEAR!Those agents, do not know what the market is doing and how to get home sellers top dollar and make it easy for them.Those agents, would be thrilled to just get you a contract and encourage you to take it!We sell dozens of homes MONTHLY and absolutely have our finger on the pulse of what is happening in this market.I have seen agents knock on doors and beg to list homes for a deep discounts… However…. you get what you pay for … And it’s not going to be easy, in fact far from it! Some agents are really skilled at making it a miserable experience for the buyers and sellers. I’ve

We know that people do not live in their home the same way they have their homes on the market.  What are some easy projects home sellers can do if they are planning to sell their homes to get Buyers to Fall in Love with Their HomeBuyers spend most of their time viewing the outside and backyard when viewing homes online.Curb appeal is massively important to home buyersGetting this right does not have to be expensiveDuring the fall you can…Rake the leavesTrim the shrubsMow and edge yards areGoing dormant very soonAdd finishing touches like:Cover bare spots in the lawnRevive planters with mulch even fake seasonal flowersClear the guttersTouch up peeling paintRejuvenate the fences – big for first impressions.Make sure the mailbox is in good repairCreate an attractive Entry with pumpkin decorations, seasonal flower poDriveways – power wash clean, repairResidents rarely use the front door But its huge for the first impressionCan you give us some examples of how to make buyers fall in love with your home?Spruce up

Home Inspection Pitfalls When Selling a HomeMost buyers will do a home inspection after they buy a home. What are some of the pitfalls a home seller could run into when selling their home?Top Five Home Inspection Pitfalls33 Physical Problems that come under scrutiny, with the inventory low, most buyers are stating they will not ask for cosmetic issues and focus on major systems, health and safety.Colorado does NOT require a license to be an inspector.Story of Landscaper inspector & DadIn most cases the lenders and appraisers do not require much of these itemsThey focus on whether the home meets the lending guidelines:Safety trip hazards, window well covers, broken windows, etc.Today We will cover the top 7 System categories:1. Mechanical Systems:HVAC – clean and service furnaceWater Heater – check permit history, building code has changedElectrical – GFCI issues2. Plumbing:There are often hidden things you may not see, it would not hurt to get your home pre-inspected.3. Appliances:These should be function

Everyone is saying the market is really strong for home sellers.  So what are some quick tips for home sellers to get their homes ready for sale?#1 = The most common issue we have with helping homes sellers present their homes to market is:●CLUTTER●Take Pictures of your home then LOOK at them, it’s pretty shocking, it was for ours●Go Visit a Model Home and Notice what is NOT there…○They always feel light and airy but homey#2 = Get any broken things taken care of as soon as you can.  Buyers do not want to inherit workAreas of Focus:●Curb Appeal = 28 Seconds of viewing time + drive by timeIf they don’t like the outside you cannot get them in!○Mulch beds○Mail box○Door Bells○Front Doors○Landscaping○Trim trees & bushesLiving Room – most time spent there○Reduce down volume of furniture○Declutter○Focus on one point – fireplaceKitchen  - everything off the counters except the Coffee pot!➔Remove dish towels and rugs, dog bowls, too many small decorative itemsMaster Bathroom ○You really get your $$$ out of Kitchens

●It’s a funny thing but there is no training for showing homes.  ●I was pretty surprised when I received training on this topic in the middle of my career.●#1 A great agent should manage expectations from the start.●#2 Thing buyers should consider is what is important to THEM in a home.●Part of what my team is trained to do is to find out what the buyers are looking for then go find it for them.  They don’t rely on the MLS to find them a home.●This is NOT what most agents do, most use an opportunity to SHOW a home as a way to MEET a buyer.  In many cases, they don’t know if they can Buy a Couch on Craigslist let alone buy a home.We have a very low housing inventoryPrices are rising faster than I have ever seen in my 24 years of real estate experienceIf you are buying a home you HAVE to be ready!●I spent the whole weekend trying to schedule showings for two homes○Both got booked up○One got cancelled, too many offers on the table○That is what buyers are facing today so.●A showing is NOT an inspection, its looki

What are the factors that sellers consider when deciding who is the best offer to select?First of all it’s the best case scenario for a home seller to be in a position to select from the best of multiple offersIt does not happen in every caseBut in most cases for home priced below $400K and sometimes below $600KI even had a bidding war on a $1,200,000 homeIf you are buying a home, that presents the issues of  In most cases you will have a pretty good idea if you are facing competitionWe know how to do this so if you are thinking of buying a home give us a call at 719 301 3900In the offer…People LOVE stories!Most agents (not all) don’t know how to sell the buyer, in any way.Sellers DO CARE about who buys their home.I have seen sellers take LOWER offers from the buyers they LIKED better!My team is trained on How to Present a Buyer to Obtain Winning BidIn this case the seller commanded over $40,000 over asking price!If you want the team that can help you command top dollar, give us a call at719 301 3900We do thi

●For many people owning a piece of real estate is one of their largest assets.●It can be scary for people who think they could be buying at the top of the market.●We have had a boom town for real estate since 2012.●But you have to consider the market demographics to make the best decisionWe have a growing populationIn most cases people who have purchased a home within the last year or two and have to sell are making a really nice profitWe have a very low housing inventoryPrices are rising faster than I have ever seen in my 24 years of real estate experienceHot Home of the Week7771 Valley Quail Pt, 80922: $139,999Thinking of selling your home and downsizing to a smaller home? Get more information by calling 719 301 39001)   You are listening to the Real Estate Voice with Barb Schlinker of Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, if you are thinking of making a move Barb at 719 301 3900 or visit BarbHasTheBuyers.com When we come back we will be discussing: How Home Sellers Pick the Best Offer and Hot New Listings!

The latest news is that the real estate market in the Colorado Springs area is really hot.  That’s great if you are a home seller but if you are buying a home in the lower price ranges it can be really competitive. How can a first time home buyer compete to get a home in this hot market? 1.Buyers Need to be Prepared 2. Here is what I am seeing in the market today: a.Buyers are having to bid way over the asking price for home under $450K - $10-40K b.Buyers have to be financially ready to make the best offer c.Buyers should NOT wait until the last minute to make their offer d.Buyers getting their offers accepted are offering e.Buyers have to assume they could be  competing with a cash buyer 3 . First Time Home Buyer - Foote StoryMy team and work with buyers all the time.  If you want to know how to get ready to buy your first home, our team can help. I know there are various low down loan programs out there, in this market does the amount of down payment matter?●Yes there are about 4 Zero Down programs that I c

Home sellers are planning to put their homes on the market and most home sellers want to sell their home at the HIGHEST PRICE.  How do they accomplish selling at the highest price?Top Three Seller Mistakes●Setting Your Asking Price appropriately is the most important thing you can do when selling your home.●IT IS THE FIRST IMPRESSION OF A HOME…#1 Mistake is OVER PRICING●National Statistics indicate if you price too high then slowly walk the price down you will net LESS#2 Mistake is UNDER PRICING ●Although we have many homes that sell for over asking price: ○YTD we have commanded nearly $357,000 over asking price for our listings. ○It does not mean I suggest a LOW ASKING PRICE. ○There will often be that 1 neighbor that sold their home for a song, for whatever reason… ○We have sold hundreds of homes that were taken back in foreclosure during the mortgage meltdown period. ●The banks corporations always know how to get top dollar…by pricing aggressively ●But you can go too far by pricing low. ●We are not a team w

Everyone is saying the market is really strong for home sellers.  So why do the details of selling need to be carefully managed?Market indicators are very strong.Available Inventory down by 51% from 1 Year AgoTotal Number of Homes that Went Under Contract UP by 22%Average Days on Market = 19 DaysIf you are buying a home, that presents the issues of:  Low inventoryCompetitionIf Buyers agents think it works the way it used to work, they will be in for a rude awakening!Just last week, I had multiple agents calling and flopping on the floor because they could not get in to see my two hot listings of the week when THEY or their buyer WANTED TO SEE THEM!I’ve had agents confront my sellers about:Being at the home for showing“Didn’t your agent ‘school you’ on how this works”I love my seller’s response…“Last I checked I still own the house!”Getting the buyer the house takes a lot more effort than the comfy way we used to do things:Set up a showing..wheneverHope they like itGo write an offerHope there is not competitio

Who Hires the Barb Schlinker Team to Sell and Buy a HouseMany of our listeners know, you and your team are the only people I would recommend if they have a real estate need, but I think people often want to know who hires your team to buy and sell homes?We want to help as many families as well can because we are on a mission to raise money for Veterans’ causes like:Fisher HouseUSOTunnel for Towers – Smart Homes ProgramI’ve built our team to support people from all walks of life but here are some examples:DoctorsPolice OfficersActive Duty Military MembersLawyersCEOsBusiness OwnersEngineersRetired People looking to down sizeReal Estate developersReal Estate investorsPretty much all walks of lifeWhen you want a service, it’s always best to hire someone who is a professionalWe recently went to get a security systemI thought I hired a large company who were pros but because quickly disappointedPrice quote changed – went up 3 timesMonthly fee changed – went up 2 timesUpsold me equipmentIt was so bad I just could no

For 5 years now, you have been the only agent I would recommend when people have a real estate needs to sell or buy a home.Can you go into detail about the reasons people should call you?WE HAVE BUYERS IN WAITING. We have 23,388 buyers in our database looking for a home in the area. It is likely that the buyer for your home is already in my database – Your home may already be sold!YOUR HOME IS MORE LIKELY TO SELL. With Barb’s proven track record of results, your home is more likely to sell, and sell for more money, and in less time.WE SELL FOR MORE MONEY*. We sell our homes for 3% more in sales price when compared to your average agent. This means real dollars in your pocket. On a $400,000 home, that’s an extra $12,000 more in your pocket.4. WE SELL FASTER. We sell homes 4 times faster than the average agent. No gimmicks! For information on Barb’s exclusive Guaranteed Sale Program, call today! 719-319-1802If you need to Sell first here are the options:Put your home on the market, make an offer contingent on y

Home sellers planning to put their homes on the market often ask how to prepare.  What are some things a home seller should consider when getting their house ready to sell?Top 7 Tips●There are 27 things you can do to sell your home fast and for top dollar but today we will talk about the top 7#1 - Curb appeal and exterior. The largest time period a buyer views a home online is on the exterior. That means your curb appeal must be excellent. Make sure the lawn looks great, the lawn looks neat and tidy and any deferred maintenance on the exterior is repaired. Tips:●make sure the front door has a fresh coat of paint, ●the doorbell functions property and in good repair●refreshing mulch beds●inserting flowers●trimming overgrown bushes●removing large gangly bushes in the front●making sure your mailbox is in good shape are important.#2 – Your back yard or views. If your home has something very special about its lot and/or views, make absolutely sure those spaces look fantastic. Hire a great agent that will highlight

Barb, everyone is saying the market is really strong for home sellers.  So why do the details of selling need to be carefully managed. ❖Market indicates are very strong.➢Available Inventory down by 51% from 1 Year Ago➢Total Number of Homes that Went Under Contract UP by 22%➢Average Days on Market = 19 Days❖However that does not mean sellers can let their guard down about the process.➢Any little thing can derail a buyer➢Agents managing expectations:■Repairs■Upgrades (Avalanche story)■Improper loan approvals➢Sellers do get very discouraged at losing a buyer➢Good news it’s a great market and we will get anotherThings to Manage:❖How Easy is the agent to communicate and work with❖ How much detail in the agent helping with➢Recently sold Sierra■Details involved:●Well Water Test●Roof permits●Septic Transfer●Title issues●Lack of agent knowledge of contract➢  Most home sellers want to know what to expect, the■ “what happens next”❖We are set up to do that both on our email system of videos and extensive communication wi

Barb, when people have a house to sell before they buy their next home, how can they make that work?1.   If they need their net proceeds out of their home to buy their next home there are a few options to consider:o   Some people fear the risk of two payments and will not make a move without selling their home first.o   That’s ok, it just creates a little bit more, carefully times work on our part, we can do it thougho   I recently had a client who was in that situation but they qualify for both the home they are selling and the one they are buying,❖  We were seeing homes they were interested flying off the shelf➢Scheduled 3 homes on Thursday for Sat am show➢ 2 were cancelled because they went U/C on Friday➢That is in $575-600K price point!❖They got a Heloc line of credit to use as their down payment❖Qualified to Buy First then take their time selling and moving out…Ahhh!  Much less stress if you can do that2.   If you need to Sell first here are the options:●Put your home on the market, make an offer conting

Barb it would seem like common sense to me to have great pictures presented about your home for sale but from what I can see online that is not always the case.  How Important are great photos and imagery of homes when you sell?●Its hugely important■Buyers ELIMINATE homes based on the online pics■You may never know how many people are taking your home OFF the ‘must see’ list based on poorly presented photos 98% of Buyers Begin Their Search Online!These are Average Agent Photos●Its not necessary to put photos of every nook and crannie of a home online!■Listing Agents job is to get all the buyer population to come see it■Best they don’t use images that make buyers     eliminate the home■We use images that make the home look            more valuable than the asking priceWe are talking about photos and presenting homes for sale the right way.  What are the key rooms a home seller should focus on when getting their home ready for sale?o   Study of Buyers viewing homeso   Only have less than 57 seconds to make an i

Barb, home sellers planning to put their homes on the market often ask how to prepare.  What are some things a home seller should consider when choosing an agent to sell their home?1 . Not all real estate agents are the same➢Years of experience helps but it may not indicate if they are actively selling in this market➢Ex you may get an agent who has been licensed for years but only sells a few homes here and there➢So when it's time for negotiating how would they know things like:■      It's no longer customary for            the seller to pay buyers closing costs2. Negotiating prowess:➢ An agent who does not sell many homes may be anxious to encourage you to jump at the first offer..■ Active on Monday, offer on Tuesday, what about the weekend buyer who may pay more?➢ What about inspection repairs – recently got one that has 26 items on it including…■New stucco siding & mud jack basement slab■The buyers agent, clearly did not properly manage expectations with her buyer about this market and what i

When a home seller gets an offer on their home, how do they decide whether or not to wait for another offer or take the first one that comes along?Home inventory is down by 51% from a year ago and sales are up 22%!●If you have priced the home appropriately, it is just as important to hire the right agent that understands how to get you top dollar.●Just last week, I scheduled 3 showings for my buyers on a Thursday, planning for a Saturday showings.●They were shopping = in the $575-$600K price range●By Saturday AM, two of those appointments had been cancelled because the sellers accepted offers and did not want to show.●While that may seem to be a victory for the seller and their agent….how do they know my weekend shopping buyer would not pay MORE FOR THE HOME?●At the end of the day it’s up to the seller but, for my business I like to slow it down a bit and make sure I’m exposing my listing to most of the current buyer population to command top dollar!●Typically you can tell when the home hits the market whethe

We’ve talked before about the behavior of real estate agents representing buyers and how they can be difficult when selling a home.  How do you keep other real estate agents from making the home sale miserable?1.  Let’s talk about how a typical real estate sale works:●Seller lists with their Agent●Seller pays commission●Part of commission goes to the buyer’s agent…○Effectively Opposing Counsel●Lawsuit underway in Chicago about this○Seller has to pay for Buyers agent to:■Beat them down on price■Beat them down in inspection repairs■Make demands about who is present for showings and inspections■Whine if they don’t get their way●Effectively seller is paying for Opposing Counsel●Even in a Sellers Market, in my experiences I am seeing:○Agents make ridiculous low ball offers○Confront sellers about being in their own home for showings and inspections○ Tie of sellers’ homes while they shop around and figure out if they want to pay for upgrades○Investigate the seller’s repair contractors○Let inspectors in the home then