Thinking Outside the Box to get your Home SOLD!

You’ve seen the statistics! You know that the real estate market is down across the nation. Sellers in the 2008 spring market will be fighting to be noticed in a sea of foreclosed homes, builder’s models and investor’s flips. So what can you do to make your home stand out and get noticed? What little trick might give you an edge? Maybe it is time to think outside the box!

THINK Feng Shui

Using the ancient Chinese discipline of Feng Shui to create balance and a flow of energy throughout the home may get it sold more quickly. Before dismissing this concept as a bunch of malarkey, look closer. Removing clutter is one of the key ways to get your home sold and a cornerstone of Feng Shui. The flow of energy or Chi through the home determines how the buyer feels when they step inside the home. A home with a balanced Chi will invite the buyer to linger longer in the home. As a Realtor, I know showing homes there are some properties that “just feel right” from the moment you step over the threshold. Buyers literally languish in certain homes absorbing the atmosphere.

Improving your home’s energy using Feng Shui might be as simple as setting intentions. Write down your selling mission and place in an affirmation box. Or, take that first ad or the MLS listing sheet and write SOLD across it. Place this where you will see it everyday like your wallet or your car’s dashboard and reaffirm that your home will be sold.

Delve deeper into Feng Shui and discover if the five elements are out of sync for your property. Fire, earth, water, metal and wood should be represented in colors or objects and balanced to keep the positive energy flowing.

If your home’s Chi is really out of whack, consider an online Feng Shui consultation with an expert. Carole Provenzale, owner of Feng Shui Long Island, could be just the ticket to getting the energy balanced and your home sold in this changed real estate market.

THINK St. Joseph

St. Theresa way back in the 1500’s started something big when she needed to find additional land to build convents. She buried a trinket and prayed to a saint. Not just any trinket or saint, she prayed to St. Joseph, saint of the home, and encouraged other nuns to join her with prayers. They buried St. Joseph medallions back then, but now a statue is in vogue. Kits are available with a small statue of the saint and directions on how to properly bury the figure in your front or back yard.

THINK Expert Real Estate Assistance

While I have no statistics on whether ancient Chinese or Catholic beliefs help to sell homes, I do know that receiving expert advice on pricing and preparing your home for sale are the tried and true ways to success. Online sites like Zillow are a great way to get started with a ballpark idea of your home’s value. But this is not the market to play around with rough guesses and selling by owner. You NEED expert advice; A Realtor® who shows homes and writes offers in your neighborhood on a daily basis to provide you with an accurate marketing analysis for your home. Your real estate agent can give advice on getting you home ready to sell including everything from basic staging to expert Feng Shui. And most importantly, they can get your home price right in this changing real estate market so that your home is one of those SOLD this spring!

Need an Expert Market Analysis for a home in Ham Lake, Lino Lakes or other community in the Forest Lake school district? Click Here to set up your FREE Listing Consultation.

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If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional Realtor, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.

Copyright 2008 Teri Eckholm http://www.terieckholm.com/

A Snapshot of Real Estate Across the Twin Cities and the US

This week I took part in a real estate experiment of sorts. Actually it was more of a survey of days on the market (DOM) for homes sold across the US. Several of my colleagues and I are tired of the gloom and doom numbers being touted by the national media. While things are slower in certain areas of the nation, the overall numbers are not as bad as the talking heads on the nightly news suggest.

See, real estate is local. Remember the real estate mantra…Location. Location. Location? We have to consider the location to get a true picture of the real estate market place.

Based on this theory, Ashley Drake Gephart, Keller Williams Realtor in Albuquerque, New Mexico compiled current information from Realtors throughout the US for her post, US Real Estate Agents Weigh In. Ashley wanted honest numbers from communities across the nation from actual agents. So as she puts it, “without any fluff or twisting of numbers, here they are…”

Looking at these numbers without the added analysis from someone working the market, you might be concerned about a 248 DOM for November. But what I pointed out to Ashley is that Ham Lake is a very specific area in the north end of the Twin Cities. Only dozen or so properties sell each month. During November, three high-end properties were sold. These homes list priced at $475,000-$750,000 take a significantly longer time to sell as I have indicated in previous Ham Lake market posts. The fact that three high end properties sold in one month, though skewing the DOM, is actually a good sign for the Ham Lake market.

Here is a picture of how the Ham Lake DOM stacks up against the county DOM for the north and northeast Twin Cities metro:

**All Statistical information based on information from the REGIONAL MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE of MINNESOTA, INC. for the period of 9/1/07 through 11/30/07.

DOM numbers are cumulative meaning that if a home was re-listed several times with the same or a different Realtor, ALL of the days on the market counted. It also includes every residential property whether in foreclosure or new construction; townhome or single family. When unique situations or designs are broken out, the numbers can change dramatically. Townhomes are taking longer to sell as are homes in foreclosure. New construction homes can be on the market for one day when a buyer sees a model but selects a different lot not currently MLS listed.

Note the other anomaly in Chisago County in October with a 229 DOM. Out of the 39 homes sold, one had a 1083 DOM. Yes, that is nearly 3 years! Some homes for whatever reason, can take that long to sell but it does not present a true picture of the market. Notice that in November, the Chisago County DOM was back to 130 days.

In my market, I tell people considering selling their home that the average time on the market in the north and northeast metro is approximately 4 months. The further from the Twin Cities and the higher your price, the longer it will take to sell your home. If your home is not in the optimal condition, it will take longer.

I also tell buyers looking to buy that first home or move into something bigger, it is a great time to buy! Just look at all of the options you have with so many great homes on the market AND low interest rates. A great combination for home buyers!

Bottomline here is this: If you want a true picture of the real estate market call an experienced Realtor who works in that community and ask. It’s not gloom and doom all over.

Need more information on the Albuquerque market or any of the other markets listed? Here are the links to the agents that provided the information for Ashley’s article.

• Ashley Drake Gephart Albuquerque NM real estate


• Missy Caulk Ann Arbor MI real estate


• Terry McDonald Charlotte NC market reports


• Cyndee Haydon Clearwater Beach FL real estate


• Chris Tesch College Station TX real estate


• Susie Roscoe Brandon, FL real estate


• Stephanie Edwards-Musa Houston, TX real estate


• Janis Gagliardi Port Orange, FL real estate
  

FEATURED Listings in Ham Lake and Forest Lake Minnesota:

• 3608 Woodland Drive, Ham Lake


• 20685 Georgia Ave N, Forest Lake

If you are buying, selling or relocating to Minnesota and need help from a professional Realtor, give me a call or visit my website for a FREE Relocation Packet. I specialize in acreage and lakeshore properties in the north and east Twin Cities metro area including Ham Lake, Lino Lakes and all communities in the Forest Lake School District! Serving Anoka, Chisago, Ramsey and Washington Counties in Minnesota.

Copyright 2007 Teri Eckholm http://www.terieckholm.com/

Zillow—Valuable Tool or Inaccurate Values?

When Zillow first hit the web last year, I was intrigued. Wells Fargo Bank had previously offered a similar tool on their website but it was no longer available. When I checked out Zillow, I wasn’t surprised to find that similar to the bank tool, the numbers were only accurate in areas where homes were similar in age, design and lot size. If you live in an eclectic neighborhood with radically differing styles of homes, near a lake or in the country, the value could be off by thousands. So when I checked it out, I took the information with a grain of salt. After all, the value of my own home since it is located in the country was based on its sale price from 10 years ago and its current tax value.

Evidently the Wall Street Journal Real Estate Journal had some of the same observations as I had with Zillow. Recently they looked at 1000 recent home sales transactions in seven different states and compared them to their “Zillow Zestimates”. According to the article, “Zillow came within 5% of the price in a third of the transactions studied by The Journal. It was more than 25% off target on 11% of them. In 34 of the 1,000 transactions, Zillow was off by more than 50%.” There was an overall median difference between the actual sales price and the Zillow estimate of 7.8% which is very close to the margin of error Zillow estimates at 7.2%. Read the entire article at http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/tactics/20070215-hagerty.html?refresh=on

For certain homes in certain areas, Zillow is a great tool. I recently visited the site and was surprised at how their service had expanded during the past year. Not only could someone find an estimate of value for a home but there is a listing search as well. Buyers can search homes that are currently listed, both FSBO and with Realtors. There are color photos, aerial views, street maps as well as values. As an agent, I will only be listing homes on Zillow that fit the criteria where an accurate “Zestimate” will come up. But it is a tool I will use. My clients were impressed as it was another avenue to bring in buyers.

Zillow will not replace the knowledge and expertise of an experienced real estate agent. But for quick values for homes with similar styles built in many city developments, it is surprisingly accurate. With all of the added features and information, Zillow can be a useful tool in the right hands.