Selling a house sucks. It's a necessarily invasive process. This is a bit of what to expect from start to finish. Decide to sell This is so much more than a bullet point. Is this a discretionary move? Is it going to be worth the trauma? Where are you going? How long might your house take to sell? Can you afford to sell? And a whole lot more. Interview agents (or, just call me) Evaluate market analyses - and ask questions. I tell my clients that my valuations need to be defensible to me, to the … [Read more...]
Preparing for the Spring Real Estate Market in Charlottesville
The 2017 market in the Charlottesville area is going to be an interesting one. They all are. The Charlottesville real estate market is going to be much less calm than the waters depicted above. Will this property hold value? I received that question by email (and get it many days of the week) the other day, and it was about a specific property in the City of Charlottesville. As I noted in my response, I cannot/will not give specific real estate advice unless we have an executed buyer brokerage agreement; but I'll certainly provide … [Read more...]
What’s On Your Book Shelves?
Years ago, clients and I walked out of a house (that they didn't buy) and shared our collective "weird" feeling as we'd gone through the house. It took us a few minutes, but we soon concluded that the weird feeling was created because the house felt empty and soulless - there were no books. Anywhere. "I could live here! This could be my bookshelf!" My clients didn't buy that house. But they seriously considered it more than they would have otherwise, in large part due to the books on the shelves. Buyers are seeking way to evaluate whether … [Read more...]
Trying out a Matterport in Charlottesville
I'm trying something new; while I'm not the first in Charlottesville to try marketing a house via Matterport, I'm one of the first. Sometimes cutting edge is better than bleeding edge. Thoughts on this Matterport walkthrough welcomed. The house is not quite ready for the market*, but will be soon. I'm not sold on the "dollhouse" view, but the walkthrough of the house definitely shows the layout. I thought the Matterport would be useful for this particular house as the layout is quite diverse. I like how you can see out the windows as … [Read more...]
Virtual Home Staging is Cool
Simple things excite me. Yes, this is a house I have for sale in the City of Charlottesville. In the Greenbrier Elementary School district. But this post is only tangentially about that house (which I'd love for someone to buy this weekend). This post is about a vacant house. Vacant houses sometimes exude sadness, or tiredness. Furnished houses just look better online. The internets can be cool. Upload a few pictures, choose furniture packages, click and pay ... and wait a day. Curious to hear your thoughts on this "virtually staged" … [Read more...]
Charlottesville Sellers – Take Pictures Now
This is why I advise my clients to take pictures of their houses in the fall.A photo posted by Jim Duncan (@jimduncan) on Oct 10, 2014 at 1:28pm PDT I've said for years that if you're in the Charlottesville area and are thinking about selling your home in the Spring, you should be having pictures taken of your home Now. If you decide in the dead of winter and want exterior photos taken those pictures will be of a desolate landscape - and that doesn't look so great to potential buyers. Also, if you're thinking about selling, now is … [Read more...]
Photos and Floorplans – A Buyer’s Response to my Monthly Note
If the “open rate†for my monthly note is only 2% yet it generates this kind of response, I'll be happy. I'll lead with “thank you†to the reader who took a great deal of time to email me this response, and for the three stories her response has generated. Part 1 of 3 … This month I asked what you (consumers) would change about the real estate process. A reader responded - (bolding mine) I wish house listings included a floor plan, even if it were a rough, not-to-scale, sketch. We'd be able to understand better if a house would or … [Read more...]
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