Carducci Realty Group

Dallas Fort-Worth Real Estate Experts

Home Selling

How to Sell Your Home Fast! (Expert Advice)

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It may be that time again; you’re moving to a new city or a new area, or you’re relocating to a different country altogether. Or maybe you just want to buy a new home that fits your current lifestyle better. But first things first; you must sell your current home quickly. Below are time-tested techniques and tips you can employ to ensure your home sells fast.

1. Get rid of clutter

Over time, all of us accumulate a great deal of stuff in our homes. This can get worse the longer we’ve lived in that particular home. Clutter can range from furniture to electronics to toys and other accessories. If you want to sell your house really fast, you must declutter. The sooner you start this process the better. This may even involve hiring an expert (there are decluttering experts all over the Internet) including movers to haul away your old stuff.

2. Clean the house

You will not experience the full effects of decluttering unless it is accompanied by a thorough cleaning. You can clean the house yourself or as the experts recommend, you can hire a cleaning company to do a more thorough job of cleaning and deodorizing your home. This includes cleaning:

  • Kitchen and bathroom counters
  • Fireplace mantels
  • Laundry room shelves
  • Tabletops
  • Magazine racks
  • Floors
  • Ceilings
  • Glass sliding doors
  • Windows

3. Rearrange the Furniture

After decluttering and cleaning (yes, in that order), you now need to re-examine what to do with the remaining furniture. Ensure that its placement makes sense and allows for easy movement of people without bumping into things. Professional interior designers can help. Get rid of bulky and unnecessary furniture (place it in storage or sell it at a garage sale).

4. Professional photography

Whether you’re selling the house privately or you’re using a broker or realtor, you need to take good photographs of both the interior and exterior. Most people simply whip out their iPhones or Android phones and snap a few pictures of the interior and exterior of the home. While there’s nothing wrong with this, there’s so much more you can do especially in this media-crazed age. The best strategy is to hire a professional photographer.

Professional photographers have access to the following:

  • High-end camera equipment (nothing against iPhones and Android phones but not everyone knows how to mess with the camera settings enough to take the best photos)
    The best angles, props, and lighting
  • State-of-the-art photo-editing software with the necessary plugins (the average person would not have access to this nor the pertinent training)
    The result of combining the above is breathtaking photos that entice buyers to contact you.
  • Professional photography comes in especially handy given most home sellers post pictures of their homes on sites such as Zillow or Craigslist where competition is fierce. Hiring a professional photographer ensures your home stands out.

Angelo Carducci’s new book “Nine Steps to Selling a Home” is now available on Amazon.

Can A Nest Thermostat Increase Your Home’s Value?

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Writing as someone who owns a Nest thermostat it is an invaluable tool for my everyday life. A Nest thermostat is also a relatively cheap investment being anywhere from $130 to $200 depending on where you buy it and follow sales. But the real question here is can you increase your home’s value with the implementation of a Nest Thermostat?

It Really Depends On the Type Of Buyer

Someone has to understand the value of the thermostat to really appreciate it and see it’s value. These things are also not as easy to install as it looks online especially if you’re not a “handyman”.

This added barrier can actually increase the default face value of adding the thermostat in your home. The addition of a Nest thermostat can help reduce electric bills which if you’re trying to sell your home as being “green” this can certainly help with that.

It Also Depends On How You Educate The Potential Buyer

If you’re actively trying to showcase as your home as a smart home this will make the item appear more valuable. For instance a Nest Thermostat can save you 10to 12 percent on your heating and cooling bill. If your agent is educating the potential buyer of this then it will stick in your mind. This is especially true if your home is in an area where such amenities isn’t common.

When you’re selling a smart home you want to make sure that your agent understands the benefits and is conveying those benefits to potential buyers. Otherwise buyers who are not educated on the benefits might just see a shiny thermostat onto your wall and wonder why.

Putting It All Together

Yes, a Nest Thermostat can increase the value of your home albeit that value isn’t as simple as a round about figure. If you’re adding such a feature to your home and are looking to sell make sure that your listing agent is educated on this amenity.

If you’re trying to sell a smart home with an uneducated listing agent the benefits of such features will be lost on potential buyers. Which means that all that expensive technology you have just added to your home including the Nest Thermostat won’t provide you any benefit.

 

 

5 Great Tips for Staging a Home For a Quick Sale

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According to renowned Dallas real estate expert and author Angelo Carducci, one of the best ways of getting your home to sell quickly is to stage it. Home staging refers to the steps or process a homeowner or agent takes in order to make the home more appealing for a sale. Below are fiver killer ideas for prepping your home for that quick sale.

1. Remove overly personal items

While personal items may have a sentimental value to the homeowner, they may not be helpful when it comes to selling the homes. Items such as pictures, trophies, sports memorabilia, and even religious items, need to be removed from visibility when preparing to showcase your home to potential buyers. Experts say this is important because you want potential buyers to view the home as theirs. Having personal pictures and such in full view of potential buyers can distract from this goal.

2. Declutter the house

Decluttering is also part of removing items from view that tend to distract the potential buyer. Removing all excess items, personal and likewise goes a long way in helping buyers to focus on the bare bones of the house. Another reason this is important is because after years of living in the house, most homeowners have accumulated quite a lot of stuff, much of which may not necessarily help when it comes to selling the house. This also includes the kids’ toys.

3. Prepping the rooms

This can be a challenge. Staging experts recommend repurposing each room so it clearly serves a specific function. This also includes giving it its own unique look and feel. This gives the prospective buyer a snapshot of what it looks and feels like to live in the home. This may involve painting and refurnishing some rooms. Staging experts contend that sellers who do this get better responses from buyers and experience a large return on their investment.

4. House must be squeaky clean

They say “cleanliness is next to godliness”. A clean house gets better responses from buyers. According to real estate experts “When buyers see an unkempt home or smell something when they first walk in, they become turned off immediately,”. This can even cause them to overlook the other great aspects of the home.

Cleaning a home doesn’t have to be complicated. Experts recommend hiring a cleaning company to do the work. This ensures everything, including windows, floors, countertops, ceilings, sliding glass doors, ceiling fans, etc, is spotless.

5. Fix the exterior of the home

Cleaning the inside the house is just one step. In order to attract the best buyers, staging experts recommend taking time to fix the exterior as well. This means ensuring the lawn is mowed to perfection, the flower beds look presentable, the bushes are trimmed and the overall landscape looks desirable. Sellers can also pressure-wash the driveway, sidewalks and curbs to enhance visual appeal.

Don’t forget to grab a copy of Angelo Carducci’s new book “Nine Steps to Selling Your Home”.

Also available on Amazon.

Why It’s a Good Idea to Have Your Home Inspected Before Selling

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While most buyers will definitely conduct a home inspection before buying your home, it is becoming an increasingly common practice for sellers to also perform their own home inspection. Let’s see why that’s a great idea.

According to a recent study by the U.S. General Accounting Office, over 80% of homebuyers conduct a home inspection before buying. These inspections are meant to uncover undisclosed flaws which could potentially translate into costly repairs down the road. When the home buyer performs an inspection and discovers a flaw, they may be led to offer a lower price. In some cases, they may walk away from the deal altogether if they feel the flaws may necessitate expensive repairs in the near future.

When you the seller conducts your own home inspection, you are appraised on all issues pertaining to the home way before the buyer uncovers them. This helps in preparing oneself and setting the correct expectations when it comes to price and potential repairs when negotiating with the buyer.

In many cases, a home inspection conducted by you seller will identify potential issues such as water damage, foundation problems, roof leaks, AC issues, improperly grounded outlets and more. A report will then be generated which will detail the findings and outline a list of recommended repairs and remedies. This report places the seller in a better position when it comes to negotiating with a prospective buyer.

When negotiating with a potential buyer, the seller will have a powerful tool in his or her arsenal. This home inspection report can then be offered to a potential home buyer, reassuring them that prospective buyer is committed to integrity and quality. This inspires confidence by the buyer before making the final decision.

The following is included in the seller’s home inspection report:

  • The general condition of the Roof
  • The exterior state of the home such as sealants, siding, sealants, grade, and drainage
  • The Mechanical components which include the Furnace, AC (air-conditioner), water heater, and water main shut-off, plumbing, fuse boxes, etc.
  • Electrical components such as main distribution panels, fuse boxes and sub-panels
  • Structural state the home. This touches on trusses, joists, and foundation

The Basics of Selling Your Home Privately

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More homeowners are now opting to sell their homes privately. This essentially refers to the process of bypassing a real estate agent or broker and dealing directly with a prospective buyer. One of the main reasons homeowners opt to sell privately is to avoid the costs associated with agents’ or brokers’ fees (among others). A recent study reveals these fees can run as high as 2% of the selling price of the home. In this post, we’ll discuss the basics of selling your home privately and whether it’s the right strategy for you.

The Selling Price

Many homeowners rely on real estate agents to determine the selling price of their home. In many cases, this is the right approach given their extensive experience. But the home’s selling price is also something the homeowner can set themselves. There are free online tools that a seller can leverage to determine the selling price of their home. These include sites like Zillow, Rightmove, Trulia, and Zoopla among others. These tools give the seller a panoramic view of the often-common disparity between a vendor’s asking price and what a property actually sells for.

Stage your home

One thing homeowners looking to sell their homes privately soon find out is that time is money. In order to sell a home as quickly as possible, the home has to be staged. This may mean a fresh lick of paint or replacing the floor décor, landscaping or even new kitchen cabinets. This can go a long way in making the house a little more “sellable”. Staging your home also means you spend more time with showings and less worrying when the home will sell!

Advertise

Selling your home privately is now easier than ever thanks to new technology. This includes social media, classified sites like Craigslist, OLX, and Kijiji. Others include community-based sites like Nextdoor and OfferUp all of which are free to use and have a wide reach. Research shows advertising your home in these sites diametrically

How LED Lighting Can Increase Your Home Value & Style

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If you’re looking to sell your home you want to do everything you can to make sure you’re getting a top dollar value for it. This leads people to go through the traditional process of fixing it up, staging it, and having a trusted and local realtor help sell the property.

There is nothing wrong with this process but there are some things that are often overlooked when fixing it up, sure you throw a nice new coat of paint maybe you even upgrade the appliances but what about your lightbulbs? Outside of just making sure none of them are burnt out and they are all the same (for the same fixture), what about upgrading your old incandescents to high-efficiency LEDs.

Consumer reports have written a piece on ways to increase your home value and one of the primary suggestions was to replace your standard bulbs with LEDs. They state the following “Some listings emphasize their green credentials by mentioning the presence of LED lighting”. It goes on to say that the potential increase in value is in the realm of 1 to 3 percent which is a lot for replacing some bulbs.

Why LED Lights & Not Fluorescent?

LED lights have a lot of benefits in addition to using even less energy than fluorescent bulbs they have an incredibly long life expectancy. An LED can last up to 23 years while a Fluorescent will last at the most 6/7 years. This is good news as the average length someone tends to live in a home is estimated to be around 15 years. This means the light bulbs themselves will outlast the time the next owner is in the house which can be an excellent selling point.

LED VS CFL VS Incandescent

Incandescent CFL LED
Approximate cost per bulb $1 $2 $8 or less
Average lifespan 1,200 hours 8,000 hours 25,000 hours
Watts used 60W 14W 10W
No. of bulbs needed for 25,000 hours of use 21 3 1
Total purchase price of bulbs over 23 years $21 $6 $8
Total cost of electricity used (25,000 hours at $0.12 per kWh) $180 $42 $30
Total operational cost over 23 years $201 $48 $38

Source: Green Is Better Inc

As you can see the operational cost of an LED over the span of 23 years is considerably less than an incandescent and still cheaper over a CFL. Not only that but the power usage alone makes them an advertising point for selling your own property. With cost savings over the span of 25,000 hours of usage being $150 over standard incandescent’s the choice is obvious.

What About Color?

One of the most common mistakes you’re bound to make when purchasing an LED bulb is selecting the color. Manufacturers don’t make this easy they usually are labeled as the following though. Warm White, Soft White, and Bright White are the most common colors you will find on the shelf at your local target.

Warm White: Warm white, produces a yellow hue close to incandescents.

Soft White: Soft white, produces a yellow hue close to incandescents.

Bright White: This is the color to avoid for most interior usage it’s closer to daylight, or light you see a store it looks more blue than warm.

For most of your interior usage, you will want to make sure you’re using a warm white, this will keep the color uniform across the house. If you’re selling a property with exterior lights maybe for a light you have outside, a bright white can work well as it’s easier to see and appears brighter.

Closing Thoughts

If you’re looking to give your home a bit of pop, when showing it to potential buyers, consider upgrading your bulbs to LEDs. Not only will it reduce the costs, but chances are is the new bulbs will likely remain in the home just as long as the potential buyers.