Marketing Your Home

Hi, I'm Linda Smith CEO of the Linda Smith real estate team in Rehoboth Beach Delaware.

I have been talking to you about for sale by owner listings, also know as the FSBO. We have covered many of the steps it takes to give you the best chance at selling your home on
your own. We talked about keeping your emotions in check,"it's not personal it's business", and staging your home to make it appeal to more buyers. Now, let's talk about how to market your home. Putting your home on the web through a FSBO site is good, but not good enough. The truth is that most buyers that go to a FSBO site do so because they think they can get a better deal than with homes that are listed by a Realtor.  Did you know that most buyers will automatically deduct an average realtor commission before they submit an offer to a FSBO listing and then they will start the negotiations. It is important that your marketing plan includes many property listing sites so you can reach a bigger buyer base.  You don't need to spend a lot and money on internet advertising.  Many sites are free such as Craigslist, and the more people you reach the better the chance you will have at selling your home for the price you want.

If you have any questions, call me, Linda Smith.

302-430-6161

Staging Your Home

Hi I'm Linda Smith, CEO of the Linda Smith Real Estate Team, in Rehoboth Beach Delaware, servicing all of Sussex County.

Over the last few days we have covered that selling your house is NOT personal, it's a business, and we discussed the importance of pricing your home correctly. Now let's talk about staging your home to sell quickly. The first thing in staging a home is to "check your emotions at the door", meaning that the emotional investment that you have in decorating your home will not be appreciated by others. The gorgeous paint colors you used to tie your vision of a beautifully decorated room may be offensive to others. The best thing you can do to make your home appeal to everyone is to give it a fresh coat of white paint. White paint makes a home feel bigger, cleaner, and smelling fresh. Next, remove family pictures. I know you have heard this one a thousand times, but it really works. You want your buyer to imagine their family living in the house. They do not do that when they are reminded by your family in every corner. Remove family photos! Hide the pet beds, feeding bowls, and pet toys. Even if your home is the freshest smelling house in the world, buyers who see evidence of pets WILL smell pet odors and assume that there is hidden pet damage. Out of sight, out of mind. Put the pet paraphernalia away. Part two of "staging your home" will continue tomorrow. See you then!

Linda Smith, Realtor
302-430-6161

Steps to Selling Your Home: Price Point

Hi, I'm Linda Smith, CEO of the Linda Smith Real Estate team in Rehoboth Beach Delaware, servicing all of Sussex County.


Yesterday, we discussed the first rule to selling your home on your own.  Do not move on to the next step until you conquer the first.  Get your emotions in check and move to step two. Step two is knowing your market. You must know your market inside and out. You must study the list price and sale price of all homes that have sold in your neighborhood over the last 12 months.  If you do not find 5 or more, move on to the closest neighborhood that is most like yours.  The goal is to find at least 5 homes that are the most like yours, and that have sold in the area.  This exercise is to help you find out the value of your home. PRICE POINT is the second most important thing you need to find.  Pricing your home correctly will be the difference between your home selling within 60 days or sitting on the market for a year. The worst thing you can do is price your home high "just to see what sticks" and then offer price reductions every 30 days. Doing this will send two messages to buyers 1) What is wrong with the house that they have to keep reducing? 2) Buyers will wait to make an offer because they will wait to see just how far down the price will go.  There are several other reasons to price a home correctly and I'll cover them through out my recommendations.


Linda Smith, Realtor
302-430-6161

Take the Emotions Out, and Sell Your House

Hi, my name is Linda Smith, CEO of Linda Smith Real Estate Team in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, servicing all of Sussex County.
"Selling a house is business it's not personal."  The first thing you need to do is get your emotions in check.  Tell yourself over and over again that this WAS my home but now it is a HOUSE, it's a business investment, an asset that you are ready to sell. It is important that you adopt this belief and attitude for the ultimate goal of negotiating an offer from a buyer.  This is the number one reason why FSBO's do not sell their home.  They are too emotionally involved.  Most owners take it personal when a prospective buyer  criticizes their beautiful home. I am here to tell you that buyers are VERY critical.  They will point out every thing that does not meet their taste even down to the color of paint on the walls.  Let's face it, paint is the cheapest thing to change.  Bottom line, get tough, remove "home" from your vocabulary and replace it with "house",   and get ready to handle the sale of your home as a business.\


Linda Smith, Realtor
302-430-6161

FSBO

Hi, I’m Linda Smith, CEO of Linda Smith Real Estate Team in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, servicing all of Sussex County. Today, I want to talk about For Sale by Owners, commonly known as FSBO’s. For sale by owners, this is a very aggressive group of people who want to sell their home without having to pay the 6% commission to a realtor. Listen, we understand. We too, have been affected by the sluggish economy and know that every nickel counts these days. It’s hard to pay that 6% commission, when you think you can do it yourself and actually put cash in your pocket. I’m going to help you navigate through the FSBO process. It’s difficult, but I’m going to help you get through the components of selling your home. All I ask, is that, if in fact, it becomes to time consuming for you, and you aren’t achieving the results you had hoped for, give me a call and I will help you navigate a way through selling your home.

Goodbye FEAR!

I am excited and proud to tell you a story of a man that thought he could never own a home.  This gentleman had made some mistakes that landed him in jail for over 5 years.  He spent that time in jail reflecting on his life and vowing to make changes in his life. He was released from prison about a year ago, got a job, and has been working for  8 months. I met him while doing volunteer work for an organization that helps the homeless find housing.  We talked, and he told me his dream of one day, in the very distant future, owning a home. I said "why in the distant future?" He said "because I don't think I would be approved for a mortgage with just being on my job for 8 months"  Hello FEAR. Well, we looked his FEAR right in the eye and began the process of getting him approved.  I am pleased to report that we were able to get this man a pre-approved mortgage for 190K.  We just wrote a contract on his dream home and scheduled to settle in the middle of August.

GOODBYE FEAR!!

Linda Smith, Realtor
302.430.6161

Achieve Home Ownership

There are so many people who never achieve their dream of home ownership due to fear.  Well it's time to change.  NOW is the time to plan your future and reach your goal of home ownership.  I can help you develop a plan that will put you and your family into a new home as soon as you want.  Call me today and we will begin planning your dream future.

Linda Smith, Realtor

302-430-6161

First Time Homebuyers

I have helped many 1st time homebuyers reach their dream of home ownership.  In my experience, the # 1 reason people do not even attempt to purchase a home is due to FEAR. FEAR of not being approved for a mortgage. FEAR of not having credit that is good enough. FEAR of not making enough money to be approved for the home they want.  FEAR of the unknown. FEAR of not measuring up.  Does this sound like you? It does not have to be.  I can help you reach your goal and dreams.

Just ASK ME HOW! 

Linda Smith, Realtor

302-430-6161

Newport News, VA

Last week I was in Newport News, VA, for a little R & R and also working for a group of investors looking for property to develop. I spent one day touring the local areas and possible real estate opportunities. WOW!  There are some great opportunities for gorgeous waterfront properties.

This group of investors knows that NOW is the time to buy.  They know that there has never been a better time in history to take someone else's money (the banks) and purchase real estate.  At an interest rate of 3.5% the bank is almost giving the money away!

Call me for all of your real estate needs!

Linda Smith, Realtor

302-430-6161