How's the Real Estate Market in Seminole County?

If you're wondering how the Seminole County market is, this should give you a good idea! Click on the link below to get a more thorough picture.

Single Family Homes for sale has steadily been on the rise since October of last year. In fact, from July 2009 to July 2010, there were almost 15% more homes for sale. The number of homes closed from June to July of this year dropped 25%! Can anyone say "Home-buyer Tax Credit"? June 30th was the deadline. This would also explain the spike in homes going pending in May. It should be steady from here forward.

In July, the days on market for your single family home is the lowest it's been in 15 months at 88 days. The average listed single family home is $312,000 and sells at $213,000.

Click on the link below to get a more thorough picture!

http://www.trendgraphix.com/FactsAndTrends/Member/FtReport.aspx

Selling Your Own Home--Smart Move Number 5: Stage, Stage, Stage!

How to stage your home well and inexpensively.

Many of the things you will want to stage your home with will come from items you currently posess. The others can be easily obtained from retail stores such as Target and Wal-Mart.

When potential buyers visit, they want to be able to see themselves living in your home. Now "what does each individual buyer want to see?". You don't know and I don't know either. The best thing to do is THINK NEUTRAL.

Most will want to see a place to sit. Most will want to see a place to dine. Most will want to see some type of decor including plants in vases, picture frames or art, neutral rugs on the floor, neutral paint color, and neutral window treatment.

How do you achieve this? Again, if these things are already in your home, the key might be to remove anything that screams individuality or clutter. If you are showing a vacant home, I'm assuming you are living somewhere else, so feel free to bring some big items over to the vacant home. These might include 1 sofa for the living/family room, 1 dining table with 2 chairs, 1 coffee table, 1 bed for the bedroom and 1 armoire or dresser with a mirror for the same bedroom. If you can spare, bring over a 2 plants and vases, a standing plant, hand towels for the bathroom, a few picture frames and wall art, a towel and oven mit for the kitchen and a couple of candles.

Keep in mind, if you have to buy any of these items, when the buyer falls in love with a piece of furniture or the drapes, you can work these items into negotiations!

It's a win win! Happy Selling!

Selling Your Own Home-Smart Move Number 6: Remove Odors

If you're selling your own home, here are 3 ways to remove all odors!

The first thing you may be thinking is: "I don't smell anything". You live in your home so you probably won't. It's a little uncomfortable to think about but our clothes, carpet, couches, kitchens and bathrooms have a distinct smell that is all our own. When others come in your home, they smell what we don't!

Here are 3 things you should do:

1. Invest in an Ionizing Air Purifier or Ozone Generator. These little babies work wonders. Along with dangerous mold spurs, bacteria, and viruses being removed from the air, odors will be removed as well.

2. Use a Steam Extractor to clean your upholstered furniture and carpet. Either rent one or call in the professionals for a more powerful cleaning or for those deeply imbedded odors.

3. Use a combination of vinegar, lemons, warm water, bleach, baking soda and Tri-sodium phosphate to wash all walls, doors, ceilings, floors, refrigerator inside and out, stove inside and out, and drawers. Use them to launder clothes, drapes, and linen.

If these things are done, you won't be masking odors when you, then, put out your potpourri, vanilla oil, and hidden baking soda boxes...you'll be complimenting an already fresh home!

Happy Selling!

How's The Orlando Real Estate Market?

To answer the infamous Cocktail Party question...



From June to July, the number of homes listed increased just a little, while the number of homes sold (closed) decreased significantly. The good news is that for the last couple of months, homes going pending has been increasing quite a bit, which means sold homes over the next couple of months should follow suit.



For the last year or so, homes in Orange County have been on the market for an average of 83 days before going to contract. For the last 6 months, that has actually been decreasing (Good news for you looking to sell your home!). More good news for sellers is that they're receiving approximately 95% of what they're asking for their homes!



You can find this info by simply clicking the link below. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.



http://coldwellbanker.net/marketTrend/fla/orange.html

Selling Your Own Home-Smart Move Number 7: Keep it Clean and Clutter-free

To Sell Your Own Home, you must keep it Clean and Clutter-Free

Here's another Tip for all of you wanting to sell your own home. Some Realtors who show homes often might argue that this should actually be number 1 or 2. It is that important and at the same time is most often forgotten by homesellers.

Please do this:

Physically walk out of your home and take in some fresh air. Also, count to ten outside, and as you count, mentally become a buyer who

1. doesn't know you
2. who doesn't know your hobbies or about the work you do from home, or that you have kids
3. who, quite frankly, doesn't care about your hobbies or about the work you do from home, or that you have kids
4. who has a keen sense of smell
5. who is easily distracted by clutter
6. who is ultimately looking for a home-like feel where they can see themselves living in your home for years to come!

Now, come back in your home this different person. If you have truly become a stranger to your home mentally, you should notice things you didn't before.

Here's a list of things you may forget about when preparing to show your home:

Spider webs, anywhere
Soap scum in bathrooms
Ring around toilet in the inside: As a matter of fact, close the lid
Toys on floor
Paper and office supplies scattered on desks
Mail on kitchen table
Stains on carpet and furniture
Dirty dishes
Dirty refrigerator
Dirty oven
Dirty walls
Paper in yard
Bugs, anywhere!

Some home-buyers can look past these things as the walk-through. However, most won't. I hope this helps and Happy Selling!

What an Estate Sale this was!

When did Estate Sales become such a production?!

In an attempt to increase my home knowledge a little more by viewing the inside of, yet, another home, I ended up at an estate sale last weekend that was unbelievable! A 'Mike Tudor Estate Sales' estate sale to be exact. If you are buying a new home and are looking for awesome deals on finer furniture, art, decor, apparel, and other artifacts, you might want to check these out. The website even provides pictures of these items before the date. Likewise, if you're selling a home and have lots of stuff to get rid of, you might benefit from someone else coordinating the sale.

It was held in a nice Orlando neighborhood that is definitely considered desireable among those who know Orlando Real Estate. Firstly, when I pulled up, there were cones lining the entire street to control the traffic. I couldn't bring a purse or bag into the sale. I'm going to assume the home has been vacated by the owners because the items were from Boca Raton, FL. One of the workers told me that the HOA in Boca where the seller lives won't allow for this type of sale. Sounds like a lot of work for the coordinator to transport these items 200 miles, but here's why I'm thinking it was worth it...

*High traffic
*Art the size of a small billboard sign
*Necklace for $500+
*Jade statue (3" tall) for $100+
*Furnishings that wouldn't be out of place in a palace
*Other tiny what-nots for $200+ each
*Several living room sets
*Several bedroom sets
*Several dining room sets
*Fine linen

This wasn't your average garage/yard/moving/tag/estate sale!

There are 10 coming up this weekend and I think I'm going to stop by again. This time, I'd like to see the home AND the offerings. Here are the details:

Thursday, August 5

8763 Palm Lake Dr. Orlando
2030 Hibiscus Dr. Edgewater

Friday, August 6

1340 Woodlake Cir. St. Cloud
1807 N. Park Ave. Winter Park (Hey this is near my office!)
Ormond Beach
3820 E. Kaley Ave. Orlando
1104 Cardinal Creek Pl. Oviedo
244 O'Brien Rd. Altamonte Springs
16 Westbury Ln. Palm Coast

Saturday August 7

2459 Fawn Run Oviedo

I got this information from www.estatesales.net.

How's the Orlando Real Estate Market Now?

"How is the real estate market doing?" This is the most popular question asked when I'm out and about and the public notices my Coldwell Banker name badge. Following this is "How's business?".

I'm going to address the former in this posting and will continue to do so each week. The latter? Well, let's just say one can do as well as they would like with hard work coupled with creative thinking...whether the market is up or down.

Let's take a look at the graph below, shall we?



For Orange County, as you can see, the number of homes that have been marketed for sale on the MLS has decreased by almost 16%. However, interestingly, the number of homes sold has increased by over 28%! Further, 12 months ago in June 2009, only 13.2% of the listed homes sold while a whopping 20% of the homes listed in June 2010 are selling. Not too shabby, huh?!

If you would like a free report similar to this sent to you monthly, please e-mail me with your county or even zip code.