one Hire a real estate agent

It may be tempting to list your home on your own to avoid paying a sales commission, but selling your own home is a full-time job itself.

A real estate professional represents the best opportunity to earn the maximum amount from your home’s sale. An agent will recommend the best listing price, market your home effectively and show your home to buyers. An agent also recognizes what buyers are looking for in a new home.

two Get your home inspected

You are required to disclose any problems with your property to prospective buyers. Failure to do so will lead to further complications, even if you weren’t aware of the flaws ahead of time. Hire a professional inspector to identify and document any problems with your property. Also, make sure your home has a clean bill of health from termites.

three Make repairs ahead of time

A long list of necessary repairs is a major put-off for most buyers, who may decide to move on rather than deal with the headache of fixing up the home. Do as many repairs yourself as possible, then hire a contractor to complete the rest. If you decide not to make major repairs beforehand, hire a reputable professional to provide cost estimates that you can show to any interested buyers to put their minds at ease.

four Showcase your home

Curb appeal and first impressions are valuable assets when selling your home. Clear unnecessary items from your yard and maintain the landscape to welcome visitors. Keep the interior of your home clutter-free to maximize your home’s livable space. Staging your home is a great option to really make your house stand out in the crowd.

five Price it right

The original asking price of your home has a huge impact on the ultimate sales price. If you price it too high, buyers will look for better values and your home will remain on the market longer. The longer your home is on the market, the less desirable it becomes to buyers—even if you eventually lower your asking price— because most buyers will avoid a home that others are avoiding. Conversely, pricing your home too low may result in a quicker transaction but will yield you less money in the end.

Not sure how to do these things? Ask your realtor to help! Remember I’m an expert and can help you to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price.

Fabulous single-story home, lovingly maintained by original owners. Open & spacious great room with fireplace, dining room, kitchen with breakfast bar, & plenty of storage…this 1565 square foot home has it all. Three bedrooms and two baths: spacious  master with vaulted ceiling and two additional bedrooms. The yard is Sunset Magazine material! A definite must see! Large private yards, gorgeous flowers, established fruit trees (sweetest myer lemons you’ve ever tasted!), serene koi pond & waterfall, covered & uncovered patios…spectacular! NEWER A/C, tile roof, appliances. Recently painted interior/exterior.

More pictures below -

This also means the first-time California buyer state tax credit is quickly running out. Over 15,000 buyers have applied for the state tax credit, which is now 80 percent claimed. If you’re thinking of buying a home, be sure to act quickly enough to take advantage of this great tax credit worth up to $10,000. Interest rates have also remained below 5 percent for the past six weeks, making it a great market for both buyers and sellers. It’s a great time for real estate in Sacramento!

LIGHT, BRIGHT, OPEN…SPECTACULAR! 2 master bedroom suites plus one additional bedroom and guest bath. Kitchen has an abundance of cabinet space, upgraded corian countertops and breakfast nook. Family room, dining room, laundry room, 2-car garage…all tucked away in a private cul-de-sac location. Patio & yard are large enough to entertain, but small enough to maintain…just enough gardening to satisfy your green thumb. HOA maintains front yard in this gated senior community.

Good news for the luxury home market! “Amenity-laden properties at the top of the market continue to command just as lofty prices” according to a Forbes article this week. 

“Two of last year’s homes [from their most expensive home list] have been sold–no small feat in a down economy. But neither commanded anything near their sky-high asking prices. The massive Bel Air mansion Le Belvedere, which went on the market in early 2009, was quickly reduced from $85 million to $72 million. The discount worked: It is currently in the escrow stage of a sale for an undisclosed price.”

While most of us are not looking to buy or sell triple-digit million dollar homes, luxury homes are beginning to sell again in our area too. As a member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, I posses the skills and experience necessary to sell your luxury home or help you buy the home of your dreams.

At the very least, it is always fun to look at the fanciest home in America

This new technology allows me to showcase your home online by creating a website exclusively for your property. This site includes all the information about your home as well as virtual tours and aerial views (and is even smart phone friendly!).

It also allows me to utilize mobile technology giving potential buyers quick and easy access to the property information 24 hours a day from any mobile phone. Buyers can simply text for more property information from the comfort of their cars, while sitting right outside your house. A rider attached to the For Sale sign provides easy-to-follow texting directions as well as the website information for your home. The buyer immediately receives information about your house and I, as your Realtor, receive their phone number allowing me to call and follow up with them.

Additionally, I promote your house on my personal website as well as on many other real estate sites, ranging from Craig’s List to Trulia and everywhere in between.

You know you want to try it…

TEXT “28518″ to 79564

VISIT http://1213DarlingWay.epropertysites.com/

…and let me know what you think.

This graph shows homes for sale, sold and pending in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado Counties from October 2009 to March 2010. It tells us a few things:

-Winter was slow! Home sales in January and February were down.

-Inventory is up! This is great for buyers who can take advantage of the large inventory.

-The Spring is here! Pending home sales are way up (yes, homes are selling!) as are sold homes.

All signs are pointing to an ending of the cold real estate winter. Bring on the Spring!

The graph to the right shows the average price at which homes were listed and the price at which they actually sold. Again, it is a combined average for Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado Counties.

While the listing price for homes is decreasing, the average price at which they are being sold is staying stable. It seems people are starting to realize pricing your home to sell reduces the time it sits on the market. Even as the inventory is increasing, prices are staying stable. This is a good sign for sellers!

Let’s agree to leave the harsh winter in the past and embrace the warmth of the coming Spring. It still may be a good year for real estate after all :)

I’ve lost track of the number of homes I’ve shown that were littered with dirty laundry, coated in dust you could write your name in, and were odoriferous nightmares! Not surprisingly, these homes rarely sell…sadly, many of these homes become yet another foreclosure statistic. The inventory is simply too high right now not to stage your home to sell. If buyers don’t like your home, there are plenty more for them to choose from…so why not take a few extra steps to ensure that your home shows better than any of the other comparable homes on the market?

Staging your home to sell is very different than decorating your home to live in. When you stage your home to sell, you depersonalize the home so that potential buyers can envision themselves living in the home. When you decorate the home, you do the exact opposite, you personalize it! Staging really does make a difference…whether you’re living in Granite Bay, Folsom or El Dorado Hills; whether you’re working on a shoestring budget or have unlimited resources; whether you have an eye for color or not, if you are considering selling your home, staging it will make a difference!

Take for example, some clients of mine who tried to sell their home off and on for several years. They had children at home and really didn’t want to disrupt their “world,” so they made the decision to list their home “as is,” hoping to sell it “as is!” Not surprisingly, the home didn’t sell…it was listed three times prior to my meeting with them. Over the course of the last three listings, they came to realize that they were disrupting their children’s world more by having potential buyers traipse through their home on a regular basis only to be told once again that the home “didn’t suit their tastes” or “didn’t meet their needs,” or “didn’t work with their décor.” They agreed to give staging a try, and they diligently followed all of my advice and the advice of Mary Tcarzy, a professional stager that I work with often. They painted walls, moved furniture, packed boxes, moved unnecessary furniture and toys to a storage unit…they even cleaned and painted the inside of their garage! Guess what? Their home sold after being on the market for less than a week…it helped that it was priced right, too!

If you’re considering listing your home, I’d love the opportunity to meet with you and discuss how we can sell it! Staging just might be the answer you’re looking for.

State lawmakers approved the bill late last week. The bill, SB 401, by Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis), bans state taxes on up to $500,000 in forgiven mortgage debt and also prevents the state from taxing federal stimulus funds as additional business income when steered to renewable energy firms.

The state Franchise Tax Board estimates approximately 100,000 Californians will be spared from $34 million in state taxes through 2012 as a result of the new law.

The tax relief plan only applies to people who lost homes in which they actually lived. According to the Franchise Tax Board, investors are not beneficiaries of the tax break and still must pay state taxes on the forgiven debt. State officials say qualified taxpayers don’t have to do anything to get the tax break. Those who qualify for federal relief will automatically get the state relief.