What sets apart the best real estate agents in Jacksonville?

The best real estate agents in Jacksonville know selling a home is an art form just like a great painter it involves many skills that only come with experience and constant training. The fundamentals are easy, sign listing, place yard sign, enter data in multiple listing service, but how these things are done is the difference between 90+ days on the market with a low ball offer or solid offers in the first couple of weeks.

Think of selling a home like a grand opening to a new restaurant…anyone who knows how to cook can start a restaurant but as anyone familiar with business knows this industry has the highest failure rate. To succeed takes months of preparation before the doors are even open, and you have one chance to wow you customers and critics. Consider walking into a new restaurant and there are no chairs, that’s kind of like listing a home with no photos or proper staging. The people who have been waiting for you to open are going to walk right back out and move on to their new favorite spot down the road.

Enough with the restaurant analogies, I think you get the point. After selling homes for over a decade I have put together a step by step program that gets the best results and most of the best real estate agents in Jacksonville have their own marketing plans and that’s what makes them the best. In my opinion the home is sold before the listing ever hits the market, my average prelisting time period is one and half weeks. During this time a strategy is put into place to prepare the home for its “grand opening”. Often a home stager is utilized to best place furniture and make color recommendations, minor repairs are address and professional photography is done. Social media is a buzz with an impending new home listing. Blog posts are written, virtual tours are created and inviting descriptions are brought to life. During the first 2 weeks of the home hitting the market the element of surprise is on the sellers side, buyers are wowed by the impressive performance during their first “online showing” they are compelled to make an appointment for their actual second home tour, please note I said their first showing was online…home buyers eliminate hundreds of home by their online appearance and never come to view the actual property making it a case in point that the actual first “showing” is online. Once the flood of buyers rush in the excitement of this new prospect overwhelms them and they are unsure of how the competition will react prompting them to make larger than usual offers, often leading to multiple offer situations. After the first two weeks the buyers start to realize this property may not be worth the asking price or question why it hasn’t sold and are under much less pressure to outbid other buyers.

In closing I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to make that first impression absolutely perfect because once the home is on the market your clock has started and buyers buy or move on. If you are looking for the best real estate agents in Jacksonville be sure to see if they have a step by step plan to market your home, and don’t be in a hurry to get the home on the market before it is 100% ready for buyers, it will sell soon enough and for more money!

Feds to continue single-family bulk sales

WASHINGTON – Nov. 2, 2012 – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that it was “encouraged by the results of Fannie Mae’s first Real Estate Owned (REO) pilot transactions and remains committed to pursuing efforts that build upon the success of this initiative.”

The program is controversial. Florida Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) have objected. In many communities, demand for foreclosure properties outweighs supply.

“Today’s real estate market is very different than it was when FHFA started this project,” says Florida Realtors’ Senior Vice President of Public Policy John Sebree. “Market dynamics have shifted dramatically, and few people still believe a bulk sale program is needed. REO time on market is very short, prices are increasing in most areas of Florida, and demand is up nationwide.”

NAR now believes FHFA’s bulk sale program is “a total waste,” Sebree adds. “NAR is doing its best to make sure the program does not go forward.”

In addition to Florida, the California Association of Realtors has strongly objected to the bulk sale program. It filed a Freedom of Information Act request in August to find out more details but hasn’t had a response yet.

Sebree says he expects more discussions with NAR and other major players next week at the National Association of Realtors Conference and Expo in Orlando.

In addition to the 699 Florida properties to Pacifica Companies LLC, the first round of bulk single-family home sales included 94 properties in Chicago purchased by The Cogsville Group; and 970 properties in California, Arizona and Nevada bought by Colony Capital. FHFA also listed properties in Atlanta that did not attract a buyer.

While FHFA seems to be considering new bulk REO sales to investors, it has not yet announced any packages. For updates on Fannie Mae properties, visit its HomePath information webpage.

For more information on the completed deals, visit HomePath’s sale history webpage.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Jacksonville Fl is the place to be

Rob Burns, real estate agent in Jacksonville Florida wants to show you why so many people are choosing Jacksonville.

The Importance of Pictures on Your Real Estate Listings

Top 10 Home Improvement Myths

Not all home improvements are created equal. Even in a seller’s market, it’s important that homeowners make the right investments that will yield higher returns. As you guide your clients toward a profitable sale, make sure you’re an expert on the top 10 home improvement myths so you can prevent your clients from believing them.
Father’s Day is next week, and Dad is sure to get a few tools or gift certificates to a home improvement store that he’ll be itching to use.

Top 10 Home Improvement Myths

1. Any remodeling project will add value to your home.
While many remodeling projects will add value to a home, some can be seen as a negative by future buyers. For instance, combining two smaller bedrooms to create one larger bedroom may better fit one homeowner’s lifestyle today, but it may cause the home to lose value in the eyes of a future buyer who needs the two separate rooms.

2. Buying the highest-quality materials attracts more buyers.
Installing high-end materials may seem like a wise decision, but it can backfire. For instance, using the most expensive tile in a bathroom may create an impressive appearance, but value-conscious buyers may opt for a more affordable home if the seller has over-improved compared to others in the neighborhood.

3. Adding square footage always adds value.
A better way to think about this statement is to insert the word useable into the sentence. Finished attics and basements – even if considered liveable by local standards – may not be attractive to a buyer if they are not finished to the same standards as the rest of the home.

4. Colors and textures – safe and simple is better.
Keeping a home “vanilla” so buyers can choose their own style and décor might be a safe bet, but it ignores the fact that most buyers just don’t have the ability to visualize the home differently. Without splashes of color and mixtures of texture, sellers can lose value to others that have taken the time to consult with an interior designer.

5. Inside improvements are better than outside improvements.
Not necessarily. If a home’s exterior has been neglected or doesn’t offer a good curb appeal, a buyer might stop there – and then the seller’s efforts on on the inside may not net them any more dollars. To get the biggest bang for their remodeling buck, sellers should start from the outside and work their way in.

6. Adding a bedroom is better than adding a bathroom.
It depends on the starting point. If a seller only has one or two bedrooms to start with, adding a bedroom before adding a second bath is probably a wise choice since most buyers are more attracted to three-bedroom homes. On the other hand, if the home already has three bedrooms and only one bath, the sellers’s next investment should probably be in a new bathroom.

7. Paint hides a multitude of sins.
Dry rot? Fungus damage? Mold problems? Carpenter ants? Termite issues? Nothing a can of paint can’t fix, right? Wrong! Not only does this practice violate disclosure laws in most states, it can set sellers up for liability after the sale, as most buyers will want the sellers to foot the bill for these hidden issues.

8. Converting a garage to living space is a great trade-off.
Nope. A garage conversion is almost always viewed negatively by future home buyers unless the sellers replace the lost garage with another parking and storage space of equal size.

9. Sellers can save money by doing improvements themselves.
For some homeowners, wiring a new lighting fixture or plumbing a new dishwasher is a no-brainer, but for others it may end up costing more later if they have to have the work redone by a professional. Another consideration is local and state laws regarding remodeling work: In many states if a buyer has purchased a home to remodel and resell, they must either hold a contractor’s license or hire a contractor to do the work for them.

10. Pools add value to your home.
This is only true in areas where pools are must-have amenities. In most areas of the country, pools have more limited appeal – and the idea of maintaining a pool for ten months out of the year when it can’t be enjoyed won’t appeal to most buyers.
Knowing these top home-improvement myths will allow you to help your seller clients choose the right remodeling projects. But don’t stop there. To keep your pulse on the amenities that are coveted most in your market, talk to local remodeling professionals, contractors, and home-improvement specialists on a regular basis.

http://www.jacksonvillerealestate.com

Jacksonville Forida Real Estate Agents In Kernan Forest

Posted on February 29, 2012 by JacksonvillesRealtor

Rob Burns and Dawn Niermann both real estate agents with Prudential Network Realty have teamed up to focus their efforts on the Kernan Forest community located off of North Kernan Blvd in East Arlington area of Jacksonville Florida. If you are looking for a great team to sell your home call Rob and Dawn today for a no obligation market evaluation. Get your current home value in the Jacksonville area