Here’s an interesting article from CNNMoney.com where Les Christie considers the "5 Home Trends We Never Saw Coming". http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/05/real_estate/home_trends_we_never_saw/index.htm My first take on the article was to wonder how Christie missed America’s obsession with garages. We have gone from off-street parking to 3 car garages with room for an RV. Where do we go from here? Well, it looks like we’re going up… scale "with cabinet and storage systems, matching refrigerators, air conditioning and residential looking flooring". The one that surprised me was the snoring room. I had to wonder why we haven’t come up with this idea already. Although I’m not sure I would want it too close to the master suite. The source of these ideas is a survey of 923 real estate agents, so it would be interesting to see their demographics. As far as "what’s out", spiral staircases, bamboo floors and hardwood laminate flooring have topped the list. It will be interesting to see how many of these trends continue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hang out in the garage...

Deanna

What do women want? Listen up guys I’m about to tell you.

Personality and charm.

OK, don’t worry, I’m not talking about you (for now), I’m talking about your home.

According to a "Better Homes and Gardens" article about the 2006 International Builders’ Show women are passing by the cookie-cutter designs for personalized space. The reason why this is so important is because the article says that 85 percent of home buying decisions are made by women. Women have spoken and they want their kitchens and master baths to fit their personality and needs.

I, as a woman, would say that this is probably a pretty accurate assessment. So, hey, with 85% of the decision based on the woman’s opinion you might want to hide the neon signs and play station down in Manland until you’re done showing your home.

Deanna here... OK, I got the "From A-Z" idea off a different blog, but imitation is a form of flattery, right? OK, here goes a selling by owner version of "From A-Z":

A - Appraisal: This is something to seriously consider to make the process of selling your home as smooth as possible. It will not only give you an unbiased value to help with pricing, but it shows buyers you can be taken seriously.

B - Beware of Signing Documents: There are a lot of good people out there, but we recommend you have legal counsel to make sure nothing comes as a surprise after the house is sold.

C - Comparable Prices: We recommend that you get these values from a title company. Agents have a motive for how they use comps to come up with a price, whereas a title company will just give you raw information to review yourself.

D - Diligence: Selling by owner will save you money, but it does take effort to follow up with people and make a sale..

E - Exposure: The three main variables in selling a home are timing, price, and EXPOSURE. Make sure you are letting people know about your home!

F - Facts: When you're selling your home, suddenly everybody is a real estate expert. Make sure you're getting the facts from people who are experts in their field.

G - Guest Registry: Not only do you have a record of visitors for safety reasons, but you also have a list of interested buyers to follow up with.

H - Home Inspection: This, like an appraisal, is also a helpful tool to keep things running smoothly and to show the buyer you're serious.

I - Interest of Buyers: It can be tricky to judge the interest of buyers as the homeowner because they won't want to hurt your feelings when viewing the home. With a third party buyers will be much more candid. The best clues are return visits and continual contacts.

J - Jumping the Gun: Remember that the house is not sold until the closing papers are signed. It's a good idea to take back-up offers or at least keep names and phone numbers of interested buyers in case something happens to the sale.

K - Know Your Options: Don't let any real estate professionals pressure you into anything. Remember you have a team of experts who are working with you and they are responsible for knowing the logistics.

L - Lenders: Lenders are always willing to help home sellers because it keeps them in contact with buyers who need loans. Check out this resource to see what they can do for you.

M - Market Time: Remember to consider the average market time for the area. If you underestimate the amount of time it will take to sell a house you will be easily frustrated.

N - Newspaper Ad: Get your home in the newspaper. Now that classifieds are online it opens you up to buyers from anywhere in the world.

O - Open House: When selling by owner it's important that your open houses be done differently than a real estate agent style open house.  Attend one of our free workshops to learn more.

P - Paperwork: This can be intimidating. Don't worry, there are different experts who can walk you through the whole process.

Q - Questions: It's OK to ask questions! Never be afraid to ask.

R - Return Your Phone Calls: This sounds obvious, but many people expect the buyer to persist. Buyers will move on after running into the slightest trouble.

S - Sanity: A house is a huge transaction. If you are selling it under any outside pressure (e.g. you are making two house payments, you need the money) problems can seem much larger. Sometimes this stress will affect your ability to do your part of the transaction. It is important to know when it is time to hand off some responsibility.

T - Team of Experts: When selling by owner, you are in charge of two things. Knowing your home and hiring a team of experts who will take care of the rest.

U - Understand Your Buyer: Remember that your buyer wants to get the most for their dollar. This is the biggest purchase most people will make so they WILL do their research and know what to expect in their price range.

V - Viewing: When prospective buyers do come to view your home it's good to declutter to make it look more spacious. You will also want your home to be as light and bright as possible. You want them to picture themselves at home there..

W - Wait: Sometimes there is nothing left to do but wait for the right buyer. Remember the 'M' for market time.

X - X Factor: You were wondering what I was going to say for 'X', weren't you? Each house has a huge selling factor (e.g. great view, huge shop, original woodwork, etc.). You need to find out the 'X' factor for your home and really show it off.

Y - Yard Sign: Although a yard sign can not advertise to people in other communities, it is one of the biggest advertisers you will have... especially in high traffic areas and on sunny, Sunday afternoons.

Z - Zeal: One of our customers describes this best in an email, "Love your home so much that you don't want to sell it. (Believe me, that spirit comes through to the potential Buyer)."

I (Deanna) edit thousands of photos. I have to admit that I like a challenge when it comes to making a photo look good. There are some, however, that I can't do much for. Probably the most important factor for a great photo happens before it gets loaded onto the computer. Whether or not you have a wide angle lens on your camera will make a huge difference.  Any easy way to tell if your photo shows enough, is to see if it shows three walls of the room.  

Check out these two photos. They're both taken from the same position, one with a wide angle lens (10-20mm lens set at 10mm), one without (18-55mm lens set at 24mm, still a bit of a wide angle). Remember, furniture adds perspective to a real estate photo, but it should not be the highlight of the scene. Buyers will want to see the size of windows, cathedral ceilings, doorway arches, etc. The only way to get an overall feel of the whole room is to... well... get the whole room in the photo.

Hey everybody! This is Deanna and I work in the office here at Spokanebyowner. I field a ton of questions and listen to worn out homesellers. Selling your home can be so tiring if you're not ready for choices you have to make. I opened Yahoo today and the main article (other than the one about pumpkin eating hippos???) was "Home prices plunge by most in 35 years". http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061026/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy Now, how credible is a news source that lumps an article projecting a potential national recession due to real estate with pumpkin eating hippos?... well, that's an entry for some other blog. Anyway, the problem is that houses aren't selling like they were last year. Now the key to that last sentence is, "...like they were last year". Houses are still selling. The problem is that you only get to choose one: quick market time or high selling price. Of course everybody wants to sell their home for top dollar in one week, but our experience here says that, without divine intervention, you either get to sell your home quickly at a lower price (at the lower end of your appraised value range) or you'll have to wait awhile for a specific buyer who is willing to pay a higher price because your house is "the one". With average market times getting longer, buyers have a lot more time to consider your home and make sure there isn't another one just like yours for a lower price.

Hi everyone, this is Ron McIntire, the President of spokanebyowner.com. I am excited to write the first blog associated with our web site and the services of spokanebyowner.com By starting this blog I am hoping to accomplish open discussion about the process of selling a home by owner, the benefits of selling a home by owner, and the issues surrounding selling a home. I am also a real estate investor so I plan to use this blog as a means to monitor and convey the factual status of the real estate market in Spokane without the slanted opinions which may come from various special interests. This week, I would like to begin the discussion on the topic of pricing a home. How do you go about getting a "fair" asking price on a home that is going to bring you a qualified offer within your given time frame? When an agent tells you how much they would price your home at, is that something you can really trust as accurate? Is it wise to ask more for the house than it is really worth, expecting a buyer to offer you less money? Can you get as much for your property as a real estate agent would? Can you sell it as quickly using your own for sale by owner marketing as an agent could? I have some definite "opinions" on these questions and more, but first let's see what you think. If you have some more questions or points to ponder, please post them and everyone interested in this discussion is welcome to participate. But first, one rule, I would like to implement for this forum and that is, the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. With that said, I look forward to hearing from everyone, and hope that this undertaking of beginning a blog is beneficial to all home sellers, home purchasers, real estate investors, our employees, and the customers of spokanebyowner.com. Ron