10 Reasons to Sell Your House This Holiday

Thinking of selling your home, but planning to wait until spring? There are many reasons to list your home now! Watch this video…

reasons-to-sell-your-house

12418 64th Ave E, Puyallup, WA 98373

18

$212,900

3 bedrooms; 2.25 bathrooms; 1,572 square feet

Stylish and Turn-Key! You will love this bright and beautiful home that features tall and vaulted ceilings, open floor plan, crown molding, chair rails, wide base molding, loft, huge coat/storage closet and walk-in pantry. Stay cozy using the gas stove and fireplace. You’ll also enjoy the large, private, fully-fenced patio that backs to a wooded area. HOA dues cover maintenance of common areas, front yard landscaping, sprinklers, roof, siding and exterior paint; park, playground, athletic court and HOA insurance.

Sold 3/24/17

Real Estate Pros Divulge Top Design Features

Only a Realtor

BUILDER recently asked real estate professionals to share their thoughts about the top design trends their clients are currently requesting. Here are some of the top design trends that real estate pros said are in demand:

  • Open layouts
  • Neutral color schemes
  • Multigenerational floor plans
  • First-floor master suites
  • No dining rooms
  • White kitchens
  • Extra-large garages
  • Big closets
  • Finished basements with 9-foot high ceilings
  • Barn sliding doors

Source: “REALTORS®’ Most In-Demand Design Trends,” BUILDER and “15 Things REALTORS® Want Builders to Know,” BUILDER

6 Fall Advantages for Buyers

With warm temperatures and long days, summer has traditionally been the high season for buying real estate. However, as the infographic below shows, advantages for buyers crop up when temperatures fall!

Infographic2

4 Considerations When Updating Appliances

appliances

Nothing lasts forever – including the “vintage” stove that came with your adorable fixer-upper or the washing machine your parents gave you when they decided to downgrade. When it’s time to replace the appliances in your home, here are four considerations to keep in mind.

  1. Repairing vs. replacing

Sometimes an appliance is so far gone (smoke is often a sign) that repairing it is not an option. And if the estimate for a repair is more than half the price of a new (or great, used) machine, Consumer Reports says you’re better off buying.

  1. Classified ads

There are several reasons someone may be selling a perfectly good appliance. They may be moving to a smaller home. They may need a bigger, more powerful version. They may no longer be able to resist the lure of a fridge with a smart panel that tells their phone when they’re out of eggs. Appliance repair pros tell Angie’s List that newer appliances tend to have about half the life span of past models, so just because a machine is a few years old, it doesn’t mean it’s time for it to go.

  1. New, but not perfect

Ads may insist Labor Day weekend (and then Veteran’s Day, and then the next holiday, etc.) is the very best time to find deals on appliances, but if you don’t mind a cosmetic blemish or two, you can find deals year-round. Many big box and furniture stores and outlets have “scratch-and-dent” sections where you can find significant discounts.

  1. Refurbished shops

Some stores specialize in repaired appliances. They often come with delivery and service offers. If you can, bring a pro (or at least a handy person) with you when you shop to take a look. If the store doesn’t know a machine’s age, you can look it up by serial number here: http://www.appliance411.com.

Is it time to upgrade your home as well as appliances? I’ll be happy to help!

November 2016 RE/MAX National Housing Report

novembernhr

Last month saw the second-most sales – and the smallest inventory – of any October in the 9-year history of the RE/MAX National Housing Report. Add to that combination the highest year-over-year price increase of 2016 thus far: 8.3%.

Although posting near-record sales, this October finished 1% below October 2015 sales, which posted the highest of any October dating back to 2008. Sales declined year-over-year in 28 of the 53 markets surveyed, including many New England markets.

Read the full article in RE/MAX’s Newsroom…

Watch the short video on YouTube…

Virtual Reality in Real Estate

virtual-reality

The day many tech lovers have been waiting for is here: Google Daydream View is now available in stores. The new virtual reality headset connects with a smartphone (specifically, Google Pixel) to immerse users in their favorite games, movies or even the latest news story. And at just $79, Daydream is making VR technology more accessible to consumers than ever before.

But the uses of virtual reality technology go beyond entertainment. Here are a few ways VR is making its way into real estate.

1. Open houses

Virtual reality headsets, about the size of a scuba mask, can provide 360-degree virtual reality property tours of homes. The headsets completely fill the user’s field of vision with a view of the home, allowing them to look up, down and from side to side. Developers are working on adding more tactile features to the experience, so users can do things like see their own hand opening a door, reports the New York Times.They’re even developing smells. One day Realtors might be able to add the smell of virtually baking cookies to their virtual open house.

2. Long-distance shopping

Virtual reality home tours give out-of-town buyers (and local buyers, too) another tool to help narrow down their choices of homes they’d like to physically visit in a limited amount of time.

3. Staging

More affordable than hiring a pro to stage your home, several virtual options allow you to add furniture and decorations to vacant rooms using computer technology. It can help buyers envision a property with different furniture and paint.

There’s a lot more to a real estate transaction than VR goggles can replace. When you’re ready to buy or sell your home, I’ll be happy to help!

RE/MAX is Now 110,000 Agents Strong

110-thousand-agents

When something’s great, people want to be part of it. And that’s why more than 110,000 agents now call RE/MAX home.

The global network, in over 100 countries and territories, has grown every quarter for four straight years. That growth means more yard signs, more homes sold, more satisfied clients and more top professionals working together to serve buyers and sellers.

It’s another reminder that RE/MAX is the right choice for agents who strive to be great – and for clients looking to work with the best.

6 Essential Steps for Selling a Home With Pets

Dog

We love our pets, whether they be dogs, cats, hamsters, capybaras, hedgehogs, or pygmy goats—but that doesn’t mean that they want to see said pets (or any evidence of them) when looking at a home they’re thinking of buying.

“Pets are either an attractive distraction, so cute they distract prospective buyers from looking at the real estate, or completely the opposite—smelly, frightening, or otherwise off-putting,” says Diane Saatchi, an East Hampton, NY, real estate broker with Saunders & Associates.

Don’t want your precious property to be known as “that dog house”? Well, you need to pet-proof your place when preparing and showing it for sale. Here’s how, in six simple steps.