A Kitchen Makeover Pays When Selling Your Home

Making a few affordable changes to your kitchen can really pay off in the long run - especially if you are planning on selling your home. You don't always need to pay for an expensive remodeling project in order to transform the look of your house, and making some changes here and there can make your kitchen much more appealing to prospective buyers. In fact, with the right know-how and a little determination, you could increase the value of your property just by making a few small changes.

Here are a few things to start with - remember, it's always best to de-clutter the kitchen area if you expecting people to view your property, so take some time to clear countertops and hide any appliances. One of the biggest mistakes sellers make is leaving their kitchens in an untidy state. It may be an inconvenience, but taking a few hours to tidy your kitchen can really make your home more attractive to prospective buyers.

Take a look around the kitchen and see what you can pop into a cupboard or a drawer - or even throw away completely. The less clutter, the better, especially as buyers like to visualize their own belongings on countertops and shelves.

Remove any pots and pans that hang low from walls or ceilings, and patch up any holes that are left behind. Unless you are sure that the decor in your kitchen doesn't block a view, it's probably best to take it down.

Spend some time cleaning down countertops and other areas of the kitchen. This point may sound obvious, but you'll be surprised how many people forget to do this before a buyer visits their property. Pay attention to any stains around the kitchen - remember, a little care and attention can really go a long way.

A rolling butcher block island can provide you with some extra working space and can enhance the look of your kitchen. You may even want to really impress buyers who visit your home by leaving out a plate of freshly-baked cookies along with flyers for an open house visit.

Light is really important when selling your home - especially in your kitchen. Pendant lighting can be a cost-effective way to enhance the look of your kitchen, and will help to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Changing your flooring can also be a great way to increase the chances of getting your property sold - especially if the floor looks worn or damaged. Inexpensive contemporary flooring can instantly transform your kitchen, and could even increase the value of your property.

Other small modifications you can make to your kitchen include adding some greenery to the interior space, especially potted plants and fresh herbs. They will add a pleasant odor to the kitchen, as well as a vibrant splash of color.

Clean any kitchen appliances that have seen better days, and replace any broken appliances if you are selling the home "as is".


They say the kitchen is the most important room of the home - so care should be taken to keep it clean and looking contemporary, especially if you want to increase the value of your property.

The Benefits of Using a Flat Fee MLS Service

     Flat fee MLS is a practice in the real estate field whereby pertinent information regarding a particular property is placed in the database of a local Multiple Listing Service at a particular fee, contrary to the traditional method where a commission is charged based on the sale price of the property. This is basically an agreement in which the broker will enter a property into the MLS and he or she will be paid a flat fee for that service. It saves property owners the burden of buying a large package of services from a real estate agent, some of which may not be contributory to the sale. There are four basic services that a traditional agent will offer. Once they are bypassed, they all turn out to be advantageous to the property owner because it means spending less while getting the same or even better services. If you are stressed about the amount you will be paying an agent to sell your property, it is time you realized there is a better option. Consider the following advantages of adopting the flat fee MLS:

You do the pre-market preparation yourself

This is one of the basic services that you are buying whenever you opt to sell your property through an agent. The flat fee MLS, however, gives you the opportunity of doing pre-market preparations yourself. This means you can even give your home a better look because you want a better value compared to an agent who is out to get a fee and move to the next client. This preparation entails making a few fixes, staging and taking photographs. Taking photographs and staging is not a daunting task, and nobody knows the best spots of your house better than you! Most of the resources needed are readily available over the internet, some of which are step-by-step guides explaining how you will best prepare a property for sale

. 

It expands your market/showing 

The real estate market has transformed dramatically due to internet marketing. Once your property has been placed on the local MLS service, it means that it will definitely appear on the main real estate sites. The reduced commissions also means that better commissions will be offered to the buyer’s agent, which actually completes the legwork halfway for you. You may now opt for additional marketing strategies such as placement of a signage and sending word to your social networks. You can do this yourself or agree with a broker on a flat fee. The ultimate end is that your property will meet an expanded market reach.

It is less risky

Selling your property through the traditional agency actually means entrusting your entire home to the hands of an agent. When you do it yourself, however, it is an opportunity to stand in charge of the entire process, which reduces the risks that are involved. With such control, it is obvious that any benefit from the buyer’s agent will get to your directly while in the other case, they might be siphoned along the way if the agent is a dubious one.

You make substantial savings 

A good amount of money is saved when you decide to sell the property yourself. If you were selling property worth $400, 000 for instance, you will pay a commission of $24,000 to the agent when standard rates are applied. This is exclusive of the buyer’s agent whom you will also pay a commission of 3%. When using the flat fee MLS service on the other hand, it will only take you hundreds of dollars to have the property listed on MLS. You will then be required to pay a commission of 3% if your buyer was using a real estate agent. In the end, you will find yourself saving a whopping $12,000 or even more.

In summary, with the revolution of internet marketing there isn’t so much of a need to use real estate agents across the entire sale process. Take a bold step and research the real estate companies that lie within your area. We invite you to compare flat fee real estate companies as well. We are confident you will find that House Connect offers more services at a better price to help you save potentially thousands of dollars on your real estate transaction.

We also offer plenty of Atlanta real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well. We’re constantly posting Atlanta market tips, real estate trends, and home selling pointers to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

House Connect is an Atlanta flat fee MLS listing company offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a discount realty service which saves Atlanta home sellers thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate brokerage.

To find out more about our flat fee MLS listing service that can save you thousands of dollars versus a traditional real estate brokerage, call us today or visit us online & “let’s get moving!” 770.640.6800 www.houseconnectnow.com

* * A transaction fee of .005 x the sales price will be paid at closing.

The WILLS & WON'TS of Discount Realty

One of the biggest questions we run into in our flat fee MLS listing agency is: how are you different than listing with a traditional Atlanta real estate company? Here’s a rundown of what we WILL & WON’T do for our clients for a low flat fee, so that YOU can decide what’s best for your real estate needs.

1. We WON’T Price Your House:

In a traditional real estate sale the listing agent gets paid a percentage of the sales price (typically between 3-6%), so his/her paycheck relies on the sales price of your home. This may lead to a nonobjective view of what your sales price should be. With a discount realty service, such as House Connect, you pay a flat fee of $499* up front no matter the price of your house. This way, YOU get to decide what’s best for your budget. And remember, you don’t have to worry about covering that high percentage payday for the agent.

   We WILL Help You Price Your House:

What we WILL do for you is give you a free comparative market analysis (CMA) of similar houses in your area so that you can make an informed decision of what a comparable price may be. Only you know the details of your finances; you should ultimately decide whether to price your home competitively or not, but at least you’ll be educated on what your competition is doing.

2.  We WON’T Make Flyers:

At House Connect, we consider ourselves technologically advanced & eco-friendly. We use e-sign & e-files for our docs & choose to use online promotion rather than printed marketing flyers.

 We WILL Post Your Listing On Social Media:

We still put visuals out there. Photos of your listing will be published on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, TwitPic, Google+, LinkedIn, Flickr….you get the point. We’re betting this gives you more exposure than some papers in a box outside your house…just sayin’.

3. We WON’T Hold An Open House:

Our unofficial motto at House Connect is that we’re the listing company for the savvy seller. No one knows your house or availability as well as you. We believe you are perfectly capable of organizing your home, charming potential buyers, and serving hors d’oeuvres if you so wish.

 We Will PROMOTE An Open House:

That being said, we are definitely NOT anti-open house! If you want to organize a day when you’d like buyers to tour the house more informally than individual showings just let us know the deets! We will gladly post it on both Multiple Listing Services, syndicate it to 100+ real estate websites AND post it on all of our social media platforms (see #2 above).

4. We WON’T Take Pics for You:

Look at this as a GOOD thing. How many times do you retake pics of yourself until they’re perfect? Now you can do the same with your house. Get the right angle, clean the house first, hide the clutter in closets momentarily, put the dog in the cage for a bit, wait until sunset to snap that perfect patio view…you get to be the Annie Leibovitz of your real estate, so take some pride in it…or don’t, we’re not judging.

 We WILL rearrange/add/update Your Pics:

If you decide you don’t like what you’ve given us & want to hire a professional or wait until you’ve cleaned a bit, we’ll gladly update your pics as you send them to us. That goes for your entire listing. If you want to hire John Grisham to write your public remarks, send them over & we’ll update! This is YOUR real estate transaction & we believe YOU should be in control.

We also offer plenty of Atlanta real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well. We’re constantly posting Atlanta market tips, real estate trends, and home selling pointers to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

House Connect is an Atlanta flat fee MLS listing company offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a discount realty service which saves Atlanta home sellers thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate brokerage.

To find out more about our flat fee MLS listing service that can save you thousands of dollars versus a traditional real estate brokerage, call us today or visit us online & “let’s get moving!” 770.640.6800 www.houseconnectnow.com

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

* * A transaction fee of .005 x the sales price will be paid at closing.

Why We Love Atlanta Real Estate (And You Should Too)!

     Whether you’re buying or selling real estate, a positive location rating is never bad news; obviously you would prefer to move to a top notch city & so would your potential buyers. Here are just a few of the many reasons working with Atlanta real estate makes our job easy.

 We’re (still) growing!

While Atlanta is definitely not a newly emerging metropolis, we’re still gaining steam. Our above average median pay, above average population growth, & below average unemployment rate ranked us #12 in Forbes’ recent America’s Fastest Growing Cities 2014 list. Not to mention, our impressive new MLB & NFL stadiums currently in the works.

We’re improving!

Despite the slight winter fiasco endured on our interstates, Atlanta is still ranked one of the best in public transit. Also, our ongoing greenspace/multi-path initiatives have garnered national recognition with no signs of stopping.

 We’re financially secure!

Polifact.com recently fact-checked Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reeds’ public claims to superior GDP & found that Atlanta indeed is 17^th in the union in terms of annual gross domestic product (GDP) with 11 Fortune 500 companies in the region; only NYC & Houston claim more.

  We’re trendy!

We’re constantly headlining on national public opinion polls, most recently as the hub for the #4 National Arena, #1 Most Trusted American Builder, and #3 Best City of 2013. Right on!

House Connect is an Atlanta flat fee MLS listing company offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a discount realty service which saves Atlanta home sellers thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate brokerage.

To find out more about our flat fee MLS listing service that can save you thousands of dollars versus a traditional real estate brokerage, call us today or visit us online & “let’s get moving!” 770.640.6800 www.houseconnectnow.com

We also offer plenty of Atlanta real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well. We’re constantly posting Atlanta market tips, real estate trends, and home selling pointers to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

* * A transaction fee of .005 x the sales price will be paid at closing.

What Is A Flat FEE MLS Listing Service?

Flat fee MLS, is an online listing service, allowing a home owner who is getting ready to sell their home, the opportunity to get it sold, and save thousands of dollars in realtor fees.

What Flat Fee MLS provides -
A flat fee MLS service provider, places the seller's home on an online market, and helps the owners sell their home quickly. A multiple listing service (MLS), is an online site where realtors place homes they are selling for clients; as a home owner, using the flat fee sites, you can skip the middleman, and have the online directory, place your home on the market.

What services are included? -
This depends on your market, and the flat fee company that you choose to list your property through. All companies will list your home, on their online directory, along with other homes in the area the home is being sold in. Additional services, which some listing companies provide include:
- Yard signs, which include the seller's phone number.
- Supra Lockbox on the property
- Negotiation of offers (if desired)
Although not all flat fee MLS companies offer these services, House Connect does. Depending on the price you pay for listing your home on their site, some or all of these services, may be included in the flat rate.

Advantages of using these MLS sites -
One of the biggest advantages of using these listing services, is that your home is going to be placed on the same exact directory and online site, as homes which are being sold by a traditional realtor. If you want your home to sell, it has to be listed on an MLS site; therefore, listing with a top flat fee company, is something the home owners should do, if they want more exposure, and want their home to get sold, in less time.

Another benefit is the fact that you truly save on the cost of listing. Most realtors charge 6% (or higher), for the sale; on a $400,000 home, you are basically losing out $24,000 in fees you pay a realtor. Commissions of 3% and higher are generally charged on top of this listing fee; that means, an additional $12,000 is going to the realtor. Also, other fees and costs might also be required, prior to a real estate agency listing and selling your home. Using a flat fee MLS, you avoid these huge costs, and you simply pay a flat fee, to have your home listed on a major online database, allowing prospective buyers to see the home.

With a flat fee MLS service, you are going to cut out a great deal of expenses, which are associated with selling a home. By cutting out the middleman, you keep more of the profits, when your home is sold. And, for a flat fee, all the listing work is done for you, meaning you do not have to worry about going out there and marketing the home, through several other sources online and locally.

4 New Year's Resolutions for the 2014 Atlanta Home Seller

    

 Since one of our most popular blog posts last year was our New Year Resolutions for Home Sellers, I decided to revamp the topic for 2014 so that Atlanta home sellers can revamp their selling tactics & follow the success of our 2013 House Connect customers. Here are our 4 New Year’s Resolutions for the 2014 Atlanta home seller to keep you ahead of the competition, supported by the 2013 National Association of Realtors Home Buyer Seller Trends report.

1). Get Your Home Into 2014 Selling Shape! All of the traditional rules apply i.e., improve your curb appeal, clear out interior clutter, complete any fixer-upper items you’re been avoiding, but newly trending in 2013 was the importance of environmentally-friendly or “green” homes.  In the NAR report, 39% of all respondents rated at least one green feature as “very important,” so get creative! Update your appliances to be energy efficient, use energy efficient lighting, cater your landscaping to be energy conservative, and MOST IMPORTANTLY don’t neglect naming these features in your MLS listing.

2). Know the 2014 market! Keep yourself abreast of real estate trends by studying this NAR profile of current home buyers. Also, follow House Connect on social media platforms & this blog where we post updated market reports about Metro-Atlanta & the many ATL micro-markets. After all, what’s trending in North Fulton can be vastly different than real estate market trends in South Dekalb.

3.) Know the 2014 new lending laws! Staying well informed of the financing process your buyer will likely endure will keep your expectations realistic. NAR reports that 87% of home buyers financed their home in 2013, and 17% of those home buyers found the financing process more difficult than they initially expected. In 2014 expect more of the same with new mortgage laws being implemented in early January.

And finally…

4). Know your home worth! In 2013 over half of home buyers paid 94-100% of the asking price, so it’s important to know your appropriate price point. Before listing, you should get a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to know what similar homes in your area are successfully selling for. If you call House Connect today & mention this blog, we will offer you a free CMA at no cost or commitment from you.

Happy New Year Atlanta! We hope these tips help you have a speedy & successful home-selling process. Please call us today at 770-640-6800 or visit us online to learn more about our $499* flat-fee listing & how you can save thousands versus using a traditional listing agency.

From our House to Yours

We also offer plenty of real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well as subscribing to this blog. We’re always sharing our market-insider tips on comparative home pricing, real estate market trends, and Metro-Atlanta pointers to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

House Connect is an Atlanta, GA discount realty company offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a Flat Fee MLS Listing service which saves Atlanta home sellers thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate agency.

* * A transaction fee of .0015 x the sales price will be paid at closing.

FAQ Series: How Does House Connect Profit From A $499 Flat Fee Listing?

     Since launching our discount realty company last year, our listing agents have run into a few common questions that home sellers have about our Flat fee MLS Atlanta listing service. House Connect Company President/Owner Mike Prewett has decided to take a minute to answer each question personally, via Google Hangout, so that Atlanta home sellers can better understand what a $499 Flat Fee MLS Listing can do for YOU!

How Does House Connect Make A Profit?

Check Out House Connect Online: 

We also offer plenty of real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well as subscribing to this blog. We’re always sharing our market-insider tips on current trends, home renovations, and mortgage information to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

**House Connect is an Atlanta real estate company offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a flat fee MLS listing service which can save thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate brokerage.

Atlanta Real Estate Market: New Construction on the Rise

     One of the biggest indicators of a recovering real estate market is the rise of new construction. Here are the latest stats from The US Census Bureau & the National Association of Home Builders.

• Privately Owned housing units authorized by building permits in Oct were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,034,000 - a 6.2% increase over Sept 2013 & a 13.9% increase over Oct 2012.
• Single family authorizations in Oct were at a rate of 620,000 - a .08% increase over Sept 2013.
• In the South in Oct, 259,000 New Homes were sold compared to 183,000 in Oct 2012 in a steady incline. 

     At House Connect we're ahead of the curve on what's trending. If you're an Atlanta area builder, our flat fee listing service can save you THOUSANDS on new construction homes. Call us today to see how we can help you unload your inventory. Now is the time!

We also offer plenty of real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well as subscribing to this blog. We’re always sharing our market-insider tips on DIY renovations, home staging tips, and Atlanta market trends to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with listing your Metro-Atlanta real estate without the pricey commissions.

**House Connect is an flat fee Atlanta MLS listing agency offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a discount realty service which saves Atlanta home owners thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate company.

FSBO: Why Listing Your House in the MLS is Important

Selling your real estate yourself, AKA For Sale By Owner (FSBO) may seem like a great opportunity to save money, but you risk missing key exposure that is vital to selling your property quickly.

Some background...

The idea behind FSBO is that you save on the listing commission. As you may or may not know, the home seller is the person who pays both agents in a real estate transaction. Typically 3 (sometimes up to 6) percent of the sales price will come out of the final payday and go into each real estate agent's pocket.

Ex. For a sales price of $184,000 (the Atlanta average) 3% = $5520. Totaling $11,040 to the agents instead of the seller.

While there's almost no avoiding the buyers agent commission since 92.4% of home buyers use a real estate agent, a home seller that opts out of using a listing agent can still save over $5000. Not too shabby.

The bad news...

The problem is that selling your home yourself cuts out your property's exposure - most notably MLS exposure. By listing your Atlanta real estate in the two Atlanta MLSs your house is exposed to over 55,000 Georgia real estate agents and then syndicated to real estate sites such as Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com and the 90% of home buyers that begin their serach online.

Also, using a real estate agency means brand recognition, a team of experts to help handle the contract-to-close process, an agent to show your property, and several other tasks that help effectively market your real estate.

However...

This doesn't mean you HAVE to forego that 5 grand by using a traditional real estate company. House Connect offers a flat fee Atlanta MLS listing service where you pay a flat fee of $499 upfront no matter your sales price & in return, we list your property in both MLSs, syndicate your property to over 100 real estate websites, provide you with a lockbox & yard sign for added exposure, AND help you every step of the way from showings to contract negotiation & closing.

The catch…

There is none! The only additional fee you pay is the transaction fee ONLY once your property sale is final which is .0015 of the sales price ($276 in the example used earlier).

With House Connect you CAN have your cake & eat it too...and $775 versus $5520 sounds like a no-brainer to us! Give us a call today for a free Comparative Market Analysis & to learn more about what House Connect can do for you! 770-640-6800 

FAQ: House Connect Vs. The Other Guys

     Since launching our Flat Fee MLS Listing service back in January, our listing agents have run into a few common questions that Atlanta home sellers have about our discount realty service. House Connect President & Owner Mike Prewett has decided to take a minute to answer each question personally, so that our readers can better understand what a Flat Fee MLS Atlanta Listing can do for YOU!

Check Out House Connect Online:

We also offer plenty of real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well as subscribing to this blog. We’re always sharing our market-insider tips on comparative home pricing, real estate market trends, and Metro-Atlanta pointers to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

**House Connect is a Metro-Atlanta Flat Fee MLS Listing Agency offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer a discount realty service which saves Atlanta home sellers thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate agency AND the average Atlanta flat fee brokerage.

How Our Flat Fee MLS Listing Service Has Helped Atlanta Home Sellers

The reviews are in! Atlanta has responded AMAZINGLY to our Flat Fee MLS Listing Service. But you don’t have to take our word for it…

So…are you a Metro-Atlanta home seller looking to avoid paying a pricey commission? Try out our discount realty service to sell quickly & save THOUSANDS!  Call us today & LET’S GET MOVING!

770-640-6800

House Connect also offers real estate tips online! Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & Pinterest as well as subscribing to this blog. We’re always sharing our market-insider tips on Atlanta real estate trends, budget friendly home renovation ideas, and home staging tips to keep you ahead of the competition. Not to mention the money you’ll save in commission prices!

Please feel free to post comments, send emails, visit our social media pages and the House Connect website, or call us directly at 770-640-6800 for more info. We have dedicated, knowledgeable professionals waiting to assist you with selling your home without the pricey commissions.

**House Connect is a Roswell listing agency offering an alternative to the high cost of selling your home. We offer Metro-Atlanta a flat fee MLS service which saves thousands of dollars versus using the traditional real estate broker.