How to amp up excitement over your home

Whether you’re gearing up to start showing your home after putting up Denver real estate for sale, or interest has dwindled since the initial rush of visitors, it may be time to rethink your game plan if you feel you aren’t getting enough interest. The problem may be that the impression of your home lacks pizazz. You should work with your agent on bringing interest back. Here are some ways you can amp up interest in your home:

Highlight your home’s strong points

Every home has its weak spots, but there’s nothing wrong with working to bring attention to your home’s strong points instead. Take a look at the most desirable features in your home and decorate or arrange in order to bring focus to that feature. If you have a beautiful fireplace, center the seating around it and have a warm fire going if the weather permits. If your pool is a wonderland, make sure the waterfall is running when you’re holding showings. Just repainted the exterior? Give your yard a little landscaping to showcase this. Highlighting the most prized features of your home not only gives a greater overall impression, but it will give your home more character as well if your buyers leave with certain elements sticking out in their mind. Some buyers will be looking at a lot of different houses, and so a house with character will be more memorable.

Take professional photos

If your interest is stagnant, the problem may be that your photographs aren’t reeling anyone in. If your photos are low quality or unflattering, you still may get some visitors at first out of curiosity or from those that always check out a new listing. But after this is over a bit after you’ve started showing, then it might be time to take new pictures. A good idea is to hire a professional photographer and stager, a person who decorates a house with showing and selling in mind. If that’s not in the budget, your agent will still be able to make suggestions for better photos.

Redecorate or update

If you feel like your home presentation is dull, redecorating and updating can spice up the look of your house. This could be as simple as getting some bright throw pillows for the couch or as complicated as retiling a bathroom.
Give your marketing plan a second look

The problem could be simply that you’re not reaching enough people. Ask your agent what outlets they are using to reach buyers, and consider reaching out to different websites or client bases.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Tips for getting your real estate bid accepted

Once you’ve found your dream house, the real estate quest does not end there. You’ve still got to figure out if you can finance the purchase, and exactly how much this purchase will be. And even then, the buyer may not accept your bid. Losing a bid on a house can be heartbreaking for a prospective buyer that has put a lot of heart and effort into looking for the perfect home. There are some strategies that you can use to help the buyer decide to accept your bid.

Make a good impression

Some homeowners will feel very attached to their house and all the precious memories it holds. Consider this whenever you meet the buyers. Think of it as a job application. When the owner looks for an ideal buyer, it may be important to them that it is taken over by someone they like. If they don’t personally like you, and can afford to wait longer to sell the house, then they may reject even a fair bid.

Communicate effectively

Negotiating the terms of selling a house can take so much back and forth that having effective communication is essential. Not only can your buyers grow frustrating with trying to communicate with you, but this can drag out a potential home sale, and another buyer could swoop in before you can get your messages across.

One way to ensure you’re communicating properly is to have Denver real estate agents at your disposal. An agent will know all the right steps in the bidding process and can even help with the aftermath of financing and contingencies.

Make a fair bid

One of the simplest ways to get your bid accepted is to offer up a fair one. With competition between buyers heating up, if you offer a price that is well below the listing price, the buyer may be right in thinking that they wouldn’t have to wait too long for a better offer. Also, bidding a price that is unreasonably low could offend them or make them think you’re wasting your time, causing them to refuse to entertain any other offers from you. If you think their asking price is unreasonably high or you could afford the house if it were a bit less, then you are probably right to offer a bid lower than the asking price. One way to figure out a fair bid is to look at comparable homes in the area and what prices they sold for. Keep in mind individual cases may have had special circumstances, like upgrades or other issues, but it’s a good general reference point.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

For home sellers: A guide to getting your asking price

One of the most difficult aspects of selling a home is negotiating the price you want. While many may see this as a game of strategy between the two parties, the truth is, the process of getting your ideal price for your home starts well before these negotiations. Keep reading to find out how you should be working towards getting your price before you even put your home on the market.

Take a look at the condition of the market

When you set your asking price, you’re not just looking at the value of your home. You’ve got to look at the state of the market. This could be anything from making a physical survey of the quality of the area to looking at statistics of the market’s health. For example, in the last few months, Denver’s home prices have reached record-breaking highs. This means you could list your home at a reasonably higher than usual price.

Do your research

Before you establish an asking price, you should be looking at comparable homes for sale around you, or at those that have been sold. It could even help to pay a visit to these homes at open houses. Consider what the asking prices were of comparable prices that have taken a while to sell and the asking prices of homes that sold quickly. This will give you a good idea of what price the buyers will be enthusiastic about, and what price may have them hesitating to take the process any further.

Don’t aim too much higher than what you really want

A common strategy for home sellers is to have a high asking price in order to leave room for negotiating. However, there are two reasons why setting the price too high could be a bad idea, and one is specific to Denver. A high asking price can scare off a buyer from considering a home further, as they may have many other more fairly priced homes that seem like less work to bid on. Buyers may see an outlandish asking price as a sign that they may not want to do business with that buyer. They may also look at the asking price on a listing and assume the house is too big or otherwise not what they’re looking for without looking into its other features. Basically, potential buyers don’t like to have their time wasted.

The other reason why this is a bad idea is that in Denver, the demand for homes is very high. So high that you may not even need to worry about getting the price you really want. Many Denver sellers are reporting they were able to sell their home quickly and without any price negotiations at all. If your price is fair, listing your house for exactly how much you want can come across to the buyers as no-nonsense, and could motivate them to want to make an agreement before more competition come around. If you have an interested buyer that will not go as high as your asking price, it likely won’t take long for another prospective buyer to come along with the way Baker real estate is selling.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

May’s real estate report shows record-breaking numbers for Denver

For some time now, the stable regrowth of Denver real estate has been reassuring buyers and sellers. As one of the first to get hit by the housing crisis years ago, Denver is emerging as one of the first to recover. Record breaking numbers in May have further confirmed what we’ve been coming to understand about the state of the market: it’s officially back.

In May, home prices reached their highest since the market’s crash. Since last May, prices have gone up by 10% according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index. For seventeen consecutive months, Denver has seen these year-to-year increases. Partly due to an increased demand, the average price of a home during May reached over $308,000. While Denver’s population has been increasing as more and more discover what a desirable place to live the city is, this is also a sign of a healthier market. May’s broken records had not been met for seven long years, so these numbers have caused many skeptics to finally let out a sigh of release.

The demand is so high that many sellers are reporting finding a buyer within days or even the same day they put out their sign. Following the recession, a large number of properties that were selling were sold for less than $100,000, including many foreclosures, while the standard today has shifted between of $200,000-$300,000. This is a relief for sellers of bigger-ticket homes, as these typically take longer to sell. However, now, these sellers can hope to sell their home in less than a year instead of several years. A drop in the sale of foreclosures—from 40% to 15% in a few years—has also contributed to this, along with minimalized discounts on these foreclosure properties.

Only two cities in the United States have passed records set before the recession, and Denver is one. The city’s co-title holder, Dallas, is also experiencing increased demand. However, if you are a hopeful potential buyer, don’t let these statistics scare you. Even though Denver homes are in higher demand, a recovering market means that there are still plenty of houses getting put on the market of Denver real estate for sale every day, with 2,500 new homes entering the market from April-July of this year. Yes, there will be more competition, but you will also have access to more homes, meaning a greater chance at finding the perfect home for you.

Denver’s recovery is indicative of regrowth in the market all over the country—the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller price index also reported US home sales had hit a five year high in May.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Why buyers stall

Whether your home has been on the market for a year or a week, having a potential buyer is exciting. Before you even put your home on the market, you and your agent have put in hours and hours of work preparing and marketing your home. So, once it seems like you might have a buyer, it is easy to get anxious over when things will become official. But it can take some time between a buyer unofficially expressing serious interest and actually taking over ownership, and stalls can happen at any point in the process. If you are looking at putting up Denver Colorado homes for sale, take a look at some common reasons why potential buyers may stall officially buying during this period:

They’re letting the decision settle

If you have been playing the real estate game for a while, it can be easy to forget what a big decision buying a home is. From the seller’s end, for the most part, as long as the financials look good, the decision to sell to a certain buyer is easy. But the buyer has to consider many different aspects of the home, the financials, and yes, even the seller. Especially if they are first time home buyers, this life-altering decision can cause anxiety.
Letting the dust settle after initially considering the possibility of calling a home yours is common. While very motivated buyers may want to go full speed ahead, you may find that your right buyer needed a little more time to feel comfortable with the decision. This is “sleeping on it” in a broader sense of the term.

They’re still shopping around

This doesn’t mean that they’re totally unsure about your home. It could be that your potential buyers want to gather more information on the market, similar homes, and other data to make sure they’re getting the right deal. It’s like finding a great pair of shoes, but looking around anyway just to make sure there isn’t a similar pair out there for cheaper. Odds are, this is just confirming what they already know, and getting the reassurance that this is the right house for them might take a little more market scoping.

Not everything’s right

Your buyer may be stalling because the house isn’t exactly what they wanted. They could still be interested, however, because the totally perfect house is difficult to find, and many homeowners are open to compromising. Perhaps one member of a buying partnership has some misgivings. These types of buyers may stall because they are hoping for a price reduction or to motivate the seller to accept a lower offer, or they may just be taking their time considering a home that doesn’t have everything they wanted.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Why you’re not getting any more showings

A common question from those selling their home is: “Why can’t I get showings anymore?” Many sellers may host many showings at first but then see them slowly taper off the longer your home is on the market. There are many reasons for this, and many ways you can stimulate interest:

The initial rush is over

Before you put your house on the market, you should understand that there is already a market of buyers that have been looking around for their dream home for a while, hovering over the listing database for any new listing to look into. Many of these buyers have already seen everything that’s already out there, and so they will be sure to look into any new listings right away. They already know what they want and they already know what their market has to offer, meaning if they have any interest on the home, they will want to jump on the opportunity right away in order to avoid competition from other similar prospective buyers.

This is why you will typically see a rush of interest after first putting your house of for sale. Along with the above types of buyers, you could also see some that are just curious about the new listing and aren’t serious about buying anything anytime soon. If this rush of interest does not result in any offers, don’t worry—it is common for this initial interest to not result in anything serious, as many prospective buyers are so thorough that they will check out a new home even if they have a hunch it isn’t for them. You may see a prospective buyer come back later after this rush after considering your home or other more serious interest after your home has been on the market for a few weeks. Some serious buyers also may not jump on the house right away, as they may be focusing on other houses first or want to reflect upon the listing before approaching the home itself.

Your marketing isn’t reaching anyone

This may be an issue with your agent or your marketing strategy if you are selling by-owner. The reason you’re not getting any showings may be because new prospective buyers may not be seeing your listing. If you initially marketing your home through several outlets and put out fliers, you may not be getting any new buyers because these strategies aren’t attracting any new people. Whether you are listing Cherry Creek homes for sale or other areas of Denver and Aurora, changing up your strategy and listing on different websites or other outlets to try and widen you marketing network.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Qualities of a bad neighbor

Bad neighbors can be a huge frustration for home owners. Whether you are buying or selling, you should take into account how your neighbors will affect your real estate experience. If you are selling, bad neighbors could scare off that perfect match. If you are buying, you don’t want to buy a house next to residents that you don’t think would be pleasant. Whether you selling or buying Denver Colorado homes for sale, keep these qualities of a bad neighbor in mind:

Close proximity

This may not always be a bother, but even the best neighbors can be a pain if their property is too close to yours. You may have to deal with common issues of close neighbors—dogs getting into each other’s yards, tree branches growing over fences and dropping leaves into the other’s yard, or perhaps just being so close that you can hear even the lowest of conversations. This can be even more difficult to deal with if your neighbor is “bad” in the social sense, as in impolite, antagonistic, or any other quality you wouldn’t seek out in a companion.

Intrusiveness

This would be proximity in the social sense, or perhaps a lack of privacy. If you neighbor’s yard has a clear view of your yard, windows, or other elements, then you should hope that neighbor isn’t also nosy. Even if they are respectful of your privacy, it may be irritating relaxing in your yard knowing that you don’t have total privacy. If they aren’t respectful of your privacy, well, then you might consider getting some nice blinds.

The other type of intrusiveness may come from neighbors that may feel overly friendly. Some neighbors may not realize how often is appropriate to drop by for a chat or to wave down your car for a word as you pull in your driveway. Even if you like them personally, too much interaction can feel a bit smothering if you live next door to someone, and communicating this could cause future resentment. The major problem here is that if someone is intrusive, it’s impossible to avoid if that person lives right next door.

Noisiness

This is perhaps one of the major complaints of homeowners concerning their neighbors. Sure, you can call the authorities for when things get too loud, but this noisiness may not always be a clear cut house party. It could be a dog that barks intermittently or some occasional but very loud banging as they drag out their trash cans. If this type of noise is exorbitant, it can be hard to stop.

Untidiness

If your neighbors have an untidy lawn, this depreciates the look of your own property. You don’t want to take meticulous care of your perfectly manicured lawn only for the aesthetics to be ruined by that untidy neighbor.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Home showing attendance etiquette

Recently, we took a look at do’s and don’ts for home sellers when showing their home. Now we’ll be talking about the other side of things. When you are looking for homes for sale in Denver CO, it is important to follow certain etiquette when attending a home showing. If you’re going to take a look inside of a home, make sure to follow these important tips:

Don’t bring your kids or pets

This should be obvious, but you would be surprised how many showing attendees think of attending a home showing as a trip to a park. It is better to not bring your kids, but if they must come, make sure they are not running around and causing a ruckus in your host’s home. If your child makes a mess or breaks something, this can turn your dream home into an awkward situation that may not be worth pursuing for the resentful seller anymore. Generally you will not want to bring pets at all, as you cannot always control their behavior or the allergies and preferences of the home sellers.

Leave everything how you left it

If you are attending a home showing, it is important to remember to look, not touch. If you have to touch something, make sure everything is still in order when you leave it. This also means cleaning up after yourself if you use any of the facilities.

Try not to schedule for awkward times

When scheduling a showing, you will want to schedule a look at appropriate times. Many sellers know that they should try to accept any times that a buyer wants to look at a home, and also that they should try and be absent during showings. This is why you will not want to schedule showings too early or too late in the day. You don’t have to adhere to normal business hours, but you don’t want to schedule a time that the seller may not have left for work yet or when they are trying to go to sleep.

Focus

When you are looking at a home, try not to waste the time of the agents, sellers, and buying partners by focusing on the matters at hand. This does not necessarily mean non-home buying issues are off limits, but try not to be so social or otherwise distracted that you don’t get to the point of the visit. Be polite and conversational, but make sure that you take care of business at the same time.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

Do’s and Don’ts of showing your home

Home showings are like first dates. It’s important to make a good impression and communicate what you have to offer. Afterward you may be nervously dialing a number or answering your phone. Just like there are first date faux pas, there is certain etiquette when it comes to showing your home. Don’t be guilty of these common showing ‘don’ts.’

Don’t buzz around the showing

Although the rule is not set in stone, it is generally thought that the owners shouldn’t be around while a showing is taking place. Even if the seller is not being intrusive, the prospective seller may not be able to totally focus on imagining themselves living in the house, ask questions, or voice opinions to their agent or buying partners. It is usually distracting to have the current home owner there, and the prospective buyer may feel pressure to express positive thoughts to the current owner.

So, if you are present while your home is showing, it is important to give the prospective buyer some space. You can be polite and introduce yourself, but don’t buzz around them as they are taking a look at things. That way, they feel more comfortable with taking a close, scrutinizing look at your home that they will need in order to advance further in the process. You should also make sure that any pets or other members of the household are absent as well. Try to be able to schedule showings whenever the buyer can come, but be sure your Denver real estate agents know what times you absolutely cannot be showing your home.

Don’t press the prospective buyer afterwards

It’s not the status quo to communicate with the buyers afterward unless they want to pursue the home further, but the modern showing process often offers more opportunity for feedback. Many online listing have an application where prospective buyers can leave comments for the seller after the showing. But with this new process comes new etiquette. Don’t pester the prospective buyers for a response, and be sure to accept constructive criticism gently—don’t argue with the buyer over their opinions or take them personally. The buyer may have given negative feedback despite being interested, so you don’t want to scare away the potential sale.

Don’t leave valuables sitting around

As much as you would like to trust people you are showing your home to, since you will not be around for every showing, make sure your valuables or other personal items are put away. This way, you don’t have to deal with the awkwardness of questioning showing attendees over lost items.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.

What to expect from certain types of buyers

If you are looking to sell your home but nervous about interacting with prospective buyers—don’t worry, buyers are just people. Many buyers will be easy to work with, and your interactions will be different depending on the type of buyer they are. Not all buyers are the same, but you often spot a trend when it comes to decision making and personalities of the buyer. But there’s no need to crack open the psychology textbook: like any other interaction, just try to read their personality—if they’re a minimalist, then their buying process will probably reflect this. Your Denver real estate agents will likely be the go-between , but if you get a chance to chat, take a look at some common trends when it comes to certain types of buyers:

The first time buyers

About the buyer: First time buyers will be more tentative when it comes to selecting their home. They may make most communication through the agent. They also may ask a lot of questions. Most buyers are cautious, but usually for a different reason. When it comes to first time buyers, they might be nervous concerning their new life stage and intimidated by what a big decision their first home will be.

What to do: The most important thing with first time buyers is to be patient. If an interested buyer has never bought a house before, pressuring them can scare them away from the sale. Make sure you keep interactions relaxed and casual.
The thorough lookers

About the buyer: Some buyers will be very thorough with their decision making process. This does not necessarily mean that they will take a long time, but rather that they may inspect every aspect of your home closely and want to know very specific details about everything. Some people just enjoy shopping and like to know everything about what could potentially be theirs.

What to do: You could consider indulging this aspect of this type of buyer, letting them know all the little tidbits about the home. Letting them enjoy the process can increase their intrigue concerning the house. Also, it is a very good idea to clean just as thoroughly as they will inspect. You can expect this thoroughness when it comes to every aspect of the buying process, from showings to signing on the correct dotted line.

The careful decision makers

About the buyer: This is not to say that it is bad to be careful or that those who decide on a home quickly are not careful, but some buyers may like to take a bit longer with these decisions. Unless there is competition, such as other bids for your home, they may not seem very motivated to buy your home.

What to do: Don’t assume that just because a potential buyer doesn’t seem interested that they are not thinking about your home. They may just be cautious about making decisions. If you aren’t getting bites otherwise, it is important to be patient with these buyers as well.

About PorchLight Real Estate: PorchLight Real Estate Group has the most experienced and knowledgeable Denver real estate agents in Colorado. For more information about homes for sale in Denver CO or specific neighborhood homes please visit www.porchlightgroup.com.