Exclusive Home Realty Podcast

How We Helped Israel and Carolina Get Top Dollar on Their Home Sale

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 11:42:00 -0700

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A few months back, we worked with Israel and Carolina on selling their home. They had a great experience working with us and are here to talk to us a little bit about that today. They had a price in mind, but it wasn’t until we got involved that they were able to see what their home could actually sell for.

“We heard about Harley on the radio and decided to give him a call. He had a great strategy for us to accomplish our goals. At the end of the day, the strategy paid off and we sold our house for $15,000 over our asking price, and it sold very quickly.”

We were able to get Israel and Carolina top dollar for their home by pricing right from the get-go, as well as being a tough negotiator to make sure they got what they deserved.

“One of the things we were most impressed with was Harley’s negotiating skills. They came through in the end. At the time, it was the highest sold value in our neighborhood. We were happy with what happened and the price we got for our house.”

We enjoyed working with Israel and Carolina and are glad they had a positive experience working with us as well. If you have any questions for us, or are looking to buy or sell a home, don’t hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you via phone or email. Talk to you soon!

What’s the Secret to Seattle Home Selling Success?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 13:40:00 -0700

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Getting your home ready for the market requires a lot of work and what seems like an endless list of tasks and projects. Today, I just want to focus on the main things you need to do before listing.

Condition: Focus on anything that is broken or deferred maintenance. In order to find problems for you to address, we usually have a pre-inspection done. A professional will walk through your home and create a list of things for you to focus on so you don’t waste your time fixing things that don’t need to be fixed.

Staging: This is the act of putting your house in the very best position to sell. This often involves bringing in new furniture or rearranging your current furniture and bringing in decor, among other things. It’s a matter of making your home as appealing to as wide an audience as possible.

Remodeling and updating: These kinds of projects should only be done on a case-by-case basis. There are a lot of things homeowners pour a ton of money into that don’t yield any selling benefits. A good agent will provide guidance on what projects you should tackle and which ones you should avoid.

If you have any questions about these three things you should focus on when selling, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

Should You Be Worried About Real Estate in Seattle?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 08:17:00 -0700

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As far as the Seattle area market is concerned, conditions are fantastic for sellers. Inventory is way down, somewhere around 30% under where we were at this point last year, and it was pretty low at that time.

Despite the lack of inventory, sales are about the same as we saw last year, so we don’t foresee these great selling conditions slowing down anytime soon. If you’ve been thinking about selling, this year is the year to do it. Interest rates are slated to rise, and we’re unsure what the future of our market holds. Conditions are a bit tougher for buyers, but we’ve had some success getting people under contract here in the Seattle area; it’s just a matter of having the right team working for you.

If you would like to take advantage of current market conditions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

What Is Keeping Your Home from Selling?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 13:58:00 -0700

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When we look online and see homes that have been sitting on the market for a long time, it usually boils down to a few reasons. Today we are going to go through them so you won’t have to suffer the same fate when you go to sell.

The first thing that turns buyers off is unfinished projects. We always recommend having a home inspector go through your home prior to listing it so you know exactly what’s wrong, and have it in list form. People buying now don’t want to move into an unfinished project; they are really looking for a turnkey home.

The second most common problem is overpricing. If you have a number in mind and your strategy is to overprice the home, then reduce it later on, that is going to actually make your home sit on the market for a much longer time than you hoped. What seems to work the best is pricing a little below what you are actual want to get, and then using this seller’s market to bring in multiple buyers who will bid against each other and drive the price up. The more demand we can create for your home, the easier it will be to get to the price you want.

The next thing that trips up sellers is not staging their home. Staging is very important, especially for your home’s online profile. If your home isn’t neatly presented in photographs online, you will have a hard time getting people to come in and look in person. You want to stage the home so that it looks open, with few distractions.

These are just a few of the things to do to get your home ready for sale, but by no means is this a comprehensive list of everything you need to accomplish to sell. If you want to know more about preparing your home for sale, or if you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us a quick email. Talk to you soon!

What Is Most Important When Renovating Your Home in Seattle?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Wed, 5 Aug 2015 11:32:00 -0700

Plan Ahead When Renovating

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Today, we want to share a video from HGTV to discuss how you can plan ahead when it comes to home renovations. Renovating your home can be an exciting process, but it's important that you don't get ahead of yourself. You can't just go willy-nilly into a major project and expect it to go perfectly. Planning properly for these types of projects can assure a smooth project, and one that may even cost less!

HGTV’s Amy Matthews recommends making a very detailed timeline of your project, including potential things that could go awry and making backup plans in order to prevent these things from happening. Putting your plan onto paper is a good way to start this process.

Another major step is choosing a good team of contractors that you can communicate with. If they don't know what you want done, they can't do it.

Just remember, there is no such thing as too much planning! If you plan on renovating your Seattle home, please contact us. We know great contractors and could also give you advice on what projects will bring you the highest return on your investment.

We look forward to hearing from you!

How Can You Handle Multiple Offers in Seattle?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Thu, 2 Jul 2015 12:09:00 -0700

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Welcome back, everyone. We often get a lot of questions about the best way to handle multiple offers from buyers and sellers alike. We will start on the buying side, where there are generally multiple things you can do to put yourself in a strong position.

Being fully qualified is one of the biggest hurdles, and will help you get the best terms possible. Cash is king, but if you get a good loan with a good lender, and put down a sizable down payment, you will be in a strong position.

Some homes that you look at will have pre-inspections done already, but it's smart to check with a professional first to decide if you should order another one. If you're going to have one done, you have to keep the time-frame as short as possible: no more than three days. Usually, inspectors can get it done in one or two days.

A solid offer will have anywhere from 3-5% in earnest money down, which is a refundable down payment. This is just to show you're a serious buyer and you haven'y come to play.

As a seller in a multiple offer situation, you have all the power right up until the point you sign the contract, so don't feel pressure to make an immediate decision. When the right buyer comes along, you can drive up the price and negotiate the ideal terms for you. You also want to look at who the buyer's lender is and how much they are putting down.

If you have any questions for us, or are looking to buy or sell here in Seattle, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

What Trends Are We Seeing in Seattle Real Estate?

info@ExclusiveHomeRealty.com (Harley Dufek) — Thu, 2 Jul 2015 12:01:00 -0700

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Hey everyone, today we are going to talk about what is going on in the Puget Sound and Seattle real estate market.

People are always asking me whether we are in a buyer's or seller's market, and the answer is constantly changing. Right now, however, we are in a hot seller's market. Some neighborhoods have less than 2 weeks of inventory and many homes are receiving multiple offers.

This is great news for sellers! Supply and demand is the thing that dictates final sale price the most. When supply is less than demand, you can leverage your home and we can sell homes for 5-10% more than your neighbors' homes.

In a seller's market, how do buyers stand out? Other than paying cash and waving all contingencies, there are 8-10 key points that can give you a leg up on the competition.

Buyers have the most success when their agent figures out what is important to the sellers and writes an offer to appease them. We are experts at doing this and would love to help you write a great offer.

If you have any questions for us, or are looking to buy or sell a home in Seattle, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!