The Air Assault Team Clarksville/Ft Campbell Real Estate Podcast with Valerie Hunter-Kelly

Why Do You Need a Buyer’s Partner Representing You?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 9 Oct 2017 10:05:00 -0700

Buyers need a buyer partner to represent them in our market so they can look out for their best interests and get the best deal possible.

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In our market, it is very important that you as a buyer have a buyer partner representing you. As our very own buyer partner Melissa Hayes explains it, a buyer partner is someone who protects the buyer, works with them from start to finish throughout the transaction, and helps them through the whole process. They can also make sure you have certain stipulations put in the contract that are for your benefit.

A buyer’s partner protects buyers and makes sure they get the best deal possible.

What do buyers need protection from? A few different things. For example, if you pull up to a house and see an agent’s name on the “For Sale” sign, that agent is representing the seller and looking out for their best interests—not yours. A buyer’s partner like Melissa, on the other hand, protects her buyers and makes sure they get the best deal possible. Think of it this way—if you were getting divorced, you wouldn’t want the same lawyer representing you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse, would you? If you have any questions about buyer partners or you’re thinking of buying a home in our market, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to speak with you.

What's Going on in Today's Clarksville Market?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 09:00:00 -0700

Today I’m joined by one of our buyer partners, Melissa Hayes, to bring you the latest information from our market. It’s time for another market update.

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Today I’m excited to bring you the latest information from our market. To help me do so, I’m joined by Melissa Hayes—a buyer partner on our team.

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, it is critical to understand what’s happening in our Clarksville market.

First of all, we had 1,377 properties on the market at this time last year. That number has since dropped to just 1,046 properties on the market right now. This 24% decrease means we’re in a seller’s market.

As a buyer’s partner, Melissa is a valuable resource to people trying to get an offer accepted in this kind of market.

According to Melissa, we’ve closed on 3,108 properties so far in 2017, compared to the 2,794 that closed last year. This 11.24% difference illustrates just how much the market can change in a year.

Homes on the market move quickly. As Melissa puts it, they are “here today, gone tomorrow.” Right now, the market is truly competitive.

Homes in today’s market are here today, gone tomorrow.

In 2016, the average list price was $174,800. This year, that average has gone up to $183,400. However, the average number of days on market has decreased—moving from 66 last year to 57 now.

If you’ve been thinking of selling, the time is now. Buyers have a lot of opportunities right now though, too. Even so, many buyers wonder what an appropriate offer looks like.

Typically, this can be determined by following the statistics related to the list-to-sale ratio. The list-to-sale ratio refers to what sellers ask for compared to what they actually get. Currently, sellers are receiving about 99.02% of the list price.

This is sometimes a good starting point for offers, but in competitive situations it may be better to offer more. It’s incredibly important to work with a buyer partner like Melissa who will be able to guide you through the market.

If you’d like to contact Melissa, you can give her a call at (931) 245-7435.

Also, if you’d like more information or have any other questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Hire the Right Buyer's Agent

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Thu, 3 Aug 2017 09:03:00 -0700

In this crazy seller’s market, it’s important to find the right buyer’s agent for a number of reasons.

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If you’ve been watching the statistics every month, then you’ve seen that we’ve been shifting more and more to a seller’s market. This month, we are definitely there. So what does that mean to you? In a seller’s market, there are a lot more buyers in the market than we have inventory for. It’s very important as a consumer looking to buy a home that you find the right buyer’s agent that will get the job done for you. You need the right agent for a number of reasons. One, in this crazy market, you need to make sure the agent you work with knows how to navigate the market and can find properties using unconventional methods.

In this market, you need the right buyer’s agent.

You need an agent who also knows how to negotiate in a multiple offer situation. When you’re trying to win a bid for a home, it’s important that you have an agent who knows how to negotiate and make your offer stand out.

Lastly, you need an agent who knows the statistics of the market. Knowing how the market is changing from week to week will help the agent educate you on how to make the right deal.

If you have any questions about this topic or you’re looking to buy or sell your home, give me a call. I’d be happy to help!

Can You Sell Your House While Still Living in It?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 12:33:00 -0700

If you want to sell your house without moving out, follow these four tips.

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Lately, a lot of people have asked me whether you can live in your home while selling it.

Of course you can!

The key to selling your home while living in it is staging. Your home's first showing is on the Internet, so it needs to look great online. It's better to have a home that's staged than to have a vacant home, so we like to give our sellers these tips:

1. Remove all signs of personalization: We know you're proud of your family, but things like family photos make it hard for buyers to imagine themselves living there.

Your agent doesn't the pick your home's price; the market does.

2. Redefine each room for its intended purpose: Say you converted one of three bedrooms in your house to an office—you want to change it back to a bedroom so buyers can see how all the living space works.

3. Pick the right price: This is where the expertise of a real estate professional comes in. They'll give you a thorough market analysis to help us understand the right price. We don't determine the price; the market does.

4. Price your home right the first time and don't lower it: Lowering your price isn't always the best option because there are other things we can do before resorting to a lower price.

If you have any questions about selling your home or you're ready to list it on the market, give us a call or send us an email soon. We'd love to go over more with you!

Clarksville’s Latest Real Estate Market Statistics

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 12:25:00 -0700

Our market keeps getting better and better for sellers. Homes are now selling for 5% more and 33% more quickly than last year.

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The Clarksville real estate market continues to be very strong. We’ve had some big changes in the last year and even in the last week. These are the trends you need to know about:

Closed sales are up from 1,777 in 2016 to 1,949 right now. This 9.68% increase is another good sign.

Inventory is down from 1,491 at this time last year to 1,021 right now. That’s a drop of over 31%.

The average sale price is up to $178,500 from $169,000, a 5.5% increase.

The average days on market have dropped 32.86%, from 70 days to only 47 right now.

Our strong seller’s market is getting even stronger.

What does this all mean for you? As you can see, we are definitely in a strong seller’s market. We will talk more about this in our next video and how you can take advantage of the conditions. If you have any questions in the meantime, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Avoid These Mortgage Mistakes During Your House Hunt

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 22 May 2017 11:40:00 -0700

If you're looking to buy a house, you'll want to avoid these four mistakes when it comes to your financing.

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When you're shopping for a home, there are four mortgage mistakes you should try to avoid: 1. Thinking the advertised you see is the rate you'll get: The advertised rate will be that company's lowest possible rate. In reality, many things go into determining the rate you'll get, like your credit score.

2. Not comparing lenders: There are plenty of ways to compare lenders and their rates these days. You also want to compare their closing costs, especially in an area like Clarksville where you might ask the seller to pay some closing costs.

3. Waiting for a better rate: If you wait for rates to drop in an active market like ours with prices going up, you might end up paying more for the house itself, even if the rate goes down. In many cases, it could actually cost you more money if you wait.

4. Choosing the wrong type of loan: For example, many people think that since we're in a VA market, they should automatically choose a VA loan. However, it all depends on what else you plan to do with the the financing. One big thing to consider in this situation is how much money you're putting down.

Waiting for a lower interest rate could mean paying more for the house itself.

We can provide more details and advice on any of these points if you have any other questions. Just give us a call or send us an email. We're happy to help!

How Much Do You Need for a Down Payment?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 12:09:00 -0700

How much money do you need to put down when you purchase a home? Contrary to popular belief, you don’t necessarily need to have 20% down.

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How much money do you need for your down payment? Clarksville is a military town, so many of our residents are eligible for VA loans and can get a house for no money down. If you do not qualify for a VA loan, there are still many loan programs that can get you into a house for less than 20% down. Depending on your credit score, you can get a conventional loan with 5% down. If you qualify for an FHA loan, then you only need 3% down.

Depending on your credit score, you can get a conventional loan for 5%.

We also have local programs where the seller can pay most of the closing costs for you and you won’t have too much of a down payment.

If you have any questions about your down payment or if you want to know more about buying a home, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

The Latest Stats From Our Hot Clarksville Market

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:33:00 -0700

Here are some of the latest stats from our Clarksville market and how we stand compared to where we were at this time last year.

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We have a hot market here in Clarksville, and today I have the stats to prove it. To give you an update on where we stand, I’ve compared the latest market figures to the same figures from March of last year. In March 2016, we had about 1,400 houses on the market for sale. Right now, we have about 1,100 houses on the market for sale. At this time last year, our number of year-to-date home sales was 827. This year, we’ve closed 834 houses so far. That’s not much difference, but it shows that we had a great market last year as well. Our average list price increased 6.4% from $164,000 in March 2016 to $174,600 in March 2017. Our average sales price increased 6.81% from $161,500 in March 2016 to $172,500 in March 2017. In that same time frame, our average days on market dropped from 101 to 91. As you can see, prices are going up in Clarksville, so it’s a great time to put your home on the market.

The market’s been busy since January, and it continues that way.

Something else we’ve started tracking lately is the most active price ranges, and right now the most active price range is between $140,000 and $180,000. There are 207 houses on the market within this price range, and about 25% of those houses have been sold already.

The next hottest range is $180,000 to $240,000, which represents about 24% of the market. The third hottest range is the $100,000 to $140,000 area. You might not think it, but you can get a nice house for $100,000 in Clarksville.

If you have any questions about our market or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you.

3 Options for Managing Your Investment Property

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 10:00:00 -0700

When it comes to managing an investment property, you basically have three options. Today, I'll explain the major advantages of these three options.

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There are three things you should look for in managing an investment property. Should you manage the investment property yourself or use a property management company? You can manage the property by yourself, but let me tell you, it takes a lot of time. Make sure you have both the temperament and time if you plan to do it on your own. So what about hiring a property management company? The great thing about hiring a company is that they know property management laws and tenant-owner relationships. They can manage security deposits (which have to be managed in a certain way) and can take care of credit reports and evictions if they need to.

Property management companies can handle deposits, credit checks, and evictions.

You can also hire individual property managers. If you work with an individual property manager, check their references to make sure it's not the first time they've managed property.

If you have any questions about the best way to manage an investment property, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help!

Use These 3 Steps to Ensure a Smooth Home Purchase

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Wed, 1 Mar 2017 11:06:00 -0800

If you’re thinking about buying your first home in 2017, make sure you do these three things first.

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If you’re looking to buy your first home in 2017, there are a few steps you should take in preparation. I’ll go over those today. First, you need to hire the right real estate agent. You might run into some uncomfortable situations if you work with a family member or a friend, so I recommend choosing an experienced agent who’s only objective is to represent your home purchase. Also, an experienced agent can help you find homes that might not even be listed on the market. Furthermore, the right agent is going to be able to negotiate in your favor to ensure you get the best deal on a home. Second, don’t be afraid to talk to multiple lenders. Some lenders’ rates might be better than others, or they might match each other. Either way, talking to multiple lenders can only benefit you. Also, if you are going to get a VA loan, make sure the lender you choose is experienced in dealing with that specific type of loan.

The right agent is going to be able to negotiate in your favor to ensure you get the best deal on a home.

Last but not least, mind your credit. Credit scores are incredibly important because a lender is going to base the interest rate you get for your mortgage off them. There are also going to be credit checks when you go to put insurance on your home.

There are a few other tips, so if you would like to hear about them or if you have any other real estate related questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be more than happy to help.

How Did the 2016 Clarksville Real Estate Market Do?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Wed, 8 Feb 2017 12:31:00 -0800

How did the 2016 real estate market stack up against 2015? What can buyers and sellers expect from our current market? I’ll go over everything you need to know today.

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What’s going on in the Clarksville real estate market? Today, we’ll take a look at how the market did in 2016 compared to 2015. 2016 was a great year for real estate; everything has increased since 2015, and 2017 is already off to a great start! In 2015, 3,580 properties closed. In 2016, 4,221 properties closed, which is a 17.9% increase. The average listing price also went up. In 2015, the listing price was $171,500, and in 2016, it increased 2.6% to $175,900. So, what did homes actually sell for in 2016? In 2015, the average sales price was $168,700; in 2016, it went up 3.62% to $174,800. That is great news because our market has been flat for the last couple of years. Now, it’s finally starting to go up.

Our market is finally starting to go up.

The average days on market in 2015 was 92, which dropped to 86 days on market in 2016.

What do all of these numbers mean for you?

If you’ve been thinking about selling, now is a great time to get on the market. Houses that are priced correctly and in good condition are selling really fast.

As for buyers, interest rates have gone up and the market is increasing, so the longer you wait, the more likely it is that you will get less house for more money.

If you have any other questions about the real estate market or about selling your home, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

3 Questions You Should Ask Before Hiring a Realtor

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 12:22:00 -0800

Selling your home goes a lot more smoothly with a Realtor at your side. However, make sure you hire the right one by asking these three questions.

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Entering the real estate market without a Realtor to represent you is very risky, but you don’t want to hire just anyone. There are many questions you should ask before hiring a real estate agent, and these are the top three: 1. How long have you been in the business? There are so many different factors that come into play when getting your sale to closing. You want to make sure they have experience to handle every aspect of the sale and make sure the closing process goes smoothly. 2. What is your list-to-sales price ratio? You want to make sure they are selling homes for something close to what they listed them at initially on a consistent basis. 3. How many houses did you sell last year? Knowing your agent is active in the market is key. Someone who has 30 years of experience but only sold two houses last year is not going to be the right fit to sell your home.

Make sure your agent has enough experience.

There are many more questions you should be asking, so if you’d like to talk to me about those or have any other questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

What Questions Should You Ask a Realtor Before Hiring Them?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 14:38:00 -0800

You shouldn’t just hire the first Realtor you meet off the street. You must take time to interview them and ask them specific questions to get an idea of what your results will look like.

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Most people just hire the first Realtor they talk to. A lot of them don’t take the time to ask important questions that will impact the success of your transaction. Today we wanted to answer the question of “How do I choose a Realtor?” We’ll go over some tips and talk you through some questions that you should be asking before you hire someone. 1. How long have you been in the business? This is an important thing to know because you’d be surprised at how big of a role experience plays. Even after 30 years in the business, there are still situations that pop up that I’ve never seen before. The more experience you have, the better you can negotiate, and the quicker you can get to the closing table. 2. How many homes did you sell last year? If an agent has been in the business their whole life but only sells a few homes per year, they don’t have as much experience as someone who has only been in the business 10 years but works in real estate full-time. Experience is important, but so is the level of activity an agent has in the market on a regular basis. 3. How close are your list prices to your final sale prices? The final sale price is the most important piece of information, but the closer an agent can get you to your initial asking price, the better.

The more experience you have, the better you can negotiate.

There are several other questions you should ask and if you’d like to know what they are, I’d be glad to help out. Just give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Why You Should Buy Your Next Home This Winter

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Tue, 6 Dec 2016 09:53:00 -0800

Today we're discussing why, contrary to popular belief, fall and winter is actually a perfect time to buy a home.

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Are the fall and winter months a good time to buy a home? This is a question I get quite often.

You might be surprised to hear that it's actually a perfect time to buy a home. Why? For starters, home prices are normally lower at this time of the year. Stats from RealtyTrac analysis from more than 32 million home sales show that buyers who purchased a home in October paid 2.64% below estimated value. That great deal you're looking for could be out there this time of year.

Additionally, there is less competition on the market since there are fewer homes for sale. Simply put, this means there will be fewer buyers out and about. Also consider that the holidays are right around the corner. Sellers who had their homes on the market during the summer probably want to be out of their house and into their new one before the holidays hit, so they are motivated to sell. You'll have the added bonus of moving into your new home before the holidays, too.

Less competition means you can get a better deal.

Finally, there are year-end tax credits to be taken advantage of. There are credits for buying a house before the end of the year as opposed to waiting for next year.

If you have any other questions about buying in the fall or winter months or you're ready to buy now, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to help!

The Latest Clarksville Market Statistics

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 13:17:00 -0800

Today we're here with the latest numbers for the Clarksville real estate market. The market is starting to shift, though. We'll discuss how the shift will affect both buyers and sellers today.

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We are back again to talk about one of our favorite topics: the latest market statistics. We’ve got the latest numbers for the Clarksville market and we think you may be surprised by some of them.

The biggest thing to note is that right now we only have 1,279 properties on the market for sale. That might sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. At this time last year, we had 1,600 to 1,800 homes for sale. As a result, when we head into spring, we’ll have lower inventory at that time. This is just another reason that you should purchase your home now.

Buying now is your best bet.

Here are some more important statistics to take note of:

Closed sales are up by 15% over last year, from 2,958 to 3,401
The average sales price is up by 13.08% over last year, from $168,600 to $173,800
The average days on market has decreased by about 5.4%, from 92 to 87 days

We are slowly shifting toward a seller’s market, so now is the time for buyers to get out there and strike a deal. If you have any questions for us about buying or selling, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

What Are Your Options After a Low Appraisal?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Tue, 1 Nov 2016 13:58:00 -0700

When you get a low appraisal, the transaction isn’t over. There are a number of ways buyers and sellers can work together to resolve the issue.

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Low appraisals aren’t ideal, but they don’t have to kill a transaction. If you get a low appraisal, we have some tips to share on how you should approach it.

The first option is to cancel the deal outright. This typically doesn’t happen, but it can. A lot of times, the seller will decide to challenge the appraisal by submitting additional comparable properties to the appraiser through their agent in order to justify their price. At that point, it’s up to the appraiser to decide whether to increase the home’s value or not.

Sellers typically take one of two courses of action in our market.

We are in a VA market, so sellers typically take two courses of action when they get a low appraisal. Some will just put the home up for rent, while some will actually end up lowering their price to meet the appraisal. Sometimes, they will negotiate closing costs. There are a lot of different options depending on the type of loan you have.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Why Home Inspections Are So Important

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 07:42:00 -0700

Why are home inspections so important? How do they differ from appraisals? Who pays for it? These are all crucial questions in the home buying process.

Why should you get a home inspection when buying a home in Clarksville?

This is a question that we get a lot. We also find that people get home inspections and appraisals mixed up. An appraiser may look at a crawlspace for water, for example, but an inspector is actually going to get in the crawl space to thoroughly make sure everything is OK. It's important to understand the difference between the two and what they do.

How do you choose a home inspector? Usually, your Realtor can recommend several, or you can look in the phonebook. You want to make sure they are a member of the National Association of Home Inspectors.

Who pays for the home inspector? Typically, the buyer pays. It's important for the buyer to be present during the inspection to learn about how to maintain your home and keep it in good shape for resale value.

Make sure they’re a member of the National Association of Home Inspectors.

People also commonly (and mistakenly) think that the inspector is there to point out every little thing wrong with a home. The inspector is really there to look at heating, plumbing, electrical, and structural aspects of the home, like the roof, the doors, the windows, and other things like that. Cosmetic flaws should be addressed in the initial offer before the inspection.

If you have any other questions about home inspections or about the Clarksville market, give us a call or send us an email. We'd be happy to answer them for you!

How We Helped Joan Sayyah by Assisting the Sale While She Was Away in Florida

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 12:12:00 -0700

The results were more than I ever expected. I became a widow. I had to sell a very large and different kind of house. It was a 4 generation house and I knew I didn’t expect it to sell as quickly as it did. We did all the preparation and I had a contract within 10 days. Unfortunately it was a VA loan and they were very picky on every requirement, the things to repair, and things they wanted to see done. Anything that was major was fixed. We had a particular problem with the well. It was put in by a local person. The VA wanted person certified by the state or higher. They didn’t like the license that this person had. What it did was, it held up my moving. I had given Valerie permission to act in my behalf. And every time something came up they would call me up, they would fax me the papers, and I would sign them and fax them back. I guess the bottom line is I was moving my family to Florida and I couldn’t be in both places at one time, nor did I have the money to run back and forth, and they just made it more comfortable for me and they got it done. I think they went above and beyond for me. The whole team. It was different people that took care of different parts of it.

Joan Sayyah - Home Seller

How We Helped Kim Santiago by Using Our Experience to Set up Her Home for a Successful Sale

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 13:27:00 -0700

I got personal attention. In my personal attention they figured out what I needed, what I wanted, and they were there for me. Sometimes when you are looking buy or sell you kind of get too much at one time, but they always kept me focused. And I really appreciated that and working with Valerie is just awesome. She came to the house before we even had it on the market and told me all the things that we needed to do to make it sellable. And I think a lot of her experience in selling homes really pointed us in the area that we needed to work on. It’s unbelievable how quickly our house sold. I really treat it all to coming in, setting up what we needed to do for the painting that we needed to do and not just the pretty things, but the main things that we needed to do to sell the house. I think that’s the reason we sold the house so quickly.

Kim Santiago - Home Seller

How's The Clarksville Market Doing?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 11:31:00 -0700

The Clarksville market is still heating up and it's still busy. For a better idea about how our market is doing, let's take a look at stats from last year compared to this year.

Year over year, the number of closed sales and the closing price are both up. Closed properties increased 15.9% from 1,999 to 2,316 and the average listing price increased from $170,000 to $174,100. You can list a home at whatever price you want, but what are these homes actually closing at?

Well, sales are up and market prices are up, too. The average sale price in Clarksville rose by $6,000 from $167,000 to $173,000, or a 3.5% increase. After having a relatively flat market for three years before this, that 3.5% increase is great.

The other very important stat in this market is the sales-to-list price ratio. This is the percentage of the asking price that homes are selling for. Last year in our market, homes were selling at 98.23% of list price, and this year, homes are selling at 99.37% of list price. Sellers are getting close to full asking price!

Sales and market prices both rose since last year in Clarksville.

Buyers who see a home out there they want need to make their best offer because there is not much room for negotiation! We just listed a house that had seven showings and two offers in one day. The market is hot.

It's a great market for buyers if you work with an agent who can help you compete. It's a great market for sellers because of the market values.

If you have any questions about our market, feel free to give me a call or send me an email anytime. I'd love to hear from you!

How Can I Make My Home Attract Millennial Buyers?

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:13:00 -0700

Millennials are becoming an important segment of the home buying market. What can you do make your home more attractive to these buyers? Here are four things that Millennials are looking for in a home:

1. Rooms with modern functionality. Millennials are not looking for generic rooms, but rather media rooms as opposed to living rooms, spas instead of bathrooms, and studios in place of garages. Closet space and open floor plans are also a must.

2. High-efficiency, low-maintenance landscaping. Millennials aren’t interested in things like elaborate gardens that require a lot of outside work, but fun landscaping embellishments like hammocks could potentially catch a Millennial’s eye.

3. Storage options. In our area, big storage spaces are an absolute must for Millennials as well as military buyers.

4. Walkability. Though it’s a bit difficult to come by in our area, Millennials enjoy convenience and being close to communities with nearby stores, restaurants, and bike paths. Clarksville is working on expanding our downtown area, which will allow more access to these kinds of amenities for potential buyers.

Open floor plans are a must!

If you have any other questions about how to improve your home to appeal to Millennials based on these suggestions, please give me a call or send me an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How We Helped David Bryant by Giving Him the Right Insight to Upgrade His Home

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:23:00 -0700

Very Professional and very knowledgeable. They had a great team from start to finish with all of the different individuals whether it be the ones that were prepping you, or showing the house, or helping you make arrangements and suggestions for upgrades. It was an all-around great experience on how they treat the customer and how they give you the right direction for when you are trying to sell your home because it was my first time selling a home so it was all new to me. And they made the process easy to understand. They helped me be able to take all of my upgrades that I was paying a lot out of pocket for and incorporate those in a final closing cost and be able to be reimbursed for the upgrades I had to pay out of pocket initially upfront. Everything they suggested, as far as upgrading whether it be the lighting fixture or hardware or flooring, helped the house tremendously become more visible. There were several showings and once I made all of their suggestions that they talked about complete, the house sold rather quickly.

David Bryant - Home Seller

Don't Show Your Hand When Selling Your Home

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Tue, 2 Aug 2016 11:39:00 -0700

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As a seller, there are certain things you should never say when selling your home.

For starters, I always encourage my sellers to leave their home when a buyer is coming to see it. I do caution, not to leave until the buyer arrives, because sometimes they don't show up. When I was selling my house, for example, when a buyer showed up for a viewing, they'd come in one door and I'd leave out another.

If you happen to be there, you have to be cautious as a seller. Most of the questions they'll ask are public information, but they're also there with an agent, who will also be asking questions. If you answer certain questions, you may not realize you're giving away information. They may ask about sales price, and how long the home has been for sale. That's public information, but you don't need to give that out. A seller might say "It's been on the market for sale for X amount of time and I really wish this house would sell," giving the agent leverage.

The standard answer should be, "You need to talk to my Realtor."

“

Don't say anything that
gives away your position.

”

It's the same with questions about your motivation to sell. It might be a divorce, or job transfer, or anything really - the agent is fishing for information. They'll take these things into consideration when writing their offer. Another common question agents will ask is if you're considering any price reductions. Can you believe they even ask this? You'd be surprised what buyers ask. Again, your standard answer should be, "You need to talk to my Realtor." Remember, they're working for their buyer.

You may also be asked how many offers you've received. You don't want to give your position away, because we want to get the highest possible price for your home.

Those are just a few things to avoid saying when you sell your home. There are many more things that could jeopardize your sale. For a full rundown of ways to protect yourself when listing a home, give us a call. We'd love to talk to you about the rest of our tips.

How the Air Assault Team made selling my first house a great experience.

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 07:28:00 -0700

"Very professional, very knowledgeable, a great team from start to finish with all the different individuals. Whether it be the ones that are prepping you or showing the house or helping you make arrangements or suggestions for up-grades, just all around a great experience on how they treat their customers. And, on how they give you the right direction for when you are trying to sell your house. Because it was my first time selling a house, so it was all kind of new to me. It made the process very easy to understand. They helped me be able to take all of my up-grades that I was paying a lot out of pocket for and be able to incorporate those in the final closing costs and kinda be able to be reimbursed for paying for the up-grades that I had payed out of pocket for initially up front. And everything they said yes, whether it was the light-fixtures or hardwood flooring, everything helped the house tremendously become more visible and there were actually several showings. And once I made all the suggestions that they talked about complete, the house sold rather quickly"

-David Bryant

4 Tips to Make Your Home Look Larger

valerie@valeriehunterkelly.com (Valerie Hunter-Kelly) — Fri, 8 Jul 2016 09:25:00 -0700

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

How do you make a small home look bigger? If you bought a small home and are looking to sell, there are a few things you can do to make it look larger than it actually is to entice buyers:

Use mirrors. Mirrors make any room look larger. They’re inexpensive and you can use various types for bathrooms, kitchens, and family room areas. Just remember not to get too ornate.
Don’t set out large furniture. If you have large furniture and you’re ready to sell, you need to move some of it out. That will open up the interior space and make it look clean.

“

Decluttering and removing
large furniture will open up
the interior space.

”
Declutter. Clutter closes your spaces off and makes your rooms look smaller.
Hang curtains higher on the wall. If you have curtains in a small room, move those curtains all the way up to the ceiling. High ceilings are something buyers look for, and moving your curtains up will make yours seem taller.

To get more detailed information, or if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, shoot us an email or give us a call. We’d love to talk to you.