How to Know When It’s Time to Sell Your Home     There are a variety of reasons people sell their homes. Some are looking to upgrade in size or style. Some are looking to downsize. Others may be relocating due to a military PCS or job change. For others, selling a property is strictly transactional and perhaps a way to leverage an asset. Whatever the motivation, below are seven ways to know that it might be time to hire a real estate professional to get your home sold. You’ll know it’s time to sell when… 1. The market is ripe for sellers. Seller's markets lead to increased competition among buyers, which means well-priced homes are typically snatched off the market quicker than usual. As a seller, this is great news. Selling your home quickly could allow you to buy a new home sooner with the equity from the sale. 2. Physically or emotionally you’ve outgrown it. Perhaps your family size has grown by adding another child, a set of parents to age in place, or you are simply feeling the cramped or close quarters as your family’s stage of life is shifting. Other times “outgrowing” might look like a life transition that can only be described as emotional growth. As life ebbs and flows, it's likely that there may come a time when you are simply ready to move on from your existing house. 3. You’re ready for something smaller. As young adult kids launch into their own lives, through the death or divorce of a spouse, or simply from feeling overwhelmed by the upkeep or work to own your house, it might be time to consider downsizing. Going smaller could also be a huge savings cost with a smaller home, lower maintenance and utility costs. 4. You have your financial house in order. Another reason it might be time to consider selling is that you have financial stability and can readily afford an upgrade. Having your mortgage and non-mortgage debt paid off and a hefty emergency fund or your next downpayment saved are signs that could point to selling an existing home and purchasing your next. 5. You’re ready to let someone else deal with the upkeep. Whether you are looking to rent your next home or get out of a traditional home and move into a development like a 55 and over community, being at a place where you’re ready to outsource home maintenance is a sure sign that it’s time to sell. 6. There’s significant equity in the value of your home. You may have paid off or paid down your mortgage or you may be running the numbers on your home’s estimated value due to the current demand pushing. There’s an often quoted saying, “You want to buy low and sell high.” This is true in both the stock market and the real estate market. Selling when you can bring in top dollar for your home is a good idea. 7. You’ve given it plenty of thought and you just know it’s time to move on. Sometimes, you just know it’s time. For reasons beyond those listed here, there just comes a time when you know it’s time to sell your home and move on to the next chapter of your life. Selling a home, particularly one you’ve lived in for any length of time can be an emotional process. Our homes are an extension of our lives and therefore, selling can be a lesson in nostalgia and sentimentality. When it comes to one of the largest financial transactions of your life, a trust real estate professional has the tools, training, and experience to help you see this process through from selling your home to purchasing your next opportunity.

Read more

How to Be Intentional with Interior and Exterior Lighting     Lighting can make or break a home’s ambiance and appeal both to prospective buyers as well as those who live there. Lighting is one area of the home that should not be overt. In fact, you likely won’t notice the lighting if it’s done well. You may only notice it if things are dim and dreary. Interior Lighting Indoor lighting can improve the overall quality of life of those inside the home. It can also add to the overall value of the property. If your existing home or one you may be interested in purchasing leaves a lot to be desired in the lighting department, there are four ways that you can brighten up your space. 1. Update old fixtures. If an existing home has outdated features, cosmetically it may be worth the investment to update or replace old fixtures. Besides the aesthetics of how much a refreshed fixture can improve a home, old fixtures may be working poorly and not at their full capacity. Replacing these yourself can be a pretty simple job, but if you aren’t electrically inclined, pay a professional electrician to do it safely. 2. Accentuate natural light. Natural light is something that is due in large part to the way your home sits on the lot and how many windows are available to let the light in. However, opening or altogether removing window treatments or blinds can help brighten up an interior space. Additionally, lighter paint colors, the use of mirrors, or keeping doors open may also maximize lighting. 3. Switch out your bulbs. Make sure you are firing up your fixtures and lamps at their maximum lumens. Check to make sure what the recommended voltage might be and lean into the lighter and brighter mood that making the switch can bring. It might surprise what a subtle, yet significant change going from 40 watts up to 75 or even 100 watts can do for a room. Decide if you prefer a cooler (more purple) or a warmer (more orange) tone bulb and seek to streamline all bulbs in the home so that there aren’t weird mixes of tones going on in a shared space. 4. Consider dimmers. For some, being intentional with lighting has less to do with making a space brighter, but more to do with creating a certain low light ambiance. Consider adding dimmer switches in parts of your home that you’d like more control over when it comes to lighting. Would a dimmer make a difference in areas like the dining room or over the soaking tub? Exterior Lighting Similar to interior lighting, exterior light can improve quality of life, value, and safety of the outside area of a home. Below are four suggestions for maximizing your exterior. 1. Consider Curb Appeal Lighting can play a huge role in anchoring your hard working landscaped beds or your entryway when it comes to curb appeal. When guests or passersby see your home in the dark, your lighting will focus on and highlight your home’s unique features. 2. Play It Safe When it comes to security, lighting can not only keep those moving about in the dark, safe from falls or losing their footing, but a well-lit home is also a deterrent to would-be creepers and criminals. Just like adding a dimmer switch for interior spaces, consider upgrading to light timers for outdoor flood or motion lights to come on whether you are home or not. 3. Make Outdoor Spaces Useable at Night Are there outdoor spaces just waiting to be used at your home after dark? What about a summer driveway cornhole tournament with the neighbors? Consider adding functional and ambient lighting to utilize porch spaces, set up an outdoor movie area, or even just light your path to the trash can or grilling area of the patio. 4. Know the Tricks for Layering Light The term “layered lighting” refers to combining different lighting elements to create a harmonious and visually comfortable space, which is achieved through the use of three important types of lighting: ambient, accent, and task lighting. These types and tricks are useful when it comes to outdoor lighting too. Focus on the overall ambiance with general lighting that illuminates the overall exterior area. This may be most easily achieved with flood lighting. Next, add a perimeter layer that all points to the house’s key exterior features. This covers porches, corners, walkways, and main angles of architecture. Finally, the task layer is reserved for taking on light specifically focused on particular areas that need to be well-lit.

Read more

Does Big Data Impact the Accuracy of Your Property Value?     What Exactly is Big Data? In real estate, big data refers to the collection, storage, process, and analysis of data related to the sector of business in all areas of real estate transactions. This information helps to anticipate opportunities and trends, which in turn helps consumers (both buyers and sellers) to make more informed and efficient decisions. In the past, real estate based decisions were made solely on professional experience and historic trends. Sometimes professional experience was purely “by heart” or anecdotal in its scope. Historic trends could be based over years and decades not weeks and days. With big data, today’s analytics empower real estate professionals to make data-driven decisions about sales, purchases, rentals, and property management of physical properties. How Can Big Data Improve the Real Estate Experience? Data today allows for greater accuracy in real time, which gives not only a clearer picture of opportunities but also a much more accurate snapshot for risk assessment. With constantly changing real estate markets and quickly changing economic times knowing the smallest, most nuanced differences in trends can make all the difference. Predictions based on data points like search engines, social media, Yelp reviews, and online surveys help real estate professionals focus their efforts, which in turn gets passed along to the consumer. The Future of Real Estate and Big Data According to Bright Data, big data is being leveraged in real estate in six major ways: 1. A Wider Scope of Analysis For example, the mortgage industry can study data to learn more about the average consumer’s purchasing power according to up to the moment median household incomes. 2. Property Evaluations Data drives these evaluations can be more accurate due to information collected on home appraisals, current supply and demand, sales volume, and the fluctuating costs of building materials. 3. Home Prospecting, Marketing, and Sales The use of digital advertising and marketing can help to refine home selling and home buying audiences. Additionally, marketing can be directed and targeted to buyers based on government records or other important information being collected. 4. A Boost in Property Development Another way data may be used in the future is by better understanding correlations between social media and location services when people check in and share public locations and pinpointing land parcels or areas that are trending. 5. Data-Driven Risk Mitigation and Property Insurance Data analytics may help provide buyers and sellers with information about the accurate amounts and types of insurance related to home ownership in a much clearer way than ever before. 6. Digitization of Management Processes For those involved in property management of either residential or commercial properties, data analysis can offer insights into the performance of various systems and asset strategies.

Read more