West Chester & Liberty Twp OH Real Estate: Preparing Your Home To Sell

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Are you getting your home ready to list it for sale?  Preparing to sell a home in West Chester, Liberty Township or Beckett Ridge can be an overwhelming task if you are not prepared.  The process of getting your home ready can be simplified by breaking the areas of your home up into groups.

1.   Curb Appeal, Front Entry/Porch & Landscaping

2.   First Impression (interior), Foyer

3.   Living Room, Dining Room, Family Room & Study

4.   Kitchen

5.   Bedrooms

6.   Finished Lower Level

7.   Rear Yard, Decks & Patio  Areas

Why is any of this necessary you ask?  Because if at all possible you want to avoid that unpleasant feeling of rejection when home buyer after home buyer comes through your home for sale and doesn’t make an offer.

If you can properly stage your home for sale, you’ve greatly increased your chances not just of selling it in today’s challenging real estate market, but of selling it quickly and for significantly more money than you otherwise would have.

Today we’ll address Curb Appeal, Front Entry / Porch & Landscaping.  Always remember, this is the first impression home buyers will have of your home.  First suggestion:  Stop cutting your grass (yourself).  Get a service to maintain your lawn while your home is on the market for sale.  There are many good lawn services in the West Chester, Liberty Township & Beckett Ridge Ohio areas.  A good lawn service can keep your lawn trimmed and edged neatly, will keep your lawn mowed regularly and can also trim your bushes & shrubs and provide fresh mulch (please use black mulch) to complete the great look.

Keep this in mind:  If your yard is beautiful and well maintained, home buyers will assume the whole house has been kept the same.

If your home has a front porch make sure that it is freshly scrubbed and clean.  If there is enough room, place a couple of chairs and a small table on the porch to stage the area.  Caution: Be sure the size of the table & chairs do not overwhelm the space.  Also keep in mind, I am not talking about the “$10 plastic chairs & table” here.  They need to be something nice!

If your home does not have a front porch just be sure the outside area around the front door is clean, no cob webs and also be sure the front door itself is clean.  More than likely the front door needs a fresh coat of paint and probably new hardware.  If you have outside lighting/coach lights they probably need replacing also.

This is a great start on preparing your home for sale in today’s market.  In the next post in this series of articles we’ll cover First Impressions (interior), Foyer. 

Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market? Request a market analysis here!

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Tuesday Open House

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It’s time for the Tuesday Open House. What is Tuesday Open House?? Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”. Open Houses don’t sell homes, but it seemed like a good title for this weekly blog post. It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township,Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas. It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

 

New Listing: 8419 Edgeview Drive, West Chester, Ohio. Located just minutes from the shopping and dining at Voice Of America and both I-75 and I-71.  This terrific home really is a must see. It features three bedrooms and two and a half baths, along with a cathedral great room, remodeled kitchen, large master w/ adjoining bath and first floor laundry. You can get more information and see interior and exterior photos of 8419 Edgeview Drive in West Chester, Ohio on our website, www.LowryTeam.com.

 

 

Need Mulch? As I have mentioned several times, if you are preparing your home to get it on the market for sale soon? Don’t forget the curb appeal. As the old saying goes… you only get one chance to make a good first impression. So clean up the landscaping and get yourself some fresh mulch. I’m not sure that there is a better way to go than to get it from the boy scouts. They even deliver! You can see the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer here or you can just go directly to the boy scouts site right here. My mulch is being delivered this week…anyone like to help??

 

10 Days To Tax Credit Expiration: The tax credit of $8000 for first time hombuyers and $6500 for move up buyers expires on April 30th, 2010.  Could the time to buy be after the expiration of the tax credits?  Maybe… homeowners that haven’t sold may be more likely to accept a lower price if the showing and selling activity slows after the tax credit expiration, providing an even better opportunity for a good deal.  Will the activity slow?  No one knows, we will just have to wait and see.  Also, keep in mind interest rates remain very, very low.

 

Keller Williams RED Day:  Keller Williams Realty Red Day plans are underway! On May 13th, the Keller Williams Associate Partners office will be conducting a huge food and clothing collection drive for Reach Out Lakota!!!! Praying the day will be a huge success…Please RSVP to let us know if you would like to donate…we’ll come to your home on May 13th and pick up your donations. All you have to do is leave it out on your front porch for us.  To RSVP, please visit our Lowry Team Real Estate Facebook Fan Page!

 

 

It Must Be Spring:  You know it is spring in West Chester and Liberty Township when The Cone opens.  I drove by the Tylersville Road landmark this past week and the crowds were already huge.  The Cone is the local ice cream destination.  Check out their website for more information and to read the history of this local West Chester business.

 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: The Cincinnati Bengals.  This week is the NFL draft and the eyes of all Bengal fans will be on the team to see which players they select.  Hopefully it will be a successful weekend for the Bengals.  Check out their Facebook page for all of the details.

While you are on facebook checking out the Cincinnati Bengals fan page, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page:

   

Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Search the entire MLS here!Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market? Request a market analysis here!

Visit My YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Tuesday Open House

by Leave a Comment

It’s time for the Tuesday Open House. What is Tuesday Open House?? Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”. Open Houses don’t sell homes, but it seemed like a good title for this weekly blog post. It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas. It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

 

New Listing: 325 Bridle Pass Way, Monroe, Ohio.  Located in Bridle Creek subdivision this terrific ranch home really is a must see.  It features three bedrooms and two full baths on the first floor, along with a cathedral great room, eat-in kitchen, cathedral master w/ adjoining bath and first floor laundry.  The lower level is really special, featuring a large rec room w/ wet bar, recessed ceiling and recessed lighting, a fourth bedroom and third full bath, plus a professional class media room.  

 

Need Mulch? As I mentioned last week, if you are preparing your home to get it on the market for sale soon? Don’t forget the curb appeal. As the old saying goes… you only get one chance to make a good first impression. So clean up the landscaping and get yourself some fresh mulch. I’m not sure that there is a better way to go than to get it from the boy scouts. They even deliver! You can see the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer here or you can just go directly to the boy scouts site right here. I am placing my order this week.

Good Reasons To Buy Now: Here is a really good article on why now is the time to buy real estate if you have been thinking of it and are just undecided or unsure.  5 Good Reasons To Buy That Home NOW!

This article makes the point that waiting to buy a home until later may in fact cost you money.  The below example spells this out pretty clearly I think:

Let’s say that you buy a home for $200,000 and make a  10% down payment using a 30 year fixed rate mortgage.  If your interest rate today is 5.00%, the monthly payment will be $967. 

But let’s say you want to wait to see if home values fall farther in the West Chester/Liberty Township area.  If home values do fall a little more and that same home can now be purchased for $195,000 with the same 10% down payment, but while you waited interest rates went up slightly to 5.25%, your payment would now be $969.  Even though you paid $5000 less, you payment is now $2 higher. 

If rates have moved up to 5.50% during this time, your payment would now be $996.  And these payments are based on the lower purchase price, if the value of the home you were buying didn’t drop and the rates went up the monthly payments would be even higher. 

So waiting to buy may very well cost you money.  Rates have started to rise, not dramatically yet, but don’t wait too long! 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Reach Out Lakota. This community organization does a lot of good in our community.  They need more than just for us to become fans of them on facebook, they need our support and donations!  As of this writing their page has 53 fans, so I ask that you check out their fan page, become a fan and invite your facebook friends to do the same.  More importantly though, consider donating nonperishable food items and clothing to Reach Out Lakota today.  Check it out.

While you are on facebook checking out the Reach Out Lakota fan page, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page.

 

 

 Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Search the entire MLS here! Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market? Request a market analysis here!

Visit My YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

West Chester & Liberty Township OH Real Estate: Tuesday Open House

by Leave a Comment

It’s time for the Tuesday Open House.  What is Tuesday Open House??  Well, it’s clearly not an “open house”.  Open Houses don’t sell homes, but it seemed like a good title for this weekly blog post.  It is my way of throwing the doors open on the RealEstate-Ink.com blog and offering up a few quick articles and facts on real estate for the West Chester, Liberty Township, Beckett Ridge, Mason and Fairfield Township, Ohio areas.  It is not intended to be all about homes for sale, but it will be about that some of the time…

Real Estate Market Update:  How is the real estate market? That is the big question today.  The answer is very different depending on many factors.  What you heard on the Today Show or read in the USA Today is not going to be the answer though.  Getting your real estate market information from some national expert is a little like getting a national weather forecast:  “In the US today it’s going to be a high of 67 with a chance of showers.”  Really…where?  It’s not much different with real estate.  Some media report will say that home sales or prices will have dropped by some percent across the country.  Again, I say really…where?

Real estate is local and in the market we have today it is hyper-local.  Meaning the market is very different in one area of Cincinnati vs. another.  The real estate market is also very different depending on the price range of the home.  The first time homebuyer price range is very active right now and supply and demand are largely in balance.  Higher price ranges continue to have quite an imbalance of homes for sale, thus continuing to cause pricing pressure.  The moral of the story is… for accurate, local real estate information, contact an experienced local real estate expert.  For more local real estate information, check back here later in the week for my RealEstate-Ink Market Update Report.

Need Mulch?  Are you preparing your home to get it on the market for sale soon?  Don’t forget the curb appeal.  As the old saying goes… you only get one chance to make a good first impression.  So clean up the landscaping and get yourself some fresh mulch.  I’m not sure that there is a better way to go than to get it from the boy scouts.  They even deliver!  You can see the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer here or you can just go directly to the boy scouts site right here.  I am placing my order this week.

Liberty Township Newsletter for March:  The Liberty Township March newsletter is online and has a lot of good information whether you are a Liberty Township resident, potential resident or just live nearby and are interested in the area.  There are articles on everything from the new fire station to information on parks, road improvements, population statistics and much more.  You can find the Liberty Township newsletter here.

 

Our Facebook Fan Page of the week is: Cincinnati Reds.  How could this week’s Fan Page Of The Week be anything else?  It is less than two weeks until opening day!  As of this writing their page has 96,043 fans.  The Reds fan page as you might imagine has a lot of very interesting information and news concerning all of your favorite Reds players and of course Reds ticket information.  Check it out.

While you are on facebook checking the Cincinnati Reds fan page out, please visit and become a fan of our facebook page.

 

 

Thinking of buying a home in West Chester, Beckett Ridge or Liberty Township, Fairfield Township, Monroe or Mason Ohio?

Search the entire MLS here!  Wondering what your home is worth in today’s real estate market?  Request a market analysis here!

Visit My YouTube channel at:  www.youtube.com/LowryTeam

 Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester, Fairfield and Liberty Township, Ohio

 

West Chester Ohio Real Estate: Why Some Homes Are Selling

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West Chester Ohio Real Estate: Why are some West Chester, Liberty Township & Beckett Ridge, Ohio homes selling and others are not?

Some quick observations regarding why some homes are selling and others are not.  I have been out showing a large number of homes in the past two weeks to a number of different clients and here are a few quick thoughts on this matter:

1.) Get It Priced Right! – No surprise here, but it really stands out when a home is priced too high compared to the competition.  The buyers see it quickly and they don’t spend much time looking at the house, they just move on.

2.) Clean your home inside and out! – yes, this seems pretty obvious, but after all of my recent showings it is clear to me that it is not obvious to everyone.

3.) Leave your home for showings! – Do not stay in your home for showings – we’ll figure out that you have freshly painted walls or double ovens, etc.  The buyers want to look at your home privately, don’t stay around and make them uncomfortable!

There is more, but I said “quick observations”.

Wondering about the value of your home in today’s market?  Request a Free Market Analysis.

Check Out My Feature Homes For Sale In West Chester and Liberty Township, Ohio