Is Your Neighbor Killing The Sale Of Your Ascension Parish Home?

If you have lived in a house or an apartment here in Ascension Parish, you may have had some neighbors. Some neighbors are awesome; some, well, not so much. If you have the latter of the two described neighbors, and you are looking to sell, it may be the perfect time to bury the hatchet. So how do you go about that?  Below I’m listing a few tips to help you with the selling of your Ascension Parish home.

It’s Time To Talk

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So you have lived in your Ascension Parish home for the last 8 years and you have only spoken to your neighbor to ask for him to stop letting his dog poop in your flower bed.  Unfortunately, the response wasn’t exactly the best reaction you had hoped for.  Since then, you haven’t said two words to one another.  Well, this is a perfect time, before you throw the sign in the yard, to make peace.  Let bygones be bygones, as they say!  Just walk over and let them know your plans and how this may be the perfect opportunity for them to get a new (and better?)neighbor.

But The Neighbors Yard Looks Like H#$% !

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I know, I have had one myself, and it could be a deal killer for sellers. My best advice for this, since you have now buried the hatchet, you could suggest, at your own expense, for a lawn company to freshen up the yard. I would do this tactfully just by saying, “Hey Neighbor, I was just about to call the landscaping company to spruce up my yard. I’ll pay for your’s to be done too as a courtesy if you would like?”  Many people will take you up on the offer, especially since time and money will not be an issue on their end of the deal. If they refuse and the yard is really that bad, you could amp things up by getting your homeowners association involved, but I would strongly suggest you go the civilized route.

The Fence On Their Side Is Rotting.

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I had a listing several years back where the neighbors shared a fence. The sellers were not on speaking terms with the next door neighbors.  I wasn’t completely sure of the reason, but I did know something needed to be done about that rotting, panels missing, eyesore of a fence. According to the sellers, they had made several attempts to remedy the fence issue to no avail, including offering to repair it themselves. So I went over to the neighbors home and asked if it was possible to get the fence repaired, They grumbled for a minute but before they said a flat out NO, I said: “You can pick the fencing company and we will foot the bill!” This seemed to satisfy the neighbor and within a week new panels were being put up and the sellers were able to move on with their lives.

What If This Doesn’t Work?

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Some people are just not happy unless they are making others miserable, I get it.  So, I understand sometimes you can’t just change a bad relationship overnight. If you have exhausted all your resources, and you really need to move, you can always add an incentive to the buyer to sweeten the pot. What I mean is, buyers can often overlook a sour neighbor if they feel like the deal benefits them, so simply add incentives into the listing such as, some additional closing costs or lawn care for a year or even possibly a reduced price for a serious buyer.

Your best approach is to try your best to improve the relationship with the neighbors for the sake of getting your home sold for the most money.

“Because YOU Matter”

Kristina Smallhorn

(Your Real Estate Whisperer)

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Cell 225-246-1812 Office 225-744-2610 Fax 225-744-2910
Info@YourRealEstateWhisperer.com
yourrealestatewhisperer.com
Villar & Company Real Estate,37283 Swamp Rd.,Suite 102 Prairieville LA, 70769
Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR with the state of Louisiana, USA.

Why Photos Are SO Important When Listing Your Ascension Parish Home.

Not too long ago, we as real estate agents would tell our sellers that curb appeal was the most important thing when putting your Ascension Parish home on the market. When the sign went up, we wanted the people who drove by to be sufficiently enticed to want to see inside.  Now, photos are the new curb appeal!  If you have photos taken with a cell phone camera that are blurry and too small for the MLS, they immediately turn off potential buyers.

Photos are the single most effective way to feature your Ascension Parish home in the best light to buyers, but you will need to work with your Ascension Parish listing agent to prepare your home for the photo shoot so you can capitalize on its features.

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(As nice as picture two may be, with a clear sky, Picture one takes away all the shadows and show the home in the correct way for listing your home in Ascension Parish)

NEVER List Your Home Without Professional Photographs.

I don’t care how good the market is right now; I don’t care what your home’s value is; there is no excuse for poor, sloppy photographs of your Ascension Parish home or piece of land. In today’s world of text messaging, email and social media, your Ascension Parish home or Land can be shared very quickly, and the photographs make your home appeal to buyers.  Bad photos will not be shared except between people telling each other how bad the pictures look!

I know the market is extremely HOT right now but in order to sell your home quickly and for the best price, your Ascension Parish Realtor® MUST take professional photographs!

Prepare Your Home Prior to The Shoot.

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The simplest way to make your photographs turn out their best is to declutter by removing all extra items from the countertops in bathrooms and kitchens, and making sure to put away your coffee pot and toiletries. These items in photographs can make your spaces appear to be smaller than they actually are.  As a rule of thumb, if you don’t really need it, pack it away.  A clean field of vision for your photographer makes for better pictures, which will stimulate your future buyer’s imagination of making it their next home.

The Number Of Photos Counts.

Statistics have proven that the more photos you have, the more likely your Ascension Parish home will sell faster. Don’t think a good picture of the front and back of your home is enough. You should have an ample number of pictures starting at the front of your home, then going into the foyer and through the entire home, ending in the backyard making buyers get a good feel of how the home flows. I believe a minimum of 8 photos should be used for a home and a minimum of 4 photos for a piece of land. As a side note, the MLS allows for many more than 8 photos, so please take as many pictures as necessary to capture all the features of your home.

There is no excuse for not hiring a professional photographer for your Ascension Parish home, and the cost to have them done should not be paid by you, the seller. This should be a part of selling your home and paid for by the agent or broker.  If your Ascension Parish realtor refuses to hire a professional photographer, then I personally would find that unacceptable.  It is not a rule or a law but just something that is not difficult to have done, and the expense should never be a factor.  This is YOUR home and you want it sold fast, and for the MOST money.

If you would like to see some homes with professional photographs that I have listed in the past, please feel free to call me at 225-246-1812.

“Because YOU Matter”

Sincerely,

Kristina Smallhorn (Your Real Estate Whisperer)

Cell 225-246-1812

Office 225-744-2610

Fax 225-744-2910

Info@YourRealEstateWhisperer.com

yourrealestatewhisperer.com

Villar & Company Real Estate,37283 Swamp Rd.,Suite 102 Prairieville LA, 70769

Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR with the state of Louisiana, USA.

How Social Media Can Help Sell Your Prairieville Home.

How Social Media can help sell your Prairieville home.

You are hard pressed to meet anyone who isn’t on some kind of social media platform. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, GooglePlus, Flicker and Pinterest are just a few that are being used daily by millions of users. This is a great opportunity to get your home in front of those millions of users, in turn selling your home quicker than traditional methods. Traditional methods do work but have shown to take much longer to sell.

Why Traditional methods take longer?

Not too long ago a Realtor® would list a home, put a sign in the yard, take several pictures with a regular camera, put it on the MLS and host an open house by advertising in a local paper, Hoping to God that someone saw the Sunday mornings paper, If the listing didn’t sell after a while,  they would market in local home magazines found at the grocery store or in bins outside of restaurants. Did this work? YES! Here in Prairieville this had been the recipe for success for many, many years. 

So whats changed about marketing my Prairieville home?

Before I answer that question,  I want to pose a question for you. When was the last time you bought a Sunday news paper? Better yet, Do you have a newspaper delivered to your home anymore? Many of us do not, I haven’t ordered a news paper in 8 years. News happens so quickly now that by the time it has been printed its already old news.

With social media become progressively the way most people look for news, it is also the best way to present your home to prospective buyers. I’m not talking about taking a picture with your cell phone and throwing it on Facebook wishing for the best. What I’m talking about is a Realtor® who knows how to get to as many users as possible and have your home in front a thousands of potential buyers. A tech savvy Realtor® understands how to do this. They understand how social media works and know that it takes more than a photo with a cell phone to do the trick.

How I can help you.

I use several social media platforms to sell your home, I can discuss with you my plan on how I use social media to make your home go “viral” putting it in front of as many users in your area as possible. I do use some traditional methods as well.  The combination of the two is a great marriage of the old way and the new way, appealing too many different kinds of buyers. The end result, your home sells faster. 

“Because YOU Matter”

Your Real Estate Whisperer

Kristina Smallhorn

Curb appeal for selling your home in the fall season.

Curb appeal for selling your home in the fall season.

When selling a home during the fall months in South Louisiana it is still important to keep your yard looking its best (even though the grass has now turned brown and the green luster not to come back until the spring). I’ve listed some things below that could help your prospective buyers still be in awe of your yard, ignoring those brown blades of hay-looking grass.

1. Rake your yard from falling leaves. This alone can make a yard look fresh in comparison to other homes that are for sale.

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2. Plant fall flowers, and put a lot in. I say it to my clients almost as a joke, but I’m slightly serious as well. If you see an empty spot in your flower beds, add as many fall flowers as you can. Nothing makes a house feel more like home than bright flowers to greet you before you enter.
3. Add color to your front door. If it needs painting, now is the perfect time to do it. A nice fall colored wreath can add a nice dress-up to the entry making the first impression inviting.

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4. Outdoor lighting. As the days become shorter, now is a good time to invest in some great outdoor lighting, A well-lit home from the outside always adds great curb appeal.
5. Pot Some Plants- If your home doesn’t have many flowerbeds that you can add to, you can spruce up your outside by getting large flower pots and adding flowers with color in those. That always looks charming around a home.

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6. Don’t forget to clean out those gutters and pickup any toys and lawn hoses.
Clean and paint your mailbox.

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This is a rarely thought about item in your yard but used almost daily. A fresh coat of paint on a tired mailbox can make your home stand out as being well kept.This time of year it is typical for the market does slow down a bit. This year we are in a more unique market due to the flood of 2016, making it a little more aggressive than in years past. Don’t take for granted how your outside decor can attract buyers. Sometimes the yard alone is what sells the house.

“Because YOU matter”
#yourrealestatewhisperer