The walk-thru stage of home buying, The final walkthrough isn’t just to check if the sellers have removed all items from the home or check the condition. When a buyer does a walk-thru of the home they are buying, prior to closing, they may see some things they were not expecting, So its good to be prepared. In this video: I will be showing the perfect walkthrough checklist so you don’t forget anything by the time the sellers have handed over the keys and cover those things most people don’t even think about when they walk around one last time. Below the video, I will have a checklist PDF that you can download for free to take with you the day you do your walk-thru.
I will start off by saying that I would never tell a seller to lie on any document but there are some secrets sellers should keep. These non-disclosed secrets in no way are being deceptive to the person purchasing the home but help the seller stay on even ground with the prospective buyers. Savvy sellers know to never expose these secrets and In this video, I will cover the secrets that sellers should keep, so you don’t sabotage your home sale with these home selling tips and get top dollar for your home.
Many buyers will ask the sellers “Why are you moving?” seems like a harmless question, right? When I represent the buyer I always ask it but If I represent the seller I’m tight-lipped with the response, Why? Because the answer can make the buyers perceive the sellers time frame as being more urgent causing them to make a lower offer. For instance, If the seller has to move because of a job transfer. The buyers know that the seller wants to get rid of the home they have for sale as quickly as possible so their offer will reflect that.
So what other responses would cause the buyer to feel like they have the upper hand in the deal that sellers should stay quiet about?
?“We just need to live in a quiet neighborhood”
If I buyer hears that from a seller their imaginations run wild to what that could possibly mean. Not only could you as a seller get lower offers because of it, but you may also lose out on offers altogether.
?“The Taxes and Insurance are killing us”
I can already see the alarm bells ringing overs buyers head when they hear this. If they do not perceive the cost of insurance and taxes as too high they already know you as a seller are eager to sell quickly to get out from under your mounting financial problems.
?“We hate our Neighbors”
Not all people are the same and If you dislike your neighbors the new possible buyers may be bosom buddies. Also, you may want to be careful in saying this for another reason. The buyers may also be related to some of your disliked neighbors. I live in a small town and this is not unheard of at all, you never know who you are talking to so be careful.
?“We just want a newer house”
When sellers say this a buyer begins to believe there is work that needs to be done to the home you are trying to selling or the home is outdated. They start to run a price tag of all the items they think haven’t been taking care of and make an offer with that in mind.
⚠️“We Just Don’t Feel Safe”
This is a perceived feeling for you as a seller. What you consider “safe” may be a step up for the new possible buyer. Let the buyers and buyers agent do there due diligence when researching the neighborhood. Crime statistics are public record and are posted on many websites, I included a report for my buyers in any home they are researching.
?And what is the biggest secret you should keep as a home seller?
“What’s your bottom line?” Never I Mean NEVER tell a buyer what your bottom line is. Not only will they know what you want to make they will also try to go just under that amount to sweeten the deal in their own minds. If you want top dollar for your home or even fair market price NEVER TELL THIS SECRET!!?
I hope you found this video about the Secrets Sellers Should Keep useful if you’d like to read more real estate buying and selling tips you can visit my blog at yourrealestatewhisperer.com
?If you’d like to watch more videos specifically about home selling here is a very useful playlist *** https://bit.ly/2KIwj1L
?To watch the video about Sabotaging your Home Sale (https://youtu.be/Mx9r975xRMo)
??If you don’t want to miss important tips, please consider subscribing https://bit.ly/2MEztWK
?To get a copy of my FREE buyer e-book you can download it here: https://bit.ly/2LdyEqt
?To search for homes in the Baton Rouge and Ascension Parish Area:
https://bit.ly/2OdQw1s
?If you have any questions about buying and selling your home feel free to reach out to me at any time by email or any respectable time by phone?.
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer and I tell you all this “Because YOU Matter”
Cell 225-246-1812
EXP REALTY, LLC
2900 Westfork Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70827
225-412-9982 ext 149
info@YourRealEstateWhisperer.com, kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com
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Kristina Is a Licensed Realtor® with The Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors@ in the State of Louisiana. License #0912122918
I took a day listing a home here in Ascension Parish. This super cute home for sale is a new listing for me, This week I will be showing you how listing a home for sale can be a little more trouble than just sticking a sign in the yard. Listing a home in Ascension Parish takes a lot more work than you think. I will be answering the questions you may be having about home listing when they go up for sale like, What are the steps in listing a home? What happens when you list a home? and why would you want to pay someone to measure a house? I meet up with Snap-Shot Photography to measure the home and take photographs. I’ll show you what it takes to get a home on the market but spare you the paperwork (which takes you the longest and would not make for a great video.) Let me show you more about the resale of this existing home be sure to watch the video of this week’s vlog.
The property is almost an acre! You get the best of both worlds with this home, You’ll be a part of an awesome neighborhood and you’ll have a HUGE backyard. When you step into the foyer you’ll fall in love with the cool modern grey color scheme that leads you to the large open concept living room and oversized traditional style kitchen with attached dining area. From the living room, you walk down the hall to the enormous master bedroom, plenty of room for a California King bedroom set. The ensuite master bathroom has a stand-alone shower, jetted tub and double sink with plenty of cabinetry to store bath towels and toiletries. Out from the master, the paint color scheme continues and down the hall has two more large bedrooms with fantastic closet space for each of them. Once you step into the backyard you won’t get over how big it is. You will have plenty of room to have a massive crawfish boil, Backyard barbecues or put in the large swimming pool you have been dreaming of, the possibilities are endless. I know once you walk through this home you won’t want anyone else to have it. (Please note: This home DID NOT flood during the 2016 floods, Window curtains and hooks in children bedrooms will not remain with the home)
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kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com,info@yourrealestatewhisperer.com eXp Realty LLC,2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401, Baton Rouge LA 70817 225-246-1812, Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
It’s Take A Tip Tuesday, Do you Know Why you don’t see “Sale Pending Signs”? You may have driven up to a home recently only to find out the sale of the home is “pending”. What is a pending sale sign anyway? It just means the home has a contract that is waiting to close on the purchase. So why don’t realtors put the sale pending sign up? You want to know is the sale pending, right? The reason why most realtors don’t put the sale pending sign up is to capture possible leads in case the home sale falls through. There are many reasons why a pending home sale could fall through as an example, credit check comes back off from the application, the buyer has been let go of their job, one of the buyers on the loan has passed away or taxes were filed incorrectly, these are just some of the ways that a pending home sale could fall through. there are many other ways this was just an example. I know it can be frustrating for you as a possible buyer to be looking in a neighborhood and find the home of your dreams only to see the home with the for sale sign now has a pending contract. You may feel like the agents are just wasting their time not putting up the sign but we are trying to represent our sellers in the best way possible. If the pending sale sign goes up and the pending contract happens to fall through we have missed out on all those possible leads that could put in a contract or even a backup offer.
*I hope you found this tip useful if you’d like some more tips you can always visit my website at yourrealestatewhisperer.com
kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com,info@yourrealestatewhisperer.com eXp Realty LLC,2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401,Baton Rouge LA 70817 225-246-1812,Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
Staging a home when you are about to put it on the market can be a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be. If you can’t afford a professional stager there are some simple ways you can stage your own home when you are about to put it up for sale. This week, I show you how you can stage your bathroom with some super easy “pro tips”.
As I have shown homes lately in Ascension Parish and the Greater Baton Rouge areas, I have noticed that many homeowners haven’t highlighted the best features that sell a home, The master bathroom and kitchen are rooms that truly need to be the glowing showcase of a home since these are the areas buyers look for most. You want to get top dollar for your home when selling it, simple staging can help you with your goal.
In this video, Your Real Estate Whisperer (Kristina Smallhorn) shows how to showcase your master bathroom on a budget if you can’t or don’t want to hire a professional home stager.
If you like to see more tips for staging your home including how to remove the smell of dog urine out of the carpet (https://youtu.be/oxwrmie_nNg) be sure to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you won’t miss any of my tips for buying and selling homes.
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Ebook For Buying: https://goo.gl/ux3mYz
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Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana in The Greater Baton Rouge MLS, license # 0912122918
eXp Realty LLC,2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401, Baton Rouge LA 70817
Cell Number: 225-246-1812, Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149
Wiring Fraud Alert!!!!! Don’t Let These Hackers Steal Your Down Payment! Watch The Video To See How You Can Protect Your Money!
Wiring Fraud Alert For Home Buyers has become a real problem over the last couple of years. Imagine having your life saving for a down payment for your new home being stolen from you just days before the closing. It’s been happening all over the country even in Ascension Parish. The scam works like this, the hackers get a hold of either the title companies email account, the realtors’ email account or even the home buyers email account after one of these accounts are infiltrated the hackers sit and wait. They monitor the activities of all the parties involved in the transaction days beforehand they inform the buyer that wiring instructions have changed and they need confirmation they received the message so they can send the new instructions. These criminals are clever, by this time they have copied or even cloned the email addresses of the parties involved they really make these emails look very official. Buyers are of course in a panic and rush to there bank to give them the new wiring instructions, but the thing about it is, they just lost all their down payment and very little can be done to get that money back.
There are some ways to protect yourself. One is to change your email password often and have two code authentification. If you do get an email asking to change wiring instructions prior to closing make sure to call your REALTOR® to verify the title companies phone number. Never follow the phone number that is posted in the suspicious email. Lastly, Instead of wiring the funds, if possible, just go down to your bank and get cashiers check, it may take a little more time but could save you tens of thousands of dollars.
To Get My FREE EBook On Buying Homes In Ascension Parish, Click Here https://goo.gl/ux3mYz
Kristina Smallhorn
kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com, Your Real Estate Whisperer,
eXp Realty LLC 2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401 Baton Rouge LA 70817 225-246-1812 Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
It’s Take A Tip Tuesday and in this weeks video, I discuss 5 big things that people should know when buying a home. Whether this is your first home or tenth home, these tips should always be helpful. In Ascension Parish, we have lots of people moving in and out an all around but people seem to forget what needs to be done when buying a home. Below I’ve listed 5 key tips to remember.
Get Approved!
I must say this about 1000 times in my past videos and I know if you have been following me for awhile I may sound like a broken record but I’m telling you, people jump the gun when home shopping and tend to forget all about being “pre-approved” prior to their home quest.
Size Doesn’t Matter!
This is another thing that some people can get hung up on. They want a HUGE home but did you know that if you have the largest home in a neighborhood you will get a lot less per square foot than your surrounding neighbors. Bigger doesn’t mean better and maybe an unwise investment.
Shiny New Toy Syndrome.
Imagine walking into a home that has all the bells and whistles, super thick granite, custom cabinets and all upgraded modern appliances. It’s your dream home but it’s over the budget you set for yourself. Delayed gratification can be better in the long run, especially for your wallet as well. Don’t get stuck with a home that you can barely furnish because you had to have the newest, latest and greatest.
Budget For Other Costs.
When you go on sites like Realtor dot com, Trulia, and Zillow, they will give you an estimated mortgage payment. Many of these sites do not factor in the other costs, like escrows, insurance, and taxes. Make sure you have more money set aside for these items.
Hire An Inspector.
I can’t say this enough, even if you are buying a brand new home you should have it inspected by a professional. Even though the new home has to pass building code inspections things get missed and the inspector you hire is looking out for your best interest. (To Read More About Inspections Click Here 3 Myths About Home Inspections)
I hope you found these tips useful If you’d like to read more about buying homes in the Ascension Parish Area, please download my free e-book https://goo.gl/ux3mYz. If you like to search for homes in the Ascension Parish Area Click Here. To watch all my tip videos please subscribe to my YouTube Channel by Clicking HERE!
Kristina Smallhorn
kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149
Kristina Smallhorn is a licensed REALTOR® with the state of Louisiana
Are Your Buyers Going Blind ‘Cause They Can’t See?
It’s Take A Tip Tuesday!
Hi, I’m Kristina Smallhorn, your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. We all know that we wanna show our house in the best light possible, but if the light can’t come through because your blinds are dirty, then that could hinder some buyer saying, “Wow, it’s dark in this house.”
I mean, let’s be honest. The blinds would have to be pretty filthy for that to be a real issue, but one of my clients has asked me to find the best way to clean your blinds. It would be, first of all, cheap, secondly of all, fast, and thirdly of all, easy.
Sydney my daughter, is out of school this week and she said she was going to help me find a way to clean the blinds. I figured since she’s a helper, that would help with time. We’re gonna try some different methods that people have suggested to clean your blinds in your house. Let’s get started.
***And We’re now off to the dollar store to get inexpensive supplies.***
We got our supplies at the Family Dollar and they wouldn’t let us film inside the Family Dollar. I don’t know why it’s a requirement not to film in the Family Dollar, but as soon as we walked in the store, she’s like, “You cannot film in our store.” I didn’t know it was such a top secret thing to not film in the Family Dollar. Okay, but we’ll show you our haul when we get home. Don’t tell them what we’re gonna do.
At the Family Dollar, we got plenty of things. Microfiber cleaning sponges, some tongs. How much did everything cost… A $1.00!
When we were at the Family Dollar, my husband suggested he had a very cool way of cleaning the blinds. I thought this would be a fantastic trick to share with everybody for cleaning your blinds. First, you’re gonna take two sponges. With those two sponges, you are going to cut a slit in them. These sponges are microfiber. What you’re gonna do is you’re gonna slide the sponge over the little tongs.
We’re gonna take the tongs and put them so it’s clamped onto a blind, and we’re just gonna slide it across by putting a little bit of pressure on it. This will get all the dust off underneath and above. Oh, look! You can see the dust. That worked really well. There’s one more method I’d like to mention. My mom used to take the whole blind off the wall, and then she’d go out into the driveway, put it on the ground, spray the whole thing with Fantastic, wait a couple minutes, then hose it off. I think that’s a great method for a blind that’s in the kitchen and you have a lot of grease that’s caked on it. But other than that, you can just leave them on the window and use the tongs with the sponges. I think that’s a super method.
Sydney and I, hope you found this trick useful. If you’d like to know more about selling homes here in Ascension Parish, you can always visit at YourRealEstateWhisperer.com. If you’d like to search for homes here in the Ascension Parish area, Click ***Here*** .If you’d like to know more about buying homes here in Ascension Parish, I have a copy of my free e-book***here*** .
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, I’m your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. We tell you all this “Because You Matter”!
Kristina Smallhorn is Your Real Estate Whisperer, kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
It’s Take a Tip Tuesday. Does Your House Smell Like Dog Pee?
Hi, my name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish. And if you have animals, you may not even know that your house has a pet odor. And one of the worst odors you can deal with pets is when they have accidents and they have urinated in the house. You may not smell it, but buyers that do not have pets can.
There is a way to get rid of the smell, believe it or not. I discovered this trick from a client of mine who contacted me. She told me that her dog had left quite a mess after being left alone in a room for too long and they had the hardest time getting the smell out. So she gave me these great tips to get that smell out because I have dogs. I thought I would share that with you as well.
So, when it comes to old dog stains, and old dog odors, it seems like they even get stronger the older they get. I know that for this dog, she still is a puppy so we have accidents in the house and it happens. So what you’re going to want to do, if you haven’t caught it when it was still wet. If it’s wet you’re going to want to, you know, pull up the damp spot, but if you didn’t catch it when it was still wet, it’s not too late.
What you do is you take the spot that was dirty. Apparently, she wants to help as well. And you have a spray bottle which I just filled up an empty spray bottle with vinegar. And you’re going to, it’s just white vinegar, so you’re going to … Get out of here. Go. I’m shooting a video here, go. You’re going to spray that spot with vinegar and you’re going to get it pretty wet and of course it does smell like a salad, but it gets that dog urine strong smell out of the carpet. Okay. So of course what that does is kind of reactivate the dog pee. So you’re going to let that sit for a little bit.
Once it sits, for I would say a good 15 minutes, you’re going to take an old rag and you’re going to kind of push on that spot and get all that excess white vinegar out, and then after you have gotten all that excess white vinegar out, then you are going to sprinkle good old baking soda. Remember Mom’s baking soda? And you’re going to push that into the carpet where the white vinegar was. And I would put a good old healthy helping on here. And I kind of like take the rag and kind of push it back into the carpet really deep so it gets really into the carpet fibers there. Kind of like, make almost like a paste of this in there to get that really under the, if you have the carpet pad underneath as well. Let that sit on there until it makes like a crust, okay?
And then once it makes that crust, you’ll see that the baking soda has drawn up all that dog pee that was underneath at the bottom. And then all you do is vacuum it up and it’s done. And you do not have that smell anymore. It’s fantastic. It was a great trick, I was so glad that my client called me and told me about it.
So if you have a home that you have for sale, and the complaints have come in that they smell dog pee in the house, this is a great way, a cheap way to get that dog pee smell out, even out of old, old stains. If you’d like some more tips on selling your home here in Ascension Parish, you could always visit my website at yourrealestatewhisperer.com. If you’d like to get some information about buying homes here in Ascension Parish, you’re more than welcome to download by free e-book, I will put a link to the description above.
My name is Kristina Smallhorn, Your Real Estate Whisperer for Ascension Parish and I tell you all this “Because YOU Matter”!
Kristina Smallhorn
Your Real Estate Whisperer For Ascension Parish, Kristina Smallhorn.
Your Real Estate Whisperer
kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36, A weekly show where I talk about nothing but the people and businesses here in Ascension Parish. This week I talk with Alicia Wilson a new sales counselor for LEVEL Homes in Germany Oaks Subdivision in Gonzales. We meet at one of the model homes on 15133 Germany Oaks Blvd. A 4 bedroom 3 bath home.
Alicia takes the time to take us on a tour and discuss all the amenities LEVEL Homes has to offer. We begin in the kitchen where you’ll see that the standard home is above most standard homes in this price range, she tells us that you are able to choose the type of granite a buyer may want and appliance packages that are available. The tour continues with Alicia telling the Ascension Parish Coffee Talk viewers that granite in the master bath is standard as well even around the oversized garden tub. We then enter the Open floor plan living room area that boasts high ceilings and standard surround sound speakers. This particular floor plan has a massive dining room that is great for large groups, for entertaining. Off to the upstairs we go, the real wood stairs make it more durable over time. At the top of the stairs, Alicia shows a second living space or bonus room as some see it. Off from the bonus room area is two more large bedrooms and separate bath.
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36
Ascension Parish Coffee Talk #36
When we head back downstairs, Alicia explains LH Lending and how they can help finance your home and help assist in closing costs when using them to purchase your home. Along with LEVEL Homes preferred title companies as well.
Level Homes, also known as Level Construction and Development, was established in 2000 to bring high-quality homes and neighborhoods to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and other leading Louisiana markets. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Level Homes was founded by a visionary real estate developer, Todd Waguespack. Principals include John Engquist, Chairman; Todd Waguespack, Managing Partner; Ric Rojas, President; Ryan Engquist, Vice President and Charles Landry, Chief Legal Counsel.
Level Homes expanded to the Raleigh – Durham area of North Carolina in 2013, with homesites and well-located neighborhoods in the economically resilient Research Triangle Park region. The builder continued to grow in the North Carolina and Louisiana markets and was named to Business Report’s 2015 and 2016 Edition of Best Places to Work in Baton Rouge. In the summer of 2016, Level Homes was proudly recognized as both a Top 200 Builder in the nation and named to the coveted list of “Next 100 Fastest Growing Builders in the United States” by Builder Magazine. In the fall of 2016, Level Homes was named in the Triangle Business Journal (TBJ) Fast 50 List, recognizing the company as one of the fastest growing private companies in the Raleigh – Durham North Carolina area based on a revenue growth and profitability formula analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Developing communities and building a wide array of homes ranging in price from $169,900 to $600,000, Level Homes exceeds customer expectations in all phases of the home buying lifecycle, from first-time buyers to those moving up, to empty nesters. The award-winning company employs a knowledgeable and friendly team to assist in the home buying process from beginning to end, instilling a culture with its associates that promote’s homebuilding as a high-level customer service industry. From the day customers first walk into a model home or sales center to the day new home buyers receive the keys to their new home, the Level Homes’ team strives to make the experience seamless and enjoyable.
If you like to know more about LEVEL Homes you can visit their website @www.levelhomeslifestyle.com and if you like to know more about Germany Oaks, you can visit their Facebook page with the same name “Germany Oaks”
To know more about buying homes here in Ascension Parish download my FREE Ebook @https://goo.gl/ux3mYz
To look at all the homes available here in Ascension Parish visit my website @ https://goo.gl/TKYsDQ or yourrealestatewhisperer.com
And I Tell You All This, “Because YOU Matter”
Kristina Smallhorn
kristina.smallhorn@exprealty.com
Your Real Estate Whisperer
eXp Realty LLC
2900 Westfork Dr. Suite 401
Baton Rouge LA 70817
225-246-1812
Office (225) 412-9982 ext# 149 FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE