Four Ways to Make Your House Irresistible to Buyers and more.....

Increase curb appeal to turn your home into buyer-bait.
So what is curb appeal? It's that quality in a house that gives a potential buyer a love-at-first-sight sensation when they drive up. Simply put, it's giving your house a pretty face. Studies show spending 5 percent of your home's value in landscaping could produce a return of 150 percent or more when you sell the place.

Here are four ways to turn up your home's sex appeal without emptying your bank account:
1. Come up with a concept for your landscape.

Have a plan, so everything you do to the yard and your home's exterior is deliberate. Hiring a landscape designer to draw up a plan is a good place to start. You can also hire designers to give you ideas on exterior paint colors and remodeling tips for the entryway. 
2. Focus on the front door.

Make sure people know where your front door and create a welcoming entrance that guides people to the home's entry. You can do this by creating paths, patios or beds of plants that shape the house's face. Or it can be as simple as painting your door a bright color and putting out a big welcome mat. The point is to make people feel as if they are arriving somewhere special, not just stepping up on a bland stoop.
 3. Deal with the driveway.

In most new homes the driveway is the first thing you see -- which is good if you're a car, not a human. You need to downplay the driveway, or distract a potential buyer's eyes away from all that concrete. You can do this by creating a path to the front door that leads eyes away from the driveway to the house's face. Or you can stain the ugly gray concrete to make it look like stone or paint it with a pigmented sealer.
4. Pay attention to details.

Little things mean a lot in the big picture because they pull the house's look together. Things like small, colorful ceramic tiles placed into brick steps to carry through a color scheme. Edging the lawn. Large planters. Finally, don't forget to tidy up. Curb appeal also means a place that looks neat and clean, the kind of place you'd like to live. 

Pricing Your Home to Sell
Imagine you want to buy a gallon of milk. You eye the dairy case, shelves stocked with dozens of choices, but they are really all the same. Milk is milk, and which one you select is really insignificant because they are all identical, and they are all priced the same.

But what if each identical offering was priced differently? Odds are you have set aside ample time for your shopping trip, and you will carefully check the price labels and go for the best deal. Or maybe you are drawn to the more attractive packaging.
When selling your home, attractive pricing and packaging are arguably the two most basic essentials. In our current real estate market, the buyers have a lot of choices. In many areas, the shelves are simply overstocked. And since no two homes are the same, making that distinction between your home and the dozens of others is key.
Where pricing is concerned, establishing that all important asking price is part science and part art, and there are several things you should consider.

•Study past sales. This is the starting point for any thoughtful and successful pricing strategy; think of it as the "science" part. Take the time to study past sale statistics for homes in your area and areas similar to yours. None will be identical, of course, but having a clear understanding of true market value is the first step in establishing your list price.

•Do not confuse active listings with past sales. Active listings have not sold. They are just your competition. It is important to be aware of your competition's pricing, but this is often just an indication of what your home won't sell for.

•Do not overprice because you have "time." If the market is appreciating, this strategy may work, but if prices in your area are declining, you may quickly find yourself chasing a market and costing yourself money. And if the market is stable? Your home will just sit. Buyers pay in today's dollars, and time is rarely on your side.

•Leave some room for negotiation, but don't overreach. No seller wants to feel he left money on the table, and no buyer wants to overpay. Your price should give both parties room to maneuver, but if it is too high, you risk being perceived as unrealistic, and buyers will pass over your home.

•Think like a buyer. What are the things that you value in a home? Is it a large yard, an updated kitchen or a view? These are likely the same things that your buyer values as well. Talk to your agent about current buyer trends. Yesterday's avocado green shag carpeting is today's granite countertop. The property facing the interstate is going to be a tougher sell than the one with a mountain view. Your price should reflect how your home compares to the others offered for sale. Buyers will find objections to any home, as none is perfect, but it is curious how quickly objections disappear when the price is compelling.

•React swiftly and decisively. If your home is on the market and is not being shown or if you receive feedback that you are priced too aggressively, don't hesitate to adjust your price. Bad news, like spoiled milk, doesn't get better with time.

First impressions are everything when selling your home. Studies have shown that the first two weeks on the market are the most crucial to your success. During these initial days, your home will be exposed to all active buyers. If your price is perceived as too high, you will quickly lose this initial audience and find yourself relying only on the trickle of new buyers entering the market each day. Markets are dynamic, and your price has an expiration date. You have one chance to grab attention. Make sure your pricing helps you stand out on the shelf -- in a positive way.

How Much Is My House Worth?

It's a question on many homeowners' minds these days. After so much turmoil in the housing market over the past year, what's left of your home equity?

Maybe you need to sell right away. Perhaps you're looking to capitalize on low interest rates by refinancing your home or securing a line of credit. Or, like many, you're just curious about whether your home's value has taken a serious beating.
Here are several ways to find out:
Free Online Estimates
Free sites like Eppraisal.com offer quick estimates of home values based on analysis of publicly available information, such as tax records. In states where it's legal to do so, these sites list recent sale prices and satellite photos of nearby homes.
But although these sites can offer helpful hints toward the state of the market, they're merely a good starting point for your research. "They're probably worth about what you pay for them,"  "Although I put my own address in one about a year ago and the prices were surprisingly close. These sites will probably get better as they improve their regression analysis."

Fee-Based Online Appraisals
Some sites, like ElectronicAppraiser.com, offer property valuation reports you can download for a fee. These are computer-generated analyses based on publicly available information, so they may be useful only if you don't want to spend time looking up records yourself. For example, in the case of a property we checked, the suggested price in the $29.95 Electronic Appraiser report was very close, although not identical, to the local tax assessor's appraised price.
The report does compile a lot of information into an easy-to-read format: property attributes such as number of bedrooms and baths, recent sales prices, nearby schools and local census information.

Real Estate Comparative Market Analyses
Comparative market analysis, or comps, are reports prepared by real estate professionals that estimate a selling price for your house. They're based on the agent's knowledge of the area as well as asking prices and recent sale prices for comparable properties in your neighborhood.
You'll want comps only if you're looking to list your house for sale with an agent or broker; they're not valuable for securing a loan or line of credit. And although some states allow you to ask a real estate agent to prepare a report for a fee when you don't intend to list with that agent, some don't, and agents generally don't like to give away their market expertise without the promise of a commission.

Home Appraisals
A full professional appraisal is a must if you're applying for a loan and is always going to be the most precise evaluation of your home's worth. This is especially true if you've made substantial improvements that distinguish your house from others in the neighborhood.
Appraisals go into a lot more detail than a real estate agent doing a comparative market analysis, for example, we measure the house to estimate the square footage, whereas real estate agents typically take it from the tax rolls.
I recommend selecting an appraiser with these qualifications:

•State certification in addition to a license.
•At least three years' experience, because the first two years on the job are as a trainee.
•Membership in a voluntary professional organization, such as the Appraisal Institute (which Schwartz belongs to), and attainment of credentials offered by that organization.

Appraisals of typical subdivision houses will run around $350,  but you can expect a larger fee if your house has special attributes that require extra time on-task or research into comparable prices (like a large acreage or the aforementioned improvements). The largest fee I've ever charged for a house appraisal was $2,500 and that was 15 or 20 years ago. The house was 11,000 square feet, U-shaped, had an indoor swimming pool... I had to spend weeks looking for what might be considered comparable properties.
Keep in mind that a good appraiser isn't in a position to profit from the appraisal, and his or her fee will be based purely on time and expertise.

    Angel Calzadilla
    Prudential Florida Realty