Winning A Bidding War

These days, winning a bidding war isn't about who has more money! If you are entering a bidding war with that attitude you may just lose out before you know it. "What sellers really don't want to do is waste time," said John Walsh, Total Mortgage.

via frankbetz

Reconsidering how you bid could get you the home you've been dreaming of! Most sellers these days know if they bought at the high end of the market and are selling now, that they aren't getting back what they put in. It's mostly about the efficiency of time.

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Whether they have a new home they are waiting to move into, or are just ready to get out, time is of the essence! Not to mention time also costs money these days.

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So how do you save these sellers time? Make sure you are going into your contract with an open mind. If you can let them be the deciding factor of the move in date, and show flexibility they'll be more likely to choose you over someone with high demands even though they may have a higher bid!

via cityfarmhouse

I hope that's a helpful hint to those of you who are buying!

Enjoy The Day

Wishing everyone a wonderful July 4th!

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Becoming Mobile

Most websites these days also have a mobile site to make it easier for everyone to stay in touch. It's gotten to the point now where if you aren't mobile friendly you are behind the times! With tablets and phones taking over the internet since we are all on the go, it's those companies that have the mobile sites down to science that are succeeding in more ways then one!

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This is no exception when it comes to real estate and getting your home out there for all to see! You want to be using the marketing system to benefit you and if viewers can't see what you are offering from all sorts of media than you are at a loss!

Top 15 real estate networks by Web traffic, May 2014

Real estate network	Total unique visitors in March	Desktop unique visitors	Mobile unique visitors
All real estate sites	94.0 million	64.3 million	54.7 million
Zillow (Yahoo) real estate network	53.8 million	32.3 million	30.6 million
Trulia (RentPath) network	30.8 million	17.7 million	16.8 million
Move Inc. network	23.7 million	13.1 million	13.4 million
Homes.com (ForRent.com) network	10.6 million	5.9 million	5.3 million
Redfin	5.9 million	3.0 million	3.2 million
MSN Real Estate	5.4 million	4.9 million	0.6 million
Apartments.com sites	4.9 million	2.9 million	2.2 million
Coldwell Banker Real Estate	4.3 million	3.0 million	1.5 million
Movoto	4.2 million	2.4 million	1.9 million
Century 21 International	3.5 million	2.2 million	1.4 million
LoopNet sites	2.5 million	1.7 million	0.9 million
U-Haul	2.5 million	1.2 million	1.3 million
NCI Interactive	2.1 million	1.2 million	1.0 million
Internet Brands Real Estate	1.6 million	0.9 million	0.7 million
Apartment List (formerly Vertical Brands)	1.5 million	1.0 million	0.5 million

Source: comScore

The numbers don't lie! Have you considered taking your business to mobile friendly site?

Big Homes Getting Bigger

According to CNN - America's homes are getting EVEN BIGGER! With the younger crowd getting pushed out of being able to buy new homes, the record high for larger homes being sold can pretty much be accompanied by the fact that previous home owners are still upgrading.

In some places like DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, mini mansions are still popping up all over the place!

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So if you aren't one of these previous home owners that can afford an upgrade at the moment, what are you supposed to do? Our suggestion - find that gem of a home that might not be a new build, and might need a little TLC but can still give you exactly what you are looking for.

Home Inspiration

One thing that I absolutely love about older homes is finding those built in shelves that have been a part of the homes character from the beginning! Although some might not be as stunning when you see them at first, it doesn't take much to make built in's stand out and shine!

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You'll notice most placements of built in's in older homes have amazing placement like the one above. It's a great use of what might otherwise be a wasted space.

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At first glance those built in's might not seem as amazing as they are cracked up to be, but a quick coat of paint can make an amazing difference.

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They also serve an awesome purpose as well! Although it may not seem apparent that open shelving great storage, there are great ways to store items without them being a distraction to an eye. A cute basket can be great visually and also hide away things!

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Zillow Pocket Listings

Zillow is at it again! Finding great ways to make life a little easier and a lot more fun when it comes to home searching. They have a "coming soon" feature for brokers and agents that you won't want to miss!

"Agents can manually upload their coming soon homes to Zillow while brokerages and MLSs can opt in by adding a “Coming Soon” field to their current feeds or building out a separate, new feed dedicated to coming soon listings. Agents can renew a coming soon listing for up to 30 additional days." - Paul Hagey

This is going to give Zillow the upper hand of having a look out at what's to come in the market prior to being on the MLS. I am loving this new idea and hoping it sticks around.

Florida is Hitting the Map!

With the summer sunshine out and about, people are packing up there things and heading to the beach! This year, Florida is the place to be. So much so that you might not want to just pack a suitcase, but consider packing up all your things! Realtor.com just confirmed that there are some seriously great hot spots for purchasing a home in Florida and we are loving the idea.

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So to go along with the theme,  here are a few reasons we think you should be keeping your eye on Tampa this year:

1. The Food Is Spectacular!

They have some of the most amazing locally owned restaurants you won't find anywhere else. Don't just limit yourself to seafood either! There's a wide variety of choices from Hawaiian fusion at Roy's to Greek at Dimitri's on the Water that will make your mouth water.

via tripadvisor

2. The Attractions:

The Lowery Park Zoo was rated in Business Journal as 2013's best Non-Profit. Parents magazine also raved about this being the place to take your children!  There's a long list of things to do in Tampa as well like: Busch Gardens, Tampa Theater, Bayshore Boulevard, Steinbrenner Field, Henry B. Plant Museum, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Raymond James Stadium, Florida Aquarium, and Adventure Island to name a few.

3. The Weather

The fact that it's pretty much summer year round really makes an outdoorsy person happy! Constant sunshine, random rain showers that only last a few minutes at a time, and a great breeze off the beach - what more could you ask for?

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4. Financial Freedom!

The cost of living is fairly low with a lovely no state tax! You can easily find a gorgeous home for under $250,000 and still be able to afford all those restaurants, attractions, and events happening around you.

via zillow

5. The Obvious Reason - The Beaches!

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Home Inspiration

One of the things we look for in a home is outdoor space. Having indoor square footage is almost as important as outdoor! There are times we have built a deck or added a fence onto a home to give that extra space a little updgrade and show off all it has to offer. Here's some ideas for some outdoor space that might just inspire you to enjoy a little extra square footage:

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via jacqulynnsplace

House Flipping Facts

We love what we do, but we also know there's a chance we have to take with each home we flip. It's fun to look at a home and see it's full potential and know you can give back the life it always wanted, but it does come at a cost. Is the cost worth it in the long run?

According to Housing Wire there are some great profits to be had in certain areas! Even with the market being slow and the values of homes taking a while to appreciate, if you are smart at what you are doing and staying ahead of the game, you have a shot.

RealtyTrac made a list of places that are hitting the market with great potential.

"To make the list, counties had to have at least 100 single-family homes flipped in the last 12 months (April 2013 through March 2014), see an average gross return of 30% or more on flips during that time period, have an unemployment rate below the national average of 6.7% in March, and have an increase in foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2014 compared to a year ago." - Housing Wire

It's nice to know that we make the cut in one of the best markets to flips homes so we can continue to do what we love!

Can you afford a new home?

There's been news around the world stating that it's too hard for the Millennials to purchase a home because of debt, not having enough credit, and/or not being able to come up with the heft down payment it takes to get your foot in the door! Many of these young buyers are being squeezed out of the market by those who have what it takes to impress the banks and the sellers. Even though many people state that the Millennials enjoy renting instead of buying due to constantly being on the go and moving around often, according to a Fannie Mae survey - 90% say they'd rather own then rent!

via cooprealty

So can you afford a new home? The best place to start is by gathering up your finances. Make a spreadsheet of what goes in and what comes out. Figure out how much you are paying for rent and see if that's enough to cover your monthly payments for a home. If you're not sure how to figure out what home you can afford there are plenty of mortgage calculators online to help you out with that.

via mortgagecalculator

If you feel like you can't come up with a hefty down payment, there are options! There are plenty of government programs that will get you into a home with a low down payment or no down payment cost! Do your research and come prepared when talking to a bank about a loan. Look up sites like FHA and HAMP to see what they can offer you when purchasing your new home and know that just because you are getting an FHA approved loan does not limit you to what neighborhoods or areas you can purchase in.

via loanforfha

Most Millennials debt is due to student loans which can get pretty large if you went for your masters. Don't let these debt's hold you back from owning a new home. While the Real Estate world is working on a system to make this process a little easier to get a loan without crashing the market, there are also government programs to help consolidate and loan forgiveness options to make sure you aren't paying more than what your income can handle. Although this won't take the debt away, it will help lower your payments which can give you a little more room in your monthly payments towards a new home.

via iheartorganizing

If you are one of these young buyers who is interested in purchasing a home, don't let this process scare you out of purchasing. Get organized, get informed, and be one step ahead of the banks. A new home might not be that far away!

Thanks to CNN Real Estate for information on this post!

Home Inspiration

Getting neutral colors to work for you! When we are updating a home we love to chose paint colors that a neutral to give you a great feel for what the room could be. Since color choices are often very personal, here are some great ways you can work with the neutral paint if you aren't looking to paint when you move in!

via elledecor

via inspiredbythis

via decorpad

via ashleygoforthedesign

via ourvintagehomelove

Making Credit Better

via trulia

With the signs of the housing market finally recovering, there are still some issues that seem to be facing home buyers that might soon be fixed! It might not be as a hard as it has been to access the credit you need to purchase a home, which has been holding back a lot of activity in the real estate world as well as other parts of the economy.

"Moody suggests that if the acceptable credit score reverted to more traditional and sustainable standards that existed prior to the housing bubble, then the pool of potential mortgage borrowers could increase by more than 12.5 million households." - CNN

via housingwire

According to CNN the FHA and FHAH took important steps to make sure responsible credit worthy homeowners were able to obtain a loan without repeating history where home buyers were given credit they shouldn't have been approved for.

This isn't going to be a short process, it's going to need a lot of work to make sure everything is done appropriately this time around, but it's looking good for those who should be able to purchase home will be actually be able to!

Dressing Up A Fireplace

When we walk into a home and see a fireplace that has been ignored, there are always so many options to consider when fixing it back up to the centerpiece it was made to be.

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Some fireplaces aren't usable anymore, and the best thing to do is make them a place to display a little of your personality into the home. Giving it a great mantle piece can really add some character and make it shine.

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Others just need a simple paint to bring it back to life! Picking a neutral color is a great idea so you can change pretty much anything around it and it still looks amazing.

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A pricey but gorgeous option is dressing it up from head to toe! Making it really stand out as the place to be in the room makes it really feel like home.

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Sometimes a little stone can go a long way. Giving that that classy timeless feel can make a huge difference in the way it fits in the room.

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Tile is another great affordable option  that can give a little character to the room without breaking the bank account.

Which is your favorite look?

Hardwood vs Laminate

One of the must haves on our list when we are updating a home is hardwood floors. If the home currently has hardwood floors than it's just an easy refinish, but if it doesn't then it's on our list o be put in! While most renovators would choose a laminate due to it being budget friendly, we prefer hardwood. Here's a few reason's why:

via plantationhardwood

Although laminate is cheaper and easier to install, hardwood floors are easier to repair. So if any damage were to happen afterwards, it's not the end of the world! It's a pretty easy fix and most homeowners can easily do it themselves which will save some money when it comes to labor.

via macwoods

It will last you a lifetime. Literally, hardwood floors life expectancy is up to 75 years where laminate may last you about 20. For a difference in around $3 per square foot, I think it's worth the end result to put the extra money out there and get hardwood upfront. It'll help with resale value as well.

via decorpad

They are beautiful! Even the cheaper hardwood floors are gorgeous and there are plenty of choices. You can choose between solid wood, engineered wood, unfinished, prefinished, and that doesn't even cover the types of wood.

via mydesignchic

You can hear it in the footsteps. Most laminates, even with padding, make creaking plastic noises. Older homes with hardwood floors have the possibility of noise as well but when you are walking across it, you can definitely feel and hear the difference.

Pre-Approval Importance

Today I wanted to share some tips with you I found from Zillow on why it's so important to get a pre-approval and how it's going to keep you from getting in the front door without one!

Fast paced market:

via usatoday

With everything online and so many resources available, like social media, it's not hard to get find properties anymore! You can even text a realtor on the spot and see homes within that same day! Home shopping has become a lot easier and a lot more efficient which means a home can be listed for sale, and sold within that same day before you even got a chance to notice it.

What you can afford vs. what you think you can afford:

via eldarrodo

It used to be that you planned on staying in a home for a while, but with moving around often becoming more typical these days people are less focused on long term investments and more focus on the here and now, meaning they want the lowest monthly payments as possible. Knowing all your options and what monthly amount you can afford really makes it easier to know your over-all limit on a home.

Competition can be rough:

via nicolemangina

Now a days if you don't have a pre-approval in hand, your offer might not even be looked at! Most sellers don't want to take a chance on an offer falling through because you don't really know what you can afford, plus that's extra time after of the offer is accepted that you'll have to take to get pre-approved and get the process moving. Time means everything in the housing market and being ahead of it makes you a better buyer.

Home Inspiration

Why go for a cookie cutter home when you can have a completely updated home that has it's original bones and beauty. Here's some inspiration to making an older home your own:

via redfin

My favorite thing about older homes is that they each have something unique about them that sets them apart from the rest. Being able to bring that back to life by renovation and updating it gives me hope that someone else will appreciate the details that gave it life in the first place.

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You can bring your style and personality into any home, but having a connection with the things you can't change is what gives it the most beauty of all.

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It's knowing when you open that door that this is the one you've been looking for the whole time! Each home has it's own character, and finding the one that fits with yours is where it comes all together.

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"Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful" - Hazrat Inayat Khan

Time for Some Change!

Research is showing that people are ready to make some changes and try living in a new area. Change is the air and I have to agree, picking up and finding a new place sounds so exciting and fresh!

via lifehacker

According to Gallup, 49 percent of all Connecticut residents want to change state! They aren't the only ones ready to pack up a moving truck and get on the road, a good amount of the norther eastern seaboard is ready to go too! As you may have guessed there are some that aren't ready to go - but who are those lucky few?

via gallup

 That's right! People living in the exciting and luxurious areas like Montana, Hawaii, and Maine! I'm sure if I lived there, I wouldn't want to leave either! It's so intriguing to think about what life would be like in a new place, a new town, a new neighborhood! For some of us that can seem a bit overwhelming and scary but I don't think we've lost all sense of adventure. It seems like the younger generations have taken up the idea of traveling and moving more often much like the former generations once had!

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It's time to pass down those suitcases and get moving! It's fascinating how many people are unhappy where they currently are. Especially since research shows that Amercains may have stopped changing states at the worst possible time! During and just after the recession the moving rate dropped and those are the best opportunities to make the change with the housing market prices low and moving expenses much cheaper!

via express.co.uk

Most of the excuses were lack of jobs but with the recession in full swing there weren't jobs anywhere so it wouldn't have mattered where you were! People often move to where the jobs are but that's also where most of the higher costs of living are. To get ahead of the game, buying a lower cost of living area with the potential when the housing prices pick back up again.

via offbeattravel

This leaves so much opportunity when there is a promising sign of a economic boost coming! Are you feeling the itch to move? If so I would pick up before housing prices go up any higher! A big thanks to vox.com for sharing some great information with us.

More Choices for Spring Buyers

via plunkethome

According to Reatlor.com the spring home buying season is off to a great start compared to last year! The price increases have been gradually rising and the amount of homes for sale are giving buyers options. More homes on the market make it easier for new buyers to move up and the affordable prices are perfect for those first time home buyers.

via zillow

“Bidding wars in many markets last year frequently elevated offer prices beyond the reach of first-time buyers who could scarcely save for the down payment,” said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, Inc. “While inventory is still low, the continuing annual lift in the number of homes on the market that we’ve seen over the first months of 2014 is an indicator that buying conditions this year may be notably improved from the frenzied pace of last spring.”

via nicety

Here's to hoping spring brings in a great real estate year for everyone!

Wolfpoint Sold!

We are so excited to share that Wolfpoint has sold! We did a lot of hard work on this home and are so proud of the final look. Here are some before and afters:

before

after

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after

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after

before

after

We are happy to see this home go to a new family and wish them a wonderful future in it!

What Buyers Want

Realtor.com just came out with a list of things that is seems buyers want these days! Most builders are focusing on convenience and energy efficiency these days and according to a survey by the National Association of Home Builders, there are more amenities that were found as key selling points! Check out what the survey says we want:

A Kitchen Island:

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Great Room:

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Double Sinks:

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Granite Counter tops:

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High Ceilings:

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Open Floor Plan:

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Laundry Room:

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Outdoor Lighting:

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They also listed game room as a high priority for buyers but I'd like to assume that's more of an extra room or den spot! What do you think of the survey? Are these must haves on your list?