The April Stephens Team Real Estate Podcast April Stephens

Staging your home is an important part of helping it sell quickly and for the most money possible, Today, I have some staging tips you can use whether you hire a professional stager or do it on your own. Get a Triangle Area Home Value Report Search All Triangle Area Homes on the MLS When you sell your house, staging is an important aspect that will help your sale. We want to give your house the best possible chance to sell for the most money, and staging helps us do that. We find that staging gives a home a personality and helps people get a feel for a home's space, especially if it's a vacant or new construction home. Additionally, there are different types of staging, which many people don't realize. For example, one company we work with only does accessory staging, meaning they come to a house and add things like pops of color in the pillows, plants, and other things like that to liven up a property. They will take down your more personal items and help give your house a more neutral face, which buyers appreciate. It helps them visualize themselves in the home—and it costs next to nothing. “ Buyers appreciate it when you give your home a nice, neutral feel. ” There are a few specific things you can do to stage your home outside of hiring a stager. One of my favorite things to do is buy a new comforter set for your master bedroom. It helps buyers feel like they're walking into Pottery Barn because things are bright, crisp, and clean. You want the space to feel cozy and inviting, and new bedding helps. The same goes for matching towel sets in the bathrooms and shower curtains. The best part is that you'll have all this great new stuff to take to your new home! Another one of our main staging tips is to change out heavy or dark drapes. Replace them with something sheer or lighter that will let the light in and bring attention to the windows. These are just a few tips, so if you have any you'd like to share, we'd love to add them to our list. If you have any other questions about staging or about the home selling process in general, just give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to help!

The Raleigh market proved to be great in 2016 and 2017 looks like it could be just as good. Conditions are slightly different this year, though, which could have an effect on you if you're looking to buy or sell a home this year. Get a Triangle Area Home Value Report Search All Triangle Area Homes on the MLS Today I wanted to take a moment to discuss how 2016 ended in the Raleigh market and how 2017 is shaping up so far. The 2016 market turned out very well in the Triangle area. We ended the year with the average sale price for homes up over 5%; of course, this varies by area. My hometown of Garner for example, saw a gain of 9.1%, which is incredible. Closings ended up 10% higher than last year with Johnston County leading the race, averaging 19.4% higher than last year. Chatham and Johnston led for the most new construction, which isn't surprising with all the new homes we're seeing coming up. And still, we ended the year 16% below average for inventory. I know we keep telling you that we need inventory—we're not kidding! We're already starting to see some sellers come off the fence in 2017 after seeing that the equity is proven to be there for their homes. We've been really thrilled about the money we've been able to get for our sellers' homes so far this year. Buyers are really excited too because we're seeing a lot of unique homes coming on the market and some really interesting neighborhoods are coming up. I think 2017 will be a great year for both buyers and sellers. “ I think you'll be surprised how much equity your home has gained, especially if you bought it five to 10 years ago. ” If you're on the fence, let us give you a free equity evaluation. I think you'll be surprised how much equity your home has gained, especially if you purchased your house between five and 10 years ago. This year has really jumped out so far, and my Realtor friends would agree that we haven't seen much of a winter slowdown. If you have any questions or you'd like a no-obligation equity evaluation on your home, give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd be more than happy to help!

It’s a great time to do some fall cleaning. What you do now can help you sell next year. With the holidays approaching, it’s a great time to get some fall cleaning done. If you’re thinking about selling your home after the new year, it’s also a great time to do some prep work so that your move isn’t so much of a hassle when the time comes. There are a lot of decluttering and staging tips you can institute now that will pay off later. Here are our four best tips: 1. Tackle those closets. Decluttering your closets is a great way to make some extra room for out-of-town guests as well as Christmas presents. When the time comes to clean those closets out, things will be much easier. 2. Get a storage unit. If there is additional furniture in your home that you need to move out to make room for guests, putting it in a storage unit is a great idea. It’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about decluttering from your house when it comes time to list. 3. Clean your home for the fall season. Do a deep clean for the holidays just like you would in the spring. When you’ve got your home sparkling clean, you’re halfway there when it comes to listing and staging in the new year. 4. Hire movers. People are always looking to make a little extra cash this time of year. Have movers help you get things out of your home you know you won't need after the holidays. “ Following these tips will get you ahead. ” If you follow these tips, you will already be one step ahead of the market when the new year comes. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report We’ve seen a lot more first-time buyers jumping into the Raleigh market lately. That’s great news, because we pride ourselves in how we work with first-time buyers and all buyers, for that matter. We’ve got a few tips to share to help you or someone you know who is buying for the first time to make the whole process a little easier. First, you need to check your credit. It’s not all about your credit score, but what your debt-to-income ratio is and how you use credit. When you get with a lender to check this, they’ll also be able to tell you what your buying power is. That’s an important tool. Secondly, you should figure out what you want in a home. This is especially important if you are buying a home with a spouse. We have a great questionnaire that we give to all our first-time buyers that allows them to sit down and ask the important questions about what they want in a home. It’s good to have this conversation before you start the process. “ We can handle everything for you. ” The next thing to do is to find an experienced agent or broker. We’ve got a passion for helping first-time buyers and the experience to back it up. We can handle everything for you from the time you start looking for homes until the day you close on the perfect one. One thing that first-time buyers fail to think about is the huge opportunity for an investment that buying a home provides. We sold homes to first-time buyers a few years ago who are coming back now and selling with $15,000 in profit. That’s a huge return in just a few years! If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

There are many things to remember when trying to sell your home, but there is a lot of misinformation out there as well. It comes from all places and at all price ranges, but we wanted to address a few of these selling myths today and explain them. It’s better to sell in the spring and summer. While this time of year is typically when the market is the busiest, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best time to sell. If you are looking to move now, it is a great time. The market is going to dictate what your home will sell for regardless of the season.  Don’t worry about staging your home. This is another key mistake. While it is true that buyers will use their imagination when walking around your home, you’ve also got to give them a good canvas to paint on. You don’t need to remove every single thing from the home, but put your best foot forward by packing up the stuff you don’t use regularly or don’t envision yourself taking to your next home.  Bad pictures of the home online are OK. They are 'in fact' not OK. It’s important that you to put your best foot forward by having a professional photographer take photos of your home. Cell phones are great, but most don't have a good enough camera to capture your home in the best light possible.  “ Put your best foot forward. ” I hope I have busted some of these myths for you. If you’re interested in buying or selling or if you just have a quick question, we are always here to help. Give us a call or send us an email today.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report We need your home to sell! I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot in the media about low inventory, and we said as much in our last blog post. But now, we are desperate. If you have a home that’s worth anywhere in the range of $175,000 and under, you are in a great position to cash in on your equity. Also, if you’re in the Wake or Johnston County areas and have a home anywhere in the $275,000 to $375,000 range, give us a call. We have a ton of buyers looking in that price range who are looking to move up. We simply don’t have enough inventory for them at the moment. “ There are a ton of opportunities to take advantage of in this market. ” If you’ve been thinking about selling but are stressed about the process, we can make things very easy for you. We can market your property as one of our “coming soon listings,” which will allow buyers to know about your home while giving you time to find the new home you’re looking for before we list it. By the time we list your home, it will go under contract within days and it will sell for top dollar with the help of our staging experts. There are a ton of opportunities to take advantage of in this market if you’re a seller. If you have any questions for us or if you’re just thinking about selling, we’d love to talk to you. Just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!