On A Walk

The real estate offices of Vickie Martin of www.vickiesellshouses.com can help you find homes in Bridgewater and Branchburg New Jersey. I specialize in homes for sale in the Bridgewater and Branchburg areas and would love to assist you. You can search for properties or get a neighborhood information from our website.

Do you want to find homes in Bridgewater or Branchburg? If so, let me assist you in finding the perfect home for your family. We can provide numerous avenues for you to find the dream home of your choice.

You can also obtain information on the local schools or community events just by browsing our website. Visit Vickie Sells Houses – Remax to get all the real estate information you need.  Let us be your guide to purchasing area homes in the Bridgewater New Jersey and Branchburg NJ area.

Would you like to know the value of your house? I can provide the needed assistance to help you make an informed decision about the selling your house or buying a home in our area.  Give us a call or visit our website for more information.

Marketing your real estate brand has evolved over the last few years and has a bit more complicated. Years ago most business was done in the local market and with local people. Most people knew one another and it wasn’t difficult to know where to go to get something done. Today, people do business all over the world and most have to "search" to know where to get something done or where to purchase something. Most of the time in real estate agents were told to brand themselves and to make sure everyone knew there name and that name implied real estate. If you need more info on Chapel Hill homes please visit www.chapelhillrealty.com for a full service brokerage that knows the area and can help you with all your needs.

Many realtors bought domain names with the names in them and began pushing themselves as the brand. That type of branding only works in the local market with local people that know you. Most home owners go to the internet and are not searching realtors, they are searching homes. Since "search’ is all about keywords, most realtors didn’t have their keywords in their domains and as a result lost out on a lot of visits to their sites. It’s similar to car dealerships, where people want to search without the bothering of a salesman. People want to search homes without an agent. Eventually they will end up with an agent, but it’s not what they are searching for up front. With that said you still need to be visible, in the areas where people are searching. This way when they are ready to buy they have a familiar agent/brokerage that they have seen numerous times throughout their search journey. We would love to help you in your search, so if you’re at that place and you are looking in the Chapel Hill area please visit our website at Chapel Hill Realty, where you can search and find numerous homes to choose from.

Choosing a real estate agent is not always an easy choice. Most try to use friends, family, or referrals from friends and family. This may certainly keep your friendships and family relationships in tack; it may not always sell your house. For more real estate tips please visit our website at Augusta Listing Expert, where you will find buying and selling tips and a whole lot more.

In choosing a real estate agent you need to look at a couple of different things. One thing you need to know is that not all agents utilize the same marketing techniques. Since exposure for your house is the number one way that you house is going to get noticed, it is important for you to choose an agent that has a marketing plan that will gain you maximum exposure to potential buyers. You will need to ask the agent what they do to get exposure for your house. Be careful that they don’t just put your house on the MLS and hope someone calls them on it. That is not enough to sell your house. Find out if the agent uses magazines, email campaigns, internet marketing, etc.. to gain exposure to your house. Make sure they have their own website and that it ranks well in the search engines. There is no sense having your home listed on a website that is never visited or can’t be found on Google.

Also, a good idea is to ask how many houses the agent has sold recently or within the last year. If an agent is selling homes, they must be doing something right. All agents are not the same. Some sell and some don’t. You want to make sure you with an agent that sells. In the market we are in right now, with things being slow, the good agents will thrive and the bad agents will flounder, or go part time. You don’t want a part time agent trying to sell you home. Just remember not all agents are the same and you need to ask a lot of questions about their marketing plan. Once satisfied, go for it, if not look for another agent. You can find more at www.augustalistingexpert.com, and you can browse featured properties while you’re there.

Real Estate rates are low and that means good news for the potential home buyer. It’s times like these when you need to take advantage of the rates and lock in for the long haul. Who knows what these rates will be like next year, so if you’re in the market to buy, now may be a good time to take some hard looks. If you would like to know more please visit www.teamjodi.com for information about the real estate market. I know it sounds like a cliché to hear a Realtor say it is a good time to buy; but really, “It is a Good Time to Buy.” 

10-year mortgage rates are at an all time low.  See the chart below that was done for me by Jim Enright with First Financial Services in Chapel Hill.

CONFORMING:

30 Yr Fixed    4.0%                                                   

15 Yr Fixed    3.75%                                                 

7/1 Arm           3.125%                                              

5/1 Arm           2.75%

JUMBO:

30 Yr Fixed   4.875%

15 Yr Fixed   4.25%

7/1 Arm         4.0%

There is no way to tell how long these incredible rates will last.  You can learn more about Durham homes for sale and Chapel Hill real estate at our website www.teamjodi.com. Six years ago, I thought rates where low when I got a 20 year loan for 4.875. I never thought I would see rates go lower than that.

Combine the low mortgage rates with an excess of inventory and this equals a buyers market.  In fact, you have the perfect recipe for it being the right time to buy.  In Chapel Hill, for example, overall, there is a 9 month supply of inventory.  See the chart below for a break down by price range for single family homes.

Interested in knowing your homes value or getting a snapshot of the market, visit www.ChapelHillHomeValues.com or www.TriangleHomeValue.com.

Interested in looking for a home in Chapel Hill, Durham or the surrounding area, visit www.TriangleHomeSearch.net and register for an auto home search with emails sent to you every time a property comes on the market that meets your criteria or when their is a price or status change in properties of interest.

These are great tools for tracking the real estate market!

So we are in a down economy and real estate prices have tanked into double digits in the last few years. If you are trying to sell your house what are you going to do? There are a lot of houses on the market right now and that includes a boat load of foreclosures. If the competition is so stiff for selling a home and your having trouble finding a buyer, you might want to try and do something that makes you stand out. There are a lot of different ways to make your home stand out above the rest and the most overlooked and easiest to remedy is curb appeal. You can learn more at www.augustalistingexpert.com If the buyer can’t get passed the first impression than you will lose them immediately. Tidy up the outside, mow your lawn, trim your bushes, run the edger to make clean lines, add some fresh flowering plants to make the outside look warm and friendly. If you don’t have landscaping, then I would suggest you get some. You should be able to cover the cost of the landscaping in the sale of your house. If you have leaves on the ground, rake them up or sweep them away. I have even seen a service that will paint your lawn green to give it that clean fresh look of a healthy lawn. If you need to do some touch up paint then make that happen.

These are little things that can make a world of difference in selling your home and making it stand out above the rest. You have to make sure they remember your house when there are so many to choose from. So think to yourself what you can do to make your house memorable. You will be glad you did when that contract that you have been waiting for finally arrives. If you would like to know more about preparing your house to sell please visit the Augusta Listing Expert for more information and check out our sellers resources page.

With the current real estate market the way that it is, it is imperative that one gain a competitive advantage. One of the ways to gain that upper hand on the market is to have your home staged and ready to show to prospective buyers. Staging involves a number of things, but simply is the process of presenting your home in a way that welcomes the prospective buyer with a vision of what the home could look like. It is important for your home to look and show well, and it is to this end that there are professional stagers that will come in (for a fee, of course) and decorate your home to increase the homes presentation abilities. You can find more about selling your home at the Chapel Hill NC real estate for sale website here www.chapelhillrealty.com

Staging involves the look and feel of the home and has it’s main goal to create a warm and welcoming feeling to the potential buyer. We all remember the stories about the apple pies or cookies baking in the oven when the potential buyer comes to view the home. The sweet smell of the apple pie creates a very welcoming homey feel that aids in the comfort level of the buyer.

Landscaping and the cosmetic show of the outside of the house is a consideration as well as the inside. The outside of the house must be appealing, after all this is the first thing the buyer will see. If they can’t get past the outside it will be difficult to win them over completely. We have all heard the term "curb appeal’, and this is where the outside of the house has a look and feel that is appealing as you drive by. You would want the outside of the house to be so appealing that it tantalizes the potential buyer to see the inside. If the outside is welcoming and the inside is warm and friendly than you have a good combination to sell the home. These are just some thoughts on the staging of your home. Find more at www.chapelhillrealty.com and happy house selling!

What is it that makes home prices go up or down? We all know about the supply and demand concept and most of the time that is the pinnacle factor in the driving of our pricing markets and models, but what if there were other factors that were just as important and had equal impact.

Incentives could play a major role in the pricing of homes. If there are a lot of incentives being offered to home owners than this creates more competition in the housing market, especially for home builders. Homes in Chapel Hill pricing can be found at www.teamjodi.com. Competition as we all know definitely drives pricing.

Recently in our economy we have seen a huge increase in unemployment rates. This creates and insecurity and that insecurity makes people not spend. When people aren’t spending, prices usually go down to try and draw them in to making purchases. We are in a struggling period of time right now in America with our economy taking hits over the last couple of years. The housing market is fighting to stay afloat and Realtors are doing what they can to sell houses.

Different markets are fairing differently with Florida leading the pack with markets that are not doing so well, whereas California is getting reports of a recovery with homes selling for more that the listing price. Please visit www.teamjodi.com for assistance with your real estate needs. We know that time will tell on most of the theories around the housing market, but for a portion of America we need solutions now. We can only get so many tax breaks that may actually be tax burdens in the future. I think for most we are all just hoping that the economy somehow corrects itself and we can have things somewhat back to normal.

There are reports that the California housing market is leading the recovery for the entire nation concerning the housing market. Tax credits, incentives, supply and demand are all factors that may be contributing to the housing market in the Sunshine State. Reports are surfacing of 107% purchases, meaning that homes are being sold for more than the listing price by 7%.

Could this really be the end of the housing slump for California? Are the incentives really working or is this just smoke and mirrors? Since many of the major cities will be the forerunners to this, outlying cities like homes in Tracy California will get a good taste of what may come. We’ll have to watch Tracy real estate for sale for trends that may indicate similar reports. Many other states will be watching this so called recovery especially Florida who holds many of the top cold markets. Should other states follow California’s way of doing things, at least for the housing market? I think most will take a wait and see approach.

Whenever there are incentives or tax breaks, or when the government is handing out money, there is room for caution. Most things are not for free and the question needs to be asked if we are all going to pay for this someday, somehow. California is having financial issues and yet they can find ways to provide tax breaks. It’s great to be able to give away money as long as you have it to give. Time will tell whether or not the real estate market in California is really recovering or is just in a temporary spike. The Silveria Team specializes in Tracy CA and surrounding area real estate. Please visit our website for more info here www.thesilveriateam.com