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information for mankato home sellers: Help your Buyer find your home - online! - 04/28/09 12:41 AM
The last I heard, the official percentage of buyers looking online for homes was 84%. That's a lot of internet seekers! It's also why I focus so much of my efforts on attracting those buyers to my site, and why I've worked so hard to get www.MankatoHomesOnline.com onto the first page of Google search results for the most important search terms Buyers use.
So when someone searches Google for terms like these:
Mankato real estate (the most popular, by the way) Mankato homes for sale Mankato houses for sale Real estate in Mankato Real estate in Mankato MN Homes for sale … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Contract for Deed - a summary of points - 03/31/09 07:43 AM
If you've been following my series on Contracts for Deed, you've seen quite a bit of information come your way. Here's a quick summary:
•· A contract for deed is another way of buying a house, but with the seller providing the financing for the buyer instead of a bank or other lender.
•· Because the seller is doing the financing, and because he probably doesn't want to be in that position, you will probably have to pay for the privilege of buying his house.
•· That means a higher price than you might otherwise pay, and a higher interest rate … (2 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: To open or not to open? That is the question. - 03/30/09 12:07 PM
Are you getting ready to sell your house? Or do you already have it on the market? I bet one of the things you expect of your real estate agent is an open house, or maybe even a series of open houses. This is a common expectation, but it may not be the best thing for you or your sales prospects.
Why? Well, according to the National Association of Realtors, the chance of actually selling your house through an open house is very small. I've heard either two or four percent, and the smaller percent was a more recent reference. Whichever … (1 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Robins, spring, and people buying! - 03/25/09 02:11 AM
(I originally posted this entry on www.MankatoHomesOnline.com March 16, 2009)
The other day I decided that winter was over. (Just after we had the last cold front move out, that is.) Now we're seeing sixty degree days and a nice south wind to dry things out. It won't be long before the farmers can get out into their fields. Life is good.
Along with the temperature, it seems buyers' collective interest is heating up. We've had lots of people come to open houses, and I've had buyers call me to look at places they've been eyeing for a while online. One … (2 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Too many houses spoiling the broth? Not if you're a buyer! Market saturation in the Mankato marketplace - 03/25/09 02:03 AM
When it comes to the price attached to a home for sale, buyers and sellers are looking for opposite things. Sellers want to sell their home for as much money as possible. Buyers want to pay as little as possible for their new home. Who wins? It depends on the state of the market: how many homes are available, and how many buyers are looking? Market saturation is the term relating those two numbers.
An average market is considered to be one in which there are roughly three to six months worth of homes on the market. That means that if … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Curb appeal face-lifts pay off big time! - 03/25/09 01:59 AM
Spring is coming, and now is the time to give you home's chances of selling a shot in the arm.
A study done recently by the University of Michigan showed that increasing a home's "Curb Appeal" increased home value by anywhere from six to eleven percent! That's huge.
Here's a good way to look at it: Let's say you have home you're thinking of selling, and it's worth $200,000 in today's market. You know the yard and the front of the house could look better, but you never knew it could mean so much to your pocketbook. You call me up, I give … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Market it right to sell it quickly. - 01/19/09 09:15 PM
Okay, my recent blog on pricing notwithstanding, if you want to sell your home for the most money as quickly as possible, you need to get it in front of the right buyers. Namely, those buyers who will be interested in your home.
Not many Realtors appreciate the subtlety of that statement. Sign it up, put it on the MLS, throw up a sign and a lockbox, and wait.
I don't do that. I can't go into much detail here, or every Realtor worth his or her salt will start copying me, and what kind of unique selling proposition does that leave … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Price it right to sell it quickly. - 12/24/08 09:05 AM
Sellers, this may be news to you, but homes are selling. At times like these people feel they need to spend their dollars carefully. So pricing your home correctly is the key to a quick sale. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), homes that sold within one week sold at 99.7% of the original asking price. Those that sold in four or more months sold at 88% of the original asking price. Staying ahead of the curve, even if it is a slightly downward curve, will keep you ahead of the game.
What explains these results? Let's look at an illustration.
… (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: What???? Thirteen Offers on a House? In a Buyer’s Market??? A Clever Strategy Revealed!! - 05/05/08 08:31 PM
Okay, normally I'm not much of a fan of the overuse of question marks, but in this case I'll make an exception. Here's why: I'm working with a client and a few days ago we submitted an offer. It turns out there were thirteen offers on this house. Yes, you read that right. Thirteen. In a buyer's market.
All right, now the full disclosure: this was a bank-owned (REO) property and the bank cleverly listed the property, probably worth about $40-45,000, at $25,000. So of course everyone and their brother in the market to buy and flip houses (and some, like … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: What's a Picture Worth Again? - 04/04/08 02:10 PM
A picture is worth a thousand words, and it can be worth a thousand dollars, too.
Recent research has shown that the more pictures a listing has, the more quickly it sells, and the higher the sale price! In this particular study, it went like this: Houses with just one picture sold in X number of days. (The number isn't important-that would change with the market. The results are important, however.) Houses with six pictures sold 43% faster, those with 16-19 sold 48% faster, and those with 20 or more pictures sold 54% faster.
The price received for the property … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Update on the Mankato Area market - 03/30/08 12:46 AM
Good People,
Rather than have this space empty, let me just say I'm getting ready to do some regular updating on the status of the Mankato area real estate marketplace. Saint Peter, too.
It will be monthly, and I'll provide lots of data for you. But since it's only two days from the beginning of a new month, I want to wait for April so I can give you figures through the end of March. Be patient.
What I can say is that lots of buyers are calling me, and that my business is picking up, big time. Thank you for that. From what I'm seeing … (2 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Buyer's Market Timing - 03/30/08 12:24 AM
Let's talk timing.
A buyer's market like the one we are in now is perfect for two kinds of buyers: renters and buyers who are buying up.
Renters for obvious reasons: mortgage rates are low, and so are house prices. If you're renting it doesn't get much better than this.
That makes sense, but why is a buyer's market perfect for people who are buying up?
The NAR (National Association of Realtors) keeps very good records of this kind of thing, and they say the average homeowner who buys a new home buys a new one worth about 50% more than … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: On Commissions, or Why Less May Not be More - 02/23/08 01:04 AM
The commission you pay a Realtor when he (or she) succeeds in selling your house does not only go to one person or one company. That commission is split between the seller's broker and the buyer's broker, who then pass on their due amounts to the respective agents involved. Traditionally, that commission is split 55/45 - 55% for the seller's broker and 45% for the buyer's broker. (Why the difference? The seller's side has more in the way of advertising and marketing costs.)
So a 6% listing would be split this way: 3.3% for the selling side and 2.7% for the … (0 comments)
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information for mankato home sellers: Free Philanthropy! Give to the Charity of Your Choice - FREE! - 01/16/08 11:55 PM
Donate to Your Favorite Charity - For Free!After considerable thought, I've decided to share the wealth.
If you become my Buyer or Seller client after January 1st of this year, I will donate 10% of my net commission* to the charity of your choice - you pick! All you have to do is take advantage of my friendly expertise and come up with a non-profit charity which will accept my donation.**
There are so many possibilities: think local, think national, think global. There are people in the Mankato area and all over the world who will appreciate your contribution, even if I get to write it … (0 comments)
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Jim Scheller - ABR, SRS, e-Pro, GRI
Mankato,
MN
More about me…
Bridge Realty - Mankato
Address: 122 South Riverfront Drive, Mankato, MN, 56001
Office Phone: (507) 344-5200
Cell Phone: (507) 317-0177
Email Me
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