https://activerain.com/blogs/cnichols en-us https://activerain.com/blogsview/350083/how-to-price-your-house QUESTION:  I think my house is worth a lot more than my agent's suggested listing price.  What do I do?ANSWER:  Listen to your agent!  And here are some of the reasons you should heed his advice.  First of all, he is experienced and successful or else you wouldn't be using him. Secondly, you are understandably emotionally involved in your family home, where your agent, on the other hand, is totally objective. (buyers aren't buying your memories, they want to create their own) By being objective, your Realtor has searched the multiple listing system for comparable homes that have sold within the last year to see what buyers are actually willing to pay.  Also, he has searched the multiple listing system for similar homes for sale to see wthe competition for the buyers' money....why should someone purchase your home instead of the one down the street?  And most importantly, he has factored in the declining market.   The house  like yours that sold just six months ago, if for sale today would be overpriced.  For example:  Our local market is declining at the rate of about  .67% per month - and from the national news, it is going to continue for a while longer - so if a house was put into escrow at $200,000 one year ago and closed  60 days later, at the time of closing it was already overpriced and 10 months later at the time of your market analysis it is now worth only $184,000.  YIKES!  This is not meant to discourage sellers, but hopefully to make them more aware of the realities of the market place.  If you are truly sincere about selling your home, price it to sell, not sit and chase the market down, because other agents won't show overpriced homes and lenders certainly won't lend on them. carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:14:22 -0800 https://activerain.com/blogsview/350083/how-to-price-your-house https://activerain.com/blogsview/320739/rats- ...and not the furry creatures, but an expresion of frustration.  It is obvious that I would rather be out showing property than cooped up in the office at the computer, so it is especially vexing when I do finally post to have it not show up.  Since my last several blogs didn't "take", including my winter solstice greeting, we'll give it another try, but with a more current message:To one and all, best wishes for a wonderful new year and a resolution to make this work. carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Sat, 29 Dec 2007 09:13:32 -0800 https://activerain.com/blogsview/320739/rats- https://activerain.com/blogsview/312602/december-22-wish As we approach the winter solstice, may friends and family keep you warm until spring arrives again. carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:30:58 -0800 https://activerain.com/blogsview/312602/december-22-wish https://activerain.com/blogsview/264440/as-promised---another-way-to-choose-a-home Before I got side tracked with the coming of winter, I promised to share a method of choosing a home that I observed one family using.The family group consisted of a mother, a father, a young adult and an older teenager who were moving here from out of the area.  It was obvious that the parents knew this was difficult for their children and were trying to make it as painless as possible by including them in the decision making process.  They had given me the basic  requirements of what they were looking for in a home and also a list of what they were hoping for in addition to the necessities. I compiled a list of showings and off we went.  After we looked at the first home they asked if they could have a moment and without talking to each other they all wrote down something on a piece of paper.  After the next home, they again asked for moment before we proceeded to the next house and again wrote down something.  Finally the third time this happened my curiosity overcame my professionalism and I asked what they were doing.   What they were doing was independently rating each property on a scale of 1 to 10.  After all was said and done, at the end of the day they then compiled the results.  The three homes that received the most points  were selected for a second viewing and then the specific pros and cons of those were debated with one eventually being chosen for making an offer on. Obviously this would not be appropriate for all family dynamics, however I am sure a variation could prove helpful in many instances.  And  you have to admit, it is far better than flipping a coin. carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:03:21 -0800 https://activerain.com/blogsview/264440/as-promised---another-way-to-choose-a-home https://activerain.com/blogsview/253173/a-reminder--winter-is-coming I returned home from a week out of town yesterday and this morning standing at my kitchen window asked myself why my flowering plum tree had no leaves...duh... in three days it will be November.  Trees are supposed to be naked this time of year.So for those of you who have also been caught unaware, here are some of the things you need to do both inside and out. (yes, inside too)For the outside: clean gutters, inspect chimneys, wrap hose bibs, drain hoses, caulk, have your heating system inspected by a professional, check weather stripping, put up storm windows and doors.  Although I live in sunny California, I still remember life in the Rockies, and I still do many of these things, plus it is always a good idea to take time to walk around inspecting your house on a semi-yearly basis.  You have a huge investment in your home and you want to keep it well maintained.For the inside:  if you have lived in your home for as many years as I have (and even if you haven't) you tend to get in a rut - change is fun- change is a good thing- change need not be expensive- change is seasonal.   Preparing your living space and your emotional space for the coming season is quite simple.  Put away your pastel pillows and replace them with lush textured jeweled tone ones.  (For example: if your pillows are yellow, replace them with ochre colored ones.)  If you have a pink throw on your couch, replace it with a burgandy one. Add an extra throw to your room.  If you have a bowl of seashells, replace it with a bowl of pods and nuts.  Replace your cotton table runner with a brocade or textured table runner.  Put an area rug down over your carpet.  Change out your scatter rugs (I swap my yellow kitchen rug for a deep red one).   Change your candles (In my family room I trade my summer light sage green candles for persimmon)  It is all about adding layers, cozy textures and warm colors  with out breaking the bank.  And besides, in sunny California, if I didn't change my assessories, how would I know it was winter? carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Sun, 28 Oct 2007 04:52:00 -0700 https://activerain.com/blogsview/253173/a-reminder--winter-is-coming https://activerain.com/blogsview/235760/buyer-confusion---nine-items I am having a terrible time with posting...obviously I would rather be out in the field showing property than sitting inside at the computer.However, by showing tons of property for the last couple of days to a husband and wife who are now thoroughly confused and can't remember which is what, I have the an extremely valuable tool to impart to you, the buyer.I wish I had remembered this when we began the above odessy on Wednesday.  It is the rule of nine items (and no, I can't take credit for the idea and unfortunately I don't remember which client once used this).  How it works:  list nine 'must haves' in the home you are going to purchase; list nine 'can't stands' in the home you are going to purchase; then as you go from home to home, rate each one on the nine points.  The house with the highest score is the one for you!A word of caution when you are creating your list...do not focus on the superficial.  You can always change the carpet, the paint, the landscaping, but you can not change the view, the location, the lot size so make those the items on your list.  By using this tool, the houses you see are less likely to become a blur and you won't be distracted from what is really important to you.  And more importantly you won't be going back to your realtor to sell the house you just bought because you discover you purchased it for all the wrong reasons. In my next blog I will tell you about another method a family used to chose their home. carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:00:41 -0700 https://activerain.com/blogsview/235760/buyer-confusion---nine-items https://activerain.com/blogsview/201059/but-i-planted-that-rose- There are a string of reasons why it is better to not go it alone when selling your home, but to keep it short and sweet, I am going to focus on just one of them for today and that is EMOTIONS.  If you have lived in your home for a long time you have built up many precious memories:  the tree your children used to climb, the floors you walked at night with a baby, birthday parties around the kitchen table...you get the idea.  Obviously your home is priceless.  Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Buyer have no such attachments to your home and do not view these memories as adding dollar valule.  So there is a grave risk that you have not been objective and have over priced your home, thus making it much more difficult if not impossible to sell  The other stumbling block is that you will sub-consciously be evaluating the buyers not as to whether or not they are financially qualified but whether or not you like them.  In either case you may lose a sale or let it go too  cheap.  The buying and selling of a home - even if it is your castle - is basically a business transactions and should be handled by a professional in the business carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Tue, 11 Sep 2007 05:30:19 -0700 https://activerain.com/blogsview/201059/but-i-planted-that-rose- https://activerain.com/blogsview/178581/first-blog-or-what-to-expect This blog site will be about a variety of topics ranging from what is happening in our community to how to show your home to its best advantage, to mortgages, to repairs and anything else I think might be of interest to you, the reader. ..or me, the writer.   Being an educator at heart, I welcome questions!!!!!!!!!!   Yes, please ask me not only about real estate but also about Del Norte County.   The first thing I want to share with you is something that blew me away when I started selling real estate:  " The first offer is often (something like 80% of the time) the best offer".  Accepting the first offer seems to against human nature and every instinct of the seller.  But here is how it works.  When your house first comes on the market, the pool of buyers is the largest.  Some may have been looking for months and at that time the chances of finding the perfect buyer is unusually high...they are exhausted and a new listing is refreshing so an offer is made.  The reaction of the seller is to wait and see if something better doesn't come along later.  The fact is that it is now going to take a while for the new buyer pool to build up again and in the meantime your expenses are continuing to mount.  So sellers,  seriously consider that first offer! carol nichols (ming tree real estate) Sun, 19 Aug 2007 10:44:43 -0700 https://activerain.com/blogsview/178581/first-blog-or-what-to-expect