Avoid These 5 Vices When Selling Your House

Many home sellers hurt their sale by falling victim to one or more of these five common vices.

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If you’re looking to sell your home, there are five vices you should avoid: 1. Over-improving. Most homeowners have great intentions when it comes to improving their home for sale, but you need to be careful not to go overboard. This means doing improvements that will out-price your home from the market. Talk to your Realtor for a comparative market analysis to see what homes are selling for in your neighborhood so you can get your home ready for top market value without over-improving.
2. Renovating without permits. I see this way too often, and it’s heartbreaking to see someone make a great improvement or addition only to find out that it’s not permitted. In that case, there is often a long and costly process to get something permitted. 3. Limiting showings and showing hours. Many sellers have busy schedules, kids, and pets. However, if you’re looking to sell as quickly as possible, the easier the access to your home, the better. 4. Pricing, pricing, and pricing. Pricing is one of the most important components, second only to your Realtor. Pick a Realtor with the experience and know-how to be able to run the numbers and find out what the best price for your home is to avoid overpricing or underpricing.

5. Not following your agent’s advice. You’ve done your research and due diligence to pick the best Realtor. Listen to them! Many timed, with their advice and experience, they can get you in a position to have your home ready for the market and get you the best price.

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Pricing is one of the most important factors in your sale, second only to your Realtor.

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If you’re looking to buy or sell a home here in the Raleigh market, we’d love to help you as soon as you’re ready. Give us a call or send us an email and let’s get the conversation started.

Beautiful M/I Homes Gallery!

I visited the Design Gallery yesterday for M/I Homes to help one of our clients pick out all the decorative accents for their home!  I loved it!  It was inspiring to be surrounded by such design beauty.
This kitchen below is amazing!  The cleanliness of it and the fixtures are so elegant and modern.

I love below how the designer paired the big chairs symmetrically with the pillows, the tables and accents.  Very chic but still comfortable!

Happy Blogging~
Kristi Bourquin

4 Projects to Prepare Your Home for Sale

There are four projects you can do to your home before you list it that will help it sell quickly and for top dollar.

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Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale

What is the best way to prepare your home for sale? Here are four useful projects you can do: 1. Improve your curb appeal. The first impression many buyers get after viewing your home online is when they pull up to the curb for a showing. Look at the front of your home from the street and determine what needs upgraded or repaired. Trim your shrubs, cut the grass, repaint the siding, etc. 2. Get a home inspection. These days, many buyers get a home inspection simply because their lender has made it a requirement or for peace of mind. Be proactive and get your home inspection done before you even go live. That way, you can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to any items that might need to be repaired or replaced. Don’t hesitate to replace any interior flooring or dated carpet, because those are the kinds of things buyers will look at when they walk through the home. The cost isn’t much compared to what to it can generate through an offer. 3. Paint. As the old cliche goes, a $40 gallon of paint isn’t nearly as beneficial in the bucket as it is on the walls, where it might generate thousands of extra dollars in your home sale. Look at your interior walls and see if anything needs to be touched up. If so, don’t spot-paint—paint the entire wall. 4. Clean and clear out. Most people only clear a little bit of the house or maybe one room, but you should try to go through the entire house. The basement, garage, and attic are three rooms you should try especially hard to clear. When the house sells, you’ll have to clear them all out anyway.

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Doing these projects will guarantee your home a better offer.

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If you’re thinking about buying or selling, please be sure to reach out to us so we can help. We look forward to hearing from you!

2017 Is The Time To Declutter!

Declutter Your Home:

1. Kitchen-  Begin with only one area at a time. Start in the junk drawer and pull out everything and categorize it.  Throw away the obvious trash and then decide what you want to keep in the drawer, then make little bags or some type of containers for it. For example,  in my junk drawer I have pens, loose change, and hairbands. Whatever I have, I have a home for it to go!  Next, I have a spot for paperwork. For this, I just bought a five slot shelving unit that sits on my counter and I file my children's artwork, school paperwork, and any loose random papers (This helps so much!) For the refrigerator, go through all items and toss out anything that expired. Remove all the contents and wipe down the shelves and all. When putting things back, be sure to have the labels facing forward.

2. Side Entry-  This area in my home, I also have a spot for everything. That is the trick to organization.  Here, I have a big basket that I keep all of my children's shoes in as soon as they walk in, and above that I have a cute rack that holds only their jackets and book bags etc. This is only their area...that keeps things easy to find. I have my own side that holds my jackets and shoes etc.  Again, I have found that what works for me is that everything I own has it's very own spot to be held.

3. Closet-  Go through your closet and make a keep, donate and throw away pile.  My personal hurdle has been to actually take the pile "donate" to donation, but it's easy and quick to do it. If you did not wear it at all last year in 2016 it may be time to get rid of it so either throw it away or donate it!  Clutter is so toxic to have around. It simply clutters your mind without you even knowing it. I find every time I declutter, the stress levels go down!

4. Home Office- Go through all the papers sitting on the desk and categorize to your liking. Throw away what is trash and file away what you need to keep.  Dust off the desk area, and wipe down the keyboard and mouse.  I like to make my desk beautiful with a flower, candle, lamp, picture frame, and any other accessories that fit your style! 

5. Bathroom- Go through your vanity and throw away expired items and empty bottles. Take everything off the vanity, wipe it down, then go through all the items and categorize. Either in bins or on a cute decorative tray on the counter. Be sure to go in the cabinet and sort out everything below the sink. Again, a great smelling candle in the bathroom is wonderful to have.

~Kristi Bourquin

Lifetime Fitness Giveaway!

"Like" and "Comment" on our Facebook post to be entered to win a FREE one week membership to Lifetime Fitness located at 8515 Falls of Neuse Road Raleigh, NC 27615

For information on Lifetime Fitness visit their website by clicking here.

Official Rules and Guidelines:

• Must "Like" and "Comment" on the Facebook post.
• Must live in Wake County or its surrounding counties.
• Must be 18 or older to participate.
• No purchase necessary.
• Winner will be chosen and announced randomly on Monday, January 16th.