lake zurich...and beyond

My Lake Zurich, Illinois yard looks it's prettiest in May. That's when my Redbud tree is flowering in my front yard, and several shrubs are in bloom in the back.

Then again, it's during the summer months when my daylilies, annuals and other perennials are at their peak.

Hmm, maybe it's the autumn, when my burning bush and maple tree are bright red against the clear blue sky.

Come to think of it, it's hard to say just when my yard looks its absolute best! (NO, this is NOT MY yard!! I wish it was!)

Your yard probably has something to offer with each season as well. That's why I suggest that you keep your digital camera handy during the coming months so you can capture your home showing off. Take pictures often, including close ups of your trees, planting beds, flowering shrubs, garden, deck or patio, pool, and other aspects of your landscaping.

One of the things that I like to offer my clients is the use of a digital photo frame during the sale of their home. All of the photos taken throughout the year can be stored on a photo card, which is then inserted into a digital photo frame. When displayed in your home (right near the brochures and other information offered to a buyer) it is a photo slide show of your yard in all its glory throughout the seasons.

Fast forward to next winter, when you get that fantastic job opportunity and need to move to another state, or March, when you want to list your home to capture the early spring market. Thanks to the digital photo frame, your potential buyers will be able to see for themselves just how beautiful their future home will be.

So, if you want to stand out among the competition when it's time to sell your home, get your digital camera out NOW and start taking photos. If you have photos you've taken throughout the years that aren't digital, don't worry. I can scan them and load them onto a photo card for you when the time comes.

Now, if only we could capture the smell of those lilacs...

There are certain smells that are almost universally appealing. The smell of fresh popped popcorn at the movie theater. Bread baking in the oven. Coffee in the morning. Anything cooking on the grill on a warm summer evening. You get the idea.

But when you are selling your house, those same smells (both good and bad) can be the difference between getting an offer and your home sitting on the market. I know it may seem a little strange, but you need to walk around your house and yard and sniff.

What do you smell?

Let's start at the front door. Sniff. Any lingering cigarette smoke? Does it smell like Grandma's attic or a locker room? Does the fireplace emit the aroma of a camp fire after it rains?

Now head to the basement. Does it smell damp? Musty? Like the cat box?

How about the kitchen? Sniff, sniff. Are there odors coming from the garbage disposal? That rank sponge? The trash can? Can you smell last night's dinner? Is Fido's bed a little, well, doggy? Sniff inside your refrigerator, too.

That odor coming from the diaper pail? Not very appealing, let me tell you. Laundry hampers and closets can harbor smells as well. Does it reek of stinky shoes? Sniff.

Don't forget the garage. Nothing is more aromatic than the smell of garbage or rotting grass clippings, and not in a good way. The backyard should be free of stinky "land mines" as well.

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

You get the idea. Be honest with yourself. You probably discovered plenty of smells coming from your home and yard and you need to get rid of them.

Please do not think that you can cover up odors with air fresheners and candles; you need to clean and deodorize. Even the good smells can overpower a buyer. So open the windows and air out the place. Empty trash cans daily. Replace the kitchen sponge. Put a box of baking soda in your refrigerator and freezer. Refrain from cooking your more fragrant recipes while your home is on the market. Your goal should be a home that smells fresh. Not like apples & cinnamon or a tropical rain forest. Not overpoweringly like bleach, pine or even lemon.

Before you put your home on the market, and periodically throughout the time your home is on the market, conduct the sniff test. Even better, ask a relative or neighbor to do it for you, because we often become immune to smells we are exposed to all the time.

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

I smell a sale!

Just because you installed granite countertops, doesn't mean your home will sell for more money.

"What?" You ask. "I thought buyers love granite countertops!"

Herein is one of the catch-22's of real estate. Should you upgrade to granite, for example, or price your home lower when you put in on the market? Now, having a home that is not quite updated may take your home a little longer to sell and you will definitely sell for less money than comparably priced more upgraded homes. It all depends on who your competition is and what features those homes have. So it is vitally important that you check out the competition before you invest money into your home for resale purposes.

With the market being the way that it is, buyers are looking for a deal and are bargaining hard for a lower price. Those granite countertops that you just spent $$ on may not entice a buyer to pay a higher price, simply because it isn't the granite the buyer would have chosen for themselves. Therefore, the granite countertops, in the eyes of the buyer, don't add any additional value to the house.

I have also witnessed homeowners replacing carpeting prior to selling their home, only to drive by after the sale and find their "new" carpet at the curb. Maybe it was the wrong color or the buyer wanted hardwood flooring. Did it help the home sell for a higher price or in less time? Probably not.

In my opinion, the most important aspect of preparing your home to sell is not in replacing what you have, unless it is truly worn out, stained or hopelessly dated compared to your competition. It is in having a home that is clean, organized, clutter free and well maintained. Most homeowners do not have the benefit of being able to spend $2000 and get the kind of benefits that the "preparing your home to sell" shows on TV would have you believe. Material costs are one thing...labor costs are quite another. The shows on TV can update a home for very little cost because the labor is free and many of the materials are donated. It can be a bit misleading.

As a staging professional and REALTOR, I know that proper preparation of your home prior to listing it is one of the keys to your success. But don't go overboard. My job is not to help you maximize your sales price...it is to help you maximize your profit. There is a difference.

So get out your paint can and freshen up those walls. Remove wallpaper. Clean and de-clutter every inch of your home. Wash the windows. Have the carpet cleaned (replace only if it is too worn, stained or an obnoxious color). Fix what is broken or in disrepair. Freshen up the bedding & curtains (which you can take with you). Clean up the yard, plant some flowers & add fresh mulch. Change out some cabinet and drawer pulls. Replace dated light fixtures. Make sure everything sparkles and smells great. Get help from a staging professional if you are unsure of what to do. Last but not least, price your home appropriately with the assistance of your REALTOR.

Most people don't need to spend a lot of money to get their homes ready to sell. You do need to "spend" some elbow grease, however, and that is FREE.

This morning a very good friend and neighbor of mine (thanks, Chrisy!) spent several hours dividing up some perennials and moving them to new homes in her yard and mine.

With Earth Day upon us soon (April 22), what better way to "go green" than in our own yards?

In my yard, we divided and transplanted 6 hosta, 5 daylillies, and 2 something-or-other plants with cute little white flowers that bloom in the summer. In her yard, we transplanted 8 hosta. 

Next step...mulch...to conserve the moisture and cut down on both weeds and watering.

What a wonderful way to spend the morning...enjoying each other's company, beautifying our yards, and doing something wonderful for Mother Earth at the same time. And it was totally free! How cool is that?

 What will you do for Earth Day this year?

 We all dread lowball offers. But then again, an offer is an offer and they are increasingly hard to come by these days. So here are my Ten Steps to Successfully Negotiating the Lowball Offer on your home:

STEP ONE: Take a deep breath. That's right...breathe in, breathe out. Remain calm.

STEP TWO: Repeat after me: "The buyer is not my enemy. The buyer likes my house and wants to buy it. This is a good thing."

STEP THREE: Carefully consider all aspects of the offer, like the closing date, contingencies and financing. Focus on the good stuff. Look for solutions that would make it work for you. It's not all about the money.

STEP FOUR: Go over the net sheet with your real estate agent, if you haven't already. You have to have all the pieces of the puzzle in order to respond.

STEP FIVE: Always, always, always prepare a counteroffer! You may feel insulted, you may feel angry, and you may even feel like telling the buyer to take a hike. Don't go there. Instead, extend an olive branch and give a little.

STEP SIX: Be prepared for negotiations to take some time. Buyers are scared of paying too much for a home. They may hem and haw a little. Time is your friend during negotiations. Who knows, another offer may come in while you are waiting for a response.

STEP SEVEN: Be prepared to win on some points, and lose on others. Negotiation is like a dance. Sometimes you move forward on one point but backwards on another. Sometimes you lead and other times you follow. 

STEP EIGHT: Know when it's good enough. If everything else is perfect, but you are still apart by a few dollars, or you've come to an agreement on price but can't agree on terms, ask yourself this: "Will this matter to me in two weeks, two months or two years?" This can help bring clarity to what your priorities are. Be realistic.

STEP NINE: Know when to walk away. Just because you got an offer, doesn't mean that you will be able get the deal together. Sometimes the buyer's best offer just isn't good enough.

STEP TEN: Pat yourself on the back. Whether the lowball offer resulted in a negotiated contract or not, you should feel good about the process because you handled it calmly, considered all angles, responded professionally (through your agent of course), and worked it until it couldn't be worked anymore. You didn't play games or shut out a potential buyer but instead welcomed the give and take that must occur in all negotiations.

Congratulations on a job well done!

If you are selling your home, do you want a public open house? 

Interestingly enough I've found that most of my clients don't want me to do an open house. They dislike having to be inconvenienced for the better part of a day, having their home open to the general public who may or may not be there because they are looking for a new home or looking for something to steal, and are worried about MY safety and THEIR insurance risk. They want only pre-approved buyers who can actually afford their home to see it, not lookie-loos or tire-kickers. They recognize that most serious would-be buyers are working with a professional real estate agent, who will schedule an appointment to show them the home. Plus, with the photos and tours on the Internet, their home is virtually "open" 24 hours a day anyway.

My intention is not to use scare tactics in the hopes of encouraging sellers to avoid requesting public open houses. But think about this: What other business advertises to the general public the time and location where we will be sitting (usually alone) in a vacant house?

In today's day and age, are open houses really a smart way to try to sell a home?

Most of my clients say, "Thanks, but no thanks!"

I prefer smaller, character-rich homes to huge Mc Mansions any day. I don't like buffets. I order a "tall" not a "venti." And one good piece of rich dark chocolate is better than a whole milk chocolate candy bar in my book.

Americans in general have been conditioned that more is better. But is it, really? I guess it depends on your personality, but I generally don't think so.

When I first became a real estate agent, I modeled my business after an agent that I had met through my former job as a real estate paralegal. This agent wasn't what anyone would consider a super top producer but in the eyes of her clients she was the best agent in the world. She truly cared about each and every one of her clients and offered excellent service as a result. This resonated with me and I decided to focus on building a similar business for myself, concentrating on serving fewer clients, better.

Unfortunately, the real estate community (and sometimes the general public) tends to define a successful agent by sales volume or commission dollars earned. How many deals an agent has closed or how many listings he or she carries can certainly be an indicator of success, but the true measure of success is how happy your clients are at the end of the day.

Will they recommend you?

Do they like you?

Would they use you again?

One of the benefits of being a real estate agent is that you are the CEO of your own corporation. Therefore, you get to decide what type of business you will build. I've chosen to build a smaller, more boutique-like business even while under the umbrella of "the big balloon" while others may choose to build a larger, department-store type of business. Neither business model is right or wrong, just different. Your personality will determine the type of business model you gravitate towards.

My way of doing business allows me to offer top-notch, professional and personalized service to each and every client at a level that would be hard for me to sustain if I were juggling 20 or 30 listings at one time. It enables me to build relationships with most of my clients...so much so that they consider me to be their friend...not just their real estate agent. I like that. It suits my personality, who I am and who I want to be.

I'm not going to be famous or a super top producer anytime soon. You won't find me on a billboard, a grocery cart, or in one of 20,000 mailers that go out every two weeks (which is bad for the environment, by the way). I will only take listings that I can sell, at a price I can support, and will give 100% to each and every client, both buyer and seller. I may not become wealthy, but I will be able to go to Target without being recognized!

My thought for today, no matter what business you are in, is to be true to yourself. It's your life...define your own success...and enjoy.

For me, the most exciting part of Spring is those first signs of new life pushing up through the cold, damp earth. Today, I saw the first little nubs of my daffodils peeking up out of the ground. I also noticed my hosta are starting to "bullet" and that faint greening of the grass.

Finally!

This was a very long winter in Northern Illinois, with a lot of snow and ice, and recently...cold and rainy days. In fact, we might get a little snow here on Saturday.

Thank goodness the end is finally in sight and, as you know, more people will move in the next few months than at any other time of the year. That's good news for everyone in the real estate biz or housing-related industries (like carpet stores, furniture stores, blinds and drapery stores, movers, home improvement stores, etc.).

Of course, sellers are breathing a little easier because for the third month in a row...showing activity has increased!

Here's to a great Spring market!

One not to be missed historical landmark is The Catlow Theater in Barrington, Illinois. Now celebrating 80 years in downtown Barrington, The Catlow shows movies at discount prices; the general admission price is only $5.00!

With a rich history and cozy ambiance, The Catlow is a great place to spend date night. Best of all, The Catlow makes fresh popcorn on-site. None of that pre-popped stuff like the other guys.

Another benefit is that you can eat a great meal while you watch ~ dinner and a movie all under one roof! Simply order up your sandwich or salad from Baloney's next door and take it into the theater with you. But you better have a good appetite because Baloney's sandwiches are huge!

Next time you are looking for something to do, head into downtown Barrington for a classic old-fashioned movie experience. The Catlow is located at 116 W. Main Street, Barrington, IL.

Pass the popcorn!

We recently had a training event at my office and were sharing some of the good things this market has brought about for us and for our business. Yes...this market has brought about many positive changes!

For example...

• We've had time to further our education and training
• We've honed our budgets and therefore become better business people
• Prices leveling off (or declining) made housing more affordable for first time buyers
• Consumers are re-discovering how important it is to have an experienced, knowledgeable REALTOR on their side
• Sellers had their day in the sun...now buyers get their turn
• We've been able to fine-tune our presentations and marketing materials
• We've gotten back to the basics, including better communication and client care
• Predatory lending practices have been exposed
• Higher standards help make sure buyers who cannot afford to buy a house, don't
• We've had time to refocus our energies on our family and friends (where it belongs, IMO)
• Agents are working together with less ‘tude (we are in this together, what can we do to make it work?)

A very real benefit to working in this market is that we have all become better agents as a result, don't you think? So the next time someone whines about the market, remind them of all of the positive things this market has provided, both for agents...and for consumers.

It's a good thing.