Benefits to Employing a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home

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Unless you’re an expert in the field, you would normally call a professional to fix any malfunctioning systems in your home, like plumbing or electrical work. Wouldn’t you want the same level of care and expertise when it came time to sell?

Whatever your reasons for wanting to sell your house, it never hurts to seek a professional opinion. After all, this is one of your greatest investments! When you move on to a new adventure, you’ll want an experienced real estate agent to help you close one chapter of your homeownership history and begin the next.

Getting a second opinion

Just like with any other aspect of homeownership and maintaining your property, you want to make sure you always have the most informed person on the case when you’re selling your home. Most often, that means hiring a seasoned real estate agent to give you feedback and to add a professional point-of-view during every major decision you’ll have to make. At the end of the day, you’ll be looking at the sale in terms of what works for you in the moment, but an agent will be able to see the bigger picture because he or she has seen similar situations time and again. With an informed second opinion to supplement your own, the sale of your house should go over as smoothly as possible, with everyone’s best interests at heart.

Using a middle-man 

Let’s face it – not all of us are meant to go head-to-head in a bidding war, or to negotiate with the best. Selling your house doesn’t always look like this, but it can come close! Having a trained real estate agent in your corner can only benefit you in this arena. When you hire the best, you don’t have to shoulder the responsibility of the back-and-forth that sometimes ensues; instead you get to share that task with someone who’s been educated in the best methods of resolving potential conflict.

Accessing insider information

If real estate isn’t your area of expertise, selling your home by yourself can seem daunting. There’s a learning curve involved, and while you’re fielding property questions, buyers’ requests, and legal documents, you can’t always accommodate without missing out on the best deal for you and your house. Luckily, your real estate agent is a wealth of information, and just waiting to answer your questions and lend you a hand! When you have all the insider information at your disposal, it just makes sense to let the real estate agent do what he or she does best, so you can focus on your own to-do list along the way.

Whether you’re ready to begin the selling process, or need a bit longer to consider, the highly qualified Intracoastal Realty team is here to help! Contact us to find out what our real estate agents can do for you.

Where the Heart Is: How to Cope with the Emotional Aspects of Selling Your Home

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Crown molding, those pencil marks in the doorframe of your kitchen denoting a child’s growing height, the nick in the wall from when you tried to rearrange your piano’s placement in the den: a home comprises all of these memories and more when you’ve owned it for a few years.

It isn’t always easy to pack and move, especially when you get to reminiscing about all that’s happened in your home, but you aren’t alone. Because the purchase of a house is as much an emotional investment as it is a financial one, many sellers experience some difficulty in picking up their roots and moving on after the last of the paperwork is signed, even if they’re relocating for a positive reason. But there are a few ways you can help you and your family feel more at ease with change, and therefore more open to starting over in a new home.

Making space

When you make a house your own, you end up pouring a lot of yourself into the framework: your personal tastes, family memorabilia, and even moods. As you start to pack your belongings and plan out your move, take a few moments to pick your favorite decorating choices in your current house that you want to carry over in the new one. You don’t have to recreate every room as it was, but sometimes incorporating a few characteristics can help you ease into an unfamiliar setting more comfortably. And, if you can visualize your personal items in their new homes, it stands to reason that you can picture yourself there, too.

Photographic memories

If you’ve lived somewhere for a significant amount of time, you’ve probably taken pictures of countless get-togethers, holidays, and the day-to-day moments that happened there. When the thought of leaving the actual house behind starts to wear you down, take some time to gather all of those snapshots and put them somewhere safe. This can mean arranging them in a photo album, or scanning them to a laptop, or as simple as placing them in a labeled shoebox; as long as you have them at the ready, you can always revisit your former home and those happy occasions.

Compare and contrast

And if fond memories aren’t helping to make the transition from one home to the next any easier, consider comparing the benefits and drawbacks of each to give you a little perspective. Is there a room that’s always felt small, that maybe has a larger counterpart in your new house? Perhaps you don’t get very much natural light in your living room, but you’re looking forward to a different set-up after the move. Making the moving process easier for everyone is a matter of focusing on these positive changes instead of dwelling on the aspects of your house that you will miss.

Moving somewhere new can get stressful, and it’s easy to miss a place you’ve been for some time, but the team here at Intracoastal Realty encourages you to think positively about your new experiences! Stay tuned to our blog for more tips, or contact our offices to find out more about selling your home with our agents.

Seasonal Tips for Home Staging in the Fall

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In southeastern North Carolina, summer warmth and sunshine lingers well into September, giving us more opportunities to take advantage of our close proximity to the sand and surf. But after Labor Day, homes and businesses still tend to begin making the transition to autumnal décor, and pumpkin spice flavor starts cropping up in every tasty treat imaginable – hotter temperatures or no, fall is definitely on the way!

When you put your house on the market around this time of year, you want to make sure that your home is ready to meet the scrutiny of potential buyers relocating to the area with fall weather on the brain. Since selling in the off-season is highly recommended, your team of real estate agents and experts have a few pointers for staging your home for successful fall viewings!

Subtle hints

A little can go a long way, especially since your potential buyers will obviously be able to see that our coastal region doesn’t dive straight into chillier temperatures and crisp autumn days. Instead of overwhelming them with too much fall-themed décor, take the subtle route. Light candles with hints of cinnamon and pine needles, or add a warm-toned throw to your living room setup. You don’t have to constantly keep a fire blazing in your fireplace, or douse every room with the scent of fallen leaves and campfires; just create a welcoming, cozy atmosphere that your buyers can easily see themselves hunkering down into when the real cold weather moves in on the region.

Outer appearances

When you’re trying to show your home during the fall season, it doesn’t really work out well if your front yard still looks as though summer is in full swing. That being said, we don’t want anyone to feel as though they need to level their lawn just to sell the house! We recommend instead making use of colorful flowers and bushes that convey vitality, while downplaying the green grass that you’ll probably still be enjoying later on in the month. Mums, burning bush, and witch-hazels are just a few examples of plants you can integrate into your outdoor scene to coax fall into the mix.

Transitioning seasons

As you set up your home to emulate a warm, fall atmosphere, remember that a steady transition from one season to the next can be a welcome sight for buyers coming to view the house. Remember that the process of buying a home can be just as stressful – if not sometimes more so – than selling one, so bombarding them with Halloween paraphernalia and strongly scented potpourri probably won’t help endear them to your house. Instead, start switching up colors and outdoor plants now, then move into more noticeable changes as you get closer to the official start of fall.

There are plenty of ways to help make each season compliment the many aspects of your home, and autumn is no exception! As you incorporate some of these practices into your style and routine, be sure to add a personal flare for you and your family to enjoy until it’s time to pack it all away and move to your next residence. And for more helpful seller’s tips, be sure to stay tuned to Intracoastal Realty’s blog updates!

What to Expect from Your First Home Inspection

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You’re putting a house on the market for the first time, and your to-do list is probably about a mile long. One of the most important items – and a step that needs to happen sooner rather than later – is scheduling a professional inspection of your home.

Just like during the process of purchasing your next home, it’s important to know as much as possible regarding the condition of the house before you put it on the market. With a quality inspection, you can get all of the knowledge you need to work with potential buyers and settle on a fair deal for everyone.

Timing and involvement 

When you schedule a home inspection, you’ll want to go ahead and account for roughly 2-3 hours of walk-through time. It’s recommended that you stay nearby to answer any questions that might come up, and the best inspectors don’t mind if you follow along and ask some of your own as they arise. As the inspection progresses, he or she will be making enough notes to answer some preliminary questions about possible repairs and alterations, but remember that the more detailed report will be delivered soon – sometimes by the end of the business day depending on the time of your appointment. 

The report

The typical inspection report will give you a rundown of what about your house is up to current standards and what potential issues the inspector caught. The amount of detail really depends on the condition of the house; if, for example, it’s practically brand new, you probably won’t have as many damages and weakened areas to address. Older houses, those that have been through rougher weather, or the residences that were not cared for in years previous typically have more notes and ideas for improvement included in the report. The results tend to be broken down by sections of the house, such as the basement, attic, roof, crawlspace, the plumbing work, and the ventilation system. 

Next steps

As the seller, you don’t technically have to make any of the repairs suggested in the inspector’s report. However, the chances of your house selling for a desired price are higher if you do. Essentially, it all boils down to the severity of the renovations and what price range you’re hoping for with your buyer. Sometimes, your realtor can negotiate with the buyer not to include the repairs, but to drop down the asking price instead. If you’re unwilling to fix the problems before you vacate the house, this is an option to bring up with your agent from the beginning.

Putting your house on the market for the first time can be daunting, but when you have a trustworthy real estate agent on your side, the workload decreases exponentially! If you’re ready to sell your coastal home, contact us and get started today.

A Guide for First-time Home Sellers

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When you don’t know what to expect, selling your first home can quickly evolve into a convoluted and frustrating process, even with a knowledgeable realtor on your side. The experts here at Intracoastal Realty have come up with a few helpful hints to walk you through the process, so you can confidently move forward with the sale.

Meet with a trusted real estate agent.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but this first step to selling your home is the most important one. When you find and meet with a capable real estate agent, he or she will be able to assess your home and neighborhood, help you establish your needs and some realistic goals for the sale, and navigate the showing and closure process. You’ll probably also do a walk-through of the house to familiarize the agent with its physical attributes, as well as find a few tweaks to make in order to show off the place in the best possible light.

Set expectations, but remember to be flexible.

Just like you have items that are non-negotiable, so does each potential buyer that crosses the threshold of your home. When the residence is ready to be shown, discuss with your real estate agent potential compromising points, and outline very clearly what you absolutely cannot bend on before you assess the first offer.

Keep track.

In the lucky event that you receive multiple offers on your house, it would benefit you to have some sort of filing system so as not to confuse one buyer from another. This is also a handy way to compare and contrast offers with your real estate agent, so that when you’re ready to make the final call, you can easily glance at the profiles and pull out the pros and cons of each.

A clean home is a happy one.

Even after the initial showings have occurred, and after you have an offer or two for consideration, keep your house up to showcase standards. The nature of selling a home involves plenty of risk; your buyer’s credit may not be up to par with their chosen lender, he or she may suddenly back out of the deal, or your reason for moving may throw a wrench in the plans. To hopefully put off any unforeseen complications in obtaining another buyer – or keeping the one you have – maintain a tidy household to the very last day of your residence.

Plan accordingly.

As was already mentioned, there are countless ways that the eventual sale of your home could deviate from your carefully laid plan. But, with a skilled real estate agent on your side, you can be sure to include a few fallbacks and contingency courses of action in your general outline. It will also be helpful to plan out any major changes you want to make to improve your home’s appearance such as fresh paint, more intensive lawn work, or furniture rearrangement prior to opening your home to buyers.

Be prepared to offer extra features.  

It’s easy to claim that there are things you could do without in your current house: appliances, curtains, and other interior decorations to name a few. But when someone makes an offer that includes something you might have planned on taking with you after the sale, it’s time to make a decision regarding what you will and won’t miss. Just remember that at this point, it’s about being reasonable and rational, not necessarily emotionally invested. If someone requests the inclusion of appliances, consider the benefits and costs before refusing. By conceding a little, you might just gain a lot in the sale.

The main thing to keep in mind when you’re ready for a move and need to sell your house is that in spite of the stress that often comes with the process, it’s still an exciting change for you and yours to experience! By putting yourself in the hands of a capable and trusted real estate agent, you’ll also take some of the pressure off and gain a valuable resource to see you through the sale. If you’re ready to sell your house on North Carolina’s coast, contact us today!