If you have been trying to sell your home for sometime, you will probably not want to take it off the market for the holiday season. This is an especially difficult time to sell as people often have holiday plans on their minds, rather than home viewing. Serious buyers, however, must continue to search as they are generally dealing with a specific time limit.

Decorations will most likely compliment the house as long as they are not overdone. Be careful to decorate tastefully, but consider cutting back on what you might ordinarily do. Choose garland, candles, white lights, etc. rather than singing Santas and dancing snowmen.

Speak with your agent and be certain he is providing motivated buyers, such as families who are relocating and must find a home. Review your pricing with him to be sure that the home is priced right for the current market.

Curb appeal is generally less in the winter, so make an effort to have everything clean and as pleasing as possible. Show potential buyers a very nice photo of the home during the spring or summer when all is in bloom.

Verify that your agent has a video tour of your home on the web. This is a wonderful tool for those relocating, as they can choose and eliminate many homes prior to visiting the area.

Work at making your home especially warm and cozy during the holidays. When showing the house, consider soft classical music in the background, turning up the heat or turning on the fireplace, and providing homemade seasonal snacks.

As strange as it may seem, having a lovely home in a great location that is priced right does not necessarily translate to a quick sale for the owner. The missing link is that, if high speed internet is not available in the area, many people will not even consider purchasing the home. A number of people have sold their home in one area and moved further away from work and school just to be certain that they would have access to high speed internet.

Of course, the only person who can truly understand this is someone who has lived with dial-up for many years and knows the frustrations it can bring. However, many of those who already have high speed access do realize that they would never want to revert back to dial-up, so they, too, would not consider a home that did not have availability to good internet service.

The real estate market has reached the point where areas with faster service become the ideal “location”, and those with slower service move down on the list of favorites. Location used to be determined by such factors as school district ratings, easy access to work, beautiful neighborhoods, and proximity to family. Today, however, you must add to that list high speed internet access. It is a requirement for many and may just be moving up to the top of the list for prime locations.

Once you have made the decision to sell your home, your next step should be to increase its market appeal.  The major area to concentrate on is the kitchen.  The appeal of the kitchen can make or break a sale.  Here are some ideas for affordable ways to freshen up your kitchen area.

A new coat of paint can make a large difference in the appearance.

Be sure that all counters are clear of clutter and consider installing some useful storage options.

Think about new lighting for dark corner areas.

Attractive window treatments can greatly improve the appeal of the room.

Remove all personal clutter and invest in a few new decorative items.

When you are ready to put the house on the market, or are looking for a new home for yourself, consider these suggestions:

Understand your local market so that you can be certain your home, or the one you are considering purchasing, is priced right.

Look for cosmetic repairs and do the work yourself to save money.

Be aware of which features will help sell a home quickly.

Do not procrastinate if a quick sale meets your needs.

When considering a purchase, be sure you have a realistic budget in place.

Order a professional inspection of the property being considered and be well aware of your financing options.

Marie and Joe have finally made the decision to follow their dream.  For many years, Joe’s brother and his wife have been living in Florida.  They live next door to Marie’s longtime best friend.  The three couples are extremely close and it has been Marie and Joe’s desire to move to Florida for several years.  Family obligations have kept them in Virginia, but they now feel ready to take this big step.

Of course, the first thing they did was call some local real estate agents to obtain a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine what a realistic selling price would be in this market.  It is very hard to realize that your home is no longer worth what it was just two to three years ago.  This, however, is a hard fact that is being faced by anyone wishing to sell his or her home.

A realtor was chosen to represent them, a selling price was established, and home preparations began.  A review of their property showed them that some additional outside maintenance would increase the curb appeal of their home.  Bushes were trimmed, walks cleared, and a fresh coat of paint on the front door greatly improved the appearance.  Annual plants were set out in pots at the entrance and everything began to look very nice.

A thorough look around the interior soon made Marie and Joe realize that they have too much furniture.  Clutter will always make the rooms look smaller and that’s the last thing you would want when trying to sell a home.  They made arrangements to rent a storage unit locally and began listing all of the items they would remove from the home.  They gathered their family together and moved everything into storage the very next weekend.  After a good cleaning and some rearranging of furniture, the home looked wonderful and was ready to be put on the market.  A few calls from the realtor indicated that she had found some potential buyers and would be bringing them over in the next day or two.

When the realtor was scheduled to arrive, the stage was set.  The kitchen and bathrooms were immaculate, fresh flowers were placed in several strategic areas and lights were turned on even though it was daytime.  A bright and appealing home is the goal and Marie and Joe met the challenge with their home.

There were numerous visits from the realtors over a period of six weeks but no offer had been received.  The homeowners were beginning to worry if they would have to lower their price.  They were so anxious to move and had seen the perfect home for them on their last trip to Florida, so they desperately wanted to make this sale.  Just one week later an offer was received.  There was some negotiation but the buyer was definitely in their price range and terms were agreed upon.  Papers were signed and the process begun.

Marie and Joe had done a wonderful job of presenting their home in a most appealing way and were rewarded with a reasonably quick sale.  The have since begun the process of purchasing their new home in Florida and will soon be saying goodbye to all of the wonderful friends they’ve made since moving to Virginia.  It will be sad to see them go but, this has been their dream and they must take this opportunity to live it.

Our homes are the largest asset most of us own.  This is the place where we relax, raise our children, and share meals with family and friends.  It is our comfort zone and, as such, we must remember to take very good care of them because of the important role they play in our lives.  We tend to live in our homes but forget about the maintenance that is necessary for them to serve us well in the future.

In the beginning of May each year we celebrate Building Safety Week.  This is a great time to truly stop and look at our surroundings to determine if any work needs to be done in specific areas.  I’ve decided this is a good time for an inspection and have reviewed the following:

I double checked all of my smoke detectors and replaced the batteries.  I try to do this twice a year, usually when we change the clocks, but this year I had forgotten.  Usually, if  we mentally connect things like changing the clocks and changing the batteries, we are less likely to forget them.  This year I put off the smoke detector check because I was busy but that was not a good excuse.

I checked all of my faucets and toilets for water leaks.  Wasting water is unacceptable and I wanted to be sure this was not happening in my home.  All were in good working order.  I hired someone to come in and check my heating and cooling systems.  Having them in top working order is both cost effective and energy saving.  This small expense has the potential to save me a great deal in the future.

Windows and doors also need to be checked for air leaks and a quick check should let you know if all is in order.

Since I am afraid of heights, I hired a handyman to check my gutters and roof.  He was very thorough and found two missing shingles and closed up some seams he thought could use some improvement.

I am going to try to make this inspection an annual event in my home.  These are some of the things we never think about until we have real damage.  Taking preventive measures around your home is similar to sending a family member for a health check-up.  It’s always a good idea.