It's time for the savvy real to our podcast. I'm Walter Storholt alongside Angie Cole the owner and broker in charge of A Cole Realty serving you throughout the Triangle teaching you about the ins and outs when it comes to buying or selling a home. You can find the team online by going to A Cole Realty dot com. That's A Cole Realty dot com where by calling 919-538-6477. And now it's time for one of the top realtors in the Triangle. Angie Cole and the savvy realtor podcast on this part of the program we're going to cover some of the random little challenges that buyers and sellers face.
And I'm curious to see how agents handle these types of problems and I'm sure you've got good stories about each of these things. Angie and I think this will really showcase some good problem solving opportunities for you. So this is kind of a random list a hodgepodge that I found on the internet of a couple of different things where it's like how do you solve this issue for a buyer or a seller. All right so first one smelly homes. Maybe its dogs indoor plants cooking a neighbor's scent that wafts over into the cellar space. How do you navigate around a smelly home to make it attractive.
Yeah that is a tough one Walter because of course whenever I go on a listing appointment I want to be you know courteous and not hurt my potential seller's feelings. But of course I also need to be honest. So if I do notice you know a strong smell maybe it's a dog you know. Maybe the plants like you mentioned. I will bring it up. You know my thing is to try to figure out the source and how there's a little wet dog smell on here but I'm sure the listeners will let Greg lab next door. And I say what I mean for example figure out the source. You know maybe with a dog maybe give the suggestion of you know hey how about you know is there a family member nearby that maybe the dog can go stay with while we have your home actively on the market and try to work off of that and turn it around to where it's positive. Well then you don't have to worry about every 10 days or showing that you have to do something with your dog right because they're staying with family members ending up the dog here. Alec Exactly so. There's actually kind of a very calm and I had actually sellers without me even asking. They say you know what. Just to make the process easier. We already have a set up where our dogs going to stay with you know our mother in law or whoever it might be it this plant's indoor plants move them outside. You know that's a simple fix. You know if it's strong smells in regards to maybe cooking you know Hay List maybe tone down on the style of cooking.
So it's not no. Shrimp heads stew.
Yeah especially before showing legalist not you know go crazy with cooking like collard greens or anything you know that was my dad's specialty.
By the way they're good they're my favorite. Wouldn't the shroud just shredded. Yes. Hey there. Yes. That was not that great but it was his favorite thing to cook. And when they were selling their home years and years ago like mom had to put a foot down like no shrimp kids do. Right. Right. Because it clearly was like smelt the home like crazy that was their thing.
So yeah just you know try to overcome it in regards to OK what can we change to make it better you know light air freshener. OK. Do not overpower the home with the air fresheners. You don't know how many times that I've walked into a home that has been on the market and short on buyers and you open that front door and it hits you in the face. Sure. It's you know there's a point at what you're over masking the smell and it honestly makes it even worse. So that strong vanilla flavor or apple cinnamon flavor that's now disguising this wet dog smell. That's not a good combo. So a light air freshener. You know one big thing too is steam clean your carpets a lot of times carpets can really absorb a smell. So go ahead and make sure that you had those steam cleaned as well and even maybe your furniture too if you think the smell has kind of been tracked in the home a little bit. And then just print out fresh air too is there.
Do you have a go to smell. I mean is your favorite lavender or you know some other type. I mean it would. What would be your go to suggestion.
Yeah my favorite honestly it's just like a vanilla flavor. I think it's just kind of a homey you know soft smell and inside that's always my go to.
Do you believe in the trick of baking cookies before a buyer comes to visit them.
It can work. But just don't burn them. I go for a long time ago I decided I was going to cook cookies for an open house in the home and the sellers were completely fine with it. Of course I you know let them go a couple minutes over. And then there was bourbon cookies smell throughout the home. And it became you know as a laughing joke and you know when buyers came through you know just kind of laughed about it. But yeah it can be a great you know selling feature make it feel more homey and make people want to stay around but just be careful not to burn your cookies.
That's pretty funny. Good tips on how to deal with a smelly home if you have a smelly home and you're kind of like you need some help or you like the guidance that Angie is giving here on the show you can reach out to her by calling or texting 9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7 and she will hope you learn all the ins and the outs when it comes to buying or selling a home here in the area. 9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7. All right here's another challenge Angie and that would be vacant homes. The sellers have already moved out. They took everything with them. It's truly a bear her home is make it harder to sell. How do you combat that problem.
Yes so it honestly depends on the floor plan in our area because we're in such a wonderful market. A lot of times that is not a setback. But if there is an awkward floor plan for example maybe the live room is just designed and it would be hard to understand how to stage it or how to you know how would we actually live in this home. I would suggest maybe we bring in a piece or two of furniture renting furniture though from like a big warehouse can actually be very expensive. So at LA Times is not the best route to take a lot of time just added a little sprinkle to the home. It can be great meaning you know like a pop of color. Maybe you know some fake flowers on just the countertop maybe a hand towel in the bathrooms or bright colored soap just adding a pop of color to just a bare vacant home can really make it feel a little bit more homey and also make a picture's turn out better as well instead of just a blank canvas. So in regards to you know a vacant home is it harder to sell. No I don't think so at all. You know most a time bring in furniture it is not needed especially in this market but just always adding a little bit of color can definitely help.
Not just color but I guess context I like in the bathroom. Here's the soap it just gives you that one familiar item as a buyer to kind of latch your mind to that.
I can see that in fact is that homey feel. You get to like someone kind of could live here. You know it's just not a bear like box right. So I just throw a toaster on the counter and you know I don't know about the taste for maybe it maybe a little hand towel or you know little cooking utensil OK.
No it does make a lot of sense. Now what about like speaking of the kitchen maybe this is getting too detailed but if you have a home that had the appliances still in there that's one thing because then it can still look pretty homey but if you have a home where maybe the situation was they took the appliances with them there's no oven there's no refrigerator. I mean truly vacated home.
Does that present additional challenges of course and honestly that's not something that we typically run into unless it's like a foreclosure and maybe it's just been strip dry. The reason being because anything that's built in you know a dishwasher the stove maybe the range hood or the microwave. Those are understood to be fixtures and they stay with the home so I typically don't run into that problem. But if that were the case it could create some you know setback. Reason being because automatically buyers are thinking of additional costs on a few more thousand dollars on the purchase promos deafly you know and so you know I would actually give the suggestion to the seller like hey let's you know go get a low end of St. Louis go get a you know just having those appliances they are are very important for sure.
If you can put in the buyer's mind that they're going to need to at some point upgrade. That's a lot different than from scratch we're going to have to go ahead and immediately by applying because people want a home that's ready to move in.
So without those appliances you know you're going to be out every day.
When I bought my first home I remember that exact there were two homes. One had appliances one didn't and it was so much more attractive to the one that already had them because that was just one less thing to worry about. And I was just going to say OK well want a couple of years we'll upgrade these as they break down because they were only worth NICE's but it was like hey at least they're there and we can cook you know that is very true and I know I've mentioned this before but when buyers walk in through a home they're not trying to fall in love with the home.
They typically are trying to eliminate homes on their list to find which one was the best home. So of course the one with appliances probably stood out above the one without appliances.
You know the one without has a higher chance of the X getting it. Exactly. Good tips. Again if you want to get in touch with Angie Cole you can call or text her at 9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7 9 1 9 5 3 8 64 77 we're talking about some of the random just sort of challenges that pop up when you're trying to buy or sell a home. And here in the trial we're getting great stories from Angie Cole your local real estate agent to turn to here in the area. Another situation we run into Angie is when kids are kind of dominating you're trying to sell your home but you've got kids running rampant and throwing toys everywhere. Buyer wants to come by and look at the home. You don't have time to go shoving everything into a closet or maybe that's all you have time for families with kids try to stage their home and still be able to live in it. At the same time I've got to imagine that's one of the major challenges.
It is and I see it all the time because you know we sell a lot of homes that you know are families with children. A lot of little kids too. And of course they all have a million toys so my suggestion would be to limit the toy count. OK what toys your kids play with most. Let's leave those out. Let's go ahead and pack the rest of them up put them into storage. You know even storing in boxes in your garage is completely fine. Or in the attic. But yeah let's go ahead and you know be minimalistic narrowed down the tweet count. So then it's not as hard to clean up. Whenever there's a showing and whenever there's a showing you know I say have a toy chests throw everything really quick and a toy chest or just have a certain place where you kind of hide away the toys. I cannot stand when I see like pictures of homes. And there's a room and the whole edge of the room is lined with toys. It just drives me crazy. So find something you know a little bit better of a setup if it is just kind of moving everything to the garage door and showings. I would rather the interior be more you know minimalistic more vacant. Another great tip could be require an hour notice. So you know you're not stressed out that hey someone's sitting in your driveway. They want to see your home now and you're running around like a mad person. I'm not so require an hour notice before showings. So that does give you time to get the home in order in order for the showing to take place because you know when your home is showing or there is a home showing you have that one chance right now so you want the home to present itself the best possible.
Yeah this kind of goes back to the dogs example. But I think whether it's dogs or kids or whatever this is probably a good short story to share. When I was looking for my first home I remember one of the houses that we went and looked at the the person selling the home had dogs and wanted to follow. There are real estate agents advice like you shouldn't be present in the home when the buyers are coming through you need to you need to get out. But I guess for whatever reason couldn't leave the house when we came to look at because she had her dogs and I guess couldn't take them more. I forget exactly what the situation was but so what she did is just went in the backyard with the dogs and just was like hanging out in the backyard while we looked at the home. But then that's so awkward. We didn't want to go into the backyard and the backyard was one of the most important selling features to me. Right. And so it was already sort of this kind of. OK well let's just leave this feels awkward when you look back like it was a nice home. I probably would have considered it much higher in the list if I just been able to be out really into it.
Yeah. That's one of the discussions I have whenever I go on a listing appointment. You know we talk about this is the way the showings will work. I tell them and I make a joke about it don't be present as we are for you. We're with the Biawak and through you know they're not going to buy your home if you're staring them down. Then on the flip side of it where you know I was showing a buyer and I had the seller almost like in my face following us around and it was just so uncomfortable. And you know the buyers don't feel like they can naturally talk about the home. You know it's just they will be in and out and they will not buy your home. But for that same reason and same thing for dog toys dog food and dog toys. Kind of like kid toys hide those items. So whenever there's a showing that will take place you know just take the dog food and just hide it in the garage or you know just gather up all the toys and the big dog bed and just kind of tuck it away. That's just one of those things too because if I love animals but not everyone is a dog person. And so if you have this huge dog bed you know all these toys I think people's mindsets can be like oh this home smells like dog. If they're not a dog person now sure. So once again or if they're not a kid person. You know this home is run down from the kids and others fingers it whatever it might be but you just want the future buyer to be able to imagine themselves in the home. So just minimalistic and depersonalizing and depersonalizing also means your life in the sense of animals and kids is best when it comes to showing a home.
Yeah it makes a lot of sense. Again if you are seeking this kind of guidance as you're trying to buy or sell a home here in the Triangle invite you to get in touch with Angie. Cole by calling 9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7. You can also text Angie at that number as well with maybe your question or with the request to talk or have a consultation. 9 1 9 5 3 8 64 77 just to chat about whatever challenges you might be facing or if you'd like to buy or sell a home in the area and need help from an agent and she can do that for you.
9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7. Again your number to call or text 9 1 9 5 3 8 6 4 7 7. More coming up on Saffy real core
It's time for the mailbag. We want to hear from you.
An Apex supporter says How do you determine what to offer on a home how do you spot negotiating room versus a situation where you should offer asking price or maybe in the case that you just talked about maybe more.
In some cases how do you determine you know what to make that offer especially in today's market.
So Porter the first thing that I would look at would be days on the market. So if a home has just hit the market more than likely you need to make a strong offer. Being at you know asking price or maybe even above ASIOs questions or gorilla tour should ask questions in regards to is there other offers on the table. So if you are the only offer that has been made normally there's some wiggle room there but if there's another offer you know more than two typically you might have to go at or above list price. Another thing to focus on would be comparables as well. And so with looking at comparables you know your real estate agents share with you you know this is what's going on in this specific location. Here are my suggestions as far as a price point. You know we want you to get the home but we also want to make sure that you're not overpaying just because of future resale. Right. So days on market and more than likely the longer a home sits on the market as far as days on market probably the less you can offer. You know I would assume that the sellers should be a little bit more motivated to get their home moved and closed and under contract the longer it has set on the market so focus on days on market and also comparables when it comes to deciding how to go about negotiating and making your offer.
You've been on the market for six months it's unlikely that you're in and then be competing with three other offers in one weekend so you can then trail that less strong and sometimes sometimes it does happen.
But that is one thing I often have to explain to my sellers is wow because you know I had one actually this past week where they've been on the market now for about 14 days. They got an offer and they were almost wanting to be firm on their list price. And I told them I said guys now we have one offer on the table. You know normally your first offer that you get is going to be your best offer.
So strongly try to work this thing out and less negotiate with his clients just because you know the expectation of getting a full price offer when your home's been on the market for 14 days is probably not going to happen.
Right. That's a great point. We're coming up on the Saffy real talk
Let's shine a little light on some of the Triangle's best areas right here on the neighborhood spotlight.
Well this is the part of the show where we feature a great neighborhood here in the Triangle and learn some new things about it. Get a grape analysis from Angie Cole about the neighborhood. The homes are selling for in the area.
Some of the amenities and features and all that good stuff so Angie where we go in this week on the neighborhood spotlight.
So we are going to Raleigh right over near the Broad Creek area. So the neighborhood that is the neighborhood Spotlight is called Mulberry Park and it's kind of tucked behind Briar Creek right off of like ACTC Boulevard. That area is so wonderful location in regards to kind of a little bit of privacy. You don't get the drive by and busy traffic of the Brier Creek area but you are seriously within two minutes of Brier Creek. So you know of course all the shopping the restaurants a movie theater I mean you could live in the Brar Creek area and just stay in America area. Exactly which is you know then super close to Crabtree mall you know or if you want to get to the airport socialista perfect location you know to live. So once again Mulberry Park and mulk Mulberry Park consist of all townhomes so they are 600 square feet. Up to 1500 square feet we have both 1 and 2 car garage townhomes. They range in price point from anywhere around 200000 up to about 250000 and they were built 2006 to 2012. So the neighborhood is completed any of the you know turnover or inventory homes that come on the market are resales but the normal home that has the market there they go very very quick. Average days on the market has been around twenty five days. Some of them are going at three days five days but they just you know once they hit the market they are going really quickly. I mentioned that there's the one active home but there's also five that are under contract. So that shows you how quickly that neighborhood is move in and shake. And so just a really nice town home neighborhood. And once again the location is spectacular.
Yeah really good little spot there and these are these are nice townhomes. I mean this is a nice not only area to be in but then the actual town home neighborhood itself is also very nice.
It is and well-kept and you know like I mentioned that neighborhood is selling very quick. So if you are a seller in Mulberry park in your thing about potentially putting your home on the market and you want to get an idea of the value of your home or if you're just in the surrounding areas you can text the word listing to the phone number 5 5 5 8 8 8 to get an idea of the value of your home. That's always kind of the first step to get started when you're thinking about listing your home and if now is a good time to sell which of course is especially in Mulberry Park. So once again if you want to get an idea of the value of your home just text the word listing to the phone number. 5 5 5 8 8 8.
You've been listening to the savvy real Toure podcast on Wolterstorff alongside Angie Cole. She's the owner and broker in charge of a call realty here in the Triangle and if you have questions for Angie we'd like you to go online to a call realty dot com listen to past podcast episodes on the website. Read the blog know all the great information including the option to find a home right there on the Web site. That's a coal realty dot com and you can also call Angie with your questions 9 1 9 5 7 8 31 28.
Automatically convert audio to text with Sonix
The Savvy Synopsis
Post a Comment