Adrienne Berkowitz
There are always houses for sale
but to get a house at a good price you need to act quickly - they are also
always bargain hunters out there. They could be investors, down-sizers with cash
deposits, and to sell your house you need to get the price right.

Beware
of estate agents marking up the price of your property so that they win the
instruction. If you put your property on at the highest price quote you could be
stuck on the market for a long time. The average time to sell a house is just
over 8 weeks and in that time all the buyers who are waiting to find property
will have noticed your house and viewed it if they wanted. After that time, you
will be waiting for new buyers to come onto the market and that could mean just
a trickle at a time.

If your price is too high be prepared to sit it out
whilst either you are lucky enough to find a buyer who is willing to pay above
the odds, or be prepared to sit it out AND bring your price down after a couple
of months. However, this won't look attractive to buyers. Immediately they will
ask, "What's wrong with the house? Why hasn't it sold yet?"

Do your own
research. Look in your surrounding area for houses for sale and see what they
are priced at. Look at price graphs and how much your property's value has gone
up or down since you bought it. View a few other houses at a similar price to
see if you are being realistic.

After a few months if you still have not
sold then have your house revalued by other agents. You might need to bring the
price down again or you might need to change agents - even if you're happy with
the agents you're with, a new agent will bring a fresh selling approach and to
the outside house buyer it will look as if the first agent did a bad job rather
than there being something wrong with your house.

Houses for sale became
a national interest in the property boom with TV property programmes showing you
how you can make thousands of profit - and sometimes you can, usually with a lot
of work and stress. But not always. Sometimes you can buy a house that is a
probate sale where a low offer is accepted, you live in it, make it look cosy
and welcoming and sell it on at a tidy profit with very little input.

But as with everything that you sell, what matters are what amount
people are prepared to pay for it. If you think that your house is worth £300k
but others would actually only spend £250k then you won't sell it easily. You've
got to be realistic.

If you are selling your home right now it is
probably one of the most important if not the most important thing you are
doing. With the excess of homes on the market throughout the United States and
the economy slowly recovering, which of course is debatable, it can be
challenging getting your home sold.

No matter the time of the year you
want to give special attention to the outside of your home. Make sure it is
clean and easy to access by not blocking sidewalk or pathways.

Once
inside you want potential homebuyers to feel welcome. If you don't want dirt
tracked throughout the home provide booties for people to wear. This is much
more convenient for visitors to put on than have to take off their shoes.
Provide a bench or stool for them to sit on when putting on their booties.

If the home is vacant you still want to make sure it is clean and well
kept. Routinely check the bathrooms and other rooms for things that may need a
bit of cleaning up.

Light a nice smelling candle in the home that
sufficiently freshens the air. If you have a pet make sure that you have the
home thoroughly cleaned so there aren't any pet smells. Along the same lines if
you have a pet it is always better to remove them from the home completely,
especially dogs. That way homebuyers can view the whole property without
worrying. A lot of homeowners put their dog in the garage and they bark and bark
while people are in the home. This can be distracting and make homebuyers rush
through the home. Also it doesn't allow them to view the garage and appliances
residing in there.

Lastly, you want to have detailed information about
the home readily available. Organize a binder that contains relevant information
on the home such as; year built, square footage, garage size, baths, bedrooms,
taxes, association dues, amenities, special building products used (granite
tile), things of interest in the area, schools, etc.

Adrienne Berkowitz

Rule No. 1: Repairs get the biggest
returns

The smartest money now goes into "undeferring" needed
maintenance. That's because while buyers might appreciate enhancements like
Jacuzzis and Sub-Zeros, they won't tolerate a house with a leaky roof or
antiquated plumbing. "If a property is known to have issues, today's buyers
won't even look at it," says Austin real estate appraiser Jim Amorin.

And trying to keep problems a secret can cost you big-time. If buyers
discover them during inspection, it's now common practice to ask sellers not
only to pick up the tab for the repair but also to pay a penalty to compensate
the buyer for the inconvenience of having work done.

So the $20,000 you
saved by putting off a roof repair, say, could turn into a $30,000 credit to the
buyers at closing

My mentors taught me that I want to be on the
right side of the desk. I want people calling me that are already pre-sold on
doing business with me. I do not want to take calls from people that are just
fishing for more information as it will just waste my time. You want systems in
place that automatically pre-screen sellers so that only ones that are motivated
and want to do business with you actually talk to you live.

To do that,
we do not take incoming calls live until after they have pre-screened themselves
by reading or hearing our full marketing message. We accomplish this by using
tools like our 24-hour recorded information hotline. The 24-hour recorded
information hotline will allow someone who has seen our marketing to call in and
get more information without having to talk to someone live. On our phone system
they call in and the system asks them to enter the extension they found with the
number. We can then use these extensions to track which advertising they
actually called in on, so that we know which advertising is working and which is
not. Once they enter the extension, they hear a five minute message that tells
them who we are, that we buy houses as investments and the benefits to them of
having us buy their house versus their other options. If after listening to the
message they want to talk to us live, they can press zero on their phone and be
transferred to us so that we can talk to them live or they can go directly to
our live answering service if I do not want to take the calls at that time or if
I'm unavailable.

A large percentage of people that call your 24-hour
recorded message will not transfer through to talk to you live. If you want, you
can look at the caller id log of the people that called for more information and
try to follow up with these people. I do not recommend it and do not do it
myself, because you are looking for motivated sellers, and if they were
motivated, they probably would have transferred through. If they do not transfer
through, they're pre-screening themselves out.

Jan Adrienne
Berkowitz Real estate is a very difficult field and whether you are
looking to sell your home or look for a new home to reside in, it can be a long
and lengthy process. Selling your home can generally be a more difficult task as
there are many different factors you need to take into account to ensure that
your property is not on the market for too long, which will allow you to move
into a new property sooner, and also so your home is sold for a reasonable price
compared the original price it was purchased for. As the field of real estate
can be a difficult one, there are few different methods you can use in order to
advertise your home and get a sale quickly.

If you are looking to
advertise and sell your home yourself, you need to firstly think of a way in
which you can promote your home so it attracts as many potential buyers as
possible. Look at the key features of your home in terms of how many rooms it
has; the overall size of the property and any extra features it has such as a
good sized garden and any appliances which may be included in the sale. When
thinking about the best way to pitch your home to a potential buyer think about
where most potential buyers look for properties for sale and where you are more
likely to find buyers who are interested in your home.

There are a
variety of publications you can use to advertise your home for sale such as
magazines which specialize in classifieds and real estate. However, as you are
more than likely looking for a quick sale, magazines may not be the best
solution as they are not as regularly published as some other forms of
literature. One of the best methods of literature you can use to advertise your
home is newspapers. There are a wide range of newspapers in every location which
specialize in general local news whilst also including a number of pages with
classifieds.

There are also a range of newspapers which are dedicated
purely to items for sale, but these may not be as frequent as your local
newspaper. When placing your ad, ensure to include a small photograph of the
property and list the key features of your home. However, in order to grab a
buyer's attention, it is best to keep the description short, but still include
words which will attract a potential buyer. By keeping it short, you will also
save money on the final price of the advertisement.

One of the most
popular methods of advertising a home for sale is through an internet listing.
There are many real estate sites on the net at the moment, so by doing some
prior research, you can find the best sites which are located near to you. By
keeping the site as close to your area as possible, you may find you acquire
more potential buyers. These types of advertisements can often be slightly
cheaper than a newspaper advertisement and as the internet is more widely
viewed, you have a higher chance of attracting someone's eye.

Again,
ensure a good quality picture is included and an appealing description. You can
use internet advertising via a real estate agent also who may charge you
slightly more for the advertisement, but may provide you with more in terms of
how much text you can include within the ad. In some cases, you may also find
that the agency will write up the advert for you, making it a much more
successful advertisement.

Most economic experts and market analysts
are predicting relatively strong economic prospects for Canada as leading
indicators show early signs of positive performance. This positive shift is
mainly market driven. Low interest rates have been propping up demand despite
lingering external pressures. As consumer confidence continues to grow, we are
expecting a more robust real estate industry. Home prices will continue to rise
as activities in real estate markets will continue to heat up. The market is
expected to reach its equilibrium with the slow decline in affordability. This
unfolding scenario is mainly due to higher price levels of homes and the
anticipated increase in interest rates by the second half of the year.

Most real estate markets in Canada are riding at the crest of a strong
finish last year. The lowering of borrowing cost has spurred consumers to buy.
This has driven demand in most parts of last year. This vibrant atmosphere in
most markets in Canada has pushed economic activity levels to a new high. The
increasing demand, coupled by the seasonal dip in inventories in most real
estate markets, will continue to push home prices up in the early part of this
year. As soon as the market makes the adjustment and supply reaches normal
levels, demand will ease since homeownership will be moderated by the increasing
price levels.

This positive outlook and stable economic climate are a
far cry from what we have experienced during the worst episode of the recession.
Things are now in positive territories in regions like the Lower Mainland, B.C.
and Toronto. Vancouver has posted hefty gains during the last quarter of 2009.
The house prices averages during the last 3 months has topped the figures of the
previous 3 quarters of the year. The average price of a detached unit increased
by 6% compared to the same period in 2008. On the other hand, the average price
of condo units also posted 6.4% increase for the same period. The first 2
quarters of 2009 saw a continued decline in home price averages. It was only
during the third quarter where we saw a turnaround in the trend of home prices.

Real estate markets in Montreal and Halifax have posted positive gains
in all housing categories. This condition has led to some difficulties in the
supply side with the decline in house inventories during the second half of
2009. This has pushed the average home prices with the most affordable ones
posting the highest increase in prices. Real estate markets will again enter
positive territory as more investors will cash in on this positive development.

The housing sector is leading the way as it is considered by most
experts as the main beneficiary of the economic stimulus. With the restoration
of consumer confidence, Canadians are looking at real estate properties as
potential investment options rather than just depreciating assets. Expectedly,
the regions that posted the highest gains are those with that have lower
averages in home prices. These include Winnipeg and several areas in Atlantic
Canada.

Economic experts expect interest rates to ease by the second
half of the year. This event will give rise to a more stable market condition as
demand will finally come into balance with supply. We shall also see some growth
in the number of properties being listed for sale as more and more Canadians
become interested in large transactions such as home buying.

For more
information visit: Adrienne Berkowitz or Jan
Adrienne Berkowitz