Barry Sullivan Homes Blog

Lets face it – just about everyone wants a new house these days.  New surfaces, new finishes, clean, up-to-date and turnkey.  

Barry and I walked into a home for a showing and realized – wow this is exactly the same floor-plan as our home but 20 years older!  It was an eerie feeling to see what our house would look like once it achieves the 20 year old out-dated look!  It was clean enough but lacked any appeal inside or outside.  Any buyer without ‘vision’ (which is most folks) would not/will not buy that house at the fair market value.  

Have you been to an open house at a new home development?  The most difficult thing to find today is an up-to-date home with a usable yard.  If you own a home on a lot of 9000 sq ft or larger, you have something new homes don’t have.  Most folks looking for a home in the middle to upper range want all that a new home has to offer but with a larger lot than new homes are typically built in. 

Our jobs as agents would be so much more fun if all of those sellers took a hard look at their homes, inside and out and asked “how do I compare with the competition and with what my potential buyer wants?”  Here’s what the ‘new home’ looks like: 

 Wood Floors – Anything goes here as long as they are in good condition

Nickel or rubbed bronze hardware -  gold or brass is out

Stair railings in wrought iron or craftsman look – no turned ballusters

Stainless Steel Appliances 

Up-to-date tile & surfaces in baths – no more pink or blue glossy tile

Granite or stone counters – They’ve been the standard for almost 10 years now!
Maple, Cherry or solid wood cabinets – no laminates or oak      

Okay – we are clear that not everyone can spend the money to re-do it all but think about how you can update with what you have and make the MOST of your home to increase the appeal to potential buyers – or yourself!

Tanda Sullivan, Accredited Staging Professional

With dropping home values in many markets mixed with interest rates at historical lows, homes are more affordable now than they’ve been in the last 35 years, reports Zillow.com.  The average buyer nowadays can expect to spend about 17 percent of his/her monthly gross income on a mortgage, which compares to a 25 percent average since 1975, Zillow reports.  With affordability high, Americans seem to be getting the message about the value of home ownership.  Nearly 70 percent of Americans say now is a good time to buy a home, according to a recent Gallup poll.  Men are about 16 percent more likely to say now is a good time to buy a home than women.  Americans living in the West are most favorable toward buying (75 percent), which compares to 64 percent of Americans who live in the South who say now is a good time to buy.Americans with higher incomes also expressed more of an interest in home ownership, according to the Gallup poll.  Americans who make $75,000 or more a year are 18 percent more likely to say that 2011 is a good time to buy a home than those making $30,000-$75,000.



There are Three Main Elements to Staging. 

CLEAN:  Everything must be spotless, including floors, walls, drapes and windows.

CLUTTER-FREE:  Most lived in homes have too much in them. Remove furniture and clutter that crowds the room. “America is cluttered to pieces.” Remember, “The way you live in your home and the way you market and sell your house are 2 different things.” In vacant homes furniture and accessories need to be brought in because in vacant homes the house is too bare. 

 COLOR:  Paint the house and have carpets, countertops and cabinets in the latest styles and colors. If you don’t have shutters, consider installing them. One of her favorite touches is placing cone-shaped shrubs around the door. Another trick is to bring some of the outdoors in by putting tree cuttings or dried flowers in vases.

Barb Schwarz, ASP®, ASPM®, AB, IAHSP®
The Creator of Home Staging®

Learn to LIVE Staged!  removing clutter and living clean & organized feels great!

Tanda Sullivan, Accredited Staging Professional

For the first time in years, buying a home may beat renting. CNN reports (05/13/11) that two factors are at play, according to researchers who recently crunched the numbers, Ken Johnson of Florida International University and Eli Beracha of East Carolina University for a paper to be published in Real Estate Economics.

First, rents, though mostly stagnant the past few years, are expected to head higher as more people bitten by the housing bust turn to renting. Rents could rise 7% in each of the next two years, according to Peggy Alford, president of Rent.com. Second, home prices have finally dropped enough to create a buying opportunity. Nationally, prices are down 32% from their peak, set in 2006.

The net result is that home price gains would need to average only 3.25% annually to beat renting, according to Beracha and Johnson. To make the math work, you have to stay in the home for at least eight years Beracha and Johnson compared the cost of owning with the cost of renting.

How much better buying will be depends on location. Of the 23 cities Beracha and Johnson looked at, Seattle is the best place to buy right now. When renters invest in portfolios that include stocks, the appreciation rate required over the next eight years there is 4.84% and the area’s historical average is 6.06%.

By Tanda Sullivan, Accredited Staging Professional

It is not decorating but rather de-personalizing.  Why is it necessary?  Simply because 94% of staged homes sell within 29 days while unstaged homes linger on the market an average of 145 days (stagedhomes.com).  Additionally – Price and Presentation are two key marketing tools available to sell your property.  Presentation is the key element that draws the client into your home and into each room of your home.  You must sell the outside and every room within to get top dollar in your neighborhood price range.  The investment you  make in staging your home will always be less than a price reduction. 

Staging is not expensive.  We utilize existing furniture, art and accessories from what you already own and ‘set the stage’ for potential buyers.  Most people have more than is needed for this process.  How we live in our homes and how we sell our homes are different things.  When we de-personalize we are maximizing space, creating emotion for buyers, drawing them in and generally marketing a product.  The home becomes a house and the house becomes a product to the market.

When a party chooses to sell their property and they choose to list on the Multiple Listing Service through a Real Estate Broker, the Broker will advise the client on the approximate selling prices in their neighborhood using a process called CMA Comparative Market Analysis.  The seller negotiates the ‘fee’ with the Broker that will be paid at the time the Listing Agreement is drafted (total is typically 6% in our area).  The ‘fee’ usually includes a ‘listing’ commission (typically 3%) paid to the listing agent at the time a buyer is found and closes on the property and also a ‘selling’ commission (typically 3%)  which goes to the Broker that brings a buyer to the seller.  The fee is typically paid by the SELLER of the property at the time of closing and  is debited to the seller as part of the escrow/closing process.  No fee or costs are due to the Broker unless and until an actual transaction occurs that transfers the property.  There is generally no fee to the buyer.

Barry Sullivan visited the Snohomish Food Bank last week. What a great service to the community they provide. Organized caring folks and we would love to donate 20% of our commission to anyone who supports the Snohomish Food Bank. Lets make it happen! Feed our community!