So you want to sell your home but you are reluctant to try in the current market.  That is understandable given the state of the economy and the news hype that seems to be mostly negative.  “Is now even a good time to think about selling”, you may ask?  The answer is; it all depends on your individual circumstance.  Why do you want to sell your home?  Do you need to sell for financial reasonns? Maybe you just want to sell and move up to a larger or newer home?  There could be any number of reasons but each one will determine your particular selling strategy.

Let’s take a look at the current housing competition first of all.  In Madison County there are currently 192 homes for sale including single family homes, town home/condominiums, and manufactured homes.  That are 24 more homes on the market today than wereavailable in February of this year.  In Jefferson County there are 281 homes, 36 more than in February, and in Fremont County there are 244 homes available, 49 more than in February.  The trend here is an increase in the amount of inventory or competition for the buyers looking for housing.  Since the competition is greater your home will have to stand out from the crowd in order to get noticed.

Here are a few guidelines to make you home more marketable:

1. Clean up the yard.  Trim hedges, lawn edges, and trees as needed to make the outside yard area look its best.
2. Check the exterior of the home.  Is there any peeling or faded paint that could use a touch up?  Are there loose or damaged pieces of siding?  How about rain gutters?  Are they clean and attached well.  Check the roof for loose or missing shingles.  The exterior of the home and the yard are the first impression that you are trying to create.  Many buyers, in fact most buyers do a drive-by before they even make a contact for a showing of the inside.  Make the outside look as good as possible.
3. Now on the inside.  First of all “de-clutter” the home.  Not that your home is necessarily cluttered; what I mean here is to make space.  Taking a dozen pictures off from a wall and replacing it with one.  Reduce the number of pieces of furniture in each room.  Remove as many items from kitchen counter tops as practical.  Office areas can be clean and neat.  You may need to place things in storage or a garage while you are selling the home.  All this de-cluttering will have the effect of opening the home and making it look larger.
4. Think light.  Open curtains, add a lamp, and paint walls a light color, anything to make it look lighter and brighter.  And speaking of paint; a fresh coat of paint is relatively inexpensive, you can do it yourself, and it will make the home look fresh and clean.
5. Depending on the age of the home, you may want to consider new siding and windows.  You can get tax credits for energy efficient windows and insulation.  This will help defray the costs some. 
6. That takes care of many of the appearance items; now let’s take a look at pricing.  In a competitive market like we are in right now where there are fewer buyers. Pricing is everything.  If the home is priced right it will sell.  Trying to squeeze every last penny out of your home is a sure fire way to be sure your home is the last one to sell rather than the first.  Many of the home improvements that you do to a home will not yield you dollar for dollar in the sale price.  What it will do is make the home more marketable.  Here is where the use of a realtor® is invaluable.  A realtor® will meet with you and do a market analysis for you so you can price your home for what it will sell for not just the price you think you would like to have out of your home. Realtors® do not charge for this service even if you decide to try and sell the home on your own. It is just human nature to think your home is worth more than it will really sell for and that the home you are looking at is over priced.  We all do that either consciously or unconsciously.  That unbiased opinion brings us back to reality.
7. What about advertising?  How do you get the word out that you have a home for sale?  You put a sign in the front yard of course.  Many people think that that is all a realtor® does so you’d ought to be able to do that your self.  Then just take the check when the buyer knocks on the door and you have saved yourself the sales commission.  That may work too if you are in a highly desirable area with high traffic flow and a lot of people can see your sign.  Most likely you will need more than that.  A realtor® will do much more for you than that and at their expense not yours.  Almost all home buyers these days find their homes on the internet.  A realtor® will have your home in front of internet searchers from the first day where your home is most likely to be seen.  Also when a realtor puts your home on the local multiple listing service (MLS) then you in effect not only hire your listing agent but you are hiring hundreds of selling agents who will have access to you home information so they can bring you a buyer.
8. What about liability?  Are you ready to take the risk of selling your home by yourself and take the risk of a law suit because you forgot to tell the buyers some material fact about the home that they found out about latter and now want you to mitigate the problem?  A realtor® can really help you there as well.

I hope that a few of these ideas will help you with the sale of your home.  Even in today’s market a home will sell if it looks good, is priced right, and your home is put in front of the buyers that are out there.  Contact a realtor® today and ask them for help.  They will be more than happy to give you the help you need to get your home sold at a reasonable price.  They can also help you find the replacement home you are looking for.  Leave the work ato them and enjoy the process.

Paul Bowen

Ryan has listed a beautiful home in Rexburg, Idaho.  This home is in the Burton area of Rexburg.  With a wonderful view of the city, this 3000 square foot home sits on a half acre.  This home is located by the new Madison High School and the new Burton Elementary School.  This home is also a short drive to many scenic locations such as, Jackson Hole WY, West Yellowstone, MT and of course Ashton, ID.  The home is also very near BYU-Idaho and the Rexburg golf course.  The backyard has a custom brick gas fireplace and a spacious play area for children.  The landscaping is breath taking!  Come take a look at this home today.

I’d like to buy/sell my property, but with the economy the way it is I just don’t know if it is a good time for me to make a move.  Who can I turn to? How can I make an intelligent decision?

These questions and more are plaguing many people today.  All the hype in the news media makes real estate decisions a confusing and frustrating ordeal.  The best place to find the answers that are right for you and for this time in the market is to ask your local Realtor®.  All real estate markets are local.  What in happening in Denver, Los Angles, or somewhere else in the world has little of no effect on the real estate market here in the upper valley.  The markets are even different in Idaho Falls or Driggs as compared to Rexburg, Rigby, or St. Anthony.  Local markets are driven by a number if factors.  Let’s look at just a few of them:

Interest Rates:  Interest rates are a broader factor in the real estate market that affects all area markets equally.   The good news, interest rates are at historic lows.  That means that the money you have to spend on housing will buy you more home than if interest rates were higher.

Credit Availability:  You may wonder how easy it is credit to get these days?  Things have really changed in recent months in this regard.  Not long ago there were all types of loans available; no money down, low credit score approval, stated income, almost anyone with a heart beat could qualify for a home loan.  This lax credit allowance is part of what got us into our currant credit crunch.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t get a loan today.  What is does mean is that in order to purchase a home a person is going to have to be more careful than ever with the credit that they use.  We all need to watch and in some cases improve our credit scores through the wise use of credit.  Home loans today are going to require 10% to 20% down as well as good credit, 20% being the ideal. With 20% down you can avoid PMI (personal mortgage insurance) thus lowering you payment.  There is plenty of money out there available for home purchases.  Any one with a down payment and good credit will have no problem getting the money they need.  There are still a few 1st time home buyer loans available through Idaho Housing and Rural Development with money down.

Available Inventory:   The number of homes and/or lots that are available for sale in a particular area has a great influence on the price of the property in question.  When inventories are high, prices tend to move lower.  When inventories are low property prices remain stable or increase in value.  Inventories in the Madison County for instance, are the lowest of any of the surrounding county’s.  Prices therefore are fairly stable in Madison County.  That means that a person can buy a home in Madison County and feel fairly certain that the value of their home will increase in the future and not go down in value.  By contrast, Bonneville County has a huge inventory of homes and even though Idaho Falls is growing rapidly, the high inventories have the effect of putting downward pressure on home prices.

Foreclosures:  That seems to be all that we have heard recently in the news media.  Here in conservative Eastern Idaho the foreclosure rate is very low.  There doesn’t seem to be much change in the foreclosure rate in our area from years past.  There will always be a few but the numbers are not significant here.

CountryWide Properties will ensure prompt showing of your home upon inquiry. Our agents will keep you up to date on feedback and ideas for your listing. We feel that communication between agent and client is of utmost importance. Your agent will help you make the best decisions on offers that come in on your property. They are here to help YOU market your home/property. CountryWide Properties advertises in area newspapers, internet (including our company website), MLS, home magazines, office tours, and virtual tours. Ensuring your home will receive maximum exposure.

Once you’ve made the choice to list your home with us, there are certain procedures that will happen. We are hoping to following information will serve as a simple guide to help you navigate through this adventure!

Explanations of paperwork you will see:

• Listing Contract - This document sets the terms of the selling agreement.
• Agency Disclosure - This document discloses to you your rights as a customer or client to the agency.
• Property Disclosure - This will be filled out by you and your agent regarding the current status of your home, such as electrical systems, appliances, heating/cooling systems, etc., whether they are included/not included, working/not working, and any remarks. (not applicable if bare land, or if New Construction disclosure is necessary)
• Utilities Release - We will be contacting the utility companies and requesting a copy of the past year of utility charges, this is not a copy of bills or payments, just the monthly charges.
• Sidewalk Disclosure - Only if in Rexburg City Limits and there is currently no sidewalk
• Lead Paint Disclosure - Only if the home is older than 1978

Your home will be photographed.

Your agent will set up a time with you when they will come and photograph the outside and inside of your home. Please make sure to have your house in tip top condition, all clutter put away, counter tops clear of excess stuff, the yard freshly mowed, etc.

Your home will be shown to other agents and clients.

Please inform the secretaries of your criteria for allowing others to view your home. The fewer stipulations, such as 24 hour notice or must be home to show, the better. Most agents who are told “not today” or “that time doesn’t work” are less likely to re-schedule to see your home when it’s more convenient for you.

Also, please try to keep your home tidy and kept up so that you feel comfortable having anyone show up to see it at a moments notice. (Refer to top ten tips to sell your home for ideas on staging to sell.)

We will do our best to call you to keep you informed on any feedback we get from other agents, and we will definitely notify you when we get word of any seriously interested buyers.

Agent Tour

Every Tuesday the agents in the area tour the new listings. When your home is “on tour” you can expect a group of agents to stop by between 9am-11am for approximately 10-15 minutes to walk through your home and see the floor plan and style of your home. This is just a quick run through of your home so that they are aware of what is available in the area in order to better assist their clients.

Your home will be marketed on the Multiple Listing Service.

The MLS is a detailed description of what your home includes or excludes, square footage, bedrooms, year built, etc. You will be able to view your home at www.snakerivermls.com, www.realtor.com, or www.countrywideprop.com. Please notify the secretaries if there are any corrections or additions that need to be made to your listing.

Showings

The number of times a home is shown varies depending on the season and listing price.