Spring has sprung in Western Massachusetts and that means many people’s minds turn to selling their home and making a move. If you are thinking about putting your Western MA home on the market (or already did and have not been getting the response you hoped for) then you want to watch for the specific tips and ideas that help to get a home ready to sparkle and sell!
Nick and I also share the top real estate mobile apps…now go hit play!
“I Hate Doing Real Estate Without An Agent”
This was a quote from one of my clients today as he related a story of a small family sale that is being transacted privately. I told him that I applauded his sentiment, but was curious as to what made him say that.
His response was direct…it is a pain to keep track of all the little details.
I joked with him that my day was made up of a million little details and that it can be a pain sometimes, but a good real estate agent has systems in place to help them deal with it.
I am a very organized REALTOR, I have to be…I don’t have time for disorganization and I need to be efficient and effective for my clients. One tool that I referenced as a lifesaver in my career was DropBox. With the help of this cloud filing system, I have my paperwork with me at all times, literally in the palm of my hand on my iPhone. If a client, attorney of lender needs something from me, I can accomplish their request instantly and that saves me from having to remember to do it later (which is not an effective system for me at all).
There are a number of other tools that I utilize that help me to deal with the fine details of a real estate transaction. I am glad to know that there are clients out there who recognize the need for the assistance of an agent! There are a lot of reasons besides organizing a transaction that you want a good real estate agent on your team.
If you are in Western Massachusetts and need an organized, experience real estate agent to help you with the purchase or sale of a home, I hope you will give me the chance to try for the position!
Western Massachusetts’ investors take note: if you have been wondering when is the right time to invest, it very well may be RIGHT NOW. Here is the facts:
* the market dropped and has been (in most parts of Western MA holding)
* the interest rates are at all time lows
* the foreclosure and short sale inventory is still there
These three facts combined equal opportunity.
If you are either an experience investor or are new to investing, you need to evaluate these opportunities and it may just be the exact right time for you to make a move.
I have a lifetime of experience in investment property. My parents owned investment property for both rentals and flip properties and I worked with them as everything from cheap labor to management on their investments. I learned in the trenches how to read a profit and loss statement and how to spot a property with lots of potential for resale with realistic repairs.
As a REALTOR in Western MA one of my favorite things to do is help my investor clients find the right properties for their investment portfolio.
If you are an investor in Western MA who is considering making a new real estate investment, I hope you will consider me as your trusted advisor.
Family is the most important thing to me and I know it is for my customers and clients in Western MA real estate, too.
A day like yesterday, Easter Sunday, reminds me why I work so hard as a REALTOR.
I thought I would take a quick moment to share the top 5 reasons (besides the five in the photo above):
1- finding the right home as a home buyer in Western MA is such a personal and important decision. This will be the home that you celebrate holidays in.
2- selling your Western MA home to move onto the next chapter of your life is intensely emotional and I want to help ease the transition.
3- the future of your entire family rest in these decisions and I never take the level of importance, or my role in it lightly.
4- it matters to me to get things done right. I worry about my clients and customers as if they were MY family.
5- it allows me the ability to provide well for my family. Not in a strictly financial sense, but in a flexibility of schedule that I wouldn’t have in another field.
I very much enjoyed my holiday with my family this weekend and I hope you did with yours, as well! When considering who to hire for your Western MA real estate needs, why not choose Lesley Lambert of Park Square Realty…the realtor who puts your family first to help her family, too!
Buying or selling real estate is an emotional business no matter what, but when you are selling a home that you wish you could keep it is much more emotionally taxing.
I have worked with many clients who are selling their beloved home for a number of reasons: job relocation, need to downsize, moving to a retirement community or divorce. Even when they are excited about the next phase in their life, it can be so difficult to let go of the home that they have loved so much.
I can empathize and understand this intimately as I had to sell my home five years ago. I thought I would live there until I grew old. I had built the home with my own hands and every part of the home was there because I chose it. It was so difficult to walk away from that home, but I did discover some tips and tricks that worked for me and have worked for other clients experiencing an emotionally difficult move.
#1- Redecorate and stage the home specifically for sale. You usually need to do this anyway, but in my case I made this process the opportunity to begin detaching emotionally. As I removed personal items and took down decorations I began moving both physically and emotionally. I painted the interior and moved furniture around. With my items gone, a different color wall and the furniture in a new arrangement it didn’t feel like my home anymore. Now it was a house for sale, a commodity…not a home. It was time to find that new home.
#2- I said goodbye. This may sound goofy because clearly a house can’t hear and doesn’t care who lives within it, but I thanked my house and wished it well with it’s new owners. I said goodbye over and over again.
#3- Small steps. Once the decision has been made to make the move you need to take one thing at a time so that you won’t get overwhelmed. Putting too much on your plate or thinking too far out in the process will cause you anxiety and emotional strain. You do, of course, need to plan and have a strategy in place, but you don’t need to extrapolate on a daily basis.
I met with two clients this week that were experiencing this and after leaving one of them I recorded the following:
