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Home Shopping And The Four-Legged Stool

What kind of stool is most likely to keep you from toppling over when you sit on it? Of course, two-legged stools won’t even stand on their own. Three-legged stools are okay, but still unstable. Four-legged stools are rock solid. What does that have to do with shopping for a new ...

Should You Worry About Market Fluctuations?

You turn on the television and watch a news story about housing prices going down. Then you receive a flyer in the mail about a property around the corner that sold for a decent price. Next you read a newspaper article about the housing market on the upswing again. It’s a ...

Shop for Insurance Before You Close

After purchasing a new home, buyers are often focused on securing a good mortgage, hiring a reputable moving company, and preparing for moving day. Those are all important. Just don’t forget about home insurance! It’s an easy detail to miss. If you wait until the last minute to make those arrangements, ...

Making Sure Your “Wish List” is Complete

Before shopping for a new home, people often create a “wish list” of the features they desire most. That’s a good way to ensure you choose a home that best fits your needs and desires. For example, you might want an extra bedroom for guests, ample space for a home ...

When to Consider Buying a “Diamond in the Rough”

Let’s face it. When you visit a home during a scheduled viewing or open house, you’re usually seeing it at its best. The rooms are tidy. The sinks are clean. The closets are organized and uncluttered. Even the lighting is set to its brightest. That’s just good old-fashioned marketing. However, not every ...

Increasing Foyer Appeal

You’ve heard of curb appeal. It refers to the good impression buyers tend to get when they first see your house “from the curb”. The greater the curb appeal, the more enticing your house will seem. But there’s another type of appeal you may not be aware of: Foyer appeal. That’s ...

Lighting Matters When Selling Your House

Remember the last time you were in a furniture store or other major home retailer? Remember the fully decorated displays of furniture, appliances and other products? Some of those may have even been organized as model rooms. What did most of those displays have in common? Chances are, they were well lit. In ...

Preparing Your House for Sale in Less Than a Week

It’s great when you have lots of time to prepare for something important. But life doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes you have to move quickly, and do the best you can with the time you have. Say, for example, you had to get your house ready for sale, and you ...

Stay or move? How to Decide

Do you sometimes review the real estate ads in your local paper? Do you drive by an open house sign and feel the urge to stop and check it out? Those are common indications that, at least on some level, you’re thinking about the possibility of making a move. But how ...

Understanding Market Value

If you were going to sell your car, what would you do? Well, you would probably check to find out how similar vehicles to yours are priced. Then you would set your advertised price within that range. What you would be doing, perhaps without knowing it, is determining the “market value” ...