Are You Ready to Move into a Smaller Boston Home?

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Is it time for you to downsize? Maybe you’ve been living in your current home for a long time. You raised your family there with incredible memories, but the kids have all moved out. Now, you’re curious if you need this big home at all.

There is an emotional side to letting go of the place where you raised your family. Realtors are often asked, “When is a good time to sell?” The answer always stays the same. The best time to sell is when you’re ready.

If you don’t need a large home anymore, you’re certainly not alone. It’s time for an easier life. You don’t have to keep cutting the grass and shoveling the snow. Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a more urban environment where you can walk to restaurants and coffee shops? It’s time to consider what will make life more enjoyable for you as you move into a smaller home.

"What will make life more enjoyable for you?"

Keep in mind there a lot of millennials out there who are getting married, having kids, and looking for a bigger home. In other words, there will always be demand for your home. It’s not going to sit on the market as long as you might think it will!

If downsizing is right for you, please feel free to reach out to us. We would love to help you in any way we can. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Importance of Staging Your Home

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Home staging is incredibly important when selling, but it has to be done right. When done incorrectly, it makes the home appear like a commodity and not a home. The purpose of staging is to elicit an emotional response from the buyer.

Sometimes a staging will leave you feeling a little flat. A lot of people say that you need to remove personal items from a home, but I disagree with that. Things should look and feel like a home, not a living space. We want the home to look nice, but also feel "lived in."

The outside of the home is just as important, and we pay attention to the exterior to make it feel personal and inviting. We want the buyer to relate to the home and have some sort of emotional response towards the property.

If you’re interested, we can come out to your property and have a look around to prepare you for a proper home staging. Please don’t hesitate to contact us about this!

Should You Choose the Best Terms or the Highest Offer When Selling?

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If you’re selling your home and you have multiple offers on your property - congratulations! However, don’t get too excited just yet. You still have some work to do in choosing the most beneficial offer for you and your family.

Simple logic might tell you to choose an offer with the highest dollar amount, but you cannot forget to look at the terms involved. Someone might be willing to pay you more for your home, but offer less in negotiations. Remember that cash buyers always expect to pay a little less because they don’t have to run through the gamut of financing.

Consider the contingencies on the offer. Remember that a contingency always creates an opportunity for the buyer to walk away, so be careful moving forward with a buyer who has too many contingencies. The fewer contingencies, the better off you are as a seller.

Generally speaking, your first offer is your best offer. It’s important to shop around, but don’t wait too long because those buyers will eventually just look elsewhere. Respect the fact that buyers have committed to your home and made an offer on it.

When combing through offers on your home, it might be a good idea to work with a real estate professional to determine which offer will benefit you the most. Just don’t forget that terms can sometimes outweigh a larger offer on your home. Money isn’t always the determining factor in a sale, sometimes it’s simply convenience.

If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We know it’s going to be a busy spring selling season, so contact us soon.

We’re Taking Our Team to the Next Level

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Today we have an exciting announcement from the Davidson and Giglio team at KW here in the Boston Metro. We are currently at Keller Williams Family Reunion in New Orleans, where we network and learn more about how to best serve all of our clients. We thought now would be a great time to make a big announcement.

We are proud to announce that we have joined forces with Fine Homes Group International in an effort to raise the bar on our business and our service to our clients.

We have a strong hub, filled with all of our support staff who take care of things behind the scenes. This allows us to be more readily available to all our clients. We made this decision in order to bring a higher level of service to our clients. Fine Home Groups International is known for their great marketing, internet savviness, and support staff.

We appreciate the loyalty you have shown us over the years, and we hope that it continues. We are working hard each day in order to provide you with the best service possible. If you have any questions for us, we are always available to answer them. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

David Hansen Joins the Fine Homes Group International

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I’m very excited to announce that I am now part of the Fine Homes Group. I sent you an email letting you know that I was switching, but today I wanted to clarify why I made that decision.

This new opportunity will allow me to serve you at a higher level. I will have a whole team of marketing specialists, buyer representatives, and transaction coordinators, among many other helpful moving parts. This is a great way for me to help you do what you need to sell your home for top dollar.

One piece of advice if you’re thinking of selling this spring: don’t wait until it’s too late. Everyone lists in April and May, but I suggest getting started in February or March. You want to be the first home out there for everyone to see. If you wait too long, your home will be adrift in a sea of other listings.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

What Can You Do to Avoid a Nightmare Selling Process in Boston?

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If you’re thinking about selling this spring, the first thing you need to do is take a step back and think about your home. Take a walkthrough of your home and try to identify little things like leaky faucets, flickering light bulbs, or any other minor thing that may trouble a buyer. Many of the things you’ve grown accustomed to may be very off-putting for buyers. The goal is to make it so that the inspector can’t find anything wrong with the home.

When putting a price on your home, you need to be aware of what’s happening in the market. There are two segments to look at: what has sold and what’s on the market. If your home is overpriced, you're going to help the competition sell their homes. You want to see what other homes have sold for, while keeping in mind how your competition has priced their homes.

It’s crucial to have the help of a professional when selling because another set of eyes will help you get an objective look at what is going on. More importantly, a professional will be able to give you tips on what you should do and the kind of things you shouldn’t spend money on. You need to focus on things like curb appeal and decluttering more so than fancy upgrades. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so impressing buyers right away should be your highest priority.

Whether you’re in the early stages of getting your home ready to sell or you’ve already begun the process, we would love to give you a hand. Give us a call or shoot us an email at any time -- we would love to hear from you!

Avoid These Seller Mistakes in New Hampshire

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We often notice mistakes home sellers make in New Hampshire. All these mistakes relate to timing issues. Today, we'll identify some mistakes to help you avoid them in the future.

1. You underestimate how long it takes for a home to sell.

It's best to list as soon as possible, especially now in February. Even when there's snow out, people are looking for vacation homes. Remember, it takes anywhere from 60 to 90 days for a home to close, especially with the new regulations in today's lending market. If you're thinking of waiting for May to list your vacation home, it will close at the end of June at the earliest. With our short summer seasons, that's not really enough time for a buyer to enjoy their vacation home.

2. You underestimate how long it takes to prepare the property for the market.

In the middle of February, when there's two feet of snow on the ground, it can be difficult to inspect your property. It's hard to touch up paint and fix woodwork, so now is the time to do all that before the snow hits. Consider doing a pre-purchase inspection, where a home inspector takes a look at the property before snow and ice makes it too difficult to do so. Take exterior photos of the home now. Even though the leaves are off the trees, you can still get great photos before the snow hits.

3. You're not sure when to engage with a real estate agent.

Many people think, "Okay, it's May. I'm going to call a real estate agent." Call us sooner. Reach out and let us know that you're thinking of selling your home. We can help maximize your exposure and get you top dollar. Let's start that conversation now. We can list properties and not put them on the market right away; as we mentioned, sometimes it takes 30 to 60 days to get the home ready.

If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to serve you!

What's Happening with New Hampshire Real Estate in 2016?

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I'm happy to tell you that Bedford had a great year in real estate. We sold 70 more homes last year compared to the previous year. In 2015, we sold 376 homes; in 2014, we sold 306. That's a little over a 20% increase in sales. This is great news for homeowners in the area. 

Nearly half of homes sold were in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. However, things have been going well in all price ranges. 

The condominium market is also performing well, and we have less than half the amount of inventory that we had last year. We actually only have 5 condos available, and I think this is because so many people are wanting to downsize. The main reason behind this trend is there are a lot of baby boomers that are moving out of their homes. Expect low inventory for condos throughout the year.

Another thing we can expect is an early spring selling market because the weather has been so warm. Spring will be here in early February, and this is partially caused by rising interest rates. If you've been looking to buy a home, then 2016 may be a great time to do so.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns!

Fine Homes Group International Expands to Boston

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We’ve grown a big real estate team here in New Hampshire. Now, we’re expanding into the Boston market!

You can now work with a team that covers New Hampshire and Massachusetts. This allows you to access exceptional customer service from our experienced agents in both states. We can help sell your primary home in addition to purchasing a secondary home.

In 2016, we want to create a jaw-dropping client experience. We want to set high expectations and exceed them in every transaction. Regardless of the market climate, our goal is to make your experience amazing.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in either New Hampshire or Massachusetts, we’d love to connect with you. We’d love to learn more about you and your goals. Give us a call or email today!