Selling Your Home

Cost-Effective Ways to Sell Your Home Faster

Are you planning to put your home on the market this year? You’ll want to make your home as appealing as possible in order to attract potential buyers. There are several cost-effective things you can do to help make this happen. Here are 5 tips to help sell your home faster:

1. Clean, Clean, Clean: One way to make your home stand out to prospective buyers is to make sure it’s as clean as possible. Whether you hire a cleaning crew or roll up your sleeves and do it yourself, it’s crucial to keep it dust-free, neat and tidy. It’s also important to declutter your home. Pay extra attention to areas where clutter often builds up, like kitchen counters and table tops. You never know when buyers will pop by for a showing!

2. Choose the Right Agent: The first action you should take when you decide to sell your home is to contact a realtor. Finding a real estate agent that’s right for you can make all the difference when it comes to selling your home. A great agent will treat you like a priority, actively market your home, and work to get you the best price possible.

3. Depersonalize: Another important step to take when prepping to sell is to depersonalize the home. Remove any family pictures, memorabilia or other unique décor. During a showing, this allows buyers to better visualize their own family living in the space.

4. Get Good Photos: Whether you hire a professional photographer or shoot them yourself, it’s crucial to capture high-quality photos of your home to highlight its features. Most people are very visual and want to see lots of photos when searching for homes online. Or, take it a step further and include a virtual tour on your listing.

5. Keep Up with Your Landscaping: Curb appeal is key! It’s one of the first things buyers notice when they pull up to your home for a showing. Keeping the lawn cut, the plants watered, and the bushes trimmed...

Instant Equity

Written by RJT intern, Remington Colbert

With an ever changing real estate market people tend to worry if they have equity in their homes, whether or not they are planning to sell. These are a few easy way to add instant equity without breaking your wallet. 

Paint

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Open Houses: Sunday, October 1

812 Moser Rd. | 2-4 

Let Claudette McManus show you this remodeled, three bedroom, three bathroom, ranch-style home in Douglass Hills! This spacious home has over 2,400 square feet of living space. The family room features a stone fireplace. The owner's suite has ample closet space and a private bathroom. The lower level has a media room (screen and projector to remain), wet bar, kitchen, office and full bathroom. This home has great landscaping, private backyard with large deck that is perfect for entertaining. 2-10 year home warranty. 

Claudette McManus (502) 572-8733 | [email protected] 

5418 River Rock Dr. | 1-5 

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What to Expect During a Home Inspection: Our 8 Best Tips

Written by LRG intern, Savannah Wafford 

Selling your home can already be tricky - the unknown terms, the procedures, the open houses- can all be overwhelming at times. Teaming up with a real estate agent can alleviate a lot of the stress associated with selling your home, however one area that many home sellers do not feel prepared for is the home inspection. 

We have put together our best eight tips for home sellers about to go through the home inspection process. Since it is not customary for the seller to be present during the inspection this can be a nerve wrecking experience. These tips and tricks should put you at ease and give you confidence about your upcoming home inspection. 

1. Clean Your Home

At little tidying up around the house can make a big difference! This will help speed up the inspection process and make the buyer more comfortable. 

2. Repair, Replace & Remove 

The home inspector will check to make sure that all the kitchen appliances are responsive. It is best to check your appliances and remove any items that might be covering or blocking them. Also for a cleaner inspection report it is best to replace your furnace filter, missing light bulbs and smoke detector batteries. If you haven the time you can also make minor repairs. 

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Top 5 Ways to Sell Your Home for More

Written by LRG Intern, Savannah Wafford 

Truilia, Washington Post, This Old House and heaps of other sites have shared ways to get the most bang for your buck when selling your house. A few small home improvements and investments could increase the value of your home and decrease the amount of time it spends on the market. We have paired it down to share the five easiest and most effective things you can do when selling your home. 

1. Paint, paint, paint! 

Giving rooms a fresh coat of a neutral paint can make a world of difference when selling your home. A new paint color makes a room seem bright, clean and makes it easier for buyers to see themselves living in a home. For more on which paint colors have the highest selling homes check out our article here

2. Deep Clean and Declutter 

Before:

Before Cleaning/ Decluttering

After: 

After Cleaning...

5 Reasons You Should Always Use an Agent

Written by LRG Intern Alex Ginter


Think you can DIY this whole real estate thing when it comes to selling your house? Think again! Here are five reasons why you should ALWAYS consider teaming up with an agent.


1. Agents Have a Larger Network and More Experience

Real estate can be tricky and on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), it even has its own language. Are you looking to buy a 2BR/2.5BA with an EIK and W/D? Someone without much of a real estate background wouldn't look at this and see "2 bedroom, 2 and a half bathroom with an eat-in kitchen and washer/dryer," but an agent would! This language is second nature for them. 

Agents also have access to many more listings than the average person. Sure you can find loads of houses on Zillow, Realtor.com, and other listing services, but agents will most likely know the search area and homes that aren't publicly advertised. "Sometimes properties are available but not actively advertised and a Realtor can help you find those hidden gems." (Realtor.com)

2. Negotiating is Tricky

"Realtors have the expertise to help you prepare a killer deal—while avoiding delays or costly mistakes that can seriously mess you up," according to Realtor.com.

Your real estate agent is the middle-man and does all your monetary dirty work. ...

A New Twist on Home Staging

Written by LRG Intern, Alex Ginter

If you are selling a home, you may want to consider home staging- preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. Don’t you want your house to give a great first impression to potential buyers? Staging furniture in your house helps buyers get a look and feel of a lived-in space. According to New Market Homes professionally staged homes sell almost 75% faster than empty ones, so your house most likely won’t be sitting on the market as long.

SixElements Home Staging Advice says most buyers have a hard time picturing their home while standing in an empty room. It’s easy for a realtor to tell a potential buyer where to put furniture in an empty room, but it’s another story when the buyer can visualize the space with furniture.

One of the biggest problems with home staging is the cost. Home sellers spend an average of $1,800 to stage a home, but costs can range from a couple of hundred dollars to $5,000 or more, according to Kiplinger.

Virtually staging your home is a newer way to put your home on display without spending a ton of money on staging furniture! Virtual staging uses computer technology to add furniture and other decor to photos of houses and rooms.

A few features of virtual staging include adding furniture, rugs, art and even plants to your empty room.

Louisville Realty Group has started to use this new technology on some of its current listings. Pictures of empty rooms were submitted and in less than 24 hours our agents...