Archive for the 'Hot Local Topics' Category
Wondering How to Check Your Bank’s FDIC Insurance Status?
September 28th, 2008 Categories: Best of ...., Hot Local Topics
While trying all weekend to post market reports and photos (considered media uploads) on my site (and not being able to!), I ran across this great article about a very timely subject, your Bank’s FDIC insurance status, written by Janeese Jackson.
“With the wild ride that banking institutions and insurance companies have been on lately, you might wonder how safe is your money? You can check out a bank’s FDIC insurance status by going to the FDIC’s Bank Find tool and typing in the name of the bank.”
Read more about Your Bank’s FDIC Insurance Status.
Please check back soon for photos and market reports! They are ready to go once the Real Estate Tomato guys find all my !@#$% emails!
See my Photos of the Day.
Search the Haywood County, NC MLS.
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Do Not Settle For Bad MLS Photos of Your Haywood County Home.
August 20th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
Bad MLS photos are a pet peeve of mine, and also of Athol Kay and Tim Ayres. (Click on their names if you would like to see the Bad MLS photos they have posted.)
Photographs of your property are one of the most important aspects of marketing your property. There is no excuse for Bad MLS photos in this day and age. Check your listing photos on the MLS as soon as the listing is posted, and make sure you are happy with the quality of the photos. Bad photos can, and should, be replaced as soon as possible.
The two photos in this post are from an expired listing that was marketed on the MLS (not in Haywood County) for 285 days with only 10 photos, 2 of which obviously leave much to be desired. There are 12 photo spaces in the MLS listing module at the present time, not 10. Would these photos inspire you to want to see, or purchase, this listing?
There are many good realtors ‘out there,’ myself of course included. You do not have to work with a lazy realtor.
Read When Bad MLS Photos Happen to Good People.
See 2008 residential sales to date by price here.
See my Photos of the Day!
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There Are Times You Just Need to Take the Bridle Off, Throw the Skillet Away, and Let the Panther Scream.
August 14th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics, Photo of the Day
WANTED: Mentor/Partner in real estate, preferably in cowboy boots and tight blue jeans, who loves people and needs help with website issues, administrative issues, blogging, photography, creativity, and technology. Will sell everything and relocate in an Airstream just to work with someone who knows what hyper-local and Web 2.0 mean! Let the panther cougar scream.
©Susie Blackmon Photos
See my other Photos of the Day.
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What in the Heck is a Short Sale?
August 8th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
Brad Nix of Maxsell Real Estate posted a link to a very informative post by Jillayne Schlicke describing what Buyers can expect in a short sale transaction, and why short sales can take so long.
Why do banks take so long to approve a short sale?
See my Photos of the Day.
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The Internet Devours the Real Estate Section of the LA Times.
August 4th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
The well-publicized effects of the present real estate market, coupled with the rapidly changing internet and its effects on the business of real estate and marketing, have brought about major layoffs and changes at The Los Angeles Times, including the cessation of the publication of the weekly Real Estate Section. Wow.
Inman News just reported:
“The Times has ceased publication of its weekly real estate section — born more than a century ago — amid major staff cuts.
In mid-July, newspaper managers began to carry out the “largest staff and production cuts in the newspaper’s history,” according to an article in the Times, citing “a continuing slide in advertising revenue.” The newspaper has a circulation of more than 1 million and ranks among the largest newspapers in the nation.
Staff and content cuts are certainly nothing new for newspapers, and a media analyst told Inman News that similar downsizing will likely continue to plague the industry as ad dollars continue to shift online.”
Read the rest of the Inman article here.
The majority of people (over 80% and probably getting closer to 90%) looking for homes, or for relocation information, go to the internet first. Time to rethink how you want your home marketed, and where you will get the most, and best, exposure. Work with an internet savvy realtor if you are planning to market and sell, or buy, your property through a realtor.
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When Bad MLS Photos Happen to Good People.
August 2nd, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
Okay, you have listed your house with a realtor. Do not assume you can sit back and relax now. One of the most important elements in marketing your property on the internet, which is where the vast majority of Buyers go FIRST when looking for property to buy, is having MANY photographs, and QUALITY photographs, of your property.
Here is what you should expect from your realtor when your property is first listed:
- Photographs of your property should be posted on the MLS the very same day, at the same time, that your listing is entered in the MLS. Most agents review the New Listings in the MLS daily; if there is no picture posted with a brand new listing, a prime opportunity is missed to expose your home in the New Listings category… it moves into the pool of Active Listings the next day.
- Photographs are extremely important when marketing your home (there should be at least 25 to 50 good photographs). Some realtors automatically hire a professional to photograph their listings. Some are good photographers themselves.
- Photographs should not feature the inside of the toilet bowl or a shower curtain.
- Clutter and family photographs should have been removed prior to taking photographs of your home. Buyers want to picture themselves in the home… not your family.
- Review the photos that are posted on the MLS and the internet for your property as soon as possible. And make sure that if the local MLS allows 12 photos to be posted for each listing, that there are 12 good photos of your property posted on the MLS.
Examples of Bad MLS Photos.
Do not tolerate a lazy realtor when it comes to photographing (i.e., marketing) your home. There are realtors everywhere who will present your property as it should be presented… PROFESSIONALLY. Do not accept anything less.
Athol Kay is a photographer, and is famous for his bad MLS photos blog: Athol Kay’s Bad MLS Photo of the Day.
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Super Wal-Mart in Waynesville Commons Plans September Opening.
July 9th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
Construction of Waynesville’s new Super Wal-Mart, located on the former Dayco site, is scheduled for completion in mid-July; i.e., any day now! The actual opening of the new Super Wal-Mart will be in September, once the parking lot is completed.
Cedarwood Development, Inc. also has plans for a Home Depot store in the “big-box retail” development, called Waynesville Commons, and Best Buy has plans to build across the street from Wal-Mart. You can read more about the project plans on Cedarwood’s website here. Cedarwood’s Conceptual Site Plan (below) is also available on their website here.
Can Target and Neiman-Marcus be far behind? (I hope not!)
Read recent local media coverage about our Super Wal-Mart here.
See the Haywood County, NC Archive of Market Reports.
See the Maggie Valley, NC Archive of Market Reports.
See the Waynesville, NC Archive of Market Reports.
Search the Haywood County, NC MLS.
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Feeling Like Your Maggie Valley House Will Never Sell?
July 7th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics, Maggie Valley Market Reports, Waynesville Market Reports
Relevant points for Sellers in Haywood County, North Carolina:
- Your home must be priced for today’s local market.
- Is this the best time to sell your house if you do not have to? No.
- Is this a good time to buy a house? Yes.
- If you sell your house now for less than you had hoped for, you will probably pay much less for your new house, depending on where you are moving and when you buy.
- If your house needs work done after someone buys it, and another home priced in the same price range does not need anything done to it, guess which one will sell first…
Here are the active listings today in Maggie Valley and Waynesville, broken out by price range. Price your home in the range with the fewest options closest to your selling range, if at all possible, to increase your odds. For instance, instead of $209,900, $199,900 will increase your odds.
Wondering Why Your Home is Not Selling?
A Seldom Publicized MLS Tip for Sellers.
Search the Haywood County, NC MLS.
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Will Haywood Regional Medical Center Stand Alone or Merge?
July 4th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
The Future Directions Committee for Haywood Regional Medical Center (”HRMC”) will be meeting with four groups over the next 30 days to consider their inquiries regarding an affiliation or a merger with HRMC.
According to Don Dalton, spokesman for the North Carolina Hospital Association:
“We are seeing a trend toward more mergers and affiliations. Why that is is a two-sided coin. With the smaller of the two institutions, there is typically one reason to pursue a merger or affiliation and that is you can do more for the community. There is greater access to capital and expertise that a small hospital might not have an easy time with. There is also greater stability for smaller hospitals and more services to the community.”
Do you want HRMC to merge or stand alone?
Read the rest of the story here.
See the HRMC Press Releases.
There are more HRMC articles in my Hot Local Topics section.
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Pimp Your House Out and Increase Your ROI.
June 5th, 2008 Categories: Hot Local Topics
Thinking about pulling your home off the market for a while? The inventory of homes on the market in Haywood County, NC, while giving Buyers many choices and options (and bargaining power), also means that Sellers need to price their homes aggressively if they really want/need to sell. Along with aggressive pricing, setting your home apart with enhanced amenities, staging, and curb appeal are of utmost importance in the present market.
Return on Investment.
If enhancing the value of your home while the market is overrun with inventory is intriguing to you, the trend for larger, more luxurious bathrooms should be a consideration. “Pimp Your Bathroom” and consider this… if you have to hang on to your home for a while, spending time in a luxurious, zenned-out bathroom might be just what the doctor ordered, and good for our local economy by keeping our construction industry busy. Not to mention [possibly] an excellent ROI! Read: “2007 ROI for Home Improvements” here.
Watch a video about Staging Your Home.
Search the Haywood County, NC MLS.
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