When selling your home you need to prepare your home for sale.  In this video, I show you what NOT to do.  These home sellers have scuff marks on the walls, dishes sitting out, nasty food crumbs on the stove, burnt out light bulbs, and it shows really bad.  Of course, my buyers scratched this house off of their list really quick and made an offer on another one.

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Brian Duncan Group is excited to announce our Autumn/Winter promotion! We’re committed to getting your home sold, and so for a limited time, new listings clients will receive a FREE PRE-LISTING APPRAISAL or HOME INSPECTION!

PRE-LISTING APPRAISAL

One of the most important aspects of bringing a home onto the market is pricing it correctly. Having a completed appraisal of your property tells potential buyers that you’re serious about selling, and you’ve taken the time to make sure your asking price is justified. Using our experience in the market, we’ll advise you as to the most appropriate listing price by using the appraisal as a guideline.

Your appraisal will be performed by a licensed, certified, and experience real estate appraiser familiar with our Hampton Roads market. We will provide a list of appraisers for you to choose from, or you may use an appraiser of your choice (with approval).

PRE-LISTING HOME INSPECTION

It’s a buyers market – there are plenty of homes on the market for a potential buyer to choose from, so it’s critical for your property to stand out. Buyers want a home that’s “Move-In Ready”…one that will require the least amount of work. For this reason, we recommend a pre-listing home inspection to discover any issues that might make your home unappealing to a buyer’s eye.

By showing a home inspection report to potential buyers, you’re telling them that you’re serious about selling and that you’ve taken the time to fix any issues that would be important to them,  removing any questions and concerns about the condition of your property.

Here’s how our promotion works:

After reviewing your situation and viewing your home in person, we’ll recommend either a home inspection or an appraisal. We’ll then provide you with a list of certified professionals for you to choose from, or you can select your own (we will need to approve your selection). You then make an appointment to have the service completed, after which you’ll receive an appraisal report or a home inspection report. The appraisal or inspection is paid by you at the time the service is performed. We’ll then review the information with you and, using this information, list your home for sale. We will reimburse you for the cost of the home inspection or the appraisal at closing.

Questions? Contact Brian now at 757-274-2733 or fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you asap!

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“Where should we price our house?”

In addition to the typical in-depth analysis I do for any potential client interested in selling their home in Virginia Beach or Hampton Roads, I’ve come to realize that some simple things can be done to get your home the attention it deserves when it comes onto the market. Knowledge of the Virginia Beach / Hampton Roads Real Estate market along with studying how potential buyers actually search is critical in how we market a home here at The Brian Duncan Group.

I realized a long time ago that, when putting a home on the market, a large number of agents use a highly ineffective pricing strategy that results in only getting you a PORTION of buyers that could be interested in your home, excluding an entire group of prospects. If we determine that your home should be priced around a whole number price, such as $250,000 or $199,000, we have a strategy that will maximize how many times your home gets viewed.

Check out this video for a detailed explanation of why your home should be priced at $200,000, instead of $199,900, or at $300,000 instead of $295,000. The difference in the amount of showings you get could be significant!

Call me at 757-274-2733 or contact me here for free, no-nonsense advice to maximize the profit from the sale of your home.

It’s important for our clients to maximize the profit they get from the sale of their home, and to get it sold quickly with the least amount of stress possible. It may sound cliché, but I really take it to heart. In addition to doing my normal in-depth analysis of your competition and my recommended pricing strategy, I also advise you about what repairs and upgrades you need to make in order to get the most out of your sale. Often I recommend a few simple things that you need to be aware of so that buyers can picture your home as theirs, and not be distracted by unsightly items that just detract from your homes marketability.

RAKE THE LEAVES

Rake the leaves, trim the bushes, paint the trim, replace carpeting – all examples of things I may recommend. …and I’m 100% aware of the cost vs. the benefit, so if it’s not going to help you in the long run, I’m not going to recommend you do it. Simple as that. Take a look at the video for some examples including two homes – one that was still on the market, and one that sold quickly.

Contact me here or call me on my cell phone at 757-274-2733 to find out what you need to do to sell…..the answer may surprise you!

“Should we replace the carpet or can we just offer a carpet allowance and let the buyer replace it?”

The answer is, 100% of the time, REPLACE THE CARPET. There are too many homes to choose from with the carpet already replaced, and buyers in this market want a house in move-in condition where they need to do a minimum amount of work, if any.

In order to get the most money from the sale of your home, it needs to look better than your competition, and it needs to be priced right. Don’t leave the question up to the buyer – make your home the HOME THEY WANT. Replacing a carpet is a quick fix that could save you a substantial amount of money in the long run.

For more details and to find out what you need to do to get your Virginia Beach or Hampton Roads home ready for the market, contact me on my cell phone at 757-274-2733 or contact me here today.

When you’re getting ready to put your home on the market, it’s important to consider that you’ll probably have plenty of competition in today’s market climate here in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads. Your main objective is to make your home stand out and remove any question from the buyer’s mind that the home is ready for them to move into.

I often advise potential sellers that a pre-listing home inspection is a good way to differentiate your home from your competition. One of the main concerns of any buyer would be how the home has been maintained and what problems currently exist. You can remove doubt by having a home inspection and repairing any items that are found by the inspectors. The advantage to doing this in the beginning is that few sellers consider this option, and that makes your home stand out.

A home inspection will provide you with a comprehensive evaluation of your home from top to bottom, highlighting any areas that need attention. Once problems are repaired, and issues rectified, the inspection report and repair receipts can be provided to potential buyers as proof that you’re serious about selling. Buyers will typically want to have their own inspection as well, but at that time they’re already under contract to buy your home, which is our main goal.

Check out this video as we tag along with Elite Home Inspections as they work with one of our clients during their home inspection. Call me at 757-274-2733 directly for more information, or fill out the form here.

Contact Elite Home Inspections to schedule a time or ask a question (Virginia, North Carolina) – 252-435-2329 http://www.EliteHomeInspections.org

Contact Clear Perspective Home Inspection to schedule a time or ask a question in Bolingbrook, Illinois 630-732-0656 http://www.4homeinspection.com

Check out this easy way to repair holes in drywall. With this method of repair, no nails/screws are required!

Learn how staging a home will help sell your home faster and for more money.