There are many generalizations that can be truly instructive for homeowners with local homes for sale. The undeniable importance of “location, location, location!” is a good one; de-clutter! As a main order of business is another…as is the wisdom of researching neighborhood comparable.Anybody with homes for sale in Metairie can usually visit the National Association of Realtors® website for useful nuggets of that kind of information. However, one article that appeared there last week seemed to me to be less than real estate gospel—although it was thought-provoking. It dealt with features that might make some homes for sale harder to sell; features that most people might assume would improve rather than curtail a home’s appeal.The article named seven otherwise “awesome” features that the... 11/03/2015

 Think of your backyard as an extension of your home. You want it to be as comfortable and inviting as the inside.If the weather is nice, display freshly scrubbed or newly painted patio furniture outside. Place them in a conversational grouping.If you have a nice garden, flowering shrubs or some nice rose bushes, accentuate them. Have your outside furniture overlook them or placed nearby.Think about placing some potted flowers around your outside furniture or other areas of interest.If you have a garden, remove any weeds and trim any overgrowth. Pull any dead plants and properly compost or dispose of them. Even in winter, your garden should look organized and attractive.Terez B. HarrisKeller Williams Realty New Orleans504 975 1033TerezHarris@KW.comTerezSellsNolaHomes.com8601 Leake Ave.,... 11/03/2015

I’ll admit it: the tease was irresistible. There was no good reason why I should take the time to read on, even though it was near the top of the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate section. This was not likely to be the kind of relevant background information that would be useful in my daily Metairie real estate dealings.But the tease was not something I could just skim past and forget. The words were dangling there on the screen; almost a dare:          “Where Home Prices Start at $115 Million.”It wasn’t just the $115,000,000 home price that aroused curiosity. After all, this was the WSJ Real Estate section—where there are almost always stories about properties somewhere or other in the world with asking prices that numb the mind. It was the idea that there could actually be anywhere on... 11/02/2015

 Because we love our homes, we accept and overlook a few inconveniences and faults. We learn to live with the door that sticks, the big mound of toys in the corner, the cracked tile in the kitchen, and the old water stain in the guest bedroom. What we see as “normal” may not be normal to potential buyers. Now is the time to get an outside opinion or two about what you can do to put your home in peak showing condition. Recruit some friends or neighbors to give you an unbiased opinion of how they see your home.  Most people are happy to share with you what they feel to be your home’s strongest and weakest selling points. Add this feedback to the advice of your local real estate agent and you’ll have the information you need to make an informed decision about how you can enhance the sellin... 11/01/2015

 When potential buyers come to view your home. You won’t want to be around when your real estate agent brings potential buyers to your home. Serious buyers will want to look inside cabinets and closets. Your presence will make them feel self-conscious and prevent them from seeing enough of your home to make a buying decision. You don’t want to lose your negotiating advantages by having to answer direct questions from potential buyers such as: “Would you take less than your listing price?” “Is there anything we will have to fix after we purchase your home?” “”What problems have you had with your home or neighbors?” “How soon do you have to sell?” If you have children, there is nothing more embarrassing then one of the children saying “See that? That’s where Dad painted over the ceiling w... 10/31/2015

Just because you are selling your Metairie home yourself, doesn't mean your marketing has to suffer! Terez Harris NOLA Real Estate Group is offering FREE online tools to anyone selling For Sale By Owner!See our FREE marketing tools for Metairie For Sale By OwnersTerez B. HarrisKeller Williams Realty New Orleans504 975 1033TerezHarris@KW.comTerezSellsNolaHomes.com8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118  Free Reports:7 Seller Tips for 2015Home TrendsSmart Home Price Name Your Selling PriceSearch the MLS! (multiple listing service)Search Terez's Active Listings!See what your neighbor's home sold for...See What Your New Orleans Home is Worth!See What Your Metairie Home is Worth!Metairie For Sale By Owner?  New Orleans For Sale By Owner?Terez B. HarrisTerez Harris NOLA Realtor Group  504-297-... 10/30/2015

This is why you never want to be around when your real estate agent is showing your home.Its difficult to respond to verbal offers such as:“Would you take $10,000 less for your home if we didn’t ask for new carpet?”“Would you accept less if we offered to close in 30 days?”“If you received an offer for $15,000 less than your asking price, would you make a counter offer?”Even if you verbally agree to any of these questions, the buyer is under no obligation to make an offer. It’s like negotiating against yourself.Your real estate agent will always insist on written offers, complete with earnest money, and wont present you with these verbal fishing expeditions.Terez B. HarrisKeller Williams Realty New Orleans504 975 1033TerezHarris@KW.comTerezSellsNolaHomes.com8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, ... 10/30/2015

         Suppose you finally came to an important decision—that this October is going to be the right time for selling your Metairie house. If you had been biding your time, watching other Metairie houses being listed and closed throughout the summer, you may also have been getting a head start on some major maintenance or remodeling projects that you knew would be needed once you put your own place up for sale.         You may even have cleared away some extraneous furniture or decor items that had accumulated through the years, and made sure the landscaping was in good trim. If you had done those things—de-cluttered, spruced up, cleared the decks, etc.—you would have been just about ready to contact an agent to get the show on the road…          But what if even all the prep work none... 10/29/2015

 If you are a Metairie real estate observer, last week was the time of month when you typically look for the major data releases which detail how residential sales and prices performed in the previous month. Metairie observers weren’t disappointed: last Tuesday, the key National Association of Realtors® report came in right on schedule, with national media interpretations appearing close on its heels.The NAR decreed that September’s existing-home sales numbers, which showed a 4.7% increase from the month before, indicated a resumption of the momentum that had momentarily faltered. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5,550,000 completed transactions was hailed as a strong rebound, marking the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year increases.          Realty Today agreed that the ... 10/28/2015

 The answer to the question about whether any individual or family would be better off if they rent or buy a home can differ depending upon when the question is posed as well as the particulars of the available properties in either category. Even when the financial calculations make it clear that to buy a home in Metairie would result in significant savings, it’s possible that credit problems or simple cash inaccessibility render the choice moot—for the moment, anyway.The reason a family budget is universally recognized as the single best way to get a handle on finances is because if you don’t know how much you’re spending in any given area, you won’t know when it needs to be curtailed. Given the size of monthly rent or mortgage outflows, it’s a pretty good idea for anyone with a long t... 10/28/2015

 There is one overriding quality you must demand when you hire the Metairie agent who will be your partner and representative. It’s a quality you and you alone are qualified to judge. And it should be the final determinant—the last factor you consider before you make your final agent choice.Now it’s true that in many instances, this quality isn’t even one you have to think about. That’s true when you have previously worked with a Metairie agent who did what she or he had promised. When you’ve bought a home or sold one, been helped through successful negotiations, dealt with the unexpected snags with a minimum of disruption—and finally wrapped up the closing paperwork on schedule—you probably need search no further. It couldn’t be easier: pick up the phone, and voila! Your agent is on th... 10/26/2015

 Your front room will be the first thing buyers will see when they enter, so make it bright and inviting.Clear out excess items and perhaps add some fresh flowers or a nice plant.If you paint any room or area in your home, make sure this is one of them. Keep it sparkling clean and well lit.Change all your light bulbs to the highest wattage possible lighting, not only in the entry, also throughout the home. The bright light will open up the house.Before potential buyers come to your home, run through the house and turn on all the lights. This includes the front porch light, bathrooms, closets, attic, and basement. Buyers want to see the storage possibilities in the attic or basement and you don’t want them blindly groping for an obscure pull chain or walking down dark stairs.Terez B. Har... 10/25/2015

It’s October­­­; a time of year that has a lot to recommend it. In many parts of the country, it’s the season when Mother Nature goes full throttle with the Technicolor. Sunsets can be outrageous. In some parts of the country, leaves can bid adieu with displays that put rainbows to shame. Fall weather turns the air a bit crisper. All in all, to a lot of folks, fall is the favorite time of the year.Selling your Metairie house in the autumn, on the other hand, can present some special challenges. Selling your house in the springtime, for instance, doesn’t include clearing the garden of the remnants of summer growth (that is, unless you let it go the previous year!). The plusses and minuses of selling your house after the peak spring-summer real estate rush is over can be debated at length... 10/24/2015

Safety is a frequent For Sale By Owner concern.  After all, you are letting a complete stranger into your home. You don't know anything about this person.  Are they a thief, or a serious buyer?  One never knows.Real estate agents use several measures to assure your safety.  They always get full contact information, including name, telephone number, and address information from all buyers.  Buyers are pre-screened by determining place of work and getting the buyer pre-approved for a home loan.  Buyers are never left alone in your home.  A real estate agent accompanies prospective Buyers at all times.Therefore, when a real estate agent brings a potential buyer into your home, they have been carefully qualified and pre-screened. We know them inside and out.Security is an important consider... 10/24/2015

                 When Metairie real estate trackers keep tabs on the progress of the national rebound, they note the findings of the major pollsters and data miners, read what the pundits have to offer, and look at charts and graphs—lots of charts and graphs.                    The graphs that chart residential real estate price history for the last decade or so tend to look very similar. It doesn’t matter whether they’re showing regional or state or national price movements. If they’re line graphs, they look like a cross-section of a trampoline just as it’s about to propel a 7-year-old into the wild blue—or what your overweight neighbor’s hammock looks like when he’s taking a snooze. The lines start high, tumble south, stay down there for a stretch, and then wend their way back up.    ... 10/23/2015

Just because you are selling your Metairie home yourself, doesn't mean your marketing has to suffer! Terez Harris NOLA Real Estate Group is offering FREE online tools to anyone selling For Sale By Owner! See our FREE marketing tools for Metairie For Sale By Owners Terez B. HarrisKeller Williams Realty New Orleans504 975 1033TerezHarris@KW.comTerezSellsNolaHomes.com8601 Leake Ave., New Orleans, La 70118   Free Reports:7 Seller Tips for 2015Home TrendsSmart Home Price Name Your Selling Price  Search the MLS! (multiple listing service)Search Terez's Active Listings!See what your neighbor's home sold for... See What Your New Orleans Home is Worth!See What Your Metairie Home is Worth!   Metairie For Sale By Owner?  New Orleans For Sale By Owner?Terez B. Harris  Terez Harris NOLA Realtor Grou... 10/23/2015

If you are considering buying a new home in Metairie, it might have occurred to you that building your own could be another option. Even if you aren’t one who has always dreamed of designing your own new home with exactly the features you want (and none you don’t), the idea might seem worth exploring—particularly when the reasonable asking prices for some of today’s Metairie “land-only” listings make for tempting daydreaming…The fact is, few have actually mapped out the cost of building their own Metairie new home, for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is that to project anything like an accurate cost, you would have to know its features—in other words, design it (or have it designed). But, short of hiring an architect, you can begin to appraise some of the major cost considerat... 10/22/2015

Tips for Selling Your HomeClosing Company/AttorneyIt is best to identify a closing company/attorney earlier rather than later.  Ultimately the buyer can choose any closing company but you should be prepared to make a recommendation.Disposition of DepositsYou can never be assured a closing will take place therefore you should always protect the amount of the deposit.  The best way to accomplish this is to put the deposit with the closing company.  If the sale should fail and the deposit is to be returned the closing company can issue the check.Buyer RemorseAlmost every buyer at one time or another has felt buyer remorse.  It would be wise to prepare your buyer for that emotion so when it occurs they will remember your advice and hopefully move on.AppraisalIf the buyer is applying for a l... 10/22/2015

 Whenever the words “reverse mortgage” are uttered, any Metairie TV viewer immediately makes the connection with one of several celebrity spokesmen who blanket the airwaves with commercials touting the concept. If you listen carefully, those reverse mortgage ads do actually describe the product with legal accuracy. If you have the standard degree of sales resistance most of us have developed after years of exposure to Madison Avenue pitches, you probably guess that instead of relying solely upon the celebrity spokesman’s trustworthiness, you’d better investigate further before running out and applying. Most people do.So it was surprising when the government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found it necessary to issue a special advisory on the subject. Potential Metairie reverse mo... 10/21/2015

Loan ApprovalBefore you start making arrangements to move, make sure the buyer provides you with a letter from the mortgage company indicating that the buyer is pre-approved for the amount of loan needed to make the purchase.  This letter should not be confused with a final approval of the mortgage.  The loan is not normally approved until a few days prior to the closing date.Home InspectionBe prepared for a potential buyer to seek a professional home inspection.  Such inspections will identify possible defects in the property.  As a seller you can fix any defects discovered, adjust the price or both.  You can also preempt the process by getting the home inspected yourself.  You can then adjust the price accordingly, fix the defects or both.Final Walk-ThroughApproximately 3 to 5 days pr... 10/21/2015