One important step in home staging is decluttering.  It sounds like common sense, but many sellers don't do it.  Buyers are not able to visualize themselves living in a home if it is too cluttered. If they can't visualize themselves living there, they won't buy it.  Decluttering is also a free way to add space to a home. As a start, remove all personal items that point to you.  This includes family photos, awards and trophies.  Leave a few large, neutral accessories for decorating.Sometimes home owners remove too much stuff, leaving their home bare and uninviting.  Most often they remove a few things and call it good.  It's usually not.  A professional home stager can walk them through the process, detailing exactly what goes and what stays.  03/31/2008

 Dressed For Success!Would you go to a job interview dressed as is, in your most comfortable clothes, with your hair a mess?  Do you say to yourself?  "The employer knows my credentials.  He can see past my appearance."   We all know that is not the case.  If you are dressed professionally and look your best, the first impression will be a favorable one.  A good first impression will help you immensely.Everyone knows how important it is to look their best for a job interview.  The same should pertain to selling your home.  Often times, home sellers will say, "Buyers know my home is 2000 square feet, it has four bedrooms and a large kitchen.  Inspections show it structurally sound and everything is in working order (good credentials)."    But did the buyer already discount your home beca... 03/31/2008

                             I have talked to many real estate agents who tell me they have a home on the a lot of good showings.  They say it is priced right and there has been a lot of interest, but no offers.  Then they call me and want me to stage it.  I'd love to; home staging is what I do. Before looking at a home, buyers know the size, general location and age of the home.  So far, it sounds good to them.  But, when they get there, it just doesn't excite them.  They go on looking for their dream home.   There can be different reasons why they don't want the home, but is the overall appearance one of them?  Sounds simple right?  Not really.  The home could be in good condition, even updated throughout.  It could have all the criteria the buyers are looking for.  But for some reaso... 03/30/2008

How a home is presented can have a significant impact on how quickly a home sells and for what price.  Especially now, when most markets have an abundance of homes for buyers to choose from, it's important for sellers to carefully consider how their home is staged. Buyers generally want to get as much space as their money can buy.  A moderate sized home that is presented well can often feel more spacious that a larger home that is not presented well.  In turn, that smaller home is likely to sell quicker and for a better relative price that the other home.  Here are 6 tips for making your home feel as spacious and attractive to buyers as possible: Keep the number of wall and flooring colors to a minimum.  A home that has just 1-2 carefully selected wall colors and just 2-3 floor covering... 03/29/2008

Karen Anne Stone of Fort Worth Real Estate wrote to us and said, "... I would love for you to include some pictures of your church/home in a post, so we all can see.  Does the fact that you now live in a church ... make you the 'church lady?'  And ... if sales slow down for you, it is now extremely easy for you to 'pray for the market to improve.'  Cool!" So here are a couple before/after pics:      Living Room (Chapel Front) - BEFORE       Living Room (Chapel Front) - AFTER      Dining Room (Chapel Rear) - BEFORE                    Dining Room (Chapel Rear) - AFTER Funny thing about your 'Church Lady' comment ... the employees at the Jantzen Beach Home Depot in Portland, Oregon got used to seeing us almost every day (sometimes several times a day!).  They called us 'The Church People'.... 03/29/2008

On March 29, 2008, there were over 450 'short sale' properties on the market in Vancouver, WA and the surrounding area (Clark County, Washington).  Many times, potential home buyers would not know that the listings they are looking at are short sales but their real estate agent can get them that information.  But what is a short sale?  A short sale is a property that is being offered at prices that, after expenses, is less than what is owed to the bank.  That means that the lender or lenders will have to agree to accept less than what is owed them in order for anyone to buy the home at the listed price.  Short sale properties have advantages and disadvantages for both buyers and sellers. Selling a home as a short sale is one way that ‘upside down' homeowners who need to sell their home ... 03/29/2008

 It's very sad that almost every other property listed in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA it's a short sale property. I drive my client all day today to show him a properties in Vancouver, WA in the price range 180k-200k and we have seen almost 10 houses but we find a only two homes that is not a short sale property. Today we write an offer on the property that was purchased in 2005 for 235k and today asking price is 194k hard to believe but this house is over 2000 sq ft 4 bedroom 2.1 bath and is very well take care of. Where this market go, every time I enter a short sale property I think of the owner of the house, how disappointed is that American dream of owning home last very short a period of time a less then a 3 years. No equity in the property the only thinks most sellers looking ... 03/28/2008

Ok, so we may have watched a little too much HGTV.  For a long time, we had visions of converting a fire station, old school, loft or some other old commercial building into our home.  Then one day, we happened across what was, very possibly, the ugliest old church we had ever seen.  Guess what!  Our HGTV infused brains fell in love with the old thing.  We thought ok what the heck the kids are grown, let's give it a shot. Apparently our kids had been through enough remodeling projects as they were growing up at home ... they got it.  The rest of our family and friends, though, probably thought we'd finally lost our minds. The funny thing ... we're empty nesters and we now live in an old church that is over 4000 square feet!  It has its advantages, though.  At Thanksgiving we were able t... 03/27/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | West Area Market Report for February 2008 This month has 39 more Vancouver WA homes for sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has decreased to 104 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now 79 days -- a decrease of 12 days from the prior month. For 2007 the MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver areas ranging from: $178,700 to $415,600; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $170,000 to $284,300. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the real estate data base for the West are neighborhoods (includes: Lincoln... 03/18/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate | Cascade Park; Fishers Landing Market Report for February 2008 This month has 21 fewer Vancouver WA Homes For Sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has dropped to 107 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is about 75 days, which is 14 fewer days than last month. The number of Pending sales has gone from 137 to 176 -- the Buyers are back!!! For 2007 the MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver areas ranging from: $238,200 to $317,300; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $214,000 to $299,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington... 03/18/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | Salmon Creek, Felida and Hazel Dell Market Report for February 2008 This month has 24 more Homes For Sale in Vancouver WA in the active category, and the average days on the market is now about 90 days -- 26 days fewer than last month. This month we have 89 homes Pending -- 30 more than last month -- The Buyers are coming back! For 2007 the Vancouver Washington MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for the Felida, Salmon Creek & Salmon Creek areas ranging from: $289,100 to $344,100; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $270,000 to $312,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the real estate d... 03/18/2008

I would have to say that the most unusual landmark I've seen in Vancouver is the Igloo restaraunt on Evergreen Blvd, just east of Grand.  This is a little diner style restaraunt that has been completely plated in chrome?!? Who knows where that brain storm came from.. even the inside is plated in chrome.  When I was a kid "chrome plated" meant something was pretty sweet.  The funny thing is that as an adult "chrome plated" still means something is pretty sweet.This little diner is in a horrible location for getting business traffic so I feel kinda sorry for them in the business sense but the place is definitely worth taking a drive to and getting a meal.  They have a more diverse menu then you'd expect for a place that only seats abotu 10-15 people and it's just a fun place to create a m... 02/26/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate | Cascade Park; Fishers Landing Market Report for January 2008 This month has 88 more Vancouver WA Homes For Sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has dropped to 109 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is about 89 days, which is 7 days more than last month. The number of Pending sales has gone from 83 to 137 -- the Buyers are back! For 2007 the MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver areas ranging from: $238,200 to $317,300; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $214,000 to $299,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes ... 02/04/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | West Area Market Report for January 2008 This month has 22 more Vancouver WA homes for sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has decreased to 108 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now 91 days -- an increase of 20 days from the prior month. For 2007 the MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver areas ranging from: $178,700 to $415,600; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $170,000 to $284,300. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the real estate data base for the West are neighborhoods (includes: Lincoln... 02/04/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | Salmon Creek, Felida and Hazel Dell Market Report for January 2008 This month has 54 more Homes For Sale in Vancouver WA in the active category, and the average days on the market has decreased by 12 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now about 116 days -- 8 days fewer than last month. For 2007 the Vancouver Washington MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for the Felida, Salmon Creek & Salmon Creek areas ranging from: $289,100 to $344,100; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $270,000 to $312,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $305,500; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the real e... 02/04/2008

If you are in a mortgage with a higher interest rate, now is the time to refinance!  The average interest rate nationally on mortgages is now 5.69%.  While there are many factors involved that figure into the interest rate for which you qualify (credit score, size of mortgage, etc), interest rates are now the lowest they have been in about two years.  Whether you are currently in an adjustable rate mortgage that has adjusted to a high rate or are in a higher fixed-rate mortgage, you might consider refinancing at these current lower rates.  Depending on how much equity you have in your home, the costs associated with refinancing can even be rolled into your mortgage so that you have no out-of-pocket expenses associated with refinancing.  And if you have sufficient equity in your home, a ... 01/20/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate | Cascade Park; Fishers Landing Market Report for December 2007 This month has 99 fewer Vancouver WA Homes For Sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has stayed the same at 102 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is about 82 days, which is 2 days more than last month. For the first 11 months of 2007 the RMLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver areas ranging from: $237,400 to $317,400; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $214,000 to $299,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $306,300; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the real estate data base for Cascade P... 01/07/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate | Vancouver WA Homes | Market Report for December 2007 West MLS Areas This month shows 88 fewer Vancouver WA Homes For Sale in the active category, and the average days on the real estate market has increased by one day. For the Vancouver homes listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now 71 days -- a decrease of 9 days from the prior month. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver's western area homes in the real estate data base, separated into price ranges, and: Active, Pending and Sold categories, for the Historical Month of December, 2007. Year-to-date the Vancouver MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver Washington MLS areas ranging from: $178,800 to $413,400; and the Median Selling Price ... 01/07/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | Salmon Creek, Felida and Hazel Dell Market Report for December 2007 This month has 91 fewer Vancouver WA Homes For Sale in the active category, and the average days on the market has increased by eleven (11) days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now about 124 days -- thirty (30) days longer than last month. For the first 11 months of 2007 the Vancouver MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for the Felida, Salmon Creek & Salmon Creek areas ranging from: $291,300 to $341,200; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $270,000 to $312,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $306,300; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,300. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver... 01/07/2008

Vancouver WA Real Estate For Sale | Lincoln, Carter Park and other West areas Market Report for November 2007 This month has 20 Fewer homes for sale in Vancouver WA in the active category, and the average days on the market has decreased to 82 days. For the listings that are agreeing to offers the average time on the market is now up to 82 days -- an increase of 5 days over the prior month. Year-to-date the MLS data is showing the Average home Selling Price for these Vancouver Central Park and Lincoln areas ranging from: $236,700 to $322,800; and the Median Selling Price ranging from: $219,000 to $300,000. The Clark County - wide Average Home Selling Price is: $306,900; while the Median Selling Price is: $262,900. This report is a simple tabulation of Vancouver Washington homes in the r... 12/28/2007