Make Your House Look Like Home to Buyers

 While staging a home for sale is not a new concept, many home sellers confuse staging with decorating and consequently miss the boat when it comes to marketing their home. “The moment you place your home for sale, you need to commit to making it into a place that makes potential buyers feel at home,” says Jennifer Sullivan, a sales associate with ERA Justin Realty. “This means you need to emotionally detach.” 

Your Home Should Speak to Buyers 

The goal of home staging is to make the home speak in a compelling and positive way to everyone who comes to see it. “Your magnet collection, family photographs, and cluttered countertops can send the buyer the message that you don’t have enough space, or distract them from the home itself,” Jennifer adds. “Their focus should be on the home, not your stuff.” 

Clean everything 

A clean house will allow buyers to picture themselves in the space and not be distracted. Declutter your pantry and closets to showcase storage space. Pack away non-essentials and small appliances. Empty trash bins and hide dirty laundry. 

Fix anything that’s broken 

Buyers will notice and may offer less for your house if repairs are required. Fix any squeaks or creaks on interior and exterior doors. Replace light bulbs and make sure all the switches work properly. 

Give every room a purpose 

Even if you used it as a bonus room, clear room identity helps buyers visualize and imagine it as their space. 

Let the light in 

Bright rooms feel warm and inviting; dark rooms can feel small and gloomy. Remove any heavy window treatments and opt for ones that let natural light in. 

Update paint and floors 

These are easy things you can update to sell your house faster and for more money. A fresh coat of paint or polished hardwood floors can make all the difference. 

A few small changes and updates can make a huge difference in selling your home quickly and for the best price. To find out how best to market your home, talk to Jennifer or one of our other experienced agents at 201.939.7500.

Selling Your House: Here’s Why You Need A Pro In Your Corner!

Selling Your House: Here’s Why You Need A Pro In Your Corner!

With home prices on the rise and strong buyer demand, some sellers may be unsuccessfully tempted to try to sell their homes on their own rather than using the services of a real estate professional.
Real estate agents are trained and experienced in negotiations while, in most cases, the seller is not. Sellers must realize that their ability to negotiate will determine whether or not they get the best deal for themselves and their families.
Here is a list of some of the people with whom the seller must be prepared to negotiate if they decide to sell by Owner (FSBO):

• The buyer, who wants the best deal possible
• The buyer’s agent, who solely represents the best interests of the buyer
• The buyer’s attorney in many parts of the country
• The home inspection companies, which work for the buyer and will almost always find some problems.
• The termite company, if there are challenges
• The buyer’s lender, if the structure of the mortgage requires the sellers’ participation
• The appraiser, if there is a question of value
• The title company, if there are challenges with certificates of occupancy (CO) or other permits
• The town or municipality, if you need to get the CO permits mentioned above
• The buyer’s buyer, in case there are challenges with the house your buyer is selling

Lee Schilare, ERA Justin Realtor said, "The percentage of sellers who have hired real estate agents to sell their homes increases steadily. In fact, ERA Justin Realty has been #1 in closed Rutherford transactions for the past 18 consecutive years. Let’s get together to discuss all that we can do to make the process of selling your house easier for you.

If you are thinking of selling your home in the near future and want to know for how much it could sell, then you may contact a real estate sales professional at our firm and request a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to determine its fair market value,” recommends Jennifer Darby, owner-broker with the firm."

To get an estimate of the fair market value, a homeowner can call the ERA Justin Realty sales team and ask for a Comparative Market Analysis, a service which is provided free of charge and without obligation.

"In conducting a CMA, our ERA Justin Realty sales professionals have access to a wide array of information, such as databases containing recent listing and selling prices of similar homes in the neighborhood, and how long these homes took to sell. The resulting analysis can help a homeowner understand what today's changing market has done to the price of his or her home, and will provide a realistic figure of the home's fair market value. Within the past years, real estate values have escalated. If a home is then put on the market, our sales professionals will use the CMA to help the homeowner establish a selling marketing program," added Lee.

ERA Real Estate has been awarded ‘Highest Satisfaction for First and Second Time Home Buyers Among Full-Service Real Estate Firms'. For these reasons, ERA Justin Realty should be your buying and selling Realtor of choice.

For more information on CMAs, consumers can reach Lee and the ERA Justin Realty sales team at either of their two Rutherford offices at 118 Jackson Avenue or 57 Park Avenue. By phone at (201) 939-7500, (201) 438-0588 or (201) 438-SOLD, and the firm's meet and greet Hoboken location. Additional real estate information is also available at the firms 1000's of homes websites at www.ERAJustin.com and www.ERAJustinRealty.com

ERA Justin Realty 2018 Tips on Dressing Your House For a Good Showing

As important a landmark as buying a home is in people’s lives, you’d be surprised at how much of it can turn on snap decisions. If you’re selling a house you’ll have to put careful thought into customers’ first impressions, because many sales will be made or lost before they reach the front door – or as soon as they walk through it.

ERA Justin Realtor agent Julian Muscio offers a menu of possible ‘first impression’ areas that an owner may want to consider. “First consider curb appeal – the feeling customers get from the upkeep of the house and grounds, and how comfortable this makes them imagining themselves as a resident. You want to do everything you can to make them see your house as their house, both outside and in. A new paint job is an investment that should more than pay for itself, and neat landscaping – trimmed shrubs, new flowers – puts your prospective buyers in just the right frame of mind. Inside, kitchens and bathrooms should be in sparkling condition – these rooms are known to be what makes up many home-seekers’ minds. Removal of odors like pet smells and smoke will lessen distractions for customers you want focusing on your home’s possibilities, and clearing of clutter is crucial.

The less belongings you have crowding your rooms and closets, the bigger the home will appear, and the easier it will be for potential buyers to envision placing their own possessions there. Put some things in storage if you need to, or hold a garage sale to help cut down on some of the build-up you were going to clear out for moving anyway (just hold it before buyers can see the piles on your lawn or the cars lined up on an otherwise peaceful street). For buyers picturing themselves in your home, it’s also good to present the house in as general taste as possible – personal memorabilia, collectibles, and eccentric wall colors and furnishings should go out with the clutter. Repainting rooms in a neutral white also helps convey the sense of spaciousness. Clean windows, fresh flowers, and other small details with big impact – they’re what you want to remember. From major improvements to subtle touches that tip the scales in your favor, the features of a house that we often take for granted can be the ones that determine your home selling success. According to the National Association of Realtors®, curb appeal alone accounts for very strong sales of all home sales.”

Julian continued, “A little effort now saves you a lengthy process later. First impressions will expedite the sale, and securing the services of a qualified Realtor® will make it all the surer. One of our ERA Justin Realtor real estate professionals can guide you in all the above matters and more, from supplying a checklist of presentation tips, to recommending affordable painting contractors from his or her industry connections, to helping you rearrange the furniture. Whatever it takes, we can give you confidence that, for some buyer soon, the showing of your home will be love at first sight. We also will provide a 2018 home market analysis (CMA) with information in determining the true value of a house and the right asking price. In the end, however, the homeowner should decide on a price that he or she feels is competitive and consistent with the price at which other houses in the area have sold. Our CMA report for our Sellers is truly comprehensive in all aspects. Complete with color photos and detailed information, it make pricing easier for those planning a sale. Truly, there is a difference in real estate companies, and our details will make the difference. We ask Buyers and Sellers to compare. We believe that in order to exceed expectations of what ERA Justin Realty is about, we don’t offer just real estate basics, we try to be as comprehensive as possible. In that way, we know that our Buyers and Sellers will hold us all in the highest regard and select us as their Realtor.

All across the nation, the most sought award that can be achieved in business is the ‘J.D. Power & Associates’ award. Only outstanding business entities are honored and receive it. ERA Real Estate was the recipient of ‘Highest Satisfaction for First Time Home Buyers and Sellers Among Full Service Real Estate Firms.’ For these reasons ERA Justin Realty should be your buying and selling Realtor of choice.