School Season: One Obstacle In Buying Or Selling A House?

As the school year begins this week for students, many families are wondering if it's a good time to sell their house or buy a new Elizabethtown, KY home. There are many reasons why buyers stay away from buying homes at the beginning of the school year and it’s not just because of the kids’ schedules. Usually, there are far greater things to worry about.

The school year should not prevent you and your family from buying or selling your house. Our children usually understand the reasons why we have to do some things and if they do put up a fight, then a family conference should be enough to hear their sides out. There might be some compromises you have to make with them and there will be times you will have wished that you had put off buying or selling a house. But, like almost all things in life, "this too shall pass".

One of the biggest mistakes most people make when they buy or sell a house is trying to get it all done in such a short span of time. Assuming there aren't any time constraints, buying or selling a house can take anywhere from a few short weeks to 4-6 months if you're building a new home near Fort Knox. For buyers, this is one of the biggest purchases you will ever make so make sure that all questions have been answered. Talk with your Fort Knox Realtor and mortgage lender

Another obstacle when buying an Elizabethtown KY house during school year is to make sure moving day doesn't conflict with exams or other major school events. When this happens, check to see if the buyer or seller is willing to move the closing date by a week or two. Hopefully, most will oblige and then your kids will be able to enjoy their school festivities or be able to concentrate on their exams.

Lastly, make sure you partner up with a great Elizabethtown real estate company. You want to partner with a Realtor who you can be honest with and be able to divulge confidential information such as how much your budget will be. For houses in the Fort Knox area, check out listings from HardinHomes.com to see which homes fit within your price range.

Have a great school year and may it bring new adventures to our kids and families.

When Should I Sell My Elizabethtown KY real estate? Spring, Summer, or Winter?

When is the best time to sell your Elizabethtown KY real estate? Typically, when you need to. There will always be a market of buyers.

The seasons can have an effect, though. Winter, for instance, is generally not the busiest time for Elizabethtown Kentucky real estate buyers, but on average the inventory of homes for sale during the winter tends to be a little lower. That may actually work in your favor. Yours may be the one piece of Elizabethtown real estate that’s quickly snatched up for reasons that have nothing to do with the time of year.

If you can wait, late spring is probably a more ideal time to list your home. Some Elizabethtown KY real estate sellers think listing early, say in March, will give them a head start. They might be gearing their listing toward spring break shoppers. Sometimes though, the weather can change dramatically and quickly in March. A storm can stop buyers from venturing out to look at homes.

Sell Dates Versus Closing Dates
Also to be considered, Elizabethtown Kentucky real estate buyers generally want a 30 to 60 day closing, so listing in March may attract buyers that want to close in April/May. If you don’t want to move until your children have finished school, March may be actually be a good time to sell. Of course, you can try to negotiate the date of your choice. If children’s schedules aren’t a factor, if you’re moving within the same school zone, or if you have an urgent reason for needing to sell, selling early in the spring won’t hurt you.

April or May are often a better choice, because snowfall has ceased, buyers will be more motivated to venture out to view Elizabethtown KY real estate. Those who want to move during the summer will often begin their search in these months.

Just a tip: If you’re planning to close at the end of your child’s school year, give yourself transition time. If your children have exams, are involved in special events, graduations, and so forth, it will be a busy time for the family and probably not the best time to be packing up the student’s belongings. Perhaps closing a week or two after the school year ends is worth negotiating.

Yes, a sale is important, but as a seller, it’s still all in your hands. Do what works best for you. That’s what negotiation is about; finding the best or most workable scenario for both the seller and the buyer.

The Importance of Trends
Contrary to thinking, being first on the market to list your house isn’t necessarily ideal. It can be advantageous to use other sellers’ scenarios as case studies. Once the Elizabethtown real estate market becomes speckled with more homes for sale, your agent will hear important feedback and be able to gauge what’s happening with buyers. She’ll be more knowledge about the current buyer trends and better able to advise you on how to price your home for a quick sale. If your price is right, for current demand, your home will sell. If you're asking too much then you will wait. Be sure to factor that into your timeline.

If your neighbor decides to start off early at listing his house, perhaps at a high price, his house may be by-passed. New shoppers may not be in a hurry to snatch up the first thing they see. Until they’ve been able to compare with others, they may feel the home is over-priced. Listing when the Elizabethtown KY real estate market starts moving may be a better option.

Of course, there’s always a veteran shopper who’s been waiting for just the right home to come on the market. Yours might be it. There are no hard and fast rules about how houses sell.

Certainly a discussion about demand wouldn't be complete without talking about Fort Knox. We can't forget how important of a role Fort Knox plays with regard to the Elizabethtown KY real estate market. If Fort Knox is not moving soldiers in, then the market will be pretty flat as far as demand is concerned.

If you need to sell or are just toying with the idea, talk to us about the Elizabethtown KY real estate market. The more information you have, the better equipped you’ll be to sell your home quickly.

Kentucky Seller Disclosures are Important

When is a seller's disclosure of property condition required (requirements of KRS 324.360)?

• Sales and purchases involving single-family residential real estate dwellings in Kentucky if any person licensed receives compensation.

When is it NOT required?

• Residential purchases of new homes if a warranty is offered
• Sales of real estate at auction
• A court supervised foreclosure

What You Must Know About The Seller's Disclosure
You should know what a seller's disclosure is if you are selling your Kentucky home, more so if you are buying one. If you are selling your home, you can refuse to complete and/or sign the disclosure, however put yourself in the buyer's shoes, would you buy the home? If you decide not to disclose what you know to be the physical problems of your house (now and while you've owned it), you will most likely not get the highest price. If you are the one buying a home, you should make it a point to obtain the seller's disclosure and learn how to make use of the information it contains to boost your position as home buyer and get a better deal.

What's in a Seller's Disclosure
Take a look at the following questions. Although they are by no means complete, these are the type of questions you will need to answer when completing your own seller's disclosure.

• Are there any existing physical defects? If yes, what are they?
• Does the basement leak? What is the condition of the basement?
• Does the roof leak? What is the condition of the roof?
• What is the source and condition of water supply?
• What is the source and condition of sewage service?
• Do you know if there are problems with your electrical wiring system?
• Are you aware of any plumbing issues in the house that can possibly be hazardous to its new owners?
• Has the house been altered without necessary building permits?
• Is there anything else that the buyer should be concerned with when it comes to safety in the house?
• Did the house suffer any damages from fire, flooding, hurricanes, etc?
• Are there any parts of the house that must be repaired or replaced?

Remember that it is your responsibility as the home seller to disclose all the relevant information to the interested buyer. If you don't, you may find yourself in hot water for failing to disclosure. One scenario we see quite often is investors or landlords who leave the disclosures blank or draw lines through everything because they have never lived in the home. This is unacceptable. In almost all cases, repairs have been made and buyers should insist these be disclosed.

Importance of Seller's Disclosure to the Home Buyer
If you are buying a house, make sure to review and study the information contained in the seller's disclosure prior to signing the sales contract. Knowing more about the house you are buying will be a big help to confirm that you are not paying more than the real value of the property. For example, let's say you learn from the seller's disclosure that the roof leaks in many places. This means major repair or even a total replacement is needed. You should consider how much it will cost you to fix the roof because this will jack up the total costs of acquiring the home and making it habitable. You can even use that information as leverage and request the owner lower the selling price.

While the seller's disclosure will help you haggle for a lower price if the house has major deficiencies for which you must spend on later after buying the property, you should realize that there could still be a number of minor issues that may be undisclosed. Structural defects may not be included in the seller's disclosure if the owner is not aware of them. Therefore, it is in your best interest to hire a professional home inspector to check out the property you intend to buy.

Whether you're the buyer or the seller, you stand to benefit from knowing more about the seller's disclosure, good agents will be able to assist you with any questions you have.

Fort Knox Home Seller Satisfied With HardinHomes

Another satisfied home seller thanking us on our HardinHomes facebook page. They saved $5,215 by not paying 6% commission when selling their Elizabethtown Kentucky house.

Send Fort Knox Home Buyers to the Web with Print Ads

Even though the effectiveness of print advertising has greatly diminished because of the internet, there is still a bit of value using the Homes Book. Traditional newspaper advertising is not cost efficient but the Homes Book is. These books are generally found at store entrances and various businesses. The goal (at least for HardinHomes) is to still drive people to the internet. Saving money on inefficient advertising allows HardinHomes to pass the savings on to a Fort Knox Kentucky home seller.

We've just added shortened property URLs to the bottom of each home. There's so much more information online and buyers have the ability to view multiple photos.

Feedback is great for home sellers but not 2 weeks after the showing

An agent's assistant leaves me a voicemail requesting feedback for one of her sellers: "Hi, I'm calling to get feedback for your June 17th showing..."

How valuable is my feedback if I can't even remember the home because it took you weeks to follow up? If an agent is going to wait that long to call for feedback then she obviously just trying to pacify the seller.

There are simple tools (many agents already use) that will send an email requesting feedback (with a property survey form) right after the showing. Agents can stop chasing buyer agents around requesting it via phone. If I get an email requesting feedback, I can answer anytime. It's much harder to reach me during the day when I have tons of other things going on.

Clients are emailing, scanning, texting, etc. and expect their agents to be technically proficient.

HomeFeedback.com or the full showing service we use AccuShow.com

List Your Home With Caution, Pictures Are Important

If you're selling a home near Fort Knox Kentucky (or anywhere really), make sure the agent you choose knows that pictures are extremely important. This is a military relocation market and many buyers are making decisions based on pictures. Usually they are coming to visit Ft. Knox and have already picked out the homes they would like to see. In some cases they buy the home solely based off the pictures.

Quick Checklist:
All pictures need to be entered the same day the listing is entered into the system.
Pictures shouldn't be small (at least 800x600) when uploaded to the system.
No blurry ones and no crooked ones (no one likes a sinking house).
If you can avoid a dark cloudy day, do it.
Examples of bad pictures

You never get a second chance to make a first impression
Every single day we see new listings that are entered in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service a.k.a. the homes for sale database) with just one picture or no pictures at all. This is a major mistake and can hurt your chances of a quick sale. Buyers are entered into the system and get emailed when a new listing matches their criteria. You are in front of many buyers for the first time and if there's no picture, buyers will most likely move on to the next listing.

No buyer wants to look at small pictures
I think there used to be a requirement that pictures had to be small (320x240) to be entered into the system. That's no longer the case. Make sure your agent uploads bigger pictures, if they're too big then the system re-sizes them anyway.

Is that home sinking?
No, we hope not, but that's the impression some bad pictures give if they aren't straight. Also don't allow pictures to be taken on a super cloudy day if it can be avoided.
Believe it or not there's a home for sale in the high $300k range that has one photo, that's it. To make it worse it's a photo taken at dusk.

Remember how important pictures are when interviewing agents.

Agents don't answer their phones

We've only had a couple of agents tell us they didn't like our showing service, AccuShow. The reason is they had to be put on hold. I would rather be put on hold for a minute or two then not be able to show the house.
It's the 3rd of July and most agents are probably working on holiday plans. That's fine, agents need lives too. The problem is that seller's homes are not getting shown because the agents don't answer their phones.

I wish every agent invested in a showing service so I could show my buyer some houses. As a seller, I wouldn't be happy if I knew my agent were not answering his/her phone.

Photos of homes for sale. Good, bad and ulgy.

If you were selling your Ft Knox Kentucky area home, would you allow your home to be marketed like this?

Would you rather have huge (800x600) wide-angle slideshow photos?

98%** of buyers find photos useful. You would not believe the photos we see. Some homes only have one photo. Buyers want to narrow the selection before they actually visit homes. If there is only one photo, buyers may just skip it all together. We take many photos so buyers can decide if it's right for them. When a buyers visit one of our listings they already know they like the home because they've already seen everything online.

**National Association of REALTORS Profile of Buyers and Sellers 2007

Elizabethtown Kentucky Real Estate Market Statistics (weekly)

June 8th-14th Elizabethtown Kentucky Housing Market Area Report*

15 homes sold
35 new listings
21 homes went pending (under contract)

*Market area includes 4 Hardin County cities/towns Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove, and Rineyville. All house styles are included except mobile homes and modular homes. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data from Heart of Kentucky Association of REALTORS (HKAR).

Selling your Kentucky House? New commission plans are here

HardinHomes has revised its full service RE/MAX home selling commission pricing plans to make it easier on you the home seller. We are offering the full package and the house seller gets to choose which real estate commission plan works best for his/her situation.

1) The first option is to pay 4% of the selling price when the deal is done (at closing/settlement) and pay nothing upfront.

2) The second option is for the serious seller and saver. The home seller only pays 3% at closing and pays $695 upfront.

Let's assume your Fort Knox Kentucky area home sells for $200,000. Traditionally you might pay 6% which would be $12,000. With our 4% plan, the commission is $8,000 which is paid using the proceeds from the house. With the 3% plan you can save an additional $1,305 by paying the $695 upfront (1% - $695 = $1,305).

Don't pay 6%
  6% = $12,000
  4% = $8,000 (save $4,000)
  3% = $6,695 (save $5,305 even after paying the $695 upfront fee)

We're excited about these new options to save Fort Knox KY home sellers money, we hope you like them. Tell us what you think and what other options you would like to see.

Elizabethtown KY Home with Finished Basement for sale

Welcome Home! This beautiful Etown Kentucky house has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It's located in the gorgeous Nicholas Ridge subdivision. It's also in the Elizabethtown Independent city school district. With over 2,300 sqft it has all the room you’ll need. The oak hardwood floor in the foyer is stunning and the finished basement includes a family room and 4th bedroom. It has a 2 car garage and additional storage in the basement. Not only is it located in a cul-de-sac but sits on a corner lot. Relax by the fireplace after entertaining in the formal dining room. Call 800-963-5741 to tour this home today.

Things that will sell your Hardin County house

As complicated as real estate is, there are really only two things that will sell your Hardin County Kentucky house, price and exposure.
"Two things, but what about everything else? Aren't condition, location, and supply/demand important?". They are important but those should be factored into the price. For the amenities (beds/bath, finished basement, etc), square footage, supply/demand, and location, your house has a selling (value) range. The condition is what will determine where your house will sell within that range. If you have deferred maintenance, poor curb appeal, and/or a cluttered home then you could be at the bottom of your home's value range. If you want to sell in the shortest time and receive the most money for your home near Fort Knox Kentucky then you should hire an appraiser. An appraiser will cost roughly $250 but will save you time and money.

Exposure is the other thing that will get your house sold. Even if your house is priced way too low, it still won't sell if no one knows about it. On the other hand your home could have the best exposure available and if it's priced too high it won't sell either. The MLS is the most important exposure tool available, the internet is a close second. 84% of home buyers use the internet during their home search.

So if you're asking yourself "Why isn't my home selling?" take a look at your price and evaluate your exposure.

New Options for Hardin County Home Sellers

HardinHomes.com launches two new plans for Kentucky home sellers in Hardin County Kentucky. The two new plans offer a fresh alternative to our normal 6% listing fee.

Our first plan is the basic option and we will list your house for 3% ($295 setup) while we offer our full RE/MAX package for just an additional fee of $400. These new plans are offered for a limited time.

RE/MAX Executive Group is Hardin County's real estate leader.

Importance of Real Estate Appraisals for Hardin County Home Sellers

Are you planning to sell your Hardin County Kentucky home? Do you think you know how much it's worth on the open market? Many sellers make the mistake of trying to estimate the value of their homes themselves. This is almost always a bad decision, because homeowners tend to be very emotionally invested in their homes. They almost always assume their dwellings are worth top dollar in their current condition, and this is rarely the case. Your real estate agent will be able to estimate the selling price of your home. However many factors impact Fort Knox Kentucky real estate value, and a professional opinion from an appraiser is likely to yield the most accurate picture of fair market value for any piece of real estate.

Of course you know how much you paid for your Kentucky home. You also know how much money, time, and energy you have invested in improving the property over the years. You probably also have a good idea about the asking price and sales prices of other homes in your neighborhood and the Fort Knox area. However, this type of information doesn't tell the whole story about the value of your home. While these details are useful and interesting, they really can't replace the benefits of a professional real estate appraisal when you're trying to decide on the best listing price for your home. Local appraisers are looking at Hardin County property on a daily basis and they are the experts.

As soon as you decide to put your home up for sale, you should seek professional guidance regarding the true market value of your home. Not only can getting an appraisal help you decide how much to ask for your home in its current condition, the information you learn may help you determine if you should spend some money improving the condition of the property in order to be able to sell it for a higher price. Conversely, you may learn that investing in additional improvements would not be likely to help you sell the home for a greater amount.

It is common for sellers to avoid getting appraisals before listing their homes for sale because they don't want to spend the money (around $250) to have a professional appraiser assess the value of their property. While frugality can be an admirable trait, failing to spend a few hundred dollars on a professional appraisal can result in the loss of thousands of dollars on the sale of your home. If you are listing your Fort Knox home with HardinHomes of RE/MAX Executive Group you will already be saving a ton of money by not paying a huge commission.

If you price your home too high, it isn't likely to sell. If you price your home too low, you won't realize the highest possible return on your real estate investment. Can you can afford to have your home sit on the market for an extended period of time? Do you want watch your home sell for less than it is really worth? If not, it is in your best interest to get a professional appraisal as soon as you decide to sell the property.

Newspaper or Internet? Radcliff KY Home Selling

According to NAR, more than 80% of home buyers are starting their home search on the web.

The internet has changed many industries by allowing them to be more efficient. Because the real estate industry has been one that's changed dramatically, savvy home sellers can be more profitable by paying a lower commission. It's less expensive for today's agent to conduct business. By cutting newspaper advertising costs, HardinHomes.com is able to charge dramatically less to sell a Radcliff KY house (4% rather than 5%, 6%, or 7%).

In the past a Radcliff home seller would decide to list with a Realtor but the marketing was different then; the most important public marketing tool was the local paper. A lot has changed and the internet is now the "big dog" and the paper has taken a back seat. It's so much easier for military personal who are relocating to search the internet than try to get their hands on the local paper. With a newspaper it's impossible to search by specifics, there's usually only one picture and not enough information. With the internet you can filter the types of homes you don't want and see a limitless number of pictures.

Print advertising has still been effective using the Central Kentucky Homes Magazine (CK Homes) because ad prices are low and it's a niche book.

(Radcliff is used as an example but this information applies to any home in the Fort Knox KY area). Not intended to solicit properties already listed for sale with an agent.