Raising awareness about the $8,000 home buyer tax credit

We just put this video on our Hardin County Kentucky Real Estate website. Buyers need to close on their home before December (IRS info and FAQ).

Doe Valley Ranch Home for Sale

This is our new real estate listing. It's a beautiful home for sale is in Doe Valley Subdivision, a gated community in Brandenburg Kentucky. Features include: upgraded cabinets, breakfast bar, open floor plan, split bedroom design, great paint colors, large closets, private (and quiet) location, large lot, screened-in back patio and lake view in the fall.

Floor plan:

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.

Social feature added to real estate website

Now you can share Fort Knox Kentucky real estate listings with your social networks a little easier:
http://www.HardinHomes.com/real-estate-for-sale

Give it a try (click any listing), we hope you find it useful.

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.

Fort Knox Kentucky Infrastructure Growth

Ft Knox KY is getting $100 million to improve the infrastructure in Hardin County and Meade County