Real Estate Open House Tips

In today's competitive Real Estate Market it's more important than ever to make sure as many prospective buyers walk through your home as quickly as possible.  Many Realtors are holding homes open on non-traditional days and times throughout the week because they know this will generate more traffic from more serious buyers and bring multiple, top dollar offers.

Here are some simple tips to get your home Open House Ready.

The biggest thing you want to keep in mind is you want to make sure your home is warm and inviting.  When my clients actually take a seat in a home we're touring, I know it's basically a done deal.  People many times feel strange going through other people's bedrooms and closets, but once they find the right one, they feel compelled to sit down or even lay down on the floor!  It's really fun to watch that AHA! moment take place for a client!  

Make sure your home is the proper temperature for the time of year.  If you can open the windows and let the fresh air come in, that's always a plus.  Or, if you can light the fireplace on those cooler days, that ambiance can really attract a buyer.  If it's 90 degrees outside, please turn on the A/C.  You don't want people running out of your home because they're sweating to death!

I'm a sucker for those yummy smelling candles and I use them whenever I can get away with it!  However, an Open House is not the place to use them.  There are actually people out there that are severely allergic to those scents and believe it or not, we don't all like the same scents.  So, if you must have a scent in your home, go with the old fashion remedy.  Bake some cookies in the oven and share them with your open house guests.  If you really want to get picky, use the cookie trick in the cooler months and fresh air in the warmer months.  It's all about creating the proper ambiance.

If hiring a home stager is not in the budget, that's ok.  Just make your home decor as simple as possible.  Take down all of your personal photos, put away the dog kennels, close the toilet lids and put out some fresh towels that add a pop of color.  If it's possible to add some season appropriate, fresh flowers around your home, that's certainly a plus!

My last tip is to stand outside at the street and just inside the doorway and take in what you see.  First impressions are EVERYTHING.  Make sure you have a clear, clean path to the front door and remove any noticeable clutter from your main entrance.

For more information about getting your home ready for the perfect Open House, contact Rebecca Uson Real Estate at 616-466-0762 or rebeccauson@gmail.com!

Who Are You Surrounding Yourself With?

When I was within months of graduating from college, one of my professors gave each of us the opportunity to have a mock interview with her.  During my interview I remember I was very nervous yet I was trying to sound very smart and determined.  However, when the interview was over, my professor gave me the most shocking and eye opening feedback.  She told me that she did not think I was cut out for the industry I was going into!  What?  I was within months of graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Merchandising Management which I had spent 4 years and countless hours of my life working towards and my leader felt I was not cut out for it?  Are you kidding me?  Needless to say, I was crushed.  She told me I seemed too nice and she got the impression that I thought everything should be the way it would be at Rebecca's Sunny Brook Farm!

Because going into that field was my dream, I did go on to graduate on-time and continued in the field I had studied.  Through the years I have held many positions with a number of different companies.  Throughout my years of being in the Work Force, I've been criticized, yelled at, worked till I thought I might fall over, questioned and put in positions to make decisions that could make my integrity questionable, but I've always made it through because I always had a dream that something better will come along, I just had to hold on for a bit, and you know what?  Another opportunity always did come along.  An opportunity that was more in-line with my dream and what I wanted out of my life.

I have friends and family that constantly complain about the people they work with, and it always makes me wonder how in the world they could stay in that environment day after day?  Most of us will have to work in an environment with other people for most of our lives so why would you spend your life hating it?  That just bothers me!  People use all sorts of excuses like, "I'll lose my benefits" or "I'll never be able to make the same income somewhere else" or I'm just too old to make a change".  Really?

I now have to pinch myself everyday.  I am so blessed to work with a group of people (see the photo below) that, although we are all very different, we all have a common thread and that's a DREAM!  Each of our dreams is different, but none less important than another.  Each day we come together in a building or on Social Media or over the phone and we encourage and support each other to keep going after our dreams and to not let discouragement and distractions keep us from our ultimate goal!  It's an amazing thing!  The profession I now work in is Real Estate which means we actually compete against each other each day, in the same market, but we still encourage each other!  We don't stab each other in the back to get what we want, we just do the right thing!  We think about the Golden Rule and do to others what we would want done to us.  

Why is this our culture?  Is it because of our leadership?  Is it just because Like Minded People attract Like Minded People?  I don't know!  I can't explain it, but it's a model that if more offices could follow, I think we'd have more HAPPY people walking this earth.

So, thank you, my college professor that said I couldn't do it!  You gave me the drive I needed to do it!  I am proving that you can still make it in this world if you are nice!  You will always run across people that will pooh pooh everything you say or do, but that's ok!  Just surround yourself with positive, like minded people and I promise, the sky's the limit!

For more information about Rebecca Uson Real Estate, visit rebeccauson.com

Home Staging Tips

So you want to sell your home, but are not sure what you need to do to it to get it "Showing Ready".  Well, it's actually quite simple to get a home "Show Ready" you just have to remove the emotion from it!  What do I mean by that?  No matter how long you've lived in your home, you most likely have an emotional attachment to it.  You've charted each of your children's growth history, you hung the swing in the backyard or you've rebuilt the home from the ground up!  So when it comes to staging your home, it can be very useful to seek a professional's advice on just what to do!  I can promise you, the right professional will not intent to hurt your feelings or cut down your decorating abilities.  That will certainly not be his/her intention.  The right professional will have knowledge of your area and will be able to communicate to you what will be important to potential buyers.  

Many of my home sellers do not have a large budget for re-staging and that's ok too.  If you're on a limited budget a rule of thumb is to keep it simple.  De-clutter and give your home a thorough cleaning.  Dust the fans and clean out the closets.  Yes, people do look in closets. Closet space is so important these days and the lack of it can kill a deal!  This could take some time, but will go a long way in a buyer's eyes.  Some buyers can see potential, but not all.  Most people are super busy and if they think they will have to clean and renovate a home before they can move into it, can be a big turn off!  I've had buyers tell me they are up for a renovation challenge, but then walk in and right out of a home because their idea of a renovation does not come close to what would be required of them in a particular home.  

As you're decluttering your home, make sure to remove all personal items such as family photos, awards and little Billy's drawings.  Although they can be adorable, seeing those items does not help a buyer see themselves in your home.  It still looks like YOUR home, not theirs.  It's also a great idea to remove items from the outside of the refrigerator.  Close the lid on the toilet and make sure to place clean towels on your towel racks.

For more Home Staging Tips, contact Rebecca Uson Real Estate at 616-466-0762 or www.rebeccauson.com

Pink Cadillacs and Blood Sweat and Tears

Today as I was heading back to my office, I was passed by a shiny Pink Cadillac and it just made me smile.  Then I started to think about what it must have felt like when that pink dream was delivered to the new owner.  I would imagine she went through a number of emotions.  First extreme joy, then tears, a deep sigh that see finally did it and then I bet she realized if she could do that, she could do even more!

Then I started to wonder what it must have taken for her to actually get that car.  I bet in the beginning of her business building she started with lots of excitement of how she was going to change the lives of many people for the better and how she was going to be able to travel the world because of her hard work.  However, I'm sure shortly after her start, reality set in and she realized this might not be as easy as she thought.  I'm sure there were many nights that she drove home, late at night in the rain with tears streaming down her cheeks wondering if anyone else would ever believe in her and her product as much as she did!  I also believe she must have had little victories every now and then that made her feel like she was on top of the world and helped her to keep going!  She probably had a number of friends and leaders around her that encouraged her and believed in her even when she wanted to quit.  I bet they reminded her of why she was doing what she was doing.  I'm sure they reminded her of her ultimate goal and told her stories of their tough times so she would know that she was not alone in her push to be at the top!  I'm sure she did not build her empire overnight.  I bet it was built and manicured over time.  As she got knocked down, she got back up, learned from her mistakes and persevered.

Throughout our lives, we go through numerous ups and downs, but the difference between a looser and a winner is the number of times one gets back up!  On your race to the top, you just might lose more than you win and that's where leaders are made.  You have to get your cuts and bruises along the way so you grow your armor of steal and not sticks.  You have to learn how to turn the other cheek and persevere even though the odds are stacked against you.

Are you doing the little things that are required for you to do each and everyday to reach your goal?

For more about Rebecca Uson Real Estate visit: www.rebeccauson.com

Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions!

I encountered a very interesting teachable moment today.  Today, I learned about Hyper Local.  Depending on your age, you may already know what Hyper Local is, or you may not!  When I first heard about Hyper Local, I thought it was a website, but quickly learned through my questioning on this phenomenon, that it's not a website at all!  It's actually "Creating online content for local niche neighborhoods. It's name stems from the fact that most information is found in broad spectrums (city names, zip codes) and when one become intimate with facts about certain neighborhoods it becomes personal. Those who know this and utilize it know the areas they work better than others and become experts about said local communities". (Thank you, www.linkedin.com/in/jeremymullens, for that definition.)

My aha moment came when I received that definition from my instructor, Jeremy and it got me thinking.  If I had not been curious, I never would have known what in the world Hyper Local "really" is.  I would have only known what "I" made up in my head.  So it made me wonder how many times my clients think they know what I'm talking about, but really don't!  That's scary!  My clients are about to make possibly their largest investment in their life and they really might not even know all of the details that are so important to their success.

Rebecca's Life Lesson for today is, if you're not sure what something really is, you really should ask for clarification.  In this day and age, there are so many variables, words and phrases that come about daily and if you don't have a clear understanding of something, you could make a very costly mistake.  I have to admit, when I was corrected I was a little embarrassed, but had I not have asked, I would have wasted a ton of time trying to navigate on my own.  So, don't ever be afraid to ask your Real Estate Agent any question you feel you need to ask.  I have been asked a million different questions throughout my career.  Sometimes I know what someone is going to ask before they even ask it and other times I am a little taken back by some of the questions, but none the less, they are all valid and important questions that are to be taken seriously.  If you are working with a great agent, he/she will not mind answering every single one of them!

With that, Happy Home Shopping and Selling from your Realtor For Life!

For more information on Rebecca Uson Real Estate, visit www.rebeccauson.com