Survey: Sellers Fare Better With Agents

Sellers have a better chance at getting their house sold by using a REALTOR® than opting for the do-it-yourself approach, according to a survey of 1,000 home owners by HomeGain.com, an online real estate resource. Nearly 60 percent of home owners who used a REALTOR® to sell their home were successful compared to 39 percent of FSBOs (For Sale By Owners), the survey found.
In the survey, 83 percent of home owners said they used a REALTOR® to sell their home, whereas 17 percent said they tried to sell it themselves. This corresponds to results from NAR's 2010 Profile of Buyers & Sellers, which found 88 percent of sellers were assisted by a real estate agent. (Additionally, 83 percent of buyers bought their home through an agent.)
“It is especially striking that home owners fare significantly better in selling their homes using a REALTOR®  than selling on their own,” says Louis Cammarosano, general manager at HomeGain. “Due to that relative success, the level of satisfaction in the home selling process is also higher for home sellers utilizing the services of a REALTOR® than those who try to sell their homes on their own.”
Among the findings in its For Sale by Owner vs. REALTOR® survey:

• 88 percent of home owners who sold their homes using a REALTOR® said they would use a REALTOR® again.
• 24 percent of FSBOs eventually contacted a REALTOR® to help sell their home.

Source: “HomeGain Survey Finds Home Sellers Fare 50% Better in Getting Their Homes Sold Using a REALTOR® Than Selling on Their Own,” HomeGain.com (Feb. 24, 2011)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring is for Cleaning but the end of Winter is for organizing!

Most of us put off organizational purges for the Spring but as I see it I think this should be done at the end of Winter and I'll tell you why.


* Its Raining/Snowing...or just plain ugly outside, since the weather is bad and your stuck inside why not use this time to start organizing your closets or garage. On a beautiful Spring day do you really want to be stuck indoors lost in your closet or be out enjoying the Spring blooms.
* All those left over storage bins in festive colors will go on clearance in the winter. If you have gift cards left from Christmas think about closet organizer or hey maybe your handy and can make your own, now is a great time to try.
* Purging un-used items for some reason seems easier in the winter, in the summer you can probably find ways to justify. If an item cannot be re-purposed for your own personal use give it to someone who can. There are great places like Freecycle, Craigslist or Goodwill that can give your items a new life without ending up in just another landfill. One good rule to keep in mind, if you haven't use it in 12 months...send it packing.
* If your thinking you want to move in the Spring or Summer this will give you the perfect time to take a moving inventory of everything (if your using a moving company this will be important to have) as well as giving you a final session of purging things you thought you may like to keep but earlier may not be worth the effort of packing and lugging to your new home.
* While were talking about donations now would be a good time to designate a bin just for Donation use year round. So if you come across something you dont need you've now got a box that is easily accecible ready to hold your items neatly.
* Getting organized in the Winter can make your space feel more open giving you a little boost from the Winter Blues. If you also reorganize the furniture in your room this will also give you a little extra burst of happiness.

Tomorrow I'm taking on my own Garage, what will you take on?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~