Success! Another Salisbury Property SOLD! List With Greg Rapp!

This beautiful buff-brick home at 411 St. John's Drive, listed by Greg Rapp/Wallace Realty, just SOLD.

This 2400+ square foot, full brick, custom-built home sits on over an acre of property. One of the greatest features of this spacious and immaculate home is the enormous living room with its gas fireplace that opens to breakfast area, kitchen, and patio.. . perfect for anyone inclined to entertain!  The kitchen fairly gleams with granite countertops and custom cherry cabinets. The breakfast room overlooks the sprawling picturesque back yard & elevated rear patio. The home features hardwood & tile floor throughout.  And most importantly  . . . this home is SOLD!

4 Steps to House-Selling Success

• Step 1: Plan and Prepare to Sell Your House
• Step 2: Get a REALTOR
• Step 3: Set the Price
• Step 4: Market it

 
Step 1:  Plan & Prepare

You want to sell your home . . . but . . .are you ready?

The home-selling process typically starts several months before a property is made available for sale. It's necessary to look at a home through the eyes of a prospective buyer and determine what needs to be cleaned, painted, repaired and tossed out. Ask yourself: If you were buying this home what would you want to see?  The goal is to show a home which looks good, maximizes space and attracts as many buyers ~ and as much demand ~ as possible.

Step 2: Get a REALTOR

Before placing a home on the market you should also identify REALTORS® in your community who can assist with the sale.  There are more than 2 million people nationwide who have licenses to sell real estate, of which about over 1 million members belong to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Only NAR members are entitled to use the term "REALTOR®."  NAR members must adhere to a strict Code of Ethics. By joining NAR, individuals have access to a wide range of classes, seminars and certification opportunities. Local REALTOR® groups are active in community matters, and individual members are routinely involved in municipal, non-profit, and neighborhood organizations.

A local REALTOR® like Greg Rapp is a community expert. He tracks real estate trends, shares neighborhood concerns, and participate in local matters. Like many REALTORS®, he is a good neighbor who enjoys helping others buy and sell homes.

Step 3:  Price!!!

Every reasonable owner wants the best possible price and terms for his or her home. Several factors, including market conditions and interest rates, will determine how much you can get for your home. The idea is to get the maximum price and the best terms during the window of time when your home is being marketed.

All homes have a price, and sometimes more than one. There's the price owners would like to get, the value buyers would like to offer and a point of agreement which can result in a sale.

In considering home values, several factors are important:

• The value of your home relates to local sale prices. The same home, located elsewhere, would likely have a different value.
• Sale prices are a product of supply and demand. It is important to understand if the current market in your area is a buyer's market, where the purchaser has more leverage, or if a seller's market is in place, where sellers have more leverage. It's important to be realistic.
• Owner needs can impact sale values. If an owner "must" sell quickly, that home seller will have less leverage in the marketplace. Buyers may think the owner is willing to close quickly at a lower price -- and they may be right. If you have no incentive to sell quickly, you may have more marketplace strength and can potentially wait for the best offer.
• Sale prices are not based on what owners "need." When an owner says, "I must sell for $400,000 because I need $100,000 in cash to buy my next home," buyers will examine whether $400,000 is a reasonable price for the property. If similar homes in the same community are selling for $290,000, the seller will not be successful.
• Sale prices are NOT the whole deal. Which would you rather have: A sale price of $200,000, or a sale price of $205,000 but where you agree to make a "seller contribution" of $5,000 to offset the buyer's closing costs, pay a $2,000 allowance for repairs, mortgage points, re-painting, and leave the appliances?

An experienced REALTOR® like Greg Rapp is active in the local marketplace and can provide assistance with pricing, marketing, negotiation and closing.  Because he has handled many transactions, he is familiar with the terms and conditions that went into each individual sale, not just published sale prices which may not reflect market conditions, discounts, and adjustments.

Step 4:  Market your home!

With the fluidity in the real estate world, REALTORS® need to craft marketing plans specifically for individual homes and market conditions.  Selling can entail a variety of marketing strategies. Once listed, it's likely your agent will quickly enter it into the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and may market it by mail with new-listing announcements, and regular newsletters. Open houses, broker access to the home via the use of a lock box and networking with both local and out-of-town brokers are also common.  Much of a broker's work will be quiet and unseen -- yet important. The quiet telephone calls, the work with contacts, the follow-ups with open-house visitors, conversations with ad respondents, the web postings and other outreach efforts are all part of the process required to sell homes.

The Internet is an important factor in real estate marketing and will be vital in the future. Greg Rapp, REALTOR® in Salisbury, North Carolina, has one of the best online presences in the local real estate market.  List with Greg, and your property gets marketing opportunities that many agents miss.

Facebook.com ~ Salisbury North Carolina Real Estate

SUCCESS STORY!

If you'd like to be sharing your success story in selling your home ~ call Greg Rapp at (704) 213-6846 ~ especially when you are (1) Ready! (2) Need a REALTOR® (3) Need a price! . . . and (4) Want it marketed!  It's never too late!

It's Time to List Your Property ~ or Buy That House!

If you are considering putting your house or commercial property on the market ~ or thinking about buying that home you’ve been eyeing, now may be the crucial time to make that move! Interest rates are increasing in 2014!

Mortgage rates first spiked in May 2013 after the Fed signaled it was considering pulling back its bond-buying program meant to keep a lid on long-term interest rates. The housing market initially stumbled, but started to recover once the central bank decided against any changes to the stimulus effort throughout the summer and into the fall. Mortgage rates are still at historical lows, but they are already starting to creep upward once again.

The rate on the 30-year fixed loan, the most popular type of mortgage, is more than a percentage point higher than a year ago and at its highest level in more than three months.


The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is at 4.48%, its highest level since mid-September. The interest rate on U.S. Treasurys is also going up. At the end of December 2013, the yield on 10-year notes hit 3%, its highest level since September and the second time this year it has reached that mark. That threshold could signal higher interest rates ahead because it is used as a reference point for the cost of borrowed money for U.S. consumers and businesses. A higher yield can push up mortgage rates.

What does this mean?

It means that borrowing will become more expensive. Many folks have been looking at many, many houses , sometimes over a year before they buy, taking their time while the 30-year mortgage rate has been at historic lows. But when the rate jumped last May, it caught many by surprise. This is your signal to get off the fence! A change in interest rates will also translate to higher mortgage payments but only for people with variable mortgages, since fixed-rate mortgages do not change for the duration of their term.

The Moral of the Story:

If you don’t want to get caught up in spending more to borrow less, now is the time to buy and/or list your home. Call Greg Rapp today at 704.213.6846 to see how he’s moved properties over the past years, doing steady and even increasing business despite a slow economy. Greg can make this happen for you before the rates get unappetizing!