Should Your Real Estate Agent Hold an Open House?
Open House Blog Revised February 2018
The JS Realty Team @ Samson Properties believes that an Open House can add value when helping our clients sell their home. Our goal is to sell the home for top dollar in the shortest amount of time possible. From increased traffic to providing additional feedback, Open Houses are an integral part of our marketing plan.
MORE TRAFFIC = MORE POTENTIAL BUYERS
Open houses bring people through your front door. Yes, some of those visitors will be people “just looking”, who have no intention of buying a home at the moment. However, they have friends, relatives, and co-workers that they might mention the home to. Open Houses also attract Buyers that are just starting out on their home search. A lot of new buyers like to get a feel for the area and what type of home they can afford by attending an Open House. A National Association of Realtors study revealed that 45% of home buyers used Open Houses as a source for information. Your open house may even convert one of those people who are “just looking” into an urgent Buyer if they really like what they see. The fact is – the more people that come through your home, the better chance you have to sell it.
FEEDBACK
Open Houses provide great feedback to the listing Agent and the Seller. Whether it’s a neighbor or a potential Buyer, an experienced Agent is going to try to get as much feedback about the home as possible from the visitors. The kitchen may be updated but the bathrooms are smaller than the house a few doors down. Your yard is landscaped and well cared for, but the house across the street hasn’t seen a mower all season. Maybe last month 3 new families moved in, all with young children. This is the kind of additional feedback on the home and neighborhood that could possibly be helpful to the listing Agent and Seller. This is a great way to gauge the markets response to a home for sale.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
There is a segment of the population that likes doing things “the old fashioned way.” They go out on Sundays and check out the homes in neighborhoods they are interested in. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to see a home exclusively online. Some people actually want to get out and see it for themselves, on their own. Pictures and virtual tours can only tell you so much. Viewing space, layouts, and getting an overall “feel” for the home is an important part of the buying process.
LIVING IN A SHOWROOM
Having your home on the market and keeping it ready for showings is not easy. You can possibly reduce the number of individual showings by holding an Open House. Your potential buyer might visit your home and therefore not need to schedule a private showing. This will mean one less appointment you would have to get ready for!
MARKETING TOOL
Holding an Open House can also be used successfully as a marketing tool. In today’s fast paced market Sellers need to use every tool available to them to get the best possible price for their home. And Open Houses are definitely one of the best tools at your disposal!
If you’re looking to buy or sell a home, Scott Koval and the JS Realty Team can help you find the best solution to your real estate needs! Contact Scott online or by calling 703-625-3446.
This is arguably the single most important step. Your Agent needs to know the market and neighborhood very well. You’ll want to hire an Agent with a lot of experience, but in this industry, experience doesn’t equal years in business. What you want to look for is the number of transactions. Finding an Agent that has sold a lot of homes shows you that the agent is successful in selling homes and knows how to negotiate for you. Transaction Experience is the best way for an Agent to learn negotiating skills. Your Agent should also have an extensive marketing plan that includes professional photos, a virtual tour, social media platforms, and a strong web presence. Another important element of a strong listing Agent is monitoring feedback and communicating with you – the Seller.
If you over price your home, you will reduce the number of showings with qualified, serious buyers – because they will know the neighborhood and market. Serious Buyers will have been tracking your neighborhood and today’s Buyers are in tune with the market value. We have heard Sellers say “Let’s just try this price and see what happens”. That strategy does not work well because the first two weeks the home is on the market is when the most buzz and excitement for the new listing is happening. If the Seller has overpriced the home, Buyers will look elsewhere and your listing will lose out on the initial enthusiasm. If the Seller stays overpriced for too long, then the listing becomes “stale” and that tends to encourage low ball offers.
The old adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” is very apropos when selling your home. Make sure the front yard, front door, and surrounding area is in top condition. As the Buyer approaches your home and are waiting to get in, they are feeling their first impressions, so make it shine! If you are going to upgrade, concentrate on kitchens, baths, floors, and walls. These will give you the most bang for your buck. Inexpensive fixes like paint, replacing old drapes, replacing door handles, kitchen and bath hardware, light fixtures, and leaky, rusty faucets can go a long way on a tight budget. For more ideas on sprucing up your home check out 
It seems like everyone these days has a crazy, busy schedule. It can be difficult, but if you make your home available for showings and try not to limit the showing times, that can go a long way towards finding the right Buyer and the right price! The key to getting a great contract is to have as many people as possible seeing your home. If you miss out on a Buyer because of restricted showing times, you could have missed your best offer.
With over $200 million in sales, the 
She had a good grasp on what needed to be done and we were able to give her some additional ideas that we know will help the home show its best.
At this point, Anne was very pleased with our advice and marketing plan, so we moved on to explain the “Exclusive Right to List” listing agreement. This contract between the JS Realty Team and the seller gives us the right to sell their home and represent them. The very next day, Anne signed on with us and became a client of The JS Realty Team @ Samson Properties.
Once the home was ready, we brought in our professional photographer to take still shots and a moving Virtual Tour of the home and neighborhood amenities. When we received the images from the photographer, we set out to build the listing, web sites, take room measurements, film a YouTube video, and create brochures, then roll out our extensive social media campaign. And that’s just part of the many facets of our marketing program. We suggested that the home “go live” on the market on a Thursday evening, so when Realtors and buyers who were searching for homes in Anne’s neighborhood woke up Friday morning, our new listing would be live and complete for them to view.
Once the contract is ratified, our job turns to getting the 
Our #1 recommendation is to clean the home you are about to move in to. It is the only time that the home is vacant and ready for a full cleaning. Clean things like cabinets, drawers, corners of closets, window, lights, etc. Most homes are cleaned before you move in – but if not, make sure you take a couple hours to put the elbow grease in before you pile all of your things in the home.
Pack a box or bag of essentials that you will need the next few days after the move. Things to include: a few changes of clothes, kitchen utensils, towels, sheets, a can opener, electronic and phone chargers… anything you might need for a few days while everything else you own in still in a box! The last thing you want to do is dig through a dozen boxes to find these little essentials. Also, keep a folder handy that has your most important papers in it, so it is easily accessible in the event you needed to get to them quickly (this helps keeps them safe, too).
family or friends. Remember to label your boxes clearly. Packing and labeling them by room is a great start, and label boxes on their sides, as you will most likely be stacking them. It also helps to make a list of what is in each box if you are considering storing your boxes after moving.
Earlier this month the JS Realty Team at Samson Properties provided a 
the previous year and units sold are also up +16.88%. The percentages are obviously not as large when compared to Brambleton, but keep in mind we are looking at Loudoun County as a whole, not just one of its most popular subdivisions. When you compare average days on the market in Loudoun County to the previous year you will see a modest increase from 58 in 2014 to 81 in 2015. This can be mostly attributed to the increase in inventory from the year before – classic “supply and demand”. Overall, similar to Brambleton, the whole county is experiencing a market that is on the move in a positive way.
We expect this positive market to continue for the foreseeable future. The JS Realty Team has stayed busy helping our clients achieve their goals through the buying and selling of homes. It has been a great year so far and we look forward to helping even more of our clients in the remainder of 2015.
What does “Short Sale” really mean?
Option 2 – Sell Short. This option requires you to ask the Lender if they would be willing to allow you to sell your property as a short sale and forgive you the amount you owe, plus closing cost.
You make an offer on your dream home and within your offer there are several areas that you fill in that reference the word “contingency” – what does this mean, and why is it important?
you are allowed to void the contract and receive your 
From the Seller’s prospective all of the contingencies are a risk, and if you make the contingencies too long or to aggressive, you risk turning the Seller off in regards to your offer. Most Sellers are looking for short timelines and to secure the strongest offer they can get. So the bottom line is, keep your contingencies to a reasonable and attainable limit, protect yourself, but also help instill confidence and security within your offer to the Seller.
BUYER TIP