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Finally! The Move-Up Home Buyer Help You’ve Been Looking for In Wake County

Are you a current resident living in Wake County who wants to list your current home on the market and move to your brand new home?

If so, then you’re sure to find today’s Wake County real estate blog particularly relevant.

We recently added several pages to our website that are all aimed at making the move-up home buying experience as seamless as possible for you.

Move-Up Home Buying Questions You Should Ask

When people have outgrown their present Wake County home and need a larger one, there are many moving parts to selling and buying at the same time and a lot of unknowns which cause great stress for homeowners.

Timing a sale and purchase within a desired budget has many pieces of the puzzle to put together for a smooth and joyful move.  In this type of move, the difference between success and disaster is experience, knowledge and executing a well thought out plan.

To begin this plan start by gathering critical information.  Here are questions that every move-up buyer needs to ask:.

  • How much will my present home sell for?
  • What will I realistically net from my sale, which I can use for the new purchase?
  • What do I need to do to my home to prepare it to sell for the highest price and what will this cost?

Discover more questions that you should be asking as a home buyer by clicking here.

Buy First or Sell First? How to Decide

One way families can reduce the stress and relax a little more in their decision making process is to find the perfect home to buy before they sell their existing home.

To begin exploring if this is a realistic option for you, we must answer two questions.

  1. Am I in a financial position that would allow me to buy before I sell my present home?
  2. Must I sell my current home to be relieved of the debt and expense first?

Learn more about other factors you should consider when deciding whether to buy or sell first by clicking here.

The Questions You Should and Should Not Ask Potential Real Estate Representatives

Checklist

On the Internet, you will find plenty of recommendations on what kind of questions you as a home seller should ask a Realtor during a listing interview. As someone who has sold over 6,000 homes, I personally believe every seller asks the wrong questions.

I’ll tell you about why certain questions like “How many years have you had a real estate license?” are ineffectual.  And I’ll also tell you about the two most important questions you can ask prospective real estate representatives.

Learn more by clicking here.

Create a 7-Step Action Plan as a Move-Up Buyer

Every home buyer needs a plan to prepare for a successful outcome on the local housing market.  By clicking here, you’ll find my time-proven method for effectively navigating the Wake County real estate market as a move-up home buyer.

Your Dedicated Wake County Real Estate Experts

For all of your real estate needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Linda Craft & Team.  We have years of experience on the local housing market effectively representing buyers and sellers just like you and we’d love the opportunity to assist you as well!

Until next time,

Linda

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Wake County Real Estate Market Update That Sellers Should Know!

Wake County real estate newsThis past winter has been certainly trying on the Wake County real estate market! Because of the brutal – and lengthy – winter season, not as many home buyers were navigating the market. This impacted local home owners trying to sell their property.

Despite that, however, our incredible team of real estate experts was able to hit the 100 mark for closed and under contract properties for 2014.

And we’re feeling even more optimistic about home sales activity during the spring months.

Today, I’m going to tell you about recent activity we’ve seen on the Triangle real estate market.

Home Sales in Wake County, NC

Here’s an overview of the current state of the market, in Wake County, based on the most recent market data:

  • Homes priced $400,000 and below in North Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Inside the Beltline are selling very fast and often receiving multiple offers when in outstanding showing condition.
  • We believe this is caused by a shortage of supply in this price range, which is leading to prices rising. After all, this is the whole concept of supply and demand at work.
  • Homes priced at $400,000 and below in other areas are much slower, although even those other areas are picking up. Prices are stable.
  • Homes priced between $400,000 and $600,000 in North Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Inside the Beltline that are updated/move-in ready have sold in an average of 54 days.
  • Sales outside this area are very slow. Even with a flawless house you can expect 100 days plus and a little more negotiation.
  • The market average for sold homes on the market is 95 percent of the list price. But those homes that are listed by Linda Craft & Team have sold at 98% of asking price.
  • Homes $600,000 and above are still struggling everywhere. Although the luxury market has picked up, there is still an 8 to 20 month supply of housing in this price range.
  • This kind of housing inventory suggests a buyer’s market. And homes in this price range are competing with new construction and updated homes for home buyer attention.
  • Generally speaking, those homes that are selling fastest in the luxury home market area are completely updated and look brand new or they have a special feature such as water view. For instance, I just sold a $1,450,000 house on a golf and lake lot in 27 days.

Helping You Navigate the Wake County Real Estate Market in All Conditions

The bottom line is that regardless of where your house is located or at what price range, the market continues to improve.

Thus, it’s only a matter of time before you are able to sell your home as well.

Still, you’ll probably have the greatest luck on the local housing market if you’re working with an experienced real estate expert like me, Linda Craft. So contact me today to discover how I might be able to help you!

All the best,

Linda

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The Home Buying and Home Selling Puzzle: The Final Steps

If you’ve read our last blog about home buying and home selling, you understand that the process takes time and planning. The first steps are primarily focused on financial information. The following steps, however, focus on getting your home ready for the market.

Professionally Staging Your Raleigh Home

Emotion plays a powerful role in the home buying process. To bring in the buyers, we can recommend a professional home stager to create a strong sense of home. This means straightening up the house, getting rid of clutter, re-painting and decorating, to name a few.

Inspecting and Appraising Your Raleigh, NC Home

A pre-inspection by a licensed home inspector can alert you to potentially pricy home repairs. This is good to do early, so you don’t have a major expense at the last minute. Additionally, if your home happens to be especially unique, you might want to get it pre-appraised. We can negotiate a low cost pre-appraisal, which will be reimbursed at closing. This step can help protect your budget as you look to buy a new home.

Focus on the Sell Before Buying A New Home

If your budget requires you to sell your current home before buying another, you should probably put more of an effort in the home selling process. You don’t want to fall in love with a house you can’t buy right away. Focus on getting the most out of your current home, and then looking for a new place to live. It is never a good idea to buy a home before you have a contract on your current home.

Have a Back-Up Plan

If you have a tricky home buying and home selling situation, it’s a good idea to have a plan to fall back on. Be sure to set up a consultation with one of our agents. We can provide you with plenty of information and back up plans that come with home buying and home selling.

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Triangle North Carolina Real Estate

Welcome to the Triangle area of North Carolina! Living here is truly like no other experience; not only does the Triangle boast large cities, such as Chapel Hill, Durham, Cary and  Raleigh, but the many small towns, such as Garner, the home of American Idol winner Scotty McCreery, provide the cozy feeling of relaxed, down home living while every amenity, entertainment and business is located only moments from your door. The Triangle, NC region is known nationally as one of the best placed to live. These  qualities make buying Triangle area homes so desirable.

Continue reading “Triangle North Carolina Real Estate”

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Foreclosures And The Affect On Children

Children are often overlooked and a silent issue during tough economic times.  This doesn’t mean that they are not still there, or that they do not need our help and attention.  Many of us on the team are parents ourselves and unfortunately see many families, even here in the Greater Raleigh Area, who have had to move out of their home due to unforseen financial difficulties.

Rececently  Julia Isaacs of the Brookings Institute for the Organization First Focus wrote an interesting article titled The Ongoing Impact of Foreclosures on Children. In the report, Ms. Isaacs quantified the number of children that have been impacted Continue reading “Foreclosures And The Affect On Children”

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Raleigh Ranked #1 Best Place To Live by Bloomberg

Congratulations to Raleigh, North Carolina!

 

Bloomberg announced today that Raleigh topped the list for the best places to live in the US.   We could not agree more and believe that is why so many people relocate to the Greater Raleigh area.  If you are interested in learning more about why Raleigh is so special be sure to check out our Raleigh Area and Raleigh Relocation pages on our real estate website.