Highlands County Talk

head_left_image

Highlands County Florida - Update on Hurricane Fay

 

Highlands County Real Estate Agent When we left the house this morning, it drizzled a bit and we had some moderate wind. Just to be on the safe side, we picked up lunch at Winn Dixie to avoid having to head out later on. As schools are closed today, we brought our daugther along. LOL, we're the only agents in the office today!
The wind and rain did pick up quite a bit around 10 am and we've been through a couple of heavy rain bands since then. Lake Jackson, across the street from our office, shows white crowned waves - should I have brought a surf board? It was expected that Sebring would get the worst side of the hurricane but if this is as bad as it is going to get, we'll be fine!
Highlands County Real Estate Agent Highlands County Real Estate Agent

Copyright Darrin & Andrea Mills 2008 "Highlands County Real Estate - Hurricane Fay UPDATE"
If you are looking for reliable agents to help you sell your home in Highlands County, just give us a buzz 863.202.0729 or email us: andrea@millsrealestate.net

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

 

1 comment • Andrea & Darrin Mills YourHighlandsCountyRealtors 863-202-0729 • August 19 2008 10:52AM

Highlands County Real Estate - Hurricane Fay is on the way!!!

 

 

As Hurricane Fay appears to be closing in on Florida, with Highlands County receiving the bad side of the storm if the forecast is not going to change once again, we are calling our absentee owners today to let them know we will remove all signage and make sure flower pots, trashcans etc. will be stored inside the homes.

The forecast this morning had Hurricane Fay make landfall as a Category1 somewhere in the Naples area. Actually, this varies, depending on which news channel one watches. To us folks in Highlands County it probably won't make much difference; we're gonna get a lot of  rain either way.
We do not  have accurate information about neighboring counties, but schools in Highlands County will be closed  tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19, 2008. I have posted a complete list of Hurricane Shelters in Highlands County earlier this summer. Following is a list of  radio stations for the area:

FM
Spirit FM 90.5
The New Magic 94-9
97 Country, WPCV
98.3 The Rose, WWRZ
101.5 The Point
102.5 The Bone
105.5 The Dove
107.3 The Eagle

AM
WONN AM 1230
TALK 1430, WLKF
SUPER Q 1300, WQBN (spanish language translation)

Copyright Darrin & Andrea Mills 2008 "Highlands County Real Estate - Hurricane Fay is on the way"
If you are looking for reliable agents to help you sell your home in Highlands County, just give us a buzz 863.202.0729 or email us: andrea@millsrealestate.net

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

 

4 comments • Andrea & Darrin Mills YourHighlandsCountyRealtors 863-202-0729 • August 18 2008 07:42AM

Highlands County Real Estate - Dealing with Messy Vacant Homes

 

Highlands County Real Estate Agent We recently listed 5 newer homes (2007) in the same neighborhood. The homes are very nice; crown moldings, granite counter tops, custom tiled, cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances, professional landscaping installed, thermopane windows, cathedral ceilings etc. - you get the picture. All are tenant occupied. We finally got access to the last two properties yesterday after they were vacated by the tenants. Oh lord! Crayon marks, food splatters and greasy finger prints allover the walls, the bath tub was beyond belief! No, it's not the one in the photo. That one is relatively clean compared to what we saw!
Towel holder and toilet tissue holder were ripped out of the wall, the walk in shower was covered in soap scum and a yellowing slime. The sliding glass door leading onto the patio was opened and we found stray cats living in the guest bathroom. The window screens are pretty much distroyed. The windows are so dirty it looks like it's an over cast day when looking into the backyard. The garage holds  a couple of decomposing garbage bags (electricity is turned off). At the front door the visitor is greeted by curdled baby formula in bottles, sitting in a red dish drying rack. CDs, tennis rack, toys and "stuff" was scattered allover the yard, the grass a few feet tall.
This property can't be shown to potential buyers in its current condition. Today, we got estimates for painting and general fix ups from a local repair man. Hopefully, we'll be able to hold an Open House within a week or so.

Another issue with vacant homes is vandalism. The open sliding glass doors and destroyed window screens along with a bundle of crumbled and charred newspaper are very likely the result of someone trying to break into the home. They removed the screens to find unlocked windows. They got lucky when they tried the sliding glass door, which appearantly wasn't locked. The home owner was lucky none of the appliances were stolen. We will now install a timer for some of the lights and ask some of the neighbors to park their car in the vacant home's driveway.
 

Copyright Darrin & Andrea Mills 2008 "Highlands County Real Estate - Dealing with messy vacant homes"
If you are looking for reliable agents to help you sell your tenant occupied home in Highlands County, just give us a buzz 863.202.0729 or email us: andrea@millsrealestate.net

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

 

0 comments • Andrea & Darrin Mills YourHighlandsCountyRealtors 863-202-0729 • August 12 2008 08:46AM

How Do You Hold An Open House? Getting people to show up...

 

Highlands County Real Estate Agent

How to get people to show up...

I've held plenty of Open Houses for my own listings as well as for other agents. I'll never forget the first Open House; boy, was I nervous. The listing agent had put an ad in the paper and she handed me two directional signs, saying "If you sell it, you get 25%". I was soooo excited! When I arrived, I found a stack of her cards on the dining table and that was it. No brochures, no candy dish, no refreshments, nothing. Nobody showed up.

Some listings aren't suitable for Open Houses but if they are - I actually sit down and start planning. I try to come up with a theme for each Open House (ideally this is also the theme I'm using to advertise the listing aside from the Open House). Many agents in my area say "Open Houses just don't work in Highlands County" and this is true to a certain extend. Some areas are too "rural" to draw enough people. However, there are areas with plenty of garage sales on weekends, areas where people take walks, ride their bikes.

Next weekend we'll hold an Open House for one of our converted FSBO's. The home is vacant, has never been lived in.
Darrin has identified 90 +/- potential buyers in the neighborhood. They will receive a written invitation, hand signed and hand addressed. Because they neighborhood is casual, the invitation reads something like this: Open House, Date, Time, "We have refreshments for YOU and we'd love to have YOU to stop by!" We print 4 of these one a page of textured paper with 4 directional maps on the backside. We use a precision cutter to cut the page into 4 sections. Each invitation is glued into a 
5x8 blank card with our business card attached. We address them by hand. We want the invitations to appear personal, so they get opened. We make sure to invite all FSBO's in the neighborhood to make sure they know what we do in order to market a property.

We do not place ads in the paper. Nobody reads the paper to search for Open Houses. We use as many directionals as possible. It might look tacky but we use plenty of balloons and streamers for the signs. After all, the signs are supposed to get attention. 

We send the seller an invitation along with a map showing where we have placed directionals and which neighborhoods we have targeted with invitations. We want the sellers to know what we do and why.

80% of our Open House visitors come because they received an invitation. 20% follow the directionals. I've had one guy tell me "I'm not even thinking about buying but I couldn't escape your directionals!"

How do you advertise your Open Houses? I realize that every market is different and what works for us might not work for you....
So, let's hear it:

Copyright Darrin & Andrea Mills 2008 "How Do You Hold Open House?"
If you would like to hold an Open House for you, just give us a buzz 863.514.3861 or email us:
andrea@millsrealestate.net

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

 

18 comments • Andrea & Darrin Mills YourHighlandsCountyRealtors 863-202-0729 • August 03 2008 06:49PM

For Sale By Owner - #3 Understanding Buyers

 

Buyers aren’t always buyers..

...that is one of the first things I learned as a Realtor®. Just because someone is interested in a house for sale doesn’t mean they are ready to buy. Buyers will take their time shopping around. After all, the purchase of a home is most likely the largest purchase they’ll ever make.

There are three categories of buyers:
1. Ready to buy NOW
2. Wanting to buy at some point
3. Just looking

 

 for sale by owner

Save yourself time and frustration by qualifying your buyers. Ask them if they are willing to make an offer if your home meets all their criteria. If they hesitate, don’t waste your time.You will likely not hear from them again after you have taken the time to let them tour your home.
Once you have a buyer ready to purchase, you should make sure that buyer can afford your home. Will the buyer pay cash or finance? What kind of financing are you willing to accept?
Are there contingencies?
for sale by owner

I work with local lenders that will run the buyers through a prequalification process and I will know within an hour or so how much home the buyer would qualify for. However, in today’s mortgage market it is best to have a buyer pre-approved as opposed to prequalified. A cash buyer, of course, beats any kind of financing.
Even then, you want to make sure your buyer actually has the cash
required to purchase your home.

 

Once you are certain your buyer is willing and financially able to purchase, make sure they fill out a registration form, such as the one I have included for your convenience. Keep in mind that you are letting complete strangers into your home—at least know their name and address. This will later on come in handy when you do your follow up calls.

Let the buyer explore the home themselves. They know that the kitchen is the kitchen. Point out improvements you have made insteadof telling them the obvious.

Have your home owner’s disclosure, legal description and any other required disclosures ready. Be prepared to answer questions about taxes, room sizes and the school
district description ready. I prefer to assemble all this information along with many color photographs in a professional looking folder for the buyers to take home. Also included should be a list with websites where your home can be viewed online.

Leave the buyers enough space to freely walk around. Answer all questions they might have and give them the opportunity to consult with each other in private.

Don’t take it personally if the buyers decide your home is not what they were looking for or if they require time to think it over. It is often hard to be objective when it comes to YOUR home. However, the last thing you want to do is scare buyers away.


Follow up

Give all buyers that have viewed your home a follow up call and if it is just to thank them for taking the time to stop by. This is a great way to build rapport.

I hope I could give you some tips on deal with buyers.

Copyright Darrin & Andrea Mills 2008 "For Sale By Owner - Understanding Buyers"
If you need help selling your property, we'll be more than happy to assist you.
andrea@millsrealestate.net

Also read:

#1 The Right Price
#2 Where are your buyers coming from?

Andrea Mills - "For Sale By Owner - #3 Understanding Buyers" Copyright 2008 *All Rights Reserved

This article was originally posted on http://sebring.activerain.com/

 

1 comment • Andrea & Darrin Mills YourHighlandsCountyRealtors 863-202-0729 • August 03 2008 04:44PM