Prospective Businesses For Your Town

How to sell your home in a hot market for buyers

The home next door is in foreclosure. The neighbors down the street just put their house up for sale at a ridiculous discount. "For Sale" signs litter lawns all over town.

Welcome to the toughest selling conditions in years.

The bright side is you get to seek your own bargain if you're going to buy after you're done. Closing a sale, however, can be teeth-grindingly slow if you don't do everything right — maybe even if you do.

"It's probably the worst time you could find to sell a house since the late '70s or early '80s," says Loren Keim, professor of real estate at Lehigh University.

The best tips for selling underscore how the market has changed:

PRICE AGGRESSIVELY

Even if you're fully aware that prices have plummeted, it can come as a shock when a real estate agent advises you to slap a low-low price on your house.

The reality is that only 4 percent to 10 percent of houses on the market nationwide sell in a given month right now, according to Keim. A typical selling time the last two years has been eight to 10 weeks. But that makes selling sound easier than it is, because it doesn't factor in all the houses that never sold, or were pulled off the market and later relisted.

With that in mind, Keim says you need to ask for at least 1 percent less than competing houses.

Holding out for a higher price generally doesn't work well in this market, either. Among homes that took at least four months to sell, nearly half the owners accepted less than 90 percent of their asking price, according to the National Association of Realtors — many far less.

Days on the market can be a helpful statistic. Available through most multiple listing services, it shows the average time it takes to sell a home. The specific sales data can provide valuable insight. When reviewing comparable houses, it will become clear which prices led to fast sales and which were set too high.

STAGE LIKE A PRO

You may not be able to compete with the price of houses in foreclosure or with short sales. But you can outshine them when it comes to the condition and appearance of your house.

It can be an intense period of planting flowers, painting and depersonalizing the house so buyers can envision themselves living there. Getting rid of clutter and rearranging rooms to highlight the best features also are essential.

What's new this year is that many sellers are willing to go beyond the basics of staging to make physical upgrades.

How to Travel Cheap - Travel Deals :: Travel

Most of us are buttoning down the hatches when it comes to our travel budgets. You might well say, “Travel is a luxury, one I can’t afford this year!” This dismal economy opens the door wide to the nay-sayers, who quickly and determinedly shut out this enjoyable prospect. The ones walking the fence are the ‘travel gypsies’, who just can’t get enough of exploring new and different places. If this phrase describes you, you’re absolutely itching to take a trip, but can’t see how you can do it. The answer? Travel cheap! Here, we offer some strategies that allow you to have your cake and eat it too – deliciously and cheaply.

When you aspire to a travel cheap itinerary, be prepared to spend some time planning your trip, implementing a budget and saving towards your upcoming trip on a monthly, or even weekly basis.

Let’s say you want to spend your two week’s yearly vacation exploring New Zealand. How much does it cost now to fly to New Zealand? Of course, you’ve got to realize that prices may go up or come down by the time you’re ready to book your flight. Nevertheless, you can approximate a ballpark figure today. Scour the travel search engines now, looking for today’s best prices. Subscribe to every travel newsletter, particularly those with a Down Under focus. You’ll come up with a reasonable average dollar cost for your flight. Put the highest average dollar figure into a spreadsheet and go with that. This way, your travel cheap plan won’t be disappointing – in fact, you may come out ahead, with some extra dollars for shopping and sightseeing.

When you want to travel cheap and maximize those vacation dollars, don’t neglect to experiment with different departure, return dates and airports for the best price. You’ll get the best rates on the ‘red-eye’ flights and so-called ‘unpopular’ travel days, such as midweek flights.

If your goal is to travel cheap, you’ll certainly want to contemplate combining work with pleasure. In our sample case of travel to New Zealand, what sort of exploration might be used as a business write off? Real estate, imports for a business venture, or research which may be used to generate income upon your return home are all legitimate business expenses. Maybe you’ll investigate unusual accommodations available and write a book. Brainstorm and see what can enhance your business, or a prospective business. Being able to write off some of your travel expenses goes hand in glove with a travel cheap itinerary.

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Selling Your Business For Dummies