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How to Sell Your Home Now

How to Sell Your Home Now

Everything has changed in the real estate world, seemingly overnight. The incredibly hot market of the past couple years has taken a hit as the coronavirus has made its way across the country, and the world. But homes are still selling. Not with the same frequency, but people still have to have to sell. 

If you’re one of them, and considering selling your Fort Collins or Loveland home, you’re probably wondering what to do right now—especially since in-person home tours aren’t happening. These tips will help you get your home to stand out and get it sold even when others aren’t moving.

Spring for enhanced virtual tools

It might cost you a little more, but creating a virtual experience for your home is as close as you can get right now to showing buyers what it would be like to walk through the place in person. 

“As we’ve suddenly found ourselves adapting to a new normal, the meaning of home has never meant so much to each and every of us,” Robin Brown of the Brown Home Team at Coldwell Banker Apex Realtors in North Texas, told us. “Our clients rely on us to help them make their move while still finding ways to keep them safe. The use of immersive 3D Virtual Tours and Video Walk Through’s are critical tools to allow home buyers to Shelter AND Home Shop in place.”

Brown’s newest listing in McKinney, TX is a 4,903-square-foot former model home on a corner greenbelt lot, and the residence’s ample proportions, open floorplan, and designer touches come to life on the video tour and 3D walk through.”

Paint a picture

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes it’s the words that move you. Brown’s McKinney listing also includes a detailed note from the sellers of the home in the listing. This gave the sellers an opportunity to talk at length about the features of the home and the memories they made there, and speak to details that buyers might not know about, even if they did an in-person tour. 

Take great photos

Having great listing photos pre-quarantine was important. Now it’s even more so. If you’re willing to have a photographer in your home at this time, your agent should be able to recommend someone who will not only take great shots, but also practice enhanced safety measures in your home. If you’d rather take your own photos, heed these tips to get the best shots you can.

Choose a great agent

This is a challenging time for real estate, but great agents rise to the top. Those who have been in the business a while have weathered cyclical markets. Even though this current situation is new to all of us, it’s more important than ever to work with an agent who is able to adjust to market conditions and find new ways to market property. 

It’s great that your brother’s girlfriend’s next-door neighbor’s cousin twice removed just got his real estate license right before we started the quarantine, but, frankly, this is no time to go with someone brand new. If you’re selling now, you need to be able to depend on the experience, expertise, and network of your agent. 

Listen to your real estate agent

This is no time to go rogue. Your agent has your best interest at heart, and they want to get your house sold just like you do. You may not love the idea of packing up your basement full of Hulk Hogan memorabilia, decluttering your crowded kitchen, or repainting the blood-red walls of your master bedroom, but if your agent tells you to do so, listen. Every tip your agent bestows is intended to make your home more saleable. Keep that in mind when you’re doubting the effort you have to put in or worrying that the paint color your agent recommended isn’t exactly your taste.

Message me if your thinking about selling your Fort Collins or Loveland home at m.me/EdPowersRealEstate

Ed Powers Real Estate 970-690-3113 ed@EdPowersRealEstate.com www.EdPowersRealEstate.com

The Best Ways to Improve Your Air Quality and Ward off the Coronavirus

The coronavirus and its nasty attack on the lungs is on everyone’s minds. And, as we take increasingly careful measures to keep ourselves safe by staying home, many of us are thinking about ways we can improve the air quality within our walls. While there is no evidence that better indoor air quality can aid in the fight against the coronavirus, we know that poor air quality can exacerbate asthma and allergies and potentially worsen the conditions for people afflicted with the coronavirus. And, “Air pollution can boost levels of inflammation in the lungs, making patients more vulnerable to other infections,” said Cleveland.com.

Here are several things you can do to improve the air quality in your home now.

Change your air filters

Do you change the air filters in your home every 30 days? That’s what many filter companies recommend. If it’s been a while, go ahead and order yourself some filters. And get the good ones. 

“Quality air filters improve your indoor air by eliminating more contaminant particles like pollutants and allergens, as well as keeping dust build-up down; more than standard filters can,” said HVAC.com. “A good quality air filter can also improve the efficiency of your HVAC equipment through contaminant reduction.”

Get an air purifier

“Air purifiers usually consist of a filter, or multiple filters, and a fan that sucks in and circulates air,” said Good Housekeeping. “As air moves through the filter, pollutants and particles are captured and the clean air is pushed back out into the living space.”

There are other reasons to consider air purifiers. “Beyond respiratory concerns, there’s also growing evidence that simple in-room purifiers can clean air enough to boost cognitive development and academic performance,” said Curbed. “A remarkable study was conducted in LA after the Aliso Canyon methane gas leak, where plug-in air purifiers were installed in businesses and schools within a five-mile radius of the gas facility as part of the mitigation process. These were larger, industrial-sized units that run about $700, but just adding them to school classrooms improved test scores, the study authors say—the equivalent of cutting class size by a third. This alone seems like an excellent argument for putting at least one purifier in the same room as your child’s brain.”

Get some plants

Certain kinds of plants can help you purify the air and lower your stress level. According to NASA’s Clean Air Study, which was designed to find ways to clean the air in sealed space stations, plants can be effective to absorb carbon dioxide, release oxygen into the air, and remove pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene,” said Yahoo. “These chemicals can cause irritation to the skin, ears, eyes, nose, and throat, as well as some cancers, according to the EPA. The study suggests that at least one plant per 100 square feet can effectively clean the air.”

NASA picked several plants for their detoxification qualities, including: The snake plant, which can “release oxygen at night;” peace lily, which “produces fragrant flowers all summer long, and effectively removes ammonia, formaldehyde, trichlorobenzene, and benzene from the air;” bamboo palm, a “fast-growing houseplant” that will “add moisture to the air in the dry winter months and… thrives in indirect sunlight;” and parlor palm, which is “perfect for new plant parents” because it “requires minimal maintenance.”

Get a salt lamp

Not only do they bring a bit of sparkle and nature into your space, but Himalayan salt lamps are also thought to potentially have healing properties. “Combined with a light source inside the lamps, the chunks of salt produce negative ions, which yield positive effects on indoor air,” said The Jerusalem Post. “Placing a Himalayan salt lamp in every room of the home can reap several health and environmental benefits.”

Keep the house clean

“Vacuuming and dusting and cleaning surfaces more regularly to remove dust, particulates and other lung irritants, as well as prevent the spread of coronavirus,” said Cleveland.com.

Message me if your thinking about selling your Fort Collins or Loveland home at m.me/EdPowersRealEstate

Ed Powers Real Estate 970-690-3113 ed@EdPowersRealEstate.com www.EdPowersRealEstate.com