3 Tips on Real Estate You Can Use Today Whether you are selling your house or looking around to buy one, here are some few simple tips that you might want to keep in mind. Some of these tips are conventional, some are a bit odd, but they are all sure to help you whether you are buying or selling real estate in any town.
Tip 1: For Those Who Are Selling - The Details Count If you are going to sell your house, remember that the little details count. Don't forget to wash the windows, trim the bushes (if you have any), mow the lawn and change the welcome mats. Inside, arrange the closets, de clutter rooms, and make sure that the house is spotless. Clean the toilet and hide all the fantasy killing labor tools (toilet scrubs, and the like). Check your medicine cabinet and hide all your prescription medication. Trust me, you don't want them to know what's in the cabinet. Yes, it takes a little bit of time and a lot of elbow grease, but trust me, it will be worth it in the end.
Tip 2: Buy a property near a Starbucks You read it right. A good cup of coffee can be a great indicator that a neighborhood that is undergoing gentrification – a fancy term that means rising house prices. As odd as this may seem, this is actually backed up by research. The huge real estate business that goes by the name of Zillow looked through a decade’s worth of data on home prices versus Starbucks locations, and found out that there is a tight correlation.
Research shows that in the last 17 years, the average American home has appreciated 65%. But properties adjacent to a Starbucks have appreciated 96%. Guess you better keep that in mind when you speak to a realtor. To make sure that the data is not just coincidence, they also checked houses near the popular donut shop Dunkin Donuts and found out that Starbucks is really different. I guess donuts are not as a great indicator of a good neighborhood as coffee is.
Tip 3: If you are looking into buying, buy a house outside of the hip new neighborhood. If you find yourself falling hard for a specific neighborhood that has a lot of cafe’s, restaurants, parks, and a shopping mall – do yourself a favor and don't buy a house there. Go out and get yourself a house in the next neighborhood over. The price will not be anywhere nearly as expensive, and you still get the halo effect of the gentrification. This halo effect and has been shown to work in a lot of cities in the US.