Who Should You Take Real Estate Advice From?

Real estate represents the biggest investment most people will make in their entire lifetime. With that much at stake, don’t take advice from non-experts.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We talk to several different types of people in our business every single day. The one thing that unites them is that they all seem to be taking real estate advice from people who are non-experts. I want you to think for a second and imagine that you’re having a health issue. Say it’s something like chest pains. Who would you be taking advice from regarding those chest pains? Would it be a cardiologist with credentials and experience in dealing with chest pains, or your uncle who once had a heart attack? Obviously, you should take advice from the doctor. The same logic applies to real estate. Even though real estate isn’t a matter of life and death, it’s still a huge investment. In fact, it’s the biggest investment most people will make in their lifetime. Lots of people have not only their money tied up in it, but also their hopes and dreams. The last thing you want to do is get bad real estate advice from someone who has simply bought or sold a home before. Just because that person bought or sold a home once doesn’t mean they know what the best course of action is in your particular situation.

Real estate is a huge investment, so you should only get advice from an expert.

Who should you be getting your real estate advice from? You should get it from a trusted real estate agent in the area. That’s exactly who we are. We’ve handled hundreds of transactions over the years here in the DFW area, and we’ve seen every possible scenario you can think of. We know the marketplace and we have a working knowledge of many different lenders, title companies, and other agencies. It’s our duty to look out for your best interests, so talk to us first before you start shopping for homes or putting your own on the market. If you have any questions about the home buying or home selling process, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!.

What Happens if Your Dallas Home Is Not Selling?

It’s no secret that we are in the hottest seller’s market that Dallas has ever seen. In fact, Dallas is one of the top 10 seller’s markets in the United States. That said, there are still people who have a difficult time selling their homes. What happens if your home is not selling?

There are four fundamental pillars of selling your home:

1. Location of the property.
2. Condition and showability of the home.
3. Marketing the home.
4. The price of the home.

Now, you can’t just rely on one pillar to sell your home. Each of them has to be working in order for you to be successful. You need to examine these areas and see if there is anything you can improve on if your home is still sitting on the market.

Unfortunately, you cannot do anything about the location of your home. You can’t pick up your home and move it into a different neighborhood or off the busy street corner; it is what it is.

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You cannot change the location of your home, but you can change its condition, marketing, or price.

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However, you can improve the condition and showability of your home. We recommend doing a pre-listing inspection so that you can fix any issues before your home goes on the market. We also recommend staging your home. A staged home sells 50% faster and for 7% more money than an unstaged home. 

As for marketing, real estate professionals handle that. We are expert marketers. We hire professional photographers, shoot videos, and put your home on every website out there. We do a lot of social media marketing and we have a database of more than 12,000 people we can market to. We are very proactive about dealing with other agents, running open houses, and more. We do everything we can to expose your home to the highest number of qualified buyers out there.

If everything else is working — your home is in its best condition, it’s showing well, and your agent has implemented a great, proven marketing strategy — then you may have to look at price. No one wants to go through a price reduction but sometimes it’s what you have to do in order to sell your home.

If you have any questions about selling or your home or about real estate in general, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email.  My team and I would be happy to help you!

4 Ways to Get Ahead as a Buyer in Our Seller’s Market

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We have quite a number of frustrated buyers coming to us recently. They are frustrated with the market and the lack of inventory that we have. In order to save you some stress if you’re thinking about buying, we wanted to share with you four great tips that will help you get ahead and start competing in this market. We’ve had a lot of success with these strategies. 

1. Be informed: It’s important to have realistic expectations. It’s the reason why we always like to have our buyers come to our office for a consultation before they begin the process. We just want them to be informed about what’s going on in the market, so they set the right expectations. 

2. Work with a great buyer specialist: Here at Scott Neal Real Estate, our buyer specialists do nothing but work with buyers to show houses, sell properties, and negotiate contracts. They know what they need to do to make sure your offer is accepted.

3. Get fully approved for a home loan: This is more than just talking to a loan officer. To get fully approved, you need to go through the entire application process with a bank or lender. They need to see your tax returns, bank statements, and more to get an idea of what you can afford. Also, if you’re a cash buyer, it’s important to provide us with your proof of funds.

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We’ve had a lot of
success with these strategies.

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4. Talk to your agents about your wants and needs: If your agent really knows what the bottom line is and what your wants are, they are going to give you the best resources that you can possibly have to meet all your needs and as many of your wants as possible. 

We know it can be frustrating out there, but if you follow these steps you have a much better shot at winning those bidding wars. We’ve had a lot of success with our buyers and in fact, some of our buyers are paying below asking price. 

Give us a call or send us an email if you need any help navigating today’s market, or if you’re looking to buy or sell yourself. We look forward to hearing from you!