Real Estate Insights in North Carolina

Survey: Open houses still have their place | Inman News

Real estate professionals have scheduled at least 31,078 open houses this weekend with a total listing price of $14.3 billion in conjunction with Realtors Nationwide Open House Weekend, according to data from Realtor.com.

via www.inman.com

Open houses have gained a lot of attention recently regarding their effectiveness and purpose. In our current market where 98% (Inman) of agents advertise on line and with social media...what is the purpose of a "traditional" and old fashioned form of promotion?

What most agents are using open houses for now is to network mostly, according to Inman. Rather than relying on the open house to bring a sale, the agent can create a buzz about a certain neighborhood and find future buyer prospects.

Open houses still have a strong place in the real estate industry because of the tradition they bring. In a society where everything is advertised and sold on line, its nice to be able to make your home buying or selling process a little more intimate and "real".

Interested in attending an Open House? Check out Our Open Houses for this weekend!

 

10 Days to Spring: Your how-to decorating guide

Wanting to decorate your home for Spring, but feeling the pressures of real life and a lack of design ideas? No worries, here is a 10 day guide to turning your home into a beautiful spring delight.

Day One

Have an eye for detail…take a notepad with you into every living space in your home. Within the first 3 seconds write down everything that catches your eye in a negative light. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you have to burn everything you dislike, but this will give you the purest outlook in to how your room makes others “feel”. Odds are if you don’t like it, no one else does. Be honest with yourself, this is your time to make some small changes that will leave you falling in love with your home again.

My Home info 24●7! Instant information on any home, listed by any company, at any time!

Driving around the neighborhood and see a home for sale that you like? Now you can call one number to get information on any home, listed by any company, at any time! My Home info 24●7! provided exclusively by Prudential Carolinas, Prudential York Simpson Underwood, Prudential Yost & Little Realty, allows homebuyers immediate access to the entire local "homes for sale" inventory from any telephone. By calling one number, you will receive up-to-date information on any home for sale, regardless of which real estate company has the home listed. 

Benefits for a potential buyer:

My Home info 24●7! allows potential buyers to get instant information on any property on the market, listed with any company. The potential buyer calls the number on the rider and hears a recorded voice that provides them with MLS details including price, features and estimated mortgage payments. The information is offered to the caller in English and Spanish.  After hearing the property information, a potential buyer can be connected directly to an agent to schedule an appointment to see the home. If they choose, they will receive an automatic email or text message with detailed information and photos on any home they call.

 How it works:

1. Simply call the number on the rider, and enter the property’s street number.

2. Get instant info over the phone on price, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, features, estimated mortgage payments and much more!

3. Receive automatic emails and text messages with detailed information and photos.

4. Connect directly to an agent to schedule an appointment to see the home.

5. It’s free, easy to use and available 24●7!

Regardless of whether potential buyers are in the market to purchase a home now or is just curious about a new listing in their neighborhood, My Home info 24●7! can give them instant information on any home, listed with any company, at any time.

 

Benefits for a potential seller:

An endless number of prospects will drive by a seller’s home every week. My Home info 24●7! enhances the effectiveness of the yard sign by allowing potential buyers to call one number to access info on the seller’s home any time, day or night. It's fast, efficient and the seller will never have to worry about the flyer box being empty. 

How it works:

1. Potential buyers simply call the number on the rider, and enter the property’s street number.

2. Potential buyers get access to instant info over the phone including price, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, features, estimated mortgage payments and much more!

3. Potential buyers receive automatic emails and text messages with detailed information and photos.

4. The agent will immediately receive all inquiries and voicemails on the seller’s home and be able to connect to the potential buyer.

5. The program will identify potential levels of interest and track the number of inquiries your home receives.

 

My Home info 24●7! not only increases the leads from the yard signs, but notifies the listing agent when there has been an inquiry and provides sellers with reports detailing the interest their home receives from potential buyers.  More Inquiries = More Showings = Faster Sale at a Better Price. 

My Home info 24●7! is free, easy and provided exclusively by Prudential Carolinas, Prudential York Simpson Underwood, Prudential Yost & Little Realty. To learn more about My Home info 24●7!  visit www.PruCarolinas.com, www.PruYSU.com, www.PruYostandLittle.com.

What's my home worth?

“How much is my house worth?” Even if you aren’t even thinking about selling this is a question that has probably popped into your mind recently. Maybe a for sale sign went up in your neighborhood and you wondered if your house would sell for more than that house down the street.

The vague answer is your home is worth whatever a ready, willing and able buyer pays for it at the time you put it on the market. But if you don’t have your house on the market there are a few tips that can give you an idea of where your home stands in the value department.

You can look online for comparable homes for sale in your neighborhood with similar square footage and bed/baths. REALTORS® use comparable homes active, sold and expired to help price your home accurately at the time you put your home on the market as a starting point for what your home is worth. Just make sure your home is really comparable to your neighbors before you start comparing.

The value of your home is going to change with market conditions and comparable sales in the area over time. If you want to keep up with your home value without doing the work, we have developed a free home value report that will give you monthly updates on neighborhood activity so you can see what new listings came on the market and at what price, which prices have been reduced and which homes go under contract. This way you can see what the market is doing and when you are ready to sell you don’t go, my house is worth what!?!

Photo tours of NC Cities

Relocating to North Carolina from out of the state? Lived here a little while but want to explore new areas?

We created short photo tours of the cities that we serve to help you get to know the area a little better. These photo tours showcase the highlights of the city including major landmarks, sporting events and other activities that happen throughout the year to give you a better feel for what it's like to live there.

Embedded below is the playlist of all 11 photo tours, just click the " > " button on the video to go to the next video.

If you want to check out just one city - the links are below:

Charlotte Photo Tour, Rock Hill, SC Photo Tour, Lake Norman Photo Tour, 

Clemmons Photo Tour, Winston-Salem Photo Tour, Kernersville Photo Tour, Greensboro Photo Tour

Cary Photo Tour, Chapel Hill Photo Tour, Durham Photo Tour, Raleigh Photo Tour

Enjoy!

How many buyers are looking at your home online?

The short answer is...a lot! 

90% of home buyers start their search online (according to the National Association of REALTORS) so there is no doubt there are a lot of buyers looking at listings online right now, but the question is how many specifically are looking at YOUR house?

Not sure? If your house is on the market today, there is really no excuse for you not to know. One of the greatest benefits of the Internet is the ability to easily track number of visits to a website and where they are coming from and knowing how many views your property is getting online can help you.  

If your house is on the market now, ask your sales associate for this information so you can make more informed decisions about how your house is positioned in the current market. And if your house isn't on the market yet and you are wondering what your house is worth let us know and we can get you a brief overview of what buyers are online now looking for homes like yours.

Luxury homes in the Triad

Wow! Take a look at some of the most stunning homes we have listed for sale in the Triad area in the newest edition of the Fine Homes of the Triad magazine.

View the digital magazine

Sellers, do you know your competition?

 
It could be that cute cottage down the street or a ranch with a great backyard in another part of town, but if your house is on the market your home no doubt has some competition. It's important as a seller that buyers have a lot of selection in the market today and buyers are going to be comparing your home to all kinds of others they like. So how does your home stack up?

Know your competition. Ask your REALTOR to send you a report of price reductions or status changes for comparable properties. We have a tool called Online Seller Advantage that homes listed with us get on a weekly basis with the rundown of what's going on with competitive listings. When you know your competition you can make sure your house stays competitive and doesn't fall behind on potential buyers list.

Play up your strengths. What does your home have that theirs doesn't? Talk to your REALTOR about your homes strengths compared to what else is on the market and make sure to play those up in your photos and descriptions online. Try to remember what you liked about your house compared to others you looked at when you were buying, what made it stand out from the rest.

Make sure your price is right. You don't want your house to be priced too high compared to the competition. This is something you and your REALTOR need to keep an eye on every step of the way because as new properties come on the market the competition is always changing - make sure your home is priced right for the market today and be aggressive.

Greensboro sales associates and staff move into new office in Friendly Center

We have a new office! Our Greensboro sales associates and staff now have a brand-new, state-of-the-art office to call home. The new location, conveniently located in the Shops a t Friendly Center at 3352 W. Friendly Ave., Suite #122, in Greensboro, offers the perfect combination of form and function for both real estate sales associates and home buyers and sellers.

The new office space was designed with the modern real estate sales associate in mind.  Each work area provides a seamless transition from the road to the office, enhancing top producers’ capabilities with the latest technology and phone system.  The welcoming open floor plan creates ease of interaction and communication among the sales associates and staff, while providing the high-tech feel of the efficiently-sized workspace.

Audrey Fuhrmann, Broker-In-Charge of the Greensboro office of Prudential Carolinas Realty, said “Our dynamic new office provides a convenient, visible location and an environment to accommodate the needs of all of our buyers and sellers – from first-time homebuyers to seasoned homebuyers and sellers. As a full-service company, we provide all our clients with a seamless transaction by offering in-house mortgages, title insurance, home warranties, relocation services and more. We hope you will stop in our convenient new office location so we can introduce you to the friendliest real estate team in the Carolinas.”

Tommy Camp, President and CEO of Prudential Carolinas Realty, said, “Our Greensboro team has consistently exceeded the expectations of buyers and sellers throughout the area, and we’re glad they will have an office space that will meet their needs now and in the future.”

Join us for our open house in September.

Voted the top real estate company

Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty is building on the tradition of York Simpson Underwood by adding an 8th Standing Ovation award from the readers of Metro Magazine to its shelves. The award honors the top real estate company from the Triangle to the Coast as chosen by Metro Magazine readers.

 

    * View Metro Magazine's full listing of this year’s winners

 

Thank you to everyone who voted for us!