INSPECTING THE LAS VEGAS HOME INSPECTOR BRINGS PEACE OF MIND
The importance of hiring a reliable home inspection is one of the bedrock principles every home buyer reads and hears about from all quarters. Any REALTOR® worthy of the name will be able to recommend a Las Vegashome inspector with the kind of strong credentials that establish the validity of his or her report—it’s part of the full service a real estate professional brings to the process of buying a home. The object of the inspection is, of course, to prevent the unexpected: repair bills that might otherwise go undetected until after the purchase. A good inspector finds problems before you close on a property. Although a home inspector’s fee may require an investment of a few hundred dollars, it’s certainly better than spending tens of thousands down the road. A thorough inspection and the report that follows are what you are looking for—what earns a new home buyer peace of mind. And choosing the right candidate isn’t difficult, as long as you are willing to follow a few common sense procedures. For instance, the written inspection report is an important part of the process, yet some inspectors wind up sending only a checklist. The best ones accompany that with their more detailed written observations. Before you commit, ask the candidate if you can see a sample of the kind of report that will be prepared. It’s a very good idea for you to be present when the inspection is made—it’s a one-time chance to see for yourself some of the workings of the property from a professional’s point of view. A good inspector may suggest it…And certainly will not object when you invite yourself to the party. If he or she objects, my advice is to find someone else. As with any other expert, check the candidate’s reputation online. The Better Business Bureau website, Angie’s List, Yelp, and all the other websites that post continuing reviews of professional service providers can supply good feedback. But again, be thorough: watch out for ‘paid’ ratings; check more than one source, and if a complaint is registered, be sure to bring it up when interviewing an otherwise-qualified candidate. Home inspectors who are strongly tied to the Las Vegas business community, or who are involved in national-level home inspector organizations, have their reputations on the line with every inspection. These inspectors may provide higher quality service than others, and although choosing a leading Las Vegas home inspector may wind up costing a few dollars more, when you’re about to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a home, paying a bit extra is usually money well spent. Whenever my clients ask for advice on choosing a home inspector in Las Vegas, I supply a choice of several, along with what I have heard from other clients who have used them recently. It’s part of the service I’m pleased to offer—and another good reason to give me a call!
LOOKING FOR THE BEST TIME TO PUBLISH LAS VEGAS HOME LISTINGS
It is a good bet that the first place the public will spot your house for sale will be the Las Vegas listings. If 90% of those who actually do buy a home go to the web in their search (researchers at the National Association of REALTORS® say so), they will either go directly to the Las Vegas listings or find them through a Realtor’s site. If you think like an advertising director, you might wonder when, exactly, the best time would be for your new listing’s premier? Is it in the dead of winter? Springtime? Summer? And is there a perfect day of the month, or (come to think of it) day of the week? The NAR® has weighed in with some concrete answers. Well,, not answers per se—more like information to help satisfy our curiosity. It turns out there really is no single best time for Las Vegas listings to debut, for a couple of reasons; nonetheless, in case you’re curious (I was) about the findings, here they are: The most popular home listing debut last year was Thursday, May 1, 2014. Second, April Fools’ Day. April and May were sprinkled liberally through the Top 25, but June and March were all up there, too. But although the 20th was one of the top days of the month for listings launches (as well as the 24th through 30th), the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranked often enough to tilt the overall results toward early in the month. As for the most favored day of the week, there wasn’t a clear winner—though there was definitely a couple of losers. Saturday and Sunday were all but ignored as days anyone first listed their homes, possibly because most real estate professionals are out in the field most weekends. Launching listings is a job best performed at an office desk. Closings—the days that home sales are signed and sealed—had the same unpopular pair of days: weekend closings were predictably rare, as were Federal holidays. Two strange exceptions did pop up last year: Sunday, November 30, and Sunday, August 31. That has to be because of the natural inclination for people to pick the end of a month when they need to come up with a deadline. Often enough, we have to scramble to meet any deadline…if it happens to fall on a Sunday, too bad! But although we have all this information about what the most common days to inaugurating a listing or finalize a home’s sale, that really doesn’t answer what’s the best time to do either. After all, just because more people pick similar dates, that doesn’t mean it is necessarily advantageous. You might even argue that the best day to begin Las Vegas listings would be the least popular one since your listing would be more likely to stand out when it’s the newest. Lonely, but brave! There is one good answer to when is the best time to list your home: it’s whenever you’re ready. There are plenty of prospective buyers at all times—and as has been well-documented, a lot of them start looking in the dead of winter, when outdoors activities are at a minimum. As for when is the best time to give me a call? Anytime!
4 WAYS TO SELL YOUR LAS VEGAS HOUSE IN WINTERTIME
Some folks live for our Las Vegas winters. For them, the brisk air is a tonic; longer night times are invitations to enjoy the warmth and cheer of fireside camaraderie; the prospect of winter sports is something they look forward to all year long. For everyone else it may be more of a drag—particularly when a succession of storms seem to conspire to make their lives miserable. It can also be a tough time to sell a Las Vegas house—but only if you allow it to be! Winter does tend to make most Las Vegas houses look drab and barren; and, in general, potential buyers tend to be scarce for a number of reasons. But those who are in the wintertime hunt are apt to be quite serious, so it’s worth remembering that sales can be kindled on even the bleakest February day—especially for owners who keep in mind some simple guidelines: 1. Create your warmth Whether it’s turning up the thermostat, lighting a crackling fire or arranging for that batch of chocolate chip cookies to have just emerged from the oven, thinking cozy is the antidote to gloomy days. The object is to make the entrance from the cheerless outdoors a passage into a welcoming environment brimming with welcoming ambiance. To sell a house in foul weather, make the contrast with the outdoors as stark as possible! 2. Light their way To compensate for the dimmer sunlight on some winter days, dispel the gloom by turning on all the lights: lamps, overheads, chandeliers—any and everything to brighten the place. To sell a Las Vegas house (especially in later afternoon showings), be certain to open shades and curtains, too. 3. Have summertime pictures on hand Be sure to lay out a picture or two of the property in more attractive months. While potential buyers may not be able to see the home when the sun is shining, a picture can help them envision what the house is like during most of the year. 4. Plus—the regular drill! And don’t forget the basics: carefully tidied, sparklingly polished, spotlessly cleaned, etc. It may be a little bit more of a chore to disperse the clutter (it does seem to multiply when you’ve been cooped up for days!), but it’s every bit as important as ever. Aromas are important any time you sell a house, so obliterate stuffy winter air with strategically placed potpourri and candles. The fact is, when it’s properly priced, you can sell a house in Las Vegas at any time of the year. To get the ball rolling, I hope you will make my number the first one you call!
Categories
Recent Posts
