Tips and tricks for increasing property value and selling your home.

The winter holiday months are NOT the most popular time to put a house on the market. In fact, home sales are at the lowest in the winter. For some sellers, this time may be their only choice. If you are putting a home on the market during the winter, here are a few tips that can help you be successful.

Find the Right Buyers

People that are house hunting during the holidays are usually on a deadline due to a job relocation or emergency move. Targeting this kind of buyer will hopefully help you sell the house faster.

Stage a Cozy House

Winter and the holidays can be a fun time for staging your house. Some tasteful holiday decorations can help the potential buyers see the potential in the home. Be careful with the number of decorations…

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Trail Tuesday took me to the Bloomington area of St. George, Utah.  I noticed that there are beautiful homes for sale in the Bloomington area.  The homes in this area of Southern Utah seem to be very unique, one-of-a-kind homes in beautiful dessert settings.  I hiked around the hills in Bloomington and ended my hike at the Bloomington Petroglyph Park.  This park is a very small park with large boulders that have hundreds of petroglyphs on them.  The area is fenced, but there is an opening so that you can walk right up to the carvings.   There is also a bench for you to sit on to view the engravings on the beautiful boulders.   

Many of the carved images represent humans and animals, as well as designs and possibly early trail maps.  I looked…

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Buying a home is hard enough, but many people find themselves in the position of needing to sell their house either before or at the same time they are buying one. As if one wasn’t stressful enough… It is possible to make the process easier. Here are a few tips to think about before you get started.

  1.        Get a Net Sheet for Your Current Home

A net sheet will tell you how much you’ll be walking away with when selling your home after closing costs. If you are counting on that money to make a down payment, this will give you an idea of what you can expect to have available. This is also a good time to get an idea of how much your current home is worth.

  1.        Put Your House on the Market

It is important to list your house…

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Whether you're buying, selling, or a first-time home buyer, you need to know the pulse of the St. George Real Estate Market. Here are 5 big trends to watch!

Are you looking to buy or sell a home in the St. George, Utah area? If so, you're in luck! The real estate market is booming in this scenic southwestern city and for good reason. Sometimes referred to as "Utah's Florida," St George offers great weather including over 300 days of sunshine per year, world-class golf, and close proximity to Zion National Park and many other state and national parks and monuments.

Today, we're breaking down St George real estate trends to watch, so you'll know what to look for when making your next move.

Ready to learn more? Let's dive in!

1. The Market is…

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After my last blog post about choosing the right color for selling a home, I thought it might be helpful to share a few tips for staging your home to sell. As much as we like to think that everyone loves our decorating style, your style might hinder a potential buyer who has a very different vision for their home. Staging your home in the right way can make your home look like a real possibility for more potential buyers. Here are a few tips:

  1.        Declutter

 You may love your odds and ends, but they can distract from the home. Be sure to remove anything that isn’t necessary such as trinkets, storage boxes, junk, or unused items. Simply putting them in the attic or a storage unit should be good enough. Getting rid of extra things…

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Selling a house is no easy task. From finding a realtor you can trust to getting the house ready for its future owners, it is a lot to handle. On top of it all, you want to make sure you are getting the biggest profit possible from your current house. Did you know color can have a significant effect on the value of a home?

White bathrooms can leave owners making $4,000 under value, while blue bathrooms can bump up the value to $5,400 over value. Color matters. So, how do you know the right color to choose? And how much is too much? 

Here are five paint color tips for selling a house.

1. Decorate Like a Buyer, Not an Owner

This is tip number one for good reason. Many home owners sell their house in a way that still shows their influence.…

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Buying your first home is a big deal, but that first home is rarely your dream home. After several years, you might start thinking it’s time to upgrade for more space, a nicer neighborhood, more luxuries, or all of the above. Here are a few questions to help you make the big decision before you call your real estate agent.

Can you handle a larger mortgage?

The most important question to ask is whether or not you can handle the larger mortgage that comes along with a nicer or bigger house. Create a budget for the potential new mortgage payment along with all the other costs that come with a new home such as possible HOA fees or higher electric and gas bills from heating and cooling a larger home. If you can make it work—you can proceed to ask…

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Reports from the first quarter of 2017 show now is the best time to sell a home in 10 years. Housing markets have recovered from the recession, home prices are up, and home builders are having a hard time keeping up with demand. If you've ever considered selling, now is the perfect time to place your home on the market.

By the Numbers

Nationally, sellers are seeing an average of $44,000 in gains right now and home prices are up 13%. In Utah, median sale prices also reached an all time high of $295,000. Homes are on the market for shorter amounts of time, in some of the fastest-selling areas around the country they're only on the market for about 3 weeks. While these are statistics and not guarantees, they show much growing home values are…

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With real estate prices, trends and laws constantly in the news, there is a lot of misinformation floating around. Real estate myths spread like wildfire and not doing your proper homework could cost you. Here are six real estate myths to clear up.

Selling a Home Yourself Saves You Money

Some people might think that they can save money by selling a home themselves and saving on a real estate agent’s commission. As shown in another blog post, this is not the case. Sellers who use a real estate agent almost always make more money than those who try to go it alone. Even after paying a real estate agent’s commision, you are still more likely to walk away with more money.

When Selling, You Don’t need to Stage Your Home

You may think it’s…

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New technology and internet companies are quickly taking the place of everyday services. Hotels, taxis, and car dealers have to compete with sites such as Airbnb and Uber. Can real estate agents also be replaced by the latest app or website? Does the internet make it easy enough to sell and buy a home without representation? Not necessarily. In fact, trying to go it alone can cost you a lot of money and add unnecessary work and stress to your real estate transaction. Here are reasons why you should still work with a real estate agent.

Knowledge of the Area

A quick Google search may make you feel like you know all the real estate options in St. George, but this is never the case. New homes are going onsale all the time, and people who try to…

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