Cash or credit? Why those with a little cash tend to get the best deals on a home purchase.
In response to my "Winning with your home" brief posts on social media, a client asks the following question: "Why does having a little cash in the bank have the single largest impact on getting a good deal?" It may seem the answer is lengthy and a bit technical, of...
More Light Equals Top Dollar in Real Estate
Natural light and great lighting choices add immediate value to your home. It is one of the least cost, highest value improvements one can make. There a many reasons to improve the amount of light in your home. The best reason we can think of it simply your mood!...
The Hoarder Culture: Why being a minimalist increases the value of your home
Over the last two years I have been in thousands of homes. Thousands. More often than not, in preparation for sale, the sellers have moved their worldly possessions to the garage. Sure, we watch reality TV shows about hoarding. Some little old lady hung on to...
Why You Should Sell Mom & Dad’s Home ASAP
Over my career in real estate, I have had multiple opportunities to represent siblings in the sale of their deceased parents' home. As you know, when family gets together around the death of a loved one tensions tend to rise, there can be power struggles and the...
10 Ways To Stage Your Home For Listing
Monika MacIntyre has an incredible team. Her role and work ethic are vital to our listings. In fact, if you list with us, we will provide her first consultation free of charge. We rank staging your listing above doing cosmetic upgrades. Simply because the right...
How spending around $500 can add more than $10,000 to the sale price of your home.
Photo Credit: Past clients, the McMurray's. They spent 16k on cleaning, painting, and carpeting their investment property. We sold their 198k home for 237k with multiple offers in one week. Some things are too good to be true. This isn't one of them. What if I told...
Baby steps to buying a home
Buying a home is one of the most gratifying human endeavors. Understanding the steps in the process make for a wonderful experience. Breaking them up into small pieces lets you stand on a solid foundation as you enter the process. This roadmap is meant to orient you...
The Fundamentals of Buying a Home
When we show a client a prospective home to purchase, we always begin with the primary concern that the buyer should have. The marketability of the home given they would wish to sell it in the future. We are realists though, most buyers are not concerned as much with...
Sell Fast, Buy Slow
I tell my clients something really important when transitioning to a new home. Take the counterintuitive approach: "Sell fast. Buy slow." Selling SLOW I have observed this behavior often. A couple has invested money in their home over the years and has an unrealistic...
How Important is Good Photography to Your Listing?
This summer, we listed a home in Bixby, Oklahoma. The owners had cared for the home incredibly well. We had only minor repairs and some touch up painting in order to make the house sale ready. In our process we have a professional stager work with the...
Should I Use a Local Mortgage Professional?
It has been my experience that when the purchase of a property does not go through, most often the deal breaks on the buyers ability to gain financing. It is relatively easy for buyers to gain a pre-approval letter to purchase a home. Yet, after the process gets...
When Siding & Trim Contact the Top Side of Shingles
WhiteTree Company has made major exterior repairs on two homes in the last couple of months. In both cases, trim and siding had rotted away due to moisture. This is a common problem. If you are a homeowner, it seems you always notice it taking place, yet...
Paint Color Changes
It is a fact. Updating paint colors is one of the least expensive things one can do in order to sell a home. This is true of small and large homes alike. Last month, a South Tulsa couple, Bob and Loretta Yandien, reached out to WhiteTree Company to update...
Why Closing On Time Matters
The closing date is typically set by the the buyers when they write their initial offer. It is placed on the contract and rides through the transaction. All of the events dictated by buyer and seller and governed by the language in the contract are driving toward...
Do It Yourself Projects. Will It Sell?
When executing a "Do It Yourself" project, the homeowner most always assumes that what is being done will obviously cause the house to increase in value. And this assumption is in part true. For 100% percent of the time, the intrinsic value to the homeowner does...
How Important Is Feedback On Your Home’s Listing?
Really important. In this case, a Realtor showed my listing using the electronic lock box we place on the door. The box logs the showing and after it is over, we automatically send a message to the Realtor asking for feedback. At Skyline we have a appointment center...
Breaking & Entering
After being out of town on vacation, I came back to check on my listings. One is vacant. Something I regularly do is take care of my listed properties as if they were my own. This is where I discovered the property had been broken into. Since the home was vacant,...
The Most Difficult Situations Make Great Clients!
This afternoon I experienced another first. I had the best and most difficult real estate transaction. I was the listing agent and encountered one of the mostdedicated buyers agents ever in Pat Avis. She is a school teacher at Jenks and has sold real estate for...