As a Seller of real estate in Boston (or any city for that matter), one of the most effective mechanisms to get your home sold is exposure.  Given that 85%+ of consumers start their real estate search online, it makes a lot of sense that a property has maximum exposure online, however, good old fashioned open houses still have their place.

“Knowing that people can walk through my condo, in addition to seeing it on the web is important to me,” says one South End condo Seller.  Open houses, typically held on Sundays in the early afternoon, give potential Buyers an opportunity to touch and feel a property first hand, something that can’t be accomplished online.

So how do Buyers find out about open houses?  Through websites like this one, through word of mouth, and also, Boston Homes Newspaper and the relatively new Boston Courant Real Estate Guide, both of which are published and distributed on Saturdays in preparation for open houses that will take place over the next several days, but most oftentimes, on that Sunday.  The Boston Courant edition went through a significant overhaul in outward appearance during the new year, and now looks eerily similar to Boston Homes.

However, open houses don’t magically appear in these print editions, a Boston Listing Agent must feed information into two separate property databases in order to push information into Boston Homes and Boston Courant (LINK and MLSPIN respectively).  As a Seller, you want your open house to be listed in both print editions to garner the most exposure possible.  That said, a Listing Agent must know that they need to submit open house information to LINK and MLSPIN by Thursday at Noon for an open house that will take place on the following Sunday, or the open house will not make it into the print editions.

The two property systems (unfortunately) carry different information and are not always congruent, notably, LINK boasts approximately 300 open houses this weekend (at the time of writing), while MLSPIN shows that there will be approximately 295.

As part of the Boston Globe’s Sunday magazine fall real estate issue that will run on October 26, 2008, the Globe is having a contest in which local Boston condo sellers can get one room of their home professionally staged for free.

Is your home for sale but not attracting the offers you’d like? Home staging often means the difference between a quick sale at top dollar and a home languishing on the market. The Boston Globe Magazine is offering two readers the chance to win a free staging of one troublesome room in their homes by a professional home stager. The stager will creatively use only the materials already found in your home — and will work miracles in the process! The results will appear in the Globe Magazine’s fall real estate issue on October 26, 2008.

For more information, visit the Boston Globe’s details page – entries are due at midnight EST, September 11, 2008.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on tips that Sellers oftentimes overlook when trying to increase the value of their homes. Some of the ideas may not be entirely applicable in the downtown Boston real estate market, given the predominance of condos versus single family homes, but nonetheless, interesting information.

Forget about overhauling the kitchen or redoing the bathroom. The fix-ups that pay off the most are often the simpler and more mundane, says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president at the Corcoran Group in New York.

Her specialty is selling high-end properties in the Hamptons. She recommends that sellers focus their improvements on small exterior changes rather than big-ticket projects inside the home. “Make the outside of the house look really great so that people fall in love between getting out of the car and the front door,” Saatchi says.

That includes repainting the trim and adding new hardware, manicuring trees and shrubs, replacing old siding and replacing windows that aren’t energy efficient.

Nationally, returns for all major home-improvement projects are fetching 70 cents on the dollar, according to a Remodeling magazine’s survey of real-estate professionals conducted late last year. That’s down from 80 cents in 2004.

The warm weather has Boston condo owners poised to put their units up for sale. Our recent survey shows that 32% of respondents have their condo listed for sale now, or plan to sell within the next several months (if you are a Boston condo owner, take our survey: Boston Condo Blog Reader Poll).

So if you are selling soon, what will make your unit stand out in the crowd, here are a few tips.

Photos – wow, first on the list, photos. That’s right, most Buyers decide if they want to visit a condo after looking at the first few available photos, here’s your chance to make your property shine.

Exposure – Thousands of potential Buyers visit us here at the Boston Condo Blog every week, and with over 80% of home buyers starting their search online, talk to us about how we can provide you the exposure your condo needs.

Pricing – it’s obvious that price is important, but what’s your strategy? A thorough analysis of what’s realistic given your condo’s location, style, amenities, etc. is crucial. Give advanced thought to the impact of multiple price reductions on a condo because it wasn’t priced right in the beginning.

Contact us to discuss the listing of your Boston condo.

With the Spring selling season getting into full swing, we wanted to get a feel for whether or not Boston condo owners are poised to sell their units before Fall of this year. If you’re a Boston condo owner, take our Boston Condo Blog Reader poll below. Inventory typically picks up in the spring and summer months anyway, but let’s see what Bostonians are really saying.

According to Lending Tree, 60 percent of America’s moves take place in the summer. What does that mean for you, as a Boston condo Seller? Traditionally, spring is the hottest season for real estate. Sales peak in April and May and stay strong in June and July. It’s a good season for families to move, between school terms and while the weather is warm. People have just received their tax refunds, which they can use to help finance a down payment. And the nice weather and beautiful flowers in spring and early summer make it a great time to show your home.

As spring rolls in, open houses and listing activity is picking up in downtown Boston – there are approximately 500 open houses in the core of the city already scheduled this weekend.

As you are probably aware, over 80% of home buyers start their search online. As a Seller, you need to have an online presence, and here at the Boston Condo Blog, we can help provide the exposure you need. We receive thousands of visitors every month, and would enjoy speaking with you about how you can tap into the exposure we can provide. Contact us today for more information about listing your Boston condo.

The Wall Street Journal published an article recently that highlighted some of the unique and innovative things that homeowners are doing to remodel and keep their homes current, whether they are looking to sell now, or in the future. Here are some ideas to keep you thinking.

What have you been doing to your Boston condo?

Cabinets

About 70% of kitchen cabinets installed last year were made of wood, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Clean lines and unusual woods like apple are increasingly being used in contemporary kitchens; manufacturers say traditional buyers are ditching fussy details and opting for dark-stained cabinets intermixed with white ones.

Neff Kitchens ash veneer cabinets, $30,000 as shown below.

Faucets

Faucets were the most commonly purchased item for kitchen spruce-ups last year, according to the Research Institute for Cooking and Kitchen Intelligence. Retailers say pullouts and specialty faucets such as potfillers are selling well. Brushed nickel and stainless steel are the best-selling finishes, especially in contemporary kitchens; in retro ones, buyers are choosing oil-rubbed bronze, aged pewter and copper.

Moen Showhouse oiled-bronze pot filler. $815 as shown below.

Lighting

LED under-cabinet lights and chandeliers with energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs, like American Fluorescent’s Chesterfield and Facet models, are popular now, kitchen designers say; Freedonia Group projects this “advanced-lighting” category will grow 14% annually through 2011. Meanwhile, lights in range hoods are becoming decorative as well as functional: Elica’s Wave looks like, well, waves, while its Star hood resembles a disco ball.

Elica Collection wave light/range hood combination. Price not available.

Appliances

For resale, stainless still rules for its status value, real estate agents say. But some homeowners are opting for easier-to-clean glass-front appliances like Jenn-Air’s, or metallic finishes like copper, titanium, graphite and oiled bronze. (Some makers, like Fratelli Onofri, are showing colored finishes, like burgundy and blue.) Whirlpool Corp. says square shapes are losing ground to more contoured designs.

Jenn-Air floating glass refrigerator $2,949 as shown below.

Floors

Vinyl is still the best-selling flooring, but it has been losing ground to laminates, ceramic tile and wood. Some vinyls now mimic natural materials: Earthwerks’s vintage planks look like distressed wood, while Stainmaster’s Ocean Crest mimics water-washed stones. Better-made bamboos, once thought to be too soft to use in kitchens, are catching on, too: Teragren says its specially processed Synergy bamboo is twice as hard as red oak.

Synergy bamboo flooring $10-$12 per square foot installed.

Countertops

According to the National Association of Realtors, 23% of home buyers consider granite or similar stone countertops “very important” in a home. Caesarstone’s Concetto is made of semiprecious stones, including agate and jasper. New eco-conscious alternatives include counters made from paper fiber, from companies like KlipTech and Richlite, and recycled glass, by EnviroGLAS and IceStone.

Caesarstone Concetto quartz countertop, $500-$600 per square foot installed.

Is it right for you? Why would you want to consider a home inspection before you sell? A home inspection is something that the Buyer is worried about, not the Seller…or is it the other way around?

It might be worth 60 seconds of your time to read about the benefits of obtaining a professional home inspection before you sell your home – it could save you time, money, and perhaps your offer at the end of the day.

According to a recent member survey of the American Institute of Architects, home buyers are looking for larger kitchens and bathrooms, with high-end appliances and fixtures, and extra space.

Members surveyed about kitchens said:

• 65 percent of consumers want upper-end appliances
• 64 percent want more pantry space
• 53 percent want renewable flooring material
• 53 percent want wine refrigerator/storage
• 48 percent want a recycling center
• 43 percent want an island work area

In bathroom designs, architects said:

• 62 percent of consumers want radiant heated floors
• 62 percent, multihead showers
• 48 percent, accessibility
• 47 percent, doorless showers
• 36 percent, linen closet/storage

View the full American Institute of Architects report.

For blog posts like this one, check out the Real Estate Blogs Directory.

1. Define your goals, wants, needs and expectations. A good place to begin is by exploring your short and long term goals in life and how selling you home fits in.

2. Determine the best price for what is going on in the market right now. Assess the current state of the market and what comparable homes are actually selling for by reviewing a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) on your home.

3. Prepare you property so that it is in top-selling condition. Most of us do not keep our homes in top-selling condition. Try and see things from a buyer’s point of view. Boston Condo Guy can consult with you on what to repair, replace or remove so that your home makes a great first impression.

4. Implement time-proven, researched-based marketing strategies. Your home must be marketed with a plan that has the highest potential for bringing not only the most buyers, but also the most qualified buyers to your doorstep.

5. Showing your property. Always keep your home in top-selling condition. When you leave for work, make sure that your home remains in top-selling condition. You know what they say about first impressions.

6. Receive an offer. When a buyer decides to buy your home, an offer will be presented. Your realtor can advise you on the offer and whether the buyer is qualified to purchase your home.

7. Negotiate to sell. Most offers require some level of negotiation. Work with your realtor to decide your parameters and have them negotiate on your behalf.

8. Have your home appraised and inspected. We have written previous articles on the idea of getting a home inspection before you sell – it’s a wise thing to consider when selling your home.

9. Prepare for closing. Work with your realtor to understand the home selling process.

10. Close! At the closing meeting, ownership of your property is legally transferred to the buyer. Work with your realtor and any appropriate parties (title company, attorney) to understand the process.