Apple Realty

Today's home sellers have it hard: home values have dropped, the market is flooded with competition and even if a buyer makes an offer, deals are falling through more than ever. On top of that, sellers face the age-old problem of having two conflicting goals: they want to sell their home fast, but also want (and need) to squeeze every possible dollar out of the sale. While it's tempting to price your place on the high side, overpricing your home can actually deter buyers, cause your home to lag on the market and even expose you to the risk of being perceived as desperate, resulting in low ball offers. Here are 5 tips to overcome the temptation to overprice your home, all of which can help maximize your chance of a sale. 

The thought of frenzied shoppers elbowing each other to get to the $2 toasters after spending precious post-turkey-dinner moments queued up in line overnight doesn't exactly put the "Thanks" in Thanksgiving. On the other hand, everyone likes a deal. Especially getting a steal on the house where the $2 toaster will live! Fortunately, 'tis the season for big-time real estate bargains. Whether you're buying a new home or staying put, here are six ways you can save some serious real estate dollars this holiday season.

We all know how important home staging is if you’re trying to sell a home, but it’s equally important when you’re buying real estate. Just like a person you meet on a blind date, staging is all about highlighting assets and deflecting attention from any flaws. As a buyer, you have to learn to look past the staging and see what lies beneath. It's not as easy as it sounds (clever staging can be hypnotic) but understanding staging techniques will help you to spot them. Breaking the Home Staging Spell will help snap you back to reality so you can see what you’re really buying.

Some people have home-finding stories that are the real estate equivalent of skywritten marriage proposal tales. They drove by their dream home, knocked on the front door and the elderly owner offered it to them for a song. However, most recent home buyers have tales on the other end of the charming-and-easy spectrum—tales of year-long house hunts and fruitless offers, followed by a nerve-wracking, hair-pulling negotiation with the bank. If you've been in the market for a home for what seems like a very long time to no avail, here are five strategies for getting your house hunt back on the right track. 

By now, you've probably heard the age-old rules of thumb about translating home listings from real estate lingo to plain English: 'cozy' = tiny, 'needs TLC' = needs major repairs, and 'original details' could mean beautiful moldings or moldy linoleum, depending on the home.
Almost everything about the housing market has changed over the last few years so we decided it was time to present you with an updated real estate lingo decoder. Read on to understand common real estate jargon defined for the post-recession house hunter.

Any time you make a major commitment, financial decision or move to the next step in your life, there’s a chance you’ll have regrets at the last minute. Just as brides and grooms commonly experience cold feet before they walk down the aisle, many a home buyer has found themselves sitting at the closing table, pen paralyzed over paper, mentally cataloging their last-minute regrets. The first step in dealing with last-minute regrets is to understand that they are totally normal - even rational. The fact that you're fixated on your deal, or that you're scared you've made the wrong decision, is a sign that you're treating this transaction with the gravitas it deserves. If you are buying or selling a home, here are three last minute regrets you might encounter, and some ways to rethink and counteract them.

With so many homes on the market, house hunts can go on for months, even years, before you find "the one." Even for the savviest of buyers, condition problems common in distressed homes can make choosing a place difficult. On the flip side, some subdivisions have scads of cookie-cutter homes that are in good shape, all listed at a similar price, making it nearly impossible to choose just one. To help you sort it all out, here are five indicators that a house might be "the one" for you to call home.

What did Cary Grant, Tom Hanks and Richard Pryor have in common? They all starred in hilarious movies with plots built around their money pit homes. But buying a home that turns out to need much more extensive (and expensive) repairs than originally assumed is only funny in the movies. Here are 5 steps that will help you avoid buying a money pit.

When it comes to credit, we simply don't know what we don't know, so our assumptions and inaccurate beliefs can run wild and free. Most of the time, these assumptions cause no harm. But when it comes time to buy, refinance or even rent a home, relatively small credit score issues can stop you from getting your dream home, and can cost you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your loan. We're busting five widely-believed myths once and for all.

It’s a highly competitive market for home sellers right now, and the first impression your home makes matters more than ever. You can up the chances of selling faster—and getting top dollar—by investing in a select few home improvement projects that can make a big impact on buyers. Here are five projects with big-time payoffs that home sellers-to-be can do to attract buyers and command top dollar.