What’s Holding My House Back From Being SOLD?

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Image Source: http://macrobusiness.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/home-for-sale-sign.jpg

If your house has been on the market for a while and it hasn’t sold yet, you may be wondering why. In my experience, there are three common reasons why a house doesn’t get snapped up straight away.

1. Unrealistic expectations
2. Presentation
3. Poor Marketing

So what can you do about each of these three things?

Unrealistic Expectations

Essentially, what this means it that your property is not ‘competitively’ priced. Potential buyers are finding it to be too expensive in this challenging market. This does not mean that you have to price you house too low. All it means is that it needs to be priced comparable to similar properties that have sold in your area. Don’t look at what other houses are advertising for, look at what they sold for. That’s what counts, and that’s what buyers will also be looking at. Try regularly searching http://www.realestate.com.au/sold and http://www.domain.com.au/?mode=sold for in and around your area. This you give you a realistic idea of how much to price your property for. The bottom line is, if houses are not selling for what the price that you want to get for your own property, you might be better off waiting until prices are on the rise again.

Keep posted for next week's tips for the presentation of your home.

Recycle Your Old Mobiles with First National

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First National Real Estate JM Chase is calling on local residents of the City of Whitehorse to recycle their old mobiles, batteries, accessories and chargers by dropping them off in their local branch.

 Image source: http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/06/what-exactly-happens-when-you-recycle-your-mobile-phone/

The First National Real Estate network today announced that customers will be able to drop off their old mobile phones, batteries, accessories and chargers for recycling at their local First National real estate.   As an extension to its energy efficiency and sustainability drive, First National has partnered with MobileMuster, the official recycling program of the mobile phone industry to support its Old phones, more trees campaign.

‘Old phones, more trees’ is a joint initiative between MobileMuster and Landcare Australia, to collect more than 250,000 handsets and plant up to 25,000 seedlings to regenerate Australia’s coastline between now and 30 September.

“By collecting and recycling our old phones and those of our local community, we will be helping plant more trees along our coastline and protecting our environment,” First National Real Estate JM Chase Managing Director, Jee Chin, said.

Mr Chin said as leaders in the real estate industry, First National Real Estate JM Chase also wanted to take the lead on matters affecting the Whitehorse community in which they live and work.

“We pride ourselves on giving back to our community and this is just another way for us to do that,” Mr Chin said.

“As a business that is so reliant on both mobile phones and cars, we felt we should do our small part to help reduce our carbon footprint.”

According to Rose Read, MobileMuster Manager, Recycling, Australians have about 19 million old and unused mobile phones sitting at home.

“The greenhouse gases that could be avoided if Australians recycled their old, unused phones would be the same as planting 100,000 trees or taking more than 6,000 cars off the road,” Ms Read said.

If all the unused or broken mobile phones hidden in desks and drawers across Australia were handed in, including those of Mr Jee Chin’s own staff,  they could be recycled to produce 185,000 plastic fence posts, enough to build a fence from Melbourne to Sydney.

Since it began in 1999, MobileMuster has collected 806 tonnes of old mobile phones, batteries and accessories, recycling over 90 per cent of the materials in them and keeping these mobiles out of landfill.

To find your nearest First National / MobileMuster collection point for mobile phone recycling go to www.mobilemuster.com.au or call 1300 730 070.

For further information contact Rose Read, Manager Recycling, MobileMuster, on (02) 8920 3555 or 0418 216 364

What to Look For at an Open Home Inspection

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Most people, when looking to buy a new car, will sit in it, play with the steering wheel, slide the seats back and forth, check there’s enough leg room, make sure the paint’s not scratched, and take it for a test drive. So why don’t they do the same when they’re looking to buy a house?  

At Open Home Inspections I often see people walk in, glance around, and walk out again. Many of these will make an offer. So, what are some things they should be checking before they put down a deposit?

·         What is the water pressure like?

·         Does the kitchen/bathroom sink drain properly? Slow drainage can indicate a serious problem, such as tree roots in the pipes.

·         Are there stains on the ceiling that could indicate a leaky roof?

·         What is the lighting like? Is it sufficient for your needs?

·         Is there heating/cooling throughout the whole house, or just the main living areas?

·         Are there sufficient locks on the windows, and bolts and the doors to make your family feel safe?

There are many, many more things you should be looking for when buying a new house. Ignoring these things may bump up the cost of moving in considerably. All houses need maintenance of some sort, but you need to know how much the repairs will cost, and how much you’re prepare to spend before signing the bottom line.