October 2019

How We Market Selling Your Home (and why we do it that way)

by Monique Higginson | Oct 31, 2019 | Salt Lake City, Staging, YourHome

Knowing the right way to market your home to sell is vital. Market Source Real Estate has been providing home sellers with excellent service and extensive local expertise since 2007, securing the highest price and quickest sale possible for you in the best and worst times in the market. We excel in evaluating homes, making them better with staging, advising of needed repairs and setting the right price to get the best outcome for our sellers. We set realistic expectations based on anticipating repairs needed after a buyer’s home inspection, preventing most of the typical drama that comes up during a sales transaction.

Staging:

Staged homes sell an average of 17% faster than homes that are not. There are many statistics to be found from many sources but staged homes also appear to sell for 1-5% more than a home that is not staged. We work with many different staging companies so we can tailor staging services to each unique home’s needs.

Photography/Video:

Professional photos and/or video tours of your home is a part of your listing which greatly helps our marketing efforts. If you don’t have great photos, most people will not make an appointment to see your home!

Signage:

When Market Source Real Estate lists your home for sale, a professional, oversized and easy to spot sign will be placed in your yard. Our company colors have also been specifically chosen to stand out. The two most memorable colors in marketing are red and yellow.

Community Outreach:

We will implement the appropriate community outreach strategy either through sending out flyers, alerting neighbors through community social media sources, sending postcards to neighborhoods or reaching out directly to neighbors to try to secure a buyer for your home.

Open Houses:

If determined to be in the right location for open houses, we will also host open houses at your home. Only 1-3% of homes sell from an open house but it can be effective if your home is in a high traffic area or fast-moving market.

MLS/Website:

We market homes for sale on the MLS and utahrealestate.com, where most buyer’s agents are searching for homes as well as saltlakeopenhouse.com, redfin.com, facebook.com, thinksaltlakecity.com, realtor.com, ksl.com, youtube.com and all other brokerage websites that broadcast MLS feeds.

Social Media:

In addition to advertising your home for sale on websites, we will create a branded social media strategy for your listing so we can best target potential buyers for your home through the appropriate social media channels. Our developed social media channels include: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Showings:

Sellers should be aware that same-day and even last-minute requests for showings are
common, so a seller with a ‘24 hour notice to show’ stipulation often cuts himself out of a good chunk of the buying market.
In Utah the standard is 24 hours notice.

More information on moving can be found here:

Home Buyer Checklist

Tips for Getting Your Home Ready to Sell

Stress Management for Home Buyers

Halloween Fun in Salt Lake

by Monique Higginson | Oct 24, 2019 | Salt Lake City, Things To Do In Salt Lake City

Halloween is fun for all ages, amiright? Whether you enjoying dressing up, hosting a spooky party, or just handing out candy to the littles that show up at your door, there is such a fun energy on this particular holiday, we suppose it could be all the candy?

Whatever your thoughts are, there are many fun, themed attractions this time of year. If you are not into scary, check out some of the less frightful events. Either way, they are bound to get you into the spirit…

Sleepy Hollow

You have heard the tale now experience it! Ride through the woods on a horse drawn wagon. Be sure to keep your eyes open, it has been said that it is haunted by the Headless Horseman. Wear warm clothes and bring a blanket, evenings get pretty chilly!

https://www.sleepyhollowutah.com/

Thriller Park at Kuwahara Wholesale

So many fun things to do here! From a pumpkin patch for Zombie Paintball. There are nightly performances of “Once Upon a Time” and spooky inflatables for the kids. Toddlers will enjoy the corn pit; older kiddos can peruse around the Haunted House or get their speed on with a mini tractor race. And so much more!

https://www.kuwaharawholesale.com/?fbclid=IwAR3fjrfLVZgJZXgwHp1zbjbRy1LswSYzVm2jbMqhAVHlfOeieHDBgMoCVt0

Nightmare on 13^th

Be prepared to get spooked going through this haunted attraction. Around every corner, something is lurking and sure to jump out at any time. The costumes and actors are some of the best in the state. If you love to be scared during the Halloween season, put this on your ‘must do’ list. No one under 10 years of age is recommended to enter.

https://www.nightmareon13th.com/?fbclid=IwAR148UWzBR-mHluVLga6byEyIrqyWRtlnthHO9rtgF6EeuyGxR91CCsFfO0

300 W. 1300 South

Pumpkin Nights

Buried treasure, bounce houses, live entertainment and lit pumpkins galore! There are seven pumpkins lands with over 3,000 carved pumpkins and multiple Halloween displays. Spend hours roaming though the fairgrounds that is transformed for the season, creating the essential fall experience.

https://pumpkinnights.com/salt-lake-city/

For Adults Only:

Vault of Nightmares

Bambara’s Vault Bar and Nightmare on 13^th haunted house, have teamed up to create a spooky pop-up bar so that adults may be too old to trick or treat can still join in on some fun. The décor will be decked out in haunted décor and themed drinks like Medusa’s eye will be served.

320 W. 1300 South

Other fun things to do all year:

Things To Do In Sugar House: Fun Activities; Where to Shop; Places to Eat

Things To Do In 9th And 9th: Fun Activities; Where to Shop; Places to Eat

Best Things to do in the fall in Utah

Where to Volunteer In Salt Lake

by Monique Higginson | Oct 10, 2019 | Salt Lake City, Things To Do In Salt Lake City

Volunteering warms the soul and fills hearts with love and gratitude. Helping others in need is a great way to give back to your community and make a difference in the lives of others.

Whether caring for homeless pets is your calling, or feeding the hungry, there is an organization excited to have you on board.

Here are a few to look into depending on your interests.

Best Friends Animal Society– Best Friends runs the nations’ largest no-kill sanctuary and is focused on ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters.

Strut Your Mutt happens October 12^th. Save the lives of homeless pets by participating in this annual event.

The Road Home-Assisting individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness through an emergency shelter, case managements and housing programs. Volunteer opportunities include front desk and kids book club. Groups also welcome.

Volunteers of America– They offer many programs like, Homeless adult and youth services, substance abuse treatment, mental health, detoxification, and youth mentoring ages 12-18. Volunteers are needed in a variety of programs.

Catholic Community Services-There are several programs within CCS to serve. They provide legal representation to immigrants and refugees who are seeing to legalize their immigration status. Provide meals to the homeless through the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall seven days a week. And work with refugees on resettlement and foster care.

The Good Samaritan Program– This program provides a sack lunch for anyone who comes to their door seven days a week. Food is donated and volunteers assemble and hand out lunches.

The Utah Food Bank They distribute food through a statewide network of 182 partner agencies across the state to fight hunger. You can help by giving food, money, or giving your time as a volunteer.

Find more ideas here:

Best Things to do in the fall in Utah

Yes. Buying a Home Can Be Stressful.

Checklist for Sellers

by Monique Higginson | Oct 3, 2019 | Real Estate Tips, Salt Lake City, Staging, YourHome

We take a holistic approach with our clients and consider every detail of buying or selling a home and how it will affect our client’s lives. Buying and selling homes tends to be one of the largest financial transactions of a person’s life. Finances aside, choosing to sell or purchase a home affects a person’s health and lifestyle as well.

Here is a checklist for selling your home we think you may find helpful:

1. Pricing your home to sell.

Home sale prices directly correlate with days on the market in our current market conditions. When a home is on the market for more than 30-60 days (generally in the $500,000 and below range), buyers perceive that there is a problem with your home and your offers will tend to get lower and lower with time.

2. Home Inspection Issues.

We can identify potential inspection issues for you when walking through your home and consult with you on repairs so that your sale will not fall through based on inspections. You might also consider getting a pre-listing home inspection to avoid complications during your sale as there are things we will not be able to see.

3. Home Warranty Coverage.

Some homeowners get frustrated by a home warranty because they assume they can hire anyone they want to make a repair and that if something is broken or old they can simply have the item replaced by the warranty policy. Home warranties offer important protection from unexpected repair bills, but they won’t usually be enough to replace an item that has worn out, had pre-existing problems, or were improperly maintained.

4. Seller Disclosures.

These disclosures provide a wide range of information. Overall the basic premise of the disclosure is to have the seller explain any known material or legal defects with the property. Some of the items to expect in the disclosures are the seller’s knowledge of any zoning or legal violations on the property, legal actions affecting the property, location within a Greenbelt, damage to the roof, past-due utility payments (ones that affect title), problems with culinary water, damaged sewer or septic tanks, damaged heating and cooling devices, etc.

5. Fraud.

In Utah, lying on a seller’s disclosure in a way that induces a homebuyer to purchase your home is a fraud. For instance, if you were to say that you’ve never repaired leaks in the basement, but in fact have patched an area that’s now hidden by boxes, that would be a lie. Don’t do it. Fill out the seller’s disclosures, and fill them out honestly.

6. Fraudulent Nondisclosure.

Fraudulent nondisclosure involves failing to disclose a material defect. For example, if you were to incorrectly claim that you never noticed any leakage in the basement at all, that would be a nondisclosure.

7. Staging.

Before listing your home it is important to have your home looking its best. Staged homes sell an average of 17% faster than homes that are not. There are many statistics to be found from many sources but staged homes also appear to sell for 1-5% more than a home that is not staged. We work with many different staging companies so we can tailor staging services to each unique home’s needs.

8. Marketing.

We achieve high list-to-sale ratios and very low days on market in contrast with other brokers. We excel in evaluating homes, making them better with staging, advising of needed repairs and setting the right price to get the best outcome for our sellers. We set realistic expectations based on anticipating repairs needed after a buyer’s home inspection, preventing most of the typical drama that comes up during a sales transaction.

9. Showings.

Sellers should be aware that same-day and even last-minute requests for showings are common, so a seller with a ‘24 hour notice to show’ stipulation often cuts himself out of a good chunk of the buying market. The only standard lag time that should be necessary is when you must give ample notice to a tenant. In Utah the standard is 24 hours notice. Once a house gets tagged as difficult to show by agents, you won’t receive as many calls to show it.

For more information visit: