Spruce up the Outside of Your Escondido Home

December 12, 2009 By

We have been concentrating on first impressions such as the driveway, walkway, and landscaping.  Nothing is more important than the exterior of your Escondido home itself.  Take a hard look and come up with some ways to improve its presentation.  Some thing you might could do follow:

  • Paint any wood trim that has faded or pealed
  • Repair any dry rot in the trim or patio cover
  • If your home  has a wood exterior, consider painting it
  • Patch any holes in stucco and remove stains
  • Remove rust from any ironwork
  • Make sure doorbell works and that light is not broken
  • Touch up outdoor light fixtures
  • Remove any bird or wasps’ nest from your Escondido home
  • Make sure the front door looks great.  This might require paint, stain, etc.
  • Make sure screens are on the windows and in good condition
  • The front door lock needs to work easily, oil or repair if necessary

These are just some of the things you can do to make your Escondido real estate more marketable.  Apply all the tips presented so far and your potential Escondido buyer will already have a good first impression even before going  inside.  For more information, contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.

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Wind, Rain, Trees, Trouble

December 12, 2009 By

Save A Tree!

While this is not part of my series,  “100 Ways to Prepare Your Escondido home for sale,”  the things mentioned below could certainly help you sell your Escondido real estate.  With the winter storms starting to come into the San Diego North County area,  now is the t ime to protect your property.

I came home last night to find the large pepper tree in my front yard leaning towards the street.  The roots were starting to break the ground giving a warning of what is surely  to come.   Will I loose the tree, maybe, but what could I have done to avoid the problem and what can you do now to save a tree?

Start by just looking at the trees around your Escondido home.  If they are lopsided like my pepper tree, trim them to be symetrical.   The next thing to do is thin out  some of the limbs.  Your goal is to not have the tree be so top heavy when it is soaked with rain.    Thinning out a tree will lead to more limbs and leaves in the spring, making your tree more appealing to the Escondido home buyer.  The last thing to do, especially for small trees, is to stake them between two strong stakes until they develop a good root system.  All of these things  will help protect your Escondido home from the wind and rain storms soon to come.  For more things you can do to make your Escondido real estate ready to sell, contact Gary Harmon or read the post under the “Seller” category.

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More on Preparing the Outside of Your Home

December 11, 2009 By

Driveways

  • As we discussed in an  earlier post, “People buy what they see and not what will be.”    Since potential Escondido home buyers see the driveway first, start there.  See my last post for tips for concrete driveways. 
  •   If your Escondido home has an asphalt you can buy a compound at Lowes’ or Home Depot to repair cracks. 
  • Asphalt driveways should also be sealed every few years to avoid moisture getting under the driveway and causing cracks.  
  • Make sure grass, scrubbery, and flowers around driveway look good.  Again, park your car in the street so your potential buyer can park in the drive. 
  • If there are over hanging trees, cut them back.   

Walkways

  • Fill cracks in your concrete walkway
  • If some places have lifted up and cause a trip hazzard, consider having them professionally repaired.
  • If you have a brick or stone walkway make sure there is no missing motar.
  • Trim shrubs along walk and add colorful flowers on the way to the front porch.
  • Make sure any lights along the walk work.

For more tips or a complete list of 100 Things to do to Get You Home Sold, contact Gary Harmon.

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100 Ways to Prepare Your Escondido Home for Sale

December 9, 2009 By

When I started to sell Escondido real estate over 20 years ago, one of the first things I did was go to lots of training programs.   One such program was with Barb Schwarz, a national trainer on getting your home ready for sale.   The most important thing I heard in that seminar is “People buy what they see and not what will be.”  Well, I thought that was very catchy, but I did not learn the truth of that statement until many years of experience.   So I am now repeating that statement to all my Escondido home sellers.  “People buy what they see and not what will be.”   This needs to be the cardinal foundation to successfully selling your Escondido home. 

Let me explain in more detail.  I use to think that most potential Escondido home buyers could look at a fixer and envision how great it would look after they fixed it up.   Years of experience has taught me that what they really see is a lot of work they will have to do and a lot of money they will have to spend.   I found that Escondido buyers would always pay top dollar for a Escondido home in great condition, but would expect deep discounts in the price of Escondido home in poor condition.  Most of the time they would just pass up the Esondido real estate needing work.    Most Escondido home buyers wanted what we call “turn key.”

We have heard it said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”  This is really what Barb was saying over 20 years ago.  Your Escondido home must make a great first impression from the time the buyer drives up until the buyer leaves.   She was also saying you can’t rely on Escondido home buyers to use their imagination.  Your Escondido home’s charm, soundness, comfort and attractiveness must be obvious from the instant they see your home until they walk out the back door. 

There are only about 20 days left in this year and I am going to try to post about 5 tips a day for my Escondido sellers on how to help them make a great first impression with their Escondido homes.  So be sure to read all the upcoming post on getting your Escondido home ready to sell.   If you would like a personal discussion about getting started call or email me, contact Gary Harmon, your Escondido Realtor.

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Escondido Real Estate: Where's the market headed?

November 25, 2009 By

Where is the Escondido Real Estate Market Headed as of 11-20-2009?

This week the median price for an Escondido home across all four zip codes is $415,000.  The inventory of Escondido homes for sale is going up and sales of Escondido homes are slowing.   While this is some concern, it is not unsual.  We would expect the trend to be somewhat the same across San Diego County  when going into the Thanksgiving holidays.  In recent weeks prices of Escondido houses have been moving up and the avereage days on the market have gone down somewhat.  See the chart below for trends supplied by Altos Research.

Escondido Real Estate Trends as of 11-20-2009.

Escondido Real Estate Trends as of 11-20-2009.

In the Escondido homes market, it has been a buyer’s market.  The price trending upward may be the result of  an improvement of the quality of the homes now available (for example, newer or larger homes).

Another interesting way to look at Escondido real estate sales is to look at sales by quartiles, the most expensive to the least.  In the top or first quartile the median sales price was $875,000 for 3550 esf.  In the second quartile Escondido housing prices were $508,000 for 2560 esf.  In the 3rd quartile Escondido properties had a median price of $339,000 for 1820 esf and in the bottom quartile Escondido homes had a median price of just $210,000 for 1290 esf.

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