A Comparable Market Analysis Gives You The Edge in the Wake Forest NC Real Estate Market

First off, what is a Market Analysis?

A Market Analysis is a tool used to help guide you when deciding on a price to list your home. Your List Price. A Market Analysis will use similar homes in your neighborhood that are currently on the market, pending (have a contract on them but have yet to close) and recent Sales. In the past, recent Sales could go back 6-12 months to justify a price. Today? Not so. Lenders are now requiring (in most cases) Sold homes used in a Market Analysis to be no more than 90 days. What if there are no sales in your neighborhood in the past 90 days? Should that be the case, several other factors come into play.

• A comparison of recent activity for List Price to Sales Price ratios must be looked at. What was the List Price of the home and what was the ultimate Sales Price of the home? Were there any concessions offered to the buyer such as Closing Costs, etc?


• A more in-depth look at current homes on the market in your neighborhood will be looked at. DOM (Days on Market) will be analyzed. Have the homes been listed for less than 90 days? 180 days? Over a year? This is considered a "time on market" adjustment.

Years ago if there was a Foreclosure in your neighborhood mixed in with Fair Market sales you could somewhat discount that foreclosure in your equation. Unfortunately, today's market has many more foreclosures and, more than likely, they will need to be factored in when doing a Market Analysis. While that may be quite disheartening to you as a seller it is what is happening. You must keep in mind that if a buyer is faced with 5 homes for sale in a neighborhood and 3 of those 5 are foreclosures, chances are they are priced much lower than the Fair Market homes. That is your competition.

A Market Analysis has become a much more complex method in deriving a house value than in years past. If you are thinking of placing your home on the market in this soft environment it is in your best interest to hire a professional that will prepare a solid Market Analysis and continually update that Market Analysis while your home is on the market. Remember, if you receive an offer that is below your asking price and you have a professional, thoroughly prepared, and concise Market Analysis you will be in a better position to defend your asking price and more educated to negotiate.

There are many Wake Forest NC Homes for Sale so education is key when it comes to pricing your home!

Should you have any questions about your neighborhood activity or if you are considering putting your home on the market and would be interested in a FREE CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) I would be happy to help you navigate the process. Please feel free to call me at 919.649.6128 or simply send me an email!

How To Prevent Frozen Water Pipes

Water pipes are extremely vulnerable when the temperatures plummet as they have this last week in Wake Forest NC. The extended forecast shows even more colder than normal temps in the days ahead. Here are some great tips to help you prevent your water pipes from freezing AND what to do if the water pipes DO freeze!


Prevention:

• Insulate pipes in unheated areas paying attention to pipes that run along the floors, ceiling and outside walls (don't forget the garage!)
• Disconnect any garden hoses.
• Be sure to seal any foundation cracks that you may have that would allow cold air into crawlspaces.
• Open cabinet doors under the kitchen sink and bathroom vanities.
• Let a small trickle of water flow from your faucets during the extreme cold.
• Keep all exterior doors to unheated areas CLOSED! (utility rooms, garage, exterior yet attached storage rooms)
• If you are going out of town be sure to have a neighbor check on your water pipes while away.
• If you are going to be gone for an EXTENDED period of time or you have a vacant property you should have the water pipes drained.

After the Fact: (frozen but not burst)

• SHUT THE WATER OFF!
• Be sure to familiarize yourself with shutoff valves.
• Never try to thaw a pipe with an open flame or torch.
• Turn up the heat in the house to warm the surroundings (if an inside pipe)
• Infrared lamps can help to heat up a pipe.
• A hair dryer can be used to warm up the frozen area of the pipe.
• Heat lamp or portable heaters.
• Electric heat tape applied to frozen pipe.

A frozen water pipe can spell disaster should it burst. If you are in need of advice for water damage you can check out a post I have on What's Your Circa - while the post may have been written during hurricane season it still addresses water damage regardless of the cause.

Water Damaged Historic Homes - What to Do.

Stay warm my friends! It's COLD in Wake Forest NC!

anything is possible! What can I say - LOUD family!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Posted via email from The Wake Forest NC House Chick!!!

Celebrate the New Year in Wake Forest NC!

Wake Forest NC is hosting it's Second Annual First Light Wake Forest on December 31, 2009 starting at 7pm.

This family friendly, alcohol-free celebration is produced by Wake Forest's very own Brian Pate with Brian Pate Entertainment and I promise you....you won't want to miss this!

I will be posting the schedule of events a little later in the week but for a sneak peek:

• Children's Fireworks Extravaganza (early)
• Facepainting
• Horseback Riding
• Inflatable Rides
• Climbing Wall
• Adult Firewords Extravaganza (late)
• LIVE MUSIC by Sleeping Booty
• DJ Brian Pate

Admission is FREE and the event will take place along South White Street in Historic Downtown Wake Forest NC. Again, the celebration starts at 7pm and ends sometime in 2010! :)