Long Beach Real Estate-Downtown Long Beach Condos

LONG BEACH REAL ESTATE

Selling YOUR Long Beach Home?

 It's TOUGH out there!

Are YOU ready for this Real Estate Market?

 
Today's Long Beach Real Estate market is demanding an entirely new approach when selling your Long Beach Homes or Condos.  If your home is on the market you already know just how tough it can be to just get showings.  You have probably reduced your price at least once and are wondering how low you will have to go to actually make that elusive sale.  

PRICING YOUR LONG BEACH HOMES OR CONDOS

The worst mistake a seller can make is to overprice their Long Beach Home.  The first two to three weeks on the market are critical when you enter the market.  Thinking that you can test the market and lower the price later is never a good idea.  The goal should be to price your Long Beach homes to sell quickly while they are generating the most interest - as a new listing.  There are many homes and condos in Long Beach on the market, too many of which are not priced to sell.  When a buyer sees a property that is overpriced they just pass it by.  Buyers are always looking for new listings just coming onto the real estate market, because much of what is already listed is just not all that desirable and often overpriced.  Another terrible mistake any seller can make is to believe their home or condo is still worth what homes in their Long Beach Neighborhoods were commanding months ago. 

• Read: My Long Beach Home Won't Sell - Are YOU Chasing the Market Down?

If your home is overpriced it is time to take a giant leap and get ahead of the curve.  Pricing your home under today's market price usually means that by the time it actually closes you will be at market price.  Yes, prices seem to be dropping that quickly.  Why not?  They rose that quickly when it was a hot sellers market. Home sales in Long Beach are traditionally slower through the winter months making selling your Long Beach home or condo that much more difficult during these months.  If you do not need to sell your Long Beach home at this time, this is not the time to be on the market.  Speculating in this market is futile. 

HOME STAGING YOUR LONG BEACH HOMES OR CONDOS

There are no guarantees on today's real estate market.  You can do everything right and still not sell.  Home Staging is a great way to freshen up and depersonalize your Long Beach home.  De-cluttering and removing family pictures and any other deeply personal items allow a buyer to envision their own possessions in the space. Show your home as the homethe buyer will want to call their home. Remember, it is not luck that will sell your home, it is prepping and staging that will help make that elusive sale a reality. 

• Read:  Why Stage Your Long Beach Homes or Condos
• Home Staging Can Sell Long Beach Homes Faster
• Seller Tips - Preparing Your Long Beach Home For Sale
• Curb Appeal on a Budget

 MARKETING YOUR LONG BEACH HOMES OR CONDOS

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Long Beach Real Estate & Home Loans

Long Beach Homes & Condos

7 Steps to Pre-Home Purchase Preparedness

1 - Choose a Lender

No it is not smart to just gift your business to a friend or family member, lender or Realtor. It is time to shop for the right lender for the job. My suggestion is to shop for a direct lender/loan originator. Removing the middle man from the transaction reduces your home loan costs. Direct lenders generally have a larger array of product available to them to shop from on your behalf and have built trust relationships with the wholesale lenders which you will benefit from greatly. Discuss your long range plan with your lender, have them explain the benefits of the loan programs available and decide which suit you best. Lenders have been closing up shop and discontinuing loan programs often recently; inquire if your lender plans on double app-ing your loan for your safety, a good one will. 
 
 
 
2 - Checking Credit Scores Prior to Starting the Purchase

Your lender can pull your credit report for you. Many credit reports contain errors which can be costly to you. Finding and correcting these errors, prior to searching for your new home will reduce your stress levels.  This will grant you the time to repair the problems which would otherwise result in higher interest payments due to the higher risk you would appear to pose. You may find that you have been the victim of identity theft and decide to put your purchase on hold temporarily until you can clean it up. 
 
 

3 - Be  Pre-approved Prior to Searching

What a shame it would be to find your Long Beach dream home only to discover that your credit is tarnished and will require several months of repair, or that you qualify for less than you need to purchase it. How are you going to submit an offer without a pre-approval in todays market? What Long Beach seller would consider that offer? How do you even know what loan amount you will qualify for? Why spin your wheels? Be smart, get pre-approved prior to searching. 
 
 

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On Tuesday, March 27, 2007 Inman News interviewed Mary McKnight, of RSSpieces.com, out of Cape Coral, Florida in their 3 part article ‘Blogs rise as glue to real estate social networking’.

Excerpt from the article:

McKnight says that some agents have been really successful in using ActiveRain to boost their rankings, pointing out a Long Beach, CA., Realtor whose site appears in the first 5-7 spots in Google search results for Long Beach real estate. ‘Laurie Manny is a good example of someone doing this. Shes able to diversify and leverage her online presence really well,’ McKnight pointed out


What does that mean to you, the Long Beach Property Owner?

That means that when you list your Long Beach Property with Laurie Manny you instantly get top Internet exposure by way of her high ranking website LaurieManny.com and by way of her advanced blogging ability and tactics.  

Lauries vast knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization) will send your Long Beach Property to the top of the search engines.

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Selling Your Long Beach Home

ITS A WHOLE NEW GAME

First came the ‘Do Not Call List’.  Soon to be followed by the ‘Do Not Mail List’.  Now the City of Long Beach has Launched a campaign to stop unwanted handbills, which means no fliers and menus on doorsteps.  Even I have to admit that I was very pleased about the ‘Do Not Call List’, the unwanted solicitations were out of control.  The mail doesnt bother me much, I open my mail over a large trash can which is where the clear majority of it lands.  I dont know about you, but I like receiving the take out menus, you never know when they will come in handy.  I also enjoy getting the latest fliers and area information from my local Long Beach  REALTOR.  Its great to know whats going on in your neck of the woods. 

So, if a Long Beach REALTOR cannot call, cannot mail and now cannot drop on some door-steps, how are they going to reach the community to market your Long Beach property, beyond placing it on the MLS?  The local newspaper?  The Grunion Gazette and the Downtown Gazette have been the Long Beach Real Estate Bible and have been great resources in the past, but buyers really dont frequent the Gazette ads any more, and they are very expensive to place.  Same story with the Long Beach Press Telegram, The Real Estate Book, Homes and Land Magazine, etc¦  All of the paper resources, that have been so successful in the past for advertising and marketing your Long Beach Home, just dont work anymore.  Some, like The Real Estate Book and Homes and Land Magazine are moving most of their advertising onto the Internet in order to stay in the game.  The New York Times doesnt even expect to be in print in the coming years says Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times. 

The Internet is evolving so rapidly that companies like Realtor.com, who have been integral in the sale of homes for years now are beginning to fade into the background as major powerhouses emerge.  Zillow, Trulia and many other companies are taking the Internet by storm.  If your Long Beach Realtor  is not a part of the transition into the future of marketing real estate in a big way on the Internet, you will be left in the dust. 

A year ago 70% of all Buyers were beginning their search on the Internet.  Now more than 80% of all Buyers are actively shopping, and finding their homes, on the Internet.  Hiring a local Long Beach Realtor who is Internet savvy, has the technology in place, and can provide you with massive Internet exposure has become an absolute necessity in todays new market.  Internet Marketing has become the only effective venue to sell your Long Beach Home

You would think that all REALTORS would have, Search Engine Optimized (SEO), lead generating web sites, wouldnt you?  A lead generating web site takes a tremendous amount of time, maintenance, knowledge and money to produce. 

As many of these real estate agents scramble to get web sites, technology passes them by unnoticed.  Welcome to the age of Blogging.  Todays top real estate professionals across the country have discovered the many advantages of an amazing opportunity.  Blogs are not like traditional websites.  They are not bogged down by all of the toys and gadgets, and provide a clear path for the search engines to find them and send your message to the top of the search engines.  Savvy real estate agents from around the country have set up local real estate blog sites and are blogging on large national networks like ActiveRain and Localism, driving heavy traffic to their websites.

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