Advice
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Protect yourself this Storm Season
With the Courier Mail reporting that “BRISBANE” will become ground zero for wild weather as meteorologists predict a highly active storm season across Queensland.
The severe weather outlook for 2016 and 2017 has indicated a heightened severe weather season with an increased risk of damaging thunderstorms, rain, and cyclones. Heightened cyclone activity is also predicted with up to four cyclones expected.” Read more
Home Staging – Is it worth it?
Here at Madeleine Hicks Real Estate, we quite often talk about home staging, and why it’s probably the single best thing you can do to get a higher price on your home.
If you’re unfamiliar with what home staging is, it’s the process of revamping your home to make it look better to buyers. It makes sense to do it – whether you’re selling a home, a car or an old baby stroller, it’s always a good idea to try and spruce it up before putting it on the market.
But is it really worth spending hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on a professional home staging service?
Perceptions of Real Estate Agents – 10 surprising statistics
Recent research on home sellers’ perceptions of real estate agents has uncovered some great information for both sellers and agents – some surprising, and some downright shocking.
Here are ten of our favourite stats from the report. Hopefully they’ll help you when choosing an agent when to decide that you’re ready to sell
TripAdvisor & Urban Spoon for Real Estate Agents
Now there’s a new trend springing up: aggregator websites for real estate agents and property managers. If you’re selling, or own an investment property, you’re going to come across them at some point.
So the question is: are they any good?
Help! I need to sell after 12 months!
Not long ago I met a young couple who had bought their home just 12 months earlier; and now needed to sell it due to a change in their circumstances.
This put them in a difficult situation when they least needed it, largely because it can be very difficult to sell a home so soon after it has been bought.
Here’s the advice I’d recommend in this situation.
Are you ready for the Spring Selling Season?
Spring is known for being real estate’s busiest season. Buying and selling numbers go up by more than double compared to June and July, usually peaking in the October-December period.
If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market, now is the time to act.
The key to making the most of the spring selling season is preparation. Here are three reasons why getting in early will help you reap better rewards.
Marketing Your Home: Dos and Don’ts
When putting your home on the market, a big part of reaching or exceeding your desired sale price is decided by the way you market it.
If people don’t know you’re selling your home, and if they aren’t aware of all its unique features and advantages, they aren’t going to offer you the amount you want (if they even make an offer in the first place).
Here’s our list of what to do, and what not to, when putting your property up for sale.
RBA’s Submission on Home Ownership in Australia – Interesting Reading.
The Reserve Bank was recently invited to make a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Inquiry into Home Ownership in Australia.
The Bank recognised the importance of housing to the people of Australia. Shelter is a fundamental human need, and purchasing the home one lives in is usually the largest financial investment a household will make.
The affordability of suitable housing is, appropriately, a central concern of government policy, and it has been the subject of several inquiries over the years, most recently the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry (The Senate 2015).
Housing tenure – whether a household owns or rents the home they live in – is an important aspect of people’s experience of their home.
The key messages of this submission are as follows.
The problem with home renovation TV shows
They’re exciting, they’re fun to watch, and the results usually look incredible. What’s not to like about home reno TV shows?
Well, for one thing, they often gloss over the most important aspect of renovating a home.
If you’ve caught the itch and are thinking about making some improvements to your home, make sure you aren’t overlooking this one major factor.
