Three Steps To Selling Your House In Three Days

Home buying and selling is exciting yet stressful. I should know since I've purchased three houses in the last three years and sold two within the last two years.  By simply following these three steps, you are well on your way to getting your house sold FAST - we had three offers within the first week on our first home and a solid offer within three days of our second house. I'm living proof that these tips work!
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If you've ever moved before in your life then you know it's a very exciting time. However, that excitement isn't the only emotion you are feeling. For me, I felt all sorts of negative emotions such as anxiousness, stress, and fear. All of these feelings are real. Heck, I've moved 5 times in 5 years to 5 different states - I never got accustomed to those feelings as they all remained the same.

There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to selling a house. You need to take into consideration the look, design and layout of your home, the school district your home is located in, the time of year you are planning to sell your house, etc.

Click to tweet: Follow these 3 steps to sell your house FAST!

Now the likelihood of actually selling your house in three days from listing date to closing date is typically not the case, unless you have a cash buyer with no contingencies. But it's not impossible to get at least one offer within a few short days after listing your house. Then you'll have an inspection period where the buyers can have a professional inspect the home and a small waiting period for their mortgage company to go through their paperwork (typically 30-45 days). But let me share with you my THREE tips to getting a solid offer on your home quickly - for us it was in three days.

GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME

You'll need to mentally prepare yourself for moving out of your home. It's a good time to become detached from your belongings and look at your house as if you are a buyer. Items to look at are paintings and pictures that might need to be taken down, wall and paint repairs that need attention, address any issues outside such as landscaping or yard work, and just give your house a once over for any items that need attention.

DECLUTTER, STAGE, AND MAKE YOUR HOME CAMERA READY

You can check out my original post from when we sold our first house here - Selling Your House Fast. That post goes over the basics of staging your home and the benefits of utilizing a professional photographer when listing your house. By making your house camera ready, the buyer can really picture their family living there.

Click to tweet: When you sell your home, get your head in the game.

Don't let any space go unnoticed. Buyers will be looking in closets, showers, cupboards, and appliances. This means, don't leave a load of laundry in the wash and make sure your toilets are clean. Leave no reason for a buyer to not want to move in right away! Also, I believe this step is extremely important before you even invite a real estate agent over to discuss selling your home (*only if you plan on having a professional help with selling your house, which I highly recommend).

SHOP AND HIRE A REAL ESTATE AGENT

If you've never sold a house before, having a professional realtor take the reigns on selling your house will cost you - typically 3-6% of the sale price. However, it is 100% worth every penny to utilize their skills, knowledge, and marketing abilities that you would otherwise lose out on if you chose the 'for sale by owner' route.

You DO NOT have to work with the first realtor you speak with. It is important that they understand your goals and they need to provide a marketing plan to help you achieve that goal. For us, we utilized a 60 day goal to help our agent appropriately price and market our house. Now remember, if you are working in a housing market where most buyers will be seeking a mortgage to purchase your home, you will have at least a 30-45 day period from list date to closing date. This is just standard  timeframe for all mortgage companies to complete all of their paperwork.

Click to tweet: Why you should SHOP for your realtor.

The marketing that your real estate agent can provide is the most important reason why you should hire them. Some questions to ask;

- Would they recommend an open house?
- What do they believe the house will sell for?
- What price do they recommend listed the house at?
- How long do they expect the house to be on the market?
- What websites would they list your house on?
- Will they provide a professional photographer and use those images in the listing?
- Will they provide a 'for sale' sign for your yard?
- What types of brochures do they find most effective?

Now that you have a better understanding how to effectively and quickly sell your house, it's your turn! Hopefully you find these tips beneficial and that you can quickly sell your next house!

Have you ever sold a home before?
Any other tips that you would add to the list?
What are your fears when it comes to buying or selling a home?
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The Three Rooms You MUST Unpack First When You Move

This post was sponsored by Charmin as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.
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They say that one of the most stressful situations you can experience is moving. I've moved my fair share and agree that disrupting my current routine can be stressful and picking up a similar routine that works for you and your family can be hard to establish after moving. However, after my half a dozen moves over the past 5 years, I have some tips for setting up house quick so you can get back to your daily routine.

Once all of your boxes have been packed and loaded onto a moving truck, or in your car, it's time for the real journey. Whether you have your family and friends help you move in to the new place or if you hired a crew, you will be bombarded with questions on where you want what and how you want things.

First things first, move all labeled boxes to the most appropriate room. If your move is anything like mine, the new house doesn't have the same layout as the previous house so guessing where you want boxes can be challenging. But, if you have a spare room you can stage random boxes in, you are setting yourself up for a spectacular unpacking session.

Once all of the boxes and furniture have been placed in their corresponding rooms it's time to unpack. There are three rooms to focus on first; your bedroom (and any kid's bedrooms), bathroom, and kitchen. After those three rooms have been established, or at least livable, you can move onto the living area, office, basement, garage, outdoor space, etc. Now let's break down the three most important rooms to unpack first.

Click to tweet: The 3 rooms you must unpack FIRST when moving.

Livable Bedrooms
If you are a solo mover then it's only important to set up your bedroom but if you are moving with a family, it might be a good idea to be sure that everyone has a bed to sleep in the first night. The first step to setting up your bedroom is to unpack the bed including the mattresses and make the bed with clean sheets. The closet and dresser situation can be handled at a future time, so long as your clothes can be easily accessed.

Bathroom(s)
This is one of those rooms that will get used within the first few hours of moving in. I mean, we all have to use the restroom to either relieve ourselves, wash our hands, brush our teeth, or take a shower - it's inevitable, when duty calls. So try and do a rough cleaning of the toilets, sinks, and showers then make sure the room(s) have soap, towels, and toilet paper.

I have always been the type of person that keeps loads of extra toilet paper readily available in each bathroom for my family and for guests. There's nothing more terrible than running out of toilet paper and having to yell for help, especially when you are at someone else's house. Talk about embarrassing!

Charmin is inviting shoppers to upgrade their Angel Soft® for Charmin Essentials Soft and Scott® 1000 for Charmin Essentials Strong. To participate, people can simply Tweet their TP swap out request to @Charmin using the hashtag #CharminEssentials and #Promotion, and Charmin will send you a free roll.*

Click to tweet: @Charmin I want to TP swap with #CharminEssentials #Promotion

I appreciate the the price point of Charmin Essentials because it allows me to keep all three of my bathrooms completely stocked. Plus, who can complain with a strong quality toilet paper that can withstand all your bathroom needs?!

Kitchen 
Chances are you will order out or get a takeout pizza on moving day. However, it's important to get the essentials setup in the kitchen so you can quickly get back to a daily routine. Finding a home for the dishware, glasses, silverware, bakeware, and such can seem like a daunting task but having those items put away sooner rather than later will help you to feel more established in your new home.

*#CharminEssentials TP Swap Program Terms & Conditions: http://spr.ly/6011B4QMT 

Have you ever moved?
Do you follow guidelines when it comes to unpacking?
Share your go-to TP (toilet paper) below.
PIN for later. 

Truth Behind The Blog - Selling Your House Fast

Moving is beyond stressful, especially if you are also trying to sell your house. If you are in the market for selling your property, many steps were shared here - Selling Your House Fast.
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The Truth Behind The Blog series is a more transparent view of previous posts. Here I share with you some behind-the-scenes secrets that weren't discussed during the time of the post. And today I want to talk about Selling Your House Fast.

I still stand behind every tip I provided, most importantly shopping for an agent and taking care of your home. However, there were a few items that I withheld due to the fact that our house hadn't actually SOLD yet, we just had a very serious offer in contract. Follow along with how the process actually went.
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A and I knew we were moving from Fishers, IN to Maryland. And when we decided to stop paying rent and purchase our first house, we chose something that we thought would sell quick. We had no idea that we would receive three offers within six days of listing the property.

Now, we did make some improvements on the house while we owned it for 1.5 years. We cleaned up the entire yard and pressure washed the exterior of the house. All windows were cleaned on the inside and out, we updated a few light fixtures, and spray painted the air vents. Almost every room received a fresh coat of neutral paint and all countertops were updated with beautiful granite. The last big remodel we did was our guest bathroom - the bone colored tub surround, toilet, and sink were removed, along with two layers of vinyl flooring. This was replaced with a fiberglass tub and shower, brand new toilet, and porcelain tile.


We met with two agents to learn about their marketing tactics. They also both provided us two numbers - what they thought the house would sell for and what they believed was a fair listing price. Why did we choose to do this? Well, with a corporate move, we had assistance with selling our house and they required two agents to quote fair pricing. This also means that we signed our property over to a company and they handled the entire sale of our house. A and I still were involved when it came to setting up showings, offers and counteroffers, addenda, and inspection. By signing the responsibilities of closing onto someone else, it took a lot of the pressure of A and I.

With the situation we had, we were able to choose whichever agent we wanted but could only list our house 3% higher than both prices we were quoted. I believe that REALLY but our property in a good place and resulted in dozens of showings and multiple offers.

Click to tweet: Secrets behind selling your house quickly.

If you are planning on selling your house soon, I highly recommend checking out my tips from Selling Your House Fast and meeting with at least two agents. We all feel some sort of attachment to our properties, but if you price your house too high, you are missing out on serious buyers.

Have you ever sold a home?
Do you have any tips for homebuyers or sellers?
Do you like to walk around Open Houses to get ideas for design, staging, or what you might want in a house?

#DadBod, Food, and Shenanigans

Happy Friday! This week has been an interesting week with A being out of town for work and with us still adjusting to our new home on the East Coast. Just because it's been interesting doesn't mean it hasn't been wonderful. Plus it's Friday everybody. Let's party!

This is how my week has gone...

Sun: The view above and the view below... Now words. They are my life and I couldn't be more elated. We have only been in Maryland for 30 days and it appears we are adjusting just well. One house and park pass later, we are residents!

Food: I mean, what is there not to like about food? I signed up for a Graze box subscription and have been loving the single portion snacks. These are snacks I would not otherwise buy for myself because, let's face it, I would eat a few portions then the bag would be missing in my pantry. Who else has a disaster of a pantry? I can't be alone.

And when your hubby is traveling for work, it is completely acceptable to eat an entire box of Kraft mac 'n cheese. Then drown your sorrows in a glass of wine. Living in a new home can be scary, but when you are alone it is 100 times worse.

Shopping: Flea market shopping might be one of the best things ever. Especially when you find this little lady marked at $40 and you get her for $25. A has mad skills. Really mad skillz!

Reading: #dadbod  If you haven't read this yet, it is a must. Then search #dadbod on Twitter and laugh. You are so very welcome!

What are your favorites from this week, or from today?
Shameless plug - Did you know a traveling Wife is on Facebook? I don't have any Likes yet. If you feel compelled to hope over and see, I would love the support!

* PS - you can get your 1st and 5th Graze box FREE. Just use code CGVRL749B (thanks for your support)

Life in the Fast Lane

Wow - that's really all I can say.

This last month has been just a crazy dream, or nightmare, depending how you look at it. A and I went to Maryland to pick out a new house in just 2 days, we listed our home in Indiana for sale, we booked hotels, rental cars, packing crew, movers, car haulers, and the list goes on. We set aside time to celebrate our friendships with coworkers and friends alike. Dinners were had, beer and wine were consumed, and a few tears shed by the least likely of hearts.

The last few days were filled with the remainder of going away festivities and packing all of our belongings. Every last box was placed on the truck with care and our cars were hauled away.

Now I sit in a hotel room, after eating far too much food from a lovely restaurant in Washington, PA. We don't have a home in Indiana and we don't have a home yet in Maryland. We are homeless. Or house-less if you want me to be politically correct. Its a very weird feeling.

I had every intent of getting a review posted for the most fabulous essential oils. It's all the rage right now and who isn't pushing dōTERRA or Young Living essential oils down your throat? Literally! After working in the spa industry, I like to do my research on companies when they throw out terminology including 'therapeutic' grade, or the like, I would still purchase Insta Natural essential oil over the other brands.That's just my opinion.

Being busy isn't the only excuse for not posting the review. I dropped my precious bottle of peppermint oil and it shattered to pieces. I placed the 4 oz glass jar on the kitchen table and tuned my back. Next thing I hear a rolling sound then BOOM. Peppermint filled the room and I imagine the house still smells of peppermint essential oil.

Please check out all brands of essential oil, especially Insta Natural. Just be sure that the oils are 100% pure.

How has your week been going?
*I received some of the products mentioned in the above post from Tomoson for review. All opinions are my own. See disclaimer at bottom of page.*

Selling Your House Fast

Remember that time that I said we are moving to the East Coast? This means we need to sell our house that we bought nearly 1.5 years ago. Luckily for us, the market is doing pretty well here in Indianapolis so we aren't too concerned about paying a dual mortgage for long. Hopefully I didn't just jinx us!

A and I met with two agents and listened to their entire marketing scheme. It was really interesting to see their techniques on selling a home and what they would price our house at. Sure they were close to a similar number but this number was pretty far off from our initial 3 offers when we listed the house. To be honest, their number was below our offers. Pretty crazy, right?! I'd say that's a good mistake to make.

There were two items that stood out the most to us with the agent we chose - they had great outlets to promote the house to and they provided a professional photographer to take photos of our house. The house was on the market for all of 5 days prior to receiving two offers and then we received another offer the following day. I hope I am not jinxing our situation too much as the house will not close until mid-April.

Again, we are living in a pretty decent market to sell a home but I wanted to share my tips to selling a home quick. This would be better named, how to quickly get offers on your house that's for sale since our house isn't 'sold' yet.

Shop for an agent
You don't have to chose the first agent you meet and you definitely to not have to work with the same agent that helped you purchase the house. Ask for their marketing plan and ask how they will list the house. Will they provide pamphlets for an open house and will they help with staging.

Use a professional photographer
This is without a doubt, 100% worth it. Most people are shopping for a house before they even see it in person - I call them window shoppers. They will browse all the sites, such as Zillow, Redfin, Realtor, Trulia, etc. and judge the house based on photos and description.

via here and here 

The photos on the left are those that the previous listing agent used for the sale of the home. The photos on the right are from the professional photographer for the listing of our home. Talk about spacious rooms that are bright.

via here and here 

Who would have thought that 1/4 acre lot could look so open and inviting?

via here and here 

It's a bummer that the house got listed prior to the bloom of our trees. But look at how large the deck looks on the right.

via here and here 

We definitely have a small kitchen but the kitchen on the left looks 5 times smaller than the one on the right.

Take care of your home
If you do at least the bare minimum it will really show well. Clean your furnace filter on schedule, pressure wash the outside of your home, clean up your landscaping, and repair/patch walls. A fresh coat of paint also makes the house look taken care of. I recommend neutral colors that are not offensive. Realtors will say that paint is an easy fix. Little do they know paint is expensive and requires a lot of work.

Stage your home or declutter
Make your home inviting all while allowing the buyer to picture their lives there. It is always nice to have personal memorabilia in your home to make it feel like home, but buyers do not care about your family. Less is more in this case and stick to the rule of 3's, like three little kittens that lost their mittens. This is a thing people. Look it up and your eye for decorating will forever change.

Now the true fact about how quickly your house will sell is solely based around location, price, and market. But the above guidelines can definitely help make a beauty of a listing. The appeal will likely draw in a large crowd for showings.

Have you sold a house? What do you recommend to get that house sold quickly?

We are MOVING - East Coast Here We Come

I started this blog back when I got married and moved from the Midwest to California - a traveling Wife. You can read all of the history of this little blog here. So here we are again, moving. I believe I am a professional mover now.

Who is ready for some packing, traveling, home buying and home selling posts? Maryland, I hope you are ready for us!!

Moving Tips - Guest Post

This moving thing is crazy but I have to say I am thankful that I have not had to  move twenty-two times. Read more from the lovely Stefani.   --    Hi Jenn's wonderful readers! My name is Stef and I blog over at Miss Jo and Co.   

  You can find me talking about most anything on my mind...from my wedding night, to my kick-butt daughter, and even my embarrassing lack of sexiness. I'm so glad that Jenn invited me to guest post while she's moving cross-country. I'm going to tell you a few things I've learned about moving to and living in a new place, because as it turns out...I have a bit of experience. In my life, I've moved a total of twenty-two times. No, my parents weren't in the military, we weren't in the witness protection program, and we're not gypsies. We're just a tiny bit crazy, turns out.  From those twenty-two moves, though, I've learned a few things.    Before the move...   1. Be a minimalist After 22 moves, the one things I've realized is that you really can have WAY too much stuff. I do a purge of our house every few months, just because I can't stand having clutter...and we still have more than I'd like. But let me tell you, minimalism makes moving so much easier. And if you don't want to be crazy like me, then before you even think about packing, give away some stuff to Goodwill and throw out the junk.    2. Organize and plan Throwing everything into boxes without an regard for where it's coming from or where it's going makes things so stressful. Don't do it. Trust me. It may be the quicker option now, but when you move into your new place you will definitely regret it. So, pack things into boxes that are labeled by room and put like with like (All the books together, all the decor together, etc.) Also, don't put too much heavy stuff in one box, because you won't be happy when you have to actually move it.   3. Take a break The temptation before you move is to book a lot of time with a lot of different people and fill up your calendar, since you'll be leaving soon. Which is great, until you get totally burnt out and then it's moving day and you have no energy whatsoever. Take a break from packing/socializing/everything - maybe go out with your family and see your favorite sites from the town you're about to leave. Take some time to appreciate where you're leaving from.   When you get there...   1. Get it over with Moving is tiring, and by the time you reach your destination it's really tempting just to take things slowly and unpack as you go. But you have so much more time to explore your new place when you just get the unpacking and tedious stuff over with. Put everything in its place, forward your mail, set up the utilities...all the boring stuff. That way you'll be able to settle down and meet new people!   2. Be a tourist I've found that the best way to get to know a city right off the bat is to act like you're a tourist for a few days. See what the city has to offer, check out their website and message boards, and take some time to explore. Talk to people about what they love most about the area. The locals always know the best places to eat, shop, and play. And you just might meet some new friends!   3. Get involved Last but not least...get involved. Meet your neighbors (bring them cookies or something and introduce yourselves!), find a Church or community center to frequent, do some volunteer work...the more you get involved, the more connected you'll feel to your new home and the happier you'll be there.    Moving can be tough - physically, emotionally, socially. But it's not impossible. Take it from a pro...as long as you embrace the experience and do all you can to minimize the stress of it, it won't be that bad. It might actually be a little fun.    Thanks again, Jenn, for letting me guest post!   What moving tips do you have?   -- Thanks again Stef for taking a load off my calendar today.

Feeling Lost

The last two days have definitely been filled with a lot of emotions. 

Tuesday was packing day. Due to the nature of our move, we were able to have a company come in and pack all of our belongings. Then Wednesday was loading day. 

Now everything we own is stowed away on a moving truck. 

Not only are our belongings gone but so are our vehicles. 

A car hauler came yesterday to pick up both of our cars.

I am not sure what to do with myself now that I am living out of a hotel room.

But I can tell you that the puppy is loving it.

She is enjoying the extra pillows for comfort and the TV in front of the bed. 

Spoiled dog!

The next step is for Hubby to finish his job here, we will transfer hotels one more time in California then we are off to Indiana on Christmas day. There we will anticipate our shipment so that we can unpack and get out house put together.

 

Stay tune for tomorrow's post. I have a lovely friend discussing moving tips. 

She has moved twenty-two times, so she has experience.

 

Moving Update

Today, I do not have much to offer to you all. 

I am sitting in our hotel room about to head over to our condo to meet with the moving company.

All of our belongings were packed into neat little or big boxes and are now ready for the moving truck. After today, all of our most precious belongings will be stowed away in our luggage and the rest in boxes. 

This move came upon us really quick and I hope the rest of the process goes smoothly.

Google

Enjoy your day and stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

Kitchen Island Virgin

I am finally back from Indiana. Now it is seriously crunch time before the big move, which starts on Tuesday. 

This has been such a whirlwind and feels really rushed.

I am positive that everything will work out just fine and that Indiana will be good to us.

If you follow me on twitter then you saw some sneak pictures of our new home. 

The pictures were taken super quick while leaving after we met with our landlord.

I absolutely love how large the kitchen is. I am a kitchen island virgin no more.

I will totally be whipping up some delicious meals in here. 

 

The front entry is one of my favorite things about this town home. 

It has such a vast, open view that makes the house feel so welcoming.

Now the fireplace. Oh, I will be snuggling up with this bad boy with some tv shows. 

After all the stress was gone for finding some where to live, we were able to 

head to downtown Indianapolis to check out what the city offers.

The surrounding area is so beautiful with huge houses lining the streets.

We stumbled upon the capital while driving around.

Then we also stumbled upon this. I have seen them a ton on tv but never in real life!

Make sure to watch til the end to see what Hubby has to say - ha.

Now let the packing and purging commence!

*I am still looking for people to guest post during my move. 

If you are interested please let me know!