http://www.appraisersinbatonrouge.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate Home Selling Tips: 4 Ways To Sell Your Home Faster. This article was written for homeowners and may be helpful for Real Estate Agents as well.

CBS Money Watch is reporting on 4 Ways To Sell Your Home Faster! Click the blue link to read the article! Here’s a snippet:

“Home sellers, buckle up: Spring selling season is here, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

For now, the April 30 deadline for closing on a house to claim the home buyer tax credit is boosting sales. But with mortgage rates edging up, deals are fragile and lenders are on edge. “Last-minute glitches are holding up things far longer than we have ever seen before,” says Michael Onorato, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Just because you have a real estate agent, that doesn’t mean you can sit back and let the pro sell your house. To get top dollar, you’ll need to take control of the relationship and micro-manage like nobody’s business. Follow these four steps to sell your house fast.“

The 4 Ways To Sell Your Baton Rouge Home Faster:

1.) Keep Your Agent on a Tight Leash

2.) Prove Your Home’s Value

3.) Get a Fair Appraisal

4.) Get Your Home Staged

http://www.batonrougerealestatebuzz.com/ – Video Of Baton Rouge Homes Value: How Much Value Do Pools and Metal Buildings Add?

In this video, Realtor and Broker, Tony Zito, and Home Appraiser, Bill Cobb, discuss how appraisers value pools and metal buildings. Generally, the return might be 1/4 to 1/3 of investment, but not always. Sometimes pools have no value at all, especially the older the age of the pool. Some people likes pools and others don’t and end up filling them in with dirt. However, if you’re buying a home to live there forever, enjoy that home and add what you can afford to install…..just don’t expect to get a dollar-for-dollar return on your investment of items in your yard.

I wrote more about this topic here, “Greater Baton Rouge Homeowner Should Not Have Added $60,000 Pool In A $150,000 Subdivision“

and

“Greater Baton Rouge Real Estate Question: Is It Wise To Invest $60,000 For A Pool and Landscaping For A $250,000 Home“

NOTE: Just don’t let that pool salesman convince you that adding that pool will significantly increase the value of your home.

http://www.batonrougerealestatebuzz.com/ - Baton Rouge Real Estate Agent Tips: The Importance Of Sending Those Thank You Notes!

Back in early 2004, I released the “Reapptools” Home Appraiser Marketing Guide. Some of the readers of this blog purchased that guide. While the implementation HVCC has eliminated some of the marketing methods recommended in the guide, there was a section about the power of thank you notes and referral gifts. These generally included a thank you with a small very inexpensive Jim Rohn booklet on success. I received a thank you note with success type booklet recently from site sponsor, Lore DeAstra with Continental Appraisal and was reminded of the power of thank you notes.

What about that appraiser or home inspector that recently sent you a listing referral? What about that Attorney that recently sent you the listing referral? What about that family friend that referred your services to their neighbor? Did you take time to send them a thank you note? The point in the Reapptools guide was that thank you notes positively reinforce that behavior over and over again.

To help me make sure I follow through on sending thank you notes, I keep a stack within arms reach. That’s why I also bought my Dymo Label Writer 400 years ago so I could print an address label in a snap!

John Jones’ Tuesday Morning Coffee video today is about the power of thank you notes. John’s recommendations are that they be hand-written, sent within a couple of days of the kind gesture, reference the kind gesture (thank for the listing appraisal referral) and use the words “you” and eliminate “I” and “we”. Enjoy! Bill Cobb

http://www.appraisersinbatonrouge.com/ – Certified FHA Appraisers Baton Rouge: Good News For Greater Baton Rouge Housing Market? The “Guys” at TBWS Have Good News For A Change!

“Foreclosures are upon us, but someone has to sell them. 5 reasons there isn’t going to be a double dip. Home Depot is hiring, 64% of Americans feel now is the time to buy.”

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Video: How 2009 Major Appraisal Industry Changes Have Impacted Baton Rouge Real Estate, Part 2

Baton Rouge Real Estate: How 2009 Appraisal Industry Changes Are Impacting Baton Rouge Housing, Part 2. In this video, Bill Cobb Appraiser and Realtor/Broker Tony Zito discuss home appraisal industry changes and how those changes are impacting Baton Rouge home appraisals.