Why would I spend the money to get my house pre-inspected when the buyer usually pays for that? Well, for one, it may get you a larger pool of buyers that want to look at your house. Two, it will make for a smoother transaction once you get an offer if you have already repaired any issues found in the inspection. Wouldn’t both of those things make your life easier? Some companies even run a special for home seller’s to get their house pre-inspected. I just heard from Ameri-Spec the other day of a special deal they are running. It also involves a follow-up for the buyers to have any problems areas looked at after the contract has been accepted. Spending a little bit of money ahead of time can end up saving you a lot of money and headaches in the future.
We were talking this morning in my networking group about the phone book. A marketing rep mentioned that the phone book is not advertsing, it is a directory. People open a phone book with a name or company in mind and begin to search for that particular number. They don’t go shopping in a phone book. I choose not to advertise in the phone book because I set my sights on making everything available online. Ninety percent of home-buyers use the internet for their home search, why shouldn’t I? Same thing goes with the newspaper—is that the most effective way to reach people? Have you noticed the extreme drop in house advertisements in the paper over the past couple years? Advertising a home in the paper gets you one picture and a few sentences of text. However, by going online to search for houses you can search for only houses that meet your needs (price, location, ammenities) and you get to view dozens of color photos and get all the information about the property. So, where do you spend your advertising dollars?
http://www.hgtv.com/all-american-handyman/show/index.html
Did you see the new reality show on HGTV that premiered last Sunday night called the “ALL-AMERICAN HANDYMAN?” Finally, a reality show combined with home-improvement, the perfect match for both personalities in my house! This show was a little slow to start: 20 contestants were given 2 sheets of plywood and told to create ANYTHING. Mike Holmes, the sometimes overly dramatic but extremely knowledgeable handyman, and Scott McGillivray (from the rental income show) judge the contestants. The 20 people were quickly whittled down to 10 to compete in the show. Some of the projects made from plywood were seriously embarrasing, where do these people come from to think they are qualified to compete on the show? Others showed promise and some knowledge though, so it should make for an interesting season. Once the 10 people were established the first competition was a sort of skills challenge based on woodworking and electrical/plumbing code knowledge. This show can teach you a lot but can also make you scream at the TV at the lack of knowledge of some people. The cool thing is that these people have day jobs and being a “handyman” is just a hobby of theirs. Another cool concept is that not all “handymen” are men – which gives the show an interesting dynamic. Tune in next Sunday for the next episode and tell me what you think.
