Charlotte Homes for Sale
Nina Hollander
(704)779-0813

If your NC home is for sale – whether in Charlotte, Waxhaw , Fort Mill or surrounding areas – there’s a good chance your real estate agent will discuss the benefits of an open house with you. Open houses have long been a part of the home sale experience, since it allows prospective buyers to take a “low-key” approach while they browse the merchandise. It also gives your real estate agent the chance to network with a large number of potential buyers all at one time. In some cases, it also means you’ll finally sell that home!

However, an open house can be an unnerving event; after all, you’re opening your home up to complete strangers, and in most cases, you won’t be there to witness the event. By knowing what to expect, you have a better chance of selling your NC home – all while keeping a handle on your peace of mind.

• Remember that an open house is just one part of a larger marketing process. No one wants to sell your home more than your Charlotte real estate agent, and the best approach in any sales climate is to reach as many potential homebuyers as possible. That means diversifying the way you market to include those who prefer the low-key atmosphere of an open house.

• Don’t expect immediate results. Few people enter an open house and make a purchase right then and there. The real outcome is most likely going to be a few appointments for a private viewing or future appointment.

• Remove your valuables, money, keys, pets, medications, and any paperwork that has personal information on it (such as bills). Although a good real estate agent will keep an eye on your property to avoid damages, anything that is of value (for either monetary or personal reasons) should be safely tucked away. This can actually help sell the house in the long run, since personal effects tend to turn buyers off.

• Do a walk-through with your real estate agent immediately before and after the open house. This will allow you both to determine damages or thefts with an objective eye.

• Remember that an open house can tell you a lot about your property. Your real estate agent will be able to draw conclusions based on the turnout and the overheard comments. If few people show up, it could indicate that your asking price is too high, or that your curb appeal simply isn’t up to snuff. A large turnout with few leads could mean that the problem lies with the layout or “dressing” of your home.

Selling a home in NC can be difficult in today’s market – but it isn’t impossible. By approaching your marketing strategies with an open mind – and an open house – you can get your home effectively promoted throughout the Charlotte, Waxhaw and Fort Mill housing market with better results than ever before.

Most prospective homebuyers in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas already know that when it comes to purchasing real estate, location is key. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking to make a profit on your new home or if you simply want a place that will help you raise your family – the neighborhood you choose to call your own is just as important as those details of square footage, number of bathrooms, and central air.

Choosing a home in NC based on the quality of the neighborhood is especially important. There are so many diverse and incredible places to live here that you can change your lifestyle simply by moving closer to that hip, urban center or further out, where suburban sprawl or a few acres of your own are calling.

Most people already look at neighborhoods and communities in Charlotte when considering a home purchase. In fact, some of the more common considerations include:

• School districts
• Type of neighborhood (gated, urban, suburban, etc.)
• Public transportation options
• Access to commuting routes
• Proximity to shopping
• Proximity to facilities like police, fire, or medical care
• Tax rates
• Crime rates

However, although these are all very important parts of choosing a neighborhood in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas, finding the facts might not be as easy as you hope. For example, things like tax rates can be researched, but you’ll also need to look at the future of development in the area. If there’s a big plan for condos to go up in your family neighborhood, you might find that the area is gearing for development. This might mean higher tax rates as the community draws in a higher-income crowd. (It might also mean a change in the neighborhood dynamic).

It’s also important to consider the different times of day and the year in which you visit your prospective home.

• How crowded are the streets during rush hour? On the weekends?
• How safe do you feel walking around during the day? What about at night?
• How maintained are the parks and streets in the winter? In the summer?
• How is the noise level at night or in the morning? Does this change on the weekends?

In order to make the most well-informed decision possible on your new home in Charlotte, it’s best to ask a trusted real estate professional like Nina Hollander or to talk with current (and past) residents. Not only will you get an insider’s view on what the NC community looks like after hours and in real life, but you might also learn that the people who will become your new neighbors are an enticing draw all on their own.

If you’re getting ready to sell your Charlotte, Waxhaw or Fort Mill home, you know that one of the most important things you can do to increase your sale price is to spend some time staging. After all, the better your home looks, the better the chances are that someone else will love it enough to buy it, too. However, many of the homes for sale in the North Carolina area are smaller in size than what’s currently hot on the market. While this doesn’t mean you can’t sell your home, it does mean that it might take a little extra work before you get that figure you’re aiming for.

The truth is, there’s no reason why your Charlotte home has to be the size of a small country in order to appeal to homebuyers. Small spaces, while more of a challenge to decorate and stage, have quite a bit of potential for appealing to those looking for charm, coziness, and class. If you’re doing the staging for your home yourself, here are few important tips in making your small home look like it’s worth every penny.

1. Get rid of the stuff. In any home staging effort, you want to get rid of personalized items and all the miscellaneous knickknacks that find their way into your home – including paintings and even overly unique drapes. This is never more important than when you’re trying to make a small house look bigger in NC.

2. Go for neutral colors. Dark colors make rooms look smaller in size. By using light, airy colors, you’ll give the appearance of more light – and therefore, more space.

3. Offer storage options. Most people need to really “see” themselves in a Charlotte home before they buy it. If you find creative ways to set up storage (such as in hidden cupboards, in strategic locations behind the couch, or even in a great set of shelves), you’ll give the impression that the house is not only beautiful, but livable.

4. Go for high-end details. Many of today’s homebuyers are willing to overlook a smaller space as long as it still retains a high value. Things like crown molding, built-ins, great appliances, and hardwood floors can go a long way in adding to the charm factor.

5. Use bright, strategic lighting. As with choosing lighter colors for wall paint, the idea of using light to give the impression of space is a good one. This is especially true if you can use track or recessed lighting to streamline the space even more.

Remember, there is no such thing as a typical homebuyer. By neutralizing your space and offering the little luxuries that allow people to envision themselves in your home, you’re allowing them to look beyond square footage to see how your Charlotte house for sale will help them create a lifetime of memories.

These days, most of the listed homes for sale in Charlotte, Waxhaw, or Fort Mill are all about building a family future. Savvy buyers know that the market is theirs, and they can bargain for things like better school districts, home improvements, and other amenities that make owning real estate in North Carolina great. However, when the Charlotte real estate market boasts more homes than there are buyers, there’s another advantage: homes for investment opportunities are cheaper and have greater potential than ever before.

First-Time Homebuyers in Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill: If you’re in the market for the first time, buying a home as an investment is a wonderful opportunity. Not only are there federal funding options available for first-time buyers, but the low average cost of homes right now means that you can get more North Carolina home for your dollar. This is especially true if you’re looking for a home to live in for a few years. By buying a house now, you can have a place to call home and the potential to sell it for profit five, ten, or even twenty years from now.

Charlotte Home Flipping: “Flipping” a home, or buying a house and fixing it up to increase the resale value, has been made popular by television shows and success stories that boast of tens of thousands of dollars virtually overnight. However, the process of fixing up a house is a much larger task than it at first appears. If you plan to flip a house as a way to earn a living, make sure you know exactly what the construction projects will entail and how you will finance your way through the process for the entire time it might take to resell your investment home.

When Buying NC Real Estate, Timing is Everything: As a financial decision, buying real estate is often best taken advantage of as a long-term investment. After all, it can be difficult even for professionals to predict the Charlotte real estate market. That’s why one of the best ways to turn a profit on a North Carolina home is to plan on living in the home or renting it out for upwards of 10 years at a time. It’s one of the best ways to guarantee an increase in your investment, and to enjoy yourself – and your family – while doing it.

The most important thing to remember before delving into NC real estate as a way to make money is that there is no quick and easy road to riches. The recent housing bubble burst is perfect evidence of this, and many people learned the hard way that buying a home as an investment, like any financial decision, takes time, planning, and a little homework.

When you first purchase a house in Charlotte, Waxhaw or Fort Mill, you’re most likely thinking of ways to build a home for you and your family. A big yard means plenty of room for the children to play. A newly renovated kitchen means you can finally throw the types of dinner parties you’ve always wanted. A master suite, well, that’s just icing on the cake. However, when it comes to sell your North Carolina home, it’s important to remember that all those little (and big) changes can also mean big little (and big) changes in your sale price.

While most homeowners should make changes to their houses that suit their lifestyle rather than the eventual sale price of their home five, ten, or even twenty years down the road, there are a few things to keep in mind. After all, if you will someday be selling your Charlotte house, you want to be sure you’re maximizing your profit.

• Repair all the little things – now. Most of the time, homeowners are willing to overlook the little idiosyncrasies like a broken step on the porch or chipping paint on the kitchen cabinets while they live in their house. These small repair needs are a bit like a knee that acts up in the rain or a car that always requires you to turn the key three times to the right before starting; they just become part of the everyday backdrop of your life. However, for someone buying a home in Charlotte, Waxhaw or considering real estate in Fort Mill, these things can become glaring problems. By fixing issues as they arise (rather than waiting until you’re ready to sell your NC home), you not only avoid making major repairs all at once, but you actually get to enjoy the repairs while you live there.
• Know your neighborhood. If you live in one of Charlotte’s family-friendly neighborhoods, chances are things like well-maintained yards, large family rooms, and spacious kitchens will be worth more in the long run. If you live in a Waxhaw condo, you might find that built-in bookshelves and jacuzzi bathtubs are more appropriate. While you don’t have to tailor every change to your eventual sales audience, you can choose to make the types of changes that will translate into the highest returns.
• Don’t ignore the less visible changes. Almost all of the houses for sale in Charlotte go through cosmetic changes before they hit the market. Fresh paint, new kitchen appliances, and good landscaping are fairly common. Less common are things like a new roof, updated plumbing, or even a newly-installed automatic sprinkler system. However, these things show up in a home inspection evaluation, and when you put your trust in a NC real estate agent like Nina Hollander, these types of changes will always get the focus and attention they deserve.

The most important thing you can do to your Charlotte home is enjoy the time you’re going to spend there. However, by keeping its eventual sale at the back of your mind, you’ll be able to get the most out of your life – and your investment.

For more information on how to add value to your home, contact Carolinas Realty Partners. We are here to help!

In the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina real estate market, buying a home with the intent to fix it up is one of the best investments you can make. There’s no better way to take control over your home ownership than to customize the design, floorplan, and landscaping of everything from a single story rancher to a charming Victorian – especially if you’re looking to use the current North Carolina real estate economic climate as a way to get the home of your dreams without breaking the bank.

However, as any responsible real estate agent will tell you, buying a fixer-upper can be a big challenge. Excessive or hidden damage in a home can be both dangerous and costly. Before you make the plunge, make sure you follow a few important fixer-upper guidelines.

1. Always get an inspection. Nothing will give you a better idea of what kind of repairs you’ll come across than a thorough home inspection from a trusted source. Don’t take on more damage than you, your contractor, and your budget can handle.

2. Pay attention to the layout and structural foundation of the house. If you’ve always dreamed of a large kitchen, make sure your potential new home can be adapted in terms of wiring, plumbing, and layout. Sometimes, the skeletal structure of a house prevents certain types of cosmetic changes.

3. Location matters. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a single family house in Charlotte or a condo in Waxhaw; a home’s NClue is only as high as the neighborhood in which it’s located. A rundown building in a nice neighborhood has the greatest potential to bring an enormous resale price.

4. Know the difference between “big fixes” and “small fixes.” Things like drywall, painting, floor refinishing, landscaping, and hardware are easy to do yourself. Things like plumbing, electrical work, windows, and roofs can be more expensive and difficult. Stick to changes you can make for certain based on your skill level and budget.

When buying a home in Charlotte or looking at Waxhaw real estate options, a fixer-upper can be one of the best ways to get the home of your dreams for a low overall cost. Just make sure you enter into the transaction with your eyes open, with flexibility in mind, and with Nina Hollander and Carolinas Realty Partners at your side.

Most real estate agents will tell you that the best time to sell a home in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas is during the late spring and early summer months. When the weather turns warm, the vibrant growing season commences, and children can be seen playing happily in the yard, potential homebuyers really begin to connect with a house – even before they set foot across the threshold.

In real estate lingo, this is known as curb appeal.

Most potential homebuyers make a decision about a house within the first 30 seconds. For example, simply driving by a well-kept single family home for sale in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas is often enough to cause people to pull over and make an immediate call to their realtor. That’s because an inviting exterior promises an inviting interior.

To get the kind of curb appeal that really gets noticed, you have to be able to detach yourself from your home. You may have lived there for months or years, and have probably learned to overlook the overgrown shrubbery next to the sidewalk or the mailbox in need of repair. However, these are the first things potential homebuyers will see. You have to view your home as objectively as possible in order to begin making the necessary repairs to get noticed.

Look out for:

• Visible mold or mildew on the house, roof, or sidewalks
• Outdated exteriors
• Yard clutter
• Dirty gutters, siding, or windows
• Chipped paint
• How your home appears at dusk or even at night
• Overgrowth in the yard or on the sidewalks
• Dead plants or leaf piles
• Overly personalized doormats

Of course, if you’re really motivated to sell your home in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas, you may also want to consider upgrading your landscaping. Like staging your home or making repairs, restorative landscaping can give your house just enough polish to entice a higher level of buyers. In fact, in a recent study, it was determined that good landscaping can actually add 6 to 11 percent to your home’s sale price.

We all know that selling a home can be hard work. Increase your chances of success by making sure your potential buyers are impressed before they even get out of the car.

Staging your home is a great way to prepare your home to sale and to make it look alluring to buyers in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas. Staging your home has become popular during the last decade. Read this article to find out some great ideas on how to get your home ready for potential buyers and get it sold sooner, rather than later.

Within the first minute, people decide if they could live in your home. The problem is that there are so many homes on the market right now, that if yours doesn’t catch their eye immediately, then they have other choices. The struggling housing market is forcing people to take more drastic measures to sell their homes. Many homeowners say they need all the help they can get. With the market not being so good, there are ways you can make your house stand out. Staging your home is the way to make your house stand out in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas.

The idea of home staging is to highlight your home’s best attributes and positively affect potential buyers. Staging your home isn’t about your own tastes. It is about making the home appealing to the general population. Whether you go at it alone or use a stager, you need to have the attitude that your home is no longer your home.

Following are some tips to consider:

• Take down family pictures. Potential buyers need to picture themselves in your home, not you!
• Staging your rooms to show off their true potential. Clear out clutter or other personal items that will distract buyers.
• Painting the walls yourself is the cheapest upgrading option you have. This will really attract buyers. Try a neutral tone.

Staging your home is a great option to make your home stand out in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas. Let myself, Nina Hollander, your agent offer you advice about how to make your house more attractive to buyers.

What should buyers look for, or look out for when purchasing a home in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill areas of North and South Carolina? This article will help sellers look into some important aspects of selling their home and what potential buyers look out for as well.

The way you live in your house is not the way to sell your house. So, what makes a house a home for sale on the market, and one that soon has a “SOLD” sign out on the front lawn? And what aspects are important to look at because potential buyers will ask the question, “How much work are we going to need to do prior to moving in and beyond?”  The appearance and cleanliness of the home are significant. Always have your home ready to be shown at a moment’s notice with me, your agent, Nina Hollander because this is what buyers are looking for. And a tip- burned out lights need to be replaced; classy lighting and upgraded fixtures can ameliorate the value of a home. Also, buyers said they would be willing to pay more for a home with a renovated kitchen.

Here are some things a buyer will look out for when dealing with the purchase of a home. The buyer will consider the following:

• Exactly what property is included in the sale? Lighting fixtures, drapes or blinds, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines and dryers are often problem areas.
• Is the neighborhood quiet, friendly? Are the homes well kept?
• Are there any development plans that will affect the property?
• The inspection report – are there any substantial problems with the house?
• Real estate taxes – what are the current property taxes, and what impact will your purchase have on the taxes?

Another issue that raises concern regarding buyer appeal is that sellers often mistakenly think that viewing empty properties will give the buyers an accurate sense of the space available. On the contrary, it is more difficult to really judge the size of a room without furniture and other objects as reference points. An empty room even allows buyers to focus on negative details instead of getting a sense of the overall space and the flow of each room to the next. Buyers need to ask themselves the question, “Can I see myself in this home?” Therefore, staging really helps buyers envision themselves in the space.

The idea of “staging” a home to make it look alluring to buyers has become popular during the last decade, as manifested by the proliferation of numerous home staging companies offering advice about how to make the house more attractive to buyers. Check out next’s months article about “Staging a Home.”

When selling your home with me, Nina Hollander as your agent keep, in mind what buyers look for, or look out for before coming to look at your home in the Charlotte, Waxhaw, and  Fort Mill areas of North and South Carolina.  And if you’d like to get an idea of what your home in the Charlotte and Fort Mill areas might be worth in today’s market, click here for a free analysis. If you’d like a one year sales history for your specific community/subdivision, just email me.

Want the secret to an easy move? Whether you’re relocating just around the corner, renting a moving truck or are packing up the family for cross-country relocation, you’ll get the tips you need to survive. Here are some great moving tips to save you time and money.

The key is to stay organized, so check out moving checklists online to help you with your move to the Charlotte, Waxhaw, Fort Mill North Carolina areas. Make a list of questions to ask for either your local moving truck rental business or decide if you need to go with actually hiring a moving company.

Experts in the moving and storage industry say that, you should plan six to eight weeks in advance to book a reputable moving company. Finding that reputable company can be a challenge, however, and a little research should be done before you entrust all of your worldly possessions to professional care. Check out listings online of moving companies that allow you to compare movers and interview moving companies to find just the right one. On interstate moves, charges are based on the weight of the items to be moved, the distance to be moved, packing, and other services. Get two or three estimates well in advance of your move. Be sure to check with the Better Business Bureau about any moving company you are considering.

Renting a moving vehicle or a portable on demand moving crate can be your best and easiest option to make sure your stuff gets moved to the new place the way you want them to. If you choose to rent a moving vehicle, you can rent it the day of the move or the day before. If you really want a lot of time to make sure you can arrange your furniture and household goods in your moving vehicle, then you might consider an on demand storage unit. These units get delivered to your driveway and you have as long as you need to fill it up. Then, when it is full, you call the company and they will come and pick the container up and deliver it to storage or to your new home.

No matter which moving option you choose, you will make things a lot easier on yourself if you weed out all the “stuff” that you haven’t used in a long time and donate it or throw it out. Start packing the items you want to keep but don’t use everyday away well before the moving day. Think about this tip: get wardrobe boxes to pack clothes. By simply hanging clothes inside these boxes, you’ll save time both packing and unpacking.

Facing relocation can be scary. Let your Real Estate agent, Nina Hollander, ease the pain with packing tips, relocation advice and moving companies that specialize in relocation near and far.