What Determines Property Values?

When pricing your Crystal Coast home, there are many factors to consider. The following variables impact the fair market value of your Crystal Coast condo, primary residence or vacation home:

• The law of supply and demand. Yes - local market conditions determine the value of your Emerald Isle home. Is it a buyer’s market, a seller’s market or is the market neutral/balanced?
• Desirable location. Most of the time you will see that word mentioned in triplicate because of its obvious importance.
• Has the home been updated with the latest highly sought-after features and upgrades
• What is the overall condition of your home?
• Desirable (or undesirable) features, amenities or characteristics of the property
• Local economy and job market - goes back to supply and demand
  
• Recent sales (within the last 6-8 months) of similar homes in the immediate area
• Recently sold foreclosure/REO (bank owned) properties may impact area home values too
• The urgency or motivation of the sale (never let the buyer know why you’re selling your home)

When Pricing Your Crystal Coast Property, Remember This!

The right price is usually within 2%-5% of the market value. When pricing your Crystal Coast home, if you price it too high the home will generate little interest, and the result will be prolonged days on the market plus few(er) showings. If you price it too low there will be many buyers and you will miss out on potential profit.

New to the Market Energy!

Remember this important point, your home will generate the most interest when it’s first listed. During the first couple of weeks expect to get a flurry of interest on the part of agents eager to preview it for their clients and those buyers “flying solo” without an agent. If you price your Crystal Coast property too high neither you nor local agents will be able to sell it.

The Results of Overpricing

Owners of overpriced Crystal Coast properties face the painful prospect of your home languishing on the market. The longer it remains on the market, prospective buyers may conclude you’re becoming desperate. This is an open invitation for low-ball offers. The result could mean you end up accepting an offer less than you normally would have received had the property been priced correctly in the first place. In the most difficult of market conditions, homes in good repair with a desirable location sell if priced accurately and marketed properly.

Your Feedback

Because most Crystal Coast real estate agents use a similar method to attach value to properties, I recommend you seek the help of a local market pro. Agents will provide you a “CMA” or a comparable market analysis for your home. A CMA is a combination of market data that includes what homes with similar location, features and condition sold for, plus your agent will also draw upon his or her personal market experience when arriving at a value for your property. What thoughts do you have about pricing properties here on the Crystal Coast? I look forward to your comments.

Helping you sell smarter,

Bobby

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Here is the last installment of this 3 part series of posts on Can You Sale Your Emerald Isle Home Yourself? How you answer these questions could help you decide what’s the smart thing to do - sale it yourself or list with an agent.

1. Be honest, do you have the time to market your home and ultimately manage the process to its successful conclusion?
2. Do you possess the ability to accurately price your property?
3. Do you possess a working knowledge and understanding of the North Carolina real estate transaction?
4. Are you a trained, skillful negotiator?
5. Do have at your disposal dependable, respected real estate industry experts (attorney, title company, lending consultant and so forth) to consummate your real estate transaction?

If you answered these questions in the affirmative, the chances of you successfully marketing your own Southern Outer Banks property without making a costly mistake are much greater.

What’s to Come?

In my next post you’ll learn about the importance of properly pricing your Crystal Coast home, so stay tuned.

Helping you make smart home selling choices,

Bobby

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Helpful Crystal Coast Rental Agency Websites

Planning your vacation is part of the fun. Go on line and do a search of rental properties on the Crystal Coast. There are several easy-to-use rental property websites from the local Crystal Coast real estate agencies. Each one has it’s own unique features. I suggest you find one that makes your rental search easier and gives you the best results for your family’s needs.

Rainy Day Options

Investigate fun things to do. Remember, not everyday will be bright and sunny. Having alternative activities pre-planned for those rainy days at the beach will make your vacation more fun for everyone. Day trips to the N.C. Aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores or the Tryon Palace in New Bern make great getaways to keep the kids busy when the sun decides to take a vacation. Explore local boutiques and gift shops that carry items made by local artisans. Don’t forget about the new bowling alley called Mac Daddy’s opening soon over in Cape Carteret. You can even catch a movie at the Emerald Isle Plantation Movie Theater or just rent a DVD and take it back to your condo or beach cottage. Most rental properties have DVD players. Many families bring along some old favorite movies from home or hit the local DVD rental store.

Repeat After Me - “A Vacation List is My Friend”!

A well planned Crystal Coast vacation is worth the effort. The time you spend before you leave home can make the time away from home much more enjoyable, memorable and affordable. Items that you forgot to bring can be purchased at the coast but are usually a little more expensive. The sunscreen you left at home can be replaced once you are on the Crystal Coast. Often those items carry an extra expense you didn’t need. By all means - make a list before you leave. I don’t know how many times I have gotten to the coast and said “I forgot to bring the Kite”. Or “I forgot to pack the sunscreen”. I try to make a list of the items I want to remember to pack. As it gets closer to our vacation, things have a tendency to become more hectic… trying to pack, making sure everything is caught up at work, remember to cancel the newspaper and the house is ready to leave vacant. Lists help me to make sure nothing is forgotten. That way your vacation will be more fun and less costly!

Be the First to Leave a Comment

It’s so easy. Just click on the “leave a comment” button and tell what you do when pre-planning your Crystal Coast vacation that helps make your time here more enjoyable and maybe even less expansive?

Helping you make the most of your Crystal Coast vacation,

Pam

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1. Stopping your newspaper delivery. Some newspapers allow you to have your paper delivered to a local public school while you are away on vacation.
2. Temporarily have your mail stopped also.
3. Postpone any regular scheduled home deliveries until you return home.
4. If you and your family are away for an extended vacation, you may want to contract with a lawn care company to maintain your yard so your home doesn’t appear vacant.
5. On a practical note, be sure to use or remove from your refrigerator and pantry any perishables before you go away
6. Unplug any electronic devices including TVs, computers, and monitors while you are out of town.
7. Leave on typical interior lights left on in the evening to leave the appearance of someone at home.
8. Arrange for a neighbor friend or nearby relative to occasionally check on your home.
9. Advise your local Neighborhood Watch Captain of the dates you will be out of town on vacation. FYI… in many smaller towns and communities, local police departments, if advised, will have an officer drive by your home while your out of town.
10. If you contract with a security company, be sure to advise them the dates you will be out of town and provide your contact information where you can be reached in the event of an emergency. FYI…. Don’t forget to set your alarm when you leave!

These timely tips should help reduce the risk of a home intrusion while your family is away on vacation.

Your Feedback

What other ideas or tips would you recommend to maintain a safer home while you are away on your Crystal Coast vacation?

Helping you arrive back to a safe, secure home,
Bobby

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Competing For Buyers

Keep this thought in mind when selling your own Emerald Isle beach home, your property will be competing with many other similarly priced properties (we’ll discuss pricing your home in the part3) here on the Crystal Coast. To compete on a level playing field your property will need to target the same set of “eyeballs” as similarly priced homes marketed by area real estate agents. Are you prepared to do that? If you are, stay tuned.

Web-savvy Crystal Coast Home Sellers

Now granted not all real estate agents on North Carolina’s Bogue Banks are web-savvy, but there are those agents who know how to use the power of the web to market their listings. Many of these Internet-smart agents use their personal website(s) to feature their listings plus “push” their listings to the prominent “syndicated” portals on the web for maximum exposure (see below). You’ll need to do likewise. Here are a few of the syndicated real estate web sites you should list your home on:

1. www.zillow.com
2. www.GoogleBase.com
3. www.Craigslist.com
4. www.Frontdoor.com
5. www.Oodle.com
6. www.Yahoo.com
7. www.Backpage.com
8. www.Hotpad.com
9. www.Vast.com
10. www.Geebo.com

Unfortunately, two of the most popular high-traffic websites used by Crystal Coast home buyers to search for homes for sale are only available to licensed real estate agents. Those high-traffic websites include Realtor.com, and Trulia.com.

Web Tools To Help Home Sellers Market Your Home

There are some excellent tools web-savvy Crystal Coast real estate agents use to “push” or distribute their listings to insure the home is featured on the maximum number of high-traffic syndicated real estate web sites. Some of these tools are free, and some offer this service as part of a larger package of marketing services including single-property websites for your home. Using these tools, you will need to enter your home’s features adding professional photographs taken of your home and include all the details of your property. I highly recommend you carefully check out each website:

• VFlyer.com
• Postlets.com
• RealBird
• ClassifiedFlyerAds
• PostYourListings.com
• Realyo.com

Other FSBO Marketing Strategies

Don’t forget some the basic elements to marketing your Emerald Isle home along with some additional Internet Marketing strategies to take your FSBO marketing plan to another level. Consider these strategies:

• Yard Sign - your 24-hour a day silent salesperson
• Property flyers in your for sale sign “tube”, and for the local bulletin board at the Food Lion in the Emerald Plantation Shopping Center
• Search Engine Marketing using a pay per click campaign
• New to the market postcards mailed to your neighbors in your community/subdivision (and to top-producing agents should you decide to offer a buyer’s agent commission)
• Single-property website with your property address as your URL
• One of the best tools is only available to real estate agents. It can only be accessed via a listing agreement with a local agent - the Carteret County Multiple Listing service (MLS)

What To Expect for Part 3 of this Series on Selling Your Emerald Isle Yourself

In Part 3 I’ll discuss why buyers will expect you to discount the price of your Emerald Isle FSBO home.

Your Feedback

By now you can tell marketing your Emerald Isle yourself is not for the faint of heart. By using these strategies, you will be one step closer to selling your Crystal Coast home quicker and for more money. Please offer your thoughts on selling your Emerald Isle property yourself.

Until part 3,

Bobby

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1. A major commitment of your time
2. A fool-proof Internet marketing plan
3. Knowledge of your local market
4. The ability to accurately price your property
5. An understanding of the legal implications of the North Carolina real estate transaction
6. Skillful at negotiating the offer
7. And plenty of help from a few respected experts (attorney, title company, lending consultant and so forth).

Sell it Yourself Versus Listing with an Agent

I suspect there will be many homeowners on North Carolina’s Southern Outer Banks reading this blog who are thinking about selling their Crystal Coast home themselves. It’s possible once you reach the end of this 3-part post, you will come to the ultimate conclusion to solicit the help of a local Crystal Coast real estate professional. And rightfully so.

Do You Have What it Takes to Market Your Crystal Coast Home?

Others may want to try going the FSBO (For Sale by Owner) route. If you’re one of those sellers who are up for the challenge, you should keep reading. You’re sure to pick up a pointer or two! Just remember - it takes a special individual who can sale your own Crystal Coast home. In fact, statistics indicate a large majority of homeowners (over 80%) choose to hire a real estate professional to do it. But if you must go it alone, stay with me.

Will You be Available to Show Your Crystal Coast Home?

First of all, if you’re an absentee Crystal Coast property owner, it will be the ultimate challenge to attempt to market your home yourself. At the very least, you must have someone who lives nearby to show your home at the whim of a buyer. As the absentee owner, It is imperative you possess supreme trust in this person to insure your property and any personal effects in it are kept safe and secure while the home is on the market. Buyers want to view homes on their time schedules. Not having your property readily available to buyers will make selling your Bogue Banks home nearly impossible!

Tire-Kickers Versus Qualified Buyers

Curious buyers, without representation of a real estate agent, may want to view your Emerald isle home. Without the consultation of a real estate agent, oft times these buyers will be completely unqualified, so make sure your local home showing “helper” has the unique ability and expertise to screen out the “tire-kickers” from the “real” qualified buyers. If you’re a permanent Crystal Coast resident, obviously your availability to show your home should not be a problem. In either case, to screen out unqualified buyers, you may find it helpful to have a lending consultant qualify those unrepresented buyers who wish to view your home.

We Have Barely Scratched the Surface

As you can see, we haven’t even begun to talk about the main areas of selling your Emerald Isle home yourself. We still need to cover the elements of maximum exposure for your Crystal Coast home using the power of Internet marketing, the need for you to possess expert knowledge of the local market, the art of accurately pricing your Crystal Coast property, and last but maybe most important, navigating through the contractual nuances of the North Carolina real estate transaction once an offer is made. Can you skillfully negotiate an offer submitted by a buyer? In part 2 and part 3, I will cover these items in greater detail so stay tuned.

Until my next post,

Bobby

Your Crystal Coast Blogger

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Held at the NC Maritime Museum, the 34th Annual Wooden Boat show offers a variety of small boats, boat rides and a wooden boat building competition, the 34th Annual Wooden Boat Show begins today, April 27th. This week long event is held in downtown Beaufort through May 3rd. This Crystal Coast town will be the “main harbor” for this weeks maritime activities.

Boat Show activities include:

• Civil War re-enactment
• Workshops
• Live Music
• Maritime skills demonstration
• A Boat building challenge
• National crafts fair
• Demonstrations
• Boat launchings
• Races
• Other educational programs

Don’t Miss the Boat!

If you’re looking for an informative, fun-filled week’s worth of events, make your way to Beaufort. For 30-plus years the North Carolina Maritime Museum’s Annual Wooden Boat Show has been a hit with boat owners and all who appreciate the art of wood boat construction. Addition is free so don’t miss this special week-long event. Be sure to checkout the events calendar here.

If You Go

Be sure to share with our readers your favorite part of the Show. We look forward to your comments.

Until my next post,

Bobby - Your Crystal Coast Blogger

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If you’re looking for a funky selection of slightly eccentric “island-themed” home and fashion accessories, you owe it to yourself to stop by this neat little boutique on your way to Indian Beach from Emerald Isle. With an adjacent convenience store and gas station, Flip Flops is owned by Ms. Marcie G. Creech. Marice has one of the finest collections on the island for home accessories including painted “beach-themed” furniture. Utilizing local Carteret County artist, including Shirley Pittman and works by Gwen Jordan, their pieces will spice up any room in your Crystal Coast home. One other NC artist that offers some really interesting work is Deborah Cavenaugh from Wilmington.

Flip Flops Shop Information:
3305 Emerald Drive
Emerald Isle, NC 28594
Phone: 252-354-3446
Fax: 252-354-9444
Web site: N/A

Ready to Make Your Crystal Coast Beach Home Flip?

If you need some inspiration to “jazz-up” your bathrooms, be prepared to be “wowed” by what you see at Flip Flops. These photos don’t do them justice!

Have You Shopped at Flip Flops?

If so, tell us what you think of this cool little island oasis of interesting knick knacks.

Helping you shop smarter,

Pam

P.S. Don’t forget to sample the hand-dipped ice cream…yummy!

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Renting a Crystal Coast beach cottage or condo can be a wonderful experience if you remember to bring along all the essential items you need to make your vacation more enjoyable. If you forget an item, more than likely you will be able rent it once you arrive. Comprehensive beach rental gear vendors are located in Emerald Isle and Atlantic Beach.

Prefer to Travel Light?

Some vacationers prefer to travel light and rent the items they need once they arrive. Typically, your Crystal Coast real estate rental agency will be able to coordinate those items you wish to rent on the day of check-in. If you have questions about a specific item in question, it is recommended you call ahead to confirm if that item is available. Of course, there are plenty of opportunities to economize by bringing what you need from home (if it’s practical).

So What is Typically Provided at My Vacation Beach Rental?

Most beach rental properties provide the following items based on the maximum number of occupants of the rental property. You should can expect to have the following items provided:

1. Blankets-bedspreads
2. Pillows
3. Mattress pads
4. Basic cleaning tools/utensils like vacuum cleaner, broom, dust pan, mop, & plunger

When you come to the Crystal Coast you will need to bring the following items:

• Bed linens, including pillow cases, and top/fitted sheets
• Bath & kitchen towels (unless linens are provided)
• Beach towels
• Special cooking utensils and items
• Photography gear including cameras, film and video camera
• Personal toiletries
• Baby supplies and equipment (if not specified on agency website)
• Food and condiments
• Flashlights, iPods, radios and batteries
• Cleaning supplies
• Paper products ( including toilet paper, paper towels)
• Beach supplies including beach chairs, beach umbrella, boogie boards, suntan lotions
• Fishing equipment (including rods and reels, and bait)

What Items Do You Bring?

So what items do you bring to make your Crystal Coast vacation more enjoyable? I look forward to reading your comments.

Helping you enjoy your Crystal Coast vacation,

Bobby

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We all know the beach is a wonderful place to make memories. And what better way to document your time together than by taking awesome photographs. Believe it or not, beautiful photos can be taken on the beach and it’s easier than you think. We recommend you try these simple tips.

Fill in the Shadows - With a Flash!

While in times past, it was recommended all photos be taken with the sun “over your shoulder”. Newer technology integrated in today’s digital cameras now allows you to shoot your pictures with your subjects face in full shade. The next time you’re on the beaches of the Crystal Coast turn on the “fill flash” mode on your digital camera. This tactic is especially helpful if you happen to be shooting your photos of subjects under a tent, under the beach umbrella or under the pier. Use of the fill flash will require you move in a little closer to your subject. Unfortunately, most flash are only powerful enough to be effective within 8 to 10 feet or less.

Get Even Closer!

To often, people take photos of family members standing in the surf while the camera is positioned 100 yards from the subject. This shot will produce an unrecognizable person against the blue/green backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. Fine if the point is to take images of the ocean. With people, we recommend you always get closer! If the eyes are the windows to the soul, we say focus on the eyes!

The Vertical Edge

The reason some professional photos look so great - the pros occasionally shoot their photos on the vertical plain. To often amateurs forget to use this simple tip that really makes a strong impact on the quality and variety of the pictures we take. The next time you’re on the beach in Emerald Isle, try shooting several photos on the vertical. We think you will like your results.

Only the Shadow Knows!

If you really want high impact photos, shoot your photos in the early morning or late part of the day. Why - because the long shadows make for great pictures. Here again, try using your fill-flash mode to add some drama to your photos. Early morning and late day photos also offer rich color saturation and add greater character to our photographs.

Those Carolina Blue Skies!

We all know, it doesn’t get any better than to live in Carolina - especially in the summertime! If you happen to be on the Crystal Coast right after a cold front moves through to clear the air, you can take advantage of this opportunity by trying to capture your subject at a 90 degrees to the sun. For those who have a digital SLR, be sure to add that “polarizing filter” to your lens to really make that Carolina blue sky POP!

Try It - You’ll Like It!

So give these photo tips a try and let us see some of those great photos. Send your digital pictures to info@crystalcoastblog.com and we will pick some of our favorites and highlight them in our Crystal Coast Photo Gallery page late next month. Now go get “snap happy” and submit a comment of the tip that worked best for you!

From the “Picture Perfect” Crystal Coast,

Bobby

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