Wilson County Housing Blog! Real Estate News For Floresville, La Vernia and South San Antonio: March 2010

3702 Chartwell Dr, San Antonio, TX, 78230! Beautiful Home in a Well Established Neighborhood! Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor Sell San Antonio Real Estate!

Wonderful spacious home in popular neighborhood. Recent roof, new ceramic tile, garage was converted for handicapped access with bath. Gorgeous wood floors in 2 upstairs bedrooms; entire 2nd floor is same; just needs to be uncovered and finished.Galley kitchen connects both dining areas. Beautiful wooden mantle w fine details; New oven, fountain in back yard; Excellent condition Morgan storage building remains. This home has only had 2 owners.

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. She represents both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

"The Total Edge Team is Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!"

Floresville, Texas! A Great Place to Call Home.

For the past eleven years I have been blessed to call Floresville, Texas my home.

Floresville is a beautiful community located within a 30 minute commute of downtown San Antonio. This allows Floresville to maintain its small town charm while still having the advantages of being near a big city.

Floresville enjoys a population of approximately 7250 (per 2006 census).

The weather averages for Floresville are;

January average temperature- High 64F/Low 38F

July average temperature- High 97F/73F

The annual precipitation is 29.4 inches. The growing season is 280 days per year.

For more information on Floresville, Texas visit www.cityoffloresville.org .

 For Information on Floresville public schools visit www.fisd.us .

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. We represent both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is ‘Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!'

Dumping Dept So You Can Afford To Buy a Home~A Common Sense Perspective!

Every year millions of Americans set a resolution to pay off their credit card debt. Few actually succeed. If this is your life, then here are a few tips to help. All they take are a little discipline, a plan of action, and following through with that plan.

Tips for Dumping Debt:

•1.       Cut up the credit cards. Crazy I know, but if you don't have them you can't use them. Carry cash instead or use a debit card.

•2.       Call your creditors and discuss lowering your rates, or cut deals to payoff.

•3.       Build a debt snowball.  Pay a little extra each month to pay off your credit cards ( lowest balance/highest interest rate first then add that payment to the next.)

•4.       Visualize what it feels like to be debt free. You can do it.

Use these tips and you will be on your way to a better financial future and the ‘dream' of homeownership.

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. We represent both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is ‘Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!'

Selling Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way! 5 Tips for Clearing Out Closet Clutter.  Article 4~Clearing Out Closet Clutter

When selling your home you want to shine down to the smallest detail. Potential buyer's almost always look in the closets. Is your closet overflowing? Could you cloth a third world country? Do you still have skinny jeans that you will never fit in to again? If you answered yes to any of the above questions it is probably time to clear out your closet clutter.

‘Clearing Out Closet Clutter' will help ‘Sell Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way!'

5 Tips for Clearing Out Closet Clutter:

•1.       Hang your clothes as an outfit.

•2.       Remove out of season items and those that no longer fit.

•3.       Remove mismatched and wire hangers, opt instead for a coordinated set.

•4.       Use plastic bins to hold accessories such as scarves, shoes and hats.

•5.       Store any work out equipment or non essential junk taking up space in your closet.

When a potential buyer looks in a closet and sees space to grow it is a good thing.

I hope you found this information useful. Remember these ideas are only suggestions and each property is unique, so before you decide to renovate your whole home in order to sell it have a REALTOR® preview your home and give you their opinion of changes that can be made to best accentuate your property and ‘Sell Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way!'

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. We represent both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!"

Selling Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way! Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your House! Article 3~Mistakes To Avoid

When selling your home there are many mistakes that you want to avoid in an effort to not hinder the time your home is on the market. Yesterday I took a family to look for their new home and was reminded of some of these ‘Deadly Mistakes' that home owners make. These mistakes cost you time and can ‘kill' your chances to ‘Sell Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way.'

Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home!

•1.       Staying home while the property is being shown. This is a huge mistake and is number one on my list of ‘Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Home.' While most homeowners feel that by being there to show the home none of the advantages their home offers will be overlooked, this is the most common mistake I see homeowners making. When listing your home put yourself in a buyer's shoes for a moment..... If you were looking at homes wouldn't you want the ability to ask questions and speak freely to your REALTOR®......The homeowners presence hinders a buyer's ability to speak freely , and makes the homeowner seem desperate to sell, which hinders the homeowners negotiation abilities. Go for a walk, go to the park, bottom line leave your home for showings.

•2.       Knowingly overpricing your home for negotiation room. This is another ‘big mistake' I see homeowners making. Pricing a property where it should be is important in today's market, more so then ever before. When a home is priced correctly you have a much greater chance of attracting multiple offers, and/or full price offers. Most over priced homes tend to sit on the market, after a time buyer's begin to ask "What's wrong with it?" Price your home correctly and it will sell faster.

•3.       Too much clutter. There is a big difference between everyday clean and Top-dollar clean. When your goal is to sell your home it is time to get realistic about the amount of clutter in your home, and do something about it. A buyer needs to be able to see themselves in your home; removing clutter will help your property to shine. Clutter is more than removing the old newspapers and stack of magazines from the coffee table, it is minimizing collections, clearing out over filled closets, removing excess furniture or oversized furniture, cleaning pantries and putting away items on the restroom counters. Remove the clutter and your home will show better.

•4.       Over personalized or out of the ‘norm' items.  There is nothing wrong with hunting, but not every home buyer wants the first buffalo they have ever seen to be a head mounted on a wall. You might consider storing these trophies, they are offensive to some people and could factor in to their decision to buy your home. If you have a wall of pictures or crosses, consider removing all but a few. The goal is to sell your home, when you make that decision your home becomes a commodity and you have to look at it as such.

•5.       Leaving the pets free inside the home during showings. People love their dog or kitty, they do not love yours. Most people are nervous around other people's dogs and/or cats, and no matter how friendly your doggy or kitty is this hinders selling your home. When buyer's see you have an indoor pet that is allowed to run free they start sniffing the air for odors and looking for stains, the home becomes less clean. The best action is to remove the pet from your home when it is being shown. If you cannot remove the pet then crate the pet in a confined area such as the utility room or the garage.

I hope you found this information useful. Remember these ideas are only suggestions and each property is unique, so before you decide to renovate your whole home in order to sell it have a REALTOR® preview your home and give you their opinion of changes that can be made to best accentuate your property and ‘Sell Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way!'

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. We represent both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!"

Selling Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way! Five Quick and Easy Tips to Add Sparkle to a Tired Kitchen!   Article 2~Staging and Updating the Kitchen.

Contrary to popular belief updating your kitchen to make it sparkle does not have to cost a fortune. In Article 2 of my series on ‘Selling Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way' we will explore some simple and inexpensive ways to spruce up your kitchen. When considering these options you can commit to a few and still enjoy a great return on your investment.

Five Quick and Easy Tips to Add Sparkle to a Tired Kitchen!   

•1.       Paint! Paint is the one of the best and least expensive ways to add sparkle to your kitchen. Paint can cover those outdated, tired kitchen cabinets. Paint can brighten a darker kitchen.

•2.       Add or Update the Cabinet Hardware! Adding or changing the hardware (handles and knobs) on your cabinets is a great way to update and add sparkle to a kitchen. Cabinet hardware is inexpensive and readily available at most home improvement stores.

•3.       Update Dated or Scratched Countertops!  Of all the suggestions on this list this may be the one that gives you the most hesitation. You're probably thinking replacing countertops doesn't sound easy or inexpensive. Rather than replacing them you might consider tiling over the existing surface. Still too much, how about re-laminating using the existing overlay. You can also add tile backsplash above the existing countertops to add sparkle.

•4.       Clean, Clean, Clean! Even more than any other room in your home your kitchen Must be CLEAN to sparkle. When cleaning a kitchen to list your home pay attention to the details. Clean crevices and corners. Clean behind, inside and above the refrigerator.  Remove family pictures, magnets, and artwork from the refrigerator. Your kitchen needs to be ‘white glove' clean.

•5.       Staging Your Kitchen! Like any other room in your home stage your kitchen. If your cabinets have an open area above utilize this area to display your better china, or greenery. If the kitchen is eat in set the table with a nice matching table setting. Remove all clutter and most small appliances from counter surfaces and store them, in place add a decretive bowl with fresh fruit or a clear lemon jar to dress up counter tops.

I hope you found this information useful. Remember these ideas are only suggestions and each property is unique, so before you decide to renovate your whole home in order to sell it have a REALTOR® preview your home and give you their opinion of changes that can be made to best accentuate your property and ‘Sell Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way!'

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. We represent both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!"

Selling Your Home the Speedy Gonzales Way! Ten Thing a Homeowner can do to Insure Their Home Sells Quickly! Article 1~Curb Appeal!

This is the first post in a series of articles I have planned titled ‘Selling Your Home The Speedy Gonzales Way'! Hope you find this information useful and be looking for future articles.

The Ten Things Speedy Would Do: Curb Appeal Matters!

•1.       Make sure the property address is easy to find and read.

•2.       Repaint or replace the front door.

•3.       Clean the windows and blinds inside and out.

•4.       Repair and repaint shutters.

•5.       Prune bushes, weed and freshly mulch flower beds.

•6.       Freshly trim and bag grass. Edge walkways. Pick up all yard debris and toys.

•7.       Polish the door knockers.

•8.       Paint or replace mailbox.

•9.       Paint or power-wash the exterior trim. Power-wash brick and concrete.

•10.   Make sure the front of the home is well lit for evening showings with natural glow lighting.

Adding to the curb appeal of a property will help to raise the number of showings and is a great start to getting your home sold the ‘Speedy Gonzales Way!'

Cindy Cranston and Faye Taylor are REALTORS© with Keller Williams Heritage living and doing business in the South San Antonio, Floresville and La Vernia, Texas market. She represents both homeowners and home buyers in these areas.

The Total Edge Team is Your Key to a Competitive Edge in the San Antonio, La Vernia and Floresville Real Estate Market!"