When the time comes to sell a home, an open house can be a valuable tool for attracting potential buyers and increasing the liklihood of making a sale.  Currently there is an influx of buyers entering the housing market and high levels of inventory and interest rates near historic lows.  Now more than ever, real estate agents suggest using more creativity with open houses.  This not only maximizes a home’s visibility, but also gives it the competitive edge it needs to stand out.

Below are six creative tips from the agents of Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair American Home for making the most of an open house and what sellers can do to help:

1.  Collaborate with the community.  Everyone appreciates the convenience of one-stop shopping.  Before your agent schedules an open house, he or she may suggest checking with neighbors for other activities that might be going on in the area such as garage sales, car washes, or town fairs.  Planning open houses on he same day as other community happenings can be a great way to increase traffic to all events while showing off the personality of the neighborhood.

2.  Offer a personal perspective.  Agents commonly advise sellers to make themselves scarce during an open house.  This is not to say that they do not enjoy the seller’s company but rather to ensure the sales associate can market the home objectively and potential buyers feel comfortable to scrutinize the property.  However, agents will often suggest sellers share with them their positive experiences living in the home and community.  While the agent is an expert on the local marketplace, sellers who can share their personal insight and knowledge from residing in the home and town, might just arm the agent with the piece of information a buyer has been waiting to hear.

3.  Recruit your neighbors for help.  Word of mouth is a powerful tool in the home buying and selling process.  Therefore, your agent is likely to distribute marketing materials around town providing details of the upcoming open house.  Ask your agent if he or she can provide you with exptra copies so that you can share information with your neighbors.  they may have a friend or relative in search of a new home or know somebody who is.

4.  Remember to depersonalize.  Homebuyers are looking for a home they can picture their family living in, not the previous owner’s so do not be insulted if an agent suggests taking down family portraits, personal collections and knickknacks.  it is not that they dislike the seller’s personal style; removing these items will eliminate clutter and ensure that open house guests are looking at the house for sale, not at the photos from the last family vacation.

5.  Give a friend a tour.  Prior to opening the doors to potential buyers, agents often recommend that sellers invite a ‘constructively critical’ friend or relative to visit the home and offer an honest opinion each room.  This will be a good indication of whether or not the home is in good shape for selling or if it needs some minor adjustments.

6.  Keep the home’s location in mind.  If the home for sale is in a place where potential buyers might have a tough time locating, an agent might propose a virtual open house.  Speak with a local Coldwell Banker agent about how you can work together to post a video about the home, neighborhood and town on Coldwell Banker on location an innovated branded YouTube channel designed to offer consumers a new way to search for and interact with real estate information and listings.  (www.youtube.com/coldwellbanker)

JOIN US for National Open House Weekend April 28th – 29th.  Visit CBKansas.com for a list of open houses in the area.

Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair American Home knows that it takes more than a house to make a home.        

That’s why, when CBGB agents aren’t helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs, you are likely to find them sharing their talents on stage contributing to Topeka’s vibrant arts community.

Robin Bonsall is just one of Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair American Home’s Professionals that not only shares her expertise with the Real Estate industry but shares her talents on stage or behind the scenes at the Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy (TCTA).  Most recently she played Sunny Freitag in TCTA’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Having just received her license in November of 2011, Robin is quickly on her way to success both on and off stage in the Topeka Community.

Vicki Trembly has been making audiences laugh for nearly 19 years as a founding member of TCTA’s Laughing Matters.   You’ll also find her hosting  So U Think U R Funny, an open mic comedy show at The Break Room downtown soon and she’ll take on a  new role as host of her own Internet talk show. Since getting her Real Estate license in  2007, she has been committed to making the home buying and selling process fun as well.

Another agent who shares laughs on and off stage is Brad Metzger.  A proven success in the Topeka Real Estate Community since 1992 Brad gives his clients high quality service.  But in the evenings and on weekends he becomes the hilariously funny Bart Beneke and can be found practicing his newest comedic routine at locations such as the Break Room located on Kansas Ave in downtown Topeka.  His continued creativity and enjoyment with people is reflective in the work he does every day.    He agrees with Charlie Chaplan, who once said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”

Chris and Jennifer Waters began hosting at TCTA in 2008. Jennifer, who had been involved in Technical Theater in High School was immediately asked to do spotlights for “Ferdinand The Bull”, a show for Young Audiences and since been involved in multiple productions. Her husband Chris is not only a part of their successful Waters Real Estate Team but they usher together, are Table Captains for the Bravo Brunch, have been Ambassadors and have hosted a cast parties. Their daughters are also volunteers. Rebecca was a kid wrangler for Peter Pan, Rachel is in Laughing Matters Jr, and multiple productions including Peter Pan. TCTA is well known for promoting families participating together.

22 years Mary Orr has been volunteering with TCT.  She has done everything from hosting to serving as President of the Board of Directors to crewing backstage and serving on play reading committees.  Her favorite roll though is acting.  She has a long list of productions she’s participated in which include On Golden Pond, The Heidi Chronicles and Shadowlands.  While creating a link between her clients and their perfect Home Sweet Home is Mary’s business and passion, her second home is the TCTA where she is a part of the 600 Strong volunteer family of TCTA.  Outside of Topeka she has been involved at the Columbian Theatre in Wamego, a production in Lawrence and most recently a role in the Dixie Swim Club at the Helen Hocker Theatre in Gage Park.

Broker/Owner Bryon Schlosser, board member of the TCTA Endowment Fund has served nine years on the theatre board and all offices over the past fifteen years.  He was awarded the Marge Selby Workhorse Award in 2005.  Stephen Sondheim stated that “All the best performers bring to their role something more, something different than what the author put on paper. That’s what makes theatre live. That’s why it persists.”  We host that same philosophy with our Team at Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair American Home.   Where each of our Team members brings something different to the business.  We are a community of Leaders and Professionals.  And that’s what makes our business live. We at CBGB Am Home are proud of our REALTOR® family and their time invested in the community and to helping people experience life on stage!  Congratulations Team Members for all of your success thru the years on Stage and off – to us, you always play a key role!

Coldwell Banker Griffith & Blair American Home Services is the umbrella company of Coldwell Banker Griffith & Blair American Home along with the Global Referral Network and Griffith & Blair Commercial.  The company was recognized as one of the 2010 top 500 real estate brokerages in the country by Real Trends and RIS Media Real Estate publications and one of the top 25 brokerages in the 20-county Kansas City metropolitan area by Ingrams Magazine.  The Topeka company affiliated with Coldwell Banker in 1982 and has two location in Topeka where it was founded in 1954.

Additional Contact information:
Bryon Schlosser, Broker/Owner         785-267-8646
Sara C. Fox, Director of Marketing     785-267-8322

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TOPEKA CIVIC THEATRE

Its time to vote for Cabinets at LetsDesignAHouse.com!  (Vote #2)

Its time to vote on your cabinet choice at LetsDesignAHouse.com.  Custom Woods Products (CWP) of St Marys, KS was chosen to design this custom home kitchen. CWP is excited to bring you three beautiful custom kitchen choices. Assisting Ronnebaum Construction in this process is designer Allen Wessel who will oversee the kitchen design, cabinet construction, and installation. Each of these three kitchen options offers unique features designed exclusively for this home.  Unique features such as wood types and finishes as well as step up kitchen bars, cubbies and granite counter tops are all possible selections.

And that’s not all, if you’ve been following along at LetsDesignAHouse.com, you will see we have completed the framing stage of construction.  The framers enjoyed their work with 70 degrees temperatures in late January.  General Contractor, Terry Ronnebaum, feels that it is very important to apply house wrap to the homes that he builds.  A good house wrap helps to prevent outside water from entering the walls and helps to seal the home to keep outside air where it belongs. Homeowners enjoy reduced energy bills because homes stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and most importantly dry all year round.  Another healthy house benefit of using house wrap is that harmful vapors are allowed to escape the wall cavity. This helps prevent mold and mildew and other water related damages.

Heavy equipment was used to lift the Pella windows to be easily positioned into their proper place.  Window Tape, a self-adhering, self-sealing waterproofing tape was applied around windows to prevent damage caused by water penetration.  Ray Anderson Pella Windows was chosen for this house because of their outstanding quality, energy-efficiency and warranty program.   The future homeowner will enjoy the wall of windows soaking the warmth of the sun while enjoying the views over-looking a water feature behind the home.

Carol Ronnebaum created a blog, LetsDesignAHouse.com, to inform followers of the step-by-step process of construction during which choices of décor and products may be voted on by the public.  At the end of the voting period the selection will be revealed and incorporated into the home.  This home, located at 4428 SW Shenandoah, is expected for completion Mid-Spring.   Carol, a licensed REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Griffith and Blair American Home and co-owner of Terry Ronnebaum Construction, Inc. stated, “The Let’s Design A House program is intended to increase interest while educating the public in new home construction in our community, show home buyers the many benefits of a new home and encourage community and small business involvement.”  Ronnebaums have co-sponsored this project with more than 20 contractors and local area businesses.  Some of these co-sponsors and vendors with show rooms will have on display the pre-selected voting options that its business is providing for the construction of the home.

Terry Ronnebaum Construction, Inc. has designed and built 100’s of homes in Topeka, Shawnee County and surrounding areas over the past 30 years. Carol noted, “We feel that this is a great opportunity to not only provide Topeka with a custom-style new home but to also help to promote the building industry in our local area. “

(Photos and Additional Information may be obtained by contacting any of the contact numbers on this Release)
Additional Contact information:
Carol and Terry Ronnebaum:  785.640.2685
REALTOR® of Coldwell Banker Griffith & Blair American Home and Owner of Terry Ronnebaum Construction, Inc.
Ronnebaum Construction and Terry and Carol Ronnebaum reserve the right to coordinate choices over the selection process.

Where are home sales heading? Who’s buying today? Why are home prices struggling to find a floor?

We talked to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun a couple of weeks ago in a video-taped session to get his views on what’s happening in the market. His take? Thanks to increased affordability, buyers are returning in big numbers in markets that have seen the most dramatic decline in prices. But we won’t see a market turnaround on a national basis in the short term without a boost to demand, he says, and that’s going to take some serious public intervention such as an interest-rate buy down.

Take a couple of minutes to watch NAR’s chief economist share his views on our new Web video platform called REALTOR® TV. Starting with this first interview we’ll be bringing you these video-taped economic updates on a regular basis.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid3124738001/bctid3110192001

Robert Freedman is a senior editor of REALTOR® magazine. He can be contacted at rfreedman@realtors.org.http://www.realtor.org/realtormag

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online Nov 2008 with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Copyright Nov 2008. All rights reserved. Copyright THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Headquarters: 430 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611 DC Office: 500 New Jersey Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001 1 800 874 6500

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