Pending Sales and Sales Success Index in Williamsburg are up for October 2011
According to the Liz Moore Savvy Real Estate Investor Team, in the Williamsburg, Virginia real estate market segment, Pending Sales for October are up by 22.99% to 107 versus October of last year with 87 that went under contract.
With 272 newly listed homes in Williamsburg this month and 107 under contract, the sales success index of 39.34% for October advanced 32.03% versus index of 29.79% in October 2010.
Posted at 10:32AM Nov 16, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
Tips to Sell Your Home This Fall
It feels as though our nice warm weather in Williamsburg is bidding us farewell and the cold winds of winter are just around the corner. During this transition into fall, home owners looking to sell need to set themselves apart from the competition by paying special attention to a few details:
1.) Let in the light. The days are getting shorter and the sun is a little lower. Open up the shades, curtains and drapes. Let in as much light as possible from the outside. If you are showing your home in the evening or on a cloudy day, turn on all the lights. If some of your rooms are particularly dark put spotlights behind the furniture. 
2.) Keep your house warm. The house should be as inviting as possible. Saving a few dollars on your heating bill may make your house uncomfortable to potential buyers. In addition, there's the possibility they may think there are issues with the heating system. Don't go too far here though, you don't want anyone to be too hot either. Consider a temperature of between 68 to 70 degrees.
3.) Maintain your landscape. Falling leaves and the lack of flowers can spoil a first impression. Cut the grass, keep the leaves picked up and place some fall flowers out on the front porch or on the steps to add some color.
Fall is a great time to sell your home with buyers wanting to make decisions before the holidays. Take advantage and make sure to price and market your home correctly by using a real estate professional ;)
Posted at 02:32PM Oct 28, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
MLS Abbreviations Decoded
Looking at listings on the MLS can be quite confusing if you aren't clued-in on all the abbreviations. Here is a list of the most commonly used MLS abbreviations to help.[Read More]
Posted at 07:04PM Oct 24, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
My iPad is Now Useful - FINALLY
About a year ago, I started telling my husband I needed an iPad. He would always ask me why and what I wanted to do with it and all those questions you hate to hear when the answer is, "they just look really cool." That should be enough, right? A girl has to be outfitted with all the coolest accessories.
Well, the iPad fell under the Technology category of cool and not the Fashion category and of course my husband is the self-appointed keeper of all things Technology cool so I had to listen to his opinion. He had other bothersome questions like, "how will it make your life easier or more productive?" And, "what can it do that your very nice laptop can't do?" I hated that question because I didn't have a good answer.
After a few months I guess he just got tired of hearing how much I wanted one and just gave up on getting adequate answers to his questions. He's such a sweatheart (eventually). He and my son went out to BestBuys and purchased a really nice iPad and accessories - the ones that look good because, afterall that's all they could figure I wanted it for.
They bought my cool new toy home and surprised me with it. It was so shiny and high-tech looking and the touch-screen was just the coolest thing ever. I turned it on and played around with it. My husband set up the email and got me pointed in the right direction for browsing the web. WOW!
I carried it to work and got all kinds of great compliments. After awhile though I realized, while the iPad was very cool, I still needed to lug my laptop around if I wanted to accomplish anything - all those apps were neat and fun (while new) but really didn't help me accomplish anything.
Eventually, I started leaving my shiny, cool iPad at home. Then I started hearing the questions from my husband like, "why aren't you using your iPad?" (I cringed every time I heard that one). I would pretend I didn't hear him.
Fast forward through countless "I told you so's" to a meeting at the office yesterday: Lynette, our Marketing Director and closet geek held a class, "How to Use your iPad for Work." I really didn't have time to go to the class but I thought, what the heck! I took my shiny, cool-looking but otherwise-useless device in. I was determined to find a way to make it work for me.
In the class, Lynette went through all kinds of technical talk. I didn't really understand much but I took detailed notes. She gave us lists of applications we should be using for real estate, and productivity and CONVENIENCE. The list included a new browser and apps for word processing and spreadsheets and the like. One app even allowed me to control my big, clunky laptop FROM my iPAD! Think about it, I can now do all those USEFUL things from my cute, cool, stylish iPAD!!! WOO HOO!!!
I took my new-found knowledge and detailed notes home. My husband listened to my recap of the class and saw my excitement. He grumbled something -- I just pretended I didn't hear it. But then he started loading all those apps. Then he loaded the LogMeIn app and the software on the computers at home. I think he even might have said "WOW!" but said it low enough that I shouldn't have been able to hear.
Bottom line is, I can now use my iPad for almost everything! My shiny, cool, stylish, lightweight, high-tech iPad is useful. Not only do I look like a fashionable techno- real estate agent... I AM ONE! YAAAY!
I knew it all along that it would be useful and profitable. I just knew it!
Thank you Lynette!
Posted at 07:49AM Oct 21, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in General | Comments[1]
First Month Home Maintenance
Whether your home is brand-new or just new-to-you, there's more to making a house a home than unpacking and painting walls. Check out this list of home maintenance projects you should complete the first few weeks in your new abode to ensure that it is safe and ready for all the projects you have planned.[Read More]
Posted at 07:08AM Oct 20, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
The Joys of Home Ownership
Owning a home is about much more than the sticks and bricks. It's about building families and memories, starting new phases, enjoying warmer climes... read more
Posted at 10:16AM Oct 19, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
Great Food for A Great Cause
Posted at 08:18AM Oct 18, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in General | Comments[0]
5 Ways to Listen Better
Valuable points for everyone -- listening is especially critical skill for success in real estate.
Posted at 01:58PM Oct 16, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in General | Comments[0]
In the Eye of the Beholder
Posted at 08:46AM Oct 14, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
My Boys
For the past few years Ian, my son, has been racing karts (quite successfully). Last year he made the transition to racing cars after attending racing school at Road Atlanta. Since then, he has competed in several races along with his dad, Tommy. They enjoy the speed, competition and camaraderie.
These two are a great team on and off the track. They are always fun and occasionally a bit of a handful ;-)
In this picture, Tommy is driving and Ian is his coach (he doesn't let his dad drive very often). Follow their blog at GoFast.Pro.
Posted at 04:20PM Oct 13, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in General | Comments[0]
Welcome to my blog!
Hi! Welcome to my first blog entry. I am so excited to FINALLY be getting up to date with so many great ways to communicate with everyone. With this blog I am hoping to provide some insight into the Williamsburg, Va home market, items of interest about real estate in general, and current information on home financing.
In addition, I hope to give the reader a peak into life around Williamsburg, James City County, York and the surrounding areas. I will fill you in on my always-interesting family - I am the mom of two boys, my 16-year-old son and my acts-like-16-year-old husband ;-)
Come back often and see what's happening in Charlotte's world.
OH! I am also on a few of the social networking sites. Click on the Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn links above to visit me there.
Charlotte
Posted at 08:35AM Oct 12, 2011 by Charlotte Turner in Real Estate | Comments[0]
