Exciting News - Due to unprecedented popular demand, Steven Clawson’s Welcome Home Concert is moving to the Thomasville Municipal Auditorium. Please spread the word and help us sell out this great evening of music with one of Thomasville’s favorite sons and one of Troupe’s outstanding alumni – Friday, Aug. 19th, 7:30 p.m. Call the Thomasville Visitors Center at 229-228-7977 to get tickets today!

Yes, it’s still a buyer’s market, and there doesn’t appear to be a change coming any time soon. What makes this a buyers’ market? There are more homes for sale than people who want to buy them. That means it takes longer for homes to sell, and buyers can be pickier.

If you want or need to sell your Thomasville home, here are four tips to help you do that in today’s real estate market:

1. Be choosy about the real estate agent you hire. Interview at least three agents. Ask questions about how they’d market your Thomasville home. You want someone who markets aggressively and uses both online and offline marketing techniques. Find out how many homes they’ve sold in your neighborhood within the last six months. You want an agent who has recently sold homes in your area - not just listed them, but actually taken them all the way through to closing.

2. Implement the advice you get from your agent. Find out what you should do to prepare you home for sale by asking, “What changes should I make to my home?” Then do what your agent recommends before putting your home on the market. What might seem unimportant to you can mean the difference between selling your home quickly and having it sit on the market for months. Today’s buyers can afford to be picky, so they consider even minor home maintenance issues a sign of neglect and a reason not to buy your home.

3. Price it right. You’ve taken the time to hire a knowledgeable agent. Now, take his or her advice, especially when it comes to pricing. They have the tools and up-to-date information needed to find out what homes similar to yours have sold for recently and how much you can get for yours.

4. Be willing to negotiate. If you’re unwilling to make concessions, buyers are willing to walk away. Remember, with the large number of homes for sale, buyers have many other options.

Yes, it’s more challenging to sell your home in a buyer’s market. But it is definitely possible, if you are proactive.

If you’re ready to work with agents who have a proven marketing plan that gets Thomasville homes sold faster and for the most money possible, give First Thomasville Realty a call today at 229-226-6515 or email us at info@FTRealty.com .

In order to get the most buyers through your front door, you’ll need to do more than just stick a sign in the front yard. An aggressive and thoughtful marketing campaign can make the difference between a quick sale and your house continuing to sit on the market with little activity.

Utilize the long Fourth of July weekend to take the time to thoroughly market your Thomasville home for sale by owner (FSBO).

1. Take a lot of good photographs. You have to expect that buyers will look at your property online before they decide to take the time to visit it in person. Make sure you have a lot of photographs online and that they do your house justice. Take pictures from multiple angles in each room and choose the best ones. Also, if you have a great yard, make sure you show it off.

2. Make the most of your signage. Ensure your phone number is clearly visible. Also, check with your homeowners association and neighbors that live at busy intersections to find out if you can put a sign with an arrow pointing toward your house.

3. Put ads on every website you can. Most buyers start their search on the Internet, so make sure your Thomasville home for sale by owner has a strong online presence.

4. Don’t forget about print ads. Many buyers still look at newspaper Classifieds, so make sure your house appears there. You can often place large ads in smaller publications for relatively little money.

5. Host open houses. Not every location is especially suitable, but try it a couple of times and see how many people turn out. If you’re getting good foot traffic, keep it up.

If you need help marketing your Thomasville home for sale by owner, please call us at 229-226-6515 or email First Thomasville Realty at info@FTRealty.com for more information. And, have a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend!

If you’re considering selling your home, you probably already know most of the questions you should ask Thomasville real estate agents you’re thinking of hiring, such as:

• How long have you been a Thomasville real estate agent? • Are you a full-time REALTOR®? • Do you specialize in my neighborhood? • How would you market my home?

Unfortunately, most sellers forget one of the most important questions to ask Thomasville real estate agents: How many of the homes you listed in the last 12 months actually sold?

The answer to this question gets to the heart of whether the agents are good at selling real estate. They’ll have very few sold homes in comparison to the number of homes they listed, if they:

• Over-price homes • Under-market homes • Don’t know how to negotiate • Aren’t good at (or simply don’t do) the multitude of tasks knowledgeable real estate agents perform to get homes sold

If you discover that an agent has a higher percentage of listings that are withdrawn or expired and not renewed than other agents in the same area, keep looking.

Searching for agents who get homes sold? Congratulations, you’ve just found an office full of them! We’d be honored if you’d give us a chance to interview for the job of selling your home. Please call First Thomasville Realty at 229-226-6515 or email us at info@FTRealty.com to schedule an interview.

So, you’ve decided that you want to take on a home improvement project. You’ll save money, increase the value of your Thomasville real estate and experience the great feeling of doing it yourself.

But have you considered what it’s going to be like afterwards, when it’s time for the clean up? Construction dust hangs in the air, finds its way into every nook and cranny of your Thomasville real estate and seems to last for an eternity.

You try vacuuming up the dust, but find you can’t seem to get rid of it all. Here are the steps

I’ve found that work best for removing that fine dust:

1. Sweep the walls with a clean broom to remove the dust. Use a paint brush to get the dust out of all the corners. Let the dust settle for an hour or two.

2. Vacuum the floors. Do not start by sweeping them with a broom. No matter what type of floors you have, even if they’re wood or tile, use a vacuum. A shop vac with a brush attachment and a HEPA filter works best. (The fine construction dust could damage a typical household vacuum.) Vacuum slowly to avoid stirring up the dust.

3. Mop the floors. Add 1 cup of vinegar to a bucket of water. Mop thoroughly, rinsing your mop frequently.

4. Examine your walls the following day. If you see dust, sweep them again. Then wipe down the entire surface with a wet cloth or sponge. Rinse your wet cloth or sponge frequently. NOTE: If your project included new drywall, do not use anything wet on the drywall. The topping compound used over the drywall seams and nail heads is very lightweight material that is feather sanded to perfection. Wiping it with a damp sponge could damage it.

5. Repeat. If your floors look dull, or if you can see construction dust on them, vacuum and mop them again as outlined in 2 and 3 above.

If you’re going to paint, wait until the majority of the dust has been removed before you start. You don’t have to remove every speck of dust from your walls before painting, but you don’t want to paint over a lot of dust. Clean walls make painting easier and the results better.

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