Anne Arundel County Maryland Real Estate Video Blog with Diane Donnelly

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What Should You Ask When Interviewing a Realtor in Maryland?

Buying an Anne Arundel County Home? Search all Homes for Sale

Selling an Anne Arundel County Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Today's topic is an important one if you plan on buying or selling in the Maryland area anytime soon. How can you determine whether a Realtor is any good? It's a great question that we'll try to answer here today. Here are the top 10 questions to ask to ensure you're getting what you deserve:

How long have you been a Realtor? Real estate isn't easy - you need to work with someone who has worked in the good times as well as the bad, so they know how to navigate the waters of any given situation.
Are You Full Time? This job is hard to do on a part-time basis.
What areas do you cover? You want to ensure your agent is familiar with your area and your community.
How many homes did you sell last year? I mean YOU, not your brokerage!
What is your list-to-sell ratio vs. the county average? This will tell you how well your agent knows the market and how to price homes effectively.
How long on average does it take you to sell a home vs. the county? This number will also tell you whether they know how to price listings, as well as whether they will be able to sell your home in the amount of time you're looking for.
Why should I hire you? Hopefully the agent has given this some thought and can tell you what makes them unique.
What is your marketing strategy? At the end of the day, you need to feel comfortable that the agent's marketing plan is going to get your home sold.
Are you a solo agent or do you work on a team? What is your responsibility, and what is your team's responsibility? If your agent is working alone, find out how much business they are doing and whether they can juggle the many different aspects of the process effectively.
Can you give me some examples of your problem-solving ability? This will be a good one because it is going to catch the Realtor by surprise, and you can watch them problem-solve on the spot!

Outside of asking your Realtor questions up front, you can always Google them to see if they have a strong online presence. Their testimonials and reviews will tell you a lot about the agent! Bottom line: make sure you do your due diligence before hiring an agent!

If you have questions about how we can help, give us a call or shoot us a quick email at any time, we would love to hear from you!

What's the Secret to a Successful New Construction Purchase in Maryland?

Buying an Anne Arundel County Home? Search all Homes for Sale

Selling an Anne Arundel County Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

If you're buying a new home, do you need to hire a Realtor? This is a great question, and one we get often, so today we'll answer it once and for all.

The truth is, when buying new construction, it is crucial you hire a real estate professional to represent you and protect your interests. When you go into a new construction property, the person you meet on-site is there to represent the builder, not you - the buyer. They are there to ensure the process goes smoothly, but they are not there to ensure all your needs are met.

If you plan on buying new construction, we highly recommend hiring an agent who has a lot of experience in new construction properties. They will know the right questions to ask: What will the finished product look like? What kind of things will go into the home? What is the quality of the construction? An experienced agent knows how the builder should answer these and other questions.

Experienced agents know what is customary, what most builders ask for throughout the process. Because of this, your agent will be able to spot a dishonest or inept builder before you get too far into the process.

Agents also know how to negotiate on your behalf. They know that there are certain things that builders may be willing to give and are able to navigate through that. If any problems arise with a builder, an experienced agent is able to offer solutions. When things get a little rocky, a great agent will serve as a liaison between the builder and the financing partners to ensure you get into the home and are protected!

These are just a few of the many reasons not to go into new construction without an experienced real estate professional by your side. If you have questions about the process, or if you would like real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to give you a hand in any way possible!

How we helped Tracey during a difficult time by always being supportive

"We listed my daughter’s house with them, and within two weeks it had sold. The situation was that my daughter’s husband had died, so it was a very emotional and difficult time for her. At one point we had a contract written, and the family found out that her husband had died in the home. They asked for a $15,000 reduction in the sales price because of that. Diane was very respectful and professional when she told us that information, and she was very supportive of our decision not to proceed with that contract. I would recommend Diane’s group at any time. They stayed on top of everything and did an awesome job."

The Most Important Home Selling Secret

Buying an Anne Arundel County Home? Search all Homes for Sale

Selling an Anne Arundel County Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

After a couple of decades in this industry, I think I've found the most important part of selling homes. It's pricing them correctly.

Sellers have an idea of what their home is worth, and they won't sell for less than that number. However, when you're unrealistic about your price, you're telling buyers that you're not serious about selling your home.

Buyers aren't ignorant - they have a wealth of information available to them via the Internet these days, so you really can't get away with overpricing your home. Wouldn't you pass on an overpriced home? When your home is overpriced nobody will make an offer on it, and if it sits long enough, then someone will think that something is wrong with it.

When your home is priced correctly it will get multiple offers and that allows you to control the sale because you can pick and choose which offers you'd like to take.

If a buyer can't find value in your home, it won't sell for top dollar.

If you need any assistance selling your home this spring in Maryland, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always happy to help you sell for top dollar!

Where Is the Anne Arundel County Market Heading?

There are many great Anne Arundel County area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, Click here for an in-depth overview of the selling process. You may also call me at (410) 320-6551 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Welcome back, everybody. Today I'm going to talk about the latest market statistics for Anne Arundel county so you know what's been happening lately in our real estate market. The market has been performing nicely so far this year - here are some of the latest numbers to back that up:

Our average sale price is over $348,000, up by .39% from last year
There were 13,000 units sold year-over-year, which is an increase of 11.5% from 2013.
The average days on market in Anne Arundel county is 88 days, 14% longer than last year. Now is a good time to buy or sell.

There you have it, the latest statistics for our real estate market. As you can see, now is a great time to buy or sell real estate, and we expect our market to continue to recover throughout 2015. If you have any questions for us, feel free to reach out anytime. We look forward to speaking with you soon!

Waiting to sell WILL impact your Wallet

Top 10 Reasons to Sell Now

Today we are going to give you 10 reasons to sell your home in our current market, instead of waiting until the 1st of the year or until next spring. All of these reasons help illustrate the point that selling now can net you a lot more money than waiting can.

10. More Buying Power
Selling now can give you more buying power to purchase as a non-contingent buyer once January rolls around. It gives you more negotiating power as well.

9. New Hires

The beginning of the year is when most companies bring in new hires to the area. They will want to move in at the beginning of the year, but find a home now, towards the end of 2014. You have to be on the market to take advantage of this.

8. Secure a Contract Now While Selling is High

You can also arrange for a delayed closing or rent back from the buyer if you don't want to move right away.

7. Less Competition

Many sellers will wait to list their homes until the first of the year. This causes a big increase in inventory. The more you wait, the more you create competition for yourself.

6. Low Interest Rates
Interest rates are incredibly low right now. This allows buyers to afford more in the market.

5. Motivation

More people become motivated to buy during the holiday season than at any other time of the year.

4. Emotions

Buying a home is an emotional purchase and emotions tend to run high during the holiday season. They tend to offer higher prices as well

3. Time Off

Many people have time off during the holidays, increasing their availability to see homes. Buyers out in this market tend to be very serious about finding good homes quickly.

2. Taxes

Another motivation for buyers around this time of year is taxes. A lot of people are trying to purchase homes before the end of the year so they can get the tax breaks from them.

1. Low Inventory

There are typically much fewer homes on the market this time of year. Less supply means less competition, which in turn means more money in your pocket for your home sale.

If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We would be more than happy to help.

Why Hire The Diane Donnelly Group to Sell Your Home?

The Donnelly Group Testimonials

Click to hear recent
testimonials from happy clients

Joann - "It wasn’t just a piece of property for them, they understood everything that was going on for me and provided wonderful service.”

Yvonne - "She had wonderful communication and that definitely sets them apart from the rest."

Isabel - "Diane really has the magic touch! She sold our home in 16 days when we were panic stricken to get the deal through. She calmed us down and made us feel that everything was going to be okay. Hire them, you won’t regret it!"

Randy - "The Donnelly Group is very proactive and creative in terms of putting the word out about your home. They always got back to me to answer any questions I had and did what it took to get my house sold. They’re a great team and I’d highly recommend them!"

Patricia - "Having not gone through the experience in a long time, I was very impressed with how professional, helpful, and accessible the Donnelly Group was. They’d answer calls when I had concerns and always had time for me. They were incredibly patient, informative, and reassuring. I’d recommend them to anyone!"

Carrie - "We’re actually still working with the Donnelly Group. We’re still in the process of purchasing a home through them, but in the sale of our home we met with Diane and she came over to the house and helped us find comparables. She actually sold the house for more than we intended on so we’re pretty happy with the experience."

Rodney - "I was very happy with what the Donnelly Group did for me. They went above and beyond in every aspect. The put together a nice slideshow of the home, a virtual tour, and all of that stuff so those who were looking online would get a better view of the home inside and out."

Lucas - "The entire process was very positive. My Realtor really knew the ins and outs of the real estate game. The level of service I received as a first time home buyer was just fantastic. They were really able to get an idea of what we were looking for and helped us find the right place."

Michael - "We were able to sell my home in 9 days and then they also helped me navigate the purchase of my next home without any flaws. They even sent us a professional stager and a professional photographer to help us prepare the home for sale which we really appreciated. It ended up selling for the highest price in the neighborhood!"

John - "The Donnelly Group was aces from beginning to end! We were referred to her because our previous agent wasn’t performing up to her abilities. Everything was great from beginning to end and she sold our house pretty quickly! It sold in about 7 days when the other agent had it for 3-4 months. Dianne would give her advice but we didn’t have to follow it and she always kept us informed of exactly what was going on."

Nadine - "I felt very good about the whole experience. I think they were very professional and Tricia Roe would always answer my calls and if I left her a voice mail, which I don’t think I had to, she’d immediately call me back. It was the same with emails, they were just so responsive! I was just very pleased with the whole experience!"

Tracey -"We listed my daughter’s house with them, and within two weeks it had sold. The situation was that my daughter’s husband had died, so it was a very emotional and difficult time for her. At one point we had a contract written, and the family found out that her husband had died in the home. They asked for a $15,000 reduction in the sales price because of that. Diane was very respectful and professional when she told us that information, and she was very supportive of our decision not to proceed with that contract. I would recommend Diane’s group at any time. They stayed on top of everything and did an awesome job."

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