You expect to find homes with outdoor kitchens in warm climates, but some home buyers in the snow country want outdoor kitchens, too, even though they may use it only a few months out of the year.

Now, ordinarily it would be fabulous if a home with an outdoor kitchen would cost the same as a home without one, but the inclusion does add to the bottom-line value of a home. The trick is to figure out how much this amenity increases the sales price over a similar home without an outdoor kitchen, as well as comparing it to a home with a less expensive outdoor entertainment design. The retail cost, for example, of grill islands, varies wildly and depends on brand name, type of installation and configuration. Not to mention, appliances depreciate in value as they age.

Before you buy a home with an outdoor kitchen, make a list of what's included and get everything inspected. Ask for warranties on the appliances, too. . . . read more about Outdoor Kitchens.

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When short sales get rejected, it's easy for agents to claim that banks prefer foreclosures over short sales.

In my experience, very few banks reject a short sale in favor of foreclosure when the price of that short sale offer is reasonable and the seller demonstrates a hardship. I suspect that some short sales which never make it to closing should never have been offered for sale in the first place. In other cases, the denial could have come about because the listing agent was not an experienced short sale agent and simply messed up the transaction.

If it wasn't profitable for a bank to do a short sale, the bank wouldn't do it. But the answer is a lot more complicated than that . . . read more about whether banks prefer foreclosures over short sales.

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There is more to timing the real estate market than often meets the eye.

There's certainly more to it than adhering to the principle of buy low, sell high. I've always wondered why buyers wait for a seller's market. Why do they want to frantically scramble to outbid each other and snatch up limited inventory by paying over market? Yet, when market conditions actually favor buyers, so many seem to adopt this sit-back-and-wait attitude.

What are they waiting for? They're waiting for the market to further drop, as though they possess a crystal ball on which hyper-hysterical headlines scroll . . . read more about timing the real estate market.

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Before listing with a real estate agent, home sellers should ask to see the agent's home marketing plan.

Home marketing is a complex process that varies depending on market conditions, but some facets are common to every transaction. For example, it wasn't too long ago that a seller could stick a For Sale sign in the yard and watch buyers line up ten-feet deep begging to buy it. In today's real estate market, it takes a lot more than a sign in the yard to move a property. Buyers today are looking for any reason to pass up your home and go on to the next.

There is no single method that will magically sell your home. It's a combination of marketing efforts. The point is you want to appeal to the largest pool of available buyers, but that doesn't mean you need to take out an equity loan to pay for marketing. And hopefully, if you have hired the right listing agent, you won't have to beat your agent on the head with a half-chewed chicken leg to generate some action. . . . read more about Home Marketing.

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• Marketing Homes on the Internet
  
• How to Use a Lockbox
  
• Why Isn't My Home Selling?

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