Category Archives: Cashiers Real Estate

Top Ways I Help Cashiers Area Home Sellers

For Western North Carolina home sellers, the first couple of weeks after you list your home on the market are critical when it comes to attracting Cashiers area home buyers.

That’s because home buyers in the Cashiers area love to hear about new listings on the local housing market.

Thus, it’s imperative for home sellers to seize on all the attention early on. Otherwise, home buyers’ attention will shift to the next new listing on the market in a couple of weeks.

As your Western North Carolina real estate expert, I understand just how important it is to attract home buyers immediately.

That’s why I launch an aggressive marketing campaign on your Cashiers area home for sale as soon as we start working together.

Continue reading to learn about my exclusive and comprehensive marketing plan for Western NC home sellers like you.

Homes for Sale in Cashiers, Highlands and Surround Area

Here are the top ways in which I get the word out about your new listing on the Cashiers area real estate market:

  • I include both interior and exterior photos of your home on your listing page. Nowadays, the majority of NC home buyers search for homes on the Internet before ever contacting a REALTOR. I make sure these home buyers develop a good idea of what your home has to offer by including several interior and exterior photos of your home. These photos emphasize your homes uniqueness as well as its spaciousness.
  • I develop virtual tours of your home. To further help the home buyer envision living in your Cashiers area home for sale, I often include virtual tours of your home online. This help the home buyer feel like they’re right there, walking through your home one room at a time. Many REALTORS agree, the virtual tour is a viable way of attracting prospective buyers to your home.
  • I utilize a diverse range of print and online advertising to market your Cashiers area home. The best way of finding the home buyer who will ultimately purchase your home is to cast out a large marketing net. That’s why I advertise your home in a variety of publications – from real estate magazines to online newspapers to everything in between!
  • I provide plenty of attractive and effective outdoor signage. While many home buyers prefer to search for their next home online, there are some who will drive around area neighborhoods looking for homes for sale. To attract these types of buyers, I place effective outdoor “For Sale” signage in your yard, which provides all the pertinent information such as contact information.
  • I hold Open Houses whenever feasible. Depending on the location of your home, open houses can be an effective marketing strategy for your Cashiers area home. We’ll discuss together if a Open House is the best way to use time and energy resources. At the very least, it may serve as a vehicle to increase exposure of your Western North Carolina home for sale.

List Your Western North Carolina Home for Sale Today!

While I’ve just mentioned the top ways in which I help home owners sell their homes quickly, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my home selling marketing plan.

Contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, to learn more about how I can help you sell you home for top dollar in a relatively short amount of time.

While you’re at it, please feel free to browse some of these helpful home selling resources that I offer:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Cashiers NC Real Estate Market Report for December

The Cashiers real estate market held pretty steady between October and November, as evident by the most recent real estate data.

If you’re thinking about purchasing a Cashiers NC home for sale, I recommend you continue reading to learn more about what homes are selling for in the area.

This information will make you better prepared as you continue to navigate the market looking for your dream home.

Cashiers Homes for Sale

Here’s an overview of the current state of the Cashiers real estate market:

  • Currently there are 589 resale and new homes. Last month, there were 598 homes on the market.
  • During the week ending on Nov. 16, the average listing price for a Cashiers home was $1,029,505.
  • Compared with the week before, the average listing price increased by 0.3 percent, or about $2,965
  • For the week ending on Nov. 16, the average listing price for a 1-bedroom home was $283,000.
  • The average listing price for a 2-bedroom home was $331,000.
  • And the average listing price for 3-bedroom and 4- bedroom homes was $803,000 and $1,300,000.

Relocate to Cashiers NC

If you would like some help interpreting the most recent data and understanding how it affects you as a home buyer, contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today.

As your Cashiers area real estate expert, I have experience working in several area markets, including:

What’s more, over the years I’ve created a fantastic set of tools for home buyers to use.  These resources help make navigating the market easier and include:

Until next time,

Dorothy

More Tips on How to Successfully Stage Your Cashiers Area Home

As I mentioned in a previous blog, wintertime may be an ideal time to sell your Western NC home since home buyers during this time of year are typically more eager to buy a home than any other time of the year.

But since it’s also true that there are fewer home buyers are the market, it’s important to stage your home in a way that leaves a lasting impression.

One thing that many home sellers do is create curb appeal.  This includes trimming the bushes, sweeping the front porch and cleaning the shutters.

After all, many home buyers will first judge a home by its exterior.  Thus, it’s critical that your Western NC home has plenty of curb appeal.

Continue reading to learn more tips on what you can do to increase your chances of selling your home in a reasonable amount of time.

Homes for Sale in Cashiers, Highlands, Sapphire and More

Here are some suggestions for preparing your home for upcoming showings:

  • Mentally Let Go of Your Attachment to Your Home: This is something that’s easier said than done for many home sellers.  After all, your current home may very well be where you started your family, and certainly where you made many precious memories.  But trust me, mentally preparing yourself now for the day when you hand over your house keys to another family will save you a lot of heart ache and stress in the long run.  Because that day will come and you don’t want to be blindsided when it does.
  • De-personalize Your Home: As I’ve said in a previous blog, you want home buyers to be able to see THEIR family in your home, not your family.  Thus, remove distracting details like the dozens of family portraits on the walls and tables.  While a few accents will create a warm ambiance in your home, too many can prove to be overwhelming and off-putting for interested home buyers.
  • De-Clutterize: Remember, you’re not selling the items in your home, you’re selling the home itself.  So remove excess clutter that distracts from your home’s rooms and layout.  A good rule of thumb is to get rid of anything you haven’t used in more than a year. You may also consider reorganizing furniture in a way that maximizes a room’s space and makes it look bigger.
  • Organize Your Closets and Cabinets: Home buyers are often judging every little detail of your home, maybe without even realizing it! And disorganized storage areas suggest to potential home buyers that you may have not taken the best care of the rest of the house.  Avoid sending that message by cleaning and organizing closet and cabinet space.  One way to start is to make sure all your closets are hanging the same way in your closet.
  • Store Irreplaceable Items: Buyers and sellers will often negotiate throwing in certain items and appliance with the home sale. So if there’s something in your home that you would never want to see end up on the negotiation table, then put it away so the home buyer doesn’t even know about it.  Otherwise, you risk giving the home buyer a reason to pull out on a deal just because you won’t throw in the item they want.
  • Address Minor Repairs:  Remember, home showings are all about leaving a lasting first impression on home buyers.  So you want to make sure your home is in the best shape possible.  Help get it in tip-top condition by addressing minor repair issues, such as a leaky faucet or a cracked bathroom tile.  While making these repairs may not cost much money, it can mean a world of difference on how a home buyer sees your home.

Selling Your Home on the Western NC Real Estate Market

I hope these home staging tips help you to sell your home in less time and for a better price.  These tips have certainly helped plenty of other home sellers in the past!

To learn more about how you can improve your outcome on the Cashiers area real estate market as a home seller,  contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today.

As your NC Mountain REALTOR, I’ll be happy to walk you through my comprehensive marketing plan for sellers as well as give you a number of home selling tools, such as:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Sell Your Western North Carolina Home Before the New Year!

Most home sellers in the Cashiers area of North Carolina believe that winter is the absolute worst time to sell their home.

The figure that between holiday planning, work and family life, interested home buyers aren’t going to have the time to navigate the market looking for their next home.

Although this is a valid concern, it’s still possible to sell your Western North Carolina home during the wintertime, as long as you market it correctly.

Continue reading to learn about steps you can take to ensure that you’re home leaves a good impression on interested home buyers.

Stage Your Home for Success During the Winter

The first thing that home sellers should know about wintertime home buyers is that these people mean business!

After all, why would you even both juggling holiday planning, house hunting and day-to-day obligations unless you were serious about investing in a piece of mountain real estate.

Thus, home sellers should be aware that first impressions are going to be critical.

Here are some steps you can take to ensure that interested home buyers won’t be able to get your Cashiers area home for sale out of their head:

  • Create an environment where home buyers can visualize themselves living in your home.  Do this by adding a few warm and welcoming accents around your home, such as a holiday wreath on the door or by setting the dining room table.
  • But remember: less is more.  Too many accents may prove distracting to home buyers. Or worse, it may cause home buyers to envision YOUR family living there.  That’s certainly the last thing you want when you’re trying to sell your home.
  • Accommodate the home buyers schedule as often as possible.  These individuals are taking the time out of their busy holiday season to tour your house and see if it’s a good fit for their family. So be flexible and work with their schedule as best you can.  You never know – it might lead to you selling your home!
  • Let there be light.  A few selectively placed lights can do wonders for making a room feel bigger and more inviting.  The same goes for open curtains.  Add even more emphasis to your home’s great features by using porch lights or other exterior lights.  After all, winter is the time of year when natural light is lacking, so you’ll need all the extra lighting you can get.
  • Just say “No” to Seasonal Home Aromas. While the smell of apples and cinnamon might be one of your favorite holiday aromas, it might be off-putting and distracting to an interested home buyer.  With such aromas, you risk leaving a bad impression on a home buyer, causing a prospective deal to fall through.  To avoid that, put away the holiday aromas for showings.

Your NC Mountain Real Estate Experts

Selling your home in the Cashiers NC area doesn’t have to be an impossible task if you know how to market your home successfully.

For more tips on how to stage your home, contact me, Dorothy Swearingen

As your NC Mountain REALTOR, I’ll provide you with expert advice, as well as such helpful home selling tools as:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Cashiers NC Real Estate Market Update for October

I can’t believe it’s already the end of October! It seems like just yesterday that I was seeing people set out Fourth of July decorations in the stores and now it seems like all the stores are focusing on Christmas before Halloween has even arrived!

If you’re an interested Cashiers home buyer navigating the Cashiers area real estate market, I’m sure that your year has flown by faster than most.  After all, it can be a rather time-consuming feat searching for your dream Cashiers NC home for sale in the price range you want.

Before you continue your search on the market, I recommend you take just a few minutes to check out the recent statistics on the Cashiers NC real estate market.  This information will prove invaluable to you as it will give you a realistic overview of market conditions.

Continue reading to learn more!

Cashiers, NC Homes for Sale

Here’s an overview of the current state of the Cashiers NC real estate market, based on data from the real estate website Trulia:

  • There are currently 598 resale and new homes on the Highlands, NC real estate market.
  • During the week ending on Sept. 28, the average listing price for Cashiers NC homes for sale was  $1,023,702
  • When compared to the previous week, the average listing price for a Cashiers NC home for sale increased by 0.3 percent, or $3,128.
  • For the week ending on Sept. 28, the average list price for a 2-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $344,000.
  • The average list price for a 3-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $764,000.
  • During that same week, the average list price for a 4-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $1.35 million.

Cashiers, NC Real Estate

If you’d like help navigating the Cashiers NC real estate market, I’ll be happy to assist you with your Cashiers home buying needs.

As your Cashiers NC real estate expert, I’ll interpret the recent Cashiers NC real estate market data and tell you how it affects you as a Cashiers area home buyer.

Contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today and I’ll also  be happy to tell you about the current state of other area real estate markets, including:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Now is a Great Time to Invest in Cashiers, NC Area Real Estate

This month is simply THE most amazing time to be living in the Cashiers, NC area.  That’s because fall foliage is at its peak – with splashes of crimson red, vibrant orange and radiant yellow everywhere you drive in the area.

It truly is remarkable!  Tourists from all over the state and region seem to agree, as evidenced by all the cars I’ve seen lately winding on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Autumn may be what makes people fall in love with the Cashiers, NC area but it is the community-centeredness in this area that make people want to stay.

If you’re an interested Cashiers area home buyer, then continue reading to learn about some fantastic Cashiers area log cabins and homes available on the Cashiers area real estate market.

Investing in a Cashiers, NC Area Log Cabin

Whether you’re looking for a cozy log cabin for you and your spouse or a large one in which you can raise a family, you’ll find plenty of options on the Cashiers NC real estate market.

Here are some helpful pre-defined searches that I’ve created for those Cashiers area home buyers who know what they’re looking for in their dream Cashiers NC home:

Cashiers NC Real Estate

I hope you were able to find my Cashiers NC pre-defined home searches helpful as you navigate the Cashiers NC area real estate market.

If you saw a home you liked and would like more information on it, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today!

As your Cashiers NC area REALTOR, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have, set up a showing appointment for you or just talk with you about what it’s like to live in the Cashiers NC area.

Until next time,

Dorothy

Property Values Addressed on HIghlands, NC Area Real Estate Market

I recently read an interesting article in the Smoky Mountain News about property valuations in Western North Carolina.

Evidently, Macon County officials may decide to postpone their property valuations from 2013 to 2015.

Macon County  includes the communities of Flats, Franklin, Highlands, Smithbridge, and Sugarfork.

Continue reading to learn more about why officials are considering delaying the revaluation – and how it may affect Highlands area home sellers.

Highlands, NC Homes for Sale

According to the recent article, the proposed delay in revaluations is in response to the sluggish housing economy.

According to Macon County’s tax assessor, not enough properties have been sold to new owners to create meaningful property value levels.

What’s more, inaccurate property revaluations may result in a lot of property value appeals from residents, which could be costly to the county.

It’s the county’s hope that if they wait to complete the county-wide revaluation, more Macon County properties will change hands between buyers and sellers, creating for a more accurate reading property values county-wide.

Macon County’s proposed response to the sluggish economy is a stark contrast to Jackson County’s.

Jackson County includes the communities of Cashiers, Scotts Creek and Webster.

Jackson County is still planning to move forward with its property revaluations in 2013, even though the county has a similar housing market as Macon County.

The last time Jackson County and Macon County did their property revaluations was in 2008 and 2007 respectively.

According to state law, every county must complete a property revaluation at least every 8 years.

Your Highlands, NC Area Real Estate Experts

In Macon County, commissioners are expecting that property values on more expensive homes and undeveloped land will decrease while property values on the homes in the $150,000 range will increase.

The proposed delay on property revaluations may actually be good news for those Highlands area home sellers who own high-end homes.

After all, property valuations is a good point of reference for many Highlands area home buyers trying to decide how much they’re willing to pay for a home.

Thus, if property values on higher-end homes are expected to decrease after the next property valuation, it behooves Highlands area home sellers to sell their home before that revaluation happens.

Thus, if you’re a Highlands area home seller, contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today.

As your Highlands area real estate expert, I’ll work hard to sell your home in as little time as possible for the best price possible.

I’ll also provide you with a number of helpful Highlands area home selling tools to help you navigate the market.  These include:

Until next time,

Dorothy

 

Cashiers, NC Real Estate Market Report

The Cashiers, NC community is perhaps one of the most thriving Western North Carolina communities.

After all, in the last couple of months, this community has:

Cashiers, NC is the place to be if you want to live in a community that preserves its heritage while embracing the future.

If you’re interested in relocating to the Cashiers, NC area, then continue reading to learn valuable information about the current state of the market there.

Cashiers NC Properties for Sale

Here’s a look at the current state of the Cashiers, NC real estate market, based on data from Trulia.com

  • During the week ending on August 31, there were 605 resale and new homes on the Cashiers real estate market.
  • During that week, the average listing price for Cashiers homes for sale was $997,464, which represented no change when compared to the week before.
  • For the week ending on August 31, the average list price for a 2-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $328,000.
  • The average list price for a 3-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $736,000.
  • During that same week, the average list price for a 4-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $1.44 million.

Cashiers Real Estate Experts

If you’d like to learn more about investing in Cashiers, NC real estate, then contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today.

As your Cashiers, NC real estate expert, I’ll answer any questions you might have about living in Cashiers, as well as provide you with such helpful Cashiers home buying resources as:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Cashiers NC Real Estate Market Update

Located at a cool 3,500 feet above sea level, Cashiers NC is a thriving Western North Carolina town with a distinctive culture.

And with a number of fantastic amenities and quality public schools nearby – It’s no wonder that Cashiers, NC real estate is constantly in high demand!

Continue reading to learn more about the current state of the Cashiers, NC real estate market and what it means for interested Cashiers NC home buyers.

Cashiers, NC Homes for Sale

Here’s a brief overview of the Cashiers, NC real estate market, based on data from Trulia.com and Realtor.com:

  • There are currently 622 resale and new homes in on the Cashiers, NC real estate market.
  • The average listing price for a Cashiers, NC home for sale was $1,053,786 for the week ending on August 3, which is a 0.5 percent decrease of 0.5%, or $5,002, compared to the prior week.
  • For the week ending on August 3, the average list price for a 2-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $368,000.
  • For the week ending on August 3, the average list price for a 3-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $750,000.
  • For the week ending on August 3, the average list price for a 4-bedroom Cashiers home for sale was $1.5 million.

Investing in Cashiers, NC Real Estate

If you’ve been thinking about entering the Cashiers, NC real estate market as a Cashiers home buyer, then contact me, Dorothy Swearingen, today.

As your Cashiers NC real estate expert, I’ll answer any questions you might have about living in Cashiers as well as let you know about available listings in the area.

To get the process started today, please check out some of my online Cashiers NC home buying tools, including:

Until next time,

Dorothy

Lawmakers Addressing Future of Community Colleges in Highlands, NC Area in Western North Carolina

Recently, a joint state legislative committee recommended merging the leadership of community colleges in the state that have fewer than 3,000 fulltime students.

But local and state officials in Western North Carolina have recently taken a stand against this measure, saying that it would hurt the education system in the area.

Continue reading to learn more about this developing story in the Highlands, NC area – and how it might affect Highlands NC area residents.

Continue reading