Last Minute Cleaning Tips For Showings

1. De-clutter Paperwork. Grab a bag and toss in all the piles of mail and paperwork lying around and place in a closet out of sight.
2. Clear Kitchen Counters. Move dirty dishes into the dishwasher or if it's full and you're desperate, rinse them and hide in the oven (only recommended as a last resort). Store excess appliances in cupboards or closets.
3. Demagnetize the Refrigerator. Remove all magnets, photos and miscellaneous stuff from the front and sides. Put them out of sight.
4. Clear the Toys. Remove toys from the main areas of your home. Grab a laundry basket and fill as you go from room to room and place in the kids' bedrooms.
5. Remove Dust Bunnies. Use a hair dryer to quickly dust bookcases and knick-knacks and use a broom to remove cobwebs. Vacuum whatever falls to the floor.
6. Vacuum Carpets. Spot vacuum high traffic areas and those most in need.
7. Clean Floors. Spray some paper towels with all purpose cleaner, place under your bare feet and slide around the floors to spot-clean dirty areas.
8. Banish Fido. Put all pets outside or in an out of the way room and use a lint brush or balled-up masking tape and run over furniture to pick up loose pet hair.
9. Spruce up Furniture. Drape a clean blanket or an attractive throw over the couch and loveseats to provide a different look or hide worn spots.
10. Shine Bathrooms. Wipe counters and sinks with a damp paper towel and swipe some glass cleaner over mirrors. Spray water on the inside of the shower doors as hard water spots tend to be less visible when wet.
11. Empty Trash Cans. Empty full trash bins into whatever large-capacity canister you have and then place that out of sight.
12. Freshen the Air. You can use air freshener but this only tends to mask an odor. Either get rid of the source or put a small amount of vanilla extract in the oven and warm at 150 degrees.
13. Let the Light In. Open shades and curtains to let natural light in and open up rooms.
14. Last Minute Walkthrough. Grab an empty laundry basket and walk around your home grabbing anything that catches your eye that can be placed out of sight .

Dave's Listing Expectations in our Market

With our current market, one of my jobs as a listing agent is to consult with potential sellers about helping them decide when to list, pricing and marketing. Here are some general guidelines I use:

• I don't contract to take listings that are priced unreasonably based on our market.
• I educate potential sellers on the finer points or our current market, including the competition (actives), current contracts (pending sales) and past history (solds). I discuss absorption rate and price discounting.
• I try to focus on a home's amenities and value, not price.
• During the listing period (60 days), I continually communicate with my sellers based on their desires. My weekly marketing reports address NWMLS "hits", VisualTour@ views, emails and downloads, agent comments and market ratios.
• I analyze current market statistics and trends weekly.
• I strive to make my listings stand-out from the competition.
• I deal with reality, not fantasy.

Understanding Real Estate Market Statistics

I've been tracking real estate stats for most of my career. I knew what numbers I wanted to collect and how to interpret the trends; but I had difficulty explaining my reasons to potential clients. That was until I spoke with my friend Denise Lones about two years ago. Denise's premise: listings show supply, pendings show demand and closings show historical sales is a simple but insightful way to explain this.

There are several factors you should consider:

• Kitsap County's real estate market is regional
• Within Kitsap County there are multiple real estate markets (i.e., waterfront, view, single-story, acreage, neighborhood, size, etc.)
• Kitsap County's real estate market is constantly fluctuating
• To understand Kitsap County's real estate market you need to constantly track real estate supply and demand statistics

One of the best ways to track supply and demand in the real estate market is to understand "pending" numbers (those properties that "go under contract" in a particular time period). There is no better indicator of how the real estate market is doing right now than pending home sales for a specific period. For example, there were 142 active listings in Silverdale as of two days ago and there were six properties changed to a pending status the previous week. Dividing 142 by six equals 23.7 which is the number of weeks of inventory available for sale.

The key to this whole process is to keep track of the trend, whether the active inventory is increasing or decreasing. But you don't need to make these calculations because they're available through my website using the Market Statistics button.