2015 has proven a year of strong economic growth, improved employment and a housing demand for most sellers, particularly in the Farm Belt and energy-producing states, in addition to urban areas such as Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the single-family home sector in 2015 is set to outperform the previous year. So if you want to take full advantage of this market, here are some tips that I recently came across in an article, outlining the top 10 real estate tips of 2015 for both buyers and sellers:

1. 10 Real Estate Tips
For 2015
By Norma Mirsky

2. 1. Tidy up
Little touches go a long way in the buyer’s eye, especially
with the entry. Therefore, you should trim bushes, wash
walkways and get good-looking welcome mats. Remove
odors inside with candles and counter sprays, clean up
your closets and rooms. Hide any labor tools, making the
house look as nice and fancy as possible.

3. 2. Take notes
In a whirlwind house-hunting
tour of several properties, it’s
beneficial for buyers to keep
a pro-and-con checklist of
each home that they visit.
Otherwise, the features of
several homes will end up
blending together in a tired
brain. It also helps to create
a rating scale of 1 to 10, in
addition to carrying a
checklist of specific features
that you’re looking for in your
ideal home.

4. 3. Sell by season
Although spring is optimal, home-selling happens year-
round, so use seasonal decorations to make buyers stay
longer, but make sure they’re not too obnoxious. In the
winter, it’s also a good idea to show photos of your home
a season ahead, so buyers can see what it looks like
when the snow’s melted.

5. 4. Do your research
Buyers are advised to scope out the block of
a potential home at varying hours, but you
can also look yourself to see how your
neighborhood is doing. If a major local
employer is struggling or moving away,
adjacent neighborhoods are turning into
rentals and there are numerous homes
lingering on the market, then those are all bad
signs. But if schools are in high demand,
younger families are moving in, older couples
are staying and commercial properties are
getting redeveloped and leased, then these
are all excellent signs.

6. 5. Tap into “big data”
Although local knowledge and old-school networking are always available,
the latest technology offers agents a lot more. Some agencies offer
“livability” ratings by ranking and contrasting neighborhoods by air quality,
traffic choke points and specific data on a home’s energy efficiency.

7. 6. Transparency
Buyers will most likely enlist
inspectors to look over your
home, so in anticipation of this,
offer your own presale
inspection. It’s much better to
know about a house’s issues
early than later. Provide the
buyer a copy of the inspection,
along with any repair receipts,
and explain if or how you’ve
adjusted your price in
response. The buyers will
appreciate your honesty.

8. 7. Watch out for ego
More often than
not, buyers tend
to get caught up
in a win-no-
matter-what style
of negotiation.
Nonetheless,
don’t let
stubbornness
ruin your chances
of selling your
home.

9. 8. Retain mineral rights
With so many giant natural-gas fields in play across the US, and with many more
pending, homeowners should exercise their seller’s market advantage to retain
mineral rights. While this doesn’t need to be mentioned in the sales contract, it’s
always safe to note it so long as the buyer doesn’t protest. Avoid this scenario by
conveying those rights to a trustworthy family member or an energy company buying
them before putting the house on the block.

10. 9. Refrain from buying
This goes without saying, but if you’re
about to make any big-capital purchase,
you might want to hold out on it. Such
purchases will raise your debt-to-income
ratio, which lenders examine when
determining the mortgage amount you
can afford. You should also avoid
moving large sums of money around,
changing banks, changing jobs and
becoming self-employed before you
choose to buy a home.

11. 10. The price is right
Accurate home pricing from
the get-go never goes out of
style. Every agent will tell
you something different;
some advise sellers to
overprice because inventory
is low, while others say go
below market to spur a
bidding war, but don’t get
caught up in pricing games.
Activity in the first month of a
listing is always the best, so
don’t risk wasting it with
whacky prices. Therefore,
you should hire the right
agent.