Monthly Archives: February 2022

As an entrepreneur, if you currently live in a home that prevents you from having the space and amenities for effectively managing your business, your best choice is to move. At Bill White Homes, we understand that the thought of moving while planning to start a business can sound daunting. In this article, we go through some tried and tested ways through which entrepreneurs like you have been able to seamlessly manage the two.

Home Features to Look For

Buying a home is a long-term investment that should cater to your present and future needs. When shortlisting options for your new home, focus on the following features:

Bedrooms: Do you plan to welcome a newborn or a senior loved one into your home in the coming years? If yes, then look for homes that have multiple bedrooms. Alternatively you can use the extra rooms as storage or convert them into a studio catering to your business needs.

Home Office: Homes with an existing office will help overcome the time and effort you’ll need to invest into creating one post-move, allowing you to begin work right away.

Outdoor Space: As reported by Thrive Global, an exterior space in your home helps to reduce stress by serving as a place to disconnect from work-related stressors and challenges.

Manage Timelines

Starting a business and moving houses requires systematic planning and execution. As you are trying to juggle both of these together, it’s best to create a list of set timelines with objectives to meet as follows:

9 Months Before Moving

Start shortlisting locations which provide the best balance between your personal and work needs, such as low business tax, thriving local economy, proximity to amenities, etc. Once you have your requirements in place, hire a real estate agent like Bill White to do the leg work for you, regarding finding properties that fit your criteria. As for your business, begin the process of applying for licenses and permits, which can take a few weeks to months to be granted.

6 Months Before Moving

This is when you should choose the appropriate business entity such as a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and apply for registration. Additionally, as reported by Zenbusiness, small business owners should also apply for a “doing business as” name, which enables them to sell products under unique brand names.

Start narrowing your home search as well by visiting houses and shortlisting those you like. If you plan to take a loan, opt to get pre-approved as it’ll help convince buyers to choose you over others and lead to quick disbursement of funds.

3 Months Before Moving

By this time, all legalities pertaining to your business should be in order. Additionally, you should finalize a home, make an offer, and start the closing procedures. With a set moving date in mind, you start hiring professionals to meet your moving and business needs:

● Movers: Delegate the stress of packing and transporting goods onto professional movers, providing you the time to focus on starting your business.

● Accountant: A skilled accountant can help create accurate business projections and other financial statements, which you can use to pitch your business to investors and secure funding.

● Digital Marketer: Having a digital marketer on your team enables you to create a solid social media strategy to put your new business on the map, generate interest from consumers and start making sales from the get-go.

Following the above-mentioned steps will help you find the perfect home catering to your personal and professional needs while allowing you to stay on top of all important responsibilities regarding launching your business.

When you’re selling any item, you usually want to sell it for the greatest profit possible. That happens when there’s a strong demand and a limited supply for that item. In the real estate market, that time is right now. If you’re thinking of selling your house this year, here are two reasons why now’s the time to list.

1. Demand Is Very Strong This Winter
A recent article in Inman News explains:

“Spring, the hottest time of year for homebuyers and sellers, has started early, according to economists. . . . ‘Home shopping season appears to already be in full swing!’”

And they aren’t the only ones saying buyers are already out in full force. That claim is backed up with data released last week by ShowingTime. The ShowingTime Showing Index tracks the average number of monthly buyer showings on active residential properties, which is a highly reliable leading indicator of current and future trends for buyer demand. The latest index reveals this December was the most active December in five years.

As the data indicates, buyers are very active this winter. Last December saw even more showings than December of 2020, which was already a stronger-than-usual winter. And remember – you want to sell something when there’s a strong demand for that item. That time is now.

2. Housing Supply Is Extremely Low
Each month, realtor.com releases data on the number of active residential real estate listings (listings currently for sale). Their most recent report reveals the latest monthly number is the lowest we’ve seen in any January since 2017.

And don’t forget, the best time to sell an item is when there’s a limited supply of it available. This graph clearly shows how extremely low housing supply is today.

Even Though Supply Is at a Historic Low, Home Sales Are at a 15-Year High
According to the latest Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales totaled 6.12 million in 2021 – the highest annual level since 2006. This means the market is hot and homeowners are in a great place to sell now while sales are so strong.

NAR also reports available listings by calculating the current months’ supply of inventory. They explain:

“Months’ supply refers to the number of months it would take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell given the current sales pace.”

The current 1.8-months’ supply is the lowest ever reported.

The ratio of buyers to sellers favors homeowners right now to a greater degree than at any other time in history. Buyer demand is high, and supply is low. That gives sellers like you an incredible opportunity.

Bottom Line
If you agree the best time to sell anything is when demand is high and supply is low, contact to discuss listing your house today.

Intend to put your Naperville home up for sale soon? You probably want to sell it quickly and at a reasonable price. Alongside the incentives that drive homeowners to sell, we can’t ignore the marketing and financial benefits of home staging. First, staging your home allows you to showcase your home in the best possible light. The goal is to impress the buyers and show them what your home has to offer. Not to mention staged homes perform considerably better in terms of pricing and raising interest. So much so that around 50% of buyers’ real estate agents in the US note that staging has a massive impact on buyer’s perception of the home. Hence, we will put forward a few home staging tips for sellers in Naperville to help you out!

Home staging isn’t decorating

A common misconception that sellers make is to assume that home staging is essentially the same as redecorating. There are a few reasons why this line of thinking is detrimental. First of all, good staging can be done with a lot less than what you would need to redecorate the home. The point is to highlight the advantages of the house and obscure the flaws. It is not necessary to invest too much money into home staging. After all, you are probably more eager to update the home you are moving into rather than your old home.

Fix the home first, then embellish

It is better to focus your budget and energy on fixing structural flaws and other maintenance projects. Rather than invest money into pure aesthetic updates, it makes more sense to improve or eliminate anything that the buyer might have to fix on their own. They will undoubtedly deduce the cost of the repairs from the asking price. So, it makes sense to think ahead and spruce up the property before the showings.

You don’t need to stage the entire home

According to some estimates, the room staged most frequently is the living room, followed by the kitchen, and then the bedroom. And this makes perfect sense. These rooms comprise the area where the buyer is likely to spend most of the time. If your staging budget is limited, you should invest in fixing these rooms.

One of the important home staging tips for sellers in Naperville is to start in the living room and kitchen.

As for the rest of the property, you can organize a thorough cleaning spree to make up for the fact they are not staged. Likewise, if you don’t have enough money to purchase new appliances, make sure they are squeaky clean and, thus, presentable, if not new.

Home staging should be depersonalized

As much as it might seem counterintuitive, observing home staging as akin to decorating might lead to another mistake – making decorative choices guided by your preferences. On the contrary – you should aim to appeal to the broadest possible number of people. And that is achieved most easily if you stick to universally attractive, tasteful decorative choices. So, as much as you like quirky artwork or something like hunting memorabilia, your buyers might find it tacky or even insulting.

Remember – the point of home staging is to give the buyer an idea about what living in the home is like. So, the buyer needs to visualize themselves and what their life may look like in that home. As many as 82% of buyers report that staging promotes this kind of visualization.

The purpose of staging is to help the buyers visualize themselves in the home.

Hence, it would be best to avoid staging that involves colors, decoration, or furniture that is too distinctive or creative. Unfortunately, the buyer might associate negative feelings with your home only because they didn’t like something irrelevant such as a painting or a carpet. That is why you use neutral colors, minimalist furniture pieces, and interesting but still universally appealing decoration.

A thorough declutter can be very helpful for sellers in Naperville

Decluttering and selling off your old belongings can be a step towards a well-staged home. Having too many things on your property can obscure your home’s good assets and features. Instead, the sheer number of things might even create a chaotic, messy vibe. Not to mention the rooms might appear to be much smaller than they actually are. All of this definitely does not work in your favor when selling.

Fewer items make the home appear more spacious.

Decluttering is also a great way to downsize your belongings to an amount that you can easily move. Managing a long-distance relocation in a state such as Illinois after you finally sell your home should go very smoothly if you have fewer things to pack and move. Of course, an experienced moving crew is more than enough to transfer household items quickly. Still, a thorough declutter is undoubtedly an excellent way to reduce the workload that awaits when you start planning your relocation.

Home staging tips for sellers in Naperville – delivered

Even if your home fits into the lower price range category, home staging has the power to ensure more exposure. It can even give your home a head start if it lacks some of the qualities that buyers look for in a home. Sometimes, sellers are reluctant to invest the money necessary to stage the home despite this fact. The reason is that inexperienced sellers sometimes fail to observe the home’s potential.

As much as organizing home updates and furniture necessary to stage the home might seem like a waste of time and money, the benefits you will reap from it will make that effort worthwhile. That is why it makes sense to apply some of these home staging tips for sellers in Naperville!