What Do Home Warranties Cover?

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Hey everyone, today we are excited to talk to you about home warranties! This is a topic our clients ask about a lot.

Basically, a home warranty is an insurance policy that covers major appliances, as well as roofing defects and electrical work in case of repair. Essentially, if something goes wrong with one of the items that's covered, you pay a small deductible, and the home warranty company will come out and fix it, as long as it is not a pre-existing condition. 

The last thing you want to have is a huge bill to replace an A/C unit or water heater, so we recommend that any time you purchase a home, a home warranty should be included. If you choose to work with us to sell your next home, we will provide free home warranty coverage for your home while we are listing it. 

If you have any questions, or are interested in buying or selling a home here in Lafayette, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I can't wait to hear from you!

How to Handle Multiple Offer Situations When Selling Your Lafayette Home

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With the spring real estate season in full gear, there is no better time to discuss how to handle multiple offers when selling! 

From a seller's perspective, it really doesn't get much better than having multiple buyers making offers on your home. The first thing you need to do is take a look at the particular terms of each offer. Ask yourself the following questions when looking over offers:

• How much money is getting put down?
• What kind of deposit are they putting down? 
• Are they pre-approved?
• Is their financial institution credible in our market? 
• Are they considering a conventional loan or a government loan?
• What concessions are they willing to make? 

After answering these questions, you should be able to pick the best offer! We are experts at making your home attractive to the widest range of buyers and generating multiple offer situations for our listings. If you would like us to do the same for you, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to help you sell quickly and for top dollar! 

Where's the Lafayette Market Heading?

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Hello, and welcome back! Today, we're going to give you a quick update on where the Lafayette market is heading! 

The sales for Lafayette Parish are up 7% compared to where they were at this time in 2014. Since 2012, we've seen a 33% increase in home sales in our area! The average number of days on the market is hovering around 87, down from 93 at this time last year, and dollar volume is up 10.8%. In fact, since 2012, we've seen a jump in dollar volume of 58%! Additionally, the average sales price is up 3.5%, and the median sales price has risen to $195,000 from $187,000 last year. 

What do all these numbers mean for you? 

They mean that our market has not only recovered, it has caught fire! Pending sales contracts are up 20%, as we have 399 homes currently under contract, compared to only 333 this time last year. With a healthy five months of inventory, it's looking like our market will continue going strong through the summer.  

If you have any questions about market conditions in your particular area, or if you have real estate needs of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to help you take advantage of these stellar conditions! 

How to Avoid Losing the Lafayette Home of Your Dreams

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Today, I want share some advice on how to submit a powerful offer in a multiple offer situation.

When you're looking at a home that is getting attention from other buyers, there are a few things we can do to get a leg up on the competition. It's important to remember that not every multiple offer situation results in a bidding war. 

We pride ourselves on staying in touch with the listing agents on the other side to get inside information about what exactly is going on with negotiations. We're also experts at identifying what is most important to the sellers - whether it be price, negotiations, or something else entirely. 

Making yourself known as a buyer is key. Any way you can give the seller some insight into who you are and what your family is like will go a long way. Writing a handwritten note about why you want the home is a great and highly effective way to personalize the offer. We've seen it work in the past and highly recommend giving it a shot. 

If you have any questions about staying ahead of the competition in multiple offer situations, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I would love to give you a hand! 

How we helped Bonnie sell her home by accommodating her needs

"My house sold to the first viewer. His team helped stage my home, and I think that’s why it sold so fast. He stayed in touch with me, and his team helped me with things over the computer that I wasn’t real familiar with, like e-signing. They were really accommodating and easy to work with! "

How we helped Laurie sell her home by going above and beyond

"We had thirty days to sell our house, and we sold it in two and a half weeks! Everyone on the team was awesome, but I especially appreciated the work Amber did. I had a lot of questions, and she definitely went above and beyond by answering them all. Everything went well. "

Why Now Is the Ideal Time to Make Your Move in Lafayette

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The numbers for February are in! Today, we take a look at what they mean for the health of the Lafayette market and what it means for you! 

Sales are about dead-even from where they were last year - we had 222 in February of 2014 and 228 in 2015, for a total increase of 2.7%. The most surprising trend is the appreciation we've seen, as the dollar volume has increased by 9% over this time last year. This is likely because more homes have sold in the $300,000 and above price range. 

We're really not seeing any signs that the market is going to slow down. We've seen a 6.5% increase in pending sales and a 17% increase in resale homes. On the other hand, new construction listings are down 22%, so you'll probably see fewer options out there if that's what you're looking to do.

Rates are still incredibly low, hovering around 4%. This is great news, as we were expecting rates to jump to around 5% by this time. If you have any questions about these ideal market conditions, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We look forward to hearing from you soon! 

How we helped Boyer find a home by being flexible with our schedule

"We worked with them for about two and a half months. We were able to purchase a home that worked out well for us. Both my wife and I have hectic schedules and a small child. They were incredibly flexible with their schedules in order to help with ours, and that was much appreciated."

-Boyer Derise, Home Buyer

How we helped Kevin with his real estate transactions by creating a seamless transition

"He sold my house fast, and he was able to help me find a house fast. He made it a seamless transition. He was very flexible. Even if it was after hours, he was always willing to meet us at any time. That was very helpful with our schedules."

-Kevin Piker, Home Seller

Vendors We Recommend for Your Home

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Buying a home? Search all Homes for Sale

Today I just wanted to let you know of some vendors that I can personally recommend to you in the event that something goes wrong after you purchase your home.

The contractors we recommend provide consistently good service at fair prices. We have plumbers, roofers, electricians, painters, and even maid services. 

We'd also like to extend the offer to you, if you have any great vendors that you would like us to know of. We're always looking for good contractors.

Also, if you're new to Lafayette and want to know of any good restaurants, gyms, grocery stores, venues, or other places to go and enjoy, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

If you have any questions about the Lafayette real estate market, don't be afraid to reach out to my team!