Picking the RIGHT moving company

There are lots of good reasons to hire a moving company. It lowers your moving day stress, saves your back, and with the right company can ensure that your goods are safe from accidental damage. But for every sweet song of a smooth move, there are an equal number of “moving company blues” tunes out there. From a few sad notes of regret to total devastation, making a mistake when hiring a moving company can be an experience you’ll never forget. Here are some tips to help make the right move when it comes to choosing partners for your next relocation: 1) Get in-house estimates for your move from anywhere between 2 to 4 companies. Many may say they don’t need to see your stuff to estimate the cost, but the fact is a reputable company will want to see your place first-hand. 2) Do your legal homework on the moving company. Trustworthy companies will have their Motor Carrier number and D.O.T. (Department of Transportation) license information posted online (or with their materials). Check with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) for complaints and do a little research on Yelp.com for customer reviews. 3) Don’t commit to a big deposit or other down payment. Shady operators can abscond with you money and/or hold your possessions hostage to extort “excess fuel charges” or other bogus price changes. 4) Never go with the low-ball offer. If you get three estimates within the same range and one that’s substantially lower, what does that tell you about the quote? Don’t let cheap impulses turn into expensive mistakes. 5) Get referrals from friends, co-workers, and even your H.R. department (assuming you work for a company that deals with relocations). Also... ask your real estate agent! Are you looking for referrals for a trustworthy moving company? I’d be glad to provide you with private references. Contact me for the information today: Becca Linnig, RE/MAX REALTOR® (480) 570-8845, bhotaz@hotmail.com

The Right Home for the Right Buyer

Marketing a home is not like marketing a commodity, such as bottled water. While everyone needs shelter, it would be a serious oversimplification to say that’s all a home offers. Many agents take the perspective that a home is the right home for a buyer simply because they happen to be selling it. The truth is it can be a real waste of time and effort convincing people that a home’s qualities are exactly what they’re looking for. It’s far more efficient to market the home’s qualities to the segment of buyers who have a natural lifestyle fit for the home. Profiling and segmenting buyer lifestyle is an excellent way to optimize the budget for marketing a home. Rather than taking a shotgun approach, I like to tailor the home’s story as much as possible to the types of buyers who best represent the projected buyer for a specific listing. Analyzing the specific qualities of the home is a natural first place to start. Is it close to an organic farmers’ market? Next to a country club with a legendary golf course? Does it have a garage fit for two BMWs, or is it a one-Prius sort of place? Has it got natural family sprawl or bachelor appeal? I also like to talk with the sellers about what originally drew them to the home. What caught their eye? Why was it the right place at the right time? What is encouraging them to move on now? All of this adds up to the story of a listing. This story can then inform the marketing plan for the property, staging decisions, open houses, and even the way photos/videos are shot and presented online. We’re no longer looking for a convenient cave for shelter from the elements. We live in homes. Our homes should reflect our lifestyle. Keeping this in mind throughout the entire listing and marketing process is what makes me good at matching properties to buyers for my clients each and every week. Let’s get started selling your home’s lifestyle today! Contact me for a no-obligation meeting: Becca Linnig, RE/MAX REALTOR® (480) 570-8845, bhotaz@hotmail.com

New Year New You?

Are you going to be one of the few who look back one year from now with the extreme satisfaction of having kept your promises to yourself? Or will you be among the millions who vow to try again next year? I want you to be in the first category, and I want to help you see your goals become reality. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share a few strategies and tools for success this year. 1) Have you really articulated your goal? Is it “be in better shape” or is it “lose 30 pounds”? A degree of specificity is a must, because you’ll need an objective against which you can measure your efforts. 2) Have you gotten excited about your goal? Have you imagined the outcome? Don’t be ashamed to really visualize yourself enjoying the spoils of your hard work. Imagine yourself sharing your success story with pride. 3) Share your goals! Don’t keep your dreams in the closet where no one can see them. Public declaration not only helps you find third-party support from friends and family, but putting them out there makes them harder to abandon when motivation flags. 4) Don’t give in to “all or none” thinking. When you slip, lose focus, or encounter setbacks, don’t use them as license to give up. It will feel worse to crawl back after a blow-out than it will to forgive yourself and pick up where you left off. Accept that progress matters more than perfection. 5) Leverage apps and other technology to help you make progress. Automatic reminders, social networks, and other goal-specific tools can help. (Check out this article on “5 Apps for Keeping New Year’s Resolutions: http://mashable.com/2012/12/27/apps-new-years-resolutions/) So what are your goals? Comment below! No time like the present to make your dreams public. (Of course, if one of your goals is to buy or sell a home, I’d be happy to play a big part in helping you reach that objective! Contact me today: Becca Linnig RE/MAX REALTOR(480) 570-8845, bhotaz@hotmail.com