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Top 5 Tips for navigating the real estate market after a decade.

Debbie Dogrul
Feb 6 7 minutes read

Has it really been 10 years?

It may feel like just yesterday that you bought your home and saw all of it's potential through rose colored glasses. But, you can admit it - there are days when you wish the closets were just a little bit bigger, or wonder how the spare bedroom (that was supposed to be your office) became a guest room/playroom/catchall room combo, or ask yourself how on Earth you acquired all that stuff filling up the once cavernous storage room. 

Back in the days when Gnarls Barkley was making us all a little "Crazy" or you were glued to the TV to watch the final season of The Wire, your home was in your ideal neighborhood and met all your needs... at the time.  

But, Life Happens.  Your job may have moved offices and now your commute is 20 minutes longer (when it's not raining), or the kids have more after school activities on the other side of Fairfax, or you simply need more space. 

Now that it's time to start planning the sale of this house and the purchase of your next house, you have some research to do. Whether you have sold a house before or not, a lot has changed in Northern Virginia Real Estate in the last decade, you'll want to be sure that you've got an agent by your side who is up to date and ready to handle everything this market has to offer.   

Here are our Top 5 Tips for Selling in Today's market (after being out of the real estate game since Britney and K-Fed were an item)

1. Meet with your Neighborhood Expert

Even if you loved the agent who helped you buy your home, it is in your best interest to meet with the agent who is selling the most in your area NOW.  Just like music and fashion, a lot changes in real estate each year.  You'll want the best person by your side, negotiating with today's laws and tactics in mind. 

A great listing agent will know not only the value of your city and your school district, but they will know the value of your neighborhood.  Heck, they will even know whether you're on the best street in the neighborhood!  Are you set back from the main roads?  Do you have a path behind your yard that cuts straight through to the neighborhood pool?  Is there a Metro stop planned just down the road?  Or a commuter bus right around the corner? 

A Debbie Dogrul Associates Agent will know all these variables, how to market them to your potential buyers AND how they factor in to pricing your home competitively. To find out who your neighborhood experts are, look for an agent who not only who markets to you but who has a host of recent sales near you. 

Click here to see just some of our recent sales in your area.

2. Coordinate your Timeline

In an ideal world, when would you be out of this house and settled in to your next house?  

What resources do you have to get you there?

What backup plans or other options are there?

Syncing the schedules of prepping, selling, packing and moving your current home along with finding, buying, moving and unpacking into your new home involves a LOT of moving parts.  All swirling, twisting and changing while you have your job to do everyday, your family commitments to attend and, most importantly, your sanity to maintain.  

All Debbie Dogrul Associates Listing Agents are well-versed in not only orchestrating the pieces of this puzzle, but tailoring it to meet your needs. 

3. Know what are buyers looking for today

What appeals to buyers of houses like yours?  

If you need to make repairs or fix areas before you sell, do you have the resources and connections to address those items?

Getting to the bottom of these questions can be done by going out and looking at houses in your area for sale, seeing what they offer and how are they priced.  If you do need to make repairs though, you'll need to connect with the appropriate craftsmen to do the job - and that's a whole other round of research and screenings.  Again, these items can make an already growing To Do list even longer. 

A Debbie Dogrul Associates Listing Agent can streamline this whole process for you.  Because we are actively working with sellers, we know what appeals to buyers of homes like yours, and we have access to a network of contractors and craftsmen that provided work to our previous sellers. 

Debbie Dogrul Associates Listing Agents are poised to help you determine the best course of action for the sale of your home.

4. Market to those buyers

You're enlisting the services of a Listing Agent to help sell your house, you certainly are expecting them to help locate your buyer.   

Not all agents are the same when it comes to marketing strategies.  Some agents employ the Set It and Forget It mentality, while others go for One Size Fits All. 

What you're looking for is the most dynamic, strategic and diverse approach that is targeted towards your future buyer.  

Debbie Dogrul Associates Listing Agents offer each of our sellers an exceptional package of marketing options - each geared to reach a different segment of the market.  We would be excited to share our ideal marketing strategies with you. 

5. Reputation Matters

So you're looking for a Listing Agent who 

  • Is a Neighborhood Expert, 
  • Can tailor a plan for your timeline,
  • Has a network of resources to make your house appeal to your potential buyers,
  • Will market your home the right way to find your buyer. 

But can you trust them?  

If you have not yet met in person, an experienced Agent should have a strong presence online to showcase their past history working with their sellers. 

Check our Debbie Dogrul Associates past client reviews here and here.


To take the next step and set up your, no-obligation, meeting with the Debbie Dogrul Associate Neighborhood Expert for your area, click here.  

We look forward to hearing from you!

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