May 08, 2008 07:23 am Real Estate 101 If you are planning on selling your house or if it is listed and not moving, you'll want to attend Real Estate 101. The Friends of Huntington Memorial Library are presenting a program on how to sell your house quickly. Presenter Becky Thomas is part owner and broker with the Benson Real Estate Agency since 2001 and a native of Oneonta. She is certified as an accredited buyers representative. At the program, Thomas will discuss how to sell your home quickly at the right price. Learn the average selling price in this area, how to stage your home, and curb appeal tips. The program is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, May 19, in the third floor meeting room at Huntington Memorial Library and is free and open to the public. Related Books The library has many books on selling and buying a house. This week, we'll focus on titles that help you sell your home. Realtors Donna and Shannon Freeman give you secrets for selling your home in "Seven Steps to Sold." Learn how to give your home a competitive edge in tough conditions, accentuate the positive aspects of your home and close the sale on schedule. The authors include 99 simple ways to ensure a successful sale, questions to ask prospective agents and 12 things you can do to make an lasting impression. Make your home irresistible to buyers by following the tips in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Staging Your Home to Sell." Authors Julie Dana and Marcia Turner give you room-by-room style strategies, design tactics to appeal to a wide range of buyers, tips on downplaying negative features such as small closets, and more. Photos of homes demonstrate their advice. Dana is a professional interior redesigner and accredited home staging professional, and Turner writes home decorating articles for national publications. "Ready, Set, Sold!" by Michael Corbett shows you how to take advantage of home selling secrets that real estate agents know. In a single weekend, you can add $10,000 to the value of your home with his tips. Learn how to avoid the most common and costliest mistakes, too. Dress and stage your home, complete no-cost makeovers, and save thousands in closing and commission costs are just some of the other things you'll learn. The author is a nationally known real estate expert. Patricia Boyd and Lonny Coffey explains the steps of a real estate transaction and offer tips to help you avoid surprises. "How to Buy & Sell Your Home Without Getting Ripped Off!" identifies the major players in a real estate team, how to note their expertise and flag inappropriate fees. You won't be taken advantage of once you read their book. Boyd is a longtime realtor and Coffey has been in the mortgage business for more than 25 years. "Kiplinger's Buying & Selling A Home" shows you how to prepare your home for sale, select the right agent, move your property quickly and analyze financial alternatives. A home is one of the biggest investments we make in our lives, and making the right decisions for both selling and buying has lasting effects. Many of those details are clearly spelled out in this book. Home sellers and buyers will want to look at "The Complete Book of Home Inspection" by Norman Becker. Don't get caught with a major flaw that will significantly lower the selling price of your home. This guide contains worksheets and checklists to assess the condition of your home. Photos also demonstrate many of these points. The author has more than 30 years experience as an inspector and his knowledge is useful to all homeowners. If you really want to know what's going on in your home before others discover it, take a look at this book. For those who are looking for a home, check the library's large collection of home buyer's books. You'll learn what to look for, how to select a real estate agent, finance your purchase and much more. Library Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m-5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Closed Sunday. Marie Bruni is director of Huntington Memorial Library in Oneonta. Her column appears in the community section of The Daily Star every Thursday.
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