No matter how much painting you’ve done, how many bags of fresh mulch you’ve put down or how great that new kitchen backsplash looks, there is no guarantee your house will sell quickly.  But in some cases, you need to sell fast.  When you don’t have time to do a complete overhaul of the home, there are a few things you can do to help that For Sale sign become a Sold sign: 

• First and foremost, find a seller’s agent that has a history of quick home sales.  You’ll need to do a bit of research, but if the REALTOR® has the experience, you’ll have a head start on getting your home sold sooner. 

• Having your house pre-inspected will save a step during the process and will help you with disclosure issues.  
• It wouldn’t make sense to price your house a bit below its value during a normal home sale, but if you want to get qualified buyers interested soon, this may be your best bet. Just prepare to lose some extra cash. 
• Consider selling the house at auction, but again, it will sell for a lower price than during a typical sale.  You may even be in an area where your real estate agent is your auctioneer as well, and you can be assured they have your interests at heart! 
• Offer buyer incentives: offer cash-backs or credits, i.e.., painting, new carpet, new kitchen appliances;  if the house is in a managed community, cover one year of HOA fees; pay the closing costs; set a closing date and offer a credit for meeting that deadline. 
• A major buyer incentive is to go so far as to pay down their mortgage costs with points, as the buyer will have a lower interest rate, saving them money in the end.  Investopedia tells us how seller-paid points can benefit the seller as well as the buyer. 

Keep in mind that needing to sell your home quickly for personal reasons is different than a short sale.  Your reasons may be work-related, or you’ve already found another house, but whatever the reason, you want to do what you can so your house doesn’t sit on the market–you just may have to accept a loss in exchange for a fast sale. 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Windermere Real Estate Market Trends Report shows the average sales price was $736,241 in April 2020 compared to $552,264 in April 2019. Homes were on the market for an average of 64 days, compared to 76 last year. Homes sold for 98% of the list price.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Kissimmee Real Estate Market Trends Report for 34741 shows 31 homes sold in April 2020 down from 52 in April 2019. The average sales price was $195,808 compared to $205,178 in April 2019 and homes were on the market an average of 36 days, compared to 38 days in April 2019.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Celebration Real Estate Market Trends Report for 34747 shows 89 homes sold in April 2020 compared to 167 in April 2019. The average sales price was $346,397 compared to $336,489 in April 2019 and homes were on the market an average of 56 days, compared to 76 days in April 2019.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Many are taking advantage of being on stay-home-stay-safe orders and getting a head start on Spring cleaning. Don’t forget about the places that aren’t on display–the pantry and/or kitchen cabinets. Get them cleaned up and organized with these tips:

• Grease collects on the outside and even the insides of some cabinets. Cut the grease with hot water and dishwashing liquid, rinsing afterward. For tough spots, make a paste of baking soda and water, rub onto the spot, then scrub off with a damp cloth. You’ll need to rinse this solution more than once, but baking soda makes it easy to remove, so the rinsing will be worth it.
• For both cabinets and pantry, remove everything from shelves, and toss anything that’s out of date.
• When it comes to what’s on your spice rack, McCormickⓇ reports that whole spices last 3-4 years, 2-3 years for ground spices, and herbs have a shorter life of 1-3 years. Check the freshness date on the container, and if it’s within that time frame, keep it.  If not, throw it away and restock.
• On to the shelves containing dishes, storage containers, and cookware: remove items, and if there’s something you can part with, get rid of it. Keep in mind local daycares or domestic violence shelters that can use kitchen items.
• Wipe down all the shelving, preferably with a disinfecting cleaner, and once that’s done, place down non-skid liners where your dishes and glassware will go.
• Heavier dishes should be on the bottom shelf. Cookware and bakeware that is used most often should be placed in the front part of the cabinet so they’re easy to get to.
• For pantry storage, reshelve everything in categories: baking supplies, spices, sauces, breakfast items, pastas, and canned food items will be grab-and-go when you need them.
• Don’t neglect the drawers! Clean them, purge anything you don’t need, and use trays or utensil organizers to keep everything where it’s convenient.

House Beautiful offers some organizing ideas for every budget, but whatever way you choose to organize your cabinets and pantry, make sure it makes sense to you and your family. Once everything is neatly in place, it will be easier for things to be put back in their places, saving you from hunting for the hand mixer or the bottle of five-spice.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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For obvious reasons, you won’t be seeing any Open House ads or signs at new homes for sale nearby, and it’s highly unlikely you’ll be going to any showings with your buyer agent. Remote home-buying is nothing new, however, and for this time of staying safe at home, we can learn a few tricks of this type of home purchase, so you don’t have to put that on hold!

• Get pre-approved now! Current interest rates are just one incentive for buying a new home.
• With social distancing being the norm, for now, be prepared for a lot of phone conversations, emails, and texts between yourself and your real estate agent.
• Call a few agents and request an over-the-phone interview to find the one that’s right for you. Be sure they are comfortable and knowledgeable about a virtual house-hunt.
• You are probably already house-hunting online and saving your favorites. Don’t forget to look at those that may not catch your interest quickly–there are sometimes diamonds in the rough!
• Type up a list of what you’ll need for a home, as well as extras you’d like to see, and have it ready to email to your agent so they can get to work on looking for houses you might be interested in. Share your online wish list of homes with them as well.
• Once your Realtor® has a list of homes for you to see, take a 3D or video tour or each, comb through the photos, and ask questions. Ask your agent if they can do a live video tour of the houses that you like the most so you can get a better feel of what the house is actually like.
• With the exception of places where going to a property for a showing is barred, your agent will be certain that they take proper measures to protect you as well as themselves. Follow all CDC guidelines for slowing the spread of COVID-19.
• On that note, be sure to understand if a homeowner refuses to show their home if they are still living there. In case they’re allowing showings, don’t be offended by personal questions about your health. We all have to have some extra understanding and patience these days.

Don’t allow this period of flattening the curve discourage you from buying a new home. In some cases, it may take a little longer, and if there’s an urgent situation that you need to move quickly, share your concerns with your agent, and they’ll be with you every step of that way, even if the home-buying venture is a virtual one.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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While school is out, and there will be days when the rain and bad weather will keep us inside, why not set aside time for some crafty activities with the kids? If possible, head out to your local discount store, and stock up on crayons, construction or cardstock paper, glue sticks,  child-safe craft paints, simple craft items (stickers, pompons, googly eyes, chenille stems, etc.), then bring on the smiles with these fun ideas: 

The Younger Set 

• Introduce your toddlers to coloring with crayons! Having a set of the thicker crayons are perfect for little hands, give them some plain paper, and let them scribble away! 
• Make these toddler-safe watercolors, have your older children help, and sit the younger one in a high chair and let them paint away, and if a little goes in their mouth, no harm! 

• All your preschooler needs to make the sun shine bright is a paper plate, yellow pipe cleaners, yellow paint and a bit of glue! 
• Bean art is back! Use a variety of beans to create animals, and paint over them with craft paint. 
• A lint roller for crafts? Why not?! Attach foam craft sticker shapes to the adhesive side of the roller, dab some paint on each shape, and roll across any kind of paper. 
• Everyone will probably enjoy making scented playdough! This involves a bit of cooking, but the older ones can be involved and help you choose color and scent combos. 
• Fastest homemade pompon ball ever; all you need is a new skein of inexpensive yarn, string, and scissors. (This craft is best for those who can use larger scissors.) 

Older Kids 

• String art is a fun craft from beginning to end for the older set, and they just might be willing to set up some for younger siblings to try. 
• Create a garland:  plastic eggs (make sure they have those tiny holes!) can be thread on thin twine or fishing line and made into a fun Spring garland. Or, for something to decorate the bedroom, cut small shapes out of colored paper or old greeting cards, and glue them together on either side of the string, and allow to dry. 
• Do you remember making friendship bracelets? Introduce your kids to this nostalgic craft! 

• Jazz up flowerpots with decoupage! Cut from magazines or print images of flowers, and using decoupage medium and a foam brush, adhere the images all around the outside of the pot.    
• A small coat hanger can become the base of a mobile! Follow these instructions to create a friendship theme, but the possibilities are endless!                   
• Origami is a craft that’s truly an art form. Older children can create many things, from tiny boxes to boats to float and animal faces.  Origami Instructions website is the perfect place for beginners to experts–all you need is origami paper or cut your own! 

Be sure to protect clothes from paint with an apron or even an old button-up shirt, keep scissors out of reach of the younger ones, and use only kid-safe materials.  Have patience when showing them a new skill and make clean-up a game after your project is over–think of it all as time spent together!  

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Small businesses are the backbone of our country’s economy, and many of them–namely in the food service industry–are hurting right now. What can individuals do to help them now? Don’t think of it as helping a business stay open but helping friends and neighbors during a time of crisis! 

• Do you already have a monthly purchase at a local boutique or a pedicure in your budget?  Go ahead and call them and buy a gift certificate/card/credit in that same amount. Using it for the future would be great, but once everything is back to normal, give the gift card to someone else, and continue your normal shopping with the store. 
• If those same establishments have their own merchandise, why not buy a t-shirt, mug or car sticker along with your gift card purchase? 
• If it’s allowed, order takeout from your favorite restaurants, whether it’s lunch or dinner. Many eateries are bundling dishes into family meals and offering curbside delivery, making it easier for you to order. 
• Some local businesses have online shopping available; if so, do your shopping that way. Most business owners are certain that everything is handled properly and will offer shipping or pick-up at the door. 

• Leave a review for your favorites at any online review site, business Facebook page, or other social media. Everyone needs the encouragement, plus, it helps others decide whether to do business with the establishment in the future. 
• Don’t forget your local produce stands and farmers’ markets! Grocery store chains must wait for deliveries, so if they’re out of your favorite lettuce, call around to the local stands to see what’s available. 

Many businesses are offering free shipping for online orders and are making it easier to shop via social media. It may take some creativity, but we can all do our best and do our part to help our local businesses, our local economies, and our neighbors. 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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For many, that popular buzz phrase can be changed around to fit the current situation! If you’re suddenly working from home and have kids doing their schooling long-distance, it could be a challenge getting into a routine and staying put.  How can we keep cabin fever away? Follow these tips so you can keep calm and carry on: 

• Following a general routine is best for good mental health, especially with children in the home. Have a set time to wake up, have meals, etc., because it takes away any what-comes-next anxiety. 
• Working in your yard or garden can be great therapy, believe it or not. The physical activity increases your mood, too, and getting the kids involved helps them as well. 
• Clean house! A cluttered, dirty home can affect your mood, so put on some upbeat music, grab the dust mop, and get to work! 

• When you dread doing something, the best stress-reliever is getting it over with.  So, if a junky closet or pantry has you in stress-mode, dive in, clean it up and get it organized. 
• Keep in (distant) touch:  don’t neglect relationships just because you can’t physically be together. Instead of texting, give friends and family a call and talk for a few minutes. 
• Add a long bath to your schedule! Soak your cares away in a leisurely bath, complete with those bath salts and soaks that have been sitting at the back of your bathroom closet since the holidays. 
• Laugh! Stream-watch your favorite comedy shows or play a fun game with the kids. 

Remember–if you aren’t required by any government entity to isolate yourself, this isn’t a period of solitary confinement. Get out–keeping your distance–walk the dog, ride bikes or just play outside with the kids, shop for necessities only, and talk on the phone with friends and family. Taking care of you and yours, physically as well as mentally, is the best peace of mind anyone can have. 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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The Windermere Real Estate Market Trends Report shows the average sales price was $650,893 in March 2020 compared to $627,258 in March 2019. Homes were on the market for an average of 78 days, compared to 66 last year. Homes sold for 97% of the list price.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!