There are many great St. Louis area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Our latest real estate video update comes to you from Austin, Texas. The Balossi Team is on the road at one of Keller Williams' annual events, called Mega Camp. It's a great opportunity for us to meet with some of our top vendors. Today, we talked to Sarah from Zillow, who gave us some great information about how it can be used most effectively. The Zestimate should be viewed as a starting point value of a home. People often make the mistake of confusing it with an appraisal, but by no means does Zillow claim to have the necessary information to give an accurate appraisal. Rather, Zillow gathers information from 3 different sources: public records, tax assessments, and comparable home sales. These data points are then put into Zillow's algorithm, which comes up with a Zestimate. The average median error is +-8% which is why it's not called a 'Zactimate' or a 'Zappraisal.' The CEO of Zillow has said that one of the goals of the site is to keep the agent as the central point of the real estate transaction. The Zestimate is a tool that should be verified by an agent, because the value is often too high or too low. It's definitely worth having a conversation with an expert before getting to excited or discouraged about your Zestimate. As you can see, Zillow plays an important role at the beginning of the home search. But once you get serious, you should work with an agent. That's what we're here for! Call or email us today if you are ready to buy or sell a home in St Louis. We'll make your real estate experience one to remember!

There are many great St. Louis area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. One of the major reasons we're associated with Keller Williams is their dedication to their clients. KW Cares is a 501(c)(3) public charity established 11 years ago to help agents and their families when they are confronted with emergencies that are beyond their control. Most agents contribute with every transaction and the totals add up quickly.  The charity allows agents a safety net should something unexpected happen to them or their families. Whether it's cancer, medical emergencies, accidents, or natural disasters, KW Cares is there to contribute to various agents' medical bills when they start to pile up. Essentially, this program provides help when it's most needed. By having a pool of funds to help people in moments of crisis, KW Cares lets agents know their backs are covered.  It's a great program, so we thought we would share a few highlights. If you have any questions about St. Louis real estate, or would like us to address a topic in a future video, please reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home searchSelling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price EvaluationCall me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation The Balossi Team is an astonishing group of real estate specialists. The Balossi Team specializes in St. Louis' Central Corridor and receives business from over 50 clients per year based on referrals alone. Before we get into our numbers for 2014, let's introduce you to the team: Barbara Balossi is the leader of our team. She also serves as the seller listing specialist. Barbara acts as a fierce guardian for the Balossi Team's clients' home equity, selling the majority of her seller's listings for 99.1% of the original listing price. Naomi Neal is the lead buyer agent on the team and her fame lies in being an unstoppable home hunter and winning negotiator for the Balossi Team's home buyer clients. Betsy O'Brien is the executive assistant on the team and is in charge of daily operations. Betsy also works as a stellar buyer specialist.  Finally, we have Lio Balossi, our Chief Marketing Officer (in training). Lio is 9 years old, in the 4th grade, and he has been an avid spokesman and advertising specialist for the team over the last few months. In fact, Lio used his superior knowledge of technology to make the video above. Lio hopes to make more videos like this in the near future.  Each member of the Balossi Team has a BOLD goal for 2015. Let's see what everyone is aiming for: Barbara: 50 closed salesNaomi: 60 closed buyer salesBetsy: Streamline systems to provide 5 star customer service, and close 20 buyer salesWho do you know that the Balossi Team can help in 2015? If you know somebody, or have any real estate questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you soon!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home searchSelling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price EvaluationCall me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation Hey everyone, welcome back to our blog. Today we are going to be talking about dealing with multiple offers from a seller's perspective. We have been seeing a ton of sellers in the St. Louis area receive multiple offers on their home lately, sometimes as many as 7 or 8 on a single property.  So, how should a seller choose which offer is the best to work with? Although it would be easy to say you are going to accept the one with the highest price, there is some danger with that. An offer that is well above asking price can be a warning sign that that buyer likes to act impulsively, which you don't want when it comes time to close the sale of your home.  You also shouldn't just focus on the price. You've got to look at the terms as well, such as: Does the offer include a pre-approval? Does it include proof of funds?  These are very important things to have on any offer you would consider accepting. Take a look at the terms as well, including the length of the inspection period. The shorter the better.  Lastly, did the buyer ask for an extended closing timeline? If they want 4 or 5 months, that's not a strong offer. You want somebody buying your home who is ready to move in the next 60 days.  I hope this info was helpful to you all. If you have any questions for us, just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to working with you soon!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home searchSelling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price EvaluationCall me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation I've been asked many times recently how to write an offer from a buyer's perspective, so you win in a multiple offer situation. Today I am going to go over a few key things that a buyer can do to win when they are competing against multiple offers.First, make sure you have a pre-approval letter if you are buying the home with financing and a proof of funds if you are purchasing with cash. If you are financing the property, make sure your pre-approval is very strong and is verified for both credit and employment. If you're up against multiple offers, you might also consider removing the part of the contract that asks the sellers to make repairs. This can help the seller feel confident they won't have to negotiate again. It is also worth finding out the ideal closing date for the seller, so you can use their timeline to write your offer. Another thing people have been doing is writing a personal letter to the seller talking about how much they like the home and what they and their family would do with it. If you have any questions or want some more tips on how to write a competitive offer, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

There are many great St. Louis area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (314) 302-2319 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions. Is It Too Late to Sell Your St. Louis Home? Welcome back to our video blog. As we come into the late summer months here in St. Louis, many people have been wondering if they missed their window of opportunity to sell their home. People often believe they should wait until next spring to list their home on the market. If you really understand the real estate market in St. Louis, you know that ANY time of year is a good time to sell your home. But what are the keys to selling in late summer and fall? Your home must be presented well for the market and priced appropriately.  The advantage of selling outside the spring market is that inventory tends to be low, so you have less competition on the market. People who are looking at that time are serious buyers looking for permanent homes. St. Louis has had low inventory for quite a while, and low inventory always benefits sellers. There will be a huge advantage for sellers in the fall and winter when inventory is scarce and those looking to buy are looking for quality, well-priced homes. If you're thinking about making a move in St. Louis but are toying with the idea of waiting until next spring, we'd love to meet with you. We can show you where the market is today, where it's heading and why it's probably to your advantage to act now instead of waiting. 

How we helped Mary buy her home in the perfect neighborhood because of our negotiation skills "Our Realtor was there for us beck and call any day of the week at any time that we needed her with a smile on her face. We felt very comfortable with her by our side and was grateful that she was there to advocate for us especially since it was a multiple offer purchase. We found a wonderful house in the perfect neighborhood because of the Balossi Team!" -Mary McPike Luzecky, Home Buyer