This Month in Real Estate May 2013 has been released!

Home sales activity rose slightly to a pace of 4.98 million from the 4.9 million in This Month in Real Estate April 2013. The median home price rose a good amount (6.4%) to $184,300 from $173,600 from last month. This is up 11.8% from the same time last year, where we saw the median home price at $164,000 from This Month in Real Estate May 2012.) The average interest dropped again to 3.41%.

The Top Story is about how to sell your home for more in less time.

Even though the market is shifting, buyers are picky, and are watching HGTV and other real estate channels and shows.

Expectations are high when they look for a home.

Jay Papasan discusses how spending about $250 on staging a $200,000 home can result in a sold price about 2% higher than if that had not been done. As he says, that would be a return on investment of about $3,000.

What does this mean for sellers? Ask your real estate professional about staging. Hire a professional stager. Once you’ve hired the stager, do what the stager recommends! Most of the time, the recommendations may be fairly easy to do, and not cost too much money.

Contact me if you are considering selling a home in Timonium or Towson. It is important to have a professional help guide you through the process!