I am not very big on self promotion, so "About Me" part of the profile is quite short.In case you were wondering how my I am different as Princeton NJ are Realtor, and most importantly how my clients benefit from it, you can read a bit more in this post.

I sold/bought homes for each of my clients. How is my practice different? First, I limit the number of clients I take, so each can get the time they need and deserve. If you want a lot of personalized attention and marketing,you would be a good match for my services. If you are looking for a "zillion" dollar producer, it's not me, but I can refer you to them as well. Second, my clients get the newest in Internet and conventional marketing -because that's what it takes for their home to attract qualified buyers. Third, my buyer clients get introduced to properties overlooked by others and are offered unconventional ways to find their dream home.

My reason for blogging is to provide information to customers without the sales pressure of the usual web sites. It's hard to fake a blog. You will learn not just from me, but about me, if you read my blog. It should be easy to decide if I am an agent for you, if you read my blog. I encourage you to pick my brain -just call at 609-553-4175, or email. All questions are welcomed.

My vision of the web2.0 world is that there will be a lot of places, communities, social land professional networks to look for information on various topics and question that we have in our daily lives.
If I understand cre8buzz, this can become such a place. Information can be learned and shared by many in a friendly and civilized way. Unfortunately not all on line communities are developing this way. What got me alarmed is something that I read on a popular online forum.
My blogging has been primarily on Active Rain, where everyone is very supportive and helpful. I could not believe what I read on the other forum. The person, who offered an opinion by writing a post, was verbally abused in the most unbelievable way. There was a gang kind of mentality on the thread, where other participants pitched in the assault and gloated that they "ran off" the people who came to defend the post author or her views.
When I told my teenage kids about it, they were not surprised. They said that these “gang” kinds of attacks are not unusual on forums. People from one forum plan “attacks” on people on other forums, or on people they don’t like on their forum.

My vision of the web 2.0 world is being seriously tested. Call me naive, but I still believe that it is possible to have a great network/forum.
If looking for an advice on a professional forum, I would be looking for the experts giving the advice, moderators’ active participation and oversight, and for members to be nice people who want the best for each other. The last two ideas would apply to the purely social networks as well. I can’t see how playground meanness and bullying can help anyone in life and on the Internet.
What do you think?
You can read more at http://activerain.com/blogsview/307473/Princeton-real-estate-questions

If you are thinking of selling your home in the greater Princeton area or anywhere else in the country you must be thinking of all unlocking the secret of doing it in this weak market. Do you want to know the answer?

I am not going to make it a cliffhanger. If you don't feel like reading the whole post, which of course I would like for you to do, the answer is - get into the mind of the buyer. Step out of your emotional attachment to your home and become a potential "buyer" of your home.

I read an article in New York Times Magazine once about an Emergency Room physician who was heaving a stroke while she was driving. She did not go to the ER until she was half paralyzed, could no longer drive and was barely able to call 911. This experience forever changed how she practiced medicine. When she became a patient herself, she saw many things in a totally different light.

Ladies, did you ever wonder if the male obstetrician/gynecologist knows what he is talking, when he says: “it’s not going to hurt” and then it does hurt a lot. He is not a woman, how can he know? When the female doctor says the same thing, we know that she speaks from personal experience and this gives her more credibility.

How does any of it have to do with selling your home?

The answer is simple - you have to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer to become more effective at what you want to accomplish. It applies not just to the real estate buyers and sellers but to real estate agents as well, if they want to better understand their clients.

For example, the goal of my blog is to give the readers an advantage by providing information that other buyers and sellers may not have. Yesterday I did a small exercise to put myself in real estate consumers place. I pretended to be a seller looking for information on Active Rain (where my other blog is).I learned things will have to be improved to make it better for my readers and I already took steps to fix it. Now, let's get back to how you can do a better job as a home seller.

If you are planning to sell your home in the Princeton area you need to put yourself in the buyers shoes. How can you do this? Try this exercise. Find a good agent and ask to see homes similar to yours and for each property ask yourself these questions:

* Does it have more or less in terms of features?

* Is it located in a better or worse location?

* Is it in better or worse condition?

* Would you be able to keep your home in better or worth showing condition?

* What is the seller’s reason for selling now?

* Does the house look wonderful, but has been on the market for 4+ months?

* What were the price reductions, if any, when and for how much?

* Have there been any offers?

Be honest with yourself and the answers may surprise you. Does the house look wonderful, but has been on the market for a while? Does the price seem too low or high compared to what you were considering? If there were offers what could be the reasons they were not accepted?

The answers will reveal what the buyers are thinking. Apply “thinking like a buyer” concept, and you will come up with the best strategy for selling your home in any market.

Please contact Faina Sechzer at 609-553-4175 when looking for real estate, homes for sale and/or listing your house to sell, and relocation assistance in Princeton, Montgomery Township, West Windsor, Hopewell, and Lawrenceville New Jersey. Referrals are accepted.

If you are moving out of the Greater Princeton area, please inquire about the countrywide relocation program.

Copyright 2007 Faina Sechzer All rights reserved. This information cannot be copied, reproduced, transmitted, distributed, displayed or published.

Did you ever wish you can sell your home in Princeton area or anywhere else in the country if only the process was stress and pain free? What if there was a way you can just place a note somewhere indicating what you would like to get for your home and just wait to see if anyone comes and makes you an offer you can't refuse .

No stress, no mess. Does that sound great? Zillow is a company that says it can be done.
There will be no cleaning and scrubbing, preparing home for sale, no people dragging dirt through your house or not showing up for appointments, and no noisy neighbors coming to the Open House. Does that sound great? It gets even better; you don’t need a real estate agent and can save on the commission.

All you have to do is register your home on the “Make –me- Move” part of the site and wait for the magic e-mail or call. In the Princeton area there 150 of the homes for sale listed under this category.

Make me an offer I can refuse
Doe this sound too good to be true? ? Theoretically it can work. Practically, there are issues. If the seller is not committed to sell, but is just testing the waters, he/she will be most likely be setting a price that is too high. What the seller is saying under this concept is: “I will only move, if I get my price”. Even if the seller had a way to determine a realistic market price, psychologically he/she wouldn’t want to do it, since he is trying to see if he can get more.

My cursory review showed that even some of these sellers have already reduced prices and many prices are different from the Zestimate (the price Zillow suggests). When the buyers see prices that are not market driven, what would compel them to want the property and go through the process without the assistance of the agent?

Now, let’s assume that the miracle happens, the seller prices his home and gets an offer. How would he know that it’s a good offer? We know that “market price” is achieved when the property has been given a proper exposure in the market.

What do you think of the “Make –me-Move” idea? Is this the sellers dream come true or to good to be true?

I have a blog on Active Rain where bloggers are primarily real estate related professionals. My posts there are mostly real estate and Princeton area related. I have written a few posts that were more of a more personal nature. Since this platform has non-real estate folks, I would like to get your opinion: should the posts be all real estate or " a day in a life of", or a mixture. Also do you prefer posts short ans sweet or long and detailed?