Prepare a Home for Sale with KonMarie Method

In January, 2019, Netflix released Tidying Up with Marie Kondo staring Japanese organizer and author Marie Kondo. In the series Kondo visits various cluttered American homes and helps families get organized with the help of her KonMarie Method. The method consists of grouping all of your items together by category and keeping only the items that “spark joy”, then finding a “home” or specific place in your household for the items.

While this may sound unexciting, the show has been a viral success inspiring people of all ages to organize their spaces. The popularity of Marie Kondo’s KonMarie Method has been proven at resale stores that are reporting big increases of charitable donations this year. Meanwhile we’ve discovered that the KonMarie Method can be very helpful for preparing a St. Louis or St. Charles County home for sale.

Organizing and decluttering the interior and exterior of a home are of upmost importance to make it look good to potential buyers. However this task can be daunting if you have lived in a home for a long time and accumulated a lot of stuff. Getting rid of stuff can be tough for some people but we’ve found that Kondo’s view to focus only on the things you really love helps make it easier to say goodbye to the other stuff.

"I was obsessed with what I could throw away… And I realized my mistake: I was only looking for things to throw out. What I should be doing is finding the things I want to keep. Identifying the things that make you happy: that is the work of tidying." – Marie Kondo

Using KonMarie Method on a Home Exterior

Consider all of the items on the exterior of your home by category, for example patio furniture. Do you have extra chairs that are just “there”? Get rid of them. Do you have an old BBQ grill that doesn’t work correctly sitting next to a new one you love? Focus on the one you love and let go of the other one. What about lawn ornaments? Do you have more than one? Choose your favorite and donate the rest. Continue to do this by category until you are really happy with the exterior of your home.

Using KonMarie Method in a Garage

Garages are a great place for extra stuff to accumulate. Go through the garage by category. Do you have doubles of any tools, lawn maintenance equipment, or car maintenance equipment? Is anything broken or no longer needed or that no longer spark joy? Sell or donate the items. No longer playing a particular sport because you’ve fallen out of love with it? No need to keep that equipment any more. Someone else would love to have it. Finally, create spaces within the garage to rehome the items you are keeping in an organized manner.

Using KonMarie Method on a Home Interior

To best implement the KonMarie Method on your home’s interior, it helps to make a list of all the categories of items in your home. This way you can mark off the completed categories as you go. Categories might include: clothes, shoes, jewelry, towels, bedding, dishes, placemats, holiday decorations, chairs, couches, tables, porcelain collectibles, candles, books, keep-sakes, etc. Or, print the Ultimate KonMarie Checklist for a premade list of categories to use while organizing.

Basically, if you aren’t in love with something in a particular category enough to use it every year or display it all the time, it isn’t worth keeping as clutter that hides the things that truly bring joy to your home and life. When done removing the items that don’t spark joy, be sure to find specific places to display or store the items you are keeping.

Notice the special items displayed at right in an organized way so the homeowners can enjoy them.

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Check out our more detailed list of items to be sure to address when listing your home in our article: Prepare a Home to Sell. Or contact The Boehmer Team for a professional consultation on what you need to do to ready your home for sale. We’ve helped hundreds of folks determine the changes needed to bring in the most value from their home sale.

Here's a summary of KonMarie Method for reference. Enjoy!

Do Open Houses Have Value?

Home sellers listing a St. Louis or St. Charles County home for sale are often most interested in how to best market the home. This is an area where Realtors can offer their experience, connections and marketing systems to get the home the attention it needs to sell in a busy marketplace. An important part of good home marketing plan is holding an open house so that potential buyers can physically tour the inside of the home. Open Houses also allow a non-pressuring opportunity to view a home at your own pace. 

Of course there are ways to see the inside of a home without holding an open house. We take great listing photos and create video tours. New technology even offers 3-D models of homes. But even after implementing all of these strategies, homebuyers ultimately want to tour a property for themselves to take in the details that pictures don’t impart. For example, photos can be very forgiving as lenses and lighting can conceal dirt, defects, broken window seals and smells. Often times, a home has an entirely different feel from the photos used to market the home. 

It’s true that individual showing appointments allow buyers to tour a home for sale with their buyer’s agent. But this means that at any time, your home will need to be available and ready to be toured by buyers. Holding an open house creates a specific time that homeowners can prepare for where multiple potential buyers can tour the property.

Holding an open house also creates more marketing opportunities. In addition to marketing your home for sale, your Realtor can market the open house via special signage, print marketing, Realtor network marketing, email marketing, open house listings, and open house searches on hundreds of websites.

Visitors attending an open house are required to sign-in with their name and contact information. This enables your Realtor to follow up with potential buyers that attended the open house. They can answer any additional questions open house attendees may have as well as alert them to any changes to the status of the listing whether it is upgrades, price changes or other items.

So the answer to, “do open houses have value?” is, “yes!”  If you interview an agent that is not interested in holding open houses, more than likely they do not want to hold open houses.  At The Boehmer Team, we find open houses to be extremely beneficial and often result in a sale.  Check out the great tips we’ve put together to assist you including: preparing a home to sell and seller etiquette for open houses. Also, you can search our blog for even more helpful information to help you sell a home for the most profit.

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If you are considering listing a St. Louis or St. Charles County area home for sale, contact The Boehmer Team. We expertly implement open houses as part of our maximum exposure home marketing plan. You can rely on our 55+ years of real estate experience to deliver a successful home sale. Contact us to set up a time to interview us about how we can help you sell your home for the most value.

Fans of Fandom

With the Super Bowl almost upon us we couldn’t help but discuss the joy of the fans. You see, we are BIG fans of football. Watching athletes who have trained to fight down that beautiful green field and score in the face of others trying to take them down is thrilling. The way you can feel the sound in your chest when the crowd roars after a touchdown is exhilarating. When you are enjoying football with friends, any of the day’s prior disagreements no longer matter, just the joy of the game.

We love the uniquely American game of football and the camaraderie we enjoy with other football fans – yes, even the ones from other teams. In fact, The Boehmer Team’s leaders, Linda and Kelly, each have different favorite football teams. Ultimately, we are just fans of the sport. Football fans share a common language of game rules, television habits and stories of events we’ve watched unfold together.

Fans are fans because they want to share their passion for something. They don’t care if it isn’t cool, or if they’ll look stupid doing it. They are fans because they can’t help not to be. Something about the experience is so good that they want to celebrate it, even if it means shouting it from the rooftops, while wearing face paint, in an oversized jersey, in front of people they work with.

While working in real estate, we’ve become fans of many people that help us provide the best client experiences.  We’d like to give a shout out to some of those people: Jeff Greige of Paramount Mortgage , homebuilders Bridgewater Communities, Fischer & Frichtel, Genesis Development, Renaissance Living, Wool Custom Homes, the home stagers at InHance It!, our brokers/owners Deb Colburn, Maryanne Vitale, Rick Colburn, and of course all our amazing team members. We’re big fans of these folks and want to say thank you for making us into fans.

After we assist our clients in real estate we ask for a review of our services to ensure we are providing the best experience. The feedback shows that we have made some fans of our own. We’d like to thank those who take the time to write us a testimonial.

See more testimonials.

If you’ve worked with The Boehmer Team and would like to leave a testimonial, click here.  Or if you’d just like to learn more about The Boehmer Team and how we can assist you with St. Louis or St. Charles County real estate click here. We’d love to turn you into a fan.

To all the fans out there… GO TEAM! We hope you have a great Super Bowl Sunday. 

Great Charities For Year-End Donations

Year’s end is a time with a lot of charitable giving. Whether it is the Christmas spirit or making final tax-deductible donations, charities often experience an uptick in donations at the end of the year. The Boehmer Team supports numerous charities and foundations throughout the year, including some right here in St. Charles County. So if you are making plans to give a year-end charitable donation, consider one of these fine organizations.

 

First Capitol Lions Club

https://www.firstcapitollionsclub.org/

First Capitol Lions Club is a local branch of the largest service organization in the world, Lions Club International. Club members identify community needs and organize to offer assistance where help is needed. Club Lions are actively involved in: collecting eyeglasses to recycle, supporting sight-saving surgeries, vision screenings for local people in need, and providing treatment to those at risk of losing their vision. In addition the Lions Affordable Hearing Aid Project (AHAP) enables Lions to provide high-quality low cost hearing aids to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford them. We support The Lions Club mission and think they are a great consideration for your year-end donations.

Missouri School for the Blind

https://msb.dese.mo.gov

This fine organization offers educational and outreach services for legally blind Missouri children from birth through age 21 and their families free of charge.

Missouri School for the Blind concentrate services on two areas – schools for the blind from kindergarten through grade 12 school in St. Louis, Missouri, and outreach services offered throughout the state. MSB’s school is free of charge and open to all legally blind Missouri children ages five through 21. But they need our support to continue to offer great services to children and families. We’ve been supporters for years and know they make a great option for year-end donations.

Hunt For Justice

http://huntforjustice.net/

Hunt for Justice is a charity based out of St. Charles, Missouri. Their mission is to support police officers throughout the nation that have experienced hardship as a result of accidents while on duty. They rely solely on donations as their directors and volunteers do not accept a salary. We’ve been fortunate to help them assist officers in St. Charles County that are still dealing with traumatic job-related injuries. We think they are a great organization.

Sunshine Kids

https://www.sunshinekids.org

Sunshine Kids is an organization that adds quality of life to children with cancer by providing positive group activities where children can bond with and get support from other kids also fighting cancer. While they are based out of Houston, Texas, Sunshine Kids supports children nationally, including kids right here in the St. Louis area. For each home The Boehmer Team lists, a donation is made to Sunshine Kids.  Our support for this organization has never waivered and we think they are an excellent choice for year-end donations.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

https://www.stjude.org

The mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to “advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.” At St. Jude no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay. We’ve been fortunate to get involved in organizing for St. Jude via the yearly St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway event. We’ve worked with the homebuilder to promote this event and have donated prizes, including a trip to Dream Riviera Cancun to help raise funds for the yearly event. If you are thinking of making year-end donations, consider St. Jude.

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The Boehmer Team is grateful to be able to offer time and funds to assist these amazing charities. These organizations contribute to the caring communities we serve every day. Please consider one of the awesome organizations for your year-end charitable giving. And if you are considering buying or selling a home in the St. Louis area, contact The Boehmer Team for assistance.

December Has Best Deals on Homes

Updated December 11, 2020

Homebuyers are always searching for the best deal on their new home. The busy holiday season in December not only delivers great deals on Christmas shopping, it delivers great deals on homes. And after all, a home could even be a Christmas gift. (To learn more about the best way to do that, click here.) 

According to a study by Attom Data Solutions, December is the best month and December 26th is the best day to get the biggest discount on a home.

The study by Attom Data Solutions found that overall, December is the best month for deals if you are buying a home. Homebuyers and investors searching during the holidays will face less competition in the marketplace. Also, they will have more motivated sellers, which could give an upper hand during price negotiations.

The analysis, based on closing date, found that only ten days of the year offer discounts below estimated market value (no months do overall). Seven of the best days to buy are in December, when savings can average as much as $2,500 or more. Also one day in October, November and February each offer extra discounts for homebuyers with saving of $500 to $1,000.

Attom’s study covers the last five years of sales. Previous years have had more days of good deals but a particularly hot seller’s market in the last few years drove the number of days for deals down. As the market cools down the number of days for deals will go up again.

Using the same data from the study one can also see days that homebuyers are least likely to get a good deal. The days where homebuyers can expect to pay up to 9 percent over the estimated home value are May 28th, 29th, and 30th.

The days that are linked to the best deals are related to holidays and down times when it comes to buyers making offers. With many people busy over the holidays, sellers become more motivated to offer deals. Keep in mind that the study is based on closing dates, so the days are related to down times when buyers are making offers.

For example, the deal day in October is the 12th, when buyers can get a $1,000 discount, are from offers that were most likely accepted over the Labor Day weekend holiday. And on February 12th, when buyers can get a $500 discount, offers were probably accepted around the New Year.

Looking at the study overall by month, buyers pay just 0.5 percent over the estimated home value in December. While June shows buyers can pay 7.3 percent above the estimated home value.

Meanwhile region can affect the best month to buy a home too. Cold seasons tend to offer the best discounts. While Hawaii isn’t as affected by seasonal sales, every other state shows the best discounts from October to February.

Something we have experience with that is not mentioned in the study are year-end deals offered by homebuilders. Homebuilders offer some of the best deals of the year at the end of the year. The greatest year-end type savings are often times tied to homes that can close by the year’s end.  Most homebuilders have a preferred lender that is able to close a home very quickly to secure year-end driven promotions. Check out our New & Now and New & Almost Ready For You pages to see new homes available where these deals might apply.

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The Boehmer Team is available for you almost any day of the year. That’s one of the great reasons to work with a team; we have the availability to match your schedule and needs. And you don’t have to go to a national website to find a good deal on St. Louis or St. Charles County area real estate. Our local website gets updated with new listing information multiple times a day while the national sites only get updated every few days. Click on over to TheBoehmerTeam.com or contact The Boehmer Team to assist you in finding a great deal on a new home that is perfect for you.

*See the full Attom Data Solutions report at: https://www.attomdata.com/news/home-prices-and-values/top-10-best-days-of-the-year-to-buy-a-home/

How To Get Started Buying New Construction

Updated 10/27/2019 Due to Popular Demand

Buying a newly constructed home in the St. Louis or St. Charles County areas can be an exciting adventure. New house smell? Check.  Custom to your design and function needs? Check.  The latest in home building technologies? Check.  What about where to begin? Or which home builder to trust? Um…  This is why contacting a Realtor with experience in new construction homes is the first step of the journey to owning a new home. We help new homebuyers understand the process and check off every single box for the project. 

When you contact a Realtor or home builder about buying new construction the conversation will likely begin with a variety of questions about your needs. So before you even make that first call, determine your answers to the following questions.

Buying New Construction? Start By Answering These Questions

What is your budget?
Knowing how much home you can afford will help you choose the best new construction home for you. To help you determine budget, you can use our handy mortgage calculator to calculate approximate monthly payments. Also, you’ll want to reach out to a mortgage professional to give you the best mortgage rates based on your credit score. Keep in mind if you are purchasing a property that includes a monthly fee, that fee must be considered in the amount of home you qualify to buy.

Need a good mortgage professional? Contact The Boehmer Team and we’ll give you some names of trusted local professionals.

Do you have a home to sell in order to help pay for a new home?
Selling a current home can be a big part of paying for a new home. If you have a home to sell, tell your Realtor so that they can create a competitive market analysis for your home to determine its current market value. A qualified Realtor can tell you what to expect on the sale price of your home, how long it has taken to sell comparable homes and what concessions may have been made to sell comparable homes. This will give you an idea of how much you will have toward your new home.

Do you have a time frame for when you must be moved into your new home?
If you have a deadline by which you must be moved into your new home, it is important to tell your Realtor. This will help determine whether you have the time to completely build a home from scratch or if you would be better off looking at other great options for buying new construction like buying a home currently being constructed or buying a builder inventory home.

Where do you want your new home to be located?
Determine the area where you want to live. Some good things to consider are school district and commute time. If you already have property where you want your new home built this may change your options for which builders you can use. Some builders create custom homes at any location, while others work within communities that they are building.

How involved do you want to be in the home design process?
The amount that you customize a home will affect your time frame and price. While builders allow choice of materials for the interior and exterior of a home, some materials cost more than others so these choices will affect your overall price. Design choices may also affect price as well as move-in timelines as it takes time to choose and order materials.

What are your must-have features and amenities?
Know the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and garage spaces you require. Think of the other amenities that you’ve been dreaming of too, like a fireplace, main floor laundry, additional separate office space, deck, mudroom with dog wash or something else.  Make a list and be prepared to give it to your Realtor.

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Do you have your answers? Or do you need help determining the answers to these questions? Contact The Boehmer Team for expert assistance with every detail when buying new construction. Want to learn more about us? Check out our Meet The Team page or some of our client testimonials from clients who have previously worked with The Boehmer Team.

St. Charles County Holiday Events 2018

It’s the holiday season in St. Charles County, Missouri! The days are shorter but the longer nights are perfect for sparkling lights, hot cocoa by the fire and festive holiday events. There are so many different types of holiday events happening right here in St. Charles County. We’ve put together a handy list in order of event start date. 

Note: For more details on an event below, click on the name of the event.

NOVEMBER HOLIDAY EVENTS

St. Peters 29th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony
November 16th at 6:30pm

St. Peters City Hall, One St. Peters Centre Blvd., St. Peters, MO

Holiday-themed musical performances start with Joshua Barclay on the piano, followed by the kids of The Childbloom Guitar Program of St. Charles County, students from the Fort Zumwalt East High School Orchestra, singers from The St. Peters Choral Society, and Lindenwood University’s Voices Only. The countdown to the lighting of the tree happens right outside City Hall under the stars following the last musical performance. Following the ceremony, kids and families can visit and get photos with Santa Claus himself. Abra-Kid-Abra also returns this year, making one-of-a-kind complimentary holiday balloons for kids. Tasty treats will also be provided. Free event.

11th Annual Treasure Chest Holiday Expo
November 16, 17 and 18

St. Charles Convention Center

If you are looking for unique, often one-of-a-kind products, and fun party atmosphere, check out the Treasure Chest Holiday Expo. They'll have over 200 booths filled with one-of-a-kind arts, crafts, gourmet goodies, home decor, unique gift items, and more. Find just the right gift for everyone on your list this year. Free admission, free parking, raffles and door prizes throughout the weekend.

Wentzville Holiday Night Lights Drive-Thru

November 23 through the holiday season
Rotary Park, Wentzville

Enjoy the mile-long light display featuring beautiful scenes and tunnels of twinkling light. Drive-thru admission is $8 per vehicle of up to six passengers, $1 per additional passenger. On Saturday evenings at the Kolb Building you can also enjoy visits by Santa and see many decorated Christmas Trees on display from various businesses.

Christmas Traditions Festival

November 23 – December 24
Historic Downtown St. Charles

This month-long festival celebrates the best traditions of the holiday season from the past in present day downtown St. Charles, Missouri. Walk along the decorated, brick-lined streets where you'll find something special for everyone. Enjoy harmonious carolers, unique historic characters and an abundance of shopping and dining opportunities.

O'Fallon Celebration of Lights

November 23 - December 30

Fort Zumwalt Park

Visit Fort Zumwalt Park for the annual Celebration of Lights holiday light display where local organizations, churches and businesses design and fund amazing individual lighted scenes. There are no reservations needed to drive through the exhibit.
Don’t miss the Old Fashioned Holiday Stroll version of the event where one can walk through the Celebration of Lights on December 10th and 11th. Check their website for admission fees.

The Meadows of Lake Saint Louis Mayor Tree Lighting Ceremony

November 30

Clock Tower Plaza in Lake St. Louis

Watch as Lake St. Louis Mayor Kathy Schweikert kicks off the holidays with the lighting of the Lake St. Louis Christmas tree. Enjoy songs from Green Tree Elementary Choir, delight in complimentary chocolate chip cookies, carriage rides and a visit from Santa. Purchase a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or other coffee/tea specialty drinks from Surge Coffee Co. mobile truck. And don’t forget to bring a toy for the Toys for Tots gift drive. Those who drop off a new, unwrapped toy will receive a special coupon from Prados restaurant. Free event. 6 to 8 p.m.

Gracie & Lacy Present: Cool Yule

November 30 at 6:30pm

The Performing Arts Theatre, One St. Peters Centre Blvd., St. Peters (in the west wing of St. Peters City Hall)

Charleston's award-winning sister act is home for the holidays! Gracie and Lacy will perform Michael Buble, the Puppini Sisters and postmodern jukebox hits at their holiday show, Cool Yule. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased via the link above.

DECEMBER HOLIDAY EVENTS

Santa's North Pole Dash and Children's Snowman Shuffle

December 1st at 8:00am

Historic St. Charles

Watch or join 3000 Santas in this fun fundraiser for the Greater St. Charles County Chamber of Commerce, now in its eighth year and gaining popularity. Come join the fun in historic downtown St. Charles. Children's dash as well as 5k and 1 mile walk also can be enjoyed.

Nutcracker Tea

December 2nd and 9th

Foundry Art Centre

Don your finest tea apparel and visit the "Land of Sweets" for Nutcracker Tea! Immerse yourself in a winter wonderland full of art activities, treats, and an accompanied ballet performance. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for adult members, $12 for children 12 and under, and $10 for children members. Don't miss this holiday favorite at the Foundry Art Centre. Tickets must be purchase by November 29th.  

The Gateway Ringers Holiday Concert

December 7th at 7:30pm

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 8945 Veterans Memorial Parkway, O’Fallon, Mo 63366

The Gateway Ringers are members of the Handbell Musicians of America. This auditioned community handbell group performs using five octaves of Malmark handbells & six octaves of Malmark Choirchimes®. See their fantastic holiday concert at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church.

Winter Wonderland on Ice Show

December 7th at 7:00pm and December 8th at 5:00pm

St. Peters Rec-Plex, 5200 Mexico Road, St. Peters, Mo 63376

Celebrate the holidays as the Rec-Plex North ice rink comes to life and turns into an enchanted Winter Wonderland on Ice. The best Rec-Plex solo skaters and synchronized skating teams will dazzle audiences with the beauty and skill of their original programs. Beloved holiday characters join in the festivities to make this a delightful event for the whole family.

Augusta Candlelight Christmas Walk

December 7 & 14th, 5:00-10:00pm

Downtown Augusta

Experience more than a thousand luminaries lighting the historic town of Augusta, Missouri at the 36th Annual Candlelight Christmas Walk. Catch a ride on a free antique trolley or join in the scavenger hunt. Shop boutiques and galleries for holiday gifts including hand-blown glass, paintings and jewelry. Enjoy food vendors, restaurants, wineries & brewery decked for the season and serving traditional holiday fare.

Christmas Candlelight Walk

December 7, 8, 14, 15 from 6:00-10:30pm

Daniel Boone Historic Site, Defiance, Mo

Thousands of candles illuminate a world on the edge of the frontier. Step back into the early 1800s to experience Christmas as it was celebrated in the past with stories, music and hot cider. Limited tickets are available. Reservations are highly recommended.

Holiday House Tour

December 8th, 3:00-6:00pm

Augusta, Mo

Tour 5 beautifully decorated homes including a residential wine cellar. Complete your tour with free wine tasting at the Harmonie-Verein provided by Noboleis Vinyards and Montelle Winery. Tickets available online. Tickets and maps also available in the Harmonie-Verein at the corner of Church and Hackmann. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of event, and children under 12 are free.

St. Charles Municipal Band Holiday Concert

December 11th from 7:00-9:00pm

Scheidegger Center at Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Mo

Come on out for an evening of holiday music under the direction of St. Charles Municipal Band’s new director. The first half will be Concert band and after a short intermission the second half will feature the Big Band with vocalist. A visit from Santa Claus is expected. Free event.

Santa’s Search Party In The Park

December 15th, 11:00am-1:00pm

Indian Camp Creek Park, Foristell, Mo

Join Santa's search party in the park game! The object of this game is to find as many elves and other characters hidden along the trails as you can. A park map with clues is provided, but you will need your cell phone camera to take a picture of each character when found. Cost is $1 per person. Pre-registration is required. Children 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

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There you have it. Get out there and be merry this season! Every day is a gift to make the most of. Join our wonderful communities in St. Charles County and make memories to last a lifetime. And if you are looking to buy or sell a home in St. Charles County this holiday season, put The Boehmer Team to work for you. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from The Boehmer Team!

If we are missing any St. Charles County holiday events, contact us and we'll get them added to this list.