What's In and What's Out for 2007

Mark Nash, broker and real estate author of "1001 Tips for Buying & Selling a Home" is a helpful guide for consumers in the residential market. Nash solicited feedback from Buyers and Sellers around the country to develop a list prediction of what's in and what's out in the residential real estate market for 2007.

• Savvy buyers. With interest rates historically low and pent-up demand from a soft year in 2006, the deals and lack of frenzy won't last long. "Deferred demand" from 2006 could ignite a mini-frenzy in some markets.
• Market timing. Many buyers and sellers were on their own timelines in 2006 and they missed opportunities that were created by not recognizing the real estate market's ebb and flow. Spring is high market, the most demand by the largest number of buyers. Summer is a good market, fall is fair, and winter is the remnant market, the leftover buyers and sellers from the high, good and fair markets.
• Homes that are priced right. It isn't the boom market of 2005. Look at only the sold comparables from the last six months. Forget the cocktail party chitchat when all you heard was record home prices in the shortest market times in U.S. history.
• Upscale garages. It's no longer the out-of-sight, out-of-mind dumping ground. Today's garage owners want them decked out with cabinet and storage systems, mini-refrigerators, insulation, heating and air conditioning, and durable but residential-looking flooring.
• Caving. Man caves and Mom caves are coming out of the closet. Personal dedicated space for one person in a household where he/she can go and work on projects or "chill" without being disturbed -- and if so, only in an emergency.
• Two home offices. Rising gas prices and commuting times have created more work-at-home families. Size matters, so make sure each room is at least 10-by-10 feet.
  Rejuvenation rooms. A one-stop space for exercising, meditation, yoga, sauna and fancy steam showers. Showers are going upscale, too. Waterfall fixtures and programmable temperature and water flow are the next trend.

What's Out?

• Selling home "as is." Anything went in the boom market, but if you're planning to use "as is" in 2007, forget it. It's a two-word kiss of death. Buyers see it as a red flag about the home and you, the seller. You have too much competition to be chasing buyers away.
• Buyer incentives. Free cars don't sell houses; realistic pricing does. Gimmicks only confuse and distract buyers. Cut to the chase and deduct the cost of your freebie from your current price and send the signal to buyers that you're selling real property not personal property.

On the Way Out

• Bamboo floors. The first reviews are in on this popular eco-friendly flooring, and they're not pretty. This material is easily dented and scratched, and prone to warping from variations in our climate and humidity levels.
• Hardwood laminate floors. The word is out that these noisy, cheaper relatives of solid hardwood don't stand up to multiple sanding to change color or to remove stains.