Category Archives: Homeowner Tips

6 Tips – Before Selling Your Home

Just a side note. I am a full time real estate professional and professional photographer on the side when time permits. All my listings get amazing photos. Drone shots are also available based on the property.

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It is Official – This is the Right time to list your home!

I thought this was super cute! You should not wait to list your home if you are thinking spring is a good time.= to do co. Just think, all those other sellers will be jumping in AND THEN . . . giving you competition. If you list now, or ASAP, you will have less competition and have so much better of a chance at selling your home. Let me help you find out how much your home is worth.

Costly Home Upgrades That Might Not Help your Bottom Line

Remodeling and Upgrades in many cases will get you a return on your home when it sells – so we think. Sometimes it is not always the case. Some improvements can actually hurt the sale of your home.

A Pool – A pool can be controversial. It is often a great thing for one person and not to another. It can be a turn off due to the maintenance and risk of liability. If it is an above ground pool, there is also work in removing it from the property if it is not wanted. Colder climates do not use pools as much and can be a burden making a pool even less of a desire.
Combining Bedrooms – Combing bedrooms to get a larger bedroom (and thus eliminating one) can seem like a fabulous idea for some people. This in most cases, this change reduces the value of the home. With an a home value appraisal, the home is being compared to other homes that have sold by certain criteria. One being, number of bedrooms. So basically, have that additional bedroom. Even though maybe small in size, is better to have for value.
Converting a Garage – There are many people that do not use their garage to park in. Often times it is for storage, office, workshop, etc . . . If you are going to do a conversion, consider house easy it is turn to back into a garage. I had a client in a town home convert their 3/4 of the garage to an office and play area. They left the doors on and the front few feet were used for storage. When I went to sell the home, they lost about $4000-$5000 in appraised value since it did not conform the the rest of the town homes in the neighborhood because it lost a two car garage. Even though it did have a finished area.
Removing a Bathtub – I have been been involved with clients who house flip and one thing I would recommend for reselling is not to remodel the only full bath in the house with a shower. You really want to make sure you consider all buyers, making your buyer pool larger. If you don’t have a tub, then you are highly like not to attract families with children. Also, therefore making it harder to sell and even forcing the price down.

Interesting Stat Regarding Staging

“According to the Real Estate Staging Association, homes that are staged sell in 73% less time than homes that are not staged (RESA, 2012). This means that while buyers may say that home décor does not matter to them while shopping for a home, stats show that it does. ” – Mckissock CE

Not All Home Improvements will Help Your Homes Property Value

If you want to prepare your home in thoughts of selling in the near future or making the right choices for resale even further down the road, think twice about doing the following home improvements:

1) TURNING YOUR GARAGE INTO A MAN CAVE – Believe it or not, that awesome hide-away for the kids or the football game can hurt the value if you are loosing your garage. It did happen to one of my sellers in the past. First they took away the garage for more living space (even though they left the door in). This change took away value mostly because it no longer conformed to the neighborhood even though the living space increased. The garage was in the basement and sometimes below grade finished living space does not always get a return on its cost (according to an appraiser I know). This property took a hit on the appraised value and my clients actually had to lower the price for the buyer to cover it. Not to mention the price hit but not having a garage is less attractive to buyers. So so many people want a garage, especially in Pennsylvania.

2) INSTALLING A DECK OR PATIO (This is something that you are better of doing) – If all your neighbors have a deck and you don’t that is typically a reason for the appraiser to give you a hit in value. You don’t confirm to the neighborhood comps. Who does not love outdoor space, anyway? I had a house that had trouble selling and I can tell you a buyer bought the neighbors listing because it was cheaper and had a deck. It was the same square footage. Ouch!

3) DONT REMOVE OR COMBINE BEDROOMS – If you have gone from 4 to 3 and have the same space, keep in mind you would be comparing to 3 bedroom homes which are typically lower in price thus loosing value. Square footage does not always matter. It has been my experience that buyers want a 4 bedroom rather than a 3. Alway keep that extra bedroom if you have it. It will generally give you more value.

4) DONT REMOVE CLOSETS – If you can make more or make a walk-in closet. If you remove a closet, the room may not always be considered a bedroom. Women today have so many clothes, and even some of those men do. Closets are always a perk!

5) REMOVE WALLPAPER – Wallpaper may not decrease the value on an appraisal but it will make the buyers walk 99 percent of the time and the home harder to sell. Wall paper is an immediate check list for work and it is a bear to get off no matter how you do it. It is very hard to change and get to the popular neutral colors . I have literally had people refuse to go into a house because the every wall in the home was wallpapered. There have been sellers that have issued credits to have wallpaper removed and have removed it all. Be wise.

6) POUR A NEW FRONT WALK – I have sold new construction homes and one builder in particular gives the buyer temporary pavers to start for the front walk way. The pavers can look nice if they are cared for. After a couple of years they often need to be reset and adjusted if you are keeping them. I asked an appraiser if the value increased if the seller poured new walk way for $5000. The answer was no. There is still a walk way just made of something else or replaced with different material. If it was a high end finish then maybe an increase in value.

Talk to your real estate agent before you do anything major if you are even considering moving. You will be glad you did.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale is when the lien holder bank takes less than the debit owed on the property. Often times better than a foreclosure (but not always). When a homeowner can no longer pay their mortgage for reasons such as job loss, divorce, health status or death of an adult family member, or even a job transfer with the housing market not baring a sale price to cover what is owed on the property. These are the same reasons you run into foreclosures.

The seller usually has to call the bank and request to go through this process. This can be before the home is listed or while it is listed. The home owner often times has to prove hardship and explain reasons for needing to do this.

A short sale will effect your credit, but from what I have been told from mortgage lenders that I work with is that a foreclosure hits your credit worse and for a longer time than a short sale. Many sellers want to get the challenging situation behind them. Often times you can recover quicker in a few years and go on to re-purchase a new home if you get things cleared up and work on your credit.

In the transactions that I have processed, the some of the banks often want to get 85% of the appraised value at minimum for the home. There is also a lot of paper work for the sellers and the buyers need to be patient. I have had short sales take 6 weeks and even up to 5-6 months. The processing time can depend on the co-operation of the buyers and sellers and even the bank processes. The larger the bank the more red tape.

If a seller is going into bankruptcy, it is advised to speak to your lawyer. Often times, a short sale is not worth the effort if the property is going to be included in a bankruptcy.

If you are considering a short sale, you need an agent that has the patience to work through the process with you. One of the nice things about the short sale process is that some banks have actually paid my seller’s to close as a short sale rather than let the home go into foreclosure. It was not the case with all situations and all amounts were different. So the bank is rewarding the seller to avoid foreclosure.

Should I Purchase New Appliances Before Listing My House or Offer a Buyer an Allowance?

As a listing agent, I help home seller’s with tips with getting their home ready. This can be answered many ways and often times depends on the situation.

Here are some key points:

1) If your appliances are older and/or are not in style, and not well cared for, this can make a bad impression. As a seller, you can be seen as someone who does not take care of things. A buyer may think “if the seller does not take care of this or that, what else is lacking that I cannot see or did not notice?

2) Replacing the appliances give you more control over the costs. You may find an amazing deal for a new refrigerator. Often times a buyer would want probably an allowance for more than list price or try to get an upper-end appliance out of the deal. Can you blame them? So in replacing an appliance, you are keeping control of the situation. A new or updated appliance gives the buyers more of a value that they can see for the investment. You have heard the term, “Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes.” ?

3) If you replace the appliance(s) then you are causing the home to show better and giving the buyer a chance to see what the appliance is going to look like. This gives it more of a fresh new feeling. Don’t give the buyers a reason to turn away from the deal.

4) When any buyer purchases a home, there are things people have to buy to make things work in the home for them. Also if a buyer has to put appliances on their to buy list, it substantially increases the out of pocket costs after just buying a home.

5) In the Standard Pennsylvania Real Estate Sales Agreement today, the range/oven is a standard inclusion in the home. If you are taking the range, then you have to write in that it is excluded and then this choice sticks out like a sore thumb.

6) Seriously consider trying to at least leave all kitchen appliances. I had a seller that insisted on taking her brand new stainless steel refrigerator. Honestly, I thought that was a selling detraction since the buyers were seeing it and not getting to have it.

7) When I sell “first time home buyers” a home, they often don’t have the extra cash to purchase these appliances, so leaving it will make the home sell better for that type of buyer. Leaving all appliances lets the buyer roll these costs into the mortgage.

This question can also be applied to other subjects including flooring More on that another time.

Change Flooring on a Budget

Today buyers are really paying attention to the flooring in homes. You would not believe how many buyers want to rip out all the carpet (even if it is nicer carpet). I had one buyer who was able to replace all the flooring in their home and it looked amazing. But not all buyers can afford this, especially first time home buyers.

So I was searching around and found some great options if you have vinyl or linoleum or even a beat up floor that needs refinished but really is at the ends of its life. There may be this fabulous estate but very dated, you want it but don’t have the money to change out (right now) that old vinyl that is in great shape but from the 70’s or 80’s. Why not try paint? It sounds crazy but check out this article, I came across.

Helpful Hints to Get Your Home Ready To Sell

Before choosing to update your home and make it appealing for a sale, a seller should seriously consider if that improvement will re-coup all the costs. Yes, buyers today want updated features, and many do not want to do the work themselves. Most likely if you over do it, you will be loosing money in today’s market.

â€œIn an ideal real estate market, that would add value, but in todayâ€™s market, expensive pre-sale renovations, for the most part, arenâ€™t worth it. The numbers bear this out: In general, a home remodel will cost quite a bit more than youâ€™ll get back when you sell; remodels done in 2010 will only recoup 60% of their price when the house is sold, according to Remodeling magazineâ€™s 2010 Remodeling Cost vs. Value survey, done in partnership with the National Association of REALTORSÂ® (NAR).â€ – RISMedia

Kitchens and bathrooms are still what attract buyers. So yes, that is where you would want to start. Here are some tips on what to do and not do if you are getting your home ready to sell.

In the Kitchen

Costly professional-grade cook’s appliances should be avoided. If buyer might enjoy the professional grade he might actually prefer a rival brand or maybe the buyer is not a chef.
Have your appliances serviced so that they are in excellent working order. If your appliances are seriously out dated, you may want to consider replacing them. Buyers do love stainless appliances â€“ a great selling point for sure. Many times you can find new appliances on amazing clearances because it is old stock. One time I found an oven at Sears for 90% off.
Consider skipping replacing your kitchen cabinets even if slightly outdated. This can be a â€œtaste-specificâ€ issue and very subjective. If you chose light cabinets and they buyer prefers dark wood, then you might loose them over and improvement.
Think about refacing the cabinets if they are extremely outdated. You could have a company come in for under $2000 and this is a great investment in comparison to at price new kitchen.
Granite and marble should be avoided as a pre-sale upgrade. It is too costly. With so many different options, it will be tricky to find something that will please a large number of buyers.
Hiring a professional cleaning company is a wonderful idea. Have you ever had your car detailed. Well detail your kitchen and even the rest house. It will not go unnoticed.
Do touch up your the paint on the trim and the walls. Hopefully you still have some left over paint or that swatch to get more.

In the Bath

Don’t invest in big ticket â€œtaste specificâ€ items like the kitchen. Skip expensive tub and shower upgrades as they are a matter of taste.
Go a ahead and replace dated fixtures in the bath, sink and even lighting. Oh yes, and please get rid of that brown, green or pink toilet. Buyers don’t like to be forced to decorate around the color of the toilet. Another idea is replace your small shower head with a rainwater style to give the shower a spa feel.
Do try to brighten up the vanity. It is affordable to add a large mirror and lights.

Tips for Decluttering Your Home

With all the hustle and bustle of life today, a home can easily get cluttered. Things that get can get forgotten sometimes are organizing cabinets, closets, and other storage areas. We just all need to take the time to put things back where they belong.

The ultimate goal is to have a tranquil – place to unwind and escape from stress. But if you have a cluttered home that may be difficult. Take a look at some easy tips for your home to get started on cutting the clutter:

1) Be realistic by setting goals. If you try to clean up your house in a hour or two that may only cause frustration. Start with one room at a time.

2) Come to terms with possessions that may have an emotional attachment ( a weakness for me ). It could be tough on letting go of some of those family items that have been passed down but other things can be thrown away, donated or sold.

3) Remove the clutter that is out in the open. Try to keep photo displays to a minimum, as well as artwork and knickknacks. If you have heavy curtains, try getting something lighter. Less clutter will make your rooms feel more spacious and open.

4) Alphabetize your DVDs, CDs and video games. You will thank yourself next time you go looking.

5) Store your seasonal clothing elsewhere when not in season.Â A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn it in 6 months donate it or sell it.

6) Control your mail and newspapers. Throw them away as soon as possible. Keep important items in a place that won’t be bothered. I find that I have to grab the bills from my mail immediately, because on a previous occasion, they have gotten to the middle of a pile that got moved to a closet and was never seen again until the late bill came.

Start with these items and you will be on your way to clutter free living.Â