Small improvements that sell

Simple improvements can go a long way towards selling your home.

By MSN Real Estate

With very little effort, you can transform an average house into an above-average property that is sure to get second looks from buyers. Follow these guidelines to make sure your property stands out above the rest:
Paint inside and out Fresh paint is the most cost-effective and profitable improvement you can make, even if your home doesn't need a new coat. Paint the interior walls a neutral color and the ceilings white to make rooms look bigger.
New lights Replace outdated fixtures. This inexpensive improvement can update old decor that might have discouraged buyers.New flooring Install new carpet, linoleum, or tile, and refurbish hardwood floors if needed. Choose a neutral color for new carpeting. New flooring will increase the market value of your home, while shabby floors can kill a sale.Planted landscape Attractive front and back yards boost the value of any property. Mow the lawn, trim shrubs, and plant new bedding flowers. Clean up perennial beds. Plant some trees if the yard is barren, especially in the front parkway. Sweep the patio or deck and decorate with potted plants and flowers.Completed repairs Before listing your home for sale, make all minor repairs and catch up on maintenance. If you've deferred maintenance, get a professional home inspection. If the inspection reveals problems, make the repairs before listing the home. If you don't, the buyer will probably discount the offer price for more than the cost of repairs or replacement.
 A clean garage If you use your garage for storage, clean it out and rent a storage space. Paint the interior white. If your garage is unfinished, install wallboard or build storage shelves on the back wall. A clean garage will help solidify a buyer's impression of a home in move-in condition.

Working & Life

"Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." 
--Source unknown

Of all the reasons I like to feature productivity and time-management tips, there's one that towers above the rest: I want you to have a higher quality of life.

If you're intent on becoming more productive just so you have more time to work, then you might want to slow down and examine your priorities. "I'll rest when I'm rich" is the quickest way to make sure you earn a living without having a life.

Just about seven years ago this month, a friend of mine had a heart attack. Was it from smoking? Bad diet? Absolutely not. He was the picture of health. (In fact, He had the heart attack while cycling.)

The culprit? Workaholism. Pure business-driven stress.

That experience helped me reframe my entire perspective on what it meant to earn a living versus "have a life." It was part of the reason I started this blog. I wanted a project that would help others, and that I could also enjoy along the way.

To have a life, you must enjoy the process of living. You must be able to balance your drive for financial and professional gain with your reasons for living in the first place-- family, friends, and the simplest pleasures of being alive.

Part of working smarter is... not working. Work smarter so the work is not so hard. Work smarter so the day is not so long. Work smarter so you can fill more of the day with the people you value.

This applies to Real Estate, When selling your home, let someone else do the work, you look for a journeyman plummer when you have a leaky pipe, you find an electrician with a faulty wire, why not use someone who is trained to sell your home for you.  Just a thought!

Foreclosures

The number one question we are very cautiously asked is…”So how has business been this year?” Truth of the matter is, it has been a great year for us.

We often talk about how the real Estate Market is just that, a Market. It will have its ups and its downs. But there are good buys in every market just as there are bad buys in every market. The difference lies with you.

Don’t be caught up in the foreclosure panic. Foreclosures can take months to find out if the house is yours. We have a client that decided that they wanted a great deal and went to the courthouse steps to buy a foreclosure they had been looking at. They were sure that the greatest deals are found during the last few minutes. To their dismay, they got the home, but the price? At twice what we were negotiating for them earlier.

There are so many great homes out there for great prices, homes that you can know within 24 hours if it yours or not.

Be cautious of the unbelievable great deal, they usually are way too good to be true.

Why use a home inspector

If you're looking for a house, you've probably seen your share of ill-conceived rehabs: additions that stick out like sore thumbs, for example, or once-trendy materials that quickly became dated.

Harder to spot are the remodels that look great on the surface, but ignore or deliberately try to hide serious flaws. An incompetent, clueless or greedy remodeler can leave you with a house that's not only expensive to fix, but potentially dangerous for you and your family.

Fundamentally unsound
Unless you have X-ray vision, you can't peer inside the walls, floors and ceilings to see if a home is fundamentally sound. You can look, however, at the home's surfaces for some real clues about what's going on underneath. Such as:

• Big cracks in the walls, ceiling, floors or foundation. Any foundation crack should be cause for concern. Wide cracks elsewhere, or cracks radiating from the corners or windows and doors, may also be a sign of trouble. They can indicate foundation problems, or ongoing movement that could be expensive to fix. If everything looks good, Jarrett said, check the closets. Remodelers may patch everything else -- but forget about what's hidden there.
• Sloping, bouncy or "spongy" floors. All homes settle over time, so a slight slope (or even a rather noticeable one on a very old home) shouldn't panic you. But sloping that's accompanied by significant, recent wall and ceiling cracking should be a concern. If the new ceramic tiles in the bathroom are already cracking, for example, you have good evidence of serious trouble. So, too, is any floor that feels less than solid under your feet.
• Doors and windows that don't open freely. This could be due to settling, foundation problems or poor construction. In any case, it may indicate costly repairs are needed.
• Wide open spaces. Remodelers often like to combine smaller rooms into larger spaces, but doing so can undermine the stability of an entire house if the remodeler unwittingly removes a structural or load-bearing wall. Sagging rooflines, ceilings or beams should be big red flags. Any time an older house has been updated this way, however, investigate further. At the very least, ask for copies of the permits and for the name and license number of the contractor who did the work. If the work is unpermitted or the contractor unlicensed, consider steering clear.

I always recommend that you have your home of your dreams be inspected by an inspector that knows construction and has been in business here in Utah for a resonable length of time and you are sure he knows the weather needs here and knows what he/she is looking for.  I would be happy to show you a variety of great homes just waiting to for you to move in.

Fielding-Lowball purchase offer on your home

Consider before you ignore or outright refuse a very low purchase offer for your home. A counteroffer and negotiation could turn that low purchase offer into a sale.

Check your emotions

A purchase offer, even a very low one, means someone wants to purchase your home. Unless the offer is laughably low, it deserves a cordial response, whether that’s a counteroffer or an outright rejection. Remain calm and discuss with your real estate agent the many ways you can respond to a lowball purchase offer.

Counter the purchase offer

Unless you’ve received multiple purchase offers, the best response is to counter the low offer with a price and terms you’re willing to accept. Some buyers make a low offer because they think that’s customary, they’re afraid they’ll overpay, or they want to test your limits.

A counteroffer signals that you’re willing to negotiate. One strategy for your counteroffer is to lower your price, but remove any concessions such as seller assistance with closing costs, or features such as kitchen appliances that you’d like to take with you.

Consider the terms

Price is paramount for most buyers and sellers, but it’s not the only deal point. A low purchase offer might make sense if the contingencies are reasonable, the closing date meets your needs, and the buyer is preapproved for a mortgage. Consider what terms you might change in a counteroffer to make the deal work.

Review your comps

Ask your REALTOR® whether any homes that are comparable to yours (known as “comps”) have been sold or put on the market since your home was listed for sale. If those new comps are at lower prices, you might have to lower your price to match them if you want to sell.

Consider the buyer’s comps

Buyers sometimes attach comps to a low offer to try to convince the seller to accept a lower purchase offer. Take a look at those comps. Are the homes similar to yours? If so, your asking price might be unrealistic. If not, you might want to include in your counteroffer information about those homes and your own comps that justify your asking price.

If the buyers don’t include comps to justify their low purchase offer, have your real estate agent ask the buyers’ agent for those comps.

Get the agents together

If the purchase offer is too low to counter, but you don’t have a better option, ask your real estate agent to call the buyer’s agent and try to narrow the price gap so that a counteroffer would make sense. Also, ask your real estate agent whether the buyer (or buyer’s agent) has a reputation for lowball purchase offers. If that’s the case, you might feel freer to reject the offer.

Don’t signal desperation

Buyers are sensitive to signs that a seller may be receptive to a low purchase offer. If your home is vacant or your home’s listing describes you as a “motivated” seller, you’re signaling you’re open to a low offer.

If you can remedy the situation, maybe by renting furniture or asking your agent not to mention in your home listing that you’re motivated, the next purchase offer you get might be more to your liking.

7 Tips for a Profitable Home Closing

Be sure you’re walking away with all the money you’re entitled to from the sale of your home.

1. Take services out of your name

Avoid a dispute with the buyers after closing over things like fees for the cable service you forgot to discontinue. Contact every utility and service provider to end or transfer service to your new address as of the closing date.

If you’re on an automatic-fill schedule for heating oil or propane, don’t pay for a pre-closing refill that provides free fuel for the new owner. Contact your insurer to terminate coverage on your old home, get coverage on your new home, and ask whether you’re entitled to a refund of prepaid premium.

2. Spread the word on your change of address

Provide the post office with your forwarding address two to four weeks before the closing. Also notify credit card companies, publication subscription departments, friends and family, and your financial institutions of your new address.

3. Manage the movers

Scrutinize your moving company’s estimate. If you’re making a long-distance move, which is often billed according to weight, note the weight of your property and watch so the movers don’t use excessive padding to boost the weight. Also check with your homeowners insurer about coverage for your move. Usually movers cover only what they pack.

4. Do the settlement math

Title company employees are only human, so they can make mistakes. The day before your closing, check the math on your HUD-1 Settlement Statement.

5. Review charges on your settlement statement

Are all mortgages being paid off, and are the payoff amounts correct? If your real estate agent promised you extras—such as a discounted commission or a home warranty policy—make sure that’s included. Also check whether your real estate agent or title company added fees that weren’t disclosed earlier. If any party suggests leaving items off the settlement statement, consult a lawyer about whether that might expose you to legal risk.

6. Search for missing credits

Be sure the settlement company properly credited you for prepaid expenses, such as property taxes and homeowners association fees, if applicable. If you’ve prepaid taxes for the year, you’re entitled to a credit for the time you no longer own the home. Have you been credited for heating oil or propane left in the tank?

7. Don’t leave money in escrow

End your home sale closing with nothing unresolved. Make sure the title company releases money already held in escrow for you, and avoid leaving sales proceeds in a new escrow to be dickered over later.

Other web resources

Closing costs explained

Keep Your Home Sale from Falling Apart

After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps.

Mistake #1: Ignore contingencies

If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If the buyers make the sale contingent on certain repairs, don’t do cheap patch-jobs and expect the buyers not to notice the fixes weren’t done properly.

Mistake #2: Don’t bother to fix things that break

The last thing any seller needs is for the buyers to notice on the pre-closing walk-through that the home isn’t in the same condition as when they made their offer. When things fall apart in a home about to be purchased, sellers must make the repairs. If the furnace fails, get a professional to fix it, and inform the buyers that the work was done. When you fail to maintain the home, the buyers may lose confidence in your integrity and the condition of the home and back out of the sale.

Mistake #3: Get lax about deadlines

Treat deadlines as sacrosanct. If you have three days to accept or reject thehome inspection, make your decision within three days. If you’re selling, move out a few days early, so you can turn over the keys at closing.

Mistake #4: Refuse to negotiate any further

Once you’ve negotiated a price, it’s natural to calculate how much you’ll walk away with from the closing table. However, problems uncovered during inspections will have to be fixed. The appraisal may come in at a price below what the buyers offered to pay. Be prepared to negotiate with the buyers over these bottom-line-influencing issues.

Mistake #5: Hide liens from buyers

Did you neglect to mention that Uncle Sam has placed a tax lien on your home or you owe six months of homeowners association fees? The title search is going to turn up any liens filed on your house. To sell your house, you have to pay off the lien (or get the borrower to agree to pay it off). If you can do that with the sales proceeds, great. If not, the sale isn’t going to close.

From HouseLogic

How maintenance adds to home values
Reducing closing stress

Other web resources

More on calculating closing costs

More on the closing process