SJ Real Estate

Steps To Take To Prepare Your Home For Sale

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Steps To Take To Prepare Your Home For SaleOnce you have decided that you want to put your home up for sale, you should start taking the steps necessary to get it ready to go on the market. While some homes may be almost picture perfect and ready for a showing, there are others that may need some work.

It is always a good idea to evaluate the condition of your home as soon as you know you will be selling. Use these steps to not only determine what you need to do but to also guide you through your home sale preparation. 

Tips To Prepare Your Home For Sale

 

  • Have a home inspection done. Many things can be identified that are cosmetic in nature just by taking a walk around the inside and outside of your home. Often times, the best way to detect underlying problems that you will need to fix before selling your home is to rely on a professional home inspector. This is a great way to know exactly what needs to be improved and to avoid uncovering any surprising, and potentially costly, repairs during the commission of the sale. 
  • Make all necessary repairs. Once you know what needs to be done around the home, you should start prioritizing and making the necessary repairs. Some of the repairs may be costly so creating a budget and a plan of action can help you stay organized and efficient as you make these necessary improvements. 
  • Clean up the yard. If your home has a yard, it should look clean and tidy. You do not need to have the whole yard professionally landscaped but mowing the lawn and removing any unsightly tree limbs or shrubbery will help with the curb appeal and first impression of your property.
  • Clean up the exterior and interior of the home. It is essential that your home is clean and tidy as well so that your real estate agent can take quality pictures that will appeal to the most buyers and for your home to be ready for showings. If you are residing in the property, you should remove any personal effects, such as photos. This can make it easier for potential buyers to imagine this space as their own. You will also want to make sure to avoid clutter including dirty dishes or laundry. The home should not look lived in because you want the viewers to be able to see themselves living in the property. 
  • Consider adding new paint. It is amazing how much of a difference a new coat of paint can do for a property. You may want to consider painting all of the interior rooms as well as the exterior of the home. Fresh paint is an easy way to present a clean, fresh face-lift for your property. Keep in mind that neutral tones in paint color will appeal to the most buyers. 

As you can see, there are quite a few things that need to happen before a property is ready to go on the market. Your trusted Real Estate Professional can guide you through this process and offer additional tips to help you achieve a successful home sale in your area. 

Video: For Sale By Owner?

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Most people don’t know enough to sell their own house. Here’s why.

1. They Can’t List It!
– Only licensed brokers and agents can create a listing in the MLS sale-by-owner houses will be invisible to agents and unavailable on the Web.

2. Agents Won’t Show It.
– Typically, a buyer’s agent gets part of the commission paid to the seller’s agent. Sale-by-owner houses don’t have that commission commitment so a buyer’s agent might not get paid. No agents makes the pool of buyers MUCH smaller.

3. It’s Probably Overpriced.
– Most homeowners don’t have enough data and emotional distance to put a market price on their own home. and overpricing is another deterrent to potential buyers.

4. Buyers Prefer Neutrality
– Buyers will spend less time in the home and be less likely to make an offer because owners aren’t neutral about the transaction.

5. Legalities & Complexities.

-Real estate transactions are complicated. Most homeowners don’t know enough to avoid potentially expensive liabilities Overlooking a form or required disclosure exposes the seller to lawsuits AFTER the transaction is closed.

There are some sellers with a real estate background that do have enough experience to sell their own home but in most cases you probably shouldn’t try selling your own home.

Video-ForSaleByOwner

Autumn Home Staging: How to Set Your Home Up to Match the Warm, Rich Colors of Autumn

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Autumn Home Staging: How to Set Your Home Up to Match the Warm, Rich Colors of AutumnCan you believe that autumn is already here? Autumn is not only a great time to enjoy some cooler weather, but it is also a perfect time to sell a home. If you want to sell your house this autumn, these home staging tips will have buyers pounding down your door.

Improve Your Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is easily the most important factor when it comes to selling a home, and it is even more important in the autumn. Maintaining great curb appeal can be difficult in autumn because of all the falling leaves.

Raking the leaves and planting some autumn flowers will make your home inviting to buyers. You can even add some pumpkins around the porch, if you desire.

Brighten Up The House

The shorter days of autumn make lighting more important when staging a home, because nobody wants to walk into a dark and depressing house. The best way to brighten up any house is by opening the blinds and turning on every light.

While it may not be great for the electric bill, the extra lighting will help the home sell quicker. You can even place some spotlights on the floor behind furniture to brighten up the darker rooms.

Make It Feel Comfortable

There is something about the cooling weather of autumn that makes people want to stay inside. Showing off how comfortable your home is will definitely pique buyers’ interest. A great way to make your home more cozy during a showing is by playing seasonal music and handing out some fresh baked cookies – it adds a personal touch and a subtle sense of coziness.

Accent The Home With Autumn Colors

While it is impossible to change the color scheme of your home to fit the season, you can add some accent colors throughout the house. If you have a neutral colored couch, then you can easily throw some red or orange pillows on it to make it really stand out. Adding some autumn decorations to each room is also a great way to accent your home with autumn colors.

Autumn is an extremely popular time to buy or sell a house, and for good reason. Taking advantage of autumn’s vibrant colors when you stage your home will give your house an irresistible appeal. For more information about how to sell your home in the autumn, or if you’d like to list your home for sale, contact an experienced real estate professional today.

You Ask, We Answer: Understanding the Real Estate ‘Short Sale’ and How This Process Works

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You Ask, We Answer: Understanding the Real Estate 'Short Sale' and How This Process WorksA short sale is something that occurs when a homeowner is not able to make the mortgage payments on time due to a financial hardship. Instead of foreclosing on the property after one or more missed payments, the bank may agree to allow the homeowner to turn the home over to the bank, which will sell it to as close to market value as possible.

Here’s what you need to know about how short sales work and what circumstances might call for one.

Step 1: The Homeowner Provides Information To The Bank

The first step in the short sale process is for the homeowner to submit an information package to the bank. The homeowner will provide information such as the reason for the short sale, an authorization letter allowing the real estate agent to talk to the bank, and a financial statement. In addition, the seller may need to provide an HUD-1 statement as well as a list of comparable homes in the area.

Step 2: The Buyer Makes An Offer

Once the house is put on the market, a buyer can make an offer just as he or she would on any other home. The seller will then have the opportunity to accept any offer that he or she receives from a prospective buyer.

Step 3: The Bank Makes A Decision About The Offer

Once the seller accepts an offer to buy the home on short sale, the seller is responsible for sending information about the sale to the bank. Before the sale is finalized, the bank must approve the buyer’s offer. It could take as little as two weeks or as long as 120 days for the bank to approve the offer.

However, not all short sales are immediately approved. The seller’s bank bank might decline the buyer’s offer for one reason or another. A bank may decline a short sale offer if the bank negotiator thinks the house is worth more than the buyer’s offer or if the seller violates a clause in the short sale agreement – such as moving out of the property and violating a clause that states only owner-occupied properties are eligible for short sale.

Buying a home that is being sold as a short sale requires patience and an ability to move at the bank’s pace. Working closely with an experienced lender or mortgage broker may make it easier to get through the process without a lot of hassle or drama. For more information about short sales, or to complete a short sale on your property, contact a local real estate agent today.

Tips On Passing Your Home Inspection With Flying Colors

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Tips On Passing Your Home Inspection With Flying ColorsHome inspections are a tense time for everyone. Sellers are fervently hoping that nothing major is wrong with their home that could hold up the transaction.

Buyers are eager to hear that their new house is in prime condition. Whatever the wishes, one thing is for sure; any news from an inspector is usually bad news.

Home inspectors have a tough job. They have to be trained to spot hundreds of potential issues with a home and be knowledgeable of local codes, community restrictions and residential permit parameters.

Stay one step ahead of your home inspector by reading the list of common home inspection issues below. Then hopefully your inspection won’t reveal any unwelcome surprises.

Electrical Wiring

This is a common bubble-busting issue, especially in older homes. Wiring might have been up to code when the home was built, but it now violates code and is a fire hazard.

Look for ungrounded outlets, shoddy wiring or a mass of confusing connections in the electrical panel. Replacing an entire electrical system can be expensive, but it’s worth it not to risk a fire.

Plumbing

Look for signs of water damage in the ceilings. This could be a sign that something above, like a bathtub or sink is leaking into the floor or walls. Look around toilets and inside kitchen cabinets for traces of wet flooring or wood.

While external leaks are easy enough to fix, interior pipes might require you to rip up flooring.

Foundation And Framing

Examine the foundation and framing of your home for any structural issues. You’ll want to keep an eye out for cracking in the foundation due to water runoff or settling. Also, look for signs of wood rot or termite damage.

These issues affect the framing of your home and could cause scary structural problems if left unattended.

Roofing

While it’s probably too difficult for you to inspect the roof yourself, just stand back in the yard and see if you can notice any bare spots. Also, check for water damage around the roofline from rain leaking in. Don’t get too discouraged about roof issues. It might not call for a complete replacement, but just a repair on one section.

These common home inspection issues affect both sellers and buyers. As a buyer, you’ll want to keep a eye out for these problems so that you know what you’d be getting for your hard-earned money.

As a seller, it’s good to stay one step ahead of the home inspector so that whatever price is agreed upon goes through.

Do Those Additions Really Add Value To Your Home?

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Do Those Additions Really Add Value To Your Home?When you own a home, there are additions that you can make to the property that will improve the value of your home. For example, a newly renovated kitchen or bathroom is a popular choice that will really make the home more desirable to buyers.

Also, adding storage space or a well-thought-out family room or other practical space can be a very good investment that will bring up the home’s value.

However, there are other projects that are not really worth your time or money and will allow very little opportunity to recover your costs when it is time to sell the property. Here are a few examples of things that you think might add to the value of your home, but really don’t.

An Elaborately Landscaped Garden

A beautifully landscaped garden might make the home more visually attractive to buyers when they are looking at the property, but it will not likely add to the selling price.

This is especially true if the new buyer is not interested in putting in the effort to keep the garden well-maintained and sees it as a burden. If they don’t have time to do the landscaping, they will need to hire a gardener which will add to their expenses.

A Hobby Specific Room

Are you tempted to convert a bedroom into a room that is specific to one of your particular interests, such as an art studio, a library or a wine cellar? This will not add a lot of value to the home, because the next buyer is not likely to share your passions.

It might even make the home less than desirable, because the next owner will not want to spend the time and money renovating the room back into a bedroom.

You can create a hobby room; just make sure that you make non-permanent chances to the room so that you can quickly and easily switch it back to a bedroom.

A Renovated Garage

Redoing your garage and turning it into a family room or a play room might give you a short term benefit, but you might regret it when you go to sell the home. Most people want a garage to serve its original purpose – as a place to protect their cars from the elements and store their shovels, garbage cans, leaf blowers and other outdoor things.

These are a few examples of home additions that will not add to the resale value of your property. To find out more about selling your home, contact your mortgage professional.