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5 Things To Do To Make Your Home Show Ready – Clearwater Realtor Tips

January 23, 2018 By Deborah Ward

Time to sell? Then it’s time to get the house ready to sell. There is a lot to be done, so read on so you don’t forget anything.

If your home is in good shape, getting it show ready is relatively easy. If not, do any upgrades your Realtor says are necessary to get the best price first. In the meantime work on the areas of the house not being updated. Can’t hurt to get a jump on it!

Declutter first

First things first, you can’t accomplish anything else on the list unless and until you declutter the whole house. It’s usually quite the project, especially if you’ve been in your home for a number of years. Or if you tend to keep stuff. Or if you have kids.

To do this you need to go room by room. Working on the whole house will be too much and probably discourage you from finishing. You will need to go through closets, cabinets, drawers, EVERYTHING.

Realtor tip! Either have your real estate agent or a friend who doesn’t come by often walk through your house and point out things that you notice. I have a client I listed a house for and she had a HUGE basket on top of her fridge that I suggested putting away until the house was sold. She said she liked it, but agreed that it was large and could be distracting. You (and your bestys) can’t see all the things that are around because you are used to seeing them!

Organize your work

Get three bins: one for things you want to keep and will need to pack up; one for things to be donated to charity or sell in a yard sale; and a third lined with a big garbage bag for trash and things that don’t fall in the other two categories.

The first bin will then become your packing box, so also get a big marker label the bin with the name of the room it came from. Then go to work. Be brutal in your decision making. No, seriously. Yes, you can keep things that are important or necessary. No, you don’t have to throw or give away your great grandmother’s quilt or Bible. But if you are saving things that have been broken for years, it may be time to get rid of it.

Clothing is easy: If you haven’t worn in the last 18 months (leaving time for change of seasons) give it away. No, you aren’t going to fit in those jeans again, give them up.

Realtor tip! If you are moving a large house, it might pay to get two PODS, one for when you are delcluttering and staging and one for your actual move. Our clients are always surprised how much “stuff” is around the house, in closets, under stairs and in the garage that can be packed up and stored by PODS before you put your house on the market. For a a very small fee they will store your belongings until you are ready for your big move.

Depersonalize

As you are decluttering, take time to depersonalize as well. When I say depersonalize, I mean if you have a huge wall of family photos, take them down. If you have tons pictures of family on the fridge and anywhere else, take them down. You can leave a few up on the wall, tastefully arranged, but pack away the majority of them.

Also, if you collect anything like cows or dolls, box them up and get them ready to move. Your cool collection will be a distraction when people are touring your home whether they like it or not. If they love your collection they might forget to really appreciate your home and if they hate it they will not notice how cool your house is!

Time to DEEP clean

Now that the clutter is gone, time to CLEAN. We’re talking deep clean. Move furniture and clean under it. Move appliances and clean around and under them. Use your carpet cleaner, or rent one, and deep clean the carpets, including area rugs. While the area rugs are drying, clean the hardwoods under them. If there is too much or you want help, hire a cleaning company to do it all.

When you put everything back after cleaning, be sparing with furniture. Less is better. It will make your rooms look and feel bigger. If you have an empty room, put something in it. Empty rooms show poorly. So “stage” a spare bedroom with an air mattress and bed frame, or an office with a desk, chair and bookshelf.

Next on the list, lighting

This means natural or otherwise. Make sure part of that deep clean is cleaning windows inside and out. Replace heavy drapes with sheers to give privacy, but let in lots of light. Light = room looking larger, fresher. Change out light bulbs and think softer light is better.

On to … paint

Freshen up paint. Paint over out of date or strange color schemes with a neutral palette. Painting adjacent rooms the same color will give a more open appearance to your floor plan. Clean or replace switch plates and outlet covers. Scrub around door handles or other areas where the walls have gotten grungy from daily use. Use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to remove minor spots and scuffs on walls. Paint woodwork around doors, windows and moldings.

Curb appeal is next

Ok, now that inside is done, time to address the outside. Curb appeal is a thing. Don’t ignore it. Spruce up your front door with new paint, or at least a good scrub. Clean up landscaping, walkways and driveways. Add some color to your gardens.

If your not sure if you got everything, invite your Realtor to do another walk through and see if you missed anything. It will take some time, but the reward (higher price) will make it well worth it!

Downtown Dunedin Real Estate… Fun, Creative and Food

January 9, 2018 By Deborah Ward

Dunedin, Florida is a cute, creative and fun place to live. But it’s got more than just a cute and quaint downtown. It’s very name represents the Scottish families who founded it.

Dunedin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital.

Dunedin honors its heritage by holding annual Highland Games and Festival, which is held in nearby Highland Park which is close by.

Downtown Dunedin

Downtown has art galleries and home design stores. It has antique stores, clothing stores, and gift shops, restaurants, taverns and clubs.

Some of our favorites for eating out include:

Done with the shopping? The Pinellas Trail runs north and south through town perpendicular to Main Street. The Pinellas Trail is an old railway turned trail and is used for walking, jogging, or biking and it is one of the few places that is well lit at night on the trail. It even has a coffee house located in a renovated boxcar, reminiscent of the trail’s railway past.

More To Do In Dunedin!

It has two of the best beaches in America, Honeymoon Island and Caladesi Island, and downtown is filled with shops, restaurants, and inns.

Looking for a house?

Dunedin real estate is replete with old style Cracker houses on properties with mature trees and landscaping. Sure there are also condos and such, but if you want to really live in the heritage and history, those cute homes are worth the extra cost.

Remember, all of that downtown charm, shopping and culture, and the Trail, are just walking distance.

So come on down and see what Dunedin has for you!

If you would like to find homes that are for sale in the Downtown Dunedin area give us a call today! 727-216-9247

Should You Worry About Sinkholes in Pinellas County

January 3, 2018 By Deborah Ward

Sinkholes in Florida are not uncommon. Some areas are more susceptible to them than others, but as a general rule the entire state has the same kind of porous carbonate rocks that help create sinkholes. You want to buy a property in Pinellas County and wonder if you need to worry about sinkholes there.

Why do sinkholes happen?

Sinkholes are caused by the wearing away of the limestone rock that makes up the substrata of Florida. Limestone dissolves away over time leaving holes. Usually those holes are filled with water which holds up the surface.

Sometimes the rocks, soil or clay on the surface is too heavy and a sinkhole happens. Other times if the water is drained for one reason or another, the water is no longer there to hold up the surface and a sinkhole happens.

There are generally three types of sinkholes: collapse sinkholes which are frequently triggered by fluctuations in underground water; subsidence sinkholes which generally form gradually; and clay shrinkage which vary seasonally and with annual precipitation changes.

So is Pinellas a worry?

To some extent, yes, anywhere in Florida has some risk of sinkholes. On the west coast in the Tampa area Pasco County and towns in Pinellas like Tarpon Springs and Palm Harbor have a lot more sinkhole activity than further South in Pinellas County.

Here is a great resource for checking if your potential property is in a dangerous area… you can search by zip code for an overview! https://sinkholemaps.com/pinellas-county-fl-sinkhole-subsidence-properties/

If you want to be sure, us a call or check with your insurance company. Both will have a good idea and when checking with your insurance company you can be sure if you will be able to get insurance for the property because of sinkhole activity.

So go ahead, buy in Pinellas!

Should You Worry About Flooding If You Buy A Tampa Bay Home?

December 27, 2017 By Deborah Ward

If you are looking for homes in the Tampa area you know that their proximity to water is close. Not only that but hurricanes can be an issue with causing floods. So, should flooding be a worry while you are house shopping? Let’s just say that you should keep it as a checkbox on the list of items to consider.

Intercoastal or beachfront properties

For the most part it’s obvious that there are lots of coastal properties that need flood insurance. If you’re beachfront or a bay intercoastal front property then yes, you’ll most likely need flood insurance. There are also inland areas that have the potential for flooding problems in stormy weather due to tidal surges from the Gulf of Mexico or Tampa Bay. However, there are plenty of properties that are high enough that they don’t require flood insurance.

The best way to be sure depends on where the property or properties you are looking at happen to be located. If it’s in Hillsborough County they have a website that will allow you to enter the street address of a home to see where it falls on the flood zone map:

http://hillsboroughcounty.org/en/residents/property-owners-and-renters/homeowners-and-neighborhoods/find-my-flood-zone#/

The site also has an explanation of which zones require what

Pinellas County doesn’t have that, but you can get an idea from the FEMA website, which has flood zone lists for every state.

In Pasco County their county property appraiser has included flood zone/flood insurance requirement information with each property appraisal. The cool thing with this is that you can view a particular property and have the computer “paint” in any flood zones that might exist.

Go to http://pascopa.com and click on record search, enter the street address for the property in question and get the tax id number for the property. At the top of the page you will see a link that says Show Map. Click that and use the drop-down menus to select additional layers and add the layers for FEMA Flood zones.

Why worry when you can find out for sure?

What Are Jumbo Home Loans?

December 19, 2017 By Deborah Ward

With the housing market improving and home prices rising larger homes are becoming hard to get with a standard mortgage. Your Realtor may have mentioned a jumbo home loan, but you aren’t sure what that is.

A jumbo mortgage

Simply put, a jumbo mortgage is a loan to purchase a home that is in an amount that is larger than the limits set by the government. Conventional mortgages have limits as to how much it can be.

This is because mortgages are commonly bought and sold on secondary markets, and are backed by FNMA (Fannie Mae) and FHLMC (Freddie Mac). If a mortgage is over those limits, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will step in and back the mortgage. The current limit is $453,100, with a few exceptions as to locations where it could be higher.

Conventional formats

Most mortgage companies offer jumbo loans in the conventional formats like fixed rate or interest only loans, and these have LTV or loan-to-value limits too. Jumbo loans typically have an 80% or 90% loan-to-value limit on the loans.

This is because they need to be sure the risk is minimized as much as possible since there is no federal backing. They usually carry a higher interest rate; usually .25% to .50% higher than that of a conventional loan.

They aren’t impossible to get, and with the easing of restrictions as the market grows. And if you need that bigger home, the risk may be worth the reward.

Finding a great lender

When you get up into the Jumbo loan prices, having a qualified lender becomes even more important. If your lender is used to working within the framework of FHA loans, they may not have the resources to find you the best Jumbo loan to fit your needs.

Additionally, you may be looking at putting down a significant amount of cash or even using some private money in addition to the loan and as such your lender needs to know how to get that kind of complicated loan to the closing table.

Many of the properties we sell here in Tampa Bay fall into this Jumbo loan category and we have a list of lenders who we feel do a great job with our clients. Please contact us if you would like a great referral or to talk about purchasing a Jumbo loan property today!

Should You “Test The Market” With A High Price To Start

December 12, 2017 By Deborah Ward

It sounds like a good strategy, “test the market” by asking a high price for your home. I mean, what harm could it do and you could even luck out and get asking right? Well, not so fast. It’s not a good strategy and here’s why.

Who will and won’t see your home?

For one thing, when you “test the market” the people who can actually afford your home at the right price won’t even see it. Most people start searches online but even if they start with a Realtor, the searches the Realtor does won’t include your home. Those that do see it won’t be interested. Your home will be too small or not what their price range usually offers. Of course, that means you won’t be getting any offers. Unfortunately, your neighbor who is also selling will. Your overpriced home makes their correctly priced one look good. Not to mention that the first few days your home will be on the market are the golden ones. Most deals are made then.

Remember today’s buyers are very savvy

People know what a home is generally worth. They do their homework. They also will be less likely to want to try and negotiate a deal. If they even see the listing. That means your home is sitting and a stale house doesn’t sell for asking, or even for less than the true market price. It’s true. When you lower a price because you asked too much to begin with, those who are interested will demand a bigger discount and more concessions.

What if you do get an offer?

So let’s say you actually get a bite at your first price. Guess what? The house won’t appraise at the high price and the buyer won’t get a mortgage. No mortgage, no sale.
Oh, and if you find a Realtor who thinks it’s a good idea, find a different one!